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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday celebrated his country’s status as the host of upcoming talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, a meeting where the two leaders are expected to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump on Thursday announced his second meeting this year with Putin a day before he was to sit down with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. A date for the meeting has not been set, but Trump said it would take place in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, and suggested it could happen…

Hong Kong stocks slid again on Friday and were set to close out a week whiplashed by renewed China-US tensions, as investors geared up for key China economic data and a high-stakes Communist Party’s gathering that would outline the nation’s development goal in the next five years.The Hang Seng Index fell 1.6 per cent to 25,473.09 at the noon break, stretching the loss to 3.1 per cent for the week. The Hang Seng Tech Index lost 2.8 per cent.On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index slid 1.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1 per cent.BYD Electronics International…

Shipping companies are rushing to divert vessels and adjust their corporate structures, as they strive to minimise their exposure to steep new US and Chinese port fees that took effect on Tuesday.European shipping giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, which collaborate as members of an alliance named Gemini, have been among the first to respond to the new fees by diverting two US-flagged vessels away from Chinese ports.Hapag-Lloyd’s container ship Potomac Express skipped its scheduled call at Ningbo in eastern China and instead proceeded to Busan, South Korea. Cargo destined for or transiting through Ningbo would be discharged in Busan and then…

The Hong Kong operations would serve as a strategic base for the Beijing-based carmaker to “oversee its research and development [R&D], intellectual property management and international supply chain functions”, said InvestHK, the Hong Kong government’s investment promotion arm, in a statement on Thursday.Li Auto, one of the few profitable EV makers in mainland China, is the latest car company to set up operations in the city, which is increasingly viewed as a stepping stone for their global ambitions.Domestic rivals such as BYD, the world’s largest EV builder, and Zeekr, a unit of Geely Auto, sell their smart EVs in Hong…

The Hong Kong operations would serve as a strategic base for the Beijing-based carmaker to “oversee its research and development [R&D], intellectual property management and international supply chain functions”, said InvestHK, the Hong Kong government’s investment promotion arm, in a statement on Thursday.Li Auto, one of the few profitable EV makers in mainland China, is the latest car company to set up operations in the city, which is increasingly viewed as a stepping stone for their global ambitions.Domestic rivals such as BYD, the world’s largest EV builder, and Zeekr, a unit of Geely Auto, sell their smart EVs in Hong…

Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025 in November aims to be an all-in-one marketplace for global cutting-edge technologies, with international buyers from areas including the Middle East and Global South coming to the city to shop for opportunities, according to senior InvestHK officials.Last year’s event was almost like a “study trip” for some delegations, according to King Leung, head of financial services and fintech at the government agency, which is responsible for attracting foreign direct investment to Hong Kong.“This year, there are some really serious buyers coming over,” he said in an interview. “They are coming prepared. We expect some action…

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has met with his Saudi counterpart Mohammed Al-Jadaan in Washington DC and briefed him on the privatization of the state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and airports as Islamabad seeks “strategic investments,” the finance ministry said on Thursday. The meeting between Aurangzeb and the Saudi finance minister took place on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings, where he has held a number of engagements with finance officials and business leaders from various countries and institutions. The cash-strapped South Asian nation is looking to privatize the debt-ridden PIA to raise…

KARACHI: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), along with seven industrial associations and textile exporters’ bodies, has expressed deep concerns over exorbitant and retrospective gas bills, urging Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and energy ministers to intervene in what they described as an anti-industry move that could halt production, damage exports and push Pakistan toward import reliance. Addressing a joint press conference at KCCI on Thursday, the business leaders appealed to the government to immediately freeze the controversial levy retrospectively charged for four months, which has raised gas bills from millions to tens of millions of rupees, an impossible…

BEIJING: Chinese state media on Thursday issued a seven-point rebuttal to US calls for Beijing to wind back its rare earth controls, as both sides struggle to move beyond a volley of barbs and accusations of blindsiding the other. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday called China’s new rare earth export restrictions “a global supply-chain power grab,” and suggested Beijing could stave off President Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods by shelving the measures set to take effect on November 8. Beijing maintains it not only notified Washington before announcing the new licensing regime, but…

WASHINGTON: International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday urged member countries to keep trade as an engine of growth for the world economy despite President Donald Trump’s steep new tariffs, warning that a larger-scale trade war could have negative consequences. Georgieva, speaking to reporters at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank, mapped out a sober view of a global economy that was doing better than feared when IMF and World Bank members last gathered in Washington in April, but still faced many risks, including inflation, high debt and growing unrest in countries around the world. The…