On July 23 Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, at a routine briefing, was asked why China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait the day after U.S.-China talks in the Philippines and whether the timing was meant as a signal to Washington. Lin said: "Regarding the military exercises you mentioned, relevant Chinese departments have already released information."

Thailand's energy committee approved a 2.40 baht per liter cut to refinery ex-factory prices for B0, B7 and B20 diesel, effective July 24 through August 15.

Nikkei reports Inpex will begin trial drilling for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project offshore Chiba, near Tokyo. The work will be carried out by Inpex subsidiary Metropolitan CCS. Metropolitan CCS president Yoshiaki Oku said: "Decarbonizing industries such as steel is difficult. We hope to solve this by storing CO2 underground. This will become major infrastructure for Japanese industry."