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This Month

A tanker arrives in Darwin Harbour to deliver an LNG cargo to Inpex’s Ichthys LNG export project.

Japan’s energy giants applaud Australia’s ‘clear’ gas plan

Japanese energy giant Inpex said the Albanese government’s new gas strategy shows Australia’s role as a “reliable and trusted” partner.

  • Jessica Sier
Bundles of steel tubes at a trading market in Jinan. China’s steel exports have swelled.

China’s exports return to growth in boost to shaky economy

China’s exports edged higher in dollar terms last month as Beijing pinned its hopes on a manufacturing-led revival to boost flagging growth.

  • Updated
  • Joe Cash
 Zeekr EVs were all the rage at the  China Auto Show in Beijing last month.

This is how China’s car dealers are driving the EV revolution

Chinese car dealers are ditching foreign brands slow to respond to the EV transition, while turning to homegrown makers that have been gobbling up market share.

  • Gloria Li
Workers make vapes in a factory in Shenzhen in China.

China’s flood of cheap exports is about to get worse

EU leaders were this week the latest to scold China about overcapacity, but there are no quick fixes to its factory glut.

  • Updated
  • Karthikeyan Sundaram
NA

Why Australia could benefit from engaging with China on clean energy

A new report provides the framework for a forward-looking Australia-China relationship, identifying vast potential for economic co-operation.

  • James Curran
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Houses in Zhouzhuang old town. Home buyers are no longer focused on new builds.

Why the Chinese are warming to ‘second-hand’ homes

With tens of thousands of new developments yet to be completed, house hunters are looking again at older buildings. End buyers don’t trust developers any more.

  • Thomas Hale, Wang Xueqiao, Andy Lin and Chan Ho-him
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP won power in 2014. A sizeable share of India’s electorate has come to see him as a national saviour.

India is starting to look like a Central Asian dictatorship

As the country holds its national election, Narendra Modi’s government is undermining democratic institutions and building a cult of personality around the PM.

  • Debasish Roy Chowdhury
Japan suffers from a severe labour shortage that will be exacerbated over the coming decades, creating problems in different sectors of the economy.

Japan’s outdated policies keep too many women out of workforce

Japan has few options to prevent the labour supply from diminishing to a disastrous level. The underutilised potential of women offers room to lift productivity. 

  • Updated
  • Sagiri Kitao
Janet Yellen engages with a robotic arm at the Mesa Community College in Arizona.

Yellen counsels caution on currency intervention after surge in yen

The US treasury secretary said ‘we would expect these interventions to be rare and consultation to take place’.

  • Christopher Condon
Narendra Modi said fake voices were being used to purportedly show leaders making “statements that we have never even thought of”.

Fake videos of Modi aides trigger political showdown in India election

Indian police arrested at least nine people, including six members of Congress’ social media teams, in the states of Assam, Gujarat, Telangana and New Delhi.

  • Munsif Vengattil, Saurabh Sharma and Rishika Sadam
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop of Australia addresses the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Has Julie Bishop taken on an impossible task?

The military is losing ground in Myanmar. What follows could be a failed state – and Australia’s former foreign minister will be right in the thick of it.

  • Emma Connors
The yen this week dropped to its lowest level in more than two decades against the US dollar.

Why anger is rising over Japan’s ‘dangerously’ weak yen

Ryohei Kim is furious at the Bank of Japan because of the record-low yen and the impact it is having on his beloved video games.

  • Jessica Sier
Japan’s corporate overhaul could help solve its productivity problem.

Japan turns up the focus on profit growth

The Japanese aren’t known for risk-taking, but fledgling signs in the corporate world show a huge shift could be under way as non-core businesses get spun off.

  • Jessica Sier

China’s supercarrier is about to launch. Only one nation can beat her

The Fujian, China’s newest, biggest and most powerful aircraft carrier, is about to go to sea. What does that mean for the balance of naval power?

  • Tom Sharpe
Image from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard of one its vessels being sprayed by Chinese coast guard water cannons this week.

Philippines summons Beijing envoy in South China Sea flare-up

The Philippines has accused China of elevating tensions in the South China Sea after its coast guard used water cannon and damaged two vessels.

  • Mikhail Flore
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Jeremiah Manele, then Solomon Islands’ foreign minister, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

New Solomons PM still close to China, but more diplomatic

Despite being foreign minister for almost five years, Jeremiah Manele is unlikely to strictly follow the pro-China policy of his predecessor, according to some.

  • Updated
  • Ben Westcott

April

Gold is trading near a record of $US2343 per troy ounce, valuing Beijing’s stockpile at $US170.4 billion.

China’s gold buying spree raises fears for Taiwan

China has now been buying gold steadily since October 2022, marking its longest build-up of the precious metal since at least 2000.

  • Melissa Lawford
Employees on the production line at the Volkswagen Anhui Automotive factory in China’s Anhui province.

China’s factory activity slows, denting recovery

China’s factory activity expanded for a second consecutive month in April, but at a slower pace, suggesting its vast manufacturing sector might have lost steam.

  • Ellen Zhang and Ryan Woo
Indonesians rally in support of Gazans in Jakarta earlier this month.

Private equity groups halt south-east Asia deals amid Gaza boycotts

Consumers in Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia have shunned US brands since the start of Israel’s assault on Gaza in October.

  • Mercedes Ruehl and A. Anantha Lakshmi
This image from video provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation shows the surface of the moon as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft prepared for landing in August last year.  India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole.

China set to launch high-stakes mission to moon’s ‘hidden’ side

China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia.

  • Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo