China says it 'welcomes' visit by pro-Trump senator
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Mar 21, 2025

China said on Friday it welcomed a visit to Beijing by Republican US Senator Steve Daines, who has vowed to raise trade tensions and fentanyl smuggling with officials this week.

Daines, a strong supporter of US President Donald Trump, has extensive business experience in China and Hong Kong.

"China welcomes Senator Daines's visit and it also welcomes Americans from all walks of life, including members of Congress, to visit China," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing.

"China has always believed that maintaining stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US ties is in the common interest of both peoples and is the general expectation of the international community," Mao said.

Trump has unleashed tariffs on major trading partners including China, Canada and Mexico since returning to the White House in January, citing trade imbalances and their failure to stem the flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States.

Daines, who represents the state of Montana, has said he would raise those issues with Chinese officials during his visit this week.

"We know... it's the Mexican cartels that are producing the fentanyl but those precursors, the raw materials, come from China," he told Fox News on Monday.

"I will be talking with the Chinese leadership about what they can do," he said.

"They can do a whole lot more to shut down the flow of these chemicals that go to Mexico and then fentanyl comes in the United States."

He also said he would address the yawning trade imbalance between the world's two largest economies.

"This will be about fentanyl. It will also be about this $300 billion trade deficit that we have with China, what we can do to change the trade practices," he said.

"We could sell a whole lot more into China."

Trump said this week that Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would visit the United States soon.

Beijing has not confirmed the visit.

Chinese owner sees revenue growth slow
Beijing (AFP) Mar 20, 2025 - Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings announced Thursday slower revenue growth for the third quarter running, as the Temu owner confronts trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The Shanghai-based company posted revenues of 110 billion yuan ($15 billion) in the three months to December 31, up 24 percent year-on-year.

The figure was down on the 44 percent growth recorded in the third quarter, continuing a slowdown following 86 percent growth in the second quarter and a 131 percent surge at the start of 2024.

As owner of overseas e-commerce platform Temu, PDD Holdings is expected to face further challenges as US levies against Chinese goods begin to bite.

US President Donald Trump this month doubled a blanket tariff on all Chinese imports from 10 to 20 percent.

The order came after Trump in February scrapped a customs exemption for goods valued under $800, long a vital part of the business model supporting platforms offering low-cost goods like Temu and rival Shein.

The companies send out tens of billions of dollars worth of clothes, gadgets and other items from their vast network of factories in China annually.

Since its September 2022 launch, Temu has become one of the most widely used online shopping sites in the United States.

PDD Holdings executives on Thursday remained optimistic in the health of its online mega-shops.

"Looking ahead, we will continue to prioritize investments in the platform ecosystem as the cornerstone of our long-term value creation strategy", the company's vice president of finance, Jun Liu, said in a statement.

The firm reported net income of 27.4 billion yuan in the fourth quarter, up 18 percent compared to a year prior.

The results came in short of forecasts, causing US shares to fall 3.3 percent in pre-market trading, Bloomberg reported.

PDD Holdings also owns one of China's leading online retailers -- Pinduoduo -- which has achieved success in part by reaching consumers in rural areas with a diverse offering of low-cost products.

The filings of Chinese e-commerce firms have been closely watched by analysts and investors for signs of a resurgence in China's consumer spending.

Alibaba reported eight percent growth in the fourth quarter, compared to JD.com with 13.4 percent.

Beijing has sought to boost spending with a series of measures, from rate cuts to subsidies for home appliances.

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