The year 2025 has been pivotal, as China, standing at the threshold of a new five-year plan cycle, has seen high-standard opening up emerge as a core driver of Chinese modernization.

While the Egyptian pound has been in free fall since the central bank floated the currency—losing nearly 40 % of its value against the dollar and hitting successive record lows—international investors have been heading for the exit. Chinese exporters, however, are flooding in.

Indonesia’s Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has publicly vowed a root-and-branch reform of the Directorate-General of Customs & Excise, warning that if the agency fails to restore its reputation and performance within a year it will be frozen and replaced by Swiss inspection giant SGS.

10 December 2025 – in a two-hour plenary Mexico’s lower house overwhelmingly approved President Claudia Sheinbaum’s tariff bill; hours later the Senate passed it 76-5-35. Publication is expected by 15 December and the new duties take effect 1 January 2026.

China's Ministry of Commerce issues latest response on Nexperia issue

On 17 October 2025, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) received an expiry-review application submitted by Jilin Petrochemical Company of CNPC and Shanghai Sinopec Mitsui Elastomers Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Applicants") on behalf of the domestic ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber industry. The Applicants contend that, should the anti-dumping measures be terminated, dumping of EPDM rubber originating in the United States, South Korea and the European Union is likely to continue or recur, and injury to the domestic industry is likewise likely to continue or recur. They therefore request that MOFCOM initiate an expiry-review investigation into the anti-dumping measures applicable to such imports and maintain the measures. No expiry-review application was filed with respect to EPDM rubber originating in the United Kingdom.

Over the past few days, the re-introduction of an export-licence regime for steel has set the industry abuzz. The measure itself is not new: licences for steel imports and exports date back to 1950, making them 75 years old. During that time they have been switched on and off repeatedly, usually in response to shifting political or trade pressures.

With full-island customs closure imminent, the Hainan Free Trade Port—China’s signature move to widen high-standard opening-up—is drawing intense global business attention. In recent weeks, international trade bodies, banks and multinationals have weighed in on the opportunities the seal-off will create.

On December 16, the onshore RMB to USD exchange rate surged to 7.0417 during trading, marking its strongest level since September 30 last year. Both the onshore and offshore RMB exchange rates against the USD broke through the 7.05 threshold. Experts suggest that the RMB may soon surpass the 7.0 level in the short term.

Powered by the AI-investment boom and ultra-loose monetary policy, 2025 is ending with a rare, synchronized surge in global equities that has propelled multiple indices, including those in the United States, to all-time highs.