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Asian stocks rallied with Wall Street on Wednesday after Donald Trump said he had “no intention” of firing the head of the Federal Reserve and that eye-watering tariffs on China would be slashed drastically.Global markets, already upended by a trade war, were battered further at the start of the week by fears the US president was looking to remove central bank boss Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates, calling him a “major loser” and “Mr. Too Late”.Observers warned such a move would have dealt a blow to the Fed’s independence and sparked a crisis of confidence in the world’s top economy, sparking a sell-off of US assets and another global crisis.However, Trump looked to temper those fears Tuesday, saying: “I have no intention of firing him.”He added: “I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates — it’s a perfect time to lower interest rates.”If he doesn’t, is it the end? No.”The remarks gave a much-needed shot of relief to investors, helped by the president’s comments later indicating a more conciliatory approach to the trade war with China.Washington has imposed tariffs of 145 percent on a range of products from China, while Beijing has replied with 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.But the president on Tuesday acknowledged that the US levies were at a “very high” level, and that this will “come down substantially”.”They will not be anywhere near that number,” he said, but added that “it won’t be zero”. That came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door event in Washington that he expected a de-escalation soon in the United States’ tariff standoff with China, which he said was not sustainable.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said “the president and the administration are setting the stage for a deal”, noting that “the ball is moving in the right direction”.Investors welcomed the comments with open arms, pushing Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul and Wellington more than one percent higher, while Taipei rallied more than three percent.Singapore and Jakarta also rose though Shanghai and Manila edged down.Gold, which had hit a record high above $3,500 Tuesday on a rush to safety, retreated to sit around $3,370, while the dollar clawed back some of its recent losses against the pound, euro and yen.The gains followed rallies of more than two percent for all three main indexes in New York.”While it is still early days, the mood in the market is evidently shifting and what was a strong ‘sell America’ vibe flowing through markets… has in part reversed,” said Chris Weston at Pepperstone.He added that the president’s comments on Powell “should go some way to allaying fears of a major policy mistake”. Investors were unmoved by the International Monetary Fund’s decision to slash its global economic growth outlook by 0.5 percentage points to 2.8 percent this year, citing the effect of Trump’s tariff policies.- Key figures at 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 34,808.80 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.7 percent at 21,928.58Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,295.44Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1392 from $1.1420 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN $1.3305 at $1.3330Dollar/yen: UP at 142.10 yen from 141.56 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.61 pence from 85.67 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 percent at $64.28 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.9 percent at $68.04 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 2.7 percent at 39,186.98 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,328.60 (close)

The trade standoff between Washington and Beijing is not sustainable, the US Treasury chief said Tuesday, as President Donald Trump predicted sky-high tariffs on many Chinese imports would come down “substantially.”Speaking at a closed-door event hosted by JPMorgan Chase, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the enormous tariffs the world’s two biggest economies placed on each other’s imports this year amounted to a reciprocal trade embargo, but that he expects de-escalation.Since Donald Trump’s White House return in January, the United States has slapped additional tariffs of 145 percent on many products from China.These include duties initially imposed over China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain and later over practices Washington deemed unfair.On Tuesday, Trump acknowledged that 145 percent is a “very high” level, and that this will “come down substantially.””They will not be anywhere near that number,” he said, adding however that “it won’t be zero.” Beijing has responded to Washington’s latest salvo with sweeping counter-tariffs of 125 percent on US goods.Bessent told the JPMorgan event Tuesday that he expects a de-escalation in the near future, according to a person who was in the room.Such a development should bring markets some relief, he added at the event, which was not open to media.Wall Street’s major indexes jumped after a news report on Bessent’s comments at the event, which took place on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s Spring Meetings.- ‘Doing very well’ -Bessent said there is much to be done at the end of the day with Beijing. But he noted the need for fair trade and said that China needs to rebalance its economy.The Treasury chief stressed that the goal is not to decouple with China, noting that container bookings between both countries have slumped recently as trade tensions heated up.On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Washington is “doing very well in respect to a potential trade deal with China.””The president and the administration are setting the stage for a deal,” she added, noting that “the ball is moving in the right direction.”She said the feeling is that parties involved want to see a trade deal happen.As global finance ministers and central bankers converge in Washington this week, all eyes are on the progress of trade talks on the sidelines of the spring meetings as countries grapple with Trump’s new and wide-ranging tariffs.

The Volkswagen group on Tuesday unveiled a series of new vehicles and a driver assistance system built “in China for China”, which it hopes will help reverse its declining fortunes in the world’s largest car market.Though it is still the leading foreign group operating in the country, Volkswagen has seen its sales droop as local brands’ rise — a fate that has also befallen its fellow German carmakers BMW and Mercedes.The group, which encompasses ten brands including VW, Audi and Porsche, sold 644,100 vehicles in China in the first quarter of 2025, a drop of 7.1 percent year-on-year. To counter that decline, Volkswagen plans to launch over 20 electric and hybrid models in the country by 2027, the group’s China head Ralf Brandstatter said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Our biggest push in EV history begins here,” he said. On the eve of the opening of massive industry show Auto Shanghai, Volkswagen presented three high-tech prototypes. The two SUVs and one saloon model were developed for China with the group’s local partners, industrial giants FAW, SAIC and JAC.”Our industry is at a turning point,” CEO Oliver Blume said Tuesday, noting a “highly competitive market” and “rising trade barriers” as major challenges.Blume said the group had adjusted its China strategy around two years ago, and that progress had been made quicker than expected.Its work in the China market was “another step towards becoming the global tech driver for the automotive industry,” he said.The group’s premium Audi brand on Tuesday presented an electric model that promises a range of 770 kilometres. The first series model from its separate AUDI brand was also revealed. Complete with multiple AI functions digitally specific to China, it is aimed at “technology-focused premium” Chinese customers.Volkswagen also presented a new generation of driver assistance “specifically designed for the complex traffic conditions in China”. The Level 2++ technology, which allows the driver to temporarily take their eyes off the road, will first roll out later this year. 

Gold reached $3,500 an ounce for the first time Tuesday as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and verbal assault on the Federal Reserve prompted investors to snap up the safe-haven asset. But Wall Street rebounded from sharp losses the previous day, pulling Europe’s main stock markets higher as well as the region’s trading resumed after a long-weekend break for Easter.Asian indexes closed mixed, while the dollar diverged against major rivals and oil prices firmed.”Looking at today’s rebound for equities, you might be forgiven for thinking that financial markets have forgotten all about Trump’s threats to fire Powell,” said IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.Panicked Wall Street investors dumped US assets on Monday, with all three main indexes ending down around 2.5 percent, after Trump took another swipe at Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.The president last week criticised Powell over the latter’s warning that the sweeping levies would likely reignite inflation.While that raised eyebrows, Trump sent shivers through markets Monday by again calling on Powell to make pre-emptive cuts to US interest rates and calling him a “major loser” and “Mr Too Late”.The Republican tycoon said on his Truth Social platform that there was “virtually” no inflation, claiming energy and food costs were well down and pointed to the several interest rate reductions by the European Central Bank.The outbursts have fanned concern that Trump is preparing to oust Powell. Trump’s top economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Friday that the president was looking at whether he could do so.But Wall Street rebounded strongly on Tuesday, largely making up Monday’s losses.Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare put part of Wall Street’s Tuesday rebound down to thinking now that Trump won’t fire Powell and that the president “is simply setting him up now to take the blame in the event of an economic downturn”.IG’s Beauchamp said that “volatility on both up and down days is a given right now, but Tesla’s earnings tonight could well determine the near-term direction”. Tesla shares rose more than four percent after having fallen nearly six percent on Monday.”Traders will be watching closely for any guidance or surprises that might stabilise sentiment around the EV giant,” said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison.Tesla’s shares have tanked more than 35 percent from the start of the year as Elon Musk’s political role in the Trump administration has dented the brand’s image, and the carmaker has also been caught up in tariff turmoil.Investors largely shrugged off the International Monetary Fund saying Trump’s new tariff policies would take a big bite out of global growth, with many already having factored in their impact.The IMF now sees the global economy growing by 2.8 percent this year, 0.5 percentage points lower than its previous forecast in January.The IMF also warned “global financial stability risks have increased significantly, driven by tighter global financial conditions and heightened economic uncertainty” caused by Trump’s stop-start tariff rollout.- Key figures at 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 2.1 percent at 38,953.06 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 2.1 percent at 5,265.09New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 2.4 percent at 16,243.11London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,328.60 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 7,326.47 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 21,293.53 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 34,220.60 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 21,562.32 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,299.76 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1480 from $1.1510 on MondayPound/dollar: UP $1.3380 at $1.3377Dollar/yen: DOWN at 140.80 yen from 140.89 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.83 pence from 86.03 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.9 percent at $67.49 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.3 percent at $63.83 per barrelburs-rl/rmb

German chemicals giant BASF said Tuesday it had exited two joint ventures in China’s Xinjiang region after its local partner was alleged to have participated in rights abuses against the local Uyghur minority.BASF said in a statement it had completed the sale of its shares in Markor Chemical Manufacturing and Markor Meiou Chemical to the Singaporean group Verde Chemical.The German group gave no financial details of the transaction, which was completed on Monday “following approval by the relevant authorities”.BASF had said in February 2024 it would accelerate its divestment from the joint ventures which manufacture the industrial chemical butanediol.Plans to sell the shares had already been announced by BASF in 2023 in response to commercial and environmental concerns.German public broadcaster ZDF and news magazine Der Spiegel had reported that staff of BASF’s partner firm Markor were involved in rights abuses against members of the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority.Employees were alleged to have spied on Uyghur families and filed reports with Chinese authorities.BASF said at the time it had no indication that employees of the joint ventures were involved in rights violations, only staff of its local partner.Rights groups have long accused Beijing of a widespread crackdown on minorities in Xinjiang, including through forced labour and detention camps.Beijing denies allegations of abuse and insists its actions in Xinjiang have helped to combat extremism and enhance development.Despite the controversy surrounding the Xinjiang plants, BASF has been ramping up its presence in China while production costs in Europe are high. The German group is in the process of building a new 10-billion-euro ($11.5-billion) chemical complex in the southern province of Guangdong.

The IMF said Tuesday it now believed China’s economy will only grow by four percent this year, well below Beijing’s official target as it fights a mounting trade war with the United States that threatens to hammer the global economy.China and the United States — the world’s two largest economies — are engaged in a mounting tit-for-tat trade row that has sparked global recession fears and rattled markets.China faces tariffs of up to 145 percent on many products, with others receiving even higher levies. Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods.Also contributing to downward pressure on growth in the Chinese economy are a persistent crisis in the property sector, local government debt and sluggish consumer spending.The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday in its latest World Economic Outlook report that recent trends had led it to revise down a projection for global growth this year to 2.8 percent.That reading represents a slowdown from the estimated 3.3 percent growth recorded last year, and is also half a percentage point lower than a previous IMF forecast in January.The woes have been severely compounded by a second term for US President Donald Trump, whose push to bring manufacturing back to the United States stands to hammer China’s manufacturing heartlands — for decades a key driver of growth. In view of an increasingly uncertain landscape in which “downside risks dominate”, the IMF said, the Chinese economy is expected to grow four percent this year, slower than the 4.6 percent expansion predicted in January.Growth next year is also now forecast to be four percent, down from the previous projection of 4.5 percent.- Choppier waters -The cuts reflect doubts about the ability of the world’s second-largest economy to hold up against mounting domestic pressures and hurdles for exports from the manufacturing powerhouse.”For China, the prolonged weakness in the real estate sector and its ramifications, including those for local government finances, have been key,” said the IMF.The report noted that consumer confidence in the country has not recovered since plunging in early 2022 — and said that China is among the countries most affected by Trump’s recent trade blitz.Beijing has said it is targeting annual growth this year of around five percent — the same as last year and a figure considered ambitious by many economists.Data this month showed China’s economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, as exporters rushed to complete shipments before Trump’s expected tariffs kicked in.And observers warn that the full effect of the US levies is yet to be felt, with next month’s release of several key macro indicators expected to shed light on how the economy is reacting.China last year announced a string of aggressive measures to reignite its economy, including interest rate cuts, cancelling restrictions on homebuying, hiking the debt ceiling for local governments and bolstering support for financial markets.But after a blistering market rally last year fuelled by hopes for a long-awaited “bazooka stimulus”, optimism waned as authorities refrained from providing a specific figure for the bailout.Analysts now think that the impact of tariffs may lead Beijing to reconsider its caution and push ahead with fresh stimulus.- Continental impact -China is far from the only major Asian economy to face the pressure of new tariffs from Trump’s Washington.The fresh levies — though most are suspended for a 90-day period to allow for negotiations — vary from 24 percent for Japan to a whopping 46 percent for Vietnam.In light of the major trade turbulence, the IMF reduced its 2025 growth forecast for emerging and developing Asian economies including China by 0.6 percentage points.The fund now anticipates a 4.5 percent expansion in those countries this year before bouncing back slightly to 4.6 percent next year.India — which has been spared from the most aggressive of Trump’s tariffs — has a “relatively more stable” growth outlook this year, said the IMF.The world’s most populous country is forecast to chart an economic expansion of 6.2 percent in 2025, according to the report — “supported by private consumption, particularly in rural areas”.That growth rate, however, represents a 0.3 percentage point reduction from the IMF’s previous forecast.Japan, a manufacturing powerhouse that relies heavily on car exports, has been hit particularly hard by the tariff war.The IMF said Tuesday it expects economic growth of 0.6 percent in Japan this year, dropping from the 1.1 percent expansion it predicted in January.”The effect of tariffs announced on April 2 and associated uncertainty offset the expected strengthening of private consumption with above inflation wage growth boosting household disposable income,” the IMF said.

Gold reached $3,500 an ounce for the first time Tuesday as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and verbal assault on the Federal Reserve prompted investors to snap up the safe haven asset. Europe’s main stock markets diverged in midday deals as the region’s trading resumed after a long weekend break for Easter.Asian indices closed mixed, while the dollar diverged against major rivals and oil prices firmed.Analysts awaited publication Tuesday of economic growth forecasts from the International Monetary Fund, with all eyes on its assessment of how the trade war could impact global output and inflation. “Lack of certainty is sending investors right into the arms of traditional safe haven assets, with gold and the Japanese yen both cashing in on the drama,” noted Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.With the US tariff blitz still causing ructions on global trading floors, investors are now dealing with the added worry that Trump will try to remove the country’s top banker.The president last week took a swipe at Fed chief Jerome Powell over the latter’s warning that the sweeping levies would likely reignite inflation.While that raised eyebrows, Trump sent shivers through markets Monday by again calling on Powell to make pre-emptive cuts to US interest rates and calling him a “major loser” and “Mr Too Late”.The Republican tycoon said on his Truth Social platform that there was “virtually” no inflation, claiming energy and food costs were well down and pointed to the several interest rate reductions by the European Central Bank.The outbursts have fanned concern that Trump is preparing to oust Powell, with top economic adviser Kevin Hassett saying Friday that the president was looking at whether he could do so.Panicked Wall Street investors once again dumped US assets, with all three main indices ending down around 2.5 percent on Monday.Analysts warned of another rout should Trump try to fire the Fed boss, which many said could cause a crisis of confidence in the US economy.”Were Powell to be fired, the initial reaction would be a huge injection of volatility into financial markets, and the most dramatic rush to the exit from US assets that it is possible to imagine,” said Pepperstone strategist Michael Brown. “Lower, much lower, equities; Treasuries sold across the board; and, the dollar falling off a cliff.”- Key figures at 1045 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,288.52 pointsParis – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,259.23Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 21,111.22Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 34,220.60 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 21,562.32 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,299.76 (close)New York – Dow: DOWN 2.5 percent at 38,170.41 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1498 from $1.1510 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN $1.3373 at $1.3377Dollar/yen: DOWN at 140.36 yen from 140.89 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.96 pence from 86.03 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.4 percent at $67.20 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $63.40 per barrel

The first US official to visit Southeast Asia since Washington announced punitive tariffs on the region’s countries on Tuesday issued a robust defence of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy approach.Sean O’Neill, the United States’ senior bureau official for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, is in Cambodia this week, co-chairing the 37th ASEAN-US Dialogue.The two-day meeting between Washington and the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc is being held in the city of Siem Reap.Under Trump’s “America First” trade policy, the United States has unleashed a tariff blitz which has plunged global markets into turmoil and escalated into a trade war between Washington and Beijing.State Department representative O’Neill did not mention Trump’s sweeping import duties, which have put the future of trade relations with Cambodia — whose exports to the US were hit with 49 percent tariffs — and the wider ASEAN region on a tightrope.”President Trump’s priorities are clear. We will pursue a foreign policy that makes America safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” O’Neill said, adding the goal of his visit was to “represent the interests of the American people”.US goods imports from the ASEAN bloc totalled $352 billion last year, with a trade deficit of $228 billion, according to the US Trade Representative’s office.Meeting co-chair Kung Phoak, the secretary of state at Cambodia’s foreign ministry, said the dialogue was an opportunity to “work more meaningfully together” and that both sides must remain “firmly committed to promoting mutually beneficial cooperation”.The State Department said the visit aims to reinforce US-ASEAN collaboration for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific that promotes “shared interests in safety, security and prosperity”.O’Neill, who visited Vietnam last week, is expected to travel to Japan in the coming days.

The United States on Monday announced its intention to impose tariffs of up to 3,521 percent on solar panels from Southeast Asia, a move aimed at countering alleged Chinese subsidies and dumping in the sector.The tariffs on companies from Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam will still need to be ratified at a meeting of the International Trade Commission in June.The decision unveiled Monday comes after anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations filed around a year ago by several US and other solar manufacturers.Those companies took aim at “unfair practices” that were said to have weighed on the US domestic solar market, particularly raising concern over Chinese-headquartered companies operating out of the Southeast Asian countries.While Monday’s move came after a year-long investigation, it follows on the heels of US President Donald Trump launching blistering trade wars through tariffs around the globe.Trump’s tariffs, which have seen the White House impose eyewateringly high levies before suspending some of them to allow for negotiations, are aimed at reducing US trade imbalances.The Commerce Department’s statement said the new recommended tariffs on solar cells, however, were taking specific aim at “transnational subsidies.””In the CVD investigations involving Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, Commerce found that companies in each country were receiving subsidies from the Government of China,” the statement said, referring to countervailing duty probes.”These are among the first CVD investigations wherein Commerce has made an affirmative finding that companies received transnational subsidies.”The case was brought by Hanwha Qcells, First Solar, Convalt Energy and others.For the duties to be finalized, the International Trade Commission has until early June to make a final determination.Among firms targeted were Chinese companies Jinko Solar and Trina Solar.Products from Cambodia are set to face duties of up to 3,521 percent, according to the Commerce Department.Jinko Solar faced duties of 40 percent for exports from Malaysia and around 245 percent for goods from Vietnam.Trina Solar in Thailand will see duties of more than 375 percent, and more than 200 percent for products from Vietnam.If imposed, the new levies will come on top of the blanket 10 percent levy imposed by Trump since early April on products entering the United States from most trading partners.In 2023, the United States imported $11.9 billion in solar cells from the countries named in the latest action, according to official data.

The world’s biggest auto show opens Wednesday in Shanghai, with foreign carmakers raring to show they can compete against the ultra-competitive Chinese firms that dominate the sector’s new electric frontier.As the petrol engine’s primacy stutters, traditional industry expos like Paris and Detroit are scrambling to re-invent themselves — but in Shanghai the era of cleaner engines and AI-powered operating systems will be very much on display already.The government’s historic backing of EV and hybrid development means China is now leading the charge in the sector.In 2024 EVs and hybrids made up 26 and 19 percent respectively of total car sales in the country, according to Inovev. “It’s the only country that manages to get the automobile sector’s industrial giants cohabiting with the innovation of a multitude of startups — operational excellence and (production) volume with innovation and daring,” Deloitte analyst Guillaume Crunelle told AFP. Auto Shanghai, which runs until May 2, will see a flurry of launches for electric, high-tech new models — luxury SUVs, saloons and multi-purpose vehicles — all designed and built in record time.Dozens of brands will take part, from state-owned behemoths to start-ups such as Li Auto and Xpeng, tech giants with skin in the game like Huawei, and consumer electronics-turned-car company Xiaomi.  Analysts consider the Chinese market, the world’s largest, younger-leaning and more open to novelty. But it is also fiercely cutthroat. Some start-ups have already gone bust, while brands including SAIC Motor, BYD and Geely are engaged in a brutal price war.   Reports that two of China’s largest state-owned auto enterprises are planning to merge, meanwhile, suggest the government is pushing companies to consolidate, eliminating inefficiencies to create new global leaders, analysts say.  “They are in a phase of rationalisation and simplification directed by the state,” Crunelle said. Many companies are also looking to expand overseas, in the hope increased sales in markets including Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America will safeguard their future. – German woes -Foreign carmakers have also found themselves caught out by the new market conditions, none more so than the Germans. After years of market domination in China, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes have seen sales fall as domestic brands’ stars have risen. Volkswagen is hoping to bounce back at this year’s show with three vehicles developed in and for China, a first for the German group, as well as an advanced autonomous driving system.Volkswagen’s China chief Ralf Brandstatter told a German newspaper that foreign manufacturers still had a card to play in China, as Beijing is betting “once again more on foreign investment” as its economy slows.Faced with “an extreme price war”, the group had decided to “remain profitable” at the expense of sales and market share, he said Saturday. The group aims to revitalise itself through cost-cutting, helped by a partnership with China’s Xpeng.In Shanghai, German manufacturers will have to prove “they are at the cutting edge of innovation… if they want to even retain their current market share”, analyst Stefan Bratzel told AFP. It is already too late to regain their past market supremacy, he added, echoing comments made by former Porsche CFO Lutz Metschke.German carmakers cannot give up entirely on China, though, especially with looming uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s threatened tariff rises on European countries. The US president’s policy has wreaked even more havoc on US-China trade, with the countries at an impasse over staggeringly high reciprocal duties. One of the biggest US companies active in China, Tesla, will not be attending Auto Shanghai, despite its two massive factories in the city. Elon Musk’s EV giant has not exhibited at a major car show in China since 2021, when a one-woman protest over an alleged brake failure went viral on social media. However, US brands including Cadillac, Buick and Lincoln will still present at the show, with most models on display produced and sold locally.