Daily Buzz: 8 May 2025

Top News

China, US central banks diverge

The central banks of the world's two biggest economies took divergent paths on Wednesday to address the US-China trade war. The People's Bank of China unveiled a series of sweeping measures to reduce rates, expand lending and stimulate an economy beset by US tariffs on its exports. The Federal Reserve chose a wait-and-see stance, rejecting calls for a pre-emptive rate cut despite risks of higher inflation and lower economic growth.

China's People's Bank of China cut its seven-day reverse repurchase rate to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent, which will lower the cost of borrowing. It also dropped the amount of cash must hold in reserves by 0.5 point, freeing up an additional of 1 trillion yuan (US$138.6 billion) of credit. The Fed left its key rate unchanged in the target range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent.

Cold water on trade talks

Enthusiasm over the announcement that China and the US will hold talks in Switzerland this weekend cooled after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that the talks "will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal." President Donald Trump said he would not consider lowering 145 percent tariffs on Chinese imports to smooth trade negotiations. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China's firm opposition to the indiscriminate imposition of tariffs remains unchanged.

Calls for calm

China joined nations around the world in urging India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions after an exchange of cross-border fire on Wednesday between the two nuclear-armed countries. "India and Pakistan are neighbors who cannot be moved away, and both are also China's neighbors," the foreign ministry in Beijing said. India said it struck nine terrorist sites in Pakistan, while Pakistan claimed it shot down five Indian jets. The hostilities were triggered by the massacre of 26 tourists in India-administered Kashmir last month.

'Enduring friendship'

Xi Jinping began a four-day state visit to Russia by praising the "enduring friendship" between Beijing and Moscow and said the relationship won't be influenced by any third party. Xi will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the Friday military parade in Red Square marking the 80th anniversary of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany.

No pope chosen

Black smoke from the roof of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican signaled that cardinals failed to elect a new pope in their first vote on day one of a conclave steeped in tradition and cloaked secrecy.

Top Business

Support pledge for equities

China's top securities regulator pledged to further open up the nation's financial markets and increase access for foreign institutions. Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission also said his agency would safeguard the interests of Chinese companies listed abroad amid calls in the US to oust listed Chinese companies from domestic exchanges. He said measures will be taken to promote Hong Kong as a global financial center.

Help for property market, small companies

China will roll out policies to stabilize the property market and support small businesses, according to Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration. Plans include revising rules to allow insurers to boost equity investments by lowering capital charges and unlocking long-term funding for China's A-share markets. In housing, authorities will accelerate financing tools aligned with a new real estate development and direct capital toward private firms.

German investment undaunted

German companies operating in China are largely maintaining their investment plans, according to a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce in China. A chamber survey found that members are feeling the impact of US tariffs on Chinese imports but their "in China, for China" strategies are insulating them from serious harm.

Economy

Foreign-exchange reserves

China's foreign-exchange reserves in April increased 1.3 percent from March to US$3.28 trillion, the 17th consecutive month the reserves have remained above US$3.2 trillion, according to the China Administration of Foreign Exchange. It said the figures show that China's economy is on a positive trend.

Shanghai a business showcase

Shanghai ranked tops in 22 of 59 indicators of business environment in the latest World Bank Enterprise Survey, which assesses how effectively economies support private-sector growth. Among other categories, the city excelled in power reliability, digital finance, loan-processing speed and Internet stability.

Corporate

Tesla deliveries plunge

Deliveries from Tesla's Shanghai factory in April plunged 26 percent from March, according to the China Passenger Car Association, falling victim in the world's largest car market to competitive electric-car models sold by Chinese automakers. It reported a three-year low of 58,459 cars were delivered to customers in China last month. "Tesla's hopes for a sustained rebound in China have faded as competition gets fiercer," Eric Han, a senior manager at advisory group Suolei, was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post.

Geely seeks to privatize Zeekr

Chinese automaker Geely Automobile offered US$2.2 billion to privatize its Zeekr unit just a year after it took the electric-car brand public in the US, Reuters reported. Geely offered to pay US$25.66 per Zeekr share, a 13.6 percent premium to the stock's closing price on Tuesday. As of May 7, Geely held around 66 percent of Zeekr's outstanding shares. Zeekr would be fully merged into Geely Auto upon completion of the transaction, Geely said, citing fierce market competition for the move.

Alibaba strengthens online marketing

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said it is partnering with lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu (RedNote), giving users a direct click link to goods sold on Alibaba's Taobao online site. The move comes as Alibaba enters the cutthroat market of instant delivery of goods ordered online.

Changes in chip restrictions

Nvidia shares in the US rose 3 percent on reports that the Trump administration plans to revise a set of restrictions on semiconductor sales to China. Bloomberg News reported that the White House will rescind rules, scheduled to take effect on May 15, that organize countries into three different tiers, with different restrictions that determine if advanced artificial intelligence chips by Nvidia, AMD and Intel can be exported without a license.

Uber's robotaxi investment

US-based Uber deepened its foray into autonomous driving with a US$100 million investment in WeRide, a Chinese automotive technology company, Cailian Press reported. The additional funding accompanies an expanded partnership aimed at large-scale deployment of robotaxis in 15 cities across Europe and the Middle East within the next five years.

OpenAI initiative

OpenAI launched a new initiative to help countries build artificial intelligence AI infrastructure. The US company said it will partner with nations to establish local data centers, offer customized ChatGPT and establish a start-up fund for 10 initial projects.

Earlier this week, OpenAI informed investors of a revised revenue-sharing agreement with its major backer, Microsoft.