EU ​trade chief Maros Sefcovic, who held talks with China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao ⁠in Brussels on Monday, said ⁠he wanted dialogue to yield “tangible” results by October and another meeting planned in China as the bloc aims to work on a widening gap with the world’s second-largest economy.

Talks were “intensive, ⁠focused and constructive,” Sefcovic told reporters on Monday, adding both national delegations will keep talking during the evening.

“We think that between now and October, our teams have sufficient time to deliver tangible results,” he said. Wang invited him to travel to Beijing in October.

Sefcovic insisted the European Union wants the ⁠talks ⁠to address the widening trade gap.

“Not everything will be fixed, but we think that between now and October, our teams have sufficient time to deliver the tangible results,” he said.

“China’s exports to the EU keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking. This trend is not sustainable and the status quo is not an option,” he noted.

He also said both sides set up groups ⁠to discuss trade balance, export controls, intellectual property and World Trade Organization (WTO) reform.

The assurances given by China that rare ​earth controls will not disrupt EU supply chains is ​positive, he said.

Sefcovic said Wang reassured him that “existing export controls on rare earth and permanent magnets will not disrupt EU supply chains.”

European Union leaders have asked the Commission, which handles trade ⁠relationships ‌for ‌the bloc, to produce results from ⁠dialogue with China, as ‌its trade surplus with the EU hit 360.6 billion euros ($411.95 ​billion) in 2025, ⁠a 15% increase on 2024.

Wang’s visit comes less than two weeks after the leaders tasked the Commission with tackling the issue through talks with Beijing, while simultaneously preparing beefed-up defense measures to protect key sectors.

Brussels fears it will lose certain industries entirely if it does not act against a glut of inexpensive goods made in China, which it says are threatening manufacturers in Europe. It insists on the need for a level playing field, pointing out that Chinese firms have an unfair advantage because of massive state subsidies.

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Türkiye on Monday urged for closer economic cooperation among Islamic countries, saying stronger production partnerships, investment collaboration, logistics, connectivity and integration are needed to boost their share of global trade.

“We need to increase the share Islamic countries receive from the world economy and trade. This will happen not only through efforts we make individually, but also through what we do together,” Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said.

Yılmaz was speaking at an event held as part of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development meetings in Ankara.

The event, hosted by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), brought together chamber representatives from 20 Islamic countries.

Yılmaz said the global economy is facing challenges including geopolitical tensions, rising protectionism, supply chain changes, financing constraints, digitalization and the green transition.

He said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has 57 members, accounts for nearly one-fifth of the world’s population but only 10%-11% of global goods trade, highlighting significant untapped potential.

“This picture needs to change,” he said. “In this context, we need more production partnerships, more cooperation in investments, logistics, connectivity and integration.”

Trade with OIC countries reaches $118B

Yılmaz said Türkiye has played a leading role in advancing economic and commercial cooperation within the OIC.

Türkiye’s economy grew from $238 billion in 2002 to more than $1.6 trillion in 2025, he said. He added that the country’s exports of goods and services reached $396 billion last year and are expected to exceed $400 billion this year.

Türkiye’s trade volume with OIC member countries reached $118 billion last year, while OIC member states have invested $27.3 billion in Türkiye since 2003, he said. Türkiye’s direct investments in OIC countries totaled $15.2 billion over the same period.

Yılmaz said mutual investments should be increased to place trade relations on a stronger foundation.

He also pointed to the work of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the OIC (COMCEC), chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, saying it has supported economic and commercial cooperation among Islamic countries for more than 40 years.

Under COMCEC, 155 technical working group meetings have been held, 119 research reports have been prepared, and 209 projects have been supported, he said.

Yılmaz added that 38 projects have been implemented in Palestine under the COMCEC Al-Quds Program, while the COMCEC Syria Program will be implemented this year.

Intra-OIC trade target still not met

Yılmaz said Islamic countries have not yet reached their target of increasing intra-OIC trade to 25%.

“In fact, even this 25% is low. We need to target much more,” he noted.

He said the OIC Preferential Trade System is one of the most important tools for reaching that goal, while the long-term objective should be to establish a free trade area among Islamic countries.

Yılmaz also underlined the importance of strengthening the OIC Arbitration Center for the fair and independent resolution of trade and investment disputes.

He said the world is moving from a low-cost production model toward resilient economic structures, making ties with nearby and friendly countries more important.

“In this important transformation process, we must increase our cooperation and turn this environment to our advantage,” he said.

Yılmaz said Türkiye is also working to improve its investment climate and strengthen the Istanbul Financial Center (IFC), particularly through participation and Islamic finance instruments.

He welcomed a memorandum of understanding signed between TOBB and the Federation of Saudi Chambers, saying Türkiye and Saudi Arabia have positive economic and political relations.

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Türkiye ranked as Europe’s second-largest country in installed hydropower capacity last year, trailing only Norway, according to the latest industry data.

Türkiye’s hydroelectric power capacity reached approximately 32,294 megawatts (MW) in 2025, figures compiled from the International Hydropower Association’s (IHA) 2026 World Hydropower Outlook showed.

The report said Türkiye surpassed major European economies including France, Spain and Italy in installed hydropower capacity.

Globally, it ranked ninth, behind China, Brazil, the United States, Canada, India, Russia, Japan and Norway.

Renewables are a key part of Türkiye’s broader push to diversify energy supply, reduce its heavy import dependence and strengthen long-term energy security.

IHA’s report said global installed hydropower capacity reached 1,469 gigawatts (GW) in 2025, comprising 1,269 GW of conventional hydropower and 201 GW of pumped-storage facilities.

Around 28 GW of new hydropower capacity was commissioned during the year, while pumped-storage projects recorded their largest annual capacity increase on record at 11.6 GW. China accounted for more than 40% of worldwide hydropower capacity additions.

Global hydropower generation totaled 4,495 terawatt-hours (TWh) last year, nearly matching the combined electricity output from wind and solar power.

That underscored hydropower’s position as the world’s largest renewable source of electricity.

Stronger seasonal rainfall that boosted reservoir levels has helped Türkiye achieve record renewable electricity generation this year.

Hydroelectric generation reached 34.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in the first four months of this year, marking the highest hydropower output ever recorded for the period.

Türkiye’s total installed electricity capacity currently exceeds 125,000 MW, of which approximately 63% consists of renewable sources.

Calls for faster pumped-storage investment

Hydroelectric Power Plants Industrialists and Business Association Chair Elvan Tuğsuz Güven said Türkiye should accelerate investment in pumped-storage hydropower to support its energy transition.

Güven said rising electricity demand, energy security concerns and rapid growth in wind and solar capacity had brought hydropower investments back into focus.

The global hydropower development pipeline has reached 1,127 GW, including 621 GW of pumped-storage projects and 506 GW of conventional hydropower projects, with more than 390 GW already under construction.

Güven said modern power systems require not only electricity generation but also flexibility, balancing services, reserve capacity and grid stability, adding that hydropower plants are among the few technologies capable of providing all of these services simultaneously.

For Türkiye, he mentioned expanding solar and wind generation makes reservoir-based hydropower plants and pumped-storage facilities increasingly important.

The new wave of investment in the global hydroelectric sector is offering significant opportunities for Türkiye to support its energy transition,” he noted.

Güven added that long-duration pumped-storage projects should complement battery storage investments, arguing that early investment decisions would help reduce Türkiye’s dependence on imported energy while strengthening renewable-based electricity storage capacity.

“We believe that, in the investment model to be developed for Türkiye, making investment decisions as soon as possible regarding pumped-storage power plants, which, along with storage facilities, will support the system and provide long-term storage, is crucial for reducing energy dependence on foreign sources and for implementing storage capacity through renewable energy sources,” he said.

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The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) and the Federation of Saudi Chambers (FSC) signed Sunday a memorandum of understanding to expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

The agreement is aimed at establishing a joint action plan to share institutional expertise, launch sectoral platforms and create a Türkiye-Saudi Arabia Joint Chamber Forum.

The signing came on the sidelines of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development (ICCD) meetings in Ankara.

TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said Islamic countries need to merge their capital reserves with Türkiye’s manufacturing capabilities to create a dominant global economic force.

Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that Türkiye is the region’s top industrial producer with exports reaching $275 billion per year across 12,600 product categories.

He said 60% of Turkish exports go to the EU and the U.S., demonstrating the high quality and price competitiveness of the country’s goods, while over $290 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last 20 years reflects its strong investment climate.

Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that Türkiye is a growing center for innovation with over 740 global firms operating within its techno parks.

He called on business leaders to use the ICCD as a primary mechanism to further economic integration from North Africa to East Asia, and to lobby their governments to eliminate trade barriers, implement structural reforms and promote an environment that facilitates cross-border entrepreneurship.

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Andy Burnham, United Kingdom’s prime minister-in-waiting, vowed on Monday to deliver radical change to the nation’s politics, pledging to give away a chunk of his power by handing greater autonomy to local leaders in a “circuit-breaker” for the sclerotic British state.

In a speech at the People’s History ⁠Museum in Manchester, “one of my favorite places on earth,” Burnham offered some detail of his plans if, as expected, he becomes Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade next month.

The former mayor of Greater Manchester also said he would move part of the prime minister’s office from London’s 10 Downing St. to northwest England as part of “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.”

“Growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up,” Burnham said in the speech aimed at bringing voters, Labour Party colleagues and financial markets up to speed with his economic vision.

Burnham is the strong favorite to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation last week.

“If councils can’t fix potholes, what chance do they have of bringing forward major regeneration schemes to get growth going?” Burnham said. He set out a 10-year plan to get “good growth in every postcode,” in a country where wealth and power are concentrated in London and the south of England.

He said he would reverse almost two decades of low growth since the 2008 financial crisis through an approach dubbed “Manchesterism” – harnessing private and public money to invest in areas like transport, housing and infrastructure. He also pledged to create new industrial jobs and better educational opportunities, and to reform the U.K.’s inefficient and expensive privatized water and energy utilities.

During the speech in the city where he spent nine years as mayor, Burnham said a new government office in Manchester – dubbed “No. 10 North” – would oversee regional development and become “the nerve center of a rewired Britain,” tasked with equalizing living standards across the country.

Regional mayors would get more power over housing, welfare and education as part of his planned reforms.

Burnham said he would build more social ​housing, give local governments more control over water and other utilities and take on a cost-of-living crisis, ​all ⁠while sticking to the current government’s fiscal rules.

Burnham’s rousing speech was short on specifics about where the government would find more money, and he didn’t take questions from journalists.

In a pointed comment to Starmer, Burnham said he would end “the business as usual” approach to politics which he described as failing to lift the living standards of so many in the country.

He won praise for his role in revitalizing and regenerating Manchester, but he has not served in a U.K. government for almost two decades, and may struggle to replicate “Manchesterism” on a U.K.-wide scale.

‘Fundamental shift’ needed

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a left-leaning think tank, said Burnham is right to focus on “rebalancing Britain.”

“The U.K.’s concentration of power and opportunity in Westminster has held back growth, productivity and living standards for too long,” said IPPR Executive Director Harry Quilter-Pinner. “The real test now is delivery.”

Matthew Flinders, a politics professor at the University of Sheffield, said replicating Burnham’s Manchester approach on a national level would require “a fundamental shift” in the way politics is done in Britain.

“And at the heart of that would be moving from a very traditional, elitist, centralized model of politics toward something that is in many ways far more European, far more based on power-sharing in order to develop long-term policymaking capacity,” he said.

Burnham will be aware that Starmer also announced a 10-year mission – the equivalent of two full terms in government – to transform Britain soon after he was elected in a landslide in July 2024. Starmer is leaving after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.

Burnham won a special election for a seat in Parliament on June 18 and was sworn in as a lawmaker on June 22, the same day Starmer announced that he will resign as soon as a successor is chosen.

Burnham is so far the only contender in the Labour Party leadership contest. If no one challenges him, he will become prime minister by July 20.

While Burnham is considered more charismatic than the stolid Starmer, he will face many of the same political and economic challenges, including a sluggish economy, tattered public services and a cost-of-living squeeze. He will also be constrained by the platform the center-left Labour Party was elected on in 2024, with its pledges not to increase taxes on working people.

And like other NATO countries, the U.K. is under pressure to dramatically increase defense spending to counter a more aggressive Russia and less reliable United States.

The government’s long-awaited defense investment plan – which sparked the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey on June 11 – is expected to be published before a NATO summit in Türkiye on July 7 and 8. Starmer’s successor will be expected to stick to the commitments in the plan.

“Andy Burnham’s big idea is to shuffle power between politicians,” said opposition Conservative Party Chair Kevin Hollinrake. “Not fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defense our country desperately needs.”

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Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) announced Monday that the ban on short selling in the equity market has been lifted after temporary market restrictions introduced due to the Iran war expired.

The bourse said the measures imposed by the Capital Markets Board (SPK) in early March expired on Friday.

In a statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), BIST said it had reinstated the 5:1 order-to-trade ratio (OTR) in the equity market. The change took effect on Monday.

The Capital Markets Board had imposed a ban on short selling in Borsa Istanbul’s equity market on March 1 after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran, triggering sharp declines in global equity markets.

The restriction had been extended several times until June 26.

In a note published on Monday, brokerage Iş Investment said lifting the ban was a positive development demonstrating that Turkish authorities were acting in line with recommendations from MSCI, the world’s leading financial index provider.

Last week, index provider MSCI flagged recurring concerns about possible coordinated trading and distorted free-float calculations in Türkiye’s equity market, warning it may launch a consultation on the country’s index treatment if credible progress is absent by November.

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