China’s manufacturing engine is sputtering, with new data revealing the most severe hit to China’s economy since the COVID shutdown. The country’s economy slipped from growth to contraction after the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell below 50 in April.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that tariff and trade wars undermine the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, hurt the multilateral trading system and impact the world economic order,

China is reportedly conducting a global diplomatic campaign to oppose President Donald Trump’s new trade deals with US allies. According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, Beijing is trying to reframe itself as a global rules-based order defender and make other countries see Washington as an unreliable trading partner.