Xi Jinping gets red carpet at Brics summit amid thaw in India-China relations

Chinese president’s arrival in Delhi seen as step towards reconciliation after deadly 2020 military clash

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has received a red-carpet welcome in India for a summit of Brics developing nations, as regional rivals Beijing and Delhi make a public display of thawing relations while quietly competing to lead at a time of shaky US global dominance.

As Xi stepped off the plane, he was walked past an honour guard of Indian soldiers and traditional dancers in colourful dresses. Later on Saturday, he was due to attend a gala dinner for the two-day summit.

Continue reading...

China prepares £40bn stimulus for financial sector amid fears over sluggish growth

Beijing wants banks and insurers to bolster investment in stock market as it helps to replenish cash reserves

China will inject $54bn (£40bn) into its financial sector as Beijing attempts to shore up banks and insurers in the face of faltering economic growth.

A host of financial institutions said they were due to receive billions of yuan in capital from state institutions including the ministry of finance and even the company that runs the country’s tobacco monopoly.

Continue reading...

No bailouts for Jaguar Land Rover amid reports of thousands of job cuts, says minister

Carmaker, which is battling Trump tariffs and Chinese competitors, faces talks with union leaders and government

The government has signalled that it will not invest taxpayers’ money to limit job losses at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), after it emerged that the UK’s biggest carmaker is planning up to 4,000 redundancies.

Before crunch talks on Tuesday between JLR, union leaders and government officials, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said it was not his job to “intervene and run businesses”.

Continue reading...

Rescuers in Nepal find two more people alive after flash flood disaster

Chinese man at Trishuli hydropower project and Nepali woman in Nuwakot found 10 days into rescue operation

Emergency responders have rescued a Chinese man and a Nepali woman in two separate operations as authorities continued to search for thousands of people missing 10 days after massive floods hit Nepal.

The Nepali military said on Saturday a joint team comprising personnel from its army and South Korean disaster experts rescued the man from a 225-metre (740ft) tunnel in the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project, and that he was undergoing a health assessment. Pictures showed him being evacuated by helicopter after being carried out of the tunnel.

Continue reading...

China’s falling emissions amid Iran war spark hope of decarbonisation watershed

Oil consumption plummets and EV sales soar as analysts say demand may not fully return even if crude price falls

China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1% after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, thanks to a sharp reduction in oil consumption and a steady rise in the use of electric vehicles and public transport, analysis shows.

The report reveals the role of clean energy in cushioning the price shocks caused by the strait of Hormuz crisis to the world’s biggest oil importer. It also reinforces hopes that China, which is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, may be nearing a turning point in decarbonising its economy.

Continue reading...

Shein shares slide on fast-fashion retailer’s stock market debut

Hong Kong flotation at $26bn by firm once valued at $100bn follows failure to list in US and UK

Shares in the fast-fashion brand Shein slumped by as much as 10% as the China-founded company made its long-anticipated trading debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The Singapore-headquartered company, once valued at almost $100bn (£74bn), went public on Tuesday pricing shares at HK$48.56, valuing the business at just over $26bn.

Continue reading...

Nepal-Tibet deaths from flash flooding rise amid race to free workers in tunnel

Total of 804 confirmed dead and more than 3,000 missing amid threat of fresh inundation

Rescuers in Nepal and Tibet have battled through leg-sucking mud amid the threat of fresh flooding to search for thousands of people still missing after a deadly wall of water swept through the Himalayan border zone, engulfing entire villages.

The latest updates on Sunday put the number of missing at 3,048, including hundreds of foreigners. There was a total of 804 confirmed deaths across Nepal and Tibet, and reports of some bodies swept downstream possibly as far as India.

Continue reading...

Fifteen Britons among 261 foreigners missing in China after floods

Total number of missing Britons between Tibet and Nepal at 48 as Beijing mobilises more than 2,100 rescue workers

Fifteen British nationals are reported to be missing in China as the search continues for survivors of the devastating flooding in Nepal and Tibet.

Nepali and Chinese authorities confirmed an updated death toll of at least 810 on Sunday. More than 3,000 people are believed missing after flash floods triggered by a massive glacier collapse in the Himalayas on Wednesday engulfed Gyirong port on the Nepal-China border.

Continue reading...

Number of missing in Nepal and Tibet rises to 3,000 as bad weather hampers search

Nepal requests foreign ⁠help in identification and storing of bodies, DNA testing and rescuing people from tunnels

Poor weather temporarily hampered aerial rescue operations in Nepal on Saturday as the search for thousands of missing people in areas devastated by catastrophic flash floods along the border with China continued.

The combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 691 dead and more than 3,000 people missing after China’s latest update on Sunday. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing, while Nepal’s disaster agency said late Saturday that the death toll had climbed to 675 with 2,498 people missing.

Continue reading...

Chinese control of information hampers assessment of Tibet flood damage

Scale of devastation emerges in Nepal as reporters reach disaster area, but Chinese state media focus more on rescue efforts

In the days since an enormous glacier in the Himalayas snapped away from a mountaintop and cascaded into the valley below, the true scale of the devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal and Tibet is still unfolding.

But the picture is emerging far more quickly in Nepal than in China, where strict controls on the flow of information from one of its most sensitive regions are hampering the public’s understanding of events.

Continue reading...

Flood risk forces halt to rescues in Tibet, as Nepal death toll rises to 469

Lake has formed at epicentre of flood, forcing rescue teams to withdraw, Chinese state media report

China has paused rescue work at the epicentre of the catastrophic flooding in Tibet this week amid fears that a lake ⁠formed at the ⁠site ⁠was ⁠at risk ​of ‌bursting, as the overall death toll in Nepal rose to 469 people, with more than 1,300 missing.

A lake formed by immense piles of debris has begun overflowing towards the area where rescue teams were headed, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday.

Continue reading...

Climate crisis could be destabilising mountain areas like Nepal, experts warn

Unusual heat this year may have melted ice and thawed bonds that hold glaciers in place – leading to catastrophe

The devastating flash flood that has ripped through the border communities of Nepal and Tibet has heightened fears that the climate crisis is destabilising the geology of mountain and polar regions, threatening millions of people.

Satellite imagery suggests a glacier collapse high in the Himalayas was the primary cause of the deadly torrent of mud, water and ice that tore along the Bhotekoshi River on Wednesday. It swept away buildings and roads and left at least 360 dead and 1,400 missing.

Continue reading...

Search on for at least 33 Britons missing after flash floods in Nepal and Tibet

Rescue teams trying to locate nearly 1,400 missing people, mostly tourists, after floods killed at least 353

Rescue teams in Nepal are searching for at least 33 British nationals who are among those missing after flash floods ravaged its border with Tibet, killing at least 353 people.

Nearly 1,400 people are missing, most of them tourists, authorities have said, after a glacier collapse triggered floods that roared down valleys and razed entire villages.

Continue reading...

Flash floods on Nepal-Tibet border leave scores dead and hundreds missing

At least 157 people dead and hundreds of tourists among missing after roads, bridges and power plants swept away

At least 157 people have been killed and hundreds, including large numbers of foreign tourists, are missing after flash floods ⁠hit the Himalayan border areas of ⁠Nepal and Tibet in China, police have said, with parts of India also at risk.

The disaster was caused by a torrent of mud, water and debris that burst from the banks of a river that runs between China and Nepal. Homes, roads, bridges and power plants were swept away in Nepal, ⁠while officials in Tibet said they feared “major casualties”.

Continue reading...

Typhoon Narra: record flood waters submerge homes and force mass evacuations in China

Heavy rain expected in parts of Vietnam and southern ‌China, as another storm system, Typhoon Saudel, heads for Japan and Taiwan

Widespread flooding triggered by Typhoon Narra has submerged homes and forced mass evacuations in southern China, as another storm system tracked towards Japan and Taiwan.

Authorities in Chongzuo, in China’s Guangxi region – famous for its giant waterfalls and karst limestone mountains – on Tuesday evacuated more than 15,000 people after water ⁠levels surpassed a record high set in 2008.

Continue reading...

Taiwan charges nine people for smuggling ‘high-end’ AI servers to China

Among those charged are two Super Micro employees and one from Nvidia, marking another flashpoint in US-China AI rivalry

Taiwanese prosecutors charged nine people Monday, including one from Nvidia and two from Super Micro, for illegally exporting “high-end AI servers” to mainland China, adding another wave of turbulence in the AI ​​rivalry between China and the United States.

Prosecutors said the servers involved were graphics processing units known as “B300,” which have been banned from sale to China.

Continue reading...

Taiwan charges nine people for smuggling ‘high-end’ AI servers to China

Among those charged are two Super Micro employees and one from Nvidia, marking another flashpoint in US-China AI rivalry

Taiwanese prosecutors charged nine people Monday, including one from Nvidia and two from Super Micro, for illegally exporting “high-end AI servers” to mainland China, adding another wave of turbulence in the AI ​​rivalry between China and the United States.

Prosecutors said the servers involved were graphics processing units known as “B300,” which have been banned from sale to China.

Continue reading...

China denounces US threat of sanctions over trade with Iran

Beijing says it will take ‘all necessary measures’ to protect its interests as US steps up efforts to isolate Tehran

China has denounced the threat of US sanctions for its trade with Iran, saying any such measures would be illegal, and warned it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its national interests.

Beijing’s rejection of the US threat of secondary sanctions for any country or entity continuing to trade with Tehran had been predicted. China buys an estimated 80% of Iran’s oil exports and has defied previous US efforts to limit the flow of revenue to the Tehran regime.

Continue reading...

Iran vows to retaliate against countries that cooperate with fresh US sanctions

Test of US rhetoric will rest on whether nations such as India, China and Russia view economic threats as credible

Tehran has vowed to retaliate against any country that cooperates with the US attempt to impose fresh sanctions against Iran in what the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has billed as “the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary”.

In advance of the US announcement, the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s single biggest trading partner in the Middle East, announced it was ending all trade with Iran, a move Tehran believes was coordinated between Washington and the UAE.

Continue reading...

Fast-fashion giant Shein sets cut-price $27bn valuation for Hong Kong IPO

China-based retailer swung to $99m loss in first quarter and faces scrutiny over its environmental footprint

Shein, which built a fast-fashion empire on what seemed like impossibly low prices, has been forced to lower its own valuation in a cut-price stock market float, after falling into the red earlier this year.

The online retailer will list on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September at a valuation of close to $27bn (£19.8bn), significantly down from a near-$100bn private market peak four years ago.

Continue reading...