Chinese authorities have banned domestic banks from luring customers with gifts including the hugely popular Labubu dolls, amid fierce competition among lenders as interest rates and profit margins decline. The Zhejiang branch of China’s financial regulator, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, has asked local banks to refrain from offering non-compliant perks to attract deposits, Bloomberg News reported. The new guidance came after Ping An Bank ran a promotion, offering Pop Mart’s Labubu dolls in several cities to new customers who deposit at least 50,000 yuan (£5,162) for three months. The…
Tag: Business
Donald Trump to meet Xi Jinping in China after ‘very good’ call on trade
Donald Trump said he had accepted an invitation to meet Xi Jinping in China after a phone conversation on trade was held between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies. In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the “very good” call lasted about 90 minutes and the conversation was “almost entirely focused on trade”. He wrote: “The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries. There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of…
China’s factory activity hit by tariffs; KKR pulls out of Thames Water rescue talks – business live
From 16m ago Introduction: China’s May factory activity shrinks as tariffs hit demand Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Evidence is mounting that Donald Trump’s trade war is disrupting manufacturing activity around the globe. China’s manufacturing activity in May shrank at its fastest pace in two and a half years, according to the latest survey data, as firms were hit by a fall in new orders, and weaker export demand. The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, released this…
China accuses US of ‘seriously violating’ trade truce
China has accused the US of “seriously violating” the fragile US-China detente that has been in place for less than a month since the two countries agreed to pause the trade war that risked upending the global economy. China and the US agreed on 12 May to pause for 90 days the skyrocketing “reciprocal” tariffs that both countries had placed on the others goods in a frenzied trade war that started a few weeks earlier. Tariffs had reached 125% on each side, which officials feared amounted to virtual embargo on…
China has ‘totally violated’ its trade agreement with the US, says Trump
Donald Trump declared that China has “totally violated its agreement” against the US on trade just two weeks after the countries reached a deal, raising fears that the trade war will continue to rattle the global economy. “I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday morning. “Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY…
Tech shares climb after strong Nvidia results despite warning over rise of Chinese rivals
Technology shares climbed on Thursday, buoyed by strong results from Nvidia, despite the AI chip company’s boss issuing a warning about the rise of Chinese rivals. The Stoxx Europe tech index rose by 0.8% on Thursday following Nvidia’s financial report, with the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML rallying by 2.4%. In the US, futures for the tech-focused Nasdaq climbed 2%, and shares in Nvidia itself jumped 6% in pre-market trading. The boost to tech and artificial intelligence stocks came hours after Nvidia beat Wall Street forecasts, with quarterly revenues jumping…
Shein turns to Hong Kong for flotation as London attempt stalls, reports say
Shein is reportedly aiming to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange as the online fast-fashion retailer struggles to gain the go-ahead from Chinese regulators for a flotation in London. The company, which was founded in China where the majority of its suppliers are based but now has its headquarters in Singapore, is aiming to file a draft prospectus with Hong Kong’s stock exchange in the coming weeks, according to Reuters. It said Shein plans to go public in the Asian financial hub this year, which would scotch hopes of…
Trump accuses EU of dragging its heels on a tariff deal with the US
Donald Trump said the EU had been dragging its heels “to put it mildly” on sealing a tariff deal with the US, repeating his assessment that his threat of a 50% tariff on imports from the bloc was an “extremely” satisfactory move. He commended the EU for calling to “quickly establish meeting dates” but reignited fears of a trade war with the region by adding criticism of the EU to his statement on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. “I was extremely satisfied with the 50% tariff allotment on the…
Trump threatens 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in US
Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in the United States, as he stepped up the pressure on Apple to build its signature product in America. The US president caused a pre-trading dip in Apple shares with a post on the Truth Social platform stating that iPhones sold inside the US must be made within the country’s borders. Trump said in the post: “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold…
World’s seven wealthiest countries agree to counter China’s trade practices
Top finance officials from the world’s seven wealthiest democracies set aside stark differences on US tariffs and agreed to counter global “economic imbalances”, a swipe at China’s trade practices. In a communique issued on Thursday, the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors, meeting in the Canadian Rockies, left out their traditional defense of free trade and toned down their references to Russia’s war in Ukraine compared with last year. But they did agree that further sanctions on Russia could be imposed if the two countries do not…