Page 7 - China

China to open nickel and lithium futures trading to foreign investors

The Shanghai exchange unveiled an internationalisation plan last May, which included a proposal to allow overseas investors to post foreign exchange as collateral for yuan-denominated trades

China's top general under probe for sharing nuclear secrets with US

China's Defence Ministry on Saturday announced that two top military officers have been placed under investigation for serious violations of Communist Party discipline and national laws

No plans to pursue FTA with China: Canadian PM Carney amid Trump's threat

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday his country has no intention of pursuing a free trade deal with China. He was responding to US President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America's northern neighbour went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing. Carney said his recent agreement with China merely cuts tariffs on a few sectors that were recently hit with tariffs. Trump claims otherwise, posting that "China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada. So sad to see it happen. I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone! President DJT" The prime minister said under the free trade agreement with the US and Mexico there are commitments not to pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notification. "We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy," Carney said. "What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last coup

China probes top military officials, including CMC vice chairman Youxia

Two senior Chinese military officials, including the highest-ranking PLA official Gen Zhang Youxia, were placed under investigation for serious violations of the ruling Communist Party's discipline and laws, the Defence Ministry here said on Saturday. Gen Zhang is the first-ranking Vice Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military headed by President Xi Jinping. Zhang's position on the CMC makes him the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the Chinese military. The other senior official under investigation is General Liu Zhenli, a CMC member who serves as its chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department. "After deliberation by the CPC Central Committee, it was decided to initiate an investigation into Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli," the Ministry of Defence said in a brief press release. The probe against them, especially Zhang, the highest-ranking military official, has sent shockwaves through the Chinese military ...

Trump warns China could 'eat up' Canada for opposing Greenland Golden Dome

Trump's outburst comes amid escalating tensions between the US and its northern neighbour, following recent remarks by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the WEF

Stable policies power India's rise as fastest-growing major economy: CG

A stable policy environment and a predictable, reform-oriented investment climate have ensured India's emergence as the world's fastest-growing major economy in recent times, Consul General in Shanghai Pratik Mathur said on Friday. Speaking at the 11th Edition of the Shanghai International Business Cooperation Forum, Mathur highlighted initiatives like Make in India and Digital India as important drivers of New Delhi's rise through the global rankings, the Consulate said in a post on X. He spoke at length about the increasing global interest in the upcoming AI Impact Summit 2026, which India will host on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. Mathur also spoke about India's Global South-oriented, people-centric, and inclusive AI policies, such as Bhashini, which have boosted the nation's ability to foster the world's largest startup ecosystem, with over 100,000 startups. The government's Bhashini AI platform allows translation of text, numbers

Taiwan detects 11 Chinese aircraft, 5 naval vessels around its territory

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said nine of the sorties crossed the median line into Taiwan's northern and southwestern air defence identification zone (ADIZ)

National security trial opens for Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigil organisers

A trial against two pro-democracy activists behind a group that for decades organized a vigil that commemorated people killed in Beijing's Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 opened Thursday, in another landmark case brought under a China-imposed national security law that has practically crushed protests in the semiautonomous Chinese city. Critics say their case shows that Beijing's promise to keep the city's Western-style civil liberties intact for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 has weakened over time. But the city's government said its law enforcement actions were evidence-based and strictly in accordance with the law. Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were charged with incitement to subversion in September 2021 under the law. They are accused of inciting others to organize, plan or act through unlawful means with a view to subvert state power, .

India in same group as US, China in AI development: Ashwini Vaishnaw

India, Vaishnaw said, had been ranked third in Stanford's AI preparedness and penetration rankings and second in the AI talent base rankings

China's two-track currency strategy against sanctions has lessons for India

China is shifting from dollar rivalry to creating a parallel, sanction-proof financial system through RMB trade settlement, digital currencies and deeper integration with global capital markets

China's birth-rate woes shows its age-old struggle to manage 'the masses'

From ancient times until today, an enormous population has been a foundational way for China to project its strength. But anxiety about managing so many mouths has always loomed. China has a population of 600 million people, and we must never forget this fact, Mao Zedong said in 1957, shortly before setting off a calamitous famine. China's masses, though, are getting to be less massive. And that's a problem. Birth rate numbers released Monday, the lowest since Mao's Communists established the People's Republic in 1949, are the latest development in a millennia-long struggle in China, where producing children and refreshing the population of the young have been central to the national conversation since the country's earliest days. China's population stands at 1.404 billion today, down 3 million from the previous year. And the central government's challenge remains much as it has always been: to manage a citizenry that both enhances the country's strength and claims enormous ...

Chinese tourist arrivals to Japan slump 45% amid Taiwan-related tensions

The slide comes as tensions simmer between Japan and China following Takaichi's November assertion that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could form a legal justification for Japan to deploy troops

Why an app called “Are You Dead?” has gone viral in China

A bluntly named app - “Are You Dead?” - has gone viral in China, not because it’s shocking, but because it reflects a quiet fear millions already live with.

China's birth rate hits record low: Why Chinese youth aren't having kids

Births in China fell to a record low in 2025 despite subsidies and policy shifts, as young Chinese delay marriage and parenthood amid high costs, job uncertainty and long working hours

China's population falls 17% in 2025 despite policies to boost births

How do you convince a population to have more babies after generations of a policy that limited families to just one? A decade after ending China's longtime, one-child policy, authorities are pushing a whole range of ideas and policies to try and encourage more births, ranging from cash subsidies to taxing condoms. The efforts haven't paid off yet. At least, that is what population figures released Monday show for what is now the world's second-most populous nation. China's population of 1.4 billion continued to shrink, marking the fourth straight year of decrease, new government statistics show. The total population in 2025 stood at 1.404 billion, which was 3 million less than the previous year. The statistics illustrate the stark demographic pressures the country faces. The number of new babies born was just 7.92 million in 2025, a decline of 1.62 million, or 17%. The latest birth numbers show the slight tick upwards in 2024 was not a lasting trend. Births declined for seven year

China's $7 trillion cash pile begins shifting into higher-yield assets

Investors are weighing a move into stocks, wealth management products or insurance, which would align with Beijing's efforts to cultivate sustainable market gains to support the broader economy

Steel factory explosion in China's Inner Mongolia kills 2, hospitalises 84

Chinese police detained those in charge of a steel factory in the Inner Mongolia region after an explosion on Sunday killed two people and left 84 others hospitalised. Eight other people remain unaccounted for. A pressurized storage tank designed to hold steam and high-temperature water exploded in the factory, Baotou city officials said Monday. The blast occurred at a Baogang United Steel plant in the city of Baotou around 3 pm local time Sunday and caused tremors in the surrounding areas. A rescue team was searching for the eight people who are missing, said a representative of the Baotou city's Information Office at a news conference on Monday morning. Baogang United Steel is a major state-owned company, according to state media.

Chinese envoy Yao Wen meets Bangladesh NSA Khalilur Rahman in Dhaka

Discussions included the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project and the proposed Bangladesh-China Friendship Hospital

Fly, Wild Swans is Jung Chang's return to memory and writing against power

Jung Chang revisits her life, her mother, and modern China in Fly, Wild Swans, a reflective coda to her landmark memoir and a meditation on memory, freedom and power

China's rare-earth product exports fall as tensions with Japan draw focus

Rare earths have emerged as a flash point in trade relations in recent years, with the US and other nations seeking to challenge China's dominance of their mining and processing