logo
China pauses US-bound company investment amid trade war

China pauses US-bound company investment amid trade war

Nikkei Asia5 days ago
The Chinese government is believed to have stopped processing applications for outbound investment to the U.S. since April. © Reuters
PAK YIU
NEW YORK -- China has stopped approving outbound investments for companies looking to set up or expand operations in the U.S., amid trade negotiations between the world's two largest economies, Nikkei Asia has learned.
Local Chinese governments and the state economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, have ceased such approvals since April, according to people familiar with the matter.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

OpenAI releases free, downloadable models in competition catch-up
OpenAI releases free, downloadable models in competition catch-up

Japan Today

time2 hours ago

  • Japan Today

OpenAI releases free, downloadable models in competition catch-up

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a Reddit forum early this year that the artificial intelligence star was on 'the wrong side of history' when it came to being open about the workings of its technology OpenAI on Tuesday released two new artificial intelligence (AI) models that can be downloaded for free and altered by users, to challenge similar offerings by U.S. and Chinese competition. The release of gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b "open-weight language models" comes as the ChatGPT-maker is under pressure to share inner workings of its software in the spirit of its origin as a nonprofit. "Going back to when we started in 2015, OpenAI's mission is to ensure AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) that benefits all of humanity," said OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. An open-weight model, in the context of generative AI, is one in which the trained parameters are made public, enabling users to fine-tune it. Meta touts its open-source approach to AI, and Chinese AI startup DeepSeek rattled the industry with its low-cost, high-performance model boasting an open weight approach that allows users to customize the technology. "This is the first time that we're releasing an open-weight model in language in a long time, and it's really incredible," OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman said during a briefing with journalists. The new, text-only models deliver strong performance at low cost, according to OpenAI, which said they are suited for AI jobs like searching the internet or executing computer code, and are designed to be easy to run on local computer systems. "We are quite hopeful that this release will enable new kinds of research and the creation of new kinds of products," Altman said. OpenAI said it is working with partners including French telecommunications giant Orange and cloud-based data platform Snowflake on real-world uses of the models. The open-weight models have been tuned to thwart being used for malicious purposes, according to OpenAI. Altman early this year said his company had been "on the wrong side of history" when it came to being open about how its technology works. He later announced that OpenAI will continue to be run as a nonprofit, abandoning a contested plan to convert into a for-profit organization. The structural issue had become a point of contention, with major investors pushing for better returns. That plan faced strong criticism from AI safety activists and co-founder Elon Musk, who sued the company he left in 2018, claiming the proposal violated its founding philosophy. In the revised plan, OpenAI's money-making arm will be open to generate profits but will remain under the nonprofit board's supervision. © 2025 AFP

Zelenskyy says he had 'productive' call with Trump ahead of ceasefire deadline
Zelenskyy says he had 'productive' call with Trump ahead of ceasefire deadline

Japan Today

time2 hours ago

  • Japan Today

Zelenskyy says he had 'productive' call with Trump ahead of ceasefire deadline

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 28. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he had had a "productive" conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalization of a U.S.-Ukraine drone deal. "President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities," Zelenskyy wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks. Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until August 8 to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions. A source in Washington said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff would be meeting the Russian leadership in Moscow on Wednesday. Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said Trump "knows the situation along the front line," which extends for 1,000 km through eastern and southern Ukraine. Ukraine, he said, had long supported U.S. proposals for an immediate ceasefire and had proposed a number of formats to implement a halt to the fighting. "We have spoken with and proposed to Russia quiet in the skies, no missile and drone attacks and specifically no attacks on civilian infrastructure or on the energy sector," he said. "All of this has been violated by the Russians and in a very cynical fashion." Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose 100% tariffs on countries that buy its oil, although sources close to the Kremlin have told Reuters that Putin is unlikely to bow to the ultimatum. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was also ready to conclude a deal with the U.S. on the purchase of Ukrainian drones that would amount to "one of the strongest agreements". He had earlier said the deal was worth around $30 billion. Ukraine is increasingly seeking financing and investment from its foreign partners to bolster its burgeoning domestic arms industry. Zelenskyy said Kyiv's European partners had so far pledged to buy more than $1 billion in U.S. weapons for Ukraine as part of a new scheme. © Thomson Reuters 2025.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store