Business, Economics, Stock markets, FTSE Business | The Guardian
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsChinese foreign minister Wang Yi has accused Washington of “meeting good with evil”, as anger over Donald Trump’s tariffs continues to bubble up.Wang told a press conference today, on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary session, that China will continue to retaliate to the United States’ “arbitrary tariffs”.Wang said China’s efforts to help the U.S. contain its fentanyl crisis have been met with punitive tariffs, which are straining their ties.
“No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang said. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.”China’s economy got off to a weak start in 2025 as exports grew just 2.3% in the first two months of the year. A sharp slump in imports, meanwhile, resulted in a bigger-than-expected trade surplus.We still saw strong imports in tech-related imports, with a 54.4% YoY ytd surge in automatic data processing equipment imports. And an overall 6.4% YoY ytd growth in hi-tech product imports. However, most other categories came in weak.Commodities imports generally contracted over the first two months of the year, with crude oil (-10.5%), natural gas (-13.8%), and steel (-7.9%) all still soft. We’re already seeing a slump in soybean imports, which fell by -14.8% YoY ytd. This was even before the impacts of China’s retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural products. Continue reading…
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has accused Washington of “meeting good with evil”, as anger over Donald Trump’s tariffs continues to bubble up.
Wang told a press conference today, on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary session, that China will continue to retaliate to the United States’ “arbitrary tariffs”.
Wang said China’s efforts to help the U.S. contain its fentanyl crisis have been met with punitive tariffs, which are straining their ties.
“No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang said. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.”
China’s economy got off to a weak start in 2025 as exports grew just 2.3% in the first two months of the year. A sharp slump in imports, meanwhile, resulted in a bigger-than-expected trade surplus.
We still saw strong imports in tech-related imports, with a 54.4% YoY ytd surge in automatic data processing equipment imports. And an overall 6.4% YoY ytd growth in hi-tech product imports. However, most other categories came in weak.
Commodities imports generally contracted over the first two months of the year, with crude oil (-10.5%), natural gas (-13.8%), and steel (-7.9%) all still soft. We’re already seeing a slump in soybean imports, which fell by -14.8% YoY ytd. This was even before the impacts of China’s retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural products.
