Weekend Buzz

Top News

China cushion for domestic economy

China pledged more support for companies and workers adversely affected by US tariffs, according to the readout of a Friday meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party. Policymakers signaled readiness to keep money supply loose by cutting interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio on banks, by accelerate debt issuance and by stabilizing the jobs market. Xinhua news agency said Chinese leaders vowed to "strengthen bottom-line thinking" in policies to support the economy.

India-Pakistan tensions

Relations between India and Pakistan remained tense following an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday, which claimed 26 lives, mostly Indian.

As India conducted a massive manhunt for the perpetrators, Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned that India's decision to cut off water supplies from the Indus River could escalate into "full-scale war" between the two nuclear nations.

Ukraine war

US President Trump told Time magazine in an interview that Crimea "will stay with Russia" as part of peace negotiations with Ukraine. The Crimean Peninsula, with a majority-Russian population, was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine has rejected any move to recognize Russian sovereignty.

Top Business

Corporate alarm bells

Leading business executives in the US are expressing mounting unease about the unpredictable nature of trade policies, according to the Wall Street Journal report. Top CEOs from companies like American Airlines, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble are voicing concerns that policy inconsistencies related to tariffs could negatively impact economic stability and the business investment.

European companies eye alternatives

Industry groups in Europe are urging companies hit by US tariffs to explore alternative markets in India, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Trade disruption is causing some, particularly smaller ones, to reconsider plans to expand in the US. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde this week noted shocks in the global economy that may damp growth on the continent.

Economy

China reaffirms growth pledge

China's economy is off to a solid start this year and continues to improve, People's Bank of China chief Pan Gongsheng said at an annual meeting of the IMF and World bank in Washington. He reiterated the nation's moderately loose" monetary policy to support growth and warned that trade wars disrupt global supply chains and threaten economic stability.

US sentiment turns sour

Public support for President Trump's policies is eroding, according to new US polling. The New York Times-Siena College poll found 54 percent of respondents disapprove of the way he is handling his job about 100 days into his second term. Given a choice of words to describe his term, 66 percent said "chaotic" and 59 percent said "scary."

A separate poll by ABC News, the Washington Post and Ipsos found only one in three Americans approve of Trump's tariffs and 71 percent said they will have a negative impact on inflation.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan monthly index of consumer sentiment fell for the fourth consecutive month in April.

California overtakes Japan

California has surpassed Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy, the state's governor Gavin Newsom said, citing 2024 figures of gross domestic product. That means only the US, China and Germany have larger economies than California.

Deep Dive

The Dawn of Driverless as China's auto industry embraces autonomy

The week's Auto Shanghai 2025 showed that autonomous driving is rapidly transitioning from futuristic concept to tangible reality in China.

(Click the headline to read full article.)

Fudan index tracking global supply chains points to Chinese shift away from US market

Research professor says exporters learned lessons from 2018 US tarrifs and are better equipped to handle "daunting" uncertainty of current trade war.

(Click the headline to read full article.)

Corporate

Apple move to India

Apple is reportedly aiming to shift assembly of iPhones sold in the US from China to India by the end of next year amid the US trade war, the Financial Times reported. The US has imposed a 26 percent duty on Indian imports, compared with 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. The White House has subsequently excluded smartphones temporarily from the most punitive tariffs on China, though they are still subject to a 20 percent levy related to fentanyl production.

NBA China enters mobile game market

NBA China and Beijing Ruyi Jingxiu Network Technology announced they will jointly develop two new mobile games themed on the National Basketball Association. The games will allow fans to engage with league games and each other in real time. This initiative taps into China's thriving gaming and sports markets. China boasted 674 million gamers last year, with the industry generating a record 325.8 billion yuan (US$44.6 billion) in revenue

Alphabet results top forecasts

Alphabet, parent company of Google, beat Wall Street expectations in the first quarter of 2025, with revenue rising 12 percent to US$90.2 billion. Net income surged 46 percent to US$34.5 billion, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said the company's AI model Gemini 2.5 was a key driver of growth.