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When I published a bullish book about Asia in 2016, I felt I had good answers to all the sceptical questions except one. What about China’s demography? The cliché was that China will “grow old before it grows rich”. Like many clichés, it turns out to have some truth to it.  For all the talk in

China is expected to make the biggest cuts this year to two of its core lending rates, as pressure mounts on policymakers and banks to reverse a trend of slowing momentum and revive flagging demand in the world’s second-biggest economy. The People’s Bank of China is set to announce reductions to both one-year and five-year

Some of the UK’s biggest companies are seeking to separate a prominent boardroom diversity campaign from the CBI after they cut ties with the crisis-hit business lobby group.  FTSE 100 groups Aviva, Schroders and Sage as well as Big Four consultancies Deloitte and EY are among the companies that have been involved in the talks,

China’s securities regulator has announced a package of market-friendly reforms to try to boost investment and trading after months of underwhelming economic growth that has hit stocks and bonds. The measures, which the China Securities Regulatory Commission said were designed to “boost capital market investor confidence”, indicate Beijing’s concern over the country’s economic and financial

European stocks rose in morning trade on Wednesday, rebounding after hitting five-week lows in the previous session, as investors shrugged off further evidence of weakness in the Chinese economy. Europe’s region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.2 per cent, led by consumer cyclical stocks. France’s Cac 40 was up 0.4 per cent and Germany’s Dax added

As 2022 drew to a close, Binance co-founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao appeared to have the world at his feet. Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of Binance’s biggest rival FTX, went to Zhao in November last year hoping the Binance chief would bail out his own exchange. Zhao declined, sealing FTX’s fate. On November 10, one

“France cannot be France without greatness,” wrote Charles de Gaulle in the opening of his memoirs. His nation, he insisted, must always be in “the first rank”. Vladimir Putin feels the same way about Russia. Back when I was still able to visit that country, Fyodor Lukyanov — a foreign policy thinker close to Putin

Sam Bankman-Fried has been taken into custody after a federal judge found that the FTX founder probably attempted to tamper with witnesses on two occasions while awaiting trial on fraud charges stemming from the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. In a brief written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court on Friday, Judge Lewis

From September, Russian high school students in the 11th grade — aged roughly 17 — will use a new textbook for studying modern history. Because the book covers events up to the present day, they will learn that “Ukraine is an ultranationalist state. Today, any dissent in Ukraine is severely persecuted, opposition is banned, everything

US inflation in July is expected to have risen at roughly the same pace as in June, suggesting that price pressures in the world’s biggest economy are continuing to ease and strengthening the case for the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady at its next meeting in September.  The consumer price index (CPI) is

Italy said late on Tuesday it would limit the impact of its planned windfall tax on banks to ensure financial stability, in an apparent partial backtrack after the surprise levy plan caused bank shares to drop sharply. The finance ministry said in a statement that the tax on net interest income would be capped at

China’s trade slumped in July, with exports and imports falling more sharply than economists forecast, adding to concerns about growth prospects in the world’s second-biggest economy more than six months after Beijing eased pandemic restrictions. Exports declined by 14.5 per cent year on year in dollar terms, official data showed on Tuesday, the steepest fall

UK house prices edged down in July to an average of £285,044, marking a fourth consecutive monthly decline, but with the market showing increased activity, according to data from Halifax. The average house price fell 0.3 per cent last month, broadly in line with a 0.2 per cent drop reported last week by rival lender

Chinese authorities are putting pressure on prominent local economists to avoid discussing negative trends such as deflation, as concerns mount about Beijing’s ability to boost a flagging recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy. Multiple local brokerage analysts and researchers at leading universities as well as state-run think-tanks said they had been instructed by regulators, their

The US and China are opening new lines of communication to tackle contentious issues, in one of the first signs of progress towards stabilising relations since secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Beijing in June. According to three people familiar with the situation, Washington and Beijing will create two working groups to focus on Asia-Pacific

Ukraine attacked the oil export infrastructure that helps fund Moscow’s invasion for the first time on Friday, using a drone strike to damage a Russian naval vessel outside the port of Novorossiysk. Ukraine’s security services, in collaboration with the country’s navy, carried out the sea drone strikes outside the port, according to two Ukrainian sources with knowledge

Stocks continued to slide on Thursday following Wall Street’s biggest one-day drop since April, as investors prepared for the latest rise in interest rates from the Bank of England. The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.6 per cent in early trade, on course for a third successive session of declines. The index has lost nearly

US prosecutors have charged Donald Trump in connection with attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, the second federal indictment brought against the former president in as many months. Trump was charged with four criminal counts including conspiracy to defraud the US, to obstruct an official proceeding and to threaten individual rights, according

UK house prices have dropped by the largest amount in 14 years, according to fresh data from Nationwide. Prices for July fell 0.2 per cent on the previous month and 3.8 per cent on the same month last year, the largest fall since 2009, the Nationwide house price index showed. The average cost of a home in the UK is now

UK mortgage approvals rose unexpectedly in June, despite further increases in interest rates. Bank of England statistics showed net mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 54,700 from 51,100 the previous month, while approvals for remortgaging rose to 39,100 from 34,100. Analysts had expected the housing market to slow in a month when stubbornly high