# China
Latest news and articles about China
Total: 856 articles found
Xi-led Politburo Endorses Draft 15th Five‑Year Plan, Signals Continued State‑led Push for High‑Quality Growth
China’s Politburo, chaired by Xi Jinping, reviewed the draft 15th Five‑Year Plan and the government work report ahead of the NPC session, praising the 14th plan’s achievements and setting priorities for 2026–30. The leadership signalled continued state‑led efforts to boost high‑quality growth, tech self‑reliance, and domestic demand while using active fiscal and moderately loose monetary policy to stabilise the economy.
China Tightens Rules on Food-Delivery Platforms to Root Out 'Ghost' Sellers and Boost Safety
China will require food-delivery platforms to verify merchant licences, perform on-site checks at least every six months, and publicly display qualification information as part of new rules effective June 1. The measures aim to eliminate unlicensed “ghost” sellers, make platforms legally responsible for oversight and tighten penalties for violations, while posing operational and competitive challenges for platforms and small merchants.
China’s Provinces Double Down on Austerity — But Savings, Risks Remain
All 31 Chinese provinces have reiterated a central directive to tighten administrative spending in 2026, seeking to free funds for core economic and social priorities. While many report concrete savings in items like official travel and meeting budgets, officials also acknowledge enforcement shortfalls and limited remaining scope for cuts, raising questions about substitution effects and broader fiscal health.
Rare‑Earth Shortage Forces US Aerospace and Chip Suppliers to Turn Away Orders
A tightening of global supplies for yttrium and scandium has prompted some US aerospace and semiconductor suppliers to ration or refuse orders. The shortage, rooted in near‑total production concentration outside the United States, risks disrupting engine maintenance and 5G chip supply chains and is forcing firms to prioritize major customers while policymakers weigh mitigation steps.
Trip.com’s Windfall and the Hotel Squeeze: Stellar Profits Meet Antitrust Heat
Trip.com reported strong 2025 results with revenue of 624 billion yuan and net profit of 334 billion yuan, buoyed by a large one‑off investment gain. The company’s persistently high margins have strained upstream hotels and homestays, prompting an antitrust investigation and boardroom departures. Regulators are signalling a push to rebalance profits across the travel ecosystem, creating an uncertain outlook for Trip.com’s margin sustainability.
Rising Renminbi Turns “High‑Yield” Dollar Deposits into Loss Makers for Retail Investors
A post‑holiday surge in the renminbi has erased gains for many Chinese retail investors who chased higher yields by buying dollar deposits. With U.S. dollar rates no longer far above yuan deposit rates and the RMB appreciating, interest income has often failed to cover currency conversion losses. The episode underscores that foreign‑currency deposits are an FX bet, and banks’ product offerings, while intact, require clearer retail risk communication.
China’s Local Governments Rapidly Tap Bond Markets to Fund Projects and Refinance Hidden Debt
Chinese local governments have issued more than RMB 2 trillion in bonds by late February as Beijing leans on fiscal tools to spur infrastructure and social projects and to replace implicit local liabilities. About half of the issuance is refinancing aimed at swapping hidden debt into formal bonds, while new special‑purpose bonds are being prioritised for on‑the‑ground investment.
Beijing Forces Delivery Apps to Clean Up ‘Ghost’ Takeaways: New Rules Make Platforms the Gatekeepers
China will require food-delivery platforms to perform substantive licence checks, verify merchant addresses at least every six months, and display vendor credentials publicly, with new rules taking effect June 1. The measures, aimed at eliminating “ghost” takeout operators, embed platforms in the e-commerce regulatory framework and impose steeper fines to strengthen food-safety oversight.
From Field Radio to Sky‑Eye Sniper: How a Chinese Marine Fused Communications, Drones and Marksmanship
A Chinese naval reconnaissance corporal, Second‑Class Staff Sergeant Jin Lei, has combined his background in communications, drone piloting and sniping to create a cross‑domain approach to battlefield sensing and precision fire. His experience—winning international competitions and advocating new joint training modules—illustrates how human adaptability and information fusion are becoming central to modern small‑unit warfare.
Cobra Gold 2026 Expands into Space and Cyber as US-Led Drill Draws 30 Nations to Thailand
Cobra Gold 2026 opened in Thailand with about 8,000 troops from 30 countries, and for the first time formally integrates space and cyber operations into its training. The U.S.-led exercise underscores a shift toward multi-domain warfare and highlights competing narratives: alliance strengthening and interoperability on one hand, and Chinese concerns about U.S. intervention capabilities on the other.
China Tightens Rules at Home and Abroad: From Sanya Crackdown to Soaring Chip Costs
China combined diplomatic signalling and domestic regulatory tightening this week, imposing export controls on Japanese firms and pursuing stricter auditing rules while markets absorbed mixed trading and investors faced price and governance shocks. Sharp rises in memory-chip prices are prompting major smartphone brands to plan substantial price increases, and Hainan authorities moved decisively to penalise a Sanya homestay for contract breaches.
Washington’s Tariff Pivot: 15% for Some Partners, No New China Levies Ahead of Trump Visit
After a Supreme Court rebuke of its earlier emergency tariff plan, the U.S. administration has implemented a 10% global temporary tariff and signalled it will raise duties to 15% or more for selected countries while publicly sparing China ahead of a planned Trump visit. Officials plan to rely on Section 301 investigations and other statutes, including Section 232 and Section 338, to justify targeted, more permanent levies — a strategy that heightens uncertainty for trading partners and global supply chains.