Business

US coffee chain Starbucks has announced it is forming a joint venture with asset management firm Boyu Capital in China, where the latter will hold a 60 percent stake in the company's local business. China is Starbucks' second-largest market globally and it has recently been struggling with increased competition from local rivals like Luckin Coffee. Also in this edition, we look at OpenAI's blockbuster $38 billion deal with Amazon's cloud services unit.

Chinese e-commerce giant Shein has come under renewed pressure in France, just days before it opens its first permanent physical retail space in Paris. France's consumer watchdog said it had discovered child-like sex dolls on the e-commerce platform, prompting the government to warn it could block Shein's market access. In response, the Chinese-owned company suspended its "adult products" category. Also in the segment, Huawei's massive factory being built in Alsace faces an uncertain future. 

The French finance ministry says it will ban Chinese e-commerce giant Shein if child-like sex dolls reappear for sale on the site. Shein pulled the dolls after France's consumer watchdog said it discovered them last week. Under French law, distributing child sexual abuse material online is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a hefty fine. We bring you that story and more in this Monday's business news.

A rare meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea has brought a 10 percent reduction in US tariffs and a one-year postponement of China's rare-earth export controls, a limited de-escalation of the two countries' trade war. Also in this edition: America's central bank cuts interest rates for the second time this year, amid a lack of economic data due to the ongoing US government shutdown.

The US Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates for the second time this year, despite having only partial data to assess the state of the economy because of the ongoing government shutdown. The quarter percentage point cut brings the Federal Funds Rate to a range of 3.75 percent to 4 percent. The central bank also announced it would stop reducing the size of its balance sheet in December.  Also in this segment: Boeing posts a $5.4 billion third-quarter loss, weighed down by delays in its 777X rollout. 

A new survey shows a sharp slide in public concern for climate change, with war and conflict now dominating public worries. FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer speaks with Subhra Bhattacharjee, Director General of the Forest Stewardship Council, who tells her that despite fewer people citing climate change as their top concern, consumers are still preferring to shop green. "We have to translate the impacts of climate change into what it means for day-to-day action," she says.

Several trade deals and frameworks between the US and Southeast Asian countries unveiled at the recent ASEAN summit heavily favour Washington. Some analysts are concerned that the lopsided deals will push ASEAN countries towards Beijing, this as China beefs up its own trade ties with the region. Also in this edition: France's National Assembly passes an extension on corporate tax surcharges, and the US government shutdown threatens funding for critical social services.

Even if Argentinian President Javier Milei's La Libertad Avanza party is still short of a majority in parliament after Sunday's midterm elections, the self-described "anarcho-capitalist" now has more room to push ahead with radical economic reforms. Since coming to power in 2023, Milei has cut budgets for education, pensions and infrastructure and laid off tens of thousands of public sector workers. The president is also credited with lowering inflation, winning praise from US counterpart Donald Trump. We take a closer look.

US President Donald Trump has issued a pardon for Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao spent four months in prison last year after pleading guilty to charges of failing to implement adequate measures to prevent money laundering while operating the platform.

We also take a closer look at the latest US and EU sanctions against Russia.

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it was placing Russia’s two largest oil producers — Lukoil and Rosneft — on the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list. The move is aimed at targeting Russia’s war finances, as the two companies account for nearly half of the country’s crude exports. In this edition, we’ll explore how this decision could affect global buyers of Russian oil, particularly in India.