Some News 9-16 June 2025

Brazil plans to issue a yuan-denominated bond to strengthen ties with China, while also eyeing euro and dollar debt. President Lula is pushing to boost global trade links but faces domestic pressure from high inflation and mounting debt ahead of next year’s elections.

On Monday 16 June 2025, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE)’s CEO, Bonnie Yiting Chan, during celebrations for the 25th anniversary of its listing, announced that the HKSE will open office in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) this year. The HKSE is already present in Singapore, London and New York. In 2024, the HKSE market cap reached €4.5 trillion (ca. HK$40 trillion), with more than 2,600 listed companies.

The fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo concluded on Sunday, June 15, in Changsha (Hunan province, China), with a total of 176 projects signed, worth more than $11bn. Comparing to the last expo session in 2023, the two figures were up more than 45% and more than 10% respectively.

China and Europe’s central banks have pledged deeper cooperation amid global uncertainty. At their first annual meeting on June 12, in Beijing, PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng and ECB President Christine Lagarde signed an MoU to boost policy dialogue, information exchange, and technical collaboration. Both sides emphasized the importance of coordination to tackle global challenges.

China’s Ministry of Commerce, Wang Wentao, met with EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic in Paris. They encouraged cooperation on high-tech trade. China offered to fast-track rare earth export approvals to the EU to ease trade tensions ahead of key tariff and anti-dumping rulings. Talks included rare earths, EU pork and (French) brandy exports, and Chinese EV tariffs. China may rule on the brandy review by July 5, as consultations near conclusion but some issues remain with the more complex case of European pork exports. Next crucial meeting will be the EU-China summit, second half of July 2025.

China has begun mass-producing the world’s first non-binary AI chip, developed by Prof Li Hongge (Beihang University). The hybrid design merges binary and stochastic logic, boosting power efficiency and fault tolerance in systems like aviation controls and touch interfaces. It is said to help bypass US chip restrictions.

Faced with high US tariffs, China boosted exports to Southeast Asia. In early 2025, shipments rose sharply, 18.8% to Vietnam, 20.9% to Thailand, and 16.8% to Indonesia, compared to the same period in 2024. Chinese firms are using these markets to serve local consumers, but also to assemble goods for re-export outside Asia.

Key sources: Xinhua, China Daily, Anadolu Agency, South China Morning Post, Semafor