Alibaba Cloud Launches DeepSeek Rival

A rundown of the news making headlines in and around China:

Sluggish exports: China’s export growth slowed in the first two months of 2025, affected by factors including U.S. tariffs, a high base of comparison and the Lunar New Year holiday. Exports in dollar terms increased by 2.3% year-on-year in the January-February period, an 8.4-percentage-point drop from December and the slowest pace since last April, according to official data released Friday. Labor-intensive exports underperformed, reflecting the impact of the holiday, while capital-intensive exports remained strong. Imports declined 8.4% year-on-year in the same period, reversing 1% growth and leaving the trade surplus at $170.5 billion. Analysts expect year-on-year rebounds in exports and imports in March due to the base effect and production returning to normal. But exports could begin to suffer as the impact of fresh tariffs from the Trump administration kick in.