At a press briefing on the 22nd, the Ministry of Finance said central fiscal authorities have reserved 20 bln yuan for natural disaster relief in 2026. Since the flood season began the central treasury has triggered its rapid-allocation mechanism eight times, disbursing 1.19 bln yuan to affected areas. The ministry said a further 14.5 bln yuan has been arranged via agricultural disaster-relief and water conservancy funds, transport project allocations and central budget investment.

On July 21 local time, US President Trump met Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun. Trump said relations were cordial and they had previously communicated via intermediaries, and that the US will provide assistance after what he described as Lebanon’s long-standing unfair treatment. He said they would discuss the Lebanese army taking over villages vacated by Hezbollah, that the US has very specific plans and expects other parties to contribute assistance, and that he would engage with Hezbollah if Aoun requests.

Swiss customs data showed June gold exports fell 3% MoM as a drop in shipments to the UK — the world’s largest OTC gold trading centre — offset rises to India and Saudi Arabia. Exports to the UK fell to 27.4 tonnes in June from 39.4 tonnes in May. Shipments to India rebounded to 7.4 tonnes in June from 955 kg in May, after May’s six-year low following India’s hike in precious-metals import tariffs to support the rupee. Exports to Saudi Arabia tripled month-on-month to 10.3 tonnes in June.