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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has sent its response to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal via Pakistani mediators and wants negotiations to focus on permanently ending the war, Tehran’s state-run media said Sunday. Pakistan confirmed receiving it.

Iran seeks to end the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, and to ensure the security of shipping, state TV said. Washington’s latest proposal addressed a deal to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and roll back Iran’s nuclear program.

The White House had no immediate comment but U.S. President Donald Trump on social media accused Tehran of “playing games” with the United States for nearly 50 years, adding: “They will be laughing no longer!”

Trump is giving diplomacy “every chance we possibly can before going back to hostilities,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told ABC earlier.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard publicly since the war began, “issued new and decisive directives for the continuation of operations and the powerful confrontation with the enemies” while meeting with the head of the joint military command, the state broadcaster reported, with no details.

The fragile ceasefire was tested when a drone ignited a small fire on a ship off Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported drones entering their airspace. The UAE said it shot down two drones and blamed Iran. No casualties were reported, and no one immediately claimed responsibility.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the ship attack a “dangerous and unacceptable escalation that threatens the security and safety of maritime trade routes and vital supplies in the region.” The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center gave no details about the ship’s owner or origin.

Kuwait Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al Otaibi said forces responded to drones but did not say where they came from.

Iran and armed allied groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon have used drones to carry out hundreds of strikes since the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran does not accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iran has largely blocked the strategic waterway that’s key to the global flow of oil, natural gas and fertilizer since the war began, rattling world markets.

The U.S. military in turn has blockaded Iranian ports since April 13, saying it has turned back 61 commercial vessels and disabled four. On Friday, it struck two Iranian oil tankers it said were trying to breach the blockade. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy says any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships.

Another sticking point in negotiations is Iran’s highly enriched uranium. The U.N. nuclear agency says Iran has more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons grade.

In an interview posted late Saturday, an Iranian military spokesperson said forces were on “full readiness” to protect sites where uranium is stored.

“We considered it possible that they might intend to steal it through infiltration operations or heli-borne operations,” Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia told the IRNA news agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an excerpt of an interview with CBS airing Sunday said the war isn’t over because the enriched uranium needs to be taken out of Iran. “Trump has said to me, ‘I want to go in there,’ and I think it can be done physically,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow’s proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement remains on the table.

The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely at its Isfahan nuclear complex, the International Atomic Energy Agency director-general told The Associated Press last month. The facility was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year and faced less intense attacks this year.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister warned against a planned French-British effort that aims to support maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities are over.

“The presence of French and British vessels, or those of any other country, for any possible cooperation with illegal U.S. actions in the Strait of Hormuz that violate international law will be met with a decisive and immediate response from the armed forces,” Kazem Gharibabadi said on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron responded by saying it won’t be a military deployment but an international mission to secure shipping once conditions allow.

Several attacks against ships in the Persian Gulf have occurred over the past week, and a U.S. effort to “guide” ships through the strait was quickly paused.

South Korea announced initial findings from an investigation that said two unidentified objects struck the South Korean-operated vessel HMM NAMU about one minute apart while it was anchored in the strait last week, causing an explosion and fire. A foreign ministry spokesperson said officials have yet to determine who was responsible.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul; Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Appealing to voters’ anxieties about the soaring cost of living is central to Democrats’ messaging in their hopes of big wins in this year’s midterm elections. In Oregon, a question on the primary ballot is complicating that strategy.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature raised the state gas tax and a range of fees last fall as a way to pay for road improvements and plug a hole in the state’s transportation budget. Republicans responded with a petition to repeal the increases, leading to a referendum that will land before voters just as the Iran war is causing the price of gas to skyrocket around the United States.

“It is a hell of a time to be raising gas taxes on people,” said Jeanine Holly, filling up her tank on a recent morning in Portland.

The gas tax repeal on the state’s May 19 primary ballot comes amid widespread disruptions in the oil industry from the war with Iran started by Israel and President Donald Trump. Discontent is high among U.S. consumers across the political spectrum, with the price of gas topping $4.50 a gallon nationally on Friday and averaging about 80 cents more per gallon in Oregon.

The referendum will give voters a chance to weigh in on a hot-button issue hitting them directly in the pocketbook at a time when prices remain elevated for everything from housing to groceries. Nationally, Democrats have focused on the affordability concerns similar to those that helped propel Trump to victory in 2024. Some of their candidates have even proposed ways to cut taxes as a way to promote their agenda and counter a traditional GOP strategy.

“It’s difficult to imagine a worse situation for … a gas tax increase than right now in American politics,” said Chris Koski, professor of political science and environmental studies at Portland’s Reed College.

Republicans wasted no time in appealing to voters after the Legislature and Democratic governor signed off on the tax increase, which also included a higher payroll tax for transit projects and a boost in vehicle registration and title fees.

They needed 78,000 voter signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot. They quickly got 250,000.

“That is a remarkable number,” said Republican strategist Rebecca Tweed.

Republicans in Oregon have countered Democrats’ affordability messaging by portraying the tax and fee increases as further fueling the high cost of living.

“Do Oregonians want to pay more? The answer is no,” said GOP state Sen. Bruce Starr, who helped lead the referendum campaign. “Everything they’re looking at is expensive.”

Under the legislation, Oregon’s gas tax would rise from 40 cents to 46 cents a gallon. That would make it tied with Maryland for the eighth highest gas tax of any state when factoring in other state taxes and fees, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

At the Portland gas station, Michael Burch said he used to spend $70 to fill three-quarters of his pickup truck’s tank, but now pays $80 for just over half a tank.

“I’m sick and tired of taxes,” the 76-year-old retiree said. “Gas is certainly dampening the spirits and the coffers of folks that aren’t as well off.”

Hannah Coe, a 30-year-old student, said she was not sure how she would vote on the primary ballot referendum.

“I think I would be in favor of it if it was going to go to the things that it was saying it was going to go to, such as fixing our roads,” she said. “I also kind of feel like that’s just a grab at trying to get more money from the people who live here.”

Oregon Democrats spent much of last year fighting to pass a transportation funding bill to help raise money for services such as road paving and snow plowing. The debate came amid projections of declining gas tax revenue as more people adopt electric, hybrid and fuel-efficient cars.

They finally passed a narrower version of their plan during a special session called by Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek.

She recently acknowledged the challenging timing of the referendum.

“Certainly, the conversation at the ballot this year … is a tough sell right now, because I think everyone is feeling a pinch on their household budgets,” she told reporters.

But she and other Democrats said the root cause of the spike in gas prices is Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. She suggested the federal government consider reducing the federal 18 cent-a-gallon gas tax if it wants to provide relief at the pump for Americans.

Some Oregonians are receptive to the Democrats’ reason for passing the legislation last year. Kurt Borneman, 68, said he would support the gas tax increase, even though he’s now paying at least $10 more to fill up his tank.

“I realize that money’s tight and roads need to be improved,” he said at the Portland gas station. “I want less government, but I also want nice roads.”

Democratic state Rep. Paul Evans said his party lost the battle over how to frame the gas tax increase to the public. So far, there has been no organized effort from Democrats and their allies to oppose the ballot referendum.

“When anything is reduced to, ‘Do you want a tax or not?’ Most people are going to say no,” he said. “The messaging got away from us, and it became focused upon the price instead of the value.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Long before this week’s trip to China, President Donald Trump was already predicting on social media that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, would “give me a big, fat hug when I get there.”

But Beijing’s deep economic ties to Iran, as well as trade tensions over tariff threats stretching back to Trump’s first term, could crimp the good feelings when Trump flies to Beijing this week — even though the Republican president has for years effusively praised Xi, making it clear he sees China’s leader as a competitor strong enough to warrant his respect and admiration.

Trump lately isn’t very fond of long plane rides or extended stretches away from the White House or his properties in Florida and New Jersey. He arrives in Beijing on Wednesday night and the next morning will take part in a welcome ceremony and meet one-on-one with Xi before the two leaders tour the Temple of Heaven — a religious complex dating to the 15th century symbolizing the relationship between Earth and heaven.

Trump will attend a state banquet on Thursday evening and then have a tea and working lunch with Xi on Friday before leaving, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Sunday. She said they will discuss creating a new Board of Trade to keep their countries talking on economic issues, as well talking up key industries like energy, aerospace and agriculture.

There will be plenty of ceremonial splendor, but the grandeur is not expected to rival Trump’s first visit to China in 2017, which Beijing dubbed a “state visit-plus.”

“Even before this whole conflagration with Iran, they weren’t going to go state visit-plus like last time, just because things are tense,” said Jonathan Czin, a former director for China at the National Security Council during the Biden administration.

On Trump’s first-term trip, China rolled out the red carpet for his arrival, with a band playing military music and children waving flags and chanting “Welcome.”

Xi offered a tour of the Forbidden City. Trump and first lady Melania Trump even had a private dinner there. Trump was the first foreign leader since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949 to experience what was once reserved for emperors.

The following morning brought another welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People and featured a military parade. There also was a state banquet in Trump’s honor with video highlights from the Chinese leader’s previous visit to Florida and a clip of Trump’s granddaughter Arabella singing in Chinese.

Ali Wyne, senior U.S.-China research and advocacy adviser for the Washington nonprofit the Crisis Group, said the “Chinese delegation will likely do its utmost to ensure that Trump leaves Beijing believing that he has just concluded the most extraordinary state visit of his two presidencies.”

But, he said, the “pomp and circumstance would serve a different role now than they did when he first visited Beijing” because “Xi has a much better understanding of Trump, and the administration’s own national security strategy and national defense strategy recognize China as a near-peer.”

Expectations for what gets accomplished could be lower this time, said Czin, now a fellow at the Brookings Institution. He predicted that the Chinese may not offer major breakthroughs on trade or anything else because they are “working backward from our midterm elections” with the theory that the closer they get to Election Day “the more leverage they are going to have.”

The GOP is focused on retaining control of Congress, even as polling shows most Americans are unhappy with Trump’s economic policies and believe that the United States went too far in Iran. Still, the White House argues that Trump’s previous firm hand with Beijing on tariffs — which the Supreme Court subsequently struck down — means the U.S. will remain in a strong position.

“President Trump cares about results, not symbols,” Kelly said. “But even still, the president has a great relationship with President Xi, and the upcoming summit in Beijing will be both symbolically and substantively significant.”

Trump could meet with China’s leader four times in eight months.

After his visit to Beijing, Trump plans to host Xi at the White House. Trump might also attend the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Shenzhen, China. And Xi could come to the Group of 20 summit the following month at Trump’s resort in Doral, Florida.

Czin noted that Xi also is not very fond of travel, meaning not all of the planned encounters may happen. He said China’s leader also does not “do personal connections” like the kind Trump relishes, noting Xi led a Chinese military purge in January that included replacing officials with long-standing personal ties to his family.

Wyne, though, said Xi also “appreciates that he is unlikely to deal with another U.S. president who admires him as greatly and embraces as narrow a view of strategic competition.”

That means Xi may “attempt to pocket as many economic and security concessions from Trump as possible,” Wyne said.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board in 2024 that Xi “was actually a really good … I don’t want to say ‘friend.’ I don’t want to act foolish. ‘He was my friend.’ But I got along with him great.”

Trump even suggested at the time that military force might not be required to ensure that Chinese troops do not encroach on Taiwan, simply because China’s leader “respects me,” despite Trump more recently discussing potentially selling arms to Taiwan.

Trump has continued to praise the bilateral relationship since returning to the White House, even after his Beijing visit, originally scheduled for March, was postponed due to the early stages of the Iran war.

He unsuccessfully prodded China to get involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian forces choked it off and disrupted global economies. But China did use its leverage as the largest purchaser of Iranian oil to encourage Iran to agree to what has been a fragile ceasefire.

The White House says it expects Trump to apply pressure on China with regards to Iran. Beijing has strong economic ties to Tehran, and the war could hurt its economy, which was already projected to grow more slowly. If China can help establish lasting peace, though, that might boost its standing in negotiations on trade issues with the Trump administration.

During his 2017 visit, Trump announced $250 billion in nonbinding trade deals, some of which never materialized. A round of trade deals announced in 2020 and worth $200 billion mostly never came to fruition before Trump’s first term ended.

More recently, Trump’s announcement last year of steep global tariffs prompted China to cut off purchases of U.S. soybeans and clamp down on exports of rare earth minerals needed by American factories.

Tensions have eased somewhat since the U.S. reached a trade truce last fall that has limited tariffs on both sides. The White House says there have been more recent discussions about extending the trade truce, and that both sides support doing so.

Kelly, the White House spokeswoman, said Trump “doesn’t travel anywhere without bringing deliverables home to our country.”

“Americans can expect the president to deliver more good deals for the United States while in China,” she said.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy on Saturday warned that any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on one of the U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships, even as a tenuous ceasefire appeared to be holding.

Iranian state TV reported the warning a day after the United States struck two Iranian oil tankers, casting doubt on the month-old ceasefire that the U.S. has insisted is still in effect. The U.S. military said the tankers were trying to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports.

Meanwhile Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s regional headquarters, said it arrested dozens of people it alleged had links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Washington awaits Iran’s response to its latest proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping and roll back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. And Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow’s proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement remains on the table.

Bahrain said it had arrested 41 people it said are part of a group affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard. The interior ministry said investigations confirmed they were in contact with the Guard and collected funds “with the aim of sending them to Iran” to support its “terrorist operations.”

The small Persian Gulf island is led by a Sunni Muslim monarchy but, like Iran, has a majority Shiite population. Rights groups have said the kingdom has used the war between Iran and the U.S., which bases its Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, as an excuse to crack down on dissent.

Iran issued a warning to Bahrain: “Siding with the U.S.-backed resolution will bring severe consequences. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital lifeline; do not risk closing it on yourselves FOREVER,” Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission of Iran’s parliament, said on social media.

Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets.

The U.S. has imposed its own blockade of Iran’s ports. U.S. Central Command said on Saturday its forces had turned back 58 commercial ships and “disabled” four since the blockade began April 13.

Britain’s defense ministry said it was deploying a warship to the Middle East to join a potential mission to protect commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz once hostilities end.

The ministry said the HMS Dragon will “preposition” in the region, ready to join a U.K.- and French-led security plan. France announced this week it was moving its aircraft carrier strike group into the Red Sea in preparation.

Britain and France have led meetings involving several dozen countries on a coalition to reestablish freedom of navigation in the strait. But they stress it won’t start until there is a sustainable ceasefire and the maritime industry is reassured ships can go through the strait safely.

U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. On Friday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the country was not paying attention to “deadlines,” according to state-run IRNA.

Diplomacy continues. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country has been in contact with the U.S. and Iran “day and night” in an effort to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace deal.

Russia’s foreign ministry said that it, as well as Saudi Arabia, was calling for diplomatic efforts to reach a “sustainable, long-term agreement” to end the war.

Separately, Putin told reporters in Moscow that taking enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement would allow everyone to see “how much of it there is, and where it is located,” and “all of this would be placed under the control of the IAEA,” the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Egyptian and Qatari top diplomats reiterated that diplomacy is the sole path to a solution, according to a readout of a phone call between the two foreign ministers.

Still publicly unseen and unheard since the war began is Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, fueling speculation about his status.

On Friday, a top Iranian official said Khamenei was in “complete health” and eventually would appear in public. Mazaher Hosseini, affiliated with the office of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the war, made the comment at a pro-government gathering. Hosseini said Mojtaba, Khamenei’s son, had knee and back injuries in the war’s opening attacks but they’ve largely healed.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

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By Joe Cash and Lewis Jackson

LONDON/BEIJING, May 9 (Reuters) – China’s export growth gathered pace in April as factories raced to meet a wave of orders from AI-related industries and other buyers seeking to stockpile components amid fears the Iran war could push global input costs even higher.

That export strength, which has seen China’s trade surplus with the U.S. widen to $87.7 billion so far this year, will be in focus next week as President Donald Trump travels to Beijing for a leaders’ summit expected to extend last year’s trade truce.

While Chinese exporters have so far weathered the fallout from the Middle East conflict economists warn that the longer the war drags on and energy prices rise, the greater the risk that external demand fades away — leaving sluggish domestic consumption unable to plug the gap.

For now economists are watching the pace of the AI manufacturing boom and whether shipments of related equipment can keep the Chinese export engine purring.

“The conflict in the Middle East pushed up demand for global manufacturing inventory replenishment, and under the upward cycle of semiconductors, imports and exports maintained a boom,” according to Xing Zhaopeng, senior China strategist at ANZ.

“There is still room for expansion in this round of manufacturing cycle driven by AI, and it is expected that the annual export growth rate will be about 10%.”

Exports expanded 14.1% from a year earlier in U.S. dollar value terms, customs data showed on Saturday, outpacing the 2.5% gain in March and a 7.9% rise tipped by economists.

New export orders rose to their highest level in two years, separate factory activity data for April showed last month.

Imports notched another strong month, climbing 25.3% versus 27.8% in March. Economists had forecasted growth of 15.2%.

That boosted China’s trade surplus last month to $84.8 billion, from $51.13 billion in March.

Broader momentum in the Chinese economy was solid in the first quarter, with GDP growth hitting 5% year-on-year, the top of the government’s full-year target range, and lessening the need for immediate stimulus.

But even China, long criticised by trading partners for subsidy-backed, cut-price manufacturing, is not insulated from the hit to buyers’ purchasing power as fuel and transport costs rise.

The factory data published last month showed input prices remained elevated, particularly for refined goods and petroleum, coal and chemicals.

Unemployment rates also edged higher and retail sales – a gauge of consumption – continued to underperform industrial output.

WHAT’S AT STAKE AT TRUMP-XI SUMMIT?

Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during his May 14-15 visit to Beijing, as both countries seek to stabilise a relationship strained by tensions over trade, Taiwan and the Iran war.

Trump will be keen for trade concessions from Beijing ahead of November’s U.S. midterm elections, though company executives and analysts are not expecting big breakthroughs.

Faced with U.S. levies that briefly rose to the triple digits, Chinese exporters last year chased new markets such as South America by offering lower prices. China ended 2025 with a record trade surplus of $1.2 trillion.

(Reporting by Joe Cash in London and Lewis Jackson and Tina Qiao in Beijing; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The British military said a ship caught fire Sunday after being hit by an unknown projectile off the coast of Qatar.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said the attack caused a small fire on the bulk carrier, which was extinguished.

The attack happened 23 nautical miles (43 kilometers) northeast of Qatar’s capital, Doha, the UKMTO said.

There were no reported casualties, it said.

It was the latest attack on vessels in the Persian Gulf since a shaky ceasefire stopped fighting between the United States and Iran.

There have been several attacks against ships in the Persian Gulf over the past week. On Friday, the U.S. struck two Iranian oil tankers after it said the tankers were trying to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy has warned that any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on one of the U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships.

U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets.

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By Lefteris Papadimas and Kalliroi Pappa

ATHENS, May 8 (Reuters) – Ryanair will close its operating base at Greece’s Thessaloniki airport this winter and cut the number of flights in and out of the city after airport operator Fraport hiked annual fees, a senior executive said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Athens, Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer Jason McGuinness said there was no progress in talks between the low-cost carrier and Fraport, which has raised charges at a number of Greek airports.

“Fraport Greece continued to increase charges, which are now 66% above pre-Covid level,” McGuinness said.

Fraport Greece said any claims linking Ryanair’s decision to airport charges or the Airport Development Fee (ADF) imposed by the Greek State are entirely unfounded.

“The decision to reduce winter operations at Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia is exclusively related to Ryanair’s commercial strategy, business model, and profitability considerations,” Fraport said in a statement later on Friday.

Ryanair will remove three aircraft based in Thessaloniki, cutting 500,000 seats and 10 routes this winter.

The Irish carrier, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, has 95 operating hubs around the continent where it keeps aircraft and bases cabin crew. It also announced the closure of its base in Berlin last month over higher fees and taxes.

McGuinness did not say if the move would lead to job cuts among the 100 people who work at the Thessaloniki base.

Capacity is also being cut at Athens airport for the upcoming winter, resulting in a combined loss of 700,000 seats and 12 routes across Greece.

Operations at Chania and Heraklion airports will also be suspended during off-peak months, McGuinness said.

Aircraft will be reallocated to Albania, Italy and Sweden, “where airports have passed on their government’s aviation tax savings, resulting in more connectivity, tourism and jobs this winter,” McGuinness said.

Ryanair’s exit from Thessaloniki could be “devastating for the city”, he said, as it provided 90% of its international capacity last year.

Greece, a top world summer destination in the Mediterranean, is largely dependent on tourism. Greek media had anticipated Ryanair would shut its base in Thessaloniki, raising concerns from municipal authorities about the impact on tourism jobs.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Kalliroi Pappa; Additional reporting by Iro Pappa and Alerksandar Vasovic in Belgrade; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Susan Fenton, Elaine Hardcastle and Tom Hogue)

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By Manuela Andreoni

SAO PAULO, May 9 (Reuters) – When Xing Yanling posted on WeChat about her visit to the Brazilian Amazon in April, she described to her friends in China the unforgettable sensation of being “enveloped by tens of thousands of shades of green.” 

Xing is no ordinary tourist. She leads the Tianjin Meat Industry Association, representing importers responsible for around 40% of China’s beef purchases from Brazil.

Under her leadership, Tianjin’s members have committed to buying 50,000 metric tons of deforestation‑free certified Brazilian beef by the end of the year, in what may be an early sign that China, one of the most powerful forces in global commodity trade, is willing to pay more for greener supply chains. The figure amounts to 4.5% of what Brazilian beef exporters are expected to sell to China this year.

The pledge challenges a long-held assumption among Brazilian farmers: that China, the world’s largest importer of beef and soy, cares only about price. 

It comes as China’s government is sending signals that it wants to act on the environmental impact of trade while protecting its domestic industry.

In 2019, it changed its forest law to ban the trade of illegal timber. In 2023, it signed a joint commitment with Brazil to end illegal deforestation driven by trade. Starting last year, China’s state‑owned trader COFCO has committed to eliminating deforestation from its supply chain. BEEF TIED TO DEFORESTATION

The beef supply chain is ripe for concrete action because it is not as essential to the Chinese diet as other commodities, such as soy, said Andre Vasconcelos, the head of global engagement for Trase, a platform that tracks the environmental impact of several supply chains. 

“At the same time, there is awareness, supported by available information, that beef, especially Brazilian beef, is the commodity most associated with deforestation among all agricultural commodities imported by China,” he said. 

The Amazon rainforest, the largest and most biodiverse in the world, loses hundreds of thousands of acres of trees every year, and 90% of that land is turned into pasture for cattle immediately after it is cleared, according to MapBiomas, a Brazilian nonprofit that monitors land use.

Some Chinese consumers are aware of that and are growing more discerning as they become wealthier, Xing said.  

“It’s not just ‘cheap is good,’” she said. “This means deforestation‑free, green, safe and traceable beef will have a stronger market in the future.” 

Choosing food products according to environmental credentials rather than price is impractical for most Chinese consumers, facing higher grocery prices like much of the world.

But the traceability the project offers consumers also appeases food safety concerns.

The beef will be marketed with a Beef on Track label designed by Brazilian nonprofit Imaflora, which includes four levels of compliance based on how far down the supply chain the beef is traced and whether ranchers can prove their farms were legally cleared. 

Tianjin importers are willing to pay 10% more for beef from meatpackers that prove the farms that supply them are free of any links to both legal and illegal deforestation, as well as slave labor. 

If the shift gathers momentum, the impact could be significant.  

China buys over 10% of Brazil’s beef, according to government data and beef export association ABIEC, whose members include JBS (Z98.F) and MBRF (MBRF3.SA). 

But any impact could be undermined by Brazil’s fragile traceability system, which is based on cattle transportation documents that prosecutors say can be easily defrauded by bad actors who hide wrongdoing in their supply chain, a practice commonly known as “cattle laundering.”

Improvements to that system could take years. 

OPPORTUNITY OR OBSTACLE?

When Xing and her delegation arrived at the Carioca farm in Castanhal, in the north of the Amazon rainforest, rancher Altair Burlamaqui was not expecting more than a fruitful conversation. 

He showed them his cattle and part of the vast rainforest reserve on his land. By the end of lunch, the delegation was so excited that they asked him if he had a dream of having his beef sold in China as a product that helps protect the Amazon rainforest. The thought was both thrilling and overwhelming.

“What I gathered from the conversation with them is that they want a product with more added value for a section of their population who is willing to pay for it,” he said. “But that section of their population may be bigger than the entire Brazilian population.” 

In the wider industry, Tianjin’s sustainability project has received a more muted reception.  

ABIEC, the beef export group, is displeased with Xing’s effort, two people who spoke to its leadership recently told Reuters.  

Their concern, one of the people said, is that a demand for sustainable beef may add an obstacle to an already constrained market. 

This year, China imposed quotas for beef imports to protect its domestic industry, and Brazil is expected to hit its limit of 1.1 million tons by the end of next month, when Tianjin plans to import its first container of beef certified as sustainable. 

In a statement, ABIEC said it “supports initiatives focused on certification but considers that any new labels should align with already established systems, avoiding overlaps and requirements that lack public infrastructure for implementation, which could create potential barriers to production.” 

It did not answer questions sent by Reuters. 

The quota may slow Tianjin’s plans because any beef imports after it is reached pay a 55% Chinese tax.  

Beijing introduced its quotas in a year when global beef production is set to decline as ranchers rebuild herds in the United States and Brazil, inflating prices in many countries, including China.

VALUE ADDED

Chinese consumers are used to buying traceable products. During their visit, Xing’s team showed Brazilian officials and businesspeople how they add QR codes to eggs so consumers can trace them to their originating farm.

Traceability makes it easier for regulators to track the origin of disease outbreaks, and for companies to drop suppliers involved in environmental crimes. 

People are willing to pay twice as much for those eggs, Xing said. 

The Beef on Track certification will be ready for meatpackers, supermarkets and importers to adopt by the end of the year.

Its lowest-level standard is comparable to one used by Brazil’s federal prosecutors’ office to monitor whether farms directly supplying the beef industry comply with environmental and labor laws. 

That program approved suppliers that produce 2.7 million tons of beef a year, only a fifth of what Brazil produces, but almost twice China’s imports last year. The beef Tianjin imports this year will be part of this output. 

No Brazilian meatpackers have announced plans to adopt the certification, though. 

Imaflora argues the certification it designed will create opportunity rather than become an obstacle to producers, as they say has happened with timber and coffee. 

“The industry is still trying to understand how this certification can recognize and value Brazilian products, in a scenario of geopolitical tension,” said Marina Guyot, an Imaflora policy manager.  

But she added, the certification is supposed to recognize what companies are already doing to fulfill their own sustainability and traceability pledges. 

“It’s a certification that creates the possibility of valuing this effort,” she said. 

(Reporting and writing by Manuela Andreoni. Editing by Emily Schmall and Rod Nickel)

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HONG KONG (AP) — China’s exports rose 14.1% in April from a year earlier, the government said Saturday, despite the Iran war and lingering impacts from higher U.S. tariffs.

The data were released just days ahead of a planned meeting next week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

That beat analysts’ estimates and was a significant improvement from March’s 2.5% year-on-year expansion. Exports to the U.S. rose 11.3% from the year before, up from a 26.5% drop in March.

Imports climbed 25.3%, slower than the 27.8% growth in March but still robust.

The Trump-Xi summit comes at a time when relations are beset by multiple issues, with efforts to end the war in Iran eclipsing the usual sources of friction.

“We’re expecting that overall external demand will remain a solid driver of growth this year,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at Dutch bank ING, likely led by China’s exports of semiconductors and autos.

In March, Chinese leaders set an annual economic growth target of 4.5% to 5%, slightly lower than last year’s 5% expansion and the lowest target since 1991. Export growth is expected to continue to power its wider economy, especially as shipments increased from China to Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa over the past months.

China’s exports to the U.S. have fallen for most of the months since Trump imposed steeper tariffs and harsher controls on sharing of technology after he took office last year. But trade with the U.S. is likely improving this year, said Song, particularly because of the base effects of sharp declines caused by Trump’s tariff hikes in 2025.

Apart from efforts to broker a peace agreement to end the Iran war, trade and export controls, including rare earths and U.S. tech restrictions on China, will likely be on the agenda during the Trump-Xi summit, following a yearlong U.S.-China trade truce reached late last year when the two leaders last met in South Korea.

Major breakthroughs on export controls are unlikely, but the leaders’ upcoming meeting may bring “incremental” steps to troubleshoot trade friction, HSBC economists said in a recent research note.

“On balance, China looks to have more leverage,” wrote Leah Fahy, senior China economist of Capital Economics, in a note. “But higher tariffs haven’t stopped China’s exports from continuing to surge over the past year, and Beijing has showed that it is prepared to wait out U.S. pressure.”

For China, oil and fuel price hikes caused by the war in Iran are also feeding higher manufacturing and logistics costs across its many factories, said Wei Li, head of multi-asset investments at BNP Paribas Securities (China), while higher global inflation could dampen consumer purchasing power in China’s overseas markets.

Still, China’s overall economy has remained resilient compared with other countries, owing to its large oil reserves and more diversified energy sources.

ING’s Song said China’s trade surplus, which reached an all-time high of almost $1.2 trillion last year, could narrow for the whole of this year. Imports so far have been stronger in 2026, though China is still recovering from a prolonged property slump that has dragged on consumption and investment.

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May 8 (Reuters) – Safepoint on Friday filed its paperwork for a U.S. initial public offering, disclosing a 96.9% revenue jump last year as a strong run of new listings from Florida-based insurers extends into 2026.

The company reported a net income of $165.6 million on revenue of $516.3 million for the year ended December 31, compared with a net income of $24.3 million on revenue of $262.2 million in 2024.

A series of legislative reforms introduced in 2022 have significantly improved the property insurance landscape in Florida, a market where some large national insurers have trimmed their exposure due to frequent natural disasters.

The reforms have resulted in a significant drop in litigation claim frequency, drawing new entrants to the market.

Florida-based American Integrity Insurance, Slide Insurance and Exzeo Group went public in New York in 2025, in what was a breakout year for insurance IPOs.  

A slew of issuers are now racing to seize a narrow window ahead of SpaceX’s expected blockbuster listing in June, which could suck the oxygen out of the IPO market.

“It looks like we’ll get a strong start to the summer IPO market after Memorial Day, assuming things hold up until then,” said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused ​research and ETFs.

“We’re seeing several companies get out ahead of the SpaceX IPO, particularly in space tech. It could cause a mini slowdown around the week of the SpaceX listing, if companies don’t want to compete for investor attention.”

Founded in 2013, Tampa, Florida-based Safepoint is a property and casualty insurer focused on delivering insurance in coastal markets such as Florida and Louisiana, as well as other U.S. regions. 

The founder-led company is majority owned by its management and focuses on underwriting specialty homeowners and commercial insurance.

Safepoint and some of its existing stockholders plan to sell shares in the offering.

Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley are the joint bookrunning managers. Safepoint will list on the NYSE under the symbol “SFPT.”

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Jonathan Ananda)

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