China’s defense spending will grow by 7.2% in 2024 — the most in five years — an increase that comes amid signs corruption is undermining a military revamp. Military expenditure by the central government is expected to rise to 1.67 trillion yuan ($231 billion) this year, according to a Finance Ministry report released on Tuesday. … Read more
China’s Li Qiang will become the first premier in three decades to not hold a press briefing at the annual parliamentary meetings, removing a rare platform for investors to learn more about the nation’s policy direction as President Xi Jinping consolidates control over the world’s second-largest economy. The country’s No. 2 official won’t take questions … Read more
Sign up for the India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi – an insider’s guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise, delivered weekly. The president of the Maldives told India it must withdraw its troops from the island by March, making good on an election promise as he draws … Read more
China has detained the head of an overseas consulting firm for allegedly spying on the Asian nation for the British government, putting renewed focus on an industry targeted by Beijing’s national security crackdown. China’s spy agency said Monday that the UK’s MI6 intelligence service employed the consultant from a “third country” to carry out espionage … Read more
Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited the country’s foremost developer of memory chips, in the latest show of government support for US-sanctioned Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. as the two powers clash over technology. China’s No. 2 official visited Wuhan-based YMTC and Wuhan Huagong Laser Engineering Co. during a two-day trip in Hubei province, according to a … Read more
Chinese President Xi Jinping told his US counterpart Joe Biden that their nations should strive for “peaceful coexistence,” as the world’s two largest economies try to stabilize strained relations. “Over the past 45 years, China-US relations have weathered storms and moved forward,” Xi wrote in a new year’s day letter commemorating the establishment of diplomatic … Read more
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to strengthen economic momentum and job creation, acknowledging some companies and citizens had endured a difficult 2023 in a rare admission of domestic headwinds facing the country. While China’s most-powerful leader since Mao Zedong used his annual new year address to trumpet his nation’s achievements, he also conceded some “enterprises … Read more
China abruptly ousted nine military figures from its national parliament without explanation, as a major purge of personnel in the upper echelons of the nation’s defense universe casts its net wider. The nation’s top legislative body revoked the lawmakers’ membership during a Friday meeting, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Their ouster adds to a … Read more
Hong Kong’s local council elections drew their lowest turnout in nearly three decades, as residents snubbed a system lacking political diversity after a revamp to cement China’s control. Only 27.5% of the 4.3 million eligible voters cast ballots on Sunday in the local elections, David Lok, chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission said Monday morning. … Read more
As China prepared to cremate former Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday, skepticism among some residents of his hometown over the official account of his death showed a lack of trust in the ruling Communist Party. A number of mourners in eastern Anhui province this week expressed doubt the former No. 2 official died of a … Read more