Foreign interest rises as China's low-altitude economy expo signals sector expansion

China's focus on the low-altitude economy is taking flight. Industry partners tell CNA that they've seen more interest from foreign buyers this year, despite the US tariffs. Deborah Wong reports.

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• Business Times

Europe: Shares edge up as US stalls its Middle East moves

[BENGALURU] European stocks snapped a three-day losing streak and closed higher on Friday (Jun 20), as investors' nerves eased following a stall in US involvement in Middle East tensions. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.1 per cent higher. As Israel and Iran's air conflict entered its second week, European officials worked to bring Tehran back to diplomatic negotiations as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Geneva for talks. The White House signalled US President Donald Trump will decide within two weeks whether to throw US support behind Israel in the ongoing conflict, a move that buoyed market sentiment and reignited some appetite for risk assets, which had been battered earlier in the week amid uncertainty over the conflict's duration. Despite Friday's modest gains, European stocks logged a second consecutive week of losses, as investors continued to fret over the potential global fallout from unrest in the Middle East. 'The uncertainty around the conflict means the risk of energy prices being higher,' said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics. She added that higher energy prices could prompt the European Central Bank 'to keep rates at their current level rather than cutting them further'. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up With the Jul 8 US tariff-pause deadline looming, movement on trade deals with Washington has shown little progress, save for a formal agreement reached with London. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen remains hopeful for a broader deal by Jul 9. Meanwhile, BofA Global Research raised its year-end target for the Stoxx 600 to 530 from 500 on resilience in global growth following a US-China trade deal. Travel and leisure stocks were up nearly 1 per cent, led by a 6.5 per cent gain in Europe's largest travel operator TUI after Barclays upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'underweight'. Energy shares lagged 0.6 per cent as oil prices retreated, though the sector was the week's second-biggest gainer due to Middle East tensions that had boosted crude prices earlier. On the day, the insurance sector emerged as the top sectoral gainer, up 1.3 per cent. Among other stocks, London's Berkeley was the biggest percentage decliner, down 8.1 per cent. The homebuilder named current finance chief Richard Stearn as its new CEO, but reported an annual pre-tax profit slightly ahead of market expectations. Stora Enso jumped 14.7 per cent to the top of the Stoxx 600 after the Finnish forestry group announced a strategic review of its Swedish forest assets worth EUR 5.8 billion, including potential separation and public listing. Markets in Sweden and Finland were closed for a public holiday. REUTERS

Straits Times

2 hours ago

• Straits Times

China is winning over Central Asia – but its growing influence could fuel a backlash

Chinese President Xi Jinping and five Central Asian leaders signed a treaty of 'permanent good neighbourliness' and friendly cooperation at this week's China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. PHOTO: EPA-EFE – While some Western countries have viewed Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) as threats to their domestic industries and put up tariffs on these Chinese exports, Central Asia has welcomed them. Brands from Zeekr and Chery ply the streets of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, where all taxis must be electric by September 2025. Kazakhstan saw a 36-fold rise in the sale of Chinese EVs in 2024, from 2023. BYD's first plant in Central Asia, in Uzbekistan, began production in January 2024. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Independent Singapore

8 hours ago

• Independent Singapore

Where NUS and NTU outshine Oxbridge in global rankings

One in three students at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a foreigner. The attraction is clear: NUS ranks fourth globally—behind only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon—in computer science and information systems in the 2025 QS World University Rankings By Subject. In electrical and electronic engineering, both NUS and NTU share the fourth spot with Harvard, trailing just MIT, Stanford, and the University of California, Berkeley, according to the same source. Either or both of the universities excel in other fields as well, including law, medicine, and architecture. With their strong showing in the 2026 QS World University Rankings, could NUS and NTU be seen as the Oxford and Cambridge of Asia? Sticklers may disagree, and not without reason. For one, NUS and NTU are located far closer together than the dreaming spires of Oxford are to Cambridge. More importantly, they cannot yet rival the rich Oxbridge tradition in the arts and humanities. Still, in many other fields, they are catching up—or have already overtaken—and that progress is clearly reflected in the rankings. NUS and NTU are ranked eighth and 12th respectively, just behind Oxford and Cambridge, which come in at fourth and sixth. The strong performance of Singapore's universities is no longer a novelty. This marks the third consecutive year NUS has held eighth place. NTU, which ranked 15th in 2025, has returned to 12th, a position it surpassed in 2018 and 2020 when it ranked 11th. Splitting the two Singapore institutions in this year's rankings is the University of Hong Kong at 11th. See also Singapore experts weigh in on the Covid-19 situation NUS is the only Asian university in the global top 10. The only other non-Anglo-American presence is ETH Zurich of Switzerland, in seventh. The broader Asia-Pacific region has a growing presence in the top 20: China's Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked 14th and 17th, while Australia's University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales are 19th and 20th. NUS, NTU: Areas of excellence The Singapore universities are no longer known solely for their engineering prowess. NUS ranks 10th globally in law—making it the only non-Anglo-American university in the top 10 for legal studies. NTU stands at 82nd. In medicine, NUS ranks 18th—the highest for any Asian university—while NTU is 84th. NTU, however, shines in communication and media studies, coming in fourth behind the University of Amsterdam, Harvard, and the University of Texas at Austin. NUS ranks 14th in this field. While Oxford and Cambridge still reign supreme in the arts and humanities, NUS is gaining ground. It ranks second globally in art history, eighth in linguistics, ninth in architecture, 15th in English language and literature, and 17th in history. See also SATIRE: Pokemon GO releases sad news for its Singapore fans This academic success is underpinned by scale and diversity. With over 33,000 students, NUS has the second-largest student body among the top 10 universities—trailing only University College London, which has over 45,000 students. NTU has more than 25,000 students. International students and staff International students and staff contribute significantly to the success of both institutions. Foreigners make up 36% of the student body at NUS and 33% at NTU. The faculty is even more international, with 65% of staff at both universities coming from overseas. In comparison, Harvard has around 24,300 students, including 6,700 international students, and over 4,400 faculty and staff, only 27% of whom are international. Oxford has over 22,000 students, more than 9,000 of them from abroad, and 6,500 faculty and staff, with 44% from overseas. The international students and staff carry weight in the QS World University Rankings. QS applies the following weightage when ranking universities: Academic reputation: 30% Citations per faculty: 20% Employer reputation: 15% Employment outcomes: 5% Faculty-student ratio: 10% International faculty ratio: 5% International research network: 5% International student ratio: 5% International student diversity: 0% See also SP overcharges bill, claims they 'overestimated' $1500 There's an old story about Benjamin Jowett, the 19th-century Master of Balliol College, Oxford, who once declared, 'I am the Master of this College; what I don't know isn't knowledge.' Today, such a claim would be inconceivable. From NUS to NTU, Oxford to Harvard, the global groves of academe are constantly striving for the next breakthrough, the next frontier of knowledge. Top 20 in QS World University Rankings 2026: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Imperial College London Stanford University University of Oxford Harvard University University of Cambridge ETH Zurich National University of Singapore University College London California Institute of Technology (Caltech) University of Hong Kong Nanyang Technological University University of Chicago Peking University University of Pennsylvania Cornell University Tsinghua University University of California, Berkeley University of Melbourne University of New South Wales