While visiting Shanghai, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has argued that the European market must be open to Chinese cars. However, he said that competition must be fair.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a video call with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun as the two countries seek to restore dialogue amid rising regional tensions.

Solomon Islanders began voting on Wednesday in a crucial election that will decide China's foothold in the Pacific region. Polling booths opened at 7 a.m. local time on Wednesday (2000 GMT on Tuesday), with almost 420,000 registered voters to elect 50 members of the national parliament. There are more than 1,000 polling stations scattered across the Solomons archipelago, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off Australia's coast.

European heads of state and government came together in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss ways to heighten the European Union's (EU) economic competitiveness. At the special summit, they were issued a stark warning that the EU's economic performance was falling behind that of other key global players, most notably the United States and China.

The vote was seen as a referendum on President Mohamad Muizzu's pledge to abandon the country's "India First" policy for closer ties with China. Electoral authorities reported a turnout higher than 73%.

Taiwan's claim to be a regional bastion of human rights is undermined by its retention of capital punishment, activists say as they campaign to exonerate the island's oldest death row prisoner.