Business
China and U.S. agree to push forward trade, investment ties
Stocks rose across Asian markets after the news
The Chinese and US commerce ministers agreed to push forward trade and investment links in their first call since the start of the Joe Biden administration.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and his counterpart Gina Raimondo “agreed to promote the healthy development of pragmatic cooperation in trade and investment”, in a phone call yesterday. The two “exchanged views frankly and pragmatically on relevant issues and mutual concerns”, according to a Chinese government statement.
The two nations are slowly resuming official contact after the January change of administration in the United States. Some parts of US policy towards China are becoming clearer, but it’s still not publicly clear what the US plans to do with the ‘Phase One’ trade deal signed last year or tariffs on Chinese goods.
The call was the third between senior officials in recent weeks, after Vice-Premier Liu He spoke with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The US Commerce Department did not respond to a request for more details on the call.
Stocks rose across Asian markets and the region’s currencies posted modest gains versus the dollar after the news. The CSI 300 Index gained about 1.1 per cent in the morning trading session.
China last week stated that normal communications between the two countries have started, according to Commerce Ministry Spokesman Gao Feng. The two sides have agreed to pragmatically solve some issues for producers and consumers, and promote healthy, stable economic and trade ties, he said.
However, US statements on the relationship with China aren’t so positive.
The trade relationship with China has “significant imbalance” and the Biden administration is committed to levelling it, Ms Tai said on the weekend before a meeting of Asia-Pacific trade ministers. There are parts of the United States-China relationship “that are unhealthy and have over time been damaging in some very important ways to the US economy”, she said.
“I won’t get overly excited” about the call, said Alvin Tan, head of Asia currency strategy at RBC Capital Markets LLC. “It’s positive in the sense that both countries are stepping up” economic and trade communication, but no game-changing decisions or announcements have come out, he said.
Ms Tai will talk with her Taiwanese counterpart soon, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier. The two sides will soon discuss “some kind of framework agreement,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said earlier this week.
However, China opposes any official contact between the US and Taiwan, which it regards as part of its territory, and any negotiations or discussions will inevitably be linked with US-China relations, and could increase the tensions between the two.
– Beijing (Bloomberg)
Ceylinco Life’s Ambalantota branch agent AIP Manjula has been named one of three global finalists for the prestigious Insurance Agent of the Year award at the 11th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards (ATLAA) 2026.
The recognition places a Sri Lankan insurance professional among the finalists in a regional field spanning South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Ceylinco Life said the achievement reflected the calibre and customer-focused approach of its agency force, while recognising Manjula’s professionalism and commitment to policyholders.
The award evaluates insurance agents on criteria extending beyond sales performance, including ethical conduct, client service, policy persistency, digital adoption, innovative practices and contributions to the insurance industry and community.
The awards are organised by Asia Advisers Network and Asia Insurance Review, with LIMRA as co-organiser. An independent judging and balloting process is monitored by KPMG as the official scrutineer. The judging panel comprises senior insurance executives, association presidents and industry experts from across the Asia-Pacific region.
CEAT Kelani Holdings (CKH) has retained its National Long-Term Rating of ‘AA+(lka)’ with a Stable Outlook from Fitch Ratings for the sixth consecutive year, reflecting the company’s financial resilience and leading position in Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre market.
The ‘AA+(lka)’ rating, the second-highest on Fitch’s national scale, indicates a very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.
Fitch said CKH’s established market leadership and resilient financial profile remained key strengths, while noting its exposure to price-sensitive, cyclical and highly competitive markets.
The Stable Outlook reflects expectations that the company will maintain its market position despite rising input costs and increasing competition from imported tyres, while preserving adequate credit metrics during periods of weaker earnings and higher investment.
Fitch expects CKH’s established brand, extensive dealer network and adaptive pricing strategies to support its market position. Planned production facility upgrades are also expected to improve product quality, particularly in the radial tyre segment.
The rating agency expects near-term pressure on margins from higher raw material and energy costs but said the company’s low leverage and sound liquidity would provide a cushion.
CKH Chairman Chanaka De Silva said the rating reinforced the company’s focus on disciplined financial management, operational adaptability and long-term investment.
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise, the enterprise services arm of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, has launched its Premium Cloud service powered by Nutanix, aimed at helping Sri Lankan businesses modernise their IT infrastructure and accelerate digital transformation.
The service was unveiled at the Lanka Tech Summit 2026 held recently at ITC Ratnadipa, Colombo.
The Premium Cloud combines hybrid multi-cloud capabilities with enterprise-grade performance, enabling businesses to run mission-critical workloads, scale cloud deployments and strengthen business continuity through disaster recovery capabilities.
Hosted on SLT-MOBITEL’s Tier III data centre infrastructure, the platform is designed to provide enhanced security, reliability and flexibility while supporting the growing technology requirements of enterprises.
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise said the platform would also support organisations seeking to adopt AI-ready capabilities and improve the management and performance of IT workloads.
A key feature of the launch was SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise joining the Nutanix Elevate Service Provider Program (NESPP), which the company said made it the first service provider in the region to join the programme.
Powered by Nutanix’s hybrid multicloud platform, the service enables application and data mobility across on-premises environments, public clouds and edge locations.
The company said the partnership combined Nutanix’s cloud technology with SLT-MOBITEL’s local expertise and support, strengthening its multi-cloud portfolio.
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