Credit rating agency Moody’s warned on Thursday that global economic growth was likely to slow in the next two years and that it expected the trade war between the United States and China to escalate further.
"We expect global growth to slow to under 3.0 percent in 2019 and 2020, from an estimated 3.3 percent in 2017-18," the agency said in a new report.
It added that the recently imposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods were likely to rise to 25 percent in January from their current 10 percent level.
"In both countries, the overall direct macro impact on growth will be manageable. However, persistent and broadening tensions between the two largest economies globally are increasingly likely to have widespread negative implications by undermining investment," Moody's said.
China will give El Salvador $150 million to spur development of social and technological projects, the Salvadoran president said on Wednesday, the latest sign of deepening ties between the countries that has alarmed the United States.Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren is returning from his first trip to China since the countries established diplomatic ties in August. Speaking on local television, Ceren said he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the visit and agreed to 13 joint projects, without providing details.The donation marks China's latest gambit to make inroads in Central America, a campaign that has drawn the ire of the United States.Earlier this year, El Salvador cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China, following the Dominican Republic and Panama. The United States promptly recalled its ambassadors in the region."This historic meeting between the governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of El Salvador has produced excellent results," Ceren said. "This confirms that the establishment of diplomatic relations with China is my government's most important decision in foreign policy."Senior China diplomat says US, China can resolve trade dispute through talksSpeaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the two countries had agreed to a series of cooperation projects, including in infrastructure and education, when the two presidents met in China last week."The friendly cooperation between China and El Salvador is developing smoothly and rapidly," Hua told a daily news briefing."China is willing to provide what help it can for El Salvador's economic and social development. The relevant help will be focused on people's pressing welfare needs in El Salvador," she added.The date when the funds will be received has not been set, a spokesman for the Salvadoran government said.China will also donate three thousand tons of rice to support Salvadorans who are reeling from a drought in July and floods in October, Ceren said.The White House warned in August that China was luring countries with incentives that "facilitate economic dependence and domination, not partnership."Self-ruled Taiwan has formal relations with a dwindling number of countries, almost all of them small and less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific.
China pledges $150 million aid to El Salvador as relationship deepens
The Chinese government's top diplomat Wang Yi said on Thursday that China and the United States can and should appropriately resolve their trade dispute through talks.Wang made the comment in a meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who was visiting China. Australia says it welcomes Chinese investment
Senior China diplomat says US, China can resolve trade dispute through talks