Day: December 6, 2023

China’s Xi Jinping meets EU leaders for high stakes talks

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EU leaders met President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, kicking off a summit during which they plan to press China on industrial overcapacity, amid signs it is pumping hundreds of billions of dollars of new funding into the manufacturing of products targeted at European markets. The EU delegation for the annual EU-China summit — the first in-person since the pandemic — is led by European Council president Charles Michel and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. During a meeting on Thursday morning, Xi urged his guests to maintain…

China-EU summit: Beijing open to discuss trade disputes in pursuit of ‘strategic trust’, analysts say

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EU officials have low expectations for the one-day summit, saying there will be no joint statement or major deliverables, as the bloc plans to take a firm stand over trade, human rights in Xinjiang and Ukraine – all issues that have strained bilateral ties for years. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on April 6, 2023. Photo: Xinhua Thursday’s summit will reflect whether the two sides share a genuine willingness for rapprochement, particularly crucial at “a new phase of uncertainty in the…

Chinese exports edge higher for first time in 6 months

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese trade myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. China’s exports rose slightly in November, breaking a six-month run of consecutive declines and giving a boost to policymakers looking to revive a flagging recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. Exports rose 0.5 per cent year on year in dollar terms, official data showed on Thursday, compared with a forecast of a 1.1 per cent decline in a Reuters poll of analysts. In October, exports dropped 6.4 per cent compared…

UN envoy to assess Cambodia’s human rights protections

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A U.N. official is in Cambodia for a five-day visit to assess its protection of human rights and freedom of expression ahead of this weekend’s International Human Rights Day. On Wednesday, as Vitit Muntarbhorn, a Thai national and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, kicked off his visit, police broke up a planned march by monks and youths from Siem Reap to the capital of Phnom Penh. And in nearby Banteay Meanchey province, police arrested four people at the offices of the Cambodian League for the Promotion…

Australia Signs Security Agreement With Papua New Guinea

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canberra, australia —  Australia and neighboring Papua New Guinea signed a bilateral security agreement Thursday that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and counterpart James Marape said showed the closeness of the two nations. The deal is designed to bolster Papua New Guinea’s internal security through more assistance in policing, defense and the judiciary as the Pacific Islands’ largest nation seeks to develop its economy. Amid strategic competition between China and the United States in the region, PNG signed a defense deal with the United States in May to upgrade its military…

China trade: exports edge up for first time in 7 months in November, but imports decline

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China’s exports edged up for the first time in seven months in November, although exporters are still experiencing consistent pressure from sluggish external demand. Exports improved modestly last month, increasing by 0.5 per cent from a year earlier to US$291.9 billion, according to customs data released on Thursday. The reading in November was better than the fall of 6.4 per cent in October, and was above the forecast by Chinese financial data provider Wind for an increase of 0.4 per cent. “China’s export growth turned positive in November. The improvement…

Chinese schools urged to step up daily health checks and work with authorities to help stop wave of respiratory illnesses

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Zhang Ligang, 53, a teacher at a primary school in Wuhan in central China, said students at her school began calling in sick in mid-November, with more than 30 students absent from a school population of over 400 at the peak. She said that so far one class at the school has been closed. “I feel the wave this year is less severe than last winter’s outbreak,” she said, referring to the surge of Covid-19 cases after Beijing abruptly relaxed zero-Covid restrictions. Get a flu shot, health expert says as…

Death, the taxi and the Tokyo pigeon killer

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. In an episode of the first world war television comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth, the catastrophic absurdity of war is laid bare in parody by a court martial centred around the murder of a pigeon.  Outside the courtroom, the unmitigated slaughter of the Flanders trenches is vaporising blood, treasure and sanity at a pace that shames humanity. Inside, officers have the time, comfort and resources to prosecute a man and…

China’s college graduates to hit record high 11.79 million in 2024, adding to job market pressure

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China’s college graduates exceeded 10 million for the first time in 2022. The jobless rate for the 16 to 24 age group has remained at elevated level, hitting a record high of 21.3 per cent in June before Beijing suspended the release of the data, citing the need to further improve and optimise the survey. “Companies will inevitably scale back their hiring needs, to reduce employment costs under the current economic uncertainties, especially the young inexperienced college graduates,” said Mao Yufei, an associate researcher with the China Institute for Employment…

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Meets Virtually With G7 Leaders

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday met virtually with leaders from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, telling them that Moscow is counting on Western unity to “collapse” next year. Attendees, including Kyiv’s key allies such as U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. leader Rishi Sunak, said they remained committed to supporting Ukraine. Their comments came amid fears that Western support for Ukraine could wane as Kyiv makes limited progress on the battlefield. “We are determined to support an independent, democratic Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders,” leaders of…