Asia's growth and trade are 'resilient,' says head of China-led AIIB
TOKYO -- The head of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is optimistic about the resilience of Asia's economic growth despite global uncertainty stemming from the U.S.-China trade war and Washington's turn away from international cooperation.
Jin Liqun, president of the investment bank, was speaking at Nikkei's Future of Asia forum, which kicked off on Thursday. Asia, he said, will remain "resilient."
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Japan Times
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Trump says China's Xi agreed to let rare earth minerals flow to U.S.
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Japan Times
4 hours ago
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Xi bets Trump detente leads to future wins on chips and tariffs
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The biggest sign of that was another round of talks — planned for Monday in London — that will now include U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who's in charge of curbs on the sale of advanced technology to China. Whether Xi will get any of that, however, now hinges on a famously erratic Trump administration in which views toward China differ drastically. "This call provides tactical de-escalation for U.S.-China relations,' said Sun Chenghao, a fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "However, China's core demands — equal sanction relief, reciprocal enforcement mechanisms, and an end to tech containment — remain critical for sustainable agreements,' he added. "Without substantive U.S. adjustments in follow-up talks and policies, the consensus may not translate into long-term stability.' 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The big immediate problem for the U.S. was a lack of rare earth magnets essential for American electric vehicles and defense systems. After the Geneva meeting, the U.S. side believed it had secured the flow of these materials, only to be disappointed when China kept its export licensing system in place, saying that exporters to the U.S. still needed to apply just like everyone else. China, in turn, felt betrayed by a fresh wave of U.S. restrictions on AI chips from Huawei Technologies, software for designing chips, plane engines and visas for upwards of 280,000 Chinese students. "Both sides felt that the agreement in Geneva was being violated,' said Gerard DiPippo, associate director at the RAND China Research Center. From the White House's perspective, he said, "China committed to send the magnets.' Although Xi flexed his muscles with the rare earths restrictions, he also has reasons to come to the table. China's economy is expected to slow sharply in the second quarter and come under pressure into the second half of the year, according to Morgan Stanley economists led by Robin Xing. "Now the China pendulum is swinging back from 'political principle' of standing firm against the U.S. to 'pragmatism' in support of a still fragile economy,' said Han Lin, China country director at The Asia Group. "In other words, Beijing wants to de-escalate, and as long as there is a face-saving path for Xi to do so, now is better than never.' Xi can point to several things that indicate more is coming. The addition of Lutnick in upcoming trade talks, led in Geneva by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, signals Trump may be willing to consider reversing some of the technology curbs that threaten to hobble China's long-term growth ambitions. Xi's statement after the call also made clear he expects the U.S. to "remove the negative measures taken against China,' which could include warnings against the use of Huawei's Ascend chips and restriction on the sale of chip design software to China. The two leaders also exchanged invitations to visit each other's country, events that will build momentum toward stabilizing the relationship with agreements on thorny issues spanning trade, export controls and people-to-people exchanges. Trump said their wives would also come along, adding to the positive optics. It's significant that Trump agreed to visit China first, according to Bert Hofman, professor at the East Asian Institute at the National University Singapore and former World Bank country director for China. "Xi probably realized that a call would be in the Chinese interest given the eagerness of Mr. Trump to have one,' he said. "This will accelerate talks and hopefully extend the truce beyond August,' he added, as the tariff reductions agreed in Geneva will expire in early September. But some analysts advised against being overly optimistic, pointing out the lack of details on key trade matters. "There doesn't seem to be a deeper agreement that would prevent either side from taking additional negative actions, even as talks proceed,' said Kurt Tong, a former U.S. consul general in Hong Kong and a partner at The Asia Group. That fragility is compounded by Trump's transactional approach to foreign policy and ties with China in particular. In January 2020, when Trump signed a Phase-One trade deal with Beijing, he said the relationship between the countries was "the best it's ever been' before it quickly unraveled following the spread of COVID-19 around the globe. "It would be unwise to bet that Trump has a vision for further negotiations that he won't abandon suddenly later on,' said Graham Webster, who leads the DigiChina project at Stanford University. Another area where Xi could see an early win is on the issue of fentanyl. Any deal to cooperate in blocking the flow of the drug to the U.S. could immediately bring down American tariffs on Chinese imports by 20 percentage points. While the call helped to stem the negative trajectory of the relationship, the next two weeks will be crucial to confirm whether the truce will last, according to Wu Xinbo, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. He said China expects to see more progress on tariffs and U.S. tech curbs. "The call in itself is not a reward,' Wu said. "What's important is what will come out of the call.'
NHK
5 hours ago
- NHK
US and China set to resume trade talks on Monday
The US and China have been engaged in a bruising trade war that's lasted for months, but there may be signs of a thaw. US President Donald Trump has held a phone call with his Chinese counterpart and says negotiators from the two sides will sit down for talks on Monday. Trump wrote on social media Friday that his treasury secretary, commerce secretary and trade representative will take part. The meeting will be held in London. He had previously complained that China is violating a trade deal that was agreed to just last month. His administration also says China is holding up exports of rare-earth materials. However, he has struck a different tone since the call with President Xi Jinping on Thursday. He said relations are back on track and negotiations for the trade deal are in "good shape." Reuters has quoted sources as saying the rare-earths issue may be easing as well. It says China has granted temporary export licenses to the entities that supply the top three US automakers.
