This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China.  

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President Xi congratulates People's Daily on 70th anniversary

Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote a letter of congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Daily on Friday. 

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, asked the newspaper to continuously improve its penetration, guidance, influence and credibility.

He also said the newspaper has played a significant role and has made glorious achievements in every historical period, ranging from revolution, construction to reform. (People's Daily app)

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EU nations back retaliating against US steel tariffs

European Union countries on Thursday unanimously backed a plan to impose import duties on 2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion) worth of US products after Washington hit EU steel and aluminum with tariffs at the start of June, EU sources said.

The measures still need to be adopted by the European Commission, whose next scheduled meeting is June 20. They should be in place by late June or early July.

The European Commission has proposed setting 25-percent duties on US goods such as orange juice, bourbon, jeans, and motorcycles in response to what it is sees as illegal US action affecting 6.4 billion euros of its exports. (Reuters)

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FM urges US to cooperate on trade, N.Korea as Pompeo visits China

The first official visit to China by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shortly after the historic US-North Korea summit has provided a window of opportunity to improve mutual understanding and enhance cooperation to help deliver the summit's promises, Chinese observers said on Thursday. 

Pompeo made his first official visit to Beijing on Thursday after visiting South Korea in the morning, during which he briefed regional allies South Korea and Japan on the summit's outcome between US President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un. (Global Times)

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IMF says US tariffs threaten rules-based global trading system

The Trump administration's new tariffs against imports threaten to undermine the rules-based global trading system and damage the global economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday.

Those protectionist measures "are likely to move the globe further away from an open, fair and rules-based trade system, with adverse effects for both the US economy and for trading partners," the IMF said in a report after concluding the Article IV consultation with US authorities, an annual check-up of economic policies between the IMF and its member countries. (Xinhua)

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China's service trade deficit may expand in next few years

China's deficit of trade in services is expected to expand in the next few years due to the country's industrial and consumption upgrades, an official said Thursday.

The service trade deficit may begin to shrink "only after it reaches a certain level," Gao Feng, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said at a press conference.

China's service trade deficit has seen a rising trend in recent years. Last year, the deficit was 1.62 trillion yuan.

In the first four months of this year, China's service trade deficit stood at $88.24 billion. Although the figure for the first five months is yet to be released, it is expected to surpass goods trade surplus of $99.67 billion for the January-May period. (China Plus)

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Macron 'never meant to offend' Italy with migrant comments

French President Emmanuel Macron sought to resolve tensions with Italy on Thursday, saying he never meant to cause offence by criticizing its rejection of a migrant ship in remarks that sparked fury in Rome.

Macron had on Tuesday ignited the worst Franco-Italian diplomatic spat in years by accusing Rome of "cynicism and irresponsibility" for refusing to take in 629 migrants left stranded on a rescue ship that was eventually welcomed by Spain.

Rome summoned the French Ambassador and cancelled a meeting between the countries' economy ministers while threatening to call off talks between Macron and Italian premier in Paris on Friday unless France issued an "official apology." (AFP)

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China continues to inject liquidity into money market

China's central bank continued to inject funds into the financial system through open market operations on Friday to offset liquidity pressure.

The People's Bank of China said on its website that it has released 100 billion yuan (about $15.6 billion) of liquidity through central treasury cash management tools.

It also injected 60.5 billion yuan through pledged supplementary lending and 100 billion yuan via reverse repos. (Xinhua)

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And that’s People’s Daily Tonight.  Thanks for joining us.

(Produced by Ni Tao, Wu Kai and Zhao Dantong)