By Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping used a visit to Shanghai on Tuesday to push for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and underscore China’s leading role in the "Global South".

China is reportedly conducting a global diplomatic campaign to oppose President Donald Trump’s new trade deals with US allies. According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, Beijing is trying to reframe itself as a global rules-based order defender and make other countries see Washington as an unreliable trading partner.

China’s economy showed its first big signs of damage from the trade war, as steep U.S. tariffs pummeled export orders and production at the country’s factories. A gauge of new export orders fell in April to its lowest reading since Covid-19 was ravaging the country in 2022,