https://www.scmp.com/rss/523271/feed Willamette University is a private liberal arts university with its main campus in Salem, Oregon, and additional facilities in Portland. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings China’s central bank chief has urged the IMF to serve as a bulwark against “rising unilateralism”, at a time when escalating trade restrictions and an intensified Middle East conflict threaten energy and food security. The International Monetary Fund should “take a clear stand against protectionism and defend multilateralism”, People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said in a statement to the fund’s International Monetary and Financial Committee, for its 53rd meeting, held on Thursday and... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3350718/china-presses-imf-quota-reform-better-surveillance-advanced-economies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3350718/china-presses-imf-quota-reform-better-surveillance-advanced-economies?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:05:04 +0000 Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings US President Donald Trump’s reported threat that he may postpone a long-awaited visit to China – unless Beijing helps unblock the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz – may put the current trade talks in Paris at risk by sidelining earlier priorities and potential deals, analysts say. As the US-Israeli war in Iran enters its third week and disrupts global energy markets, Trump has reportedly urged Beijing to send warships to help reopen the strait and ease oil shipments. About 20 per cent of the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3346784/why-trumps-push-china-help-reopen-strait-hormuz-may-hurt-trade-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3346784/why-trumps-push-china-help-reopen-strait-hormuz-may-hurt-trade-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:30:11 +0000 Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings Importers in the United States are expected to front-load goods from China after the Supreme Court struck down the use of emergency powers as the legal basis for US President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, potentially opening a brief window of relief, analysts said. Companies selling products made in China, or using Chinese raw materials, were likely to place larger orders in the coming weeks amid uncertainty over whether Trump’s pledge to raise a new tariff – from 10 per cent to 15 per... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3344893/trumps-tariff-setback-could-spark-surge-chinese-imports-us-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3344893/trumps-tariff-setback-could-spark-surge-chinese-imports-us-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:00:13 +0000 Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu China has defended the World Trade Organization’s non-discrimination principle after the United States and the European Union recently proposed reforms that could weaken it – though analysts say the rule would likely remain despite deepening divisions within the global trading system. Beijing called for “most-favoured nation treatment” to remain the “bedrock” of the WTO, in a new position paper on reforming the international body. The rule mandates that any trade advantage granted to one country... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3344156/china-defends-wtos-most-favoured-nation-principle-after-us-eu-challenge-rule?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3344156/china-defends-wtos-most-favoured-nation-principle-after-us-eu-challenge-rule?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 13:00:09 +0000 Mia Nurmamat Mia Nurmamat China’s trade with some South American nations is accelerating after the opening of Peru’s Chancay port, underscoring Beijing's push to secure resources and bolster industrial supply chains under the Belt and Road Initiative, analysts said. The surge in two-way trade builds on years of Chinese investment and comes as the United States seeks to roll back Beijing’s influence in the region under a strategy US President Donald Trump has called the “Donroe” doctrine – invoking a 19th-century policy... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3342512/trumps-south-america-threats-fizzle-chinas-trade-surges-powered-peru-port?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3342512/trumps-south-america-threats-fizzle-chinas-trade-surges-powered-peru-port?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 23:30:07 +0000 Ralph Jennings,Kandy Wong Ralph Jennings,Kandy Wong Canada and China appear ready to kick-start trade talks after years of strained relations, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Beijing this week coinciding with both countries questioning their once stronger ties with the United States, analysts said. Carney travelled to Beijing on Tuesday for his first official visit to the country, where he will discuss trade, agriculture and energy with officials from Canada’s second-largest single-country trading partner. Liang Yan, a... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3339747/china-canada-poised-reset-trade-ties-after-trumps-tariffs-force-rethink?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3339747/china-canada-poised-reset-trade-ties-after-trumps-tariffs-force-rethink?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:00:11 +0000 Kandy Wong,Ralph Jennings,Xinyi Wu Kandy Wong,Ralph Jennings,Xinyi Wu Washington’s secondary sanctions on countries trading with Iran are likely to push up China’s oil import costs in the short term and send a dire warning to Beijing’s policymakers, who analysts said need to urgently find ways to protect the country’s strategic interests abroad. The shock waves arrived on Monday, when US President Donald Trump said a 25 per cent tariff would be imposed immediately on all goods and services imported from any country that “does business” with Iran, linking the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3339731/will-trumps-iran-tariffs-force-china-reshape-its-trade-tehran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3339731/will-trumps-iran-tariffs-force-china-reshape-its-trade-tehran?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 11:00:11 +0000 Mia Nurmamat Mia Nurmamat China’s efforts to rein in cutthroat price wars in the solar industry have had the unintended result of creating risks of alleged price rigging, highlighting what analysts describe as an “uneasy balance” between the government’s anti-involution campaign and anti-monopoly policies. The photovoltaic industry has been among the hardest hit by vicious price wars – known as involution, or neijuan-style competition – that have affected several sectors in China in recent years, squeezing companies’... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3339572/chinas-solar-firms-once-deemed-too-competitive-now-face-monopoly-accusations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3339572/chinas-solar-firms-once-deemed-too-competitive-now-face-monopoly-accusations?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:00:10 +0000 Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu China is tapping the brakes on some subway expansions, including in certain affluent cities – a decision that analysts said reflects a shift from the debt-fuelled infrastructure boom of the past to a new era of fiscal discipline and investment efficiency. Rich eastern hubs such as Ningbo and Suzhou are among those facing regulatory roadblocks in securing Beijing’s approval for new lines as policymakers scrutinise loss-making projects. In an online response to public inquiries, the Ningbo... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3337825/chinese-cities-face-subway-delays-beijing-targets-wasteful-spending-high-debt-levels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3337825/chinese-cities-face-subway-delays-beijing-targets-wasteful-spending-high-debt-levels?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 02:00:08 +0000 Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings Southeast Asian economies, along with China, Japan and South Korea, have a “transformative” opportunity to enter the world’s critical mineral supply chain, said Yasuto Watanabe, director of the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO). Critical minerals – essential raw materials for the production of hi-tech gadgets, cars and aerospace equipment – will make the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) supply chain “more resilient and sustainable”, said Watanabe, who also... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3332830/us-china-tensions-offer-asean-transformative-critical-minerals-opportunity-economist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3332830/us-china-tensions-offer-asean-transformative-critical-minerals-opportunity-economist?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2025 01:00:32 +0000 Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu In 2021, when most of his peers were settling into retirement, 64-year-old Li Ming chose a different path. The law professor – already retired from a leading Beijing university – boarded a six-hour flight from the bustling capital to Tumxuk, a small city deep in western Xinjiang. Li has remained there since, teaching multiple courses to hundreds of students at a local university as part of China’s Silver Age Teaching Programme – a sweeping state policy that mobilises a growing pool of retired... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3331086/how-chinas-retired-teachers-are-helping-bridge-urban-rural-education-divide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3331086/how-chinas-retired-teachers-are-helping-bridge-urban-rural-education-divide?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2025 06:00:15 +0000 Mia Nurmamat Mia Nurmamat China’s geopolitical rivalry with the West is expanding into new frontiers – including the polar regions, outer space, cyberspace and the deep sea – as Beijing unveils a flurry of scientific milestones and state-driven ambitions that analysts say are challenging traditional Western dominance across these critical domains. On Monday, China announced that its independently designed and built polar research vessel – the world’s first manned deep-sea-operations depot ship with icebreaking... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3330611/chinas-geopolitical-competition-expands-new-frontiers-scientific-milestones?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3330611/chinas-geopolitical-competition-expands-new-frontiers-scientific-milestones?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 13:00:10 +0000 Mia Nurmamat,Kandy Wong Mia Nurmamat,Kandy Wong China and the United States have unleashed a barrage of economic sanctions and export control measures in recent days – and the tit-for-tat exchange is unlikely to end soon as the two sides seek leverage in ongoing talks over trade and technology issues, analysts said. On Thursday, Washington imposed sanctions on a slew of Chinese entities, including an independent refinery and terminal, alleging they were involved in purchasing or shipping Iranian oil. Just hours earlier, Beijing had issued six... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3328559/tit-tat-response-why-china-unleashed-fresh-sanction-export-curb-blitz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3328559/tit-tat-response-why-china-unleashed-fresh-sanction-export-curb-blitz?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Oct 2025 15:00:08 +0000 Mia Nurmamat,Sylvia Ma Mia Nurmamat,Sylvia Ma Just hours before US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to settle the tumult surrounding TikTok, Beijing launched a sudden salvo in its ongoing trade war with Washington. As Trump’s order brought the fate of the popular short-video app closer to a resolution, a number of American firms were being hit with trade curbs. It not only marked the latest example of bilateral tensions flaring up during Trump’s second presidential term, analysts say it also reflected a pattern in the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3327266/dare-fight-how-chinas-refined-art-deal-reflects-years-dealing-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3327266/dare-fight-how-chinas-refined-art-deal-reflects-years-dealing-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Sep 2025 13:00:13 +0000 Ralph Jennings,Kandy Wong Ralph Jennings,Kandy Wong Despite its vague wording, the new China-US framework deal on popular video-sharing app TikTok represents an important step in advancing bilateral talks and keeping ties warm ahead of any future meetings between the world’s two largest economies, according to analysts. And they added that Beijing could potentially try to leverage the TikTok deal by seeking tariff cuts or relief from hi-tech export controls. Officials from both powers confirmed after negotiations in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday and... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3325752/peeling-us-china-tiktok-deal-analysts-see-layers-leverage-tariffs-and-soybeans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3325752/peeling-us-china-tiktok-deal-analysts-see-layers-leverage-tariffs-and-soybeans?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Sep 2025 13:00:16 +0000 Ralph Jennings,Xinyi Wu Ralph Jennings,Xinyi Wu Despite a slowdown in automotive shipments from China to Russia, there is room for them to advance trade settled in yuan and roubles as both countries continue to be pressured away from the US market, analysts said on Tuesday during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the world’s second-largest economy. Russians want consumer goods, personal electronics and common machinery that are difficult to import from the West because of trade sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3324077/despite-dip-chinas-exports-russia-new-deals-show-room-grow-amid-us-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3324077/despite-dip-chinas-exports-russia-new-deals-show-room-grow-amid-us-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 15:00:09 +0000 Yujie Xue,Victoria Bela,Dannie Peng Yujie Xue,Victoria Bela,Dannie Peng China, the biggest maker of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage, is in a leading position in the new race to develop two new technologies – sodium-ion batteries and solid-state. The new technologies hold out the promise of lower costs, higher capacity and less fire risk than traditional lithium-ion batteries, which could boost adoption of EVs and renewable energy sources. Energy-storage batteries are vital in managing fluctuating power supplies from weather-dependent solar... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3317638/china-plugs-next-generation-batteries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3317638/china-plugs-next-generation-batteries?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:00:07 +0000 Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings Beijing has renewed its warning to other countries not to strike deals with the United States on terms that come at China’s expense – ahead of Washington’s looming deadline to conclude tariff negotiations with most of its trade partners. Chinese officials are concerned that nations from Europe to Southeast Asia may enter into trade agreements with the US that divert supply chains, reduce bilateral trade with China or compel governments to exit Beijing-led projects, analysts said on Monday. “The... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3316406/why-china-sees-us-trade-deals-partners-threat-and-how-it-could-react?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3316406/why-china-sees-us-trade-deals-partners-threat-and-how-it-could-react?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:30:15 +0000