Tag: China

China’s exports growth missed expectations in May, dragged down by a sharp decline in shipments to the U.S., with analysts saying effects of the Beijing-Washington trade truce will be visible in June data.

China’s car sales rose for a fourth consecutive month in May, but slower increases across major automakers highlighted concerns over aggressive price competition in the world’s largest auto market.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that it was “extremely hard” to make a deal with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, at a time when the White House has been suggesting the two leaders could talk this week amid rising trade tensions.

China’s manufacturing activity in May shrank at its fastest pace since September 2022, a private survey showed Tuesday, as a sharper decline in new export orders highlighted the impact of prohibitive U.S. tariffs.

China on Monday refuted Washington’s claims that it had broken the Geneva trade agreement, instead accusing the U.S. for breaching deal terms, signaling talks between the worlds top two economies have taken a turn for the worse.

President Donald Trump on Friday said that China has “totally violated its” preliminary trade agreement with the United States, and suggested he would take action in response.

The United States has ordered a broad swathe of companies to stop shipping goods to China without a license and revoked licenses already granted to certain suppliers, said three people familiar with the matter.

Shares in Chinese automakers such as BYD, Nio and Geely tumbled on Monday after industry leader BYD offered fresh incentives on over 20 models and the CEO of Great Wall Motors warned that the world’s largest auto industry was in an unhealthy state.

President Xi Jinping’s government is considering a new version of its master plan to boost production of high-end technological goods, according to people familiar with the matter, signaling its intention to keep a firm grip on manufacturing as President Donald Trump looks to bring more factories back to the US.

The intense trade war with the U.S. has left lasting scars on Chinese exporters with many looking to diversify away from the U.S., despite the temporary tariff reprieves, a private survey found.

Retail sales rose 5.1% from a year earlier in April, missing analysts’ estimates of 5.5% growth, according to a Reuters poll. Industrial output grew 6.1% year on year in April, stronger than analysts’ expectations for a 5.5% rise, while slowing from the 7.7% jump in March.

Chinese trade envoy Li Chenggang described talks with the U.S. as “good” after their first high-level engagement in Switzerland on May 12 led to a thawing in trade tensions. However, both sides have continued to trade thinly veiled swipes.

The U.S. and China on Monday agreed to temporarily suspend most tariffs on each other’s goods in a move that shows a major thawing of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

President Trump recently hinted at a possible 80% tariff on China in a social media post. The statement, which was made on Truth Social, was vague and open to interpretation, causing confusion among investors.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer will meet China’s economic tsar He Lifeng in Switzerland this weekend for talks that could be the first step toward resolving a trade war disrupting the global economy.

China has announced a barrage of measures meant to counter the blow to its economy from U.S. President Donald Trump ’s trade war, as the two sides prepare for talks later this week.

China’s factory activity contracted at the fastest pace in 16 months in April, a factory survey showed on Wednesday, keeping alive calls for further stimulus as Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” package of tariffs snapped two months of recovery.

Senior Chinese officials on Monday outlined plans to support jobs and help exporters, while hinting at the possibility of more stimulus in light of rising trade tensions with the U.S.

China plans to help struggling businesses with targeted measures in the face of “increased external shocks,” according to a readout of a meeting chaired Friday by President Xi Jinping.

 U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration is talking with China to strike a tariff deal and that Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him, according to a Time magazine interview published on Friday, as Beijing has so far disputed the U.S. characterization of talks.