By , HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s state media and the government of Hong Kong lashed out on Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to end Hong Kong’s special status if Beijing imposes new national security laws on the city, which is bracing for fresh protests.Trump on Friday pledged to “take action to revoke Hong Kong’s preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory”, and to impose sanctions on unspecified individuals over Beijing’s new laws on the Asian financial centre.But China’s state media pushed back, saying this would hurt the United States more than...…By , HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s state media and the government of Hong Kong lashed out on Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to end Hong Kong’s special status if Beijing imposes new national security laws on the city, which is bracing for fresh protests.Trump on Friday pledged to “take action to revoke Hong Kong’s preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory”, and to impose sanctions on unspecified individuals over Beijing’s new laws on the Asian financial centre.But China’s state media pushed back, saying this would hurt the United States more than...WW…

By , BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s retail sales slipped in July, dashing expectations for a modest rise, as consumers in the world’s second-largest economy failed to shake off wariness about the coronavirus, while the factory sector’s recovery struggled to pick up pace.Asian markets pulled back on Friday following the disappointing set of economic indicators, which raised concerns about the fragility of China’s emergence from coronavirus.China’s recovery had been gaining momentum after the pandemic paralysed huge swathes of the economy as pent-up demand, government stimulus and surprisingly...…By , BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s retail sales slipped in July, dashing expectations for a modest rise, as consumers in the world’s second-largest economy failed to shake off wariness about the coronavirus, while the factory sector’s recovery struggled to pick up pace.Asian markets pulled back on Friday following the disappointing set of economic indicators, which raised concerns about the fragility of China’s emergence from coronavirus.China’s recovery had been gaining momentum after the pandemic paralysed huge swathes of the economy as pent-up demand, government stimulus and surprisingly...WW…

By , HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s state media and the government of Hong Kong lashed out on Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to end Hong Kong’s special status if Beijing imposes new national security laws on the city, which is bracing for fresh protests.Trump on Friday pledged to “take action to revoke Hong Kong’s preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory”, and to impose sanctions on unspecified individuals over Beijing’s new laws on the Asian financial centre.But China’s state media pushed back, saying this would hurt the United States more than...…By , HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s state media and the government of Hong Kong lashed out on Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to end Hong Kong’s special status if Beijing imposes new national security laws on the city, which is bracing for fresh protests.Trump on Friday pledged to “take action to revoke Hong Kong’s preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory”, and to impose sanctions on unspecified individuals over Beijing’s new laws on the Asian financial centre.But China’s state media pushed back, saying this would hurt the United States more than...WW…

By , BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Widely watched airfares in China are recovering to pre-pandemic levels as domestic tourists lead a patchy air travel recovery, scattering crumbs of hope to a shattered global travel sector.With international markets like Europe still in partial lockdown, the global tourism industry’s attention is riveted on China’s new travel patterns as it brings COVID-19 under control and lifts curbs on movement. The Chinese domestic market quietly overtook the once-dominant U.S. market in size during the pandemic, but multiple coronavirus outbreaks before last month’s...…By , BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Widely watched airfares in China are recovering to pre-pandemic levels as domestic tourists lead a patchy air travel recovery, scattering crumbs of hope to a shattered global travel sector.With international markets like Europe still in partial lockdown, the global tourism industry’s attention is riveted on China’s new travel patterns as it brings COVID-19 under control and lifts curbs on movement. The Chinese domestic market quietly overtook the once-dominant U.S. market in size during the pandemic, but multiple coronavirus outbreaks before last month’s...WW…

By , BEIJING/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and China said on Tuesday they wanted a summit of permanent members of the U.N. Security Council amid what they called heightened political turbulence, with Moscow saying they both believed the United States was acting in a destructive way.The two allies, whose relations with the West are under increasing strain, made the call for a summit in a joint statement after talks between their foreign ministers in the city of Guilin.“At a time of increasing global political turbulence, a summit of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council is...…By , BEIJING/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and China said on Tuesday they wanted a summit of permanent members of the U.N. Security Council amid what they called heightened political turbulence, with Moscow saying they both believed the United States was acting in a destructive way.The two allies, whose relations with the West are under increasing strain, made the call for a summit in a joint statement after talks between their foreign ministers in the city of Guilin.“At a time of increasing global political turbulence, a summit of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council is...WW…

By , BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s manufacturing recovery, fuelled in part by demand from COVID-constrained consumers abroad, has soared past expectations this year, so much so that factories are now struggling to fill a shortage of blue-collar workers to clear mounting orders.The country’s output of industrial robots, computer equipment, and integrated circuits has roared back from its coronavirus paralysis - production for the year to November is up 22.2%, 10.1% and 15.9%, respectively.Much of the manufacturing boom has come from foreign demand, with export growth topping expectations for...…By , BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s manufacturing recovery, fuelled in part by demand from COVID-constrained consumers abroad, has soared past expectations this year, so much so that factories are now struggling to fill a shortage of blue-collar workers to clear mounting orders.The country’s output of industrial robots, computer equipment, and integrated circuits has roared back from its coronavirus paralysis - production for the year to November is up 22.2%, 10.1% and 15.9%, respectively.Much of the manufacturing boom has come from foreign demand, with export growth topping expectations for...WW…

By , BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s manufacturing recovery, fuelled in part by demand from COVID-constrained consumers abroad, has soared past expectations this year, so much so that factories are now struggling to fill a shortage of blue-collar workers to clear mounting orders.The country’s output of industrial robots, computer equipment, and integrated circuits has roared back from its coronavirus paralysis - production for the year to November is up 22.2%, 10.1% and 15.9%, respectively.Much of the manufacturing boom has come from foreign demand, with export growth topping expectations for...…By , BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s manufacturing recovery, fuelled in part by demand from COVID-constrained consumers abroad, has soared past expectations this year, so much so that factories are now struggling to fill a shortage of blue-collar workers to clear mounting orders.The country’s output of industrial robots, computer equipment, and integrated circuits has roared back from its coronavirus paralysis - production for the year to November is up 22.2%, 10.1% and 15.9%, respectively.Much of the manufacturing boom has come from foreign demand, with export growth topping expectations for...WW…