China
Asia Edition: Xi Holds Trump Cards as Middle East Convulses
China's currency surge and Trump's weakened Beijing arrival collide with Iranian oil leverage and AI weaponisation
China’s Marriage Collapse Triggers Demographic Doom Loop With Global Ripples
Marriage registrations fell 54.7% since 2013, accelerating a slow-burn crisis that threatens manufacturing competitiveness, commodity demand, and Beijing's superpower ambitions.
Trump arrives in Beijing with weakened hand as Xi eyes leverage on chips, tariffs
Structural U.S. dependence on Chinese supply chains and domestic legal setbacks position Xi Jinping to extract concessions when Trump visits May 13-15.
China’s Renminbi Hits 3-Year High as Xi Prepares to Meet Trump From Position of Strength
Currency appreciation to 6.81 per dollar signals Beijing's deflation exit and macro stabilization ahead of critical summit.
China Pays Premium for Ghana Lithium as Battery Supply Race Intensifies
Huayou Cobalt's $210M acquisition of Atlantic Lithium extends Beijing's control over African critical minerals, countering US diversification efforts as lithium prices surge 50% year-to-date.
Russia’s LNG Shadow Fleet Mirrors Iran Playbook as Sanctions Enforcement Gaps Widen
Four newly reflagged tankers heading to Arctic LNG 2 expose critical weaknesses in US secondary sanctions architecture, enabling Moscow to sustain energy revenues despite Western restrictions.
China Pivots as Trump Summit Looms, Gulf Hedges Energy Risk, and Rate Certainty Evaporates
Beijing freezes Iran financing ahead of high-stakes talks, Gulf states shift oil reserves to South Korea, and competing Fed forecasts expose a $75bn pricing gap in markets.
US Discovers 328 Years of Lithium in Appalachia—But China Still Controls the Refining
USGS identifies 2.3 million metric tons in domestic reserves as prices hit $26,000/tonne, yet decade-long extraction timelines leave supply chain leverage unchanged.
Central Banks Circle the Fed, Oil Markets Fracture, and Europe Faces a Capital Flight Reckoning
Nine central banks defend Powell in unprecedented intervention as Hormuz closure reshapes energy markets and UBS warns only crisis can fix Europe's structural paralysis
US Sanctions Chinese Satellite Firms for Iran Intelligence Supply
State Department targets commercial space companies providing imagery that enabled attacks on American bases during Operation Epic Fury.
China Quietly Freezes Iran Refinery Financing Despite Public Defiance
Beijing instructs state banks to halt new loans to sanctioned refineries while Ministry of Commerce orders firms to ignore US sanctions—a dual strategy revealing the dollar system's constraint on Chinese geopolitical autonomy.
Hormuz Ceasefire Collapses as Oil Deficit, AI Capex Stress, and China-US Frictions Intensify
Energy supply shocks collide with semiconductor enforcement gaps and capital market shifts as geopolitical instability spreads across multiple theatres