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<ul class="summary-list"><li>China's Xi Jinping negotiated a truce with India's leader, Narendra Modi.</li><li>They agreed to a patrolling arrangement on a disputed Himalayan border.</li></ul>At the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-hosts-brics-summit-defy-west-us-economy-china-dollar-2024-10">BRICS summit</a> in Russia this week, China's leader Xi Jinping and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands for the first time in five years.The symbolic moment came after a deal was struck to resolve a long-standing feud between the Asian superpowers.In the lead-up to the summit, the countries announced they had reached a patrolling agreement that would reduce tensions along a disputed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-china-buying-new-light-tanks-for-himalayan-mountain-warfare-2023-6">Himalayan border.</a>The dispute had led to deadly hand-to-hand combat in recent years, taking the lives of 20 Indian troops and at least four Chinese soldiers.After their meeting at the summit hosted by Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Xi and Modi said they would continue discussions on resolving the issue.<h2 id="997cee52-7fd6-4283-bf77-94e40a12b5cc">A setback for the US</h2>Some analysts believe it is a development that's unlikely to be welcomed in Washington, DC.The US has sought to recruit India to help it contain China's growing regional aggression alongside other members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a security pact that also includes Japan and Australia."So definitely, this is a setback for the United States of America's Indo-Pacific outlook, given the kind of rapprochement we are seeing in India-China relations, and particularly India, China and Russia coming together," Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, told Business Insider."Putin, Xi, and Modi meeting definitely signals that there is a kind of understanding under the carpet that has happened, which is quite subtle," he said.It's an assessment echoed by Zhiqun Zhu, professor of political science and international affairs at Bucknell University."The thaw in India-China relations is a boon to both countries. This is particularly significant for China because India may now be less inclined to confront Beijing as part of Quad," Zhu told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/india-china-deal-raises-questions-about-us-indo-pacific-strategy-/7838623.html">Voice of America. </a>"In this sense, the effectiveness of Quad would be diluted with a less enthusiastic India."<h2 id="baf534cf-4366-41b8-b9ef-d526ffe91fda">Competition between Asia's rival powers intensifies</h2>Tensions have been building between China and India for years.As the two biggest economies in Asia, the countries have long jostled for regional power, with the dispute over the Himalayan border a flashpoint that led to clashes in 2020, 2021, and 2022.Amid the stand-off, Chinese vessels have reportedly surveilled the Indian Ocean in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/another-chinese-research-vessel-spotted-off-india-fuelling-unease-2024-03-11/">what experts told Reuters</a> was a likely intelligence-gathering operation, while India has strengthened its security ties with China's chief global rival, the US.In 2017 India played a key role in restarting the Quad, an alliance designed as a bulwark against growing Chinese influence and aggression in the Asia-Pacific region.But India has long sought to balance its relationship with rival superpowers the US and China, and does not at this point want to tie itself too closely to either side, say analysts.In addition to being a member of the Quad Alliance, it is a founding member of the BRICS, an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-asia-countries-flaunt-russia-putin-diplomacy-relationship-brics-2024-9">association of non-Western economies </a>that China has sought to transform into an alternative global economic power base to the US.<div type="image" title="India-China border" height="683" width="1024" msid="114594056" hostid="261" sizebytes="158650"></div>"This explains why it remains part of multilateral groupings with contradictory goals," said Praveen Donthi, a South Asia analyst with the Eurasia Group in Washington, DC, pointing to both its membership of the US-aligned Quad and China-dominated BRIC group.The truce comes with China on the back foot diplomatically, said Panda, pointing to its damaged relations with Europe and the US after its support f<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-and-china-anti-us-coalition-is-growing-more-threatening-2024-9">or Russia's invasion of Ukraine.</a>"One could draw a conclusion at this point that probably the Chinese are more interested to rebuild the ties with India than the other way round," said Panda.He said there's also the possibility that Xi has reached an agreement with Modi behind the scenes for India to remain silent if China acts on its longstanding ambition to seize back control of Taiwan.Such a move would likely draw in the US and its other regional allies, who have pledged to help defend<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-taiwan-drone-swarms-uav-us-playing-catch-up-production-2024-10"> Taiwan's independence.</a>"I think China's bigger ambition and target is the Taiwan issue, and therefore they would not really like to continue the kind of tensions they were engaged in with India for the last three to four years," he said."Therefore, they would like to rebuild, and they would like to ensure that India does not react to the Taiwan issue so sensitively."In any case, its a setback in US attempts to include India in a deeper security alliance, he said."For a long time, the US has tried to develop security and defense ties with India," said Panda.For the time being, a truce suits both Russian and Chinese interests, Rahul Bhatia, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, said. But, he added, tensions remain.He said that though both parties have opened discussions about the border dispute, the underlying problem remains unresolved, and future flare-ups are likely.Donthi said the progress between the leaders could also be derailed if tensions between the US and China increase."This comes as a relief after four years of eyeball-to-eyeball troop deployment in the Himalayas. However, it's only the beginning," he said.

Xi undercut the West by negotiating a truce in China's long feud with India

Former president Donald Trump has said Prime Minister <keyword id="19895781" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="narendra-modi" source="keywords">Narendra Modi</keyword> will meet him next week during his upcoming three-day visit to the US. While the Republican presidential candidate slammed India as an "abuser" on the issue of import tariffs, he described Modi as a "fantastic man". PM Modi will be visiting the US from September 21 to 23. Speaking on Tuesday at his first public appearance following the recent apparent assassination attempt, Trump said Modi will meet him next week when he is in the US. "So when India, which is a very big abuser. He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic," Trump said, reiterating that India imposes heavy tariffs on imports. The former president revealed the information as he spoke about trade and tariffs while responding to a question at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan. He went on to say, "These people are the sharpest people. They're not a little bit backwards...You know the expression, they're at the top of their game, and they use it against us. But India is very tough. Brazil is very tough....China is the toughest of all, but we were taking care of China with the tariffs." "So we're going to do a reciprocal trade. If anybody charges us 10 cents, if they charge us USD 2, if they charge us a hundred per cent, 250, we charge them the same thing. And what's going to happen? Everything's going to disappear, and we're going to end up having free trade again. And if it doesn't disappear, we're going to take in a lot of money," he said. Modi will begin his trip with the <keyword id="23214075" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Quad-Leaders-Summit" source="keywords">Quad Leaders' Summit</keyword> being hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. The summit will be attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. Modi will then travel to New York and address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22. He will address world leaders at the landmark Summit of the Future event at the UN headquarters the next day. Modi's visit comes less than two months before the US heads into presidential elections with Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the top job. The US general elections will take place on November 5.

Trump says PM Modi will meet him during US visit, calls him 'fantastic'

At the invitation of Russian President <keyword id="19900702" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vladimir-putin" source="keywords">Vladimir Putin</keyword>, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President <keyword id="19946362" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Xi-Jinping" source="keywords">Xi Jinping</keyword> will attend the 16th <keyword id="21003379" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BRICS-summit" source="keywords">BRICS Summit</keyword> in Kazan, Russia, from October 22-23, 2024. The summit will focus on the theme "Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security," providing a key platform for leaders to discuss pressing global issues and explore opportunities for collaboration. The <keyword id="20037428" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BRICS" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="BRICS" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="BRICS">BRICS</keyword> group, originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2006, has grown to include South Africa, and recently expanded further to welcome Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, making it a 10-member bloc. <keyword id="19911498" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Putin" source="keywords">Putin</keyword> sees this <keyword id="23595116" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="expanded-BRICS" source="keywords">expanded BRICS</keyword> as a counterweight to Western dominance in global politics and trade. During his visit, <keyword id="19899320" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="PM-Modi" source="keywords">PM Modi</keyword> is expected to hold bilateral meetings with fellow BRICS leaders and other invited representatives, aiming to strengthen partnerships and advance shared objectives. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs emphasised that the summit will offer a valuable opportunity to evaluate the progress of BRICS initiatives and identify new areas for future collaboration. Modi's visit to Russia follows an informal meeting with Putin in Moscow earlier this year and a call in August, where the Indian leader urged for a resolution to the Ukraine conflict. The upcoming summit highlights the growing <keyword id="23595115" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="geopolitical-significance" source="keywords">geopolitical significance</keyword> of BRICS in reshaping global dynamics. (With inputs from sources)

PM Modi to meet Putin and Xi Jinping at BRICS summit in Russia on October 22-23

<ul class="summary-list"><li>US lithium production is set to spike with new projects advancing in Nevada and California.</li><li>The expansion aims to reduce reliance on China for critical minerals and electric-vehicle batteries.</li></ul>The US is on the cusp of a lithium boom after years of laying the groundwork for an electric-vehicle supply chain that doesn't rely on China.Within the past month, the Biden administration has approved the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine in Nevada and loaned $2.6 billion to the company developing Thacker Pass, another lithium mine in the state. A project in California's Salton Sea started construction earlier this year. The three sites, expected to come online between 2026 and 2028, would massively increase the US's lithium supply. Since the 1960s, only one site, Silver Peak, in Nevada, has operated in the country.The expansion is aimed at curbing China's control over the metals used in EV batteries and other renewable-energy technologies that countries need to decarbonize their economies. While most of the world's lithium is produced in Australia and South America, some two-thirds of it is processed in China, which also dominates EV-battery manufacturing. The US imports about 25% of its lithium supply from Chile and Argentina, but an analysis of federal data by the Atlantic Council found that it relied on China for about 70% of its lithium-ion batteries in 2023."If we're electrifying the transportation industry, you don't want to rely on any one country," Bernard Rowe, a managing director of Ioneer, which is developing Rhyolite Ridge, told Business Insider. "There was a recognition that there had to be domestic production."<div type="image" title="A customs officer holds powdery white lithium carbonate during an inspection at Shanghai İnternational Port on June 6, 2022." height="683" width="1024" msid="114817441" hostid="261" sizebytes="27062"></div>The Biden administration is encouraging US mining and manufacturing through a mix of loans, grants, tax breaks, and research and development programs — a lot of which was authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act. The incentives cover activities including extracting critical minerals like lithium; manufacturing solar, wind, and battery parts; buying EVs; and recycling components.Rowe argued that while the US alone can't meet the skyrocketing demand for lithium due to rising sales of EVs and battery storage, some of the supply has to be sourced domestically for national security reasons.Karl Friedhoff, a fellow for Asia studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, agreed. He said there's no world in which the US and its partners can quickly compete with China on critical minerals; China already has so much capacity that it sets global prices."The question then is, can the US and other partner countries create a supply chain that meets their basic requirements," Friedhoff, who's part of a project exploring how the US, Japan, Australia, and India can cooperate to shift supply chains away from China. "Can we supply our own batteries? Can we build our own battery technologies? Do we have enough rare-earth elements for defense?"Based on estimates from Ioneer and other lithium project developers, the US could produce more than enough supply for the 1.4 million EVs sold in the country last year, which accounted for 7% of the auto market.The Biden administration wants EVs to account for at least 50% of car sales by 2030, and states like California and Texas are quickly deploying more battery storage to help balance stressed power grids. In September, the White House said US lithium production was on track to meet one-fifth of global demand outside of China this decade.<h2 id="c11b28df-2899-481e-8b55-b52898315793">Some environmentalists, Native tribes are alarmed</h2>The lithium projects haven't been without controversy, however. The Center for Biological Diversity <a target="_blank" href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/blm-grants-final-approval-to-nevada-lithium-mine-threatening-biodiversity-cultural-landscapes-2024-10-24/?_gl=1*jmu4dt*_gcl_au*MTc3Mjg1OTA3Ni4xNzI5ODYzNzkz">has threatened to sue the Biden administration</a> over its permit for Rhyolite Ridge, arguing that the project could drive an endangered wildflower to extinction. The Western Shoshone Defense Project, which works to protect the Western Shoshone peoples' native homelands, says the mine threatens local water sources and culturally important sites.<div type="image" title="A Tiehm's buckwheat plant in Esmeralda County, Nevada, grows beside where the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine is planned." height="682" width="1024" msid="114817435" hostid="261" sizebytes="82450"></div>Thacker Pass faced similar opposition, but a federal judge last year dismissed a lawsuit from three Native tribes who argued that the mine's construction near a sacred site along Nevada's border with Oregon violated the law, <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/lithium-mine-tribes-climate-energy-lawsuit-nevada-7a65eee7d78d93a1e44e3f8e10445143">the AP reported</a>.Rowe said Ioneer redesigned the Rhyolite Ridge mine to limit its footprint in the critical habitat of the endangered wildflower, Tiehm's buckwheat. He said Ioneer would also monitor the pollinator population and adopt dust-control strategies. The Biden administration, in issuing the permit for the mine, said it would not jeopardize the flower's survival.Some companies are working on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lithium-mining-electric-vehicles-climate-crisis-2023-5">direct lithium extraction techniques</a> that don't involve open-pit mining or large evaporation ponds and therefore could require less land and water and produce less toxic chemical waste. Controlled Thermal Resources is developing such a project in the Salton Sea, where lithium-rich brine is already being used to power geothermal plants.Tapping the US's newly discovered lithium resources likely hinges on the new extraction techniques, which currently cost more than traditional methods and still haven't been used commercially. The US Geological Survey this month estimated that there's enough lithium underneath southwestern Arkansas to meet the projected global demand for car batteries in 2030 nine times over.Actually extracting that lithium, including from brines left over from oil and gas production in the region, depends on whether the direct extraction techniques are viable, USGS researchers said.

The US is on the cusp of a lithium boom to loosen China's grip on EVs

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia's Navy Day saw participation from India and China, bolstering Putin's anti-Western ties.</li><li>There was a notable absence of Russia's Black Sea Fleet at the parade, after losses to Ukraine.</li></ul>Russia's Navy Day saw warships from India and China join the celebrations as President Vladimir Putin sought to project the strength of his anti-Western alliance.China sent the Jiaozuo, a Type 052D destroyer, and India sent the Tabar, a stealth frigate, to the naval parade in St Petersburg on Sunday, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://t.me/MID_Russia/43624">according to Russia's foreign ministry</a>.Algeria also sent La Soummam, a training ship, the ministry said.<div type="image" title="Chinese navy destroyer Jiaozuo in St Petersburg, Russia to participate in the Navy parade in July 2024." height="667" width="1000" msid="112115940" hostid="261" sizebytes="68584"></div>According to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-28-2024">the Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War</a>, the gathering was meant "to showcase Russia's relations with a number of non-Western states as part of efforts to create a supposed Russian-led group of states to rally against the West."In total, representatives of 31 countries — including Cuba, Vietnam, Egypt, and Brazil — attended, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://aif.ru/politics/russia/ne-odna-na-prostorah-okeana-v-parade-vmf-prinyali-uchastie-druzya-rossii">according to Russian state-owned outlet Argumenty i Fakty</a>.The parade came amid ongoing efforts by the Kremlin to deepen ties with countries like India and China, which have sent warships to the Navy Day celebrations in previous years.<div type="image" title="Four children wave flags saying 'welcome back' in front of India's Tabar stealth frigate in Bombay, on 31 July 2004" height="500" width="1000" msid="112115942" hostid="261" sizebytes="51970"></div>Despite claiming not to support Russia's war in Ukraine, China has emerged as a major supplier of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/04/12/china-sending-russia-missile-and-drone-parts-for-ukraine-war-us-reportedly-warns/">dual-use parts</a> crucial to its war effort — the sort of support that the US government has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-says-china-giving-russia-support-behind-scenes-ukraine-war-2024-5">repeatedly called it out for</a>.The two countries have also long participated in joint military exercises and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://media.defense.gov/2024/Jul/22/2003507411/-1/-1/0/DOD-ARCTIC-STRATEGY-2024.PDF">the Pentagon recently said</a> they are showing increasing willingness to collaborate in the Arctic.Even so, China and Russia's ties appear to be <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-and-russia-are-in-a-bad-marriage-that-the-west-shouldnt-try-to-break-up-2024-6">uneasy</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/xi-china-putin-russia-frenemies-limits-power-sphere-influence-2024-7">opportunistic</a>, built more on a common desire to tamp down Western influence.Meanwhile, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/modi-putin-russia-india-relationship-not-worried-us-biden-mad-2024-7">recent trip</a> to Russia to meet with Putin also appeared to signal an indifference to US disapproval from India.President Joe Biden has attempted to persuade Modi to take a harder line on Russia, but this has <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-united-nations-general-assembly-biden-narendra-modi-india-82c9273cf3143cf16e9da23c3dd48170">largely failed</a>.<h3 id="ce577fa9-a485-44dd-a9e2-a3d031d664c7">A conspicuous absence</h3>While Russia's Navy Day celebrations typically involve all its main military port cities, this year's didn't include Sevastopol, the naval base in occupied Crimea that hosts Russia's Black Sea Fleet.Prior to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Sevastopol regularly featured in the parade despite <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/5f1fce329a79479d6ddfc9ad">the objections</a> of Ukraine's government.But now it is an active hot-war zone under continual pressure from Ukrainian forces, and Russia has largely relocated the remains of the fleet to the safer port of Novorossiysk, on its own shores.Commentators were quick to point out Sevastopol's absence, with European Council on Foreign Relations chief Carl Bildt posting the following graphic to X, making plain the extent of the fleet's losses: Meanwhile, Putin devoted part of his speech on the day to warning the US that Russia would retaliate if it pressed ahead with recently announced plans to locate long-range missile systems in Germany by 2026.Putin said his forces will take "mirror measures" in response.

India and China joined Russia's Navy Day celebrations as Putin tries to project anti-Western group

The <keyword id="20150760" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SP-Global-Market-Intelligence" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence</keyword> has upwardly revised <keyword id="22162557" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="GDP-forecasts" source="keywords">GDP forecasts</keyword> for <keyword id="19894886" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="China" source="keywords">China</keyword> in its latest report. But even with the revised forecast, China's GDP growth will be substantially lower than that of <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword>. According to S&amp;P, India's GDP is projected to grow at a rate of 6.7 per cent in 2024 and 6.3 per cent in 2025. In contrast, China's <keyword id="19931030" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="economy" source="keywords">economy</keyword> is now forecasted to grow at 5.0 per cent in 2024 and forecast moderately raised to 4.6 per cent from 4.5 per cent. The agency revised China's estimate due to policy tailwinds expected to extend into next year and a gradual improvement in private-sector sentiment within the country. However, the <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (<keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBI" source="keywords">RBI</keyword>) in its monetary policy has raised the GDP forecast of India from 7 per cent to 7.2 per cent for FY25. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, "The real GDP growth for the current financial year 2024-25 is projected at 7.2 per cent with Q1 at 7.3 per cent, Q2 at 7.2 per cent, Q3 at 7.3 per cent, and Q4 at 7.2 per cent. The risks are evenly balanced." RBI Governor further said that, "The GDP growth projection, we have increased it from 7 per cent to 7.2 per cent and the inflation projection, the average for the year, we have retained it at 4.5 per cent as it was in the last MPC meeting." The <keyword id="22162558" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SP-Global-Market" source="keywords">S&amp;P Global Market</keyword> Intelligence however has lowered the growth forecasts of US, Canada, Brazil, and Japan for 2024, while it has revised upward the forecasts for China, the Eurozone, the UK, and Russia. Additionally, the <keyword id="22162559" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-growth-forecast" source="keywords">global growth forecast</keyword> for 2025 has edged up from 2.7 per cent to 2.8 per cent, with higher forecasts for some of the larger countries, including the US and China. Regarding Japan, the agency maintains that the next rate hike by the Bank of Japan is most likely to occur in October 2024, given the economic and inflationary headwinds. In the Asia-Pacific region, the agency predicts that real GDP growth, excluding mainland China and Japan, will remain broadly stable at 4.4 per cent in 2024 and 2025, driven by robust domestic demand and recovering exports. A pickup in overseas demand is seen as the key growth driver for the region in 2024.

S&P Global Market raised growth forecast of China, still significantly lower than India

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russian imports of goods from China surged in September.</li><li>A new trade agreement between Russia and China was finalized in late August.</li></ul>Russia's imports of goods from China increased sharply last month, a sign that Moscow is leaning more heavily on Beijing after the two countries affirmed their economic ties.China exported around 80 billion yuan worth of goods to Russia in the month of <a target="_blank" href="http://english.customs.gov.cn/Statics/2c024a8b-3aea-4f87-a405-046557ad558f.html">September</a>, a 9% increase from the 73 billion yuan worth of goods it exported the prior month, according to Chinese customs data published on Tuesday. That's larger than the increase recorded over the last several months, with Chinese exports to Russia rising 3% in <a target="_blank" class="" href="http://english.customs.gov.cn/Statics/21dcbdc9-a5c7-4ce5-8884-d45f6ab35488.html">August</a> and 1% in <a target="_blank" class="" href="http://english.customs.gov.cn/Statics/672cd557-3c4e-48bb-8e7c-40cc02a20c7e.html">July</a>.The surge of trading activity follows a fresh <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/21/europe/china-li-qiang-russia-belarus-trip-intl-hnk/index.html">cooperation agreement</a> Russia and China finalized in late August, which vowed, among other things, to deepen trade ties. The deal reaffirmed the "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ukraine-war-putin-china-trade-partnership-economy-moscow-beijing-2024-4">no limits</a>" <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/moscow-beijing-partnership-has-no-limits-2022-02-04/">partnership</a> Moscow and Bejing have sought to expand since 2022, which took both country's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-russia-trade-record-ukraine-war-xi-jinping-vladimir-putin-2024-1">trade with one another to a fresh record</a> last year."Our trade relations are not only developing but flourishing, thanks in part to the efforts of our Chinese friends," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a meeting with China's premier, Li Qiang, per a Kremlin <a target="_blank" href="http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/74910">transcript</a> of the event. "The attention and commitment shown by both governments towards the development of trade and economic relations have yielded positive results."Total trade between Russia and China notched 1.28 trillion yuan from the start of the year through September, up 3.5% from the same period last year, customs data shows.Moscow has grown more reliant on Beijing as an economic partner since being targeted by Western sanctions in 2022. Trade restrictions from the West have pushed Russia into an increasingly <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-ukraine-war-putin-moscow-budget-isolation-west-sanctions-2023-12">isolated position</a> in global markets, economists say, with countries like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-russia-china-barter-trade-us-secondary-sanctions-payments-2024-8">China</a> and India among the nation's small circle of major trading partners.Russia's trade with China has stumbled recently, however, due to payment issues abroad. In August, most Chinese banks were reportedly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-all-china-banks-refuse-yuan-ruble-transfers-sanctions-2024-8">refusing to process payments from Russia</a> after the US threatened to impose secondary sanctions on institutions helping Russia continue to do business and fund its war in Ukraine.

Russia's imports from China surged in September as Moscow and Beijing deepen economic ties  

In March 2023, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser anointed Anand Selva, as the bank's chief operating officer. His mandate: oversee a deeply unsexy yet crucial initiative to regain compliance with regulators. At the time, she praised his "long track record of delivering results."So far, Selva's tenure has been rocky.In July, two regulators <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citi-jane-fraser-regulatory-citigroup-transformation-2024-7">fined Citi $135.6 million</a> for failing to make enough progress in fixing its data-management issues. The bank had agreed in 2020 to work on this problem and others, including poor risk controls, after <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/citigroup-slammed-400-mln-fine-longstanding-deficiencies-regulation-occ-fed-2020-10-1029660295">paying $400 million</a> in fines to the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC said in July that the bank had made "meaningful progress overall" but that the agency wanted to ensure Citi allocated enough resources to address the "persistent weaknesses" regarding data.These new fines are despite Citi dedicating massive resources to a firmwide initiative to overhaul the bank's technology. This program, called the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citi-transformation-citigroup-regulatory-fine-anand-selvakesari-2024-7">"Transformation"</a> and overseen by Selva, has about 13,000 employees. Citi spent $7.4 billion on the endeavor from 2021 through 2023. This year's budget has been increased by $250 million, to more than $3 billion.The pressure is on, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren urging the OCC to "impose growth restrictions" on Citi, arguing that it has grown "too big to manage." The regulator and Citi declined to comment."We've always said that progress wouldn't be linear," Fraser said after the latest fines, "and we have no doubt that we will be successful in getting our firm where it needs to be in terms of our Transformation."For Selva, leading the Transformation is unlike any test he has faced in his three-decade career at Citi. Selva, who goes by the shortened version of his last name, Selvakesari, joined Citi as an assistant operations manager in Chennai, India, in 1991. He rose through the ranks in Asia before taking over the US consumer bank in 2019. When Fraser was made CEO in 2021, she chose Selva, who's now 57, to replace her as the global head of consumer banking.In his current role, his mandate is to make the bank safer, not to turn a profit. To do so, he has to solve for Citi's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-real-reasons-behind-citi-mike-corbat-early-retirement-2020-9">decades of underinvestment</a> in its infrastructure, which affects every business line of the bank.Business Insider talked to 14 current and former Citi employees who have worked under Selva to get a picture of the challenge facing him and why he was put in charge of the bank's No. 1 priority. All but two spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal or the sensitivity of regulatory matters. Three senior executives pointed to his experience navigating regulation and working with technology from running Citi's consumer bank. Gonzalo Luchetti, Selva's successor as the head of the US consumer business, told BI that serving 70 million customers required handling tremendous operational risk."If we mess it up, usually you don't mess it up for one; you mess it up for hundreds of thousands, if not millions," he said. "You have to be super good at process orientation and making sure that there's high discipline and rigor."Luchetti also emphasized Selva's longevity at Citi and experience across regions."He knows the fabric of the firm very well," Luchetti said. "The Transformation is about really repiping the machine. He's touched a lot of the machine himself."But touching the machine isn't the same as fixing it. Eight employees told BI that they were surprised that Selva was made the head of the Transformation given that he had never held a leadership role in technology or compliance. They described Citi's culture as a cliquey environment that rewards managing up over results, noting that the COO promotion followed dismal performance for the wealth unit he oversaw."The biggest job was given to a guy who with 1 ½ years in wealth wasn't able to do anything," a former managing director said.Selva has also come under scrutiny for a lawsuit filed against him and the bank by an ex-Transformation executive in May. Kathleen Martin, a former interim data chair, alleged that Selva pressured her to hide information from the OCC that would make Citi "look bad" and that she was fired in September 2023 after multiple refusals. Citi denied the accusations and filed a counterclaim in late August, alleging that Martin was fired for underperformance. Citi has recently made leadership changes to Selva's unit. The bank tapped its new tech head, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citi-data-tim-ryan-anand-selva-memo-transformation-regulators-2024-9">Tim Ryan</a>, to lead the data effort alongside Selva and take over management of the 800-employee data team. The work on data, along with risks and controls, is paramount to the Transformation.Splitting the burden may expedite the massive task, which requires coordinating work from employees across the entire bank. Citi declined to specify a timeline, citing the confidential nature of regulatory matters. A managing director in the Transformation estimated that the work required would take about two decades.Mike Mayo, a Wells Fargo analyst, said that until Citi meets the requirements of the OCC and the Federal Reserve, the bank is in "regulatory purgatory.""Citi has thrown over 10,000 people and $3 billion and more at this problem," Mayo told BI in July. "They just have to get it done."Selva does have a long track record at Citi. Born in Madurai, a large city in southern India, he studied engineering and played basketball at the Coimbatore Institute of Technology. He earned his master's in business administration at Madurai Kamaraj University before joining Citi in 1991.Selva made his name at Citi by shaping its consumer-bank businesses across Asia. He led retail banking in China and India before taking over the Asia Pacific market in 2015. His approach was digital-first, eschewing branches for banking apps. Despite closing 60% of bank branches in Asia from 2016 through 2018, Selva grew deposits by 10%.<div type="image" title="Citi's Anand Selva speaking at a panel, seated and wearing a pinstripe suit and a red tie." height="3307" width="4960" msid="114093573" hostid="261" sizebytes="2310830"></div>"He's very tech and digital-oriented," Luchetti said. "We've been to China together to look at startups and firms that were disrupting the world. He was always very connected with learning more about technology, had that curiosity, and then the execution chops to get it done here."In 2019, Selva moved from Singapore to New York, where he now lives with his family, to run the US consumer bank. He assumed the global consumer-banking business from Fraser in 2021. Selva leaned on credit-card and lending offerings, launching products like Citi Custom Cash which allowed customers to pick their reward categories, and Flex Pay, a buy-now, pay-later service. Under Selva, Citi was the No. 2 issuer of credit cards in the US, and deposits grew by more than a third, to about $220 billion.In 2021, Citi started divesting itself of more than a dozen consumer-bank markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Selva was an important player on both sides of the table, according to Adora Tidalgo, the head of operational risk management at Citi. She said he helped find Asian acquirers that maximized value for Citi while keeping the businesses running smoothly with low attrition."That skill of balancing how much you want to bring in terms of revenue and the credit loss you want to take is really a skill that very much needs to be honed in the consumer space," she said. "That balancing, to me, I have seen Anand over the year been very successful in doing that."There have been some bumps in the road. As part of Fraser's reorganization of the bank in 2021, Selva gained oversight of a newly formed wealth unit and its new leader, Jim O'Donnell. Six current and former managing directors told BI that Selva's approach focused more on scale and digital offerings than high-touch client service. For instance, he didn't approve loans that failed to meet a certain threshold of return, even if it meant losing an important client, two former managing directors said."The way that every private banker on earth thinks about relationships is you need to invest in relationships, and then as you start to do more business with clients, you start getting more and more valuable opportunities with them," one of the former managing directors said. "You have to look at the relationship. You can't just look at every single transaction."Employees argued that Selva's playbook may have worked to build scale in Asia but not to satisfy well-heeled — and much more sought-after — US clients."I think Anand's decisions were comparing everything to what he knew from his time in Asia, and they are completely different markets," another former managing director said. "In Asia, Citi has a very recognizable brand, and people actually want to bank with Citi. You don't have to sell it that hard."<div type="image" title="Citi CEO Jane Fraser testifying at Congress" height="3828" width="5846" msid="114093582" hostid="261" sizebytes="314760"></div>The wealth business' revenue dropped by 6% year over year at the end of 2022. Fraser called the division's performance "disappointing." O'Donnell's reign over wealth was cut short in January 2023, and it was later placed under <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andy-sieg-citi-wealth-management-ceo-2024-6">Andy Sieg</a>, the former head of Merrill Wealth Management. With Citi on a campaign to divest itself of 14 international consumer-bank markets, Selva's remit shrank.His appointment as COO thrust him into the spotlight. Tidalgo told BI that he was no stranger to the task of dealing with regulators."When you are the head of a country, you are the face of Citi to the regulators. Good, bad, or indifferent, you have to face them," she said. "That's part of the job."Citi's Transformation and its challenges predate Selva's appointment as COO. It existed as a firmwide initiative before the October 2020 fines but was kicked into overdrive after Citi entered consent orders with the OCC and the Federal Reserve.It can be viewed as two parts. The most visible is the strategy to simplify and modernize the bank, such as divesting Asian consumer businesses, removing five layers of management, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citigroup-reorganization-layoffs-management-overhaul-reorganization-jane-fraser-stock-price-2023-9">reorganizing</a> so that the five business lines report directly to Fraser.The second part is meant to address the 2020 consent orders. The initiative is separated into seven programs, including finance, compliance, and risk and controls. While some 13,000 employees are dedicated to the Transformation, much of this work is carried out by employees across the bank. Selva sits at the center, coordinating these efforts. He's in a tough position, as much of the Transformation's work is executed by employees in other divisions."The challenge with the Transformation role is you are accountable yet not responsible," the managing director in the Transformation said. "The role is really coordinating and getting others to do what they need to do, which is very different from running a business where the entire team follows your lead, you own it, you have the ability to actually get them to do this stuff."When everyone is accountable, effectively no one is, a former senior vice president in the Transformation said. Matters got stuck in bureaucracy, bouncing from one department to another and being debated in committee for months.A senior executive in the Transformation acknowledged that the programs often rely on each other's work. For example, a delay in data work can lead to one for a finance project."When we are asked sometimes why it is challenging to execute on the Transformation, one of the challenges is the interconnectivity of those seven works," she said.The senior executive said the Transformation's successes had been overlooked, partly because the bank is limited in what it can say on regulatory matters. For instance, Citi has retired or replaced a quarter of its applications, halfway to its overall goal. The bank declined to specify the number of existing or terminated applications, but as of July, it had retired nearly 300 applications this year. The senior executive also touted the bank's streamlining its risk-management workflow.But the Transformation has earned a middling grade from Citi itself. The bank evaluates the initiative's success for the purposes of a bonus program applicable to about 200 senior employees, including Selva. In 2022, an internal committee gave it a score of 94%, citing targets it met, such as submitting remediation plans to regulators.For 2023, the score sank to 80%, calculated by measuring the timeliness of executing scheduled work, the percentage of work deemed complete by the bank's internal auditors, and a "qualitative consideration of Citi's cultural change" derived from the bank's employee surveys.<div type="image" title="Headshot of Citi's new tech head Tim Ryan, smiling and wearing a black suit jacket with a light blue shirt" height="739" width="985" msid="114093578" hostid="261" sizebytes="32120"></div>Bringing in Ryan, the bank's head of technology and business enablement, to help the bank catch up makes sense. The recruiter Phil Waxelbaum argued that a more traditional candidate to help lead the Transformation would be a seasoned, high-ranking person from a regulatory agency. But someone with a nonbanking background such as consulting or technology can work, too, according to recruiter Jeffrey Warren. Ryan joined Citi in June after seven years leading the US business of PricewaterhouseCoopers."In situations like this when you are looking to drive transformation, you need someone who can work at the intersection of people, processes, and technology," said Warren, managing director at Russell Reynolds Associates. "That includes working from within and likely driving some change with new people who have experience in new technologies or new ways of doing things."Ryan is now sharing data, a significant component of the Transformation, with Selva. Another PwC alum, Citi's head of enterprise risk management, Ashutosh Nawani, will take over the chief data office from one of Selva's lieutenants, Japan Mehta, and report to Ryan. Mehta will move to another role that the bank declined to specify.Employees told BI that they thought bringing in Ryan and Nawani would help."Sure, there might be some reservation that more consultants are coming in to run Citi, but there is a positive vibe of changing senior leadership," the former senior vice president in the Transformation said. "Legacy Citi culture is what got us into this spot in the first place."While the July fines did not meaningfully move Citi's stock, they have placed the bank and the Transformation under greater scrutiny. The OCC has ordered Citi to provide a resource-review plan each quarter to ensure the bank is providing enough resources for the effort. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also required the bank to address the Transformation's progress in future filings.The outstanding issues have also impeded Citi from expanding in China. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-23/citigroup-s-china-expansion-plan-put-on-hold-by-us-regulators">Bloomberg</a>, the bank is still waiting on a clearance letter from the Federal Reserve to set up a securities office. The bank declined to comment on the process but said it was "fully committed to supporting clients" in China.<div type="image" title="Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at a hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2024." height="1333" width="2000" msid="114093583" hostid="261" sizebytes="96482"></div>Regulators placing an asset cap on Citi, as Senator Warren has requested, isn't out of the realm of possibility, said Timothy Coffey, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott."At what point do the regulators just get fed up with Citi's inability to adequately resolve these issues or stick to the timeline that they've laid out?" he said. "That's an open-ended question."But the consent orders and the lack of progress are distractions in themselves. When Fraser took over Citi nearly four years ago, she said the Transformation was her No. 1 priority and asked for patience. Now her requests for time are wearing thin. Regardless of who leads the Transformation, Fraser is still accountable."This stays out here in terms of headline risk, and I think it puts a cap on the valuation that Citi can achieve," said Stephen Biggar, an Argus Research analyst. "It's an overhang on the stock. It's an overhang on the reputation of Fraser."Do you work for Citi? Have a tip or story to share? Reach out to Hayley Cuccinello at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:hcuccinello@businessinsider.com">hcuccinello@businessinsider.com</a> or 917 740 5340, which works for calls, text, and the encrypted messaging app Signal.

Meet the executive tasked with Citi's hardest challenge: getting the bank's house in order

<keyword id="19910265" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="gold-prices" source="keywords">Gold prices</keyword> dropped by 2% last week, in what has been the first weekly drop in prices in six weeks. This week, after a marginal drop on Monday, the prices declined sharply again on Tuesday by Rs 555 to Rs 71,047 per 10 grams in futures trade that matures on June 5 as speculators reduced their positions. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Weak global cues" comment="subhead" text="Weak global cues">Weak global cues</cmsannotation> While a steady market marked three straight months of an upward trend, the drop since last week has mainly been attributed to weak global cues. As the drop revives enthusiasm among investors waiting to invest more in the yellow metal, the markets are cautiously awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision before making further moves. “Gold futures witnessed the first weekly decline in six and plunged more than 2% during the previous week, as investors gauged ease in geopolitical tensions, mixed economic data from the US and hawkish comments from Fed officials ahead of the FOMC policy meeting this week. The US economy grew much less than expected in Q1 but inflationary pressures remained elevated,” explains Kaynat Chainwala, Senior Manager-Commodity Research at Kotak Securities. A report from Motilal Oswal Financial Services highlighted a sharp slowdown in U.S. GDP growth to 1.6% annually in the last quarter amid high-interest rates. The steady U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index suggests a potential delay in Fed rate cuts at least until September. In contrast, China witnessed a nearly 6% surge in gold consumption in the first quarter. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Domestic outlook" comment="subhead" text="Domestic outlook">Domestic outlook</cmsannotation> Last week, physical gold dealers in India charged premiums for the first time in almost two months, attracting buyers with lower domestic prices. Domestically, gold is anticipated to trade within the range of Rs. 71-72k amid cautious <keyword id="21482860" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="market-sentiments" source="keywords">market sentiments</keyword> driven by evolving economic indicators. Indian gold consumption in the Jan-March quarter rose 8% to 136.6 tons, as investment demand jumped 19% and jewellery demand rose 4% in the quarter, the World Gold Council (WGC) said. But recent rallies in its prices could cut its total consumption in 2024 to the lowest in four years. Potential for higher returns due to soaring prices is boosting investment demand on one hand while suppressing consumption for use in jewellery on the other, say analysts. Historically, gold is considered a safe-haven asset that retains or appreciates its value during turbulent times. The gold price forecasts for this year remain high amid simmering geopolitical woes as investors flock to the safe-haven asset and spur record-beating prices further as central banks bolster their reserves. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Non-farm payroll data to play a role" comment="subhead" text="Non-farm payroll data to play a role"><keyword id="21482862" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="non-farm-payroll-data" source="keywords">Non-farm payroll data</keyword> to play a role</cmsannotation> On Monday a weaker dollar, U.S. gold futures remained steady at around $2,350 levels. The dollar decreased by 0.3% compared to other currencies, which increased the attractiveness of gold for holders of different currencies. Apart from the fed policy meeting, non-farm payroll data is also due later this week and could hold major implications for the <keyword id="20071327" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="interest-rate" source="keywords">interest rate</keyword> trend later this year. "Gold market participants are essentially waiting for this Friday's non-farm payrolls report. Markets are well priced for the notion that the Fed should be in no rush to cut rates, given signs of sticky inflation and resilient growth," Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities, said. The Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting will begin on April 30. Market analysts have been attributing the recent correction in gold prices to the Federal Reserve's delay in interest rate cuts, which bolstered the dollar index and U.S. treasury yields. According to the CME FedWatch tool, it is anticipated that the Federal Reserve will maintain its benchmark interest rate at a range of 5.25% to 5.5% by the conclusion of the meeting on Wednesday. (With inputs from agencies)

Gold prices fluctuate as geopolitical tensions ease; US Fed meeting, payroll data to affect prices this week

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's nuclear comments.</li><li>The Ukrainian president had suggested that Kyiv would seek nuclear weapons if it could not join NATO.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-weakness-ukraine-kursk-shows-big-putin-flaw-remains-expert-2024-10">Russian President Vladimir Putin</a> has said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's comments about nuclear weapons earlier this week were a "dangerous act of provocation."Putin was referring to Zelenskyy's suggestion that Kyiv would seek nuclear weapons if it could not join NATO.Speaking at the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday, the Ukrainian president referred to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which resulted in Ukraine giving up its Soviet nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances."Who gave up nuclear weapons? All of them? No. Ukraine. Who is fighting today? Ukraine," Zelenskyy said."Either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons and that will be our protection or we should have some sort of alliance. Apart from NATO, today we do not know any effective alliances," he added.Responding to Zelenskyy's comments on Friday, Putin said: "Any step in this direction will meet an adequate response.""Under no circumstances will Russia allow this to happen," he added.Zelenskyy later walked back his comments, saying in a joint press conference with NATO chief Mark Rutte: "We never spoke about that we are preparing to create nuclear weapon or something like this.""We don't do nuclear weapon. Please, don't move these messages," he added.Putin's warning came during a meeting with journalists from BRICS group members.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turkey-balancing-act-brics-nato-west-analysts-2024-9">The BRICS group,</a> named after members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, was created in the mid-2000s to challenge the political and economic power of developed Western countries.The bloc has grown to include Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia, which had a media representative attend Friday's meeting, has been invited to join the group but has yet to formally do so.

Putin says Zelenskyy's nuclear comments were a 'dangerous act of provocation' at meeting with BRICS group journalists

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk just made a quick trip to China, where he met with senior officials and struck a deal.</li><li>Trade tensions between China and the US have ratcheted up in the past year, including over EVs.</li></ul>Elon Musk's two-day trip to Beijing looks like a mutually beneficial win for Tesla and China — and a snub for India.The tech billionaire made his second trip to China in less than a year. He left on Monday after meeting with senior officials, including Premier Li Qiang, China's second-highest-ranking politician, to discuss the rollout of Tesla's <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-fsd">Full Self-Driving technology</a> in the world's biggest auto market.China's search-engine giant Baidu agreed to grant Tesla access to its mapping license so Tesla could collect data on China's roads, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/baidu-tesla-agree-mapping-deal-fsd-china-sources-say-2024-04-29/">Reuters</a> reported. And Tesla's vehicles cleared a key hurdle with a Chinese data-security regulator on Monday.That's a big step for Tesla toward launching FSD in the country, a potential revenue booster just as the company wraps up one of its most tumultuous months. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/tsla-stock">Tesla's stock</a> is down 23% year to date.In April, Tesla reported <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-having-terrible-year-tesla-lawsuits-compensation-2024-4">disappointing first-quarter deliveries</a>, went through a messy <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-cancels-some-layoff-separation-agreements-2024-4">10% global layoff</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-recalls-cybertrucks-accelerator-fault-pad-pedal-electric-vehicle-truck-2024-4">recalled nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks</a> because of faulty accelerators, and cut prices — a move reciprocated by <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-waging-price-war-against-chinese-rivals-2024-4">Chinese electric-vehicle rivals</a>, which cut theirs even further.Tesla has about 1.6 million cars in China, representing a huge potential market for FSD. Other carmakers could also pay to license the technology.The Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/a2104f00-d9c8-4999-9400-7a712d022f79">Financial Times</a> that the FSD approval in China was a "watershed moment" for Tesla. Ives said the company's huge valuation — hundreds of billions of dollars more than other automakers — hinged on autonomous technology.Local regulators may keep a particularly close eye on Tesla's software. In January, the company had to <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tesla-recalls-over-1-6-million-cars-in-china-to-fix-autopilot-locks-1032947021">recall all of its cars</a> in China made from 2014 to 2023 to fix problems with its Autopilot feature and locks. Both problems could be fixed with a free software update.<h2>A win for China and a slight for India</h2>Musk has long been eager to make nice with China, sometimes with antics that would raise eyebrows for other CEOs.To celebrate a new Shanghai factory in 2020, he performed what a Business Insider reporter at the time deemed a "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-just-dad-danced-at-teslas-new-shanghai-gigafactory-2020-1">dad-dance striptease</a>." On the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-marvels-at-chinas-economic-prosperity-communist-party-anniversary-2021-7">100th anniversary of the Communist Party</a> in 2021, he tweeted fawning praise of the country.China, for its part, has given him a royal welcome on past trips. His trip in May last year included a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-china-trip-feast-restaurant-beijing-2023-5">16-course meal</a> with a battery executive and a storm of local social-media praise.As Tesla expands in China, the country must balance its desire to work with the US juggernaut with its inclination to protect local giants such as BYD. In the first quarter, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-manufacturers-profits-dip-carmakers-surge-us-concern-overproduction-factory-2024-4">Chinese automakers' profit jumped 32%</a> from a year ago, according to statistics released Saturday.Musk needs China, but China also needs Musk as a sign that the country is open for business with high-profile US companies.Trade tensions between China and the US have ratcheted up in the past year amid US concerns about Chinese manufacturing and data security.Janet Yellen, the US treasury secretary, and Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, have each visited China in the past month. They warned of Chinese companies undercutting other manufacturers through overproduction, including in EV and battery production.China has ramped up EV production, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-xi-jinping-crush-tesla-elon-musk-american-ev-industry-2024-2">major threat to Tesla</a>. BYD beat Tesla as the best-selling EV maker last year, and Musk said in January that Chinese EVs would "pretty much demolish" other American carmakers if allowed to enter the US.Tesla's work in China may help the country court foreign investment. Businesses have been scared off by government crackdowns — including raids on top global firms such as Bain — and by roiling property and stock markets. This year, weakened consumer demand has hit companies such as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gucci-kering-income-decline-stock-down-hit-china-sales-slump-2024-4">Gucci</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-china-iphone-shipments-fell-february-data-smartphones-2024-3">Apple</a>, which have built big businesses as Chinese consumers' disposable income has risen.While Musk made time for this quick trip to Beijing, he skipped a planned trip to India earlier this month to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Musk's visit was going to include an announcement about Tesla entering India, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/teslas-elon-musk-postpones-india-trip-sources-say-2024-04-20/">Reuters</a> reported."Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year," Musk posted on X.A key Tesla executive who was helping to lead the company's entrance into India left this month, Reuters reported.Musk's India visit would have been a win for Modi, who's seeking to boost India's status as a manufacturing hub, especially as businesses leave China.

Musk's visit to China was a much-needed win for both sides &mdash; and a snub to India      

United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is slated to arrive on a five-day visit to India beginning Tuesday, days after returning from China. During his visit Kerry will visit Chennai and Delhi, the US State Department said. In India, Kerry will attend the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Ministers (ECSM) Meeting in Chennai to be held on July 28, the US Department of State said in a statement. In Delhi, Kerry will meet with senior government officials to advance shared objectives on renewable and clean energy, and climate, the statement read. "Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to New Delhi and Chennai, India, July 25-29, to advance shared objectives on climate and clean energy, including mutual efforts to build a platform for investments in renewable energy and storage solutions, support the deployment of zero-emission buses, and diversify clean energy supply chains," the US State Department said. The third Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting was also under India's G20 Presidency on May 21. The three-day meeting witnessed the participation of 141 delegates from G20 countries and 10 invitee countries. The representatives of 14 international and regional organisations also attended deliberations.. The three priories outlined for the ECSWG were arresting land degradation, promoting a circular economy and giving impetus to the blue economy. All meetings focused on a specific theme out of these three themes. The third ECSWG focussed on Blue Economy and was supported by two side events - Mega Beach Clean Up Event and the Ocean 20 Dialogue on Day 1 of the meeting. The primary agenda of the 3rd ECSWG meeting was the detailed discussions on the draft Ministerial Communique which entailed constructive discussions and deliberations on priority areas. The meeting ended in a discussion mode on the Communique, to be further deliberated upon and refined in the virtual meetings scheduled over the next few weeks, as a run-up to the 4th and final ECSWG meeting to be held in Chennai from July 26- 27. The fourth and final ECSWG meeting would be followed by the ECSM meeting on July 28, which John Kerry would attend. Previously, emphasising on India's climate commitments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the country has shown leadership in climate action and achieved its non-fossil installed electric capacity target nine years in advance. In a video message to the G20 Energy Ministerial Meeting in Goa on Saturday, the Prime Minister said India now plans to achieve 50% non-fossil installed capacity by the year 2030. "No talk about the future, sustainability or growth and development can be complete without energy. It impacts development at all levels, from individuals to nations," the Prime Minister said at the meeting that brought together ministers from the countries in the G20 grouping. He pointed out that India is among the global leaders in solar and wind power and is making great efforts in green growth and energy transition. Earlier, US climate envoy John Kerry ended his four-day visit to China on July 19 without any new agreements. In fact, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, insisted in a speech that China would pursue its goals to phase out carbon dioxide pollution at its own pace and in its own way. Still, Kerry appeared buoyed that the world's two biggest polluters had restarted discussions, which had been frozen for a year because of strained relations over Taiwan, trade and other issues. He insisted he was not disappointed in the outcome, noting that just talking marked progress, according to the Washington Post. "We had very frank conversations but we came here to break new ground," Kerry said, adding, "It is clear that we are going to need a little more work."

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