Page 17 - China

Boyu Capital seeks around $1.4 billion loan for Starbucks China takeover

Starbucks announced on Tuesday that it will sell a majority stake in its China retail operations, which are valued at $4 billion

China started reducing reliance on the West years before Trump tariffs

Two decades of sustained effort to build national self-reliance and minimize imports have antagonized trade partners but fortified what a senior adviser called Beijing's "bulwark" against conflicts

Starbucks sells 60% stake in China retail business in $4 billion deal

Starbucks has said it is forming a joint venture with Chinese investment firm Boyu Capital to operate Starbucks stores in China. Under the agreement, Boyu will pay USD 4 billion to acquire a 60 per cent interest in Starbucks' retail operations in China. Starbucks will retain a 40 per cent interest in the joint venture and will own and licence the Starbucks brand. Starbucks entered China almost 30 years ago, and has been credited with growing coffee culture in the country. China is Starbucks' second-largest market outside the US, with 8,000 locations. But in recent years, the Seattle coffee giant has struggled in China with cheap, fast-growing Chinese startups like Luckin Coffee. As a result, Starbucks has been looking for a partner to help it grow its business in China, particularly in smaller cities. In July, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said the company was evaluating around 20 offers for a stake in the company.

Thomas Cook, SOTC revive China tours as Indian travel demand surges

New China portfolio by Thomas Cook India and SOTC offers curated itineraries for leisure, MICE, and bleisure travellers as demand rebounds with renewed flight connectivity

As China ages, inheritance transfers give rise to family disputes

With the Chinese society aging and the slowing economy, the middle class is starting to argue over money as well, tearing apart long-held social norms such as family harmony and filial duty

Pressure and burnout shadow Xiaomi's rapid pivot from smartphones to EVs

In April, Chinese media reported that Xiaomi was requiring employees to work at least 11.5 hours a day, and those who worked less than eight hours were told to submit a formal explanation

China's October factory growth slows as new orders weaken: PMI data

On the price side, the divergence of rising raw material prices and falling finished goods prices remains, keeping corporate profit margins under pressure

Taiwan reports 5 PLAN vessels, 6 PLA aircraft sorties near territory

MND stated that one out of the six sorties crossed the median line and entered the country's eastern and southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone

Centre to meet with automakers, others on rare-earth-free EV motors

Amid China's restriction of rare-earth permanent magnet exports to India, the ministry is looking into ways to reduce India's dependence on other countries

Canada, Philippines to sign pact to boost drills, deter China's aggression

Canada and the Philippines, both staunch critics of China's increasingly coercive actions in the disputed South China Sea, were to sign a key defence agreement on Sunday on joint readiness drills and expand security alliances to deter aggression, Philippine officials said. Canada and other Western nations have been bolstering their military presence in the Indo-Pacific to help promote the rule of law and expand trade and investment in the region. The moves dovetail with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s efforts to build defence ties with other countries to help his country's underfunded military face a militarily superior China in the disputed waters. There was no immediate comment from China, which has accused the Philippines of being a troublemaker and a saboteur of regional stability over joint patrols and combat drills with the United States and other countries in the South China Sea. Beijing claims the waterway, a major trade route, virtually in its entirety despite a 2016 ...

US urges ASEAN to be firm in countering China in South China Sea

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday urged Southeast Asian nations to stand firm and strengthen their maritime forces to counter China's increasingly destabilising actions in the South China Sea. Speaking at a meeting in Malaysia with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Hegseth reiterated US concern over what he called China's aggression in the disputed waters that intensified in recent months, citing incidents such as the ramming of vessels and the use of water cannons. The South China Sea remains one of Asia's most volatile flashpoints. Beijing claims almost the entire region, while ASEAN members, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim ownership of coastal areas and features. The Philippines, a key US ally, has had frequent clashes with China's maritime fleet. Manila has repeatedly urged a stronger regional response, but ASEAN has traditionally sought to balance caution with economic ties to Beijing, the region's largest ...

South Korea seeks greater Chinese efforts to bring N Korea back to talks

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to make greater efforts to persuade North Korea to return to talks, as the two leaders on Saturday agreed on a set of agreements to expand their economic and other ties. Their one-on-one meeting came hours after they and other Asia-Pacific leaders wrapped up their annual summit in South Korea with a joint statement pledging stronger economic cooperation. The two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in the city of Gyeongju took place a day after Xi and US President Donald Trump agreed to dial back earlier steps and de-escalate their trade war. During his meeting with Lee, Xi called for Seoul to work with Beijing to practice genuine multilateralism, according to Chinese state media, as he continued to position Beijing as the defender of the global trade order upended by Trump's sweeping tariffs. Xi, Lee discuss North Korea --------------------------------- Chinese state media reports on the Xi-Lee meeting didn'

China ends gold tax break, raising consumer costs in key bullion market

The rule covers investment products like high-purity gold bars and ingots, as well as coins approved by the People's Bank of China, and non-investment uses such as jewellery and industrial materials

Xi vows to defend free trade at APEC summit as Trump skips meeting

Xi took centre stage at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that began Friday in the South Korean city of Gyeongju

China factory activity shrinks for 7th month despite trade truce hopes

China's factory activity contracted for the seventh consecutive month in October, the government said Friday, as a newly announced truce in the trade war between the US and China offers some hope for a stronger recovery in exports. The official manufacturing purchasing managers index slipped to 49 in October from 49.8 in September, worse than forecast, the China's National Bureau of Statistics reported, based on a survey of factory managers. Measured on a scale between 0 and 100, a PMI reading below 50 indicates contraction. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said the US will cut its fentanyl-related tariffs on China from 20 per cent to 10 per cent after his meeting in South Korea with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, bringing down US tariffs on Chinese goods from 57 per cent to 47 per cent. China has been diversifying exports from the US, with shipments to regions including Southeast Asia and Africa growing. Exports to the US, however, have dropped by double-digits for six straight

China's rare earth export delay gives US chance to control market dominance

China's promise to delay its newest restrictions on the export of the rare earths that are crucial to many high-tech products for one year as part of a trade agreement President Donald Trump secured creates an opportunity for the US and its allies to bolster their own production and processing capabilities. But it will be hard to undercut China's stranglehold on the market. The restrictions China imposed on rare earths this year have been a key issue in the trade talks between Beijing and Washington. Trump responded angrily to China's latest rules with a threat to impose an additional 100% tariff on all Chinese imports, but he has since dropped that demand as part of this agreement. This week's deal will delay the regulations that would have required foreign companies to get special approval to export items that contain even small traces of rare earths elements sourced from China even if those products were made elsewhere by foreign companies, but it doesn't eliminate restrictions ..

Xi refutes Trump's claim that China had no role in Thai-Cambodia peace deal

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday refuted his US counterpart Donald Trump's claims at their summit meeting in Busan that China was not involved in establishing peace between Cambodia and Thailand. At the much-publicised summit, Xi said that he appreciated Trump's "great contribution to the recent conclusion of the Gaza ceasefire agreement". However, Xi rebutted Trump's assertion that China was not involved in establishing peace between Cambodia and Thailand. Xi told Trump that Beijing had been helping the two Southeast Asian neighbours to settle their border dispute in our own way, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. Xi's assertion outlines Beijing's redlines as China too seeks to play a dominant role in Southeast Asia, where it has established strong security and trade links with countries of the region, including Thailand and Cambodia. During the height of the Thailand-Cambodia confrontation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held closed consultations to

China to buy 12 million metric tonnes of soybeans this season, says Bessent

Bessent said other countries in Southeast Asia have agreed to buy another 19 million tons of US soybeans, but did not specify a timeframe for those purchases

China says it will work with US to resolve issues related to TikTok

President Donald Trump's meeting on Thursday with China's top leader, Xi Jinping, produced a raft of decisions to help dial back trade tensions, but no agreement on TikTok's ownership. China will work with the US to properly resolve issues related to TikTok, China's Commerce Ministry said after the meeting. It gave no details on any progress toward ending uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the US. The Trump administration had been signalling that it may have finally reached a deal with Beijing to keep TikTok running in the US. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday that the two leaders will consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea. Wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok in the US if it did not find a new owner to replace China's ByteDance. The platform went dark briefly on a January deadline, but on his first day in office, Trump signed

China on track to land astronauts on moon by 2030, ahead of space mission

China said Thursday it's on track to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 as it introduced the next crew of astronauts who will head to its space station as part of the country's ambitious plans to be a leader in space exploration. Currently, each programme of the research and development work of putting a person on the moon is progressing smoothly, said Zhang Jingbo, spokesman for the China Manned Space Programme, citing the Long March 10 rocket, moon landing suits and exploration vehicle, as fruitful efforts of that work. Our fixed goal of China landing a person on the moon by 2030 is firm." China is also preparing to send up its latest rotation of astronauts who make up part of the ongoing mission to complete the Tiangong space station, part of its broader space exploration plans. Each team stays inside the station for six months, conducting research. The latest crew joining others on the station will be made up of Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang. They will take off from the