Welcome to Your Week in Asia.
China’s role in the global economy will be in the spotlight this week, with trade data for the first half of 2025 — capturing the impact of much higher U.S. tariffs — set to be published and the International Supply Chain Expo taking place in Beijing.
In Japan, Tokyo’s relations with Washington will be in focus at the weekend, when one of the U.S.’s main trade negotiators visits the country and voters head to the polls to cast their ballots in an election in which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s handling of negotiations has emerged as a significant issue.
Get the best of our coverage of Asia and much more by following us on X, where our handle is @NikkeiAsia. We are also now on Bluesky, with the handle @asia.nikkei.com.
MONDAY
Albanese’s China visit
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continues a visit to China that began Saturday and runs through Friday. He is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss potential cooperation on artificial intelligence, an area his government has flagged as possibly presenting national security risks. Ties, which were strained under Australia’s previous coalition government, have improved since Albanese was elected in 2022, but bilateral relations remain a balancing act given China’s economic importance and Canberra’s security alignment with Washington.
China trade data
China will release a string of key economic indicators this week, starting with June trade data on Monday and second-quarter gross domestic product on Tuesday. Trade data is widely expected to show a further decline in shipments to the U.S. after June’s bilateral talks fixed a 55% levy on Chinese imports. Overall annual export growth may still see a slight uptick as more Chinese companies divert goods to ASEAN and other regions.
Prabowo’s France trip
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will visit Paris after receiving an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to attend Bastille Day celebrations as a guest of honor. The two nations have recently been enhancing cooperation in the defense sector, particularly in the development of strategic weaponry such as Rafale fighter jets and Scorpene submarines.
NTT data center REIT initial public offering
Singapore is set for its biggest initial public offering in years, with the listing of data center-focused real estate investment trust NTT DC REIT, valued at $773 million. The REIT is backed by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and Japan’s telecommunications and information technology giant NTT Group. This marks the first data center-focused REIT launched by a Japanese company.
Data: Singapore second-quarter GDP, India inflation
Earnings: Ola Electric Mobility
TUESDAY
China International Supply Chain Expo
The third International Supply Chain Expo kicks off in Beijing, bringing together domestic and global companies across the industry. The five-day event covers such areas as advanced manufacturing, clean energy and smart vehicles. Media outlets have reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will be attending, though the company has declined to comment on his travel plans.
Data: Philippines remittances, India trade
WEDNESDAY
Monetary policy: Indonesia
Data: Malaysia first-half automobile sales
THURSDAY
Supreme Court verdict on Samsung Electronics chairman
South Korea’s Supreme Court will hand down its ruling on allegations of fraud against Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who has been charged with stock price manipulation and accounting fraud related to the merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015. The top court is expected to uphold a lower court’s acquittal of Lee.
Earnings: TSMC, Wipro
Data: Japan trade
SATURDAY
U.S. treasury chief visits Osaka Expo
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will visit Japan to attend the World Expo in Osaka as the head of a presidential delegation. In the wake of the U.S. deciding to impose a 25% tariff on Japan, the question of whether Bessent, a key tariff negotiations figure, will hold a minister-level meeting is attracting a lot of attention.
SUNDAY
Japan’s upper house election
Japan heads to the polls for the upper house election, in which 125 seats will be up for grabs out of the chamber’s total 248 seats. The ruling parties need to win no fewer than 50 seats to keep their majority in the upper house, which will be no easy feat, with the election becoming a referendum on consumption tax cuts as households continue to struggle with the cost of living.
