Starmer under US pressure to reject Chinese “super-embassy” in London February 27, 2025 Two senior figures in US-China relations in Congress have called on Lord Mandelson to block the development of a huge 700,000 square foot Chinese ‘super-embassy’ in the heart of London – in a fresh diplomatic headache for Sir Keir Starmer ahead of his crucial meeting with President Trump. Reps John Moolenaar and Chris Smith, in [...]
Vietnam defeated America, can it beat China too? February 27, 2025 'Escape from China' is the watchword in Vietnam for businesses offering an alternative to Beijing's communist encroachment, says Rainer Zitelmann.
Plans for £1bn battery gigafactory and over 1,000 new jobs revealed February 26, 2025 Plans to create a £1bn 10GWh battery gigafactory in Coventry which will create over 1,000 jobs by 2030 have been revealed. Volklec, a battery manufacturing start-up which set up shop in the West Midlands city last year, has entered into an exclusive license agreement with China-based Far East Battery (FEB). The deal will see Volklec [...]
Global investors shun UK market amid stagflation fears February 18, 2025 Britain has become the least attractive market to invest in among global fund managers, with sentiment towards UK stocks slumping. Stock pickers held 18 per cent less UK shares than their benchmarks suggested they should in February, compared to a 12 per cent overweight position on European stocks, according to Bank of America’s latest Global [...]
BHP: Mining giant hit by lower iron ore prices February 18, 2025 Mining giant BHP has reported a jump in profit for the half-year ended 31 December 2024, despite a drop in revenue due to lower iron ore prices. Attributable profit surged to $4.4bn (£3.5bn), up 376 per cent from $0.9bn in the previous half-year. Underlying attributable profit, however, fell 23 per cent to $5.1bn due to [...]
Astrazeneca revenue surges amid Chinese import tax allegations February 6, 2025 Astrazeneca’s revenue jumped 21 per cent last year despite growing troubles over its presence in China. The pharmaceutical giant recorded $54bn (£43.3bn) in revenue for the year, a jump of 21 per cent on 2023’s levels. In its full-year results, the largest FTSE 100 firm revealed that revenue in Europe had skyrocketed 37 per cent. [...]
CBI boss: ‘Not realistic or right’ to decouple from China February 5, 2025 Rain Newton-Smith, head of the UK’s leading business group, will urge the government to ignore the “siren call of protectionism” amid mounting tensions in the global economy. In a speech set to be delivered later today, the chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), will call on the government to forge deeper ties [...]
Starmer’s EU-US high-wire act risks stumbling… February 5, 2025 From headaches over Europe, to managing Sino-philes vs sceptics, the job of a prime minister – particularly when it comes to foreign policy – can often resemble something of a high-wire act, usually minus a safety net. Get it wrong, and the consequences could be severe, but pull it off, and the rewards are plentiful. Enforcing [...]
Trump tariffs: Investors struggle to price in threat after last minute reprieve February 4, 2025 Jim Reid, head of research at Deutsche Bank said: "The past few days have raised ongoing questions over Trump’s tariff policy plans".
China strikes back on Trump tariffs as Mexico and Canada get reprieve February 4, 2025 The response came just hours after Trump imposed 10 tariffs on all goods coming from China.