Chinese banks extended 280 billion yuan ($38.87 billion) in new yuan loans in April, below analysts' forecasts and plummeting from March's 3.64 trillion yuan, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the People's Bank of China.

Gold sold off in Asian morning trading on Monday after progress was reported between the US and China during weekend trade talks. Bullion fell 1.8 per cent to $3,265 per troy ounce following meetings between US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng in Geneva over the weekend.

The White House backed off from the steepest levies, as the costs of an all-out trade war with China threatened global economic growth.

The result has been a raft of trade wars between Washington and other governments, Beijing foremost among them. Trump’s disruptions to the global economy are serious, and they may feel novel. But today’s situation is hardly without precedent.

SHENZHEN – Even as China and the United States roll back tariffs and other trade salvos amid a 90-day truce, there is one powerful source of leverage that Beijing appears to be retaining: the control of its exports of critical minerals, including rare earths.

As Europe tightens checks to block a surge of Chinese goods redirected from the US, data show China's trade surplus with the EU hit a record $90 billion in the first four months of 2025

JOHN CULVER is a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings. He served for 35 years as a Central Intelligence Agency officer, including as National Intelligence Officer for East Asia from 2015 to 2018.