Estee Lauder has downgraded its full-year sales forecast, with its CEO explaining that Asia travel retail has recovered more gradually from the pandemic than other regions.
Markets

Estee Lauder, Vale and Qualcomm among losers from slow China recovery

Sluggish investment and consumption in key market slam consumer stocks

3 June 2023
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz poses with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in November 2022. (Pool via Reuters)
Opinion

Germany can ignore anxious CEOs while setting China policy

Economic stakes are much lower than often portrayed

1 June 2023
An electronic board in Shanghai gives stock market information. Draft Chinese guidelines in late April targeted private funds that invest in securities including bonds and listed stocks.
Caixin

China's proposed curbs on private securities funds spark controversy

Draft rules raise concerns over freedom to execute investment strategies

1 June 2023
A construction site for the Chinese-backed Nairobi Expressway, seen in 2021. China's Belt and Road Initiative has infrastructure projects from Asia to Africa and Europe.
Belt and Road

Along China's Belt and Road, lenders' problem debt mounts

Troubled loans grew fourfold during pandemic as borrowers hit hard times

1 June 2023
Workers assemble car seats at a factory in Shanghai, China: The country's production index dipped in May.
Economy

China manufacturing PMI dips in May, falls short of expectations

Key manufacturing gauge underscores unstable post-COVID recovery

31 May 2023
China's network of central-government-managed expressways is set to grow 11% between 2021 and 2027.
Politics

China keeps pouring money into highways, railroads and airports

5-year plan calls for double-digit expansion of transport networks

31 May 2023
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a media roundtable in Taipei on May 30. (Photo by Lauly Li)
Semiconductors

Don't underrate China's ability to catch up in chips: Nvidia CEO

Jensen Huang says Beijing will foster competitive companies amid U.S. tensions

30 May 2023
Workers gather at the start of their shift at the construction site of the new Workers' Stadium in Beijing, in September 2022.
Caixin

China's Jiangsu province eases age limit for construction workers

Facing labor shortage, authorities let people work past national retirement age

30 May 2023
China is home to more than 300 million smokers and China Tobacco controls 97% of the market.
Caixin

China's tobacco monopoly swept up in corruption probes

Huge profits, vertical management structure seen as breeding ground for crime

30 May 2023
(Screenshot from Pinglu Canal Group footage)
Asia Insight

China's massive new canal aims for closer ASEAN connectivity

G-7 nations are not the only ones 'de-risking' as global trade tensions mount

30 May 2023
People visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall in Beijing on April 30 during the five-day Labor Day holiday.
Caixin

China's holiday spending boom masks patchy recovery

Weaknesses in areas such as manufacturing and real estate worry analysts

29 May 2023
World Bank President David Malpass speaks with Nikkei on May 20 on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan. He will step down in June. (Photo by Kosuke Takami)
Interview

World Bank chief makes final appeal to China on developing nation debt

David Malpass urges Beijing, other parties to move faster toward agreement on relief

29 May 2023
Chinese stocks have lost steam amid growing economic uncertainty.
Markets

Triple headwinds bear down on China stocks and yuan

Slow recovery, deflation risk and nervous investors make for tough economic management

27 May 2023
Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai. Barclays described China's economy as one that was losing steam.
Finance

U.S. banks' China ambitions wane as political tensions linger

Sluggish post-COVID recovery also taints market once called the 'holy grail'

27 May 2023
Senior officials from the 14 IPEF members will meet in Detroit, seeking to hammer out the specifics of their framework. (Photo by Satsuki Kaneko)
Indo-Pacific

IPEF nations to pursue first economic agreements in U.S. meeting

Indo-Pacific bloc seeks concrete measures to cut China reliance in chips, metals

26 May 2023
The yuan is now the fifth-most used currency for global foreign exchange transactions. In March, China used more yuan in its cross-border transactions than dollars for the first time.
Opinion

U.S. will come to regret holding back China at the IMF

Washington cannot expect Beijing's help with dollar or inflation

26 May 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden has stressed that a "thaw" in relations with China would occur soon.
International relations

U.S.-China economic talks resume while defense dialogue stalls

Xi laying groundwork to attend APEC meeting in San Francisco, expert says

26 May 2023
The Friendship Bridge and the Broken Bridge are illuminated at night over the Yalu River, which separates North Korea's Sinuiju from China, in Dandong
N Korea at crossroads

From wigs to seafood, North Korea scrambles for China trade

Exports return to pre-COVID levels, but new flare-up in Chinese infections poses risk

25 May 2023
A lot in China's Guangdong province is filled with vehicles for gig drivers. (Photo by Yusuke Hinata)
China tech

As China's unemployed flock to gig driving, cities impose limits

Post-COVID manufacturing job boom fails to materialize, creating a glut of drivers

25 May 2023
The Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) started operations in 2016 with a focus on funding sustainable, green infrastructure in developing countries.
Finance

China-based AIIB aims to launch emergency relief fund

Multilateral bank's crisis reserve comes as it wraps up COVID-19 recovery facility

24 May 2023
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, left, greets Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin before a session of the Russian-Chinese Business Forum in Shanghai on May 23.
International relations

Russia PM visits China with U.S.-sanctioned delegation

Mishustin to meet Xi as trade grows between two nations targeted by West

23 May 2023
A visitor is silhouetted against a Chinese Communist Party flag displayed at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on Oct. 13, 2022.
Caixin

Three things to know about China's new financial commissions

Party's own bodies to keep financial system aligned with political goals

23 May 2023
The Ministry of Finance, pictured, launched a comprehensive survey of local governments' off-the-books borrowing.
Caixin

China's effort to cut $10tn of 'hidden debt' faces uphill climb

Despite gains in some provinces, few resources on hand for local governments

23 May 2023
The floating LNG terminal Neptune was commissioned in Germany during January. The country raced to secure gas after supplies from Russia were cut off.
Energy

Natural gas prices in Asia fall to pre-Ukraine war levels on China shift

Beijing buys more LNG long-term contracts as it seeks energy stability

23 May 2023
Casino Lisboa in Macao is operated by SJM Holdings. First-quarter gaming revenue in the city got a boost from China's reopening, but uncertainties linger. 
Travel & Leisure

Macao casinos' reopening boost blunted by junket crackdown

Recovery in gaming pushes up revenue but high rollers stay away

22 May 2023