Local statistics officials said retail sales plummeted by 18.9% in March, while industrial output was also hit.

Toyota-backed tech firm gets a licence to operate 100 vehicles in Guangzhou's Nansha district. Rival groups are also testing self-driving cars in Shenzhen, Changsha and California.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce warns that totalitarian China built bases in the South China Sea after vowing never to do that. US to expedite plan to build an embassy in Honiara

The first train carrying just freight from China to Laos set off from Shenyang in northeastern Liaoning province on Friday for Kunming and then down to Vientiane

State officials say China needs to improve its air quality standards because pollution is still taking a serious toll on citizens' health.

Concern about rate hikes and war in Ukraine spurred investors to withdraw $15.2 billion, the biggest weekly amount since December 15, according to Refinitiv-Lipper data.

Shanghai's long-running Covid lockdown continues while big cities and neighbouring states – Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore – are easing restrictions or set to open up.

Britain and India are looking to ramp up business with a bilateral free-trade deal before the end of the year plus closer defence ties

Taiwan has set its sights on playing a role in green energy systems to slash carbon emissions – and profit from the massive transition to cleaner power over coming decades

The fundraising target for the LIC listing has reportedly been slashed to 300 billion rupees ($3.9 billion) because of cool investor sentiment

Questions could be asked on the timing of Zhihu's secondary listing in Hong Kong, after the group's shares plunged 23.6% and it endured the city's second worst ever stock debut

Strict Covid lockdown measures halted production in key factories. The banking regulator says it will step up support to help restart production.