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Chinese lenders stepped in to extend billions of dollars to Russian banks as western institutions pulled back their operations in the country during the first year of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The moves by four of China’s biggest banks are part of Beijing’s efforts to promote the renminbi as an alternative global currency to the

Chinese authorities stepped up measures to support the renminbi and boost the country’s housing market in an effort to restore confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. The People’s Bank of China said on Friday it would cut the amount of foreign currency that financial institutions are required to hold in reserve, signalling its resolve to

Receive free Healthcare updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Healthcare news every morning. Are the British work-shy? The UK is now the only developed country where more people have continued to drop out of the workforce since the pandemic. The work and pensions secretary has urged the over-50s

On a Tuesday in August, Luke Iseman drove two hours east of Oakland in drought-stricken California to a remote spot where he launched a handful of balloons filled with sulphur dioxide and helium high into the sky. From there, he used GPS to try to track the balloons as they rose into the stratosphere, the

Chinese property stocks declined on Thursday after Country Garden, once the country’s largest developer by sales, reported record losses and China Vanke cancelled a share placement. The CSI 300 Real Estate index, which tracks property stocks listed on mainland exchanges, declined 4.1 per cent in morning trading. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Mainland Properties index declined

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Europe has lost its position as the world’s largest offshore wind market to the Asia-Pacific region led by China, as a result of rising costs and supply chain disruptions, the global industry group has found. Europe accounted for about 47 per cent of the 64.3GW of total global offshore wind capacity in 2022, while the

“We are not a gang. We are not the mafia. We don’t seek revenge like they did in Mario Puzo’s book The Godfather. We are a nation. A nation of laws.” Those were the fulminations of Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian television host, denying that the Kremlin had anything to do with the aeroplane explosion that

What is included in my trial? During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well

My earliest memory of watching a football match was the FA Cup Charity Shield final in August 2001, where Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-1. My father and older brother supported Manchester United, so — a free agent at that point — I chose to root for Liverpool — and I’ve been a very lazy Reds

Russia is offering to swap western investors’ stranded assets in the country for some Russian assets frozen by the west following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Under the proposal, Moscow would give interested western investors the opportunity to buy the assets of Russian companies that have been immobilised in Europe by using their own

A 10-minute MRI scan is a much more accurate way of diagnosing prostate cancer than the blood test used widely at present and could form the basis of a screening programme, according to a study published by UK scientists on Tuesday. Researchers at University College London gave both an MRI scan and PSA test to

When I published a bullish book about Asia in 2016, I felt I had good answers to all the sceptical questions except one. What about China’s demography? The cliché was that China will “grow old before it grows rich”. Like many clichés, it turns out to have some truth to it.  For all the talk in

China is expected to make the biggest cuts this year to two of its core lending rates, as pressure mounts on policymakers and banks to reverse a trend of slowing momentum and revive flagging demand in the world’s second-biggest economy. The People’s Bank of China is set to announce reductions to both one-year and five-year

The US, Japan and South Korea are to create a leader-level hotline and hold annual military exercises as part of a historic trilateral agreement that will help Washington and its Asian allies boost deterrence against North Korea and China. President Joe Biden will announce the move with Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean

China’s securities regulator has announced a package of market-friendly reforms to try to boost investment and trading after months of underwhelming economic growth that has hit stocks and bonds. The measures, which the China Securities Regulatory Commission said were designed to “boost capital market investor confidence”, indicate Beijing’s concern over the country’s economic and financial

Greetings. For the rest of August, my wonderful colleagues Claire Jones and Chris Cook will keep Free Lunch going — I will be back in the saddle in September. Today, one last set of reflections around my economics-y summer readings. China’s reversal of fortune has generated a host of writing in the past few weeks.

Lower gas and electricity prices drove a sharp drop in UK inflation to 6.8 per cent in July from 7.9 per cent the previous month, the lowest rate of price increases since February last year.  The figure met economists’ expectations and will come as a modest relief after wage data on Tuesday was surprisingly strong, highlighting the work

As 2022 drew to a close, Binance co-founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao appeared to have the world at his feet. Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of Binance’s biggest rival FTX, went to Zhao in November last year hoping the Binance chief would bail out his own exchange. Zhao declined, sealing FTX’s fate. On November 10, one

Inflated shipping costs are enabling Russian companies to earn far more from crude oil sales to India than previously recognised, according to a Financial Times analysis which suggests that the charges may have raised more than $1bn in a single quarter. Russia has, until recently, appeared to comply on this route with western measures designed