South China Morning Post
Advertisement
Advertisement
US-China trade war: All stories
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a working dinner after the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 1. Photo: Reuters
EconomyChina Economy

US-China trade war dominates SCMP’s top 10 economy stories of 2018

  • Re-live the top 10 economy stories of 2018, which were dominated by the ongoing trade war between Xi Jinping’s China and Donald Trump’s United States.
US-China trade war: All stories
SCMP Reporter
SCMP Reporter
Why you can trust SCMP

It is safe to say that 2018 was the year of the trade war, with stories about the United States and China dispute proving a huge draw for readers of the South China Morning Post's Economy section.

From the opening gambits of US President Donald Trump's tariffs in July, to a relative ceasefire in Buenos Aires in December, the soap opera has threatened to destabilise the global economy, but has also made for riveting reading.

With top level negotiations planned in January and further tariffs on Chinese goods set to come into force in March if no deal is reached after the 90-day truce, we expect this story to roll well into 2019.

In fact, we may just be getting started.

But for now, we review the most read stories from 2018.

Fresh ideas about how to fight the trade war with the US have begun to fly in China after Beijing was unable to respond in full to the latest escalation in the dispute because it is rapidly running out of room to use tariffs as a weapon. Photo: AP

10. China’s running out of US goods to tax, so what other ways can it hit back in the trade war?

  • Debate started to focus on alternative ways to hurt America, ranging from targeting specific imports with higher tariffs to making the exports the US wants the most more expensive.
Read the full story here. 
Beijing and Washington are talking frequently as they nail down the details for President Xi Jinping’s dinner meeting with US President Donald Trump in Buenos Aires on December 1, with a major issue being the number of aides each leader will be allowed to bring to the parley, sources said. Photo: AFP

9. All eyes on Buenos Aires as Beijing and Washington hammer out the details for the high-stakes summit between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump

  • Xi and Trump each had as many as six aides joining them at the December 1 dinner after the G20 forum.
  • The outcome was predicted to affect the direction of Sino-US relations and influence global economic trajectories.
Read the full story here.
China’s top leadership has outlined a new game plan for the private economy and the stock market as the country braces for further hits to the economy from the trade war with the United States. Photo: Xinhua

8. China’s top leaders prepare for worse as economy takes hits from US trade war

  • Politburo offered renewed support for the private economy and stock market, and saw more downward pressure on growth ahead.
Read the full story here. 
A special clause in the new US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement would give Washington a near-veto over any attempt by Canada or Mexico to agree to a free-trade deal with a “non-market economy”, in what analysts have said is a major threat to China’s position in the global trading system. Photo: Reuters

7. China ‘threatened with isolation’ by veto written into US-Mexico-Canada trade deal

  • A clause allowing any member of the North American trio to effectively block each-other’s free-trade deals seemed to be aimed at China.
Read the full story here. 
China has hit back at fresh US tariffs on Chinese goods, announcing its own additional duties on US$60 billion worth of American imports as the trade war escalates between the world’s two biggest economies. Photo: Bloomberg

6. US-China trade war heats up as Beijing hits back at US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs

  • Beijing retaliated with duties on US$60 billion of US goods as the trade war continued to escalate.
Read the full story here. 
The trade war instigated by the United States is actually helping China achieve one of its coveted long-term financial goals – the greater use of its currency, the yuan, in international commerce and financial transactions. Photo: AFP

5. US-China trade war is helping to boost use of yuan in international transactions

  • Overseas holdings of Chinese currency by institutions, individuals and central banks are on the rise.
Read the full story here.
China announced a big cut in the amount of cash commercial banks have to put aside at the central bank, a move that will make an extra US$110 billion available for lending as Beijing worked to shore up confidence in its economy and markets. Photo: AP

4. China’s central bank to pump US$110 billion into economy as US trade war intensifies

  • Move to free up more cash for lending aimed at generating momentum after economy started to stall amid growing trade conflict with Washington.
Read the full story here.
Massive domestic debt has long been a headache for Beijing, but it is China’s growing external US dollar leverage that is being underestimated and it could possibly trigger a major financial crisis, according to Kevin Lai, chief economist for Asia excluding Japan at Japanese investment bank and securities brokerage Daiwa Capital Markets. Photo: Reuters

3. China is underestimating its US$3 trillion dollar debt and this could trigger a financial crisis, says economist

  • Property developers and other mainland companies and investors that borrowed dollar-denominated debt at low US interest rates were facing repayment problems due to Federal Reserve rate increases and stronger dollar.
Read the full story here.
China’s middle class is something of a mythical entity, with wide-ranging estimates of its size and economic power. Optimists believe a large and growing middle class has the ability to lift China and even the world to a more prosperous level, while pessimists foresee an increasingly burdened group that could cause the economy to stagnate and even lead to political chaos. In this, the third of a four-part series, The South China Morning Post continues to examine the economic and political implications of its evolution. Photo: EPA

2. Desperate Chinese middle class take big risks to move money, and themselves, overseas

  • Growing worries were pushing more wealthy mainlanders to seek property and long-stay visas overseas – but for some, it had turned into a nightmare.
Read the full story here.
Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed to a 90-day trade truce to allow for further talks to address US concerns after China committed to buying a “very substantial” amount of American exports, the White House said in a statement. Photo: AFP

1. US and China reach 90-day trade tariff ceasefire after China agrees to buy ‘very substantial’ amount of American goods

  • Donald Trump held off on raising the tariff rate on US$200 billion of Chinese imports for 90 days to allow for talks to address US concerns on Chinese trade practices, the White House said.
Read the full story here. 
Post