The New York Times reports, "China's ruling Communist Party expelled the former chief of Interpol on Wednesday, accusing him of abusing his power to finance an extravagant lifestyle and committing "serious" violations of the law. The disappearance of the former Interpol chief, Meng Hongwei, during a trip to China last fall drew global attention and highlighted the perils of being on the wrong side of China's opaque, highly politicized legal system. The Chinese authorities later said he had been placed under investigation, but the move damaged China's reputation and raised doubts about President Xi Jinping's efforts to expand China's global presence. Mr. Meng, 65, the first Chinese citizen to lead Interpol, has not been heard from since.The harsh punishment of Mr. Meng is probably an effort by Mr. Xi, China's most powerful leader since Mao, to signal that political loyalty is paramount, experts said."

CNBC reports, "EU nations will be required to share data on 5G cybersecurity risks and produce measures to tackle them by the end of the year, the European Commission said on Tuesday, shunning U.S. calls to ban China's Huawei Technologies across the bloc. The aim is to use tools available under existing security rules plus cross-border cooperation, the bloc's executive body said, leaving it to individual EU countries to decide whether they want to ban any company on national security grounds. Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Portugal are all preparing to auction 5G licenses this year while six other countries will do so next year. The European Union move came despite U.S. pressure to boycott Huawei, citing fears of China using the company's equipment for espionage. Huawei has strongly rejected the allegations and launched a lawsuit against the U.S. government."

CNBC reports, "A new round of U.S.-China trade talks are due to kick off in Beijing on Thursday — but one expert says a deal will not likely come until May, or even June. 'It would be surprising to me if we did not have more fits and starts, more stop-and-go in these trade talks given the wide range of issues at stake and given the complexity,' said Charles Dallara, Partners Group chairman of the Americas on Wednesday. 'I see late May, June more as kind of the realistic time frame than I see anything in April,' said Dallara, a former managing director and CEO at the Institute of International Finance. 'If we move into that time frame, I think some understandings will be reached and I think that will be a critical step forward,' he told CNBC at the Boao Forum for Asia in the Hainan province of China."