Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 122

China and the UK restart economic and financial talks after a 6-year hiatus

China and Britain restarted economic and financial talks on Saturday after a six-year hiatus during a visit by Britain’s Treasury chief to Beijing, as the U.K.’s Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with the world’s second-largest economy. Accompanied by a delegation of British business executives and finance officials, Chancellor Rachel Reeves met with Chinese leaders, including Vice

How NATO Can Strengthen Its Ties With The Indo–Pacific – Analysis

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the increased connectivity of war in modern times. Conflict in one part of the world cannot be separated from other regions. In June 2024, North Korea provided at least five million munitions to Russia. And more recently, North Korea sent an estimated 12,000–15,000 troops to fight Ukraine. China has also supported Russia’s illegal war through third

China Silences Top Economist Over Unflattering Analysis

Atop Chinese economist has been censored after his candid remarks about China's lackluster economic growth, The Wall Street Journal reported. Newsweek has contacted China's Foreign Ministry for comment via email.The world's second-largest economy has continued to face headwinds since the end of Beijing's strict pandemic-era measures in late 2022, including a real estate crunch, tepid consumer

TD Economics: How Far Will They Go? China’s Outlook for 2025

We expect China’s growth to clock in at 4.8% in 2024, in line with the 5%-ish target set out by policymakers. Next year, authorities are likely to set a growth target of around 5%, along with an expansion in the fiscal deficit1. However, risks are tilted to the downside and our forecast is for a 4.7% expansion, a virtual repeat of this year’s performance, as the trade war with the U.S. gains

UN predicts world economic growth at subdued 2.8% in 2025

The world economy resisted battering by conflicts and inflation last year and is expected to grow a subdued 2.8% in 2025, the United Nations said Thursday. In “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2025,” U.N. economists wrote that their positive prediction was driven by the strong although slowing growth forecast for China and the United States and by the robust performances anticipated for

UK Treasury chief heading to China to revive suspended economic and financial talks

Britain’s Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the U.K.'s Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with Beijing. The Treasury said Friday that Rachel Reeves will travel to Beijing and Shanghai and will meet with her Chinese government counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng.Reeves’ trip is expected to revive

Violent protests in China after student falls to his death

The death of a teenage boy sparked violent protests in a city in north-west China, the BBC has confirmed through verified video. In the videos shared on social media, protesters can be seen hurling objects at police and officers beating some demonstrators in Pucheng in Shaanxi province. Authorities said the teenager fell to his death on 2 January in an accident at his school dormitory. But

The method in Trump’s Greenland madness

Donald Trump’s demand for Greenland is no 19th-century imperial throwback. Rather, it signals a hypermodern reality: a world transforming thanks to climate change, with China, Russia and the United States jostling to take advantage.Greenland’s ice sheets are losing 270 billion tons of water per year, while Arctic sea ice is vanishing so rapidly that the polar sea may be ice-free by some summer in

China’s anticorruption crackdown is impeding its military buildup plans, Pentagon says

A widespread anticorruption campaign within the senior levels of the Chinese military and government is impeding its push to build up its military by 2027, the Pentagon says in a new report released on Wednesday.“In the second half of 2023 alone, at least 15 high ranking military officials and defense industry executives were removed from their posts for corruption … This wave of corruption

Trump’s threats to Greenland, Canada and Panama explain everything about America First

Donald Trump’s imperialist designs on Greenland, Canada and Panama often sound like the ramblings of a real estate shark who equates foreign and trade policy to a hunt for new deals. But there’s method in his expansionist mindset. Trump, in his unique way, is grappling with national security questions the US must face in a new world shaped by China’s rise, the inequalities of globalization,