Key Points
- EU-China trade deficit: Brussels is developing new trade policy instruments specifically aimed at reducing the gap with Beijing.
- Thailand as investment hub: Foreign capital inflows grew by 73% in the first half of 2026, with the United States, China and Singapore leading the investor rankings.
- India as a profitable market: 76% of Japanese companies operating in India report significant profit growth in the country.
Europe redraws its relationship with Beijing: no longer just dialogue, but trade balance
Something is shifting in the corridors of Brussels, and the signal is unequivocal. The European Union is rewriting the coordinates of its trade policy towards China, moving the centre of gravity of diplomatic engagement towards an objective that until recently was considered secondary: reducing the trade deficit. A gap that in recent years has reached structural proportions, becoming one of the main sources of economic tension between the two blocs. The shift is not sudden, but is the result of a growing awareness — matured both in European chancelleries and in EU institutional bodies — that the model of interdependence with Beijing as it was conceived is no longer sustainable in its current terms.
The strategy taking shape aims at developing concrete instruments — tariff-based, regulatory and reciprocity-driven — capable of rebalancing trade flows without necessarily burning bridges with the bloc's second-largest trading partner. This is a complex navigation, requiring Europe to be both firm in its principles and pragmatic in its tools. 2026 is confirming itself as the year in which this transition ceases to be theoretical and begins to translate into operational measures.
Thailand: the new magnet for global investment
Thousands of kilometres from Brussels, another protagonist of the new global economic order is consolidating its position. Thailand recorded in the first half of 2026 an increase in foreign direct investment of 73% compared to the same period of the previous year — a figure that transforms Bangkok from a simple manufacturing destination into a genuine strategic hub for international capital. Leading this race are three very different actors: the United States, China and Singapore, each with their own motivations but converging in identifying the Southeast Asian country as fertile ground for expansion and productive diversification.
The phenomenon is no coincidence. Thailand benefits from a combination of factors that is rarely replicable: relative regulatory stability, rapidly improving logistics infrastructure, competitive costs and a geographical position that places it at the centre of ASEAN trade corridors. In a global context where companies are frantically seeking alternatives to dependence on a single production hub — a lesson learned painfully during the supply chain crises of previous years — Bangkok today represents one of the most credible answers on investors' tables.
Morocco bets on video games to redefine its role on the continent
On the African front, a piece of news that might appear niche actually conceals geopolitical and economic implications of the first order. Morocco has launched an ambitious strategy to position itself as a regional hub for the video game industry, with the stated objective of becoming the connection point between European, African and Arab world markets. The initiative is not purely cultural: gaming is today one of the creative industries with the highest value-added intensity, with a global market that comfortably exceeds two hundred billion dollars and structurally high growth rates in emerging economies.
Rabat is banking on a precise lever: its unique geographical and linguistic position, which naturally makes it an interface between three major cultural and commercial macro-areas. Investing in gaming means for Morocco attracting talent, capital and technological know-how, building an ecosystem that in the medium term could generate value well beyond the perimeter of digital entertainment, cross-pollinating sectors such as training, industrial simulation and augmented reality.
India and Japan: an axis growing ever stronger in the numbers
The fourth signal of this week comes from East Asia, where the relationship between Japan and India continues to strengthen on concrete and measurable foundations. According to the most recent surveys, 76% of Japanese companies operating on Indian soil report robust profit growth, a figure that exceeds the initial expectations of many analysts and further accelerates the process of reallocation of Japanese investment towards New Delhi and its satellite metropolitan areas.
India offers Japanese companies what China guaranteed a decade ago: an expanding domestic market, a young and increasingly skilled workforce, and a national government oriented towards attracting foreign capital through tax incentives and regulatory simplifications. The outcome of this dynamic is already visible in the allocation choices of the major Tokyo conglomerates: over the next three years, projections point to a further double-digit increase in Japanese investment in the subcontinent, with particular concentration in advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and digital infrastructure.