As part of its broader strategy to ensure high-quality and sufficient employment, China is combining fiscal support, targeted incentives and the rise of emerging industries to drive employment growth. Recent official data indicate that China's job market remains broadly stable. The surveyed urban unemployment rate edged down to 5.1 percent in April from 5.2 percent in March, maintaining an average of 5.2 percent in the first four months of 2025.

Chinese customs officials have intercepted three shipments containing thousands of unlicensed blind boxes and plush toys mimicking Pop Mart's wildly popular "LABUBU" series, marking the latest crackdown on counterfeit trendy collectibles. The officers preliminarily determined that these goods were suspected of intellectual property (IP) infringement. After contacting the rights holder, it was confirmed that the products violated relevant trademark and copyright protection laws, according to the Ningbo Customs. Under China's customs law, importers and exporters are required to truthfully declare the intellectual property status of their goods to customs and submit proof of legal authorization for any protected IP.

The business sentiment index (BSI) for large enterprises in Japan fell to minus 1.9 for the April-June quarter, marking the first negative figure in five quarters as U.S. tariff policies weighed heavily on exporters, official data showed Thursday. The decline was driven primarily by the manufacturing sector, which recorded a BSI of minus 4.8, according to data released by Japan's Cabinet Office and Ministry of Finance. Industries subject to U.S. tariffs saw the most obvious deterioration, with the steel industry index falling to minus 29.1 and the automobile and auto parts sector at minus 16.1 due to weakened domestic and international demand.

The 16th International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum and Exhibition (IIICF) opened on Wednesday in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), serving as a platform for dialogue on infrastructure connectivity, energy transition, and smart construction. Bringing together more than 3,500 representatives from over 70 countries and regions, including nearly 70 ministerial-level officials and leaders from across the global infrastructure and technology sectors, the event was themed "Enhanced Connectivity for Win-Win Co-operation."

U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, as investors reacted to a softer-than-expected inflation report and weighed tentative progress in trade negotiations between the United States and China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped just 1.10 points, essentially flat, to close at 42,865.77. The S&P 500 declined 16.57 points, or 0.27 percent, to 6,022.24, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 99.11 points, or 0.50 percent, ending at 19,615.88. Losses were broad but modest across sectors. Consumer discretionary and materials stocks led the declines, falling 1.02 percent and 0.98 percent, respectively. Energy stocks gained 1.49 percent, supported by higher oil prices, while utilities rose 0.05 percent.

OpenAI on Tuesday announced the launch of o3-pro, the company's most advanced reasoning artificial intelligence (AI) model to date.　O3-pro is a version of OpenAI's o3, a reasoning model first introduced earlier this year. Reasoning models solve problems step by step, making them more reliable in fields such as physics, mathematics, and computer programming.　The o3-pro model is available starting Tuesday for ChatGPT Pro and Team users, replacing the previous o1-pro model. Enterprise and Edu users will gain access the following week, according to OpenAI. O3-pro is also now live in OpenAI's developer API as of Tuesday afternoon.

China saw a vibrant surge in inbound consumption following the rollout of its refined tax-refund-upon-departure policy, with notable increases in both the number of tax refund stores and the total amount refunded. Between April 27 and May 26, the number of departure tax refund transactions processed by the country's tax authorities jumped 116 percent year on year, and sales at tax refund stores climbed 56 percent, the State Taxation Administration said on Tuesday. The country has expanded its refund-upon-purchase service model nationwide, with the number of related transactions increasing 32-fold and sales surging 50-fold year on year, according to data released by the administration.

Uncertainty remained high among U.S. small businesses in May, according to data released Tuesday from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). According to the small business optimism index, a net 1 percent of small business owners viewed current inventory stocks as "too low" in May, up 7 points from the month prior and the highest reading since August 2022.

The first meeting of the China-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism opened here in London on Monday. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended the meeting with U.S. representatives.

China's Ministry of Commerce announced Tuesday that it would extend the duration of an anti-dumping investigation into pork and relevant products originating from the European Union (EU). Given the complexity of the case, and in accordance with relevant regulations, the ministry has decided to further extend the probe until Dec. 16, 2025, the ministry said in a statement on its website. The ministry initiated the investigation on June 17 last year.

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic held talks in Paris on June 3 on the EU's anti-subsidy case involving Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), China's anti-dumping investigation into brandy originating from the EU, and export control policies, a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Saturday. The two sides conducted focused, candid and in-depth discussions on urgent and important issues including the above during their talks, and instructed their work teams to step up efforts to make economic and trade preparations for the important agenda between China and the EU this year, the spokesperson said. They conducted a professional, in-depth discussion on the EV case, making a significant step in the right direction toward proper resolution of the case, the ministry said.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 3.3 percent year on year in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday. On a month-on-month basis, the PPI dropped 0.4 percent in May, according to the NBS data. NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the decline of PPI to falling international crude prices, which drove down domestic prices in petroleum-related industries, as well as a seasonal slowdown in demand for energy and raw materials, with coal prices easing and construction activity disrupted by hot and rainy weather in southern regions.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was down 0.1 percent year on year in May, official data showed on Monday. On a monthly basis, the CPI dipped 0.2 percent last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, climbed 0.6 percent year on year in May, accelerating from a rise of 0.5 percent registered in April. For the January-May period, the country's CPI averaged a 0.1-percent decline compared with the same period last year, according to the NBS.

From new energy vehicles (NEVs) to shared visions of a greener future, low-carbon development brought China and its fellow Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member states closer together at a recent dialogue in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. The dialogue was focused on NEVs and advanced photovoltaic industrial and supply chains, and spotlighted the growing resolve of participating countries to transform mobility and advance sustainable development. It was a key part of the 2025 RCEP Local Governments and Friendship Cities Cooperation (Huangshan) Forum, which ran from June 4 to 6 and brought together approximately 300 delegates from all 15 RCEP member states. The forum yielded 27 cooperation deals spanning trade, technology and sister-city ties.

Foreign-invested firms in China recorded a 4 percent year-on-year growth in exports and imports in May, marking the fourth consecutive month of growth, official data showed Monday. The total trade volume of foreign enterprises in China reached 1.11 trillion yuan (over 154.47 billion U.S. dollars) last month, according to the General Administration of Customs. In the first five months of 2025, over 73,000 foreign enterprises in China were involved in export and import activities, the highest number for the same period in five years.

China's total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms rose to 17.94 trillion yuan (about 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of 2025, up 2.5 percent year on year, official data showed Monday. The growth rate marked an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to that registered in the first four months of 2025, according to the General Administration of Customs. During the first five months of 2025, China's exports rose 7.2 percent year on year to 10.67 trillion yuan while imports fell 3.8 percent to 7.27 trillion yuan. In May alone, China's total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms rose 2.7 percent year on year, the data showed. Last month, goods exports rose 6.3 percent year on year, while imports went down 2.1 percent, according to the data.