China

President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have used their first formal meeting to discuss concerns about China’s growing military assertiveness

Despite global disruptions of supply chains during the pandemic, China’s trade surplus in 2021 rose to US$676.43 billion.

China’s tech giants Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and Meituan have all started investing heavily into chip development.

Markets in Asia-Pacific mostly rose on Thursday as China cut its key lending rates.

China domestic smartphone shipments jumped 15.9% in 2021, but remained below pre-pandemic levels as the chip shortage and Covid outbreaks held back growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 540 points after Goldman Sachs shares sold off as the investment bank missed earnings expectations.

Hong Kong authorities say they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected

The partnership with Meituan comes as Starbucks faces increasing competition from well-funded domestic tea and coffee chains in China such as HeyTea and Manner.

The tie-up marks a significant step up in China expansion for Shopify and is another step in JD’s internationalization efforts.

The ambition highlights China’s push to get ahead in new technology as it continues a rivalry with the U.S. in areas from semiconductors to AI.

Japan’s central bank left short-term interest rate target unchanged at -0.1%, in line with market expectations, but raised near-term inflation expectations.

The Chinese government has previously denied any wrongdoing or human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

China has made boosting self-sufficiency as well as research and development into semiconductors a top priority, prompting tech giants to invest into chips.

His comments come at a time of simmering tensions between China and the U.S. over Taiwan and as fears escalate over a possible Russian incursion into Ukraine.

China’s central bank unexpectedly cut loan rates on Monday — a move that will likely put more downward pressure on the Chinese currency, one analyst said.

European stocks closed higher on Monday as investors digested a string of corporate news and the latest growth data out of China.

The challenges has been “with us for about a year now,” said Katrina Ell is a senior economist for Asia-Pacific at Moody’s Analytics.

Numbers from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed the Chinese economy grew by 8.1% in 2021, slightly below the market’s expectation.

Chinese electric carmakers like Xpeng to Nio are turning to chips from Nvidia to power their semi-autonomous driving systems to ramp up competition with Tesla.

Despite a surge in VC investment in the U.K and Europe, according to Dealroom data, the region has yet to create a tech titan.