Hudson Lockett

When $12 billion Tongwei , one of the world’s largest polysilicon and solar panel makers, announced plans last month to spend about $700 million to take control of its smaller rival, Runergy, it sparked hopes that much-needed consolidation in China’s badly oversupplied solar sector might finally be kicking off.

Blackstone Mortgage (NYSE:) Trust, Inc.'s (NYSE:BXMT) Chief Financial Officer, Anthony F. Marone, Jr., has sold 501 shares of Class A Common Stock on August 30, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares were sold at a price of $18.4801, totaling over $9,258.

China's manufacturing edge remains central to some of America's most valuable companies, including $655 billion Tesla and $3 trillion Apple.

Tongwei, whose shares have fallen about 40% over the past year, announced plans to acquire controlling stake in smaller rival Runergy for up to 5 billion yuan.

China's leaders will be pleased at the immediate reaction to their latest plan to engineer a stock market recovery. The country’s benchmark CSI 300 Index has climbed about 7% since the People’s Bank of China announced a broad package of measures, including rate cuts and stock market support, on Tuesday, taking the gauge into positive territory for the year. But the recovery is likely to fizzle out

An election meant to deliver greater certainty has yielded anything but. The Liberal Democratic Party lost its parliamentary majority in the snap election held on Sunday, called by Shigeru Ishiba soon after becoming prime minister last month, who hoped to minimise gains by the opposition and lock in a firm mandate for his scandal-ridden coalition. Now the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party

Is China choking off its private companies? After more than a decade of increasingly centralised rule under President Xi Jinping, the answer seems clear. The private sector is on the wane due to stringent regulation and policies favouring government-run enterprises over profit-focused entrepreneurs.

Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on all Chinese exports to 60%. Donald Trump | Image: AP Advertisement

Robert Lighthizer. Mike Walz. Marco Rubio. These renowned China hawks are not the names Beijing wants popping up in President-elect Donald Trump’s early cabinet appointments. Markets agree, as the yuan has fallen about 2% against the dollar since Trump’s victory at the polls. Downward pressure will mount if he follows through on threats to raise American tariffs on imports from China to as much as 60%.

The Chinese yuan has fallen about 2% since the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States on Nov. 6. Yuan | Image: Unsplash