Asian shares climbed and United States (US) equity futures fluctuated as investors prepared for news on pivotal US-China trade talks, with tariff hikes set to kick in today. The yuan remains near its weakest since January.The Shanghai Composite opened up more than one percent, clawing back some of this week’s plunge.

President Donald Trump declared China’s leaders “broke the deal” he was negotiating with them on trade, ratcheting up his rhetoric ahead of fresh negotiations that were already clouded by imminent tariff increases and China’s threats of retaliation.“They broke the deal!” Trump said at a campaign rally Wednesday night in Panama City Beach, Florida, leading him to raise tariffs. The president noted that top Chinese trade negotiator Liu He was traveling to Washington for further talks.

Labour rights violations in ASEAN are among the negative effects of an increase in production due to the ongoing United States (US)-China trade war which has resulted in a shift of some production from China to this part of the world. While the region is embarking on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, numerous industries in ASEAN still rely on labour-intensive factories.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s grand Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is getting a makeover to tone down government rhetoric and tighten oversight, after allegations of corruption and a lack of sustainability dogged some of its highest-profile projects.Beijing is taking a range of steps to exert more control over the program, officials and participants said, including a more muted publicity drive, clearer rules for state-owned-enterprises, restricting use of the BRI brand, and building overseas

The world’s two largest economies are nearing the finish line on a trade deal that could be signed by President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as early as this month. But that doesn’t mean the trade war ends.More work remains on a deal that will ensure that Beijing will follow through on its commitments, United States (US) Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Congress last week.

If anything is clear from the ASEAN Summit and the East Asian Summit held in Singapore last November is that Southeast Asia is now hot property. The heads of state that attended the summit says it all, from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to Japan’s Shinzo Abe – everyone is realising the geostrategic importance of the region.The opportunity presented in Southeast Asia is clear; the region’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world and it has a market with over 600 million consumers.

The world’s eyes are fixated on Myanmar. Numerous online petitions have been set up among the international community to voice concerns for the Rohingya Muslims.