The UK cannot cut ties with China, says CBI head Ryan Newton Smith. British businesses view China as key to growth; China is UK's 3rd largest trade partner. Li Haidong notes UK business community emphasizes mutual benefit, while some politicians' pan-security approach harms cooperation.

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan has a strong start with 5.0% year-on-year GDP growth. High-quality development is supported by the Party’s leadership, strategic foresight/adaptability, social creativity, energy revolution, manufacturing upgrading, and new quality productive forces, demonstrating economic resilience and sustainability.

On April 18th, Tianjin Port launched the "Mediterranean Migsan" new container route linking China (Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai) to South Africa (Kuha, Durban), deploying 12 140,000-ton ships with weekly departures (shortest voyage 40 days). Tianjin Customs streamlined processes to boost efficiency. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei's Q1 Africa trade rose 16.8% to 95.95 billion yuan.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng emphasized at the 56th World Trade Center Association Global Business Forum in Philadelphia that China-US economic, trade and tech cooperation should return to common sense and rationality, opposing overgeneralized national security and calling for addressing bilateral issues. The forum attracted nearly 500 reps from over 50 countries.

On April 20th, the 29th China-South Korea Joint Economic and Trade Commission meeting was held in Beijing. Both sides discussed deepening bilateral economic and trade relations, accelerating FTA second-phase negotiations, preparing the 2026-2030 cooperation plan, and strengthening regional/multilateral cooperation to promote cooperation to a new level.

The article covers China's Q1 2026 economic performance (5.0% GDP growth) as the 15th Five-Year Plan's start, highlighting steady growth, economic resilience, new quality productivity development, and policy support for stable high-quality development.

US-India bilateral trade negotiations resumed on April 20, 2026 in Washington D.C., amid US tariff policy changes after the Supreme Court overturned equivalent tariffs. Talks cover tariff adjustments, structural issues (digital service tax, overcapacity), and Middle East conflict impacts, with a possible short-term temporary agreement.

On April 17, MOFCOM submitted comments to the EU on its revised Cybersecurity Law draft, expressing concerns over its subjective "non-technical risks", suspected WTO rule violations, harm to China-EU trade/global supply chains, and suggesting revisions. China will take countermeasures if discriminatory measures are enacted.

The 139th Canton Fair opens in Guangzhou, drawing global attention. Meanwhile, Guangdong's "Mutual Benefit: A Thousand Years of Guangdong's Foreign Trade" special exhibition (a "Great Ideological and Political Course") links ancient foreign trade culture with current practices, transforming historical confidence into open development determination to promote high-quality growth.

At the 6th China International Consumer Products Expo, Chinese enterprises are deepening cooperation with Southeast Asia, shifting from goods exporters to industrial chain organizers. China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 and RCEP drive bilateral trade growth, with mutual industrial chain integration creating win-win situations across agriculture, electronics, and new consumption sectors.

In the first quarter of the 15th Five-Year Plan's first year, China's GDP grew 5.0% year-on-year, achieving a good start. Major indicators rebounded, with stable fundamentals, innovative new drivers, improved livelihoods, and effective policies demonstrating economic resilience and high-quality development momentum.

On April 15, SASAC held a special meeting on central enterprises' low altitude economy development, studying work ideas and measures. It emphasized strategic significance, predicted China's low altitude economy market size to reach 1.5 trillion yuan by 2025 and 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035, and required central enterprises to strengthen tech R&D, infrastructure construction, etc.