Aston Martin share price soars after Chinese car giant Geely doubles stake to 17 per cent May 18, 2023 Aston Martin shares soared by more than 12 per cent this morning after Chinese automotive group Geely said it will increase its shareholding to 17 per cent with an investment of £234m. The investment will see Geely almost double its stake in the marque, becoming its third biggest shareholder, just behind Lawrence Stroll’s Yew Tree [...]
Sunak in China row over Confucius Institute U-turn May 18, 2023 Downing Street has refused to elaborate on Rishi Sunak’s decision not to ban controversial Confucius Institutes from operating in the UK. The Prime Minister previously pledged during his leadership bid to bar the 30 Beijing-linked organisations from running on UK soil. Confucius institutes are Chinese cultural and language outposts. But he has now walked back [...]
China soft data signals economic recovery running out of steam May 16, 2023 China’s April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter and intensifying pressure on policymakers to shore up a wobbly post-Covid-19 recovery. Tuesday’s batch of data, which also showed a further decline in property investment, adds to concerns about the outlook for the [...]
Burberry: Luxury British brand’s investors hopeful of China spending resurgence May 12, 2023 Luxury retailer Burberry could prove its buyers have been sheltered from cost-of-living pressures when it unveils its full-year financial results on Thursday. The historic British brand, which has benefitted from the reopening of the Chinese economy this year, is expected to show a jump in profits and sales for the year ending in March. The [...]
The Notebook: James Ashton on his new book, microchips and bullishness May 11, 2023 Book-writing novices need know one thing before putting metaphorical pen to paper: submitting that manuscript after months of toil is far from a full stop.
Truss to Taiwan: Former PM to rile Beijing with visit to under-threat island May 9, 2023 Former prime minister Liz Truss is set to continue her comeback tour with a visit to Taiwan. She is expected to deliver a speech there next week amid fears over what the trip could mean for UK-China relations, after foreign secretary James Cleverly warned Britain should not “pull the shutters down” on the Asian superpower. [...]
Foreign Secretary: China talks not a “comfortable chit chat” as hawks circle April 30, 2023 Dealing with China is not a “comfortable chit chat over tea and biscuits”, the Foreign Secretary has said. James Cleverly insisted it was important to maintain dialogue with Xi Jinping’s regime, as hawkish Conservatives urge him to take a harsher line with China over reported human rights abuses in Xinjiang province and Hong Kong. In [...]
US says G7 will resist Chinese ‘coercion’ as Taiwan tensions heighten, per reports April 18, 2023 A US official has said the G7 nations will resist any “coercion” from China during a key summit in Japan, as tensions heighten over Taiwan, according to reports. Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven countries – the UK, the US, Germany, France, Japan, Canada and Italy – are meeting in the central Japanese city [...]
Liz Truss to criticise high taxes and warn of authoritarian ‘threat’ April 11, 2023 Liz Truss is to renew her advocacy of low taxes in a speech questioning whether western nations are “match fit to take on China”. Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister will suggest the 1980s “Anglo-American” economic model of increased privatisation and limited government is being “strangled into stagnation” in the latest leg of her comeback to the [...]
China sends warships and jets towards Taiwan April 8, 2023 China has sent warships and dozens of fighter jets towards Taiwan, the island’s government said. The move came in retaliation for a meeting between the US House of Representatives speaker and the president of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory. The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat [...]