ASIA: Chinese embassies in the US, Italy, India, the Philippines, and other locations say they will provide “visa facilitation” to foreign applicants who can certify that they have received a Chinese shot. To enter China, most travelers also still need to prove they have tested negative for Covid-19, obtain an antibody test, and quarantine upon […]

There seems to be a HUGE gap in what people think about cryptocurrency. The European Central Bank (ECB) is working on a scheme to launch “digital euro central bank money” as soon as possible. Many economists praise the project as an “innovation,” as an important and indispensable step in an increasingly digitized world. But economists […]

ASIA: China is aiming for an economic growth rate above 6% in 2021. After scrapping its target last year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced the target on Friday at the opening of this year’s National People’s Congress. The target marks a return to strong growth after the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the world’s second-largest economy. By […]

ASIA: The latest edition of the Heritage Foundation’s annual “Index of Economic Freedom,” which ranks countries of world’s freest economies, released Thursday, saw Hong Kong excluded from the list it once dominated because its policies are “controlled from Beijing, the agency reported. The news comes on the eve of China’s annual National People’s Congress, which […]

ASIA: The Chinese government is set to kick off an annual parliamentary meeting this week for approving national priorities for 2021. The “Two Sessions” parliamentary meeting is slated to begin Thursday with the opening of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body. The National People’s Congress legislature is scheduled to kick off its […]

Joe Biden appears to be the first president to skip doing a State of the Union Address which is typically done by the end of February by tradition. However, it is not uncommon that a president skips the State of the Union Address during the year in which they were inaugurated. Both Washington and John […]

ASIA: US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack believes China is making good on promises it made as part of the landmark phase one trade deal it signed with the US last year. Vilsack said that the deal allows for market conditions to dictate how much Beijing is required to purchase from US farmers. The COVID pandemic, […]

ASIA: New home prices in China grew at a faster pace in January, driven by red-hot demand in the country’s mega cities despite the government’s cooling measures. Average new home prices in 70 major cities increased 0.3% in January from a month earlier, versus a 0.1% gain in December, according to Reuters calculations based on […]

ASIA: Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Monday the United States and China could work together on issues like climate change and the coronavirus pandemic if they repaired their damaged bilateral relationship. Wang said China is willing to reopen constructive dialogue with Washington after relations between the two countries sank to their lowest in […]

ASIA: China may ban the export of rare-earth refining technology to countries or companies it deems as a threat to state security, according to a person familiar with the matter. While China has no plans to restrict shipments of rare earths to the US, it is keeping the plan in its back pocket should a […]