Category: Flash News

On April 23, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Colombia answered questions about Colombia’s visa situation with China. Q: Recently, Colombian Foreign Minister Saravia announced that Colombia will initiate a process to exempt Chinese and other citizens from visa requirements. May I ask if Chinese citizens holding ordinary passports and official ordinary passports are currently eligible for visa free entry into Colombia? A: The difficulty for Chinese citizens to obtain visas to Colombia is a long-standing problem that has long hindered the exchanges between the two peoples. With the continuous promotion work of our library, the attitude of the senior management of Colombia has recently undergone an important positive change, which is an important step towards solving this problem. Although the government has announced the launch of relevant procedures, the specific implementation plan has not yet been clarified. Our museum will continue to follow up and strive to do this good thing as soon as possible. At present, Chinese citizens holding ordinary passports and official ordinary passports cannot obtain visas when traveling to Colombia. They still need to obtain a Colombia visa or hold other documents designated by the Colombia side. Our embassy kindly reminds Chinese citizens who plan to come to Colombia to carefully understand the country’s entry policies, especially to pay attention to our embassy’s subsequent news releases. Do not believe in false hype on social media and blindly follow the trend to come to Colombia before obtaining a visa.

On April 23rd, Cantor, a financial services company, partnered with SoftBank and Tether to raise nearly $3 billion in funding for a cryptocurrency enterprise. Tether will provide Bitcoin worth $1.5 billion, while SoftBank and Bitcoin trading platform Bitfinex will contribute $900 million and $600 million respectively.

On April 23rd, according to data from the Public Fund Ranking Network, as of April 22nd, public funds (including various types of shares) have cumulatively distributed 78.475 billion yuan in dividends during the year, with 2121 dividends distributed, an increase of 47.25% and 28.6% respectively compared to the same period last year. From a structural perspective, bond funds have firmly secured their position as the main dividend providers. As of April 22, bond funds have accumulated dividends of 59.884 billion yuan this year, an increase of 30.9% from 46.216 billion yuan in the same period last year, accounting for 76.3% of the total market dividends; A total of 1681 dividends were distributed, accounting for nearly 80%.

On April 23rd, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Georgieva, stated that the IMF must play a more active role in the debt restructuring process and that low – and middle-income countries are facing increasingly severe challenges. She also stated that the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, which involves creditor and borrower countries, the IMF, and the World Bank, has adopted a new operational guideline aimed at helping countries cope with complex debt restructuring processes. The document is expected to be released on the 23rd.

① Pending G20 Finance and Central Bank Ministerial Meeting ② 15:15 France’s April Manufacturing PMI Initial Value ③ 15:30 Germany’s April Manufacturing PMI Initial Value ④ 16:00 Eurozone’s April Manufacturing PMI Initial Value ⑤ 16:30 UK’s April Manufacturing PMI Initial Value ⑥ 16:30 UK’s April Service PMI Initial Value ⑦ 17:00 Eurozone’s February Quarterly Adjusted Trade Account ⑧ 21:30 Federal Reserve’s Musalem and Waller’s Speech ⑨ 21:45 US April S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Initial Value ⑩ 21:45 US April S&P Global Service PMI Initial Value ⑪ 22:00 US March New Home Sales Annual Total ⑫ 22:30 US EIA Crude Oil Inventory for the Week of April 18 ⑫ At 02:00 the next day, the Federal Reserve released the Brown Book of Economic Conditions

On April 23rd, according to data from Tianxiang Investment Consulting, the overall equity position of public funds in the first quarter of this year has slightly increased compared to the end of 2024, with an average position of 88.64% for equity funds and 79.56% for hybrid funds. It is worth mentioning that Tencent Holdings became the number one heavy position stock of the fund for the first time, Ningde Times retreated to the second place, and Kweichow Moutai returned to the top three. Looking ahead to the future, fund managers are more optimistic about expanding domestic demand and AI applications.

On April 23rd, the Hong Kong stock market opened low and rose on April 22nd, with major indices closing collectively higher, and the healthcare sector performing well; The net inflow of southbound funds exceeded HKD 20 billion on the same day. Since March 20th, the overall volatility of the Hong Kong stock market has been significant, and southbound funds have not stopped rushing to raise funds. Since April, southbound funds have accumulated a net inflow of HKD 187.169 billion, and the net inflow amount has exceeded HKD 600 billion since the beginning of this year.

On April 23, Yemeni Houthi spokesman Yehya Sareya stated that Houthi militants shot down a US MQ-9 drone through a surface to air missile. This is the seventh drone of the same model shot down by the Houthi armed forces since April, and also the 22nd drone of the same model shot down since this conflict. In addition, the Houthis also claimed to have attacked two US aircraft carriers again through missiles and drones. On the evening of that day, the US military launched airstrikes on Kamran Island in Hodeidah Province and multiple locations in Saada Province, Yemen.

On April 23rd, the US Social Security Administration proposed a second round of “buyout” plans, which are aimed at non critical position employees at the agency’s headquarters. It is reported that the US Social Security Administration is one of the latest federal agencies to propose a second round of “buyout” plans, with plans to lay off about 7000 employees, accounting for 12%. Employees must choose whether to accept the second round of “buyout” plan before April 25th, and those who accept the plan must resign before May 5th. The agency stated that approximately 365 employees of the Social Security Bureau have signed up for the first “buyout” program. In addition, the US Department of Agriculture, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Defense, Department of Energy and Transportation, and General Services Administration have also launched a second round of “buyout” plans.

On April 23rd, the White House Press Secretary stated that Harvard University is facing the risk of losing federal funding, and the US government will respond to Harvard University’s lawsuit in court. Harvard University announced on the 21st that it has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that freezing billions of dollars in federal funds illegally undermined the academic independence of the school and violated its constitutional rights. The President of Harvard University stated in a statement that freezing funds is illegal and beyond the government’s authority. It is reported that the US government agencies mentioned by Harvard University in the lawsuit include the Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, Department of Energy, and General Services Administration. Previously, the Trump administration announced on April 14th the freezing of approximately $2.3 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts provided to Harvard University. It is reported that Harvard University had stated on the same day that it would not comply with a series of demands put forward by the Trump administration to combat anti Semitism. In addition, the Trump administration stated on the 18th that it has requested Harvard University to provide records of foreign funding and some foreign relations over the past decade.