Ralph Jennings

1 week ago | scmp.com | Xiaofei Xu |Ralph Jennings

The New Taiwan dollar’s sudden surge in recent days, along with the appreciation of other Asian currencies, highlights the prospect of deepening regional de-dollarisation as investors rethink their investments in the US currency amid Washington’s “extremely predatory” behaviour towards foreign countries, analysts said.

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ralph Jennings

China has done little to de-dollarise its economy despite a push to resist Washington in a tumultuous trade war, and as an exporting nation, it is unlikely to back away from American currency holdings in the short term, according to an Oxford Economics report. Most available data delinks China from recent “volatility” in US bond markets, the Monday report said, referring to movement in April as US President Donald Trump unleashed tariffs around the world and hit China especially hard.

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ralph Jennings

When I found Mao Gao in Vietnam, the Chinese national had just finished one of the country’s signature flavoured coffees at a pavement cafe and was getting ready for a smoke. Unlike most people I met on a late April visit to Bac Ninh, a flat hazy factory city north of the capital Hanoi, Mao was not in a hurry to push on.

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ralph Jennings

Despite a recent deal with Washington, it will take years before Ukraine can rival China as a top source of critical minerals for US production of hi-tech gear, green energy and aerospace hardware – which analysts said will still leave American companies scrambling to source the materials as Beijing restricts its supply amid trade disputes.

1 week ago | scmp.com | Ji Siqi |Ralph Jennings |Alice Li

China’s confirmation that it is evaluating whether to reopen talks with the United States over a potential deal to de-escalate the trade war should not be interpreted as a softening of its position, as Beijing remains in no rush to engage, analysts said. Beijing said on Friday that Washington had been reaching out “through relevant channels, expressing a desire to engage in talks” – its first official acknowledgement in weeks of a US overture.