China yesterday called on the United States to "completely cancel" its reciprocal tariffs after Washington announced exemptions for consumer electronics and key chipmaking equipment.

Beijing yesterday increased its tariffs on US imports to 125 percent, hitting back against US President Donald Trump’s decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145 percent and raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains.

Twenty people have died in a fire at a nursing home in northern China’s Hebei province, Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua said yesterday.

Trump's latest salvo of tariffs came into force Wednesday, hitting China the hardest and bringing levies against the world's second-largest economy to 104%

China yesterday vowed to “fight to the end” after US President Donald Trump threatened to further ramp up tariffs, but the EU warned against escalating a trade war as hard-hit global markets steadied.

Threats and pressure are not the right way to deal with China, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday after describing US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” as bullying.

China announced 34 percent tariffs on US imports yesterday, the first major economy to fire back against President Donald Trump’s new levies in an escalating global trade war that sent markets deep into the red.

Trump unveiled particularly stinging tariffs of 34 percent on China

China’s military said it had begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to “serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”, calling Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-Te a “parasite”.

"They said they would import so many mangoes that Bangladesh might face a shortage"

China yesterday urged an end to “illegal” sanctions on Iran as it hosted Iranian and Russian diplomats for talks Beijing hopes will restart long-stalled negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

China yesterday called for a “diplomatic” resolution to the Iran nuclear issue as it prepared to host diplomats from Tehran and Moscow for talks.

China will host Russia and Iran for trilateral talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on Friday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said.

China said yesterday it will accelerate the use of artificial intelligence and big data in elderly and social care as it bets on new technologies to drive economic growth despite an ageing population.

China imported $29 billion of US farm produce in 2023, more than any other country, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Beijing yesterday accused the United States of exerting “tariff pressure and blackmail” after President Donald Trump’s latest threat to slap an extra duty of 10 percent on imports from China, citing a continued flow of fentanyl into the country.

China’s defence ministry said yesterday that drills which had alarmed Taiwan off its coast were “routine” and the island should stop complaining, as Taipei reported a surge in Chinese military activity, although no live-fire exercises.

More than 30 people are missing after a landslide in China’s southwestern Sichuan province yesterday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Taiwan detected six Chinese balloons off the island, the defence ministry said yesterday, as Beijing maintains military pressure to push its claim of sovereignty.

China is opposed to US “smearing and sabotage” of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Panama through “pressure and coercion”, its foreign ministry said yesterday, after the South American nation decided to exit the programme.