Category: FT

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Chinese state media has said there would be “no harm” in holding trade talks with the Trump administration, indicating a softening of Beijing’s position as both sides look for a way out of their crushing tariff war. The gesture comes as the fallout from the trade war has begun to show in China’s economic data, with factory activity in April dropping the most since 2023 as export orders dried up.…

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Multinational companies are flocking to China’s bond market at a record rate as they try to secure cheaper financing and hedge against deteriorating relations between Beijing and the US. So-called panda bond issuance — renminbi borrowing by overseas companies in mainland Chinese markets — hit Rmb194.8bn ($26.5bn) in 2024, the highest level on record for a full year. In the first quarter of this year it reached Rmb41.6bn,…

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Japanese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Share buybacks announced by Japanese companies in April nearly tripled on the previous year as boards opted for placating investors over holding dry powder for tariff uncertainties. Listed groups in the Topix benchmark collectively unveiled ¥3.8tn ($27bn) of buybacks in April, up from ¥1.3tn in the same month last year, according to figures compiled by Goldman Sachs. That puts the total so far this year at ¥6.9tn, more…

This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. In today’s newsletter: Shein explores a US restructuring Vietnam marks 50th anniversary of war with the US ending Trade upheaval looms over Singapore’s election Shein is exploring ways to restructure its US business in the event the Trump administration sticks with punitive tariffs on Chinese imports, which…

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. India and the UK are locked in the final stages of negotiating a free trade deal with both sides wrangling over key demands in London this week, according to people briefed on the talks. The most intractable area of disagreement is over Delhi’s request to be exempted from the UK’s “carbon border tax”, starting in 2027, which would add costs to imports from Indian such as steel, two people with…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Vietnam’s top leader has hailed the country’s “victory of justice” and its rapid development, as the south-east Asian nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of the war with the US. At a grand military parade in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, on Wednesday, To Lam, chief of Vietnam’s Communist party, praised the nation’s transformation from a war-torn country into one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and described…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Chinese investors are piling into gold funds at a record rate, as Donald Trump’s trade war and fears over a US recession and inflation drive a hunt for haven assets. Inflows into gold exchange traded funds in China total 70 tonnes — or about $7.4bn — so far this month, more than double the previous monthly record, according to the World Gold Council, an industry body. “Whilst we have seen…