2025-11-20 12:54

Germany rethinks relationship with China EU to unveil economic security doctrine Spain's China policy could put EU unity at risk BEIJING/BRUSSELS, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The European Union will set out next month how it will square up to increased geopolitical challenges from Beijing and others amid signs its largest member Germany, once a brake on tougher measures against China, is having a rethink. In an economic security doctrine to be unveiled on Dec. 3, the European Commission will review its trade defence arsenal and decide if it must do more to deal with threats including China's squeeze on rare earths and a combative United States. Sign up here. China will be the central policy focus, as concerns rise about Europe's reliance on it for critical minerals to drive the green and digital transitions and unfair competition for European companies from subsidised Chinese imports. Unity will be needed to drive through policy changes that seal and deepen ties with like-minded trading partners or trigger retaliation - something the 27-nation bloc struggled to achieve in response to U.S. tariffs. Significantly, there are signs that Germany, the EU's largest member and economy, is coming into line regarding China. A year ago, Berlin was an opponent of tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles. Last week, it established a committee of experts to advise parliament on "security-relevant trade relations" with China, reactivating a "de-risking" push. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this month Germany will not allow components from Chinese companies in its future 6G mobile network. He also broke with decades of German free-trade dogma to call for protection for Europe's steel industry. Visiting China this week, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil raised concerns over Chinese export curbs on rare earths and industrial overcapacities. "We have learned from dependencies such as those that arose with Russian energy supplies and we are making ourselves stronger in Germany and Europe," Klingbeil said he told China. "I am in favour of free and open markets. But I do not want us to end up being the losers in Europe and Germany," Klingbeil told Reuters in Shanghai. At a press event with Klingbeil, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said Beijing was committed to joint cooperation and working to "foster a fair, equitable and non-discriminatory business environment". GERMAN SHIFT OPENS WAY FOR TOUGHER EU STANCE China's weaker economy and its move up the value chain of industrial production mean it is no longer the reliable market it once was for German exports. The EU's goods trade deficit with China has ballooned by nearly 60% since 2019, while Germany's trade balance with China shifted from surplus to deficit in 2023 and continues widening. EU leaders agreed in October the bloc should "make effective use of all EU economic instruments" to counter unfair trade - such as accelerating the end of the customs duty exemption for low-value parcels, billions of which arrive from China. Brussels' December doctrine is likely to highlight export controls, screening of investments and restrictions on foreign subsidies for EU-based operations. Its ultimate weapon, the Anti-Coercion Instrument, can curb imports, exports and investment or access to public tenders. Germany's hardening stance could be a game-changer allowing firmer action, said Jacob Gunter of think tank Merics. The EU needs a broad majority of its members to fire up the ACI. "China doesn't worry about Europe's hawkish tone unless it threatens their access to the European market," he said. Calls are meanwhile growing to set conditions on Chinese investments in Europe, such as technology transfers - mirroring what China requires from European firms. "SPAIN-FIRST" APPROACH SEEN AS A RISK TO EU UNITY EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said last month the EU wanted "real investments" - an aspiration Brussels will translate into proposals that EU states will need to back. Just as Berlin cools towards Beijing, however, Madrid is opening up to Chinese investments in renewables, EV batteries and mining. Spanish pork producers have also benefited from lower tariffs than EU peers in a Chinese anti-dumping probe along with a trade protocol that could increase their sales. King Felipe's visit last week underscored Beijing's success in cultivating Spain as a rare EU ally. Noah Barkin at research provider Rhodium Group said Spain's China policy was increasingly at odds with the European consensus built in Brussels, Berlin and Paris. "It is a Spain-first approach that risks undermining EU unity at a crucial moment, when the bloc faces unprecedented economic coercion from Beijing on rare earths and in relation to the chipmaker Nexperia," he said. Spain's Economy Ministry said in response to Reuters inquiries that its dealings with China would remain within the framework set by Europe's economic security strategy. "Strengthening cooperation and trade relations between Spain and China also serves to strengthen relations between the EU and China," it added in a statement. Nexperia will be front-of-mind as Brussels crafts guidelines on economic security. The Netherlands took control of the company in September over concerns about technology transfer to China, before stepping back after Beijing responded by withholding Nexperia chips needed by German carmakers. EU officials say they were surprised not to have been given prior warning of the Dutch move, which might have been a trigger for using the ACI. "The Anti-Coercion Instrument is our sharpest tool, but unity is key: China exploits EU divisions deliberately," said Ferdinand Schaff, senior manager for Greater China at the BDI industry association. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/eu-toughen-trade-stance-china-germany-pivots-2025-11-20/

2025-11-20 12:43

KYIV, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that 22 people were missing at the site of Wednesday's Russian attack on the western city of Ternopil. "As of now, 26 people are confirmed dead, including three children," Zelenskiy wrote on X, adding that the overnight search-and-rescue operation continued into the morning. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-says-22-people-missing-site-russian-attack-western-ukraine-2025-11-20/

2025-11-20 12:42

KYIV, Nov 20 (Reuters) - More than 400,000 Ukrainian consumers remained without electricity as of midday on Thursday following a recent large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine's western regions, energy officials said. The attack led to a decrease in electricity production at Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Sign up here. Russia has sharply increased the intensity and number of its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in recent months, targeting gas, energy and distribution facilities and plunging entire cities into darkness. Ukraine generates more than half of its electricity at three nuclear power plants, but damage to power lines and transformers has forced the plants to reduce their output, a representative of the national nuclear energy company Energoatom told Reuters. The International Atomic Energy Agency also confirmed the reduction in Ukraine's nuclear power output after Russian attacks on Tuesday night as the power stations lost the connection to their high-voltage power lines. Energoatom said the situation remained unchanged as of Thursday, while the head of Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo Vitaliy Zaichenko told national television that power supply restrictions were in effect across virtually the entire country, with blackouts lasting up to 16 hours. The frontline regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and the Black Sea port of Odesa are the worst affected in terms of electricity supplies, he said. Ukraine's nuclear energy sector has been rocked this month by a corruption scandal that has led to the dismissal of the country's energy and justice ministers. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-strikes-plunge-400000-ukrainians-into-darkness-energy-officials-say-2025-11-20/

2025-11-20 12:41

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The boom in private credit markets and stablecoins warrants close monitoring, the Group of 20's financial risk watchdog told leaders ahead of their summit in South Africa. In a letter to the G20 leaders published on Thursday, its Financial Stability Board Chair, Andrew Bailey, called for global efforts to "modernise and strengthen" financial regulations without compromising stability. Sign up here. The letter also highlighted the growing role of non-bank financial intermediaries, including private credit markets, saying it will be one of the main focal points of the FSB's work next year. It underlined the "urgency" of improving cross-border payments and developing "robust frameworks" for stablecoins - types of cryptocurrencies that are pegged 1:1 to a real-world currency or asset, usually the U.S. dollar. "Divergences in regulatory and prudential frameworks across jurisdictions (around stablecoins) could add an additional layer of complexity and potential risk," Bailey's letter said. "It will be equally important to consider how stablecoins can operate effectively and safely across borders." Policymakers outside of the United States worry the widespread adoption of dollar-backed stablecoins would partly 'dollarise' their economies, diminishing their monetary policy powers and creating issues around bailouts were they to ever be needed. In his letter, Bailey also noted the failure of major economies to implement global banking standards, including Basel III. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Wednesday reiterated that "full and consistent" implementation of tougher capital rules remains its "highest priority". The reforms, agreed in 2017, were the final piece of the post-financial crisis response but both the European Commission and Britain have delayed implementation of Basel 3.1 until 2027 as they wait for clarity from the U.S. which has pushed back against the plans. In response to the pressure, Basel appears to be softening one aspect of its rules. Basel Committee chair Erik Thedéen told the Financial Times on Wednesday that crypto exposure requirements needed to be revisited to reflect the "dramatic" rise in stablecoins since the rules were agreed three years ago. The crypto framework is due to take effect on January 1, though neither the U.S. nor the UK has committed to that date. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/private-credit-markets-stablecoins-need-close-monitoring-g20-watchdog-tells-2025-11-20/

2025-11-20 12:06

FRANKFURT, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) , opens new tab plans to invest 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in its global network of transformer and switchgear factories by 2028, the company said in slides ahead of a capital markets day. ($1 = 0.8681 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/siemens-energy-invest-23-billion-power-grid-factories-by-2028-2025-11-20/

2025-11-20 12:03

US plan would require Kyiv to give up land, sources say Kyiv would also have to accept curbs on military, they say US army says Kiev agree to move quickly towards agreement White House says US working on plan for about a month French minister says peace cannot mean capitulation KYIV/WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after talks with a top U.S. Army official on Thursday he was ready to work with Washington on a plan to end the war in Ukraine, and he expects to discuss it with President Donald Trump in coming days. European countries are pushing back against the U.S.-backed plan, which sources said would require Kyiv to give up more land and partially disarm, conditions long seen by Ukraine's allies as tantamount to capitulation. Sign up here. But Zelenskiy, whose office said he had received a draft of the plan, said after meeting U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll in Kyiv that Ukraine and Washington would work together on elements of it. KYIV READY FOR 'CONSTRUCTIVE' WORK "Our teams - Ukraine and the USA - will work on the points of the plan to end the war," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram. "We are ready for constructive, honest and prompt work." Zelenskiy's office did not comment directly on the content of the 28-point plan, which has not been published, but said he had "outlined the fundamental principles that matter to our people". "In the coming days, the President of Ukraine expects to discuss with President Trump the existing diplomatic opportunities and the key points required to achieve peace," it said. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a news briefing that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff had been quietly working on the plan for about a month and Trump supports the plan. "It's a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe that it should be acceptable to both sides," she said. She said the U.S. engaged equally with the Ukrainians and the Russians on the text. Zelenskiy's office said Driscoll had presented him with the plan only on Thursday, and several sources told Reuters and other media outlets that the plan was the fruit of backchannel conversations between Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, the special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a message on X on Wednesday, Rubio said the U.S. "will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict" and that peace will require concessions from both Kyiv and Moscow. Zelenskiy, who met Driscoll alone then with the full U.S. delegation, agreed to move quickly towards agreement and signing of a plan, said Colonel Dave Butler, U.S. army chief of public affairs. The United States, he said, wanted to ensure that this is "a good plan for the Ukrainian people." The U.S. ambassador to Kyiv, Julie Davis, said the talks were "remarkably constructive." All participants "share President Trump’s vision to end this war" and wanted to move forward quickly, she said. The acceleration in U.S. diplomacy comes at an awkward time for Kyiv, with its troops on the back foot on the battlefield and Zelenskiy's government undermined by a corruption scandal. Parliament fired two cabinet ministers on Wednesday. GENERAL SAYS RUSSIA CONTROLS KUPIANSK Moscow played down any new U.S. initiative. "Consultations are not currently under way. There are contacts, of course, but there is no process that could be called consultations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He said Russia had nothing to add beyond the position Putin laid out at a summit with Trump in August, adding that any peace deal must address the "root causes of the conflict", a phrase Moscow has long used to refer to its demands. With another winter approaching in the nearly four-year-old war, Russian troops occupy almost one-fifth of Ukraine and are slowly advancing while bombarding Ukrainian energy supplies and cities as the cold winter sets in. The Kremlin said Putin had visited the command post of the Russian forces' "West" grouping on Thursday, where he met the chief of Russia's general staff, Valery Gerasimov, and other top military brass. Gerasimov told Putin Russian forces had taken control of the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, a city Moscow sees as an important target in its westward push through central and eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s military denied Russian claims it controls Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine or 70% of the ruined railway hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Reuters could not independently verify either statement, although video released by Russia's defence ministry on Thursday showed its troops moving freely through the southern part of Pokrovsk, patrolling deserted streets lined with charred apartment blocks. 'PEACE CANNOT BE CAPITULATION,' SAYS FRANCE European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels did not comment in detail about the U.S. plan, but indicated they would not accept demands for Kyiv to make punishing concessions. "Ukrainians want peace - a just peace that respects everyone's sovereignty, a durable peace that can't be called into question by future aggression," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. "But peace cannot be a capitulation." https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/europeans-push-back-us-plan-that-would-force-concessions-ukraine-2025-11-20/