Category: BBC

US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping have met for talks in South Korea, their first meeting since 2019. Topics of discussion included the drug fentanyl and rare earths, according to Trump, while China says the meeting saw the leaders reach a consensus to resolve “major trade issues”. The BBC’s Laura Bicker explains what we know about the outcomes of the meeting. BBC

US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, following months of escalating tension between the countries. It was the first face-to-face interaction the two men have had since 2019, when they last met during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. The two world leaders exchanged handshakes and praise in front of cameras before leaving to talk in private for two hours. Trump hailed the meeting with Xi as “a great success”. BBC

Direct flights between India and China have resumed as relations between the countries appear to be thawing. IndiGo flight 6E 1703 from Kolkata landed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Monday, carrying about 180 passengers. Flights between the two countries were first suspended during the Covid pandemic in early 2020 and did not restart after a deadly clash in a disputed Himalayan border area escalated tensions. But the two countries have been steadily rebuilding relations, and last year they reached a landmark agreement on border patrols. The Indian…

The US and China have agreed the framework of a potential trade deal that will be discussed when their respective leaders meet later this week, the US trade secretary has said. Scott Bessent told the BBC’s US news partner CBS that this included a “final deal” on TikTok’s US operations and a deferral on China’s tightened rare earth minerals controls. He also said he did not anticipate the 100% tariff on Chinese goods threatened by US President Donald Trump coming into force, while China will resume substantial soybean purchases from…

US President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea on 30 October on the sidelines of a summit in Asia, the White House has confirmed. The meeting between Xi and Trump has been in the works for weeks but was called into question as tensions between the world’s two largest economies continued to rise. It will be the first face-to-face meeting for both leaders since Trump’s return to office. Trump has threatened to impose an extra 100% tariff on Chinese goods from November if China…

China’s economic growth slowed in the three months to the end of September as trade tensions with the US flared up. The world’s second-largest economy grew by 4.8% compared to the same period in 2024, its weakest pace in a year, official figures released on Monday show. The data comes after China imposed sweeping controls on its exports of rare earths – minerals essential for the global production of electronics, a move that rocked its fragile trade truce with the US. The third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth will…

A cargo plane has skidded off a runway at Hong Kong International Airport and landed in the sea, killing at least one person, local media have reported. The Emirates flight, operating as Aerotranscargo, was arriving from Dubai just before 04:00 local time when it hit a vehicle on the north runway, local media reports. Four crew members on board have been rescued and taken to hospital, but two ground staff “fell into the sea”, a statement from the Civil Aviation department says. Their condition is unclear. The affected runway is…

Chen Ning Yang, Nobel laureate and one of the world’s most influential physicists, has died at the age of 103, according to Chinese state media. An obituary released by CCTV cited illness as the cause of death. Yang and fellow theoretical physicist, Lee Tsung-Dao, were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957 for their work in parity laws, which led to important discoveries regarding elementary particles – the building blocks of matter. Yang was also a professor at Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University and an honorary dean of the…

It’s known to be China’s biggest online shopping event – taking place on 11 November each year. But this year, Single’s Day sales have already begun in mid-October, as part of efforts by Chinese retailers to boost spending in a sluggish market. China has been plagued with issues like growing youth unemployment , a prolonged property crisis, steep government debt and an ongoing trade war with the US – all of which is making the country’s consumers cut back on spending. The Chinese government has been spending billions – through…