A key measure of inflation in China, they hit a 16-year low, driven by anemic consumer spending and an oversupply of hogs.

On the stone steps leading up Mount ​Tai, one of China’s best-known peaks, hikers can book and pay for “climbing buddies” to walk with them, carry ‌bags and take photos for a few hundred yuan.

While Western nations might view a 2 percent or 4 percent growth rate as a spectacular success, China faces a shock even with a slight dip in its much higher figures.

China's economy stumbled in April with consumption, industrial output and investment growth missing expectations.

In China’s worst mining accident since 2009, a gas explosion ripped through a coalmine in Shanxi province on May 22nd. Television showed scenes of injured coalminers in hospitals, and rescue efforts hampered by maps that omitted hidden tunnels.

By Maria Martinez BERLIN, May 27 (Reuters) - Germany's economy minister said in Beijing on Wednesday that a modern economic relationship requires both cooperation and competition, as Europe's biggest economy tries to manage tensions with its largest trading partner.

The central issue in China-EU economic relations is no longer only trade imbalance, but the growing political anxiety in Europe over the speed of China’s industrial upgrading.

The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies plan to meet soon in Beijing. The last American president to visit China was Mr Trump, in 2017. He and President Xi Jinping have much to discuss. America has imposed tariffs on China and provoked an energy crisis by attacking Iran.

While Russia is now a major money spinner, North Korea still depends on China for up to 95% of its legitimate trade.