China's banking regulator has asked commercial banks to halt new sales of a wide range of wealth management products that might lead to unlimited losses for investors, a week after heavy losses were recorded in a crude oil futures trading product sold by the country's fourth-largest lender. Investors worry a broad tightening on such products could hurt bank profits.

The gains were driven by banking shares after China's big four lenders reported higher profits for the first quarter despite the impact of the pandemic.

Investor sentiment around the world was brightened by Gilead Sciences Inc.'s announcement that preliminary results of a coronavirus drug trial showed at least 50% of patients treated with a five-day dosage of remdesivir improved and more than half were discharged from the hospital within two weeks. Later Wednesday, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said NIAID's remdesivir drug trial, which enrolled about 800 patients, showed quite good news and that the drug would set a new standard of care for Covid-19 patients. Globally, the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 3.1 million and taken at least 226,771 lives, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.

Asian stock markets fell sharply on Monday, 04 May 2020, as risk sentiment turned sour on reigniting tensions between the world's top two economies after U.S. officials tried to pin blame for the coronavirus pandemic on China.

The gains in Mainland China share market were driven by reports that top US and Chinese trade representatives discussed their Phase 1 trade deal earlier in the day, with China saying it would work with Washington to improve the atmosphere for implementing the Phase 1 trade deal signed this year. The officials also agreed to "strengthen cooperation on macro economy and public health."

At the world's biggest ship-recycling yard at Alang, India, life is becoming harder as fewer ships arrive. Here's why. Photo: Karan Deep Singh/The Wall Street Journal

China continues to hide and obfuscate COVID-19 data from the world, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, asserting that he has seen a significant amount of evidence suggesting that a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan was underperforming and the virus could well have emanated from there. "I have seen a significant amount of evidence that suggests that the lab was underperforming, that there were security risks at the lab and that the virus could well have emanated from there," Pompeo told Ben Shapiro in an interview. "But I am happy to suspend the decision about that. What we need are answers. There are still people dying," he said. By Friday, more than 78,000 Americans had died and 13 lakh tested positive for the coronavirus. Globally, more than 273,000 people have died and 39 lakh tested positive for the disease. The American economy and those of the rest of the world have come to a standstill. "We have got an economy now that is really struggling and it is all a ..

China has reported 15 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases, taking their total to 836 while one new imported COVID-19 infection was confirmed, health officials said on Saturday. According to China's National Health Commission (NHC), as for Friday 836 asymptomatic cases, including 63 from overseas, were still under medical observation. The NHC said one imported case of coronavirus was reported on Friday and 15 new asymptomatic cases, all domestic ones, were confirmed in the country. Most of the asymptomatic cases were being reported from first coronavirus epicentres Hubei province and its capital Wuhan where no confirmed cases were reported for the 35 days, the local health commission said. Normalcy is returning to the province as the lockdown has been lifted and offices, business and factories have been opened since last month. The province still has 628 asymptomatic cases under medical observation, after 13 new cases were reported on Friday, the commission said. Death toll in China ...

Mounting a strong defence of the ruling Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping has said the COVID-19 fight has once again shown that the CPC leadership and the country's socialist political system can overcome any challenge. Xi's comments came as China faced global criticism for its initial inaction to act against the novel coronavirus, which according to Chinese officials emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year. Pressure is also mounting on Beijing to agree for an international probe on the origins of the vicious virus, including from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), as claimed by the US leadership. China curbed the spread of the coronavirus in over a month and brought COVID-19 under control at its first epicentre in Wuhan in about three months, Xi, also the General Secretary of the CPC, said at a symposium held on Friday to get suggestions from non-ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) parties on COVID-19 prevention and control. He termed the

By James Herron Here’s your morning jolt of news, insight and analysis on the global energy business. Send us tips, suggestions and complaints: ben.winkley@wsj.com and james.herron@wsj.com Click here to receive this morning email newsletter SOLAR WARS The usually tranquil world of European renewable energy just got exciting, as a plucky band of rebels led by […]

At the world's biggest ship-recycling yard at Alang, India, life is becoming harder as fewer ships arrive. Here's why. Photo: Karan Deep Singh/The Wall Street Journal

An early warning by China on impending floods in the Sutlej river helped avert major loss to human lives in June. Yet, India's disaster preparedness plans have been found wanting. India still does not have reliable information from China about glacial lakes that are prone to flooding the Himalayan rivers, writes Sudhirendar Sharma.

The Massachusetts governor struck a deal for N95 masks from China, but he needed a way to transport them. The New England Patriots plane ended up making the delivery. Photo: New England Patriots

Forget artificial intelligence for board games. Alibaba used artificial intelligence to predict the winner of a popular Chinese reality TV singing competition – and got the winner and finalists all correct.

New developments in India's nuclear posture vis-a-vis China inevitably impact the Pakistani nuclear program as well. We must recognise this implicit risk in our attempts at military parity with China, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

India needs a China policy that cannot stampede it into a premature confrontation with that putative superpower. The military too needs to be brought on board, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The Indian army’s evolving China strategy, leading to its preparedness for an offensive on that front, seems to have undergone a bit of dilution, as evident in North Block posturing. Is it merely a run-up to Modi’s China visit or is there more to it? Firdaus Ahmed explores.

While single-minded pursuit of exports has helped China touch record growth figures, millions have been left behind, besides incurring huge environmental costs. And without even the limited dose of welfare that China offers its poor farmers, India must wary of copying China's SEZ-approach, writes Bhaskar Goswami.

Pallavi Aiyar's five years in China have produced a good read for those who are intrigued by the enigma of China. Why, for instance, does its authoritarian government enjoy so much legitimacy? Kannan Kasturi reviews Smoke and Mirrors.

चीन (China) के यांग्त्जी नदी (Yangtze River) में अजीब दिखने वाला काले रंग का क्रिएचर दिखाई दे रहा है, जिसका वीडियों सोशल मीडिया पर हो रहा है वायरल.

भारतीय शटलर पीवी सिंधु (PV Sindhu) पहले ही चाइना ओपन (China Open) से बाहर हो चुकी हैं

Tesla Inc. suspended production at its plant on the outskirts of Shanghai, according to people familiar with the matter, bringing to a halt all of the company’s vehicle manufacturing globally.

Australia has called for an inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus. Germany and Britain are hesitating anew about inviting in Chinese tech giant Huawei. President Trump has blamed China for the contagion and is seeking to punish it. Some govts want to sue Beijing. Across the globe, a backlash is building against China for its initial mishandling of the crisis.

Chinese authorities are clamping down as grieving relatives, along with activists, press the ruling Communist Party for an accounting of what went wrong in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus killed thousands before spreading to the rest of China and the world. Lawyers have been warned not to file suit against the government.

China reported one new case of coronavirus on Tuesday and no deaths, marking three weeks since it recorded a Covid-19 fatality. The National Health Commission said 395 people remained under treatment in the hospital, while 949 were under isolation and observation for suspected cases or after testing positive despite showing no symptoms.

As China limps back to normalcy after COVID-19 outbreak, job prospects in the country seem to be truly bleak especially for the nine million students or so who are due to graduate in June.

China's Hong Kong affairs office on Wednesday condemned Hong Kong protesters as a "political virus" who seek independence, warning that the city will never be calm unless what it said were violent black-clad protesters were all removed.

Senior school students in 121 institutions were back in front of chalk boards and digital displays for the first time since their city -- the ground zero of the coronavirus pandemic -- shut down in January.

China on Wednesday dared US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to show "enormous evidence" he claimed to have to prove Covid-19 originated from a lab in Wuhan. "Pompeo cannot present any evidence because he does not have any," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. "This matter should be handled by scientists..instead of politicians," Hua said.

Taiwan will fail in its bid to take part in a key meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) as its efforts are not based on concern for the health of Taiwan's people but are "political manipulation", China said on Friday.

The coronavirus outbreak exposed "shortcomings" in China's public healthcare system, a top health official admitted Saturday, saying that reforms are underway to improve the country's disease prevention and control mechanisms.

Five prominent labour activists have returned to their homes more than a year after they were arrested in coordinated raids in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, according to people close to them and a Hong Kong-based rights group.

Lego Group has denied any involvement in the making of the video attacking the US which features a Statue of Liberty and doctor made of Lego.

The video talks about the developed counties struggling to flatten the curve, bizarre statements by world leaders, lack of basics like facemasks and shifting the blame on the minorities for the spread of the virus.

The United States is so far the only country to have been able to send humans to the Moon.

A committee headed by the state’s chief secretary that also includes representatives from South Korea and Japan will submit a report within one month.

Asked about the reluctance of lenders to extend advances to small and medium enterprises, Panda said banks are "afraid" of increasing their lending to businesses despite several policy rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India.

Madhav said Asian democracies like Singapore and South Korea along with India have set a "new example that you don't need to be authoritarian to handle such a big crisis".

In commodity markets, US crude futures sank in early trade on worries about oil oversupply, even as some US states start to ease coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday there was "a significant amount of evidence" that the virus emerged from a Chinese laboratory.

After a highly volatile session, the 30-share BSE index settled at 31,715.35, plunging 2,002.27 points, or 5.94 per cent.