South China Morning Post - China Economy

China has moved to ease residency restrictions that prevent migrant workers from accessing social insurance where they work, in a sweeping effort to expand coverage and strengthen labour protections nationwide. The new measures were announced on Friday by the State Council, China’s cabinet. The move is part of China’s broader push to create a unified national market by removing ...

China’s chief trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, urged Asia-Pacific economies to reject a zero-sum mentality, grow the economic pie together and divide it fairly, as trade representatives from the 21 members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum convened in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou for a two-day ministerial meeting. “Apec economies vary in their stages of deve...

Banking giant HSBC on Friday nearly halved its forecast for China’s retail sales growth in 2026, after weak April data underscored pressures in the labour market and property sector, as well as slowing momentum in Beijing’s consumer goods trade-in programme. The bank cut its forecast to 2.8 per cent from 5.2 per cent projected in March, after official April retail sales data cam...

China and Kazakhstan, its Central Asian neighbour and strategic partner, are set to launch a joint grain-trading platform to bolster food security – a long-standing priority for Beijing and a pressing global concern following the outbreak of the Iran war. The two sides agreed to the initiative during a meeting in Astana on Thursday between Kazakh Agriculture Vice-Minister Yermek...

China overtook the US to become Germany’s top single-country source of foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, a German government report said. There were 228 greenfield and expansion projects from Chinese companies recorded in Germany last year, compared with 206 from the United States, Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI), the government’s economic development and foreign trade ...