In under three hours, China’s bullet trains whisk travelers back 1,200 years in time

Visiting Shanghai is an exhilarating experience. This financial hub of 25 million was seemingly made for skyscraper-ogling, fashion-finding and dumpling-sampling. Its metro system is clean and efficient, making zipping around town — or to the next city — incredibly easy. But at some point, urban fatigue kicks in, a sign it’s time to disappear into the misty mountains so often captured in traditional Chinese ink paintings.

Thanks to China’s huge network of high-speed railways — the largest on the planet — the calming countryside is never far away. Take Wuyuan, a rural county in the landlocked province of Jiangxi in eastern China. Less than three hours away from Shanghai by bullet train, it’s filled with centuries-old villages, where white walls and tiled roofs beckon, and hearty meals made with ingredients straight off the farms are the norm.

This juxtaposition offers a fascinating opportunity to soak in both China’s ultra-modern present and its famed past on a short trip.

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Trump's USA: This is the stuff of Mao Redoing

If imitation really is the highest form of flattery, Xi Jinping’s economic team is surely blushing at Donald Trump’s China-style policy pivots.

US President Trump’s esteem for the Chinese leader has long been evident to geopolitical experts. But the last 10 days have seen a whirlwind of Trump policy moves that might shock even the Politburo in Beijing. Strong-arming Intel into a 10% stake and Nvidia into giving the White House a 15% taste of revenue will seem familiar to anyone who’s seen a decent mafia movie.

Ditto for Trump trying to intimidate Goldman Sachs into firing its chief economist for daring to state the obvious: Tariffs are inflationary. Or Trump sacking the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for reporting that US unemployment is slowing. Or directing his federal communications czar to revoke media licenses for organizations reporting what anyone outside the Trump bubble can see.

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Donald Trump Defends Chinese Student Numbers Amid MAGA Uproar

President Donald Trump has defended his proposal to allow 600,000 Chinese students into the United States, after several MAGA figures spoke out against it.

"Look, we're getting along very well with China and I'm getting along very well with President Xi," Trump told reporters. "I think it's very insulting to say students can't come here."

Trump's announcement marks a departure from his administration's previous hard-line approach and the "America First" policies that his base of supporters embrace. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. would "aggressively" revoke visas for Chinese students and tighten future visa screening. But Trump said in June that he had "always been in favor" of allowing Chinese students into the country.

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Modi Tells Country to 'Buy Indian' in Face of Trump's Tariffs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indians to opt for homegrown products as the coutry's industries come under threat from U.S. President Donald Trump's steep tariffs. During a speech on Monday, translated by Indian news outlet Firstpost, Modi encouraged citizens to adopt the "mantra" that whatever they purchase must be "made in India."

"I appeal to the citizens of our country to prioritize purchasing goods that are made in India," Modi said. "Whether it's decorative items or gifts, let us choose products manufactured within our own nation."

Modi has repeated these comments in several speeches over the past few days, while also urging businesses to display "made in India" signs outside stores, the BBC reports.

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Trump makes good on threat to impose 50% tariffs on India imports

President Donald Trump made good on his threat to double tariffs on imports from India to 50%, a move that could endanger relations with one of America’s most important trading partners and send consumer prices higher. This comes just weeks after Trump instituted a new 25% baseline tariff on Indian goods. Levies on India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, are now among the highest the United States charges across all countries.

The latest round of tariffs on India seeks to punish the country for importing Russian oil and helping Russia finance its war with Ukraine, Trump has previously said.

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India’s $434 billion merchandise exports engine: What’s at stake as Trump’s 50% tariffs kick in

India’s exports to the U.S. will invite a steep 50% tariff, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s additional 25% levies on New Delhi over its Russian oil purchases took effect on Wednesday.

Analysts are warning that the higher tariffs risk substantially diminishing the allure of Indian exports to the U.S., compared to regional peers.

“India’s attractiveness as an emerging manufacturing hub will be hugely undermined,” Shilan Shah, deputy chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said in a note when the duties were announced. He estimates that U.S. spending drives around 2% of India’s GDP and the extra 25% tariff is “large enough to have a material impact.”

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Japan and South Korea Task Force To Tackle Birth Rate Crisis

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have agreed to launch a joint task force to tackle shared issues of concern, including birth rates.

More than half of the world's countries now have total fertility rates below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman needed to sustain a population. Longer lifespans, rising living costs and shifting social attitudes among younger generations have contributed to the decline.

South Korea (0.75) and Japan (1.15) have among the lowest fertility rates, and both countries are considered "super-aged societies," with more than 20 percent of their populations aged 65 and older. In recent years, both countries have invested billions of dollars to reverse the trends, fearing they will strain social safety nets and drag on economic growth.

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China Nvidia rival Cambricon adds to $40 billion rally with 4,000% revenue jump

Chinese semiconductor firm Cambricon posted record profit in the first half of the year underscoring how local challengers to Nvidiaare gaining traction as Beijing looks to boost its domestic industry.

Cambricon is among a plethora of companies in China that are vying to be an alternative to American giant Nvidia when it comes to providing the chips required to train and run artificial intelligence applications and models.

In the first half of the year, Cambricon said revenue surged more than 4,000% year-on-year to 2.88 billion Chinese yuan ($402.7 million) and net profit hit a record 1.04 billion yuan. The numbers remain small when compared to Nvidia which reported $44 billion of revenuein its February to April quarter. The tech giant is due to report its fiscal second-quarter earnings later today.

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Japan provides Africa an alternative to the US, China

The Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), held from August 20- 22 in Yokohama, brought leaders from 49 African countries to Japan to discuss development projects as well as related issues, such as protectionism and unfavorable financial structures, that make economic development more difficult than it has to be.

Sponsored by the Japanese government since 1993. TICAD is co-hosted by the United Nations (UN), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the World Bank. Representatives from the private sector, civic organizations and environmental groups also participate in TICAD.

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