Alibaba’s executive chairman Jack Ma has said that his promise to Donald Trump to create one million jobs in the US is no longer valid and viable after Washington slapped Beijing with new round of tariffs on $200bn worth of goods. [...]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has authorized the addition of 33 Russian defense and intelligence officials and entities to the ever-growing US sanctions list and also targeted a Chinese military entity for buying Russian arms. [...]

In the first physical settlement of the Chinese yuan-denominated oil futures contract, five companies will deliver a total of 600,000 barrels of Middle Eastern crude grades to buyers of the September futures contract. [...]

The biggest holder of US Treasury bills, notes and bonds – China – has dropped $7.8 billion worth of US sovereign debt as a large-scale trade conflict, launched by Washington earlier this year, breaks new ground. The latest statistics released by the US Treasury Department showed that China’s share of US sovereign bonds hit a six month low of $1.171 trillion in July, from $1.178 trillion in [...]

What is the bigger story? The West Against the Rest or The West Against Itself? The Illiberal Quartet of Xi, Putin, Rouhani and Erdogan is in the line of fire of haughty homilies about Western “values.” Illiberalism is arrogantly and provocatively depicted in the West repeatedly as a Tartar Invasion 2.0. But closer to home Illiberalism is responsible for the social, civil war in the U.S. as Tr [...]

Plans for a nuclear war devised by the US Army in the 1960s considered decimating the Soviet Union and China by destroying their industrial potential and wiping out the bulk of their populations, newly declassified documents show. [...]

In August, China has marked the 10th anniversary of its high-speed railway endeavors. Speaking to Sputnik, Tom McGregor, a Beijing-based CCTV commentator and editor, explained how the country's bullet trains are bringing the nation together and facilitating China's economic growth regardless of the US tariff spree. [...]

Chinese yuan-backed oil futures contracts hit their daily limit with a 5-percent spike on Tuesday as the US kicked off the first round of sanctions against Iran. Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and target the country's oil sector with sanctions is expected to significantly boost China's leverage to demand crude imports be priced in yuan. [...]

China cuts US investments by 92 percent this year amid escalating trade war. The US market saw a significant plunge in investment from China in the first five months of the year amid a growing trade row between the world's two largest economies. [...]

China is stepping up cooperation with the Arab world. The recent China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) was aimed at deepening economic and security cooperation between Beijing and Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa within the framework of the One Belt, One Road project, analysts told Sputnik. [...]

When reports emerged that India and China are in talks about forming an oil buyers’ club, OPEC was probably too busy with its upcoming June 22 meeting to concern itself with that dangerous alliance. Now, it may be time for it to start worrying. “The timing is right. The boom in US oil and gas production gives us greater leverage against OPEC,” the Times of India quoted an Indian official as [...]

China can damage US economy in a full-scale trade war if it is willing to take the pain. The threat of a full-scale trade war between the US and China has dominated the news in recent weeks. The countries have exchanged import tariffs on each other's goods, and are threatening further protective steps. [...]

The White House's tough trade practices and sanctions policies may finally backfire on the US, prompting holders of US debt to dump American Treasuries. The move could have a serious impact on the decades-long leadership of the US dollar. Russia and China are dumping their US Treasury debt holdings amid Washington's sanctions and tariff spree. [...]

Beijing’s retaliatory measures against US tariffs can include penalties on oil coming to China from America. A cut in Chinese purchases of US oil may benefit Iran’s sales and anger Washington. “The Chinese may just replace some of the American oil with Iranian crude,” said John Driscoll, director of consultancy JTD Energy Services, as quoted by Reuters. [...]

The United States is isolating itself from countries around the world, and making countries unite in a time of economic repression from Washington, prominent investor Jim Rogers says. “America is pushing China and Russia together, America’s pushing China and Iran together, pushing China, Iran, Russia all together, and that’s pushing America out of some very major countries in the world,” R [...]

Germany has had enough of American foreign policy. Angela Merkel’s visits to Russia and China are a testament to that. On May 10, 2018, German Chancellor Angela Merkel openly said that Europe can no longer count on the United States to protect it, hinting that the European continent would begin to “take destiny into its own hands.” [...]

The United Kingdom and the European Union face a critical choice about the direction of future trade policies with the rest of the world. Should the EU deepen its already heavy exposure to the US even as the country turns inward, or should it begin to diversify its trade relations toward a less familiar albeit increasingly prosperous China? [...]

Bilateral trade between Russia and China has grown steadily and the positive trend will continue, according to Xu Sitao, chief economist with Deloitte, consulting in China. He warned US economy is facing risk of recession by 2020.  Xu said China has become the largest export market for Russia since 2017, accounting for roughly 12-13 percent of Russian exports. [...]

As more countries pay for oil in yuan, the standing of the Chinese currency in global finance has grown, an analyst tells RT. However, its future path won’t be completely smooth, he warns. “If people started to pay for oil in yuan, central banks would need to hold reserves in yuan, leading to a massive increase in the global demand for yuan, reducing the cost of financing the Chinese economy,� [...]

China’s state-owned energy giant CNPC is ready to replace French energy company Total’s stake in the Iranian South Pars gas project. In 2017, Total and CNPC signed a 20-year contract worth 4.8 billion dollars to develop Phase 11 of Iran’s South Pars field. Sputnik spoke with political analyst Tom McGregor about CNPC’s acquisition plan. [...]

According to Reuters' sources, the meeting will solely focus on the implementation issues and details of the Iran nuclear deal. Diplomats from Germany, France, Britain, led by senior EU diplomat Helga Schmid, and also from Russia and China, will be meeting in Vienna next week to discuss a new agreement with Iran similar to the 2015 deal, but one that would put curbs on Tehran's ballistic [...]

The real goal behind recent US sanctions is to isolate Russia economically from Europe and Asia, according to an analyst interviewed by RT. “The most obvious reason for sanctions is to drive a wedge into the relationship between Russia and the European Union, between Russia and China, etc.” said TeleTradeBel analyst Mikhail Grachev. [...]