Latest news with #HuaChunying
NBC News
17-05-2025
- Business
- NBC News
'Confident' China touts poverty alleviation efforts amid trade war with the U.S.
MALIPO, China — The rural villages of Malipo are a world away from gleaming Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, reached by narrow roads that sometimes skirt dangerously close to deep ravines. Schoolchildren eat simple breakfasts while squatting on sidewalks, and even a local official complained that the remote mountain villages lacked access to the latest 5G internet connection. But Chinese officials point to overall progress in this thickly forested, highly mountainous border region in southwest China as a reason for their 'confidence' in the country's development model, and in its ability to weather any trade war with the United States. 'We have full confidence and the capability to overcome all difficulties,' Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said last week during a government-sponsored trip to the rural county of Malipo in Yunnan province, on the border with Vietnam. 'As for what the United States is doing, we really don't want any kind of war, but if we have to face up to reality, then we have no fear at all,' she told reporters at a middle school. 'The ordinary people already feel the suffering from the tariff war, so I really hope the [U.S.] administration will come back to normal.' Hua was speaking before the U.S. and China agreed to slash tariffs on each other's imports in what Beijing said showed the effectiveness of its resistance against President Donald Trump's tariff 'bullying.' She and other officials said Malipo, where 233,000 people are spread among several towns and hundreds of 'village groups,' is a model for China's poverty alleviation efforts in recent decades. Per capita disposable income in Malipo was $2,300 a year last year, compared with about $69 a year in 1992. But Beijing's professed confidence belies real concern about the work that remains to be done as well as the potential impact of U.S. tariffs as China struggles with structural imbalances and slowing economic growth. The situation spans China's urban-rural divide and is obvious even to residents of Malipo. 'The economy is not that good,' said Liu Huixin, a vendor selling processed fruits and other products from Vietnam and Thailand at a market. 'Look at many shops around, people are not buying,' he said. Ending 'absolute poverty' — a goal that Chinese President Xi Jinping said was officially achieved at the end of 2020 — is considered essential for reducing income inequality in the world's second-biggest economy as it strives to catch up with the United States. More than 450 million of China's 1.4 billion people live in rural areas, and getting them to spend more on consumer products is crucial as China tries to reduce its economic dependence on exports threatened by tariffs. China has also touted its 'poverty alleviation' program as a model for developing countries in the Global South that face similar challenges. 'The experience of Malipo in poverty alleviation has global significance,' said Liu Guiqing, 40, a senior Chinese diplomat who is also county vice mayor of Malipo under a program that partners central government ministries and wealthy provinces and institutions with impoverished areas. Hua said the strength of China's system is its ability to 'concentrate resources' on people's urgent needs. Beijing is thought to have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on poverty alleviation since 2015. China's approach to reducing inequality combines 'coercive top-down control' with high social spending in an effort to 'highlight the perceived failures of liberal free-market capitalism,' Rana Mitter, a historian and political scientist at the Harvard Kennedy School, wrote in a new Foreign Affairs article. Programs such as the one in Malipo are 'an increasingly important part of China's messaging, that it has development solutions for rural as well as urban areas,' Mitter told NBC News. 'This is likely to be particularly attractive in the many Global South countries that still have large agricultural sectors and may look to Chinese examples to find ways to modernize their own rural area,' he said. Companies investing in Malipo are still motivated by the 'invisible hand of the market forces,' said Jason Choi, director of the Sunwah Group, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate. He said the improved infrastructure and government support were important factors in the decision by his family's company to invest about $7 million in a modern tea factory in Malipo, as well as the branding potential associated with Malipo's ancient tea trees. 'We have created employment directly for more than a hundred people, and for some 10,000 people downstream and upstream,' said Choi, 25. In nearby Jinping, another county targeted for poverty alleviation, Colorful Group, a company based in the Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen that specializes in graphics cards used in video games, has invested some $15 million in a smart agriculture company and other ventures, creating production jobs for more than 200 people, and for many more engaged in contract farming. Its corn products are sold in China at Walmart's Sam's Club, 7-Eleven shops and on the e-commerce platform in addition to being exported to Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Asked about the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, Malipo Mayor Xiao Changju pointed to the rapid development prospects of border trade with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations.
Business Recorder
10-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
China stocks wobble on looming Sino-US trade talks
HONG KONG: China and Hong Kong stocks struggled to gain traction on Friday, trimming the week's rise, as investors awaited the upcoming trade talks between the world's two largest economies. At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index declined 0.3% and the blue-chip CSI 300 index weakened 0.2% after both moved in narrow ranges throughout the day. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 0.3% after fluctuating between gains and losses, to stand near a five-week high. Sentiment was cautious ahead of the Sino-US trade talk this weekend in Switzerland, where top economic and trade officials from the two countries are expected to take steps toward cooling a tariff war that has disrupted the global economy. China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues, its Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said, a day before the trade talks begin. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he expects substantive negotiations between the world's two largest economies, signalling that the punitive 145% US tariffs on Chinese goods may come down. 'Tariff de-escalation, if it materializes, would serve as a major positive for Chinese equities. However, we think the negotiation process could be lengthy, with ups and downs,' Morgan Stanley analysts, including Laura Wang, said. 'We advise a balanced portfolio with high-quality, large-cap offshore internet names and A-share blue-chip consumer names.' China's leading chipmaker, Hua Hong Semiconductor , dragged on the market, tumbling nearly 10% after reporting a drop in earnings in the last quarter.
RTHK
09-05-2025
- Business
- RTHK
China 'has no fear' as US tariff talks loom
China 'has no fear' as US tariff talks loom Hua Chunying says ordinary Americans are already suffering from the tariff war. File photo: AFP China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues, Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday, a day before officials from both sides are set to meet in Switzerland to discuss the tariffs they have imposed on each other. "We have no fear," Hua said at a middle school in a rural county in Yunnan province, adding that the trade policy of the US administration cannot be sustained. The weekend talks involving top US and Chinese economic and trade officials are widely seen as a first step towards resolving a trade war that has disrupted the global economy. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US tariffs on Beijing of 145 percemt would likely come down. "We have full confidence," Hua said during a trip to Malipo county to showcase China's efforts to build up rural economies. "We do not want any kind of war with any country. "But we have to face up to the reality. "As you can see, people have full confidence in our capability to overcome all the difficulties." Trump's tariffs on many of the United States' trading partners, including China, are increasingly weighing on a world economy which for decades had benefited from predictable and relatively free trade. Many economists are calling the Trump tariffs a "demand shock" to the world economy which, by making imports more expensive for American businesses and consumers, will sap activity elsewhere. "What the United States is doing cannot be sustained," Hua said. "Ordinary people in the US are already suffering from the tariff war." The US administration will come back to "normal", she said. (Reuters)
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Trump hints tariffs on China may drop as talks set to begin
US President Donald Trump has hinted that US tariffs on goods from China may come down as top trade officials from the world's two biggest economies are set to hold talks."You can't get any higher. It's at 145, so we know it's coming down," he said, referring to the new import taxes of up to 145% imposed on China since he returned to the White made the comments during an event to unveil a tariffs deal with the UK - the first such agreement since he hit countries around the world with steep levies in meeting in Switzerland this weekend is the strongest signal yet that the two sides are ready do deescalate a trade war that has sent shockwaves through financial markets. "I think it's a very friendly meeting. They look forward to doing it in an elegant way," Trump said of the talks with China. China also struck a confident note about the talks. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Hua Chunying, said Beijing has "full confidence" in its ability to manage trade issues with the announcement earlier this week of the talks was welcomed as an important first step towards easing tensions but analysts have warned that this marks the start of what are likely to be lengthy negotiations."The systemic frictions between the US and China will not be resolved any time soon," said former US trade negotiator, Stephen cuts to tariffs as a result of this meeting are likely to be "minor", he initial negotiations will be led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China's Vice Premier and economic tsar He "I think everyone recognises that any final deal will require the active engagement of both presidents," Mr Olson said. Another trade expert said that even if the new tariffs imposed by Trump were lifted, the two countries would still have major issues to overcome."A realistic goal is probably at best a pullback from the sky-high bilateral tariffs but that would still leave in place high tariff barriers and various other restrictions", the former head of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) China division, Eswar Prasad told BBC News. The talks between China and the US are set to take place just two days after the UK became the first country to strike a tariffs deal with the Trump administration. The US has agreed to reduce import taxes on a set number of British cars and allow some steel and aluminium into the country tariff-free, as part of a new also offers relief for other key UK industries from some of the new tariffs announced by Trump since his inauguration in around the world are scrambling to make similar deals before steep US import taxes are due to take effect next announced what he called "reciprocal tariffs" on dozens of countries in April but paused them shortly afterwards for 90 days to give their governments time to negotiate with his administration.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China says it has full confidence in ability to manage US trade issues
By Kevin Krolicki MALIPO, China (Reuters) -China has full confidence in its ability to manage U.S. trade issues, Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday, a day before officials from both sides are set to meet in Switzerland to discuss the tariffs they have imposed on each other. "We have no fear," Hua told a small group of reporters at a middle school in a rural county in southwestern China, adding that the trade policy of the U.S. administration cannot be sustained. The weekend talks involving top U.S. and Chinese economic and trade officials are widely seen as a first step towards resolving a trade war that has disrupted the global economy. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the U.S. tariffs on Beijing of 145% would likely come down. "We have full confidence," Hua said during a Beijing-organised trip to Malipo county to showcase China's efforts to build up rural economies. "We do not want any kind of war with any country. But we have to face up to the reality. As you can see, people have full confidence in our capability to overcome all the difficulties." Trump's tariffs on many of the United States' trading partners, including China, are increasingly weighing on a world economy which for decades had benefited from predictable and relatively free trade. Many economists are calling the Trump tariffs a "demand shock" to the world economy which, by making imports more expensive for American businesses and consumers, will sap activity elsewhere. "What the United States is doing cannot be sustained," Hua said. "Ordinary people in the U.S. already feel suffering from the tariff war." The U.S. administration will come back to "normal", she said.
