Chinese stocks close higher on Monday

Chinese stocks closed higher on Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.34 percent to 3,647.55 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.46 percent higher at 11,291.43 points, while the ChiNext Index, China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 1.96 percent to close at 2,379.82 points.

China Global Television Network (CGTN) market analyst Timothy Pope highlighted these trends in his recap of Monday's stock market performance.

"We saw markets in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen building on last week's gains today. The Composite Index up about a third of one percent. Those outstanding trade issues between China and the U.S. are probably the most pressing thing on the macro front this week, and the markets are expecting another extension to the Aug 12 deadline that the White House had set for sorting out the tariff issue. That would avoid really high tariffs coming into force and allow some more time for both sides to try and address some of the more core issues on the trade front. The impact on global supply chains, if the tariffs actually do come into force, would be huge, but as I said, the broad expectation is that the deadline will be extended again. That was very much in focus today, and really that issue eclipsed a lot of the other issues that were around, one of them being the latest producer price inflation data which was released on Saturday. That showed a deeper-than-expected drop for the PPI in June. The government has moved more aggressively to tackle the issues behind factory gate price declines, but they're probably going to take a little longer to show up in the data," he said.

"One thing that also may have an impact on price declines was on display today as the world's biggest lithium battery maker, CATL, suspended mining operations at its huge Yichun mine. It's seeking to renew the mining license there and restart operations, but the shutdown caused a big jump for global lithium prices and for Chinese lithium stocks today. Both Ganfeng and Tianqi Lithium shot up by the 10-percent daily limit. CATL's Shenzhen shares ended the session flat. But to give you a sense of the significance here, this is just one mine that CATL operates, and it alone can apparently produce three percent of total global lithium output for this year, according to some estimates," he also said.

Chinese stocks close higher on Monday

The multilateral system is "under attack" amid global turmoil, President of the 80th UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock warned in her remarks on Wednesday.

In her briefing on the priorities for the resumed 80th Session of the General Assembly, the UNGA president noted that the current multilateral system does not collapse all in a sudden, but "crumbles piece by piece" in divisions, compromises, and lack of political commitment.

The president called all the UN member states to defend the UN Charter and international law and promote cross-regional cooperation.

She also urged to push forward the work of the UNGA on certain critical issues with a strong majority, rather than an absolute consensus among all member states. Such act is not a failure of multilateralism, but "an affirmation of it," she said.

The foundational principles of the institution should not be eroded by appeasement, she said, calling the member states to show courage, leadership, and responsibility at the UN's "critical make-or-break moment."

"The UN needs you. Your support, your leadership, your principle, stand, your cross-regional cooperation, if we are to preserve and modernize this institution, if we are to make it, rather than break it," she said.

UNGA President warns global multilateral system "under attack"