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Wealthy mainland Chinese are increasingly shifting their attention and capital away from the US to other real estate markets amid rising geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to property agents.In 2024, Chinese buyers’ demand for homes that cost more than US$5 million moved to Thailand, Australia and Canada, respectively, according to data tracked by Juwai IQI.By comparison, the US in 2023 was the top choice among Chinese buyers, according to the property portal, which has a network of over 50,000 real estate professionals across more than 30 countries.“Geopolitical friction,...

The global economy is inexorably moving towards a multicurrency system as China’s persistent efforts to internationalise the yuan and technological changes erode the US dollar’s dominant position, economists said at a conference on Monday.“Trade invoicing in yuan went from zero per cent to 30 per cent in the last 10 years, and half of Chinese capital flows are now in yuan, much higher than before,” said Jin Keyu, a professor at the London School of Economics, at a panel hosted by the Milken Institute, a US-based think tank.“The truth is...

Inefficient investments continue to be a drain on the economy, and debt-laden local governments need to ensure that the projects they back are actually needed in their communities.That was the message state-owned Economic Daily delivered in a commentary on Sunday as it put its weight behind national efforts to stimulate domestic demand.Written under the pen name Jin Guanping, the commentary said the incremental capital output ratio had risen from 2.84 in 2008 to 9.44 in 2023. The ratio is a key measure of investment efficiency where a lower value indicates...

India has “absolutely no interest” in undermining the US dollar, and its fellow members of the Brics grouping of emerging economies have not formed a unified position on a proposed alternative payment system, according to New Delhi’s foreign minister.Speaking at the London-based think tank Chatham House last week during a six-day visit to Britain and Ireland, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar described the dollar as a “source of international economic stability”.His comments followed repeated warnings from US President Donald Trump against any efforts by Brics – an acronym of founding nations Brazil, Russia,...

US President Donald Trump’s latest accusation of China’s trade advantage via yuan depreciation suggests his sights are set on reducing the US trade deficit, according to analysts who also noted that a priority of China’s central bank is stabilising the currency against the backdrop of a strong dollar and mounting tariff risks.They contended that Trump’s warning on Monday – that China and Japan “can’t continue to reduce” their currencies because it is “unfair” to the US – clashes with Beijing’s actual efforts to prevent a sharp yuan depreciation. Japan also...