News | Latest Breaking News Stories & Headlines

India and China to resume direct flights after five years

India and China will resume direct flights between their two countries this month after a five-year suspension, officials said, with bookings opening today.

Business • 6 hrs

Men and women working with cables in a factory in China

China factory activity shrinks for sixth month in a row

China's factory activity shrank for a sixth month in a row in September, official data showed today, as a domestic consumer slump and lingering trade uncertainty weigh on the economy.

Business • 30 Sep

The publication of the executive order shows Donald Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok's US assets

Trump signs order declaring TikTok sale ready

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring that his plan to sell Chinese-owned TikTok's US operations to US and global investors will address the national security requirements in a 2024 law.

Business • 26 Sep

Power station with smoke bellowing out in China

China makes pledge to cut emissions for the first time

China has for the first time made specific emission cut pledges, though its goal of reducing planet-warming greenhouse gases to just 7-10% by 2035 is seen as far too modest.

Climate Change • 25 Sep

Social media app TikTok has 170 million US users

US, China in deal for TikTok to keep operating in US

US President Donald Trump has announced an agreement between the US and China to keep TikTok operating in the US, with three sources familiar with the matter saying the deal was similar to one discussed earlier this year.

Business • 17 Sep

A Nvidia chip is seen through a magnifying glass on a green motherboard

China claims Nvidia violated anti-monopoly law

China's market regulator today said a preliminary investigation had found that Nvidia had violated the country's anti-monopoly law, marking the latest hit for the US chip giant.

Business • 15 Sep

Chinese factory, consumer activity slow amid struggles

China's economy showed further signs of weakness last month, with key data today revealing factory output and consumption rising at their weakest pace for around a year.

Business • 15 Sep

Sainsbury's ends talks to sell Argos to China's JD.com

British supermarket group Sainsbury's said it has terminated talks with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com over selling the Argos general merchandise retailer, a day after confirming discussions were underway.

Business • 15 Sep

China's consumer price index - a key measure of inflation - dropped 0.4% year-on-year in August

China's economy under pressure as consumer slump deepens

Consumer prices in China fell last month at their fastest rate in six months, official data showed today, as leaders struggle to reignite demand in the world's second-largest economy.

Business • 10 Sep

BEIJING, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 3: Chinese soldiers march during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025, in Beijing, China. China's Victory Day military parade

China military parade: Goose steps to a new world order?

A grand military parade attended by the Chinese, Russian and North Korean leaders in Beijing this week seemed to herald a new world order. But what does that look like and what are the implications for the custodians of the old order?

Analysis and Comment • 07 Sep

China to impose temporary duties on EU pork

China said today it would impose temporary anti-dumping duties on European Union pork imports, delivering another blow to shaky ties between the economic powerhouses.

Business • 05 Sep

A man walks past a Starbucks Coffee store in a traditional-style Chinese building with a decorative stone archway inscribed with Chinese characters at the entrance

Starbucks China valued at about $5 billion by bidders

Most of the bidders seeking to buy a portion of Starbucks' China operations have submitted offers valuing the business at as much as $5 billion, said two people who have knowledge of the deal discussions.

Business • 05 Sep

Anthropic said it has toughened restrictions on 'authoritarian regions'

US AI giant Anthropic bars Chinese-owned entities

US artificial intelligence giant Anthropic said it was expanding restrictions on Chinese entities to include subsidiary companies and organisations based overseas, citing national security risks in an industry first.

Business • 05 Sep

Yang Qin and Zhang Li with Pat Rigney in the Leitrim nature reserve

Leitrim nature reserve twinned with Chinese panda park

A nature reserve in Co Leitrim has twinned with the Sichuan Green Foundation and Giant Panda National Park in Wenchuan, China, home to the largest panda population in the world.

Connacht • 04 Sep

Chinese Soldiers march in unison in green uniform

Humanity facing choice of 'peace or war', says China's Xi

President Donald Trump accused the leaders of China, North Korea and Russia yesterday of conspiring against the United States as they gathered in Beijing for a massive military parade.

World • 03 Sep

A screengrab showing what is believed to be a train carrying North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un to Beijing.

North Korea's Kim arrives in Beijing for military parade

China's President Xi Jinping has convened his Russian and North Korean counterparts in Beijing for the first time, a show of solidarity with countries shunned by the West over their role in Europe's worst war in 80 years.

Asia • 02 Sep

A drone light show spelling out Amazing Shenzhen in the sky over a group of people's heads

Chinese cluster now world's top innovation hotspot - UN

Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou has overtaken Tokyo-Yokohama to become the world's top cluster for innovation, the United Nations said today.

Business • 01 Sep

China's Xi slams 'bullying' behaviour in world order

China's President Xi Jinping has criticised "bullying behaviour" in the world order as he gathered Eurasian leaders for a showpiece summit aimed at putting China front and centre of regional relations.

World • 01 Sep

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan pose during a welcoming ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tia

Putin, Modi in Tianjin for summit hosted by China

China's President Xi Jinping has gathered the leaders of Russia and India among dignitaries from around 20 Eurasian countries to kick off a showpiece summit aimed at putting China front and centre of regional relations.

World • 01 Sep

BYD quarterly profit falls for first time in over 3 years

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD's quarterly profit fell for the first time in more than three years, as its expansion hit a speed bump amid a government campaign against price wars.

Business • 29 Aug

China expansion helps Murphy's Ice Cream to tasty profits

The expansion of the Murphy's Ice Cream brand from Dingle into mainland China last year helped the gourmet ice-cream retailer to scoop post tax profits of €213,608.

Business • 28 Aug

Nvidia forecasts higher revenue as China clouds future

Nvidia shares dipped last night as the fate of its China business hung in the balance, caught up in the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

Business • 28 Aug

Nvidia results to spotlight fallout of China-US trade war

Nvidia's business in China will be the focus of investors when the AI chipmaker reports earnings tomorrow night, following an unusual deal with the Trump administration and Beijing's subsequent efforts to stall imports.

Business • 26 Aug

Starbucks expects bids for China business in two weeks

Starbucks has asked a short-listed group of potential bidders to submit non-binding bids for a stake in its China business within the next two weeks, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Business • 22 Aug

Watchmaker Swatch apologises for 'slanted eye' ad

Swiss watchmaker Swatch has issued an apology and pulled ads featuring images of an Asian male model pulling the corners of his eyes up and backwards in a "slanted eye" pose.

Business • 18 Aug