Blistering sharemarket rally of recent weeks recedes as expectations cool towards long-awaited ‘bazooka stimulus’ for ailing property sectorChina posted its slowest growth in a year and a half on Friday, as Beijing struggles to steady an economy shaken by sluggish consumer spending and persistent property sector woes.Officials have in recent weeks unveiled...

The US military launched a clandestine program amid the Covid-19 crisis to discredit China’s Sinovac inoculation, in part, as payback for Beijing’s efforts to blame Washington for the pandemic. One target: the Filipino public. Health experts say the gambit was indefensible and put innocent lives at risk. The covert operation reveals the dangerous intersection...

Exclusive: Party drops plan for formal recognition laid out last year by David Lammy, who will visit Beijing on FridayUK politics live – latest updatesLabour has backtracked on plans to push for formal recognition of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide in the run-up to David Lammy’s trip to the country this weekend.The foreign secretary is...

Shares in LVMH, which also owns Dior, Tiffany and Moët & Chandon, fell by as much as 7%, briefly hitting two-year lowShares in luxury goods brands slumped after Louis Vuitton’s LVMH reported an unexpected fall in third-quarter sales amid China’s economic slowdown.Shares in LVMH, which also owns Dior, Tiffany and Moët & Chandon, fell by as much...

Labour set out plans to raise taxes by £7.3bn in its manifesto – but Treasury briefing suggests £40bn in tax rises and spending cuts neededRobert Jenrick has finished his speech, and he is now taking questions.Q: Kemi Badenoch says she is Labour’s worst nightmare. Is she right?I think that our party faces an existential challenge right now. Our party...

Exclusive: Group of UK MPs says foreign secretary must ‘engage with China as it really is’ amid rapprochement driveDavid Lammy must “engage with China as it really is under the leadership of Xi Jinping” and raise human rights concerns during his trip to the country, UK parliamentarians who have been hit with sanctions by Beijing have said.The foreign...