Add to all that China's new assertiveness and Russian aggression in Ukraine, and it's plain there are rising geopolitical challenges on multiple fronts that threaten its status around the world.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65056529?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Administration officials also revealed more information on China's prior balloon operations targeting the U.S. In a television interview, Defense Secretary Austin said the aircraft had been detected over parts of Florida and Texas.

Source: https://abc7.com/chinese-spy-balloon-flying-object-shot-down-over-lake-huron-unidentified-objects/12809246/

Aerial view of the P4 laboratory (centre L) on the campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province, May 27, 2020.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/us-halts-funding-access-wuhan-lab-heart-covid/story?id=101499843

After showing contraction each month between April and October, mainland China's exports returned to positive growth in November, albeit marginal expansion of just 0.5% y/y measured in USD terms.

Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4658977-apac-manufacturing-sector-rebounds-late-2023?source=feed_all_articles

Aggressive easing could also trigger more capital outflows from China's struggling financial markets and pressure the yuan currency, which recently skidded to eight-month lows.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/china-economic-data-likely-show-recovery-fading-quickly-3631936?cid=cna_flip_070214

Alibaba Cloud's ModelScope platform has become China's largest AI model community, with significant developer engagement and model downloads.

Source: https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/12/36064503/whats-going-on-with-alibaba-stock-monday

Along with a number of China's smaller neighbors, Vietnam has maritime and territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.

Source: https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20230415/us-vietnam-pledge-to-boost-ties-as-blinken-visits-hanoi

Although China was less exposed to the energy crisis, higher bauxite and caustic prices inflated China's average alumina costs by 10%.

Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4580065-alumina-limiteds-awcmf-q4-2022-earnings-call-transcript?source=feed_all_articles

Analysts said that the optimism around China's reopening will likely drive oil prices higher.

Source: https://www.emirates247.com/business/energy/oil-prices-retreat-in-thin-trade-but-china-outlook-offers-support-2023-01-23-1.698981

An effort by China's Cosco for instance to buy a stake in a goods terminal in Hamburg, the country's largest port, was ultimately approved by Berlin.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/germany-wants-tighter-foreign-investment-controls-amid-china-de-risking-3711736?cid=cna_flip_070214

An international team of researchers studied data collected from employees in teams across China's hotel industry—discovering that 'more-traditional' staff members responded less well to humor from their leaders.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2023-06-good-boost-hotel-staff.html

A renewed crisis over Iran would come at a bad time for U.S. President Joe Biden who is focused on maintaining allies' support for the war in Ukraine and on rallying Western countries to push back on China's military and diplomatic ambitions.

Source: https://gazette.com/news/us-world/analysis-smoldering-iran-nuclear-crisis-risks-catching-fire/article_1735672f-a4c0-5476-9fe0-26c3811eeed6.html

As a Commerce Department investigation into China's potential circumvention of anti-dumping was underway last year, Biden's declaration moved to suspend potential tariffs on solar panels that could result from the inquiry.

Source: https://gazette.com/news/us-world/the-battle-with-biden-trade-hawks-fear-republicans-are-dodging/article_3828141e-7fcf-5500-9891-2d3ef40656c2.html

Asia In Brief China's Zhurong rover may have succumbed to dusty solar panels, but while the robot explorer was operational it found potential evidence of water on Mars.

Source: https://biztoc.com/x/eefc22caf9adb171?ref=ff

Asia's shares pared losses on Tuesday after the data, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down 0.4 per cent in early trade while China's bluechip CSI300 Index gained 0.3 per cent.

Source: https://www.perthnow.com.au/business/chinas-economic-recovery-speeds-up-as-covid-curbs-end-c-10378774

As part of its plan to counterbalance China's growing influence in the region, Canada is vying to strengthen ties with countries like South Korea and Japan.

Source: https://www.baytoday.ca/national-news/trudeau-asserts-continued-support-for-ukraine-as-g7-summit-featuring-zelenskyy-ends-7031518

Aston had suffered vast losses in 2019 as it crashed on weak global demand linked to China's economic slowdown and Britain exiting the European Union.

Source: https://www.legit.ng/business-economy/1522839-carmaker-aston-martins-losses-triple/

As Tsang and others have observed, China's moment ofinstability arrives just as the structural advantages that powered its economic boom are waning.

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/china-economy-property-xi-jinping-1.6942930?cmp=rss

A sudden and embarrassing retreat from the zero-Covid approach came just months after China's leader had declared at the Party Congress that there would be no swerving from it.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-64529922?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

At stake is China's growing footprint in Central America, once a steadfast base for Taiwan and where the United States is worried about Beijing's expanding influence in its backyard.

Source: https://gazette.com/news/us-world/end-to-taiwan-ties-nears-as-honduras-foreign-minister-goes-to-china/article_75967787-1314-5bc0-a4fe-fb2f4a0e3b5d.html