
China's exports to Russia fall at quicker pace in May
BEIJING: China's yuan-denominated exports to Russia shrank at a faster pace in May than April, but the decline in imports slowed, Chinese customs data showed on Monday.
Outbound shipments to Russia fell 9.6% last month from a year earlier, following a 1.6% decline in April.
Imports from Russia fell 9.2% in yuan terms in May, improving from a 14.1% loss in April.
The EU announced new sanctions in May against Russia that target some Chinese firms. China opposed strongly the move and lodged a complaint with the EU, urging the bloc to stop applying 'double standards' on economic and trade cooperation with Russia.
China's exports likely slowed in May amid trade uncertainties
Bloomberg News reported on Friday that US President Donald Trump is holding back from pushing China to halt support for Russia's war machine as he focuses on other issues in the relationship with its biggest geopolitical rival, citing US and European officials familiar with the matter.

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Express Tribune
3 hours ago
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The velvet-glove diplomacy of the Cold War years – teddy bears over bombers – has been largely replaced by quarantine diplomacy, vaccine pledges, and once-dominant American development agencies playing second fiddle to Belt-and-Road contracts. In May, a major Democracy Perception Index reported that majorities of people worldwide now see the US negatively. The pollster noted that after Trump's return to the White House, America's reputation 'took a particularly massive hit in EU countries' and fell sharply everywhere. Even NATO founder Anders Fogh Rasmussen sighed that the US' standing was 'unloved' across most of the world. By contrast, China's image is improving globally, even overtaking the US in overall favourability in most regions. At home, the US is cannibalising its future. Budget cuts to core research agencies like the NSF and NIH are hollowing out the very ecosystem that once drove American innovation. 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