Beijing’s decision to allow a bigger Japanese business delegation to go to China next month may be cause for some optimism but “hot economics and cold politics” will continue to dominate the strained relationship between the two countries, observers say. Kyodo news agency reported this week that Beijing had agreed to allow the Japanese Business Federation – the country’s most influential business lobby, also known as Keidanren – to expand its delegation coming to China next month. The group will...

A business delegation from northeastern China has visited a Russian-controlled, Japanese-claimed island off Hokkaido to explore joint economic projects, prompting protests from Tokyo. Officials and business leaders from Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia’s far east, travelled to Etorofu – known to Russians as Iturup – to survey potential investment opportunities, according to the Sakhalin Oblast government, which oversees the island. Etorofu is the largest island in a disputed...

IELTS examinations will resume across China on Wednesday, the British Council said after four days of cancellations that left test-takers scrambling at the height of the overseas university admissions season. The organisation announced on Tuesday afternoon that it would hold two free make-up sessions – on October 19 and 20 – for affected candidates and reimburse reasonable travel and accommodation costs for those who travelled to testing centres. The cancellations, which began on Saturday and...

China is likely to view the latest US dealings with Russia as “transactional”, according to observers, who said Beijing was likely to wait and see what the longer-term impact would be given the possibility that Donald Trump might abruptly change course again. The US president announced that under a deal with Vladimir Putin, Russia would “immediately” supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US and global markets. He wrote on social media that another 500,000 tonnes would follow in...