London (CNN Business) 1. US-China trade: Stock markets across Asia slumped again on Wednesday, as investors get increasingly nervous about the risk of a new US-China trade showdown.

Japan's Nikkei Index dropped for the second straight day, shedding around 1.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both closed more than 1% lower.

Chinese stocks have now fallen around 6% so far this week.

Wednesday's slide comes on the eve of trade talks in Washington between China and the United States, which have been overshadowed by the Trump administration's renewed threat to hike tariffs.

A delegation led by China's top trade negotiator, Liu He, is heading to the United States for talks on Thursday, just days after President Donald Trump said he would raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports, starting Friday.