Flash News

TREE NEWS update: China’s first 3,500-tonne oceanographic research vessel built entirely with private capital began sea trials on Monday at the Zhenshan anchorage in Wenling, Zhejiang province. The ship, named Haiying Jiake, was funded and built by 37 fishermen who jointly raised 150 million yuan. Maritime authorities in Zhejiang confirmed the start of the trials.

TREE NEWS update: China officially released the 2026 China Environmental, Social and Governance Development Observation Report, the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society said. The report found that the first batch of entities subject to mandatory ESG disclosure all met their disclosure deadlines in full compliance, while the number and quality of disclosures by A-share listed companies continued to improve steadily.

TREE NEWS reports: Speaking at the 2026 Tsinghua PBCSF Chief Economists Forum, CICC Chief Economist Miao Yanliang said the erosion of trust in the US dollar as a global asset is a key trigger of change in the international monetary order. He argued that four fundamental differences now distinguish the yuan’s internationalization: cracks in the international monetary system itself, structural shifts in global trade, a reshaping of the international payments system, and the AI technology revolution transforming how economies run.

TREE NEWS reports: An IMF delegation visited Beirut from 15 to 18 January and held consultations with Lebanese authorities on the country’s macroeconomic outlook and reform progress in key economic and financial areas. Mission chief Ernesto Ramirez Rigo said the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, along with regional security tensions, has again severely hit Lebanon’s economy and livelihoods. Economic activity is expected to contract sharply in 2026 with inflation staying high, while rising energy costs have widened the current account deficit and widespread damage to infrastructure and homes has left large-scale displacement.

TREE NEWS reports: The Labour-led UK government is considering expanding its “mansion tax” by lowering the threshold to properties valued at £1.5 million. Experts estimate the new levy would raise £800 million a year, helping balance the budget and fund Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s welfare expansion plans, though it would increase the burden on the middle class.

TREE NEWS reports: Shenzhen Airport port handled 450,000 tonnes of import-export cargo with other APEC economies in the first eight months of 2025, up 6.3% year on year, while foreign passenger arrivals and departures from APEC economies surpassed 1 million as of early September, up 31.1%. Both figures set record highs for the same period. Shenzhen Airport added or increased 10 international routes to APEC economies including Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore.

TREE NEWS update: Xibei’s customer service said on September 19 that all of its restaurants nationwide are operating normally, denying a claim that the Chinese restaurant chain will shut down entirely within two to three months. The rumor, posted by blogger “Liji,” said founder Jia Guolong would take on most of the debt, give up his shares and keep about 100 profitable stores for employees to run themselves.

TREE NEWS update: Former IMF deputy managing director Zhu Min said at the 2026 Tsinghua PBCSF Chief Economists Forum that renminbi internationalization will support high-quality growth in China’s economy through four transmission mechanisms. The first is a global resource-allocation mechanism: a strong renminbi would let China allocate energy, raw materials, technology and capital worldwide in its own currency, cutting transaction costs and friction in the mutual promotion of the dual circulation strategy.

TREE NEWS update: Pakistan’s security forces killed eight militants who carried out a suicide bombing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said on the 19th. The clearance operation against the attackers, who struck on the 18th, has been completed and all eight were killed, provincial police reported.

TREE NEWS reports: Italy has reported more than 650 West Nile virus infections since the start of the year, roughly half of all cases recorded in Europe. Researchers said warmer temperatures linked to climate change are aiding mosquito breeding, widening the virus’s transmission range and extending the transmission season.

TREE NEWS update: Peru’s central bank lowered its 2026 economic growth forecast to 3.2% from 3.4%, governor Velarde said on the 18th, citing the impact of El Niño. The revision follows effects from the weather phenomenon that exceeded earlier expectations.

TREE NEWS reports: China’s goods exports reached $29.255 trillion…

TREE NEWS reports: A preliminary report released on September 18 by the UK’s national air traffic management company found that a software fault lasting less than one millisecond caused last week’s widespread airport disruption, in which more than 2,000 flights were cancelled. The glitch struck the system that assigns flight codes used by controllers to identify aircraft on radar, ruling out the human error many had suspected.

TREE NEWS reports: Liu Yuanchun, president of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said on Sept. 19 at the Tsinghua PBCSF Chief Economists Forum that expanding domestic demand is a long-term strategy, not a short-term policy choice. He said weak consumption driven by structural rather than cyclical factors cannot be fundamentally fixed by fiscal or monetary easing alone. During China’s transition from investment-and-export-led growth to innovation-driven growth, supply-demand imbalances should be normal, but over-pursuing short-term balance would cost the ability to ride out cycles.

TREE NEWS reports: China Railway carried 3.32 billion passengers in the first eight months of 2025, up 3.9% year on year and a record for the period. The network ran an average of 11,508 passenger trains a day, 5.0% more than a year earlier. Cross-border traffic rose sharply, with the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed line carrying 23.4 million cross-border passengers, up 10.7%.

TREE NEWS update: Shandong’s Department of Industry and Information Technology has opened public consultation on a draft plan for high-end chemicals development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The draft targets average annual growth of over 5% in the province’s chemical value-added output by 2030, with high-end chemicals accounting for about 65% of the sector’s economic benefits, and sets out 16 sub-sector development directions across petrochemicals, coal chemicals and salt chemicals.

TREE NEWS update: Huang Zhiqiang has been appointed deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China Committee, vice chairman and president of China Development Bank. The appointment, confirmed on July 1, places him in the bank’s top executive ranks. China Development Bank is one of the country’s three policy banks.

TREE NEWS update: Saudi Arabia issued two danger alerts for Riyadh in the early hours of Saturday. No details on the cause of the alerts, the areas affected or whether there were casualties were immediately provided. The alert was issued twice during the same overnight window.

TREE NEWS update: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 18 that some European leaders are publicly claiming to be preparing for war with Russia only to shore up falling approval ratings and distract from economic and social policy failures. Speaking at a meeting of Russia’s military-industrial commission, Putin said Europeans have made clear they do not want war with Russia, but some leaders keep escalating tensions and treating Ukrainians as cannon fodder. He said Russia has no aggressive intentions toward European countries and is ready to cooperate and restore relations with its neighbors.

TREE NEWS update: International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said continental games should decide their own sports programs, but the future direction should be to strengthen their alignment with the Olympic Games. Speaking in an interview ahead of the opening ceremony of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on the evening of the 19th, she addressed questions about the timing of the Asian Games and the trimming of its sports program.