• Why China’s foresight on EV minerals gives it a big edge over US, as ‘every country needs copper’
• EU-China summit: Brussels ratchets up pressure on Beijing over Russia and trade
• Final Pentagon budget bill features Taiwan, Aukus and counters to China’s influence
• China military official warns of ‘erroneous ideological trends’ spreading in PLA
• Myanmar’s junta wants China’s support. Analysts expect ‘cautious pragmatism’ from Beijing
• Consulates, global bodies in Hong Kong must win approval from China’s foreign ministry to extend property leases
• China deems coal reserves insufficient after past power crises hit industries, livelihoods
• Xi Jinping to visit Vietnam for first time in 6 years as China and US compete for influence in Southeast Asian nation
• McDonald’s China pushes development of native apps based on HarmonyOS, as adoption of Huawei’s mobile operating system accelerates
• China and Singapore agree to let each other’s citizens travel visa-free
• ‘A blessing’: China court lauds rule of law, backs transgender staffer fired for being ‘absent’ while on leave recovering from reassignment surgery
• Deepest lab on Earth: China launches mega facility more than 2,000m below ground in search of dark matter
• China’s Belt and Road Initiative rightly offers charity-free development
• China sees Europe as key trade partner, Xi Jinping tells visiting EU leaders
• Chinese budget e-commerce app Temu is snatching business from US dollar stores ahead of lucrative holiday season
• Gold-priced steel: China’s tech breakthrough shatters Western market dominance
• Delivering kindness: China Porsche car owner shuns compensation from injured food dispatch driver after crash, offers to pay medical bill
• China trade: exports edge up for first time in 7 months in November, but imports decline
• Australia seals Papua New Guinea security deal, ups battle for influence with China in the Pacific
• US Republican presidential debate: Nikki Haley targeted, rivals tussle over China
• China-EU summit: Beijing open to discuss trade disputes in pursuit of ‘strategic trust’, analysts say
• ‘I don’t want to live’: China food delivery driver snaps hysterically after police stop for jumping red light, puts industry stress in focus
• Chinese schools urged to step up daily health checks and work with authorities to help stop wave of respiratory illnesses
• India’s aim to surpass China as Global South leader unaffected by its support for Israel
• [World] The zero-Covid protesters who fled China in fear
• Can China diversify iron ore imports from Australia, Brazil as mining giant Rio Tinto affirms 2025 Africa production?
• G7 warns China on military activities in South China Sea, urges it to press Russia to exit Ukraine
• Argentina’s Milei has a China conundrum of his own making on his hands
• China education: parents decry 50-50 shot at academic degree, and they’re rolling the dice on a costly ‘Plan B’ overseas for the kids

Why China’s foresight on EV minerals gives it a big edge over US, as ‘every country needs copper’

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3244261/why-chinas-foresight-ev-minerals-gives-it-big-edge-over-us-every-country-needs-copper?utm_source=rss_feed

Although China looks to stay competitive in the supply chain of rare earth metals, it’s time to start worrying about a couple of major minerals, warns China-based mineral company Ferro Resources.

“There is enough rare earth in the world. There is also enough cobalt in the world. My concerns are actually more on copper and nickel,” said Dario Pong, founder and managing of Ferro Resources, a Hong Kong company that makes and exports automotive ferrite magnets and iron oxide in the mainland Chinese cities of Shanghai and Wuhan.

“These are the big-ticket items, not the so-called minor materials, and China is also worried about not having enough copper and nickel. That is why China is working together with the world to secure that,” Pong said during a panel discussion on supply chains at the FII Priority Hong Kong conference on Thursday.

Pong’s concerns were delivered to policymakers, business leaders and investors attending the opening of the two-day conference organised by the think tank branch of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund – Public Investment Fund – which manages more than US$700 billion in assets.

Supply chains headline China-Vietnam talks as US vies for influence

The conference, themed “Megatrends Shaping Humanity”, was held in partnership with the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the city’s stock-exchange operator.

Against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive relationship between China and the United States, Western countries have been trying to catch up with China’s global domination in the industries of electric batteries and clean-energy technology.

And in response to global calls for a clean-energy transition, governments are putting more emphasis on securing the supply chain of critical materials – including rare earths, cobalt, nickel and copper – that are essential in hi-tech production, from solar panels to semiconductors.

Pong said China has shored up its competitive position in the production of such materials because it began planning earlier than the West as the world shifted toward cleaner sources of energy.

“In America and Europe, if they decide to massively increase their local electric-vehicle market and industry, for example, they would need to build many more electric grids”, which would require massive quantities of copper, Pong told the Post.

“So, when America and Europe are trying to expand their local EV production [and develop] the needed infrastructure, it will cause a rush, and there will be a global shortage of necessary materials,” Pong added.

Pong noted that China has scarce copper sources – largely confined to just Yunnan and Jiangxi provinces – and has been reliant on imports from Latin America, including Chile and Peru, along with Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Central Africa.

“But these countries are friendly with China, and China has been working on these trade relationships,” Pong said. “Every country needs copper, and it has been in limited supply for the past few years.

“China planned for this and has invested largely in these countries with huge resources of copper mines.”

China’s top spy agency vows to safeguard critical minerals amid global race

“The West has overlooked their manufacturing sectors in the past few decades, while China has planned for strategically securing these materials on a national level, ” he said.

Pong noted that the US has resumed mining and refining operations in what used to be the world’s biggest rare-earth-processing facility, in Mountain Pass, California. But he said the operational costs there will be at least 50 per cent higher than production in China.

“So, if the US is willing to pay such a price because of geopolitics, instead of prioritising economic considerations, of course they can still produce it,” Pong said. “But the impact on the market and consumers would be huge.”

The resumption of production at Mountain Pass in 2018 is in line with Washington’s calls for diversification and risk mitigation within supply chains, and it’s considered part of a calculated effort to assert control over the realm of these critical minerals.

China has also made moves to protect its critical materials, such as by imposing stricter export controls on graphite, a critical EV battery material, since December 1.

EU-China summit: Brussels ratchets up pressure on Beijing over Russia and trade

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3244287/eu-china-summit-brussels-ratchets-pressure-beijing-over-russia-and-trade?utm_source=rss_feed

The European Union pushed China’s leadership to stop its firms from selling sanctioned goods to the Russian military on Thursday, a key demand made during the first in-person meeting between the two sides in four years.

Brussels officials confronted their counterparts with details of Chinese companies who are selling European-made, dual-use products – those with commercial and military applications – to Moscow, thereby circumventing sweeping sanctions designed to hobble Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other EU leaders used rare face-time with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang to force the issue, with a veiled warning that its members will not look favourably on a failure to act.

“We have identified a list of companies which are suspected to play a role in circumventing sanctions and we had the occasion to make clear both in preparation for this summit but also during the summit,” said Michel.

“We hope today we are heard and then the appropriate action will be taken by China,” Michel said at a press conference in Beijing, adding that “member states will have to decide what further action will be done”.

The expectation in Brussels is that if Beijing does not move to halt the practice, 13 Chinese firms will be added to a package of sanctions currently being legislated in the European Parliament - reported earlier by the Post, a move that would cause more reputational damage than commercial injury.

These sales to Russia were among a series of thorny issues covered during a day of talks that ran the full gambit of EU-China relations. As has become customary, Michel and von der Leyen pressed their hosts to do more to help end the war in Ukraine.

EU stands by Global Gateway advisory roles for firms linked to Beijing

“We recalled the need for China to use all of its influence on Russia to stop this war of aggression and to engage in Ukraine’s peace formula. We also reiterated to refrain from supplying lethal equipment to Russia and to prevent any attempts by Russia to undermine the impact of sanctions,” von der Leyen said.

At the same time, they left the door open for cooperation in areas including governance of artificial intelligence and climate.

On this front, EU officials welcomed China’s signing of a pledge on methane emissions at the ongoing COP 28 summit, but also asked Beijing to do more to shutter coal-fired plants.

“China has started its global AI governance initiative and the EU is right now finalising its first AI Act to ensure that AI complies with our fundamental rights and our values. So even if our governance models are different, we agreed that we should seek to cooperate on artificial intelligence at the global level,” von der Leyen said.

The summit took place to a delicate backdrop. A day earlier, news leaked of Italy’s decision to exit the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), leaving Xi’s flagship infrastructure drive without any G7 members. Xi told the two EU leaders that the BRI was compatible with their own Global Gateway alternative - despite Brussels’ public assertions that they were not.

“As the saying goes, when you give roses to others, the fragrance lingers on your hand. China will continue to promote high-quality belt and road cooperation, including by creating synergy between the BRI with the EU’s Global Gateway to help developing countries grow faster,” Xi said.

The Chinese leader pressed the EU to “increase understanding and properly handle differences through constructive dialogue”, according to an official readout.

“We should not view each other as rivals just because our systems are different, reduce cooperation because competition exists, or engage in confrontation because there are disagreements,” Xi said.

EU lawmakers demand answers on Chinese links to bloc’s response to belt and road

Noting a shared responsibility to work on global issues, Xi “pointed out that the world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century” - echoing famous remarks made to Russian leader Vladimir Putin when he visited Moscow in March.

The European side, on the other hand, railed against what it sees as unfair competition emanating from China.

“Politically, European leaders will not be able to tolerate that our industrial base is undermined by unfair competition,” said von der Leyen, who launched an investigation into subsidies in China’s electric vehicle sector earlier this year.

“We insist on fair competition within the single market, therefore, we also insist on fair competition from companies that come to our single market, and I’m glad that we agreed with President Xi that trade should be balanced between the two of us.”

They told their counterparts that they did not want to decouple from the Chinese economy, but rather follow a de-risking trail blazed by Beijing itself through its self-reliance and dual circulation policies.

“I want to be very clear here to Europe does not want to decouple from China. We have seen a decoupling Europe from Russia for good reasons. We do not want a decoupling from China. What we want is de risking,” von der Leyen said.

Michel meanwhile suggested that China’s export restrictions on critical minerals proved the need for such policies.

“Graphite is fundamental for the defence industry. China is decided to limit the export of graphite, and this has consequences for our sovereignty and strategic autonomy. This example shows what’s at stake in the EU - we must better protect our interests,” he said.

China tightens controls over rare earth exports, imports of key commodities

In Europe, expectations were low ahead of the first in-person summit since 2019.

For some, the fact of having a summit was a deliverable in itself, while the EU rejected the opportunity to sign a string of technical agreements that had been negotiated during eight ministerial visits to China this year.

The sides agreed to restart a “people to people dialogue” - something Beijing had been requesting for a number of years, even during the lockdowns of Covid. But largely, Brussels preferred a “political summit”, a senior official said ahead of the event, and would leave the narrow deals for more junior officials to sign.

A draft agenda seen by the Post contained no mention of prickly matters like Taiwan or human rights, but EU leaders raised both.

“We are opposed to any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force. The EU maintains its one China policy and I trust that China is fully aware of the serious consequences of any escalation in this area,” Michel told reporters.

The Belgian said he had raised “human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet”, and praised China for reconvening an annual dialogue on the topic in February. This was despite protestations from activists that the dialogue was “meaningless”.

“The EU’s human rights dialogue with the Chinese government has become a meaningless tick-the-box exercise,” said Human Rights Watch chief Tirana Hassan in a briefing before the summit.

“When it comes to human rights, the level of EU action and ambition does not match the urgency or magnitude of the threats posed by the Chinese government.”

Final Pentagon budget bill features Taiwan, Aukus and counters to China’s influence

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3244291/final-pentagon-budget-bill-features-taiwan-aukus-and-counters-chinas-influence?utm_source=rss_feed

The US Congress released its final version of the National Defence Authorisation Act for fiscal year 2024 late on Wednesday, clearing the sweeping legislation – which strengthens Taiwan training, the Aukus alliance and countering Chinese influence – for full votes in the Senate and House of Representatives.

As with previous years, the US$872.4 billion bicameral compromise leaves out the most controversial provisions from the draft versions. It is expected to pass both chambers and head to President Joe Biden for signing into law later this month.

The legislation, which establishes the top-line budget and directs policy for the Pentagon for the coming financial year, is a “must-pass” bill because its enactment is required for members of the military to receive their pay and benefits on time. As a result, provisions not strictly tied to defence often make it into the legislation.

With speculation rife that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered People’s Liberation Army troops to be ready to take Taiwan by force by 2027, the self-ruled island was a feature of the bill.

US defence act ‘vital’ to security of Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen says

For the first time, the defence policy bill called for cybersecurity cooperation with Taiwan to “defend military networks, infrastructure and systems”.

It also calls for the defence secretary to establish a programme of training, advising, and institutional capacity building with Taiwanese military forces – in line with a comprehensive effort in last year’s NDAA to boost security cooperation with Taiwan.

But compared to last year, the bill has relatively little new on defending Taiwan, and instead calls for oversight for previously established programmes.

As with previous years, the bill avoids measures that explicitly challenge the US’s one-China policy, in which Washington acknowledges Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a rogue province that must be eventually be united with the mainland, by force if necessary.

One such provision that got cut would have barred the Pentagon from funding any map that depicts “Taiwan, Kinmen [also known as Quemoy], Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou, Green Island or Orchid Island as part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China”.

Other Taiwan-related provisions in draft versions were removed, including ones requiring the Pentagon to maintain a non-combatant evacuation plan for Taiwan and to invite Taiwan to the US-led Rim of the Pacific military exercise.

While like most countries the United States does not recognise the island as an independent state, it is committed by law to support Taiwan’s military defence capability – a stance Beijing strongly opposes.

The legislation included several measures to strengthen Aukus, the security partnership the US established in 2021 with Australia and Britain widely seen as an alliance to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.

The NDAA fully authorises the trilateral pact, which would allow the US and Britain to help Australia develop its own nuclear-powered submarine fleet.

It also requires both the Pentagon and State Department to prioritise Australia and Britain for arms sales processing, after Ukraine and Taiwan.

The legislation also includes several measures meant to counter Chinese influence in the US.

With its enactment, any school receiving Defence Department funding must commit to closing their Confucius Institutes by 2026. The Beijing-financed cultural and language centres – fewer than five remain in the US – have been criticised for lack of transparency and being a potential vehicle for surveillance and Chinese influence.

According to the bill, no institution that now receives Pentagon funding hosts one of the centres. The bill also amends the definition of Confucius Institute to include “any cultural institute funded by the [Chinese government]”.

China’s Confucius Institutes are disappearing from US campuses

The NDAA also prohibits Defence Department funding from supporting entertainment projects that have complied or “is likely to comply” with censorship demands from the Chinese government.

China’s role in fentanyl trafficking, a priority topic in US-China relations, also found its way into the bill. One provision calls for the defence secretary to determine if Beijing has assisted in or approved the transfer of fentanyl precursors or products to Mexico.

The NDAA requires an audit of the Defence Department’s funding to China’s research laboratories. It also prohibits Pentagon procurement from Chinese military companies operating in the US.

But it omits a requirement in the draft that would have required researchers financed by the Pentagon to disclose personal information like their nationality and educational background. The White House had noted that such a provision would be unduly burdensome.

In the same vein, the bill left out a provision that would have prohibited the procurement of computers and printers from China.

US bills targeting China AI, Hong Kong offices clear key House panel

Other high-profile China-related measures did not make it into the bill’s final version.

One would have restricted outbound investment to China, in line with an August executive order from Biden. The provision would have required US businesses to notify the Treasury Department before making transactions in China, Russia and other “countries of concern” involving technologies with military applications.

Representative Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, pushed to drop the measure, which had bipartisan support. McHenry has long argued that letting US companies make investments gives them control and useful insight into the national security and technology capabilities of foreign firms.

A funding programme for the Pacific Islands also failed to make the cut, though lawmakers are trying to push it through other vehicles. Earlier this year, the Biden administration concluded negotiations for the Compacts of Free Association (COFA), a set of agreements providing economic assistance and migration rights to three Pacific Islands countries in exchange for exclusive military access. But the funding for the programmes has yet to find a home, leading to concerns that Beijing might find a way to exploit the situation.

The bill includes a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The programme, which would have expired on December 31, allows the US government to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance on Americans when they interact with foreigners. Several Asian-American groups have opposed its reauthorisation, claiming that it has been used in a discriminatory manner for purposes unrelated to national security.

Passage of the bill would extend Section 702 until April, giving Congress more time to come up with a compromise that can pass both chambers.

China military official warns of ‘erroneous ideological trends’ spreading in PLA

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3244221/china-military-official-warns-erroneous-ideological-trends-spreading-pla?utm_source=rss_feed

“Hostile forces” are exerting more influence in China, leading to the spread of misguided ideas in the military, according to a senior official with the People’s Liberation Army.

Chen Zuosong, director of the political work department for the Southern Theatre Command Air Force, made the remarks in a long article in Study Times, the Central Party School’s official newspaper, on Wednesday.

Under the headline “Build cultural soft power that is compatible with a world-class military”, Chen outlined the ideological risks facing the PLA and called for a culture of “absolute loyalty” to the ruling Communist Party and a “dare to fight” spirit.

“Thoughts and sentiments in our country’s society are becoming increasingly active and complex. The changes in information technology have brought an increasing number of variables and hidden dangers to the ideological field,” Chen wrote.

“Hostile forces have increased cognitive penetration and destruction, and various erroneous ideological trends and arguments have … spread into military camps.”

Chen – from the military command that oversees the South China Sea – also called for troops to be guided to oppose such ideas.

The rare remarks from a senior military official come as Beijing has been on high alert for “ideological infiltration” by Western nations – activities that President Xi Jinping has said “have not ceased for a moment”.

Xi, who also heads the party’s Central Military Commission, has set a target for the PLA to become a “world-class” military by the middle of the century.

During a military inspection earlier this year, Xi said the PLA must “dare to fight” and improve training at a time of increased instability and uncertainty over security.

Chinese warships visit controversial Cambodian naval base for joint exercise

In Wednesday’s article Chen said the military should take a “broad view of the trend of informatisation and the intelligent military revolution, recognising the times and trends of ‘the West is strong and the East is weak; the East is rising and the West is declining’”.

He said the military should be patient and confident, and loyal to both the party and Xi.

The senior official also said the military should “make good use of the presence of the enemy in reality and major tasks” to actively train troops, and foster an attitude of being willing to fight.

In recent years, China’s military has stepped up its sabre-rattling around self-ruled Taiwan. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has not renounced the use of force to take control of the island.

Tensions have also been rising in the South China Sea, where the Pentagon in October said it had seen an increase in “coercive and risky” behaviour by Chinese aircraft.

Chen said the PLA should improve its publicity skills by speaking in an “acceptable” way to the outside world to give a “true and comprehensive” image of the Chinese military.

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Myanmar’s junta wants China’s support. Analysts expect ‘cautious pragmatism’ from Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3244256/myanmars-junta-wants-chinas-support-analysts-expect-cautious-pragmatism-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed

Myanmar’s ruling junta has called for China to support its path to stability, a month after it was rocked by renewed clashes with militant groups, but analysts expect “cautious pragmatism” from Beijing.

The call came on Wednesday, when China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met Myanmar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Than Swe in Beijing ahead of a regional summit.

“Myanmar still faces many domestic challenges and hopes to continue to receive support and help from China to achieve domestic peace and stability,” Than Swe told Wang, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

Wang said China would not interfere in Myanmar’s internal affairs, but hoped the country could “achieve national reconciliation” and “continue its political transformation process under the constitutional framework as soon as possible”.

Multiple armed groups launched a coordinated offensive in late October across Myanmar’s northern provincial administrations of Shan State, Kachin State and the upper Sagaing Region.

China’s southwestern province of Yunnan shares a 2,000km (1,250-mile) border with Myanmar’s Shan and Kachin states.

Analysts said that while Beijing was willing to support regional stability, it would not intervene in Myanmar’s situation beyond the need to tackle telecoms scams that have targeted Chinese nationals.

Forced out of Myanmar ‘like dogs’, Rohingya refugees face persecution in India

Andy Mok, a senior research fellow at the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation, said the Chinese approach to Myanmar’s political situation “leans towards advocating stability while respecting sovereignty”.

“While China maintains its principle of non-interference, it indicates a willingness to offer strategic support, balancing regional security interests.”

Than Swe’s call was the first public request made by Myanmar’s military government for China to assist in its political situation. Beijing has stepped up cooperation with the junta, as well as armed ethnic groups in the country’s north, in order to crack down on cybercrime.

According to Kalvin Fung Ka-shing, who conducts research on Southeast Asian politics at Waseda University in Tokyo, the junta is trying to strengthen ties with China, as well as India and Russia, after losing ground in the northern states from the rebel offensive.

He said the junta “might want to secure Beijing’s friendship in hopes of isolating the ethnic armed organisations from diplomatic backing”.

On Wednesday, Wang said the two countries should work together to eradicate the “cancer” of online gambling and electronic fraud, adding that they had already “achieved remarkable results” on telecoms scams and “effectively deterred criminals”.

Last month Myanmar handed over 31,000 telecoms fraud suspects to China, including 63 “financiers” and ringleaders of crime syndicates that Beijing’s public security ministry says swindled Chinese citizens out of large sums of money.

According to the Chinese statement, Than Swe said Myanmar attached great importance to developing relations with China and was willing to deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Fung said Beijing’s “top priority” was to prevent the conflicts in Myanmar’s northern Shan State from spilling over the border.

As Myanmar fighting threatens borders, China and India ‘compete for influence’

“Beijing has tried to mediate the ethnic conflicts, and the Chinese special envoy plays an important role in that respect,” he said, referring to Deng Xijun, who met two junta ministers in September.

Koh King Kee, president of Malaysian think tank the Centre for New Inclusive Asia, said the junta was becoming more reliant on China given its isolation from the West and the region.

He said the junta needed China’s help “to act as a mediator to broker a truce with the ethnic armed alliance in order to sustain its regime, as China has considerable influence over the alliance”.

Koh said the military government was “in danger of collapse” amid attacks from the armed groups.

“China is unlikely to intervene directly … but will exercise its influence to help maintain peace and security in Myanmar and ensure that cyber scam activities don’t re-emerge under the patronage of the military regime,” he said, adding that many cybercrime operations headquartered in the border regions were destroyed by the ethnic armed alliances.

According to Swaran Singh, an international relations professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, Beijing has sought to distance itself from the junta over the years and has been “very cautious” lately given its concerns over telecoms fraud and online gambling.

“So what we see is cautious pragmatism determining China’s engagement with Myanmar,” Singh said.

In Beijing on Wednesday, Wang also met his Thai counterpart, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, and again stressed the need to combat cybercrime.

“The two sides should maintain a stable and unimpeded system of production and supply chains, jointly crack down on transnational crimes such as online gambling, telecoms fraud and human trafficking, and push for new development of China-Thailand relations,” Wang said, according to official news agency Xinhua.

Consulates, global bodies in Hong Kong must win approval from China’s foreign ministry to extend property leases

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3244265/consulates-global-bodies-hong-kong-must-win-approval-chinas-foreign-ministry-extend-land-leases?utm_source=rss_feed

Consulates and global bodies will have to win the approval of China’s foreign ministry arm in Hong Kong to extend their property leases in the city, the government has said.

The Development Bureau revealed the new requirement on Thursday, but did not mention by name any of the 63 consulates or eight officially recognised bodies operating in Hong Kong.

The bureau said about 110 cases, involving 10 plots of land and 100 flats, would be affected by the rule. It also refused to disclose the lease expiry dates, citing privacy reasons.

Beijing asks consulates to supply details on Hong Kong properties

“In the absence of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR’s approval, the lease will not be extended upon expiry,” the bureau said in a document submitted to the Legislative Council.

Failure to win approval would result in the consulate or organisation effectively ceding ownership to the Financial Secretary Incorporated, a government authority, according to the document.

A bureau spokeswoman stressed that the arrangement would not apply to properties rented by the foreign entities.

The recognised organisations include bodies such as the Office of the European Union and the representative office of the International Monetary Fund.

The latest proposal on land lease renewal arrangements is due to be gazetted in a bill on Friday and submitted to the legislature on Wednesday next week.

In 2047, a 50-year extension will end for most leases in the New Territories and parts of Kowloon that were set to expire in 1997 when the city returned to Chinese rule, with about 300,000 sites affected.

The bureau spokeswoman said the foreign ministry arm put forward the requirement in July, which was not part of the Hong Kong government’s initial proposal in May on land lease extensions.

The spokeswoman said the move was an extension of another arrangement stipulated by the commissioner’s office in June last year, which required the foreign entities to obtain its approval to acquire properties used as chancelleries or residences of heads and staff.

The bureau stressed that the latest arrangement was a national-level matter and “not a new thing”, adding it believed adhering to it would not be a problem.

Hong Kong proposes faster land lease renewals as 300,000 set to expire by 2047

Under the latest proposal, the government will publish gazette notices and notify property owners, including foreign entities, if their land leases are not granted an extension six years before expiry. The decisions can be appealed.

The foreign organisations have to apply for written approval from the commissioner’s office for a land lease extension at least 60 days in advance. Even if the government approves the extension, the property will be handed over if the organisation fails to secure a green light from the commissioner’s office.

Beijing to ask consulates in Hong Kong to provide employee details by October 18

The spokeswoman said the government would also generally approve most of the land lease renewal cases unless they involved significant public interest, such as a serious breach of the lease.

Official statistics show that between June 2025 and June 29, 2047, about 2,400 leases for lots will expire, affecting 150 to 12,500 owners every year. The earliest batch from that group comprises about 50 sites for non-industrial use in the Yau Tsim Mong district, mostly walk-up residential buildings.

Meanwhile, on June 30, 2047, leases for about 300,000 sites, mostly in the New Territories, will expire concurrently, affecting more than 1.5 million owners.

China deems coal reserves insufficient after past power crises hit industries, livelihoods

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3244237/china-deems-coal-reserves-insufficient-after-past-power-crises-hit-industries-livelihoods?utm_source=rss_feed

China will establish a backup coal-production system by 2027 to stabilise prices and secure its supply, the country’s economic planner said on Wednesday, as the world’s biggest coal consumer presses on to boost energy security.

The new system aims to create 300 million metric tonnes of “dispatchable” annual coal production by 2030, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a circular posted on its site seeking public feedback.

Mines with at least 3 million tonnes of annual production capacity may apply to be included, the NDRC said.

They must be able to dispatch output when the government deems spot prices to have exceeded a “reasonable” range, or when supplies are tight, the NDRC said. These mines “must strictly fulfil their responsibilities of ensuring coal supply and stable prices” and must prioritise supply according to “relevant state policies”, the NDRC said.

State power: Xi calls for firmer government hand in China’s energy, railways

In 2021, the NDRC said China would aim to have coal reserves equivalent to 15 per cent of its annual consumption.

China’s raw coal output in 2022 was 4.56 billion metric tonnes, and the target for its annual production capacity reserve will account for roughly 6.58 per cent of total output, Citic Securities said in a note on Thursday, adding that the backup system would not have a significant impact on short-term demand and supply.

“If this goal is achieved, China’s coal-supply-guarantee capability will be significantly enhanced, and supply elasticity and resilience will continue to improve, which will be conducive to achieving energy security,” Citic Securities said.

China has experienced severe power crises in recent years, notably in 2021, that affected much of the output of its industries.

Because the NDRC said the planned coal reserves would be mainly used to ensure power generation, heating and energy consumption for people’s livelihoods, the reserve capacity is primarily used to balance the supply and demand of thermal coal, Citic Securities noted.

China’s Australian coal imports surge as trade picks up after easing of ban

While China is the world’s biggest producer of coal, it also imports the critical resource from countries such as Australia and Indonesia.

Asia has added more than 40 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-fired capacity in each of the last five years, and it is expected to add 52GW next year, Norwegian energy consultancy Rystad Energy said in a note on Monday.

Most of this new capacity is in China, followed by India and Indonesia, Rystad said. However, it also forecasts that capacity levels will continue to rise until 2027, albeit at a slower pace, and thereafter it expects that coal power plants will begin to decline.

“Countries around the world that are highly dependent on coal, like China, Germany and the US, are developing renewable capacity fast enough, and at favourable economics, to displace coal easily,” the consultancy said.

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Xi Jinping to visit Vietnam for first time in 6 years as China and US compete for influence in Southeast Asian nation

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3244275/xi-jinping-visit-vietnam-first-time-6-years-china-and-us-compete-influence-southeast-asian-nation?utm_source=rss_feed

President Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam next week, China’s foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday.

The two-day visit from Tuesday will be Xi’s first trip to the southern neighbour in six years as the US and China compete for influence in the Southeast Asian nation.

While there, Xi and Vietnamese leaders will discuss upgrading bilateral relations, with a focus on six topics including maritime issues, according to ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.

During US President Joe Biden’s visit to Vietnam in September, Hanoi lifted its ties with Washington to the level of “comprehensive strategic partnership”, putting it on equal diplomatic status with Beijing.

Supply chains headline China-Vietnam talks as US vies for influence

Vietnam also elevated its relationship with Japan to the same level two weeks ago.

“China and Vietnam are both socialist countries and are both promoting reforms and innovations that fit into our respective national conditions,” Wang told a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

He added it was in the common interests of both sides to strengthen solidarity and friendship and deepen cooperation, which is “conducive to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region as well as the world”.

During his trip, Xi will meet Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Vo Van Thuong, as well as Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, according to the foreign ministry.

In addition to maritime issues, Xi’s agenda will focus on cooperation in political matters, security, practical and multilateral areas of cooperation and improving public opinion.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Hanoi last week to pave the way for Xi’s visit. Wang and his Vietnamese counterparts agreed to upgrade the rail link across their border and improve trade connections.

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao also visited Vietnam in late November and promoted “higher quality development of the trade and economic relationship”.

China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner and a major foreign investor. Many international manufacturers, including Chinese companies, have moved parts of their supply chains to the Southeast Asian country against the backdrop of US-China trade tensions and geopolitical rivalry.

Few options left for Beijing in South China Sea after Camp David summit

Vietnam is considered a critical part of the US Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China’s growing influence in the region. Biden’s visit to Vietnam included discussions on bilateral security cooperation. He also announced deals on semiconductors and rare earth minerals, which are at the core of Washington’s sour ties with Beijing.

Despite growing economic ties between China and Vietnam and friendly relations between their ruling communist parties, the countries also have unresolved disputes in the South China Sea.

The two countries fought a brief war over the Paracel Islands in 1974 and another military skirmish in the Spratly Islands in 1988.

A more recent dispute happened in May, when a Chinese survey vessel and its escorts were accused of violating Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone.

McDonald’s China pushes development of native apps based on HarmonyOS, as adoption of Huawei’s mobile operating system accelerates

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3244236/mcdonalds-china-pushes-development-native-apps-based-harmonyos-adoption-huaweis-mobile-operating?utm_source=rss_feed

McDonald’s China unit will work with Huawei Technologies to build a native app based on the next iteration of HarmonyOS, according to the fast-food giant, as adoption of the US-sanctioned telecommunications equipment and smartphone maker’s self-developed operating system gathers momentum in its vast home market.

The Chinese arm of McDonald’s – with a network of more than 5,500 restaurants and over 200,000 employees serving more than 1 billion customers each year – is part of the first batch of multinational food companies on the mainland that have committed to develop native apps on HarmonyOS, according to a statement by the US fast-food chain on Wednesday.

HarmonyOS Next, the new version of Huawei’s mobile operating platform, will enable McDonald’s customers to order meals by accessing its applications from various devices including smartphones, tablets and smart cars, the Chicago, Illinois-based company said.

The cooperation agreement between McDonald’s China and Huawei further bolsters the Shenzhen-based tech giant’s strategy to widen the adoption of HarmonyOS as an alternative ecosystem on the mainland, as set out by company founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei this year to counter the impact of US sanctions. HarmonyOS Next will not support Android-based apps on all Huawei devices installed with the new operating system.

McDonald’s latest initiative in China, the company’s second-largest market behind the US, comes weeks after it bought the entire 28 per cent stake held by private equity firm Carlyle Group in the unit that operates and manages the fast-food chain’s business on the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

After that transaction, McDonald’s ownership in its China unit increased from 20 per cent to 48 per cent. A consortium led by state-backed conglomerate Citic has a controlling stake of 52 per cent.

The cooperation with Huawei has also come at a time when McDonald’s, which is targeting 50,000 restaurants worldwide by 2027, signed a strategic partnership with Alphabet’s Google Cloud to apply generative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across its restaurants worldwide. Google’s AI solutions, however, are not available on the mainland.

Huawei’s deal with McDonald’s China builds on the momentum that HarmonyOS has gained from a growing number of mainland Big Tech companies.

Chinese internet firms including e-commerce giant JD.com, video gaming powerhouse NetEase and food delivery market leader Meituan last month started hiring HarmonyOS app developers to build native apps.

Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post, is also developing a new version of its workplace collaboration app DingTalk that is compatible with the HarmonyOS platform.

Huawei is expected to launch a developer preview version of HarmonyOS Next in the first quarter of 2024.

China’s Big Tech firms seek HarmonyOS app builders as Huawei severs Android ties

More than 700 million devices currently run on HarmonyOS, with more than 2.2 million third-party developers creating apps for the platform, according to Richard Yu Chengdong, chief executive of Huawei’s consumer business group and chairman of its Intelligent Automotive Solution business unit, at the company’s annual developer conference in August.

HarmonyOS debuted as an alternative operating system for Huawei in August 2019, three months after the US government added the firm to its Entity List. Under this trade blacklist, Huawei is barred from buying software, chips and other technologies from US suppliers without Washington’s approval.

Huawei’s confidence has recently been buoyed by strong sales of its Mate 60 Pro smartphone, the company’s first 5G handset line since October 2020 and built with an advanced made-in-China processor. Huawei’s smartphone sales rose 90 per cent year on year in the first four weeks of October, according to data from Counterpoint Research.

China and Singapore agree to let each other’s citizens travel visa-free

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3244258/china-and-singapore-agree-let-each-others-citizens-travel-visa-free?utm_source=rss_feed

China and Singapore have agreed to introduce a mutual 30-day visa-free travel arrangement at their annual forum.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the agreement would “enable more people-to-people exchanges, thereby fortifying the bedrock of our bilateral relations”, according to The Straits Times newspaper.

Wong, who co-chaired the event in Tianjin with Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, also said both sides wanted to strengthen cooperation in various sectors and he hoped the number of direct flights between the two countries would exceed pre-pandemic levels., according to Singapore media.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the agreement would be “great news” for citizens of both countries, adding that “greater people-to-people and cultural exchanges … serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples”.

He did not offer further details on the arrangement, only saying it would come into effect “at another date”.

Singapore’s foreign ministry said both countries “will work out the implementation details … and implement it in early 2024”.

Previously, Singaporean citizens could make social visits to China for up to 15 days, an arrangement that was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and reinstated in July. However, mainland Chinese citizens have always needed a visa to enter Singapore.

Singapore’s Wong and China’s Li agree to boost ‘mutually beneficial cooperation’

According to Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office, a record 24 agreements were signed and endorsed at the forum on Thursday – covering areas such as education and trade, including an upgrade to their free-trade agreement.

The statement said the meeting reviewed cooperation in a wide range of areas, including on China’s Belt and Road Initiative and fields such as the digital economy, renewable energy and science and innovation.

“Deputy Prime Minister Wong and Vice-Premier Ding agreed that Singapore-China cooperation had been comprehensive and progressive, evolving over the years in tandem with each countries’ respective development priorities,” it said.

“They also agreed that both sides should continue to adopt a forward-leaning approach and tap on opportunities in emerging areas to deliver high-quality outcomes that would benefit both countries as well as contribute to regional prosperity.”

‘A blessing’: China court lauds rule of law, backs transgender staffer fired for being ‘absent’ while on leave recovering from reassignment surgery

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3243608/blessing-china-court-lauds-rule-law-backs-transgender-staffer-fired-being-absent-while-leave?utm_source=rss_feed

Details have emerged of a judicial decision by a Beijing court in 2020 which upholds the rights of a transgender woman who was fired for being “absent” after she took time off to recover from gender reassignment surgery.

The previously unknown details, which have reignited discussions about equal employment rights in China, were posted online by the Shanghai Federation Trade Unions on November 29.

The case involves a transgender employee of the Chinese e-commerce platform Dangdang, surnamed Gao, who took her employer to court after it fired her for being “absence” in 2018 after she applied for sick leave with her supervisor on the day of her gender reassignment surgery.

Gao submitted a medical certificate and documented the doctor’s advice that she needed two months off work after the surgery.

Her application for leave was affirmed by her superior but human resources staff rejected her application saying her certificates contained “unclear content and cannot prove sickness”.

Gao was fired by the company two months after she first applied for sick leave, and two months after that she formally sought labour dispute arbitration.

A letter the company sent Gao following her reassignment surgery was used by her as evidence of unlawful dismissal.

In the letter, the company addressed Gao as “Mr”, referred to her as a “mental patient” and said that they had to “protect” other employees from her.

In 2018, the World Health Organisation dropped “gender identity disorder” from its International Classification of Diseases, known as ICD-11, in a move to uphold transgender rights.

China’s National Health Commission translated the ICD-11 and promoted its guidelines in medical institutions nationwide.

The outcome was that the Beijing court supported Gao on two counts and ruled that Dangdang should continue to honour her original contract of employment.

In addition, the court said Dangdang should pay her salary from the date she applied for sick leave to the date of arbitration, which amounts to 128,028 yuan (US$18,000).

The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People’s Court went on to state that “social tolerance is a blessing of the rule of law” and highlighted the need to “respect diverse ways of living and protect the dignity of transgender people.”

According to the 2021 National Transgender Health Survey Report by the non-profit organisation, Beijing LGBT Centre, the unemployment rate in the transgender community was 15.9 per cent, much higher than China’s registered urban unemployment rate of 3.96 per cent in the same year.

Half of the 7,600 transgender respondents to the survey said they did not express their gender identity at work and 34 per cent said they had encountered workplace discrimination including rejection, isolation and harassment.

Of the 293 respondents who had gone through gender reassignment surgery, a third said they continued to use the gender they were assigned with at birth, mostly due to “pressure from workplace and parents”.

On January 1, 2019, the Supreme People’s Court of China included “dispute over equal employment rights” as a cause of action with which discriminated employees could defend their rights by filing a lawsuit.

A Beijing lawyer, who has been studying the issues and requested anonymity, told the Post that the cause of action had been generally only applied at the job-seeking stage of the employment process, this left the transgender sector unprotected against actual on-the-job workplace discrimination.

But she praised the efforts of policymakers in working to improve the living conditions of transgender people in China.

In 2022, the National Health Commission updated its regulations on gender reassignment surgery.

The new regulations lowered the minimum age for surgery from 20 to 18 and removed a previous requirement that transgender people should have psychological or psychiatric treatment and assessment for a year before surgery, winning applause from the mainland LGBTQ+ community.

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Deepest lab on Earth: China launches mega facility more than 2,000m below ground in search of dark matter

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3244249/deepest-lab-earth-china-launches-mega-facility-more-2000m-below-ground-search-dark-matter?utm_source=rss_feed

The world’s deepest and largest underground laboratory – built 2,400 metres (7,874 feet) under the surface in southwest China – has started operations in what could be a major boost to the global search for dark matter.

The launch of the China Jinping Underground Laboratory follows three years of extensive upgrades and expansion, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday.

Offering special testing conditions not available to scientists elsewhere, the facility is expected to open up new frontiers in deep-earth experiments.

Located at an extreme depth that blocks most cosmic rays, the lab is seen as an ideal “ultra-clean” site for scientists to detect dark matter, an invisible substance believed to make up at least a quarter of the universe.

With a room capacity of 300,000 cubic metres (79.3 million), or about 120 Olympic-sized swimming pools, it is now also the world’s largest underground lab – almost double the size of the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy.

Chinese scientists want to build a powerful telescope to find dark matter

Dark matter does not absorb, reflect or emit light, making it extremely hard to spot, according to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), which also hosts equipment that studies the strange and unknown substance.

CERN’s powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, is located 100 metres underground near Geneva on the Franco-Swiss border. The collider is used by international researchers to look for dark matter.

Scientists have been able to infer the existence of dark matter from the gravitational effect it seems to have on visible matter. Unfolding its mystery could help researchers better understand the composition of our universe and how galaxies hold together.

When the first phase of the Jinping lab was completed in 2010, it had a capacity of about 4,000 cubic metres. The joint construction of its second phase by Tsinghua University and the state-owned Yalong River Hydropower Development Company started in December 2020.

Located deep underneath Jinping Mountain in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, the research facility can be accessed by car via a tunnel.

Yue Qian, a professor at Tsinghua’s department of engineering physics, told Xinhua that the lab was only exposed to a tiny flux of cosmic rays, equal to one hundred-millionth of that on the Earth’s surface, offering an ultra-clean space for scientists to seek dark matter.

Other conditions in the lab, including extremely low environmental radiation and concentration of the naturally occurring radioactive gas radon, would also enhance dark matter detection, “so that we can embark on the most significant scientific inquiries”, Yue was quoted as saying.

He added that the lab would also support interdisciplinary research such as in the fields of particle physics, nuclear astrophysics, cosmology, life sciences and rock mechanics.

Ten research teams comprising scientists from the Tsinghua, Shanghai Jiao Tong and Beijing Normal universities, as well as the China Institute of Atomic Energy, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and more were already stationed at the facility, Xinhua said.

According to the state-backed China News Service, a team from Sichuan Medical University’s West China Medical Centre, studying deep earth medicine at the lab, had been able to identify molecular targets adapted to extremely low background radiation. The discovery could potentially improve tumour treatment, the report said.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative rightly offers charity-free development

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3243976/chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-rightly-offers-charity-free-development?utm_source=rss_feed

In Paul Theroux’s 2002 book Dark Star Safari, he travels from Cairo to Cape Town on low-cost transport, staying in cheap hotels. It was his return to Africa after 35 years. As a young man, he had taught in Malawi and lectured at a university in Uganda. Malawi had been one of the world’s poorest countries. On his return, he wanted to see how it compared.

Theroux was appalled to find that things were mostly not better, and in many cases worse. He visited small cities such as Mbeya in western Tanzania and Mzuzu in Malawi. “Mbeya,” he wrote, “as a habitable ruin, attracted foreign charities. This I found depressing rather than hopeful, for they had been at it for decades and the situation was more pathetic than ever.”

In Mzuzu, he looked for a vehicle to hitch a ride. “There were many vehicles in Mzuzu,” he said, “the most expensive of them of course were the white four-wheel drives displaying the doorside logos of charities.”

A four-wheel drive was important because the roads were so bad. The drivers of these vehicles did not give him a ride. But his annoyance was not because of that, but because “the vehicles were often driven by Africans, the white people riding as passengers in what resembled ministerial seats”.

The charitable urge that brings well-funded charities to poor countries is a modern version of the antiquated, self-consciously well-intentioned “white man’s burden” mentality. It’s our burden, the charity’s donors and employees believe, to help these people – they require charity. But the charity often goes awry, providing more good jobs for charity workers than help for its receivers.

China’s approach in helping these countries is different. More of a business model, it is an investment with an expectation of a return if all goes well. In a typical investment deal, when all goes well, the investment’s recipients also gain benefits.

This model treats poor countries and people in them as customers and business partners, not recipients of charity – a more respectful way of dealing with them, and free of the stigma of the white man’s burden.

China’s investments benefit many poorer countries around the world. These are investments in whole countries and commerce between countries, focusing especially, as the white paper released in October by China’s State Council Information Office, “The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future”, says, on the “growing connectivity of infrastructure”.

In Africa, examples are the Mombasa-Nairobi and Addis Ababa-Djibouti railways. In many countries in Africa, the roads are very bad, as Theroux observed. Improving the ease of transport and communication can bring these countries fully into the modern world of commerce, a key to increasing prosperity.

While subject to the same allegations of corruption and overly optimistic projections as many infrastructure projects in developing countries, the debt-financed structure imposes more discipline than does charity.

Some Western politicians and media, weighed down by an always-bash-China bias, have sought to characterise these investments – many of which are in the form of long-term loans – as “debt-trap diplomacy”. They allege that China seeks to over-lend to these countries, to enable it to force them to hand over assets to China when they cannot repay. But these allegations have been thoroughly debunked by leading academic researchers.

China must ensure, however, that it avoids other pitfalls. It must not always accomplish its construction projects by using imported Chinese labourers. Seasoned development experts in Africa sometimes say that at the highest levels, professional African workers are excellent but very expensive, while at the lower end, labour is cheap but of low quality.

It is a challenge for China to build infrastructure using local workers. Hence, infrastructure investments must include investments in education, especially vocational education.

Many Belt and Road Intiative projects are under way worldwide to improve infrastructure connectivity. Not all projects will be successful, of course, or profitable. But the application of effort and drive is likely to bring success to the endeavour overall, whether through the eventual spectacular success of only one or two projects, or a general lifting up of many countries.

We are at last starting to see the countries that were first called “underdeveloped”, then “less developed”, then “developing”, finally actually developing rapidly.

China sees Europe as key trade partner, Xi Jinping tells visiting EU leaders

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3244223/china-sees-europe-key-trade-partner-xi-jinping-tells-visiting-eu-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has told visiting EU leaders that Europe will be a key trade partner in fields such as technology and supply chains.

Xi was meeting the Presidents of the European Commission and Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, in Beijing for a summit held amid strained relations.

Europe has embarked on a strategy of “de-risking” its relations with China and has been increasingly vocal about its concerns about unfair trade practices, including an investigation into alleged state subsidies for electric vehicle makers.

Other areas of tension include Taiwan, the war in Ukraine – and concerns Chinese firms are helping Russia get round sanctions – as well as a growing trade deficit that reached €390 billion (US$420.5 billion) in China’s favour last year, according to the EU.

Despite low expectations there will be substantial progress on these issues, both sides sent positive signals from the morning meeting.

“China is promoting high-quality development and high-level opening-up, and will view the EU as a key partner in trade, a prioritised partner in technology cooperation, and a trustworthy partner in industrial and supply chain cooperation,” Xi said, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.

“The economies of China and Europe highly complement each other. Both sides should make more efforts to tighten the bonds of the China-EU community of shared interests through deeper and broader cooperation.”

China-EU trade disputes on table as Beijing pursues ‘strategic trust’: analysts

Xi told von der Layen and Michel that Beijing and Brussels should “form accurate perceptions of each other and strengthen mutual understanding and trust” as well as being “trustful and faithful and putting their hearts and minds into developing their relationship”.

Specifically, he said China and the European Union should “complement each other in markets, capital and technologies; promote upgrades in traditional industries and the development of emerging industries; explore new models of cooperation, create new areas of growth; and together improve industrial and supply chains”, Xi said.

The European leader said they were “looking forward to developing a consistently stable, predictable, sustainable relationship with China”, according to the Chinese statement.

They added that the bloc “hopes to continue dialogue and cooperation” in areas such as trade and the green and digital economies, as well as maintaining supply chains. They also said they wanted to cooperate on global issues such as climate change and artificial intelligence.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, von der Leyen said the leaders agreed that they have “a joint interest in balanced trade relations” and hope to “increase people-to-people exchanges”.

Chinese budget e-commerce app Temu is snatching business from US dollar stores ahead of lucrative holiday season

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3244193/chinese-budget-e-commerce-app-temu-snatching-business-us-dollar-stores-ahead-lucrative-holiday?utm_source=rss_feed

Temu, the fast-growing Chinese e-commerce platform selling US$4 home decor and US$10 shirts, is successfully taking on US dollar stores including industry leader Dollar General, according to the latest market share data.

As of last month, Temu accounted for nearly 17 per cent of market share in the United States within the discount stores categories, according to data analytics firm Earnest Analytics. That compares to 8 per cent for the dollar chain Five Below, 43 per cent for Dollar General and 28 per cent for Dollar Tree.

Temu launched in the United States in September 2022 and quickly became popular through its use of social-media influencers to tout its merchandise as better and more affordable than traditional stores.

How Temu, an app for US shoppers, helped PDD catch up with Alibaba in market value

“Its (Temu) low prices on household goods and consumer staples makes it more of a threat to bricks-and-mortar discounters like the dollar stores than other online marketplaces,” said Michael Maloof, head of marketing at Earnest Analytics.

Temu sells apparel including US$12 dresses and US$20 sneakers, while also offering similar holiday decor, storage containers and toys as dollar stores. Analysts expect it to generate more than US$16 billion in revenue this year as it expands internationally.

“Temu has the advantage of novelty and excitement that is hard to re-create for staid low-end discount retail brands,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors.

Temu, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Five Below did not respond to requests for comments on the research. The US dollar stores have said previously they do not see an effect from Temu on their sales because of relatively smaller online presences and differing customers.

While dollar stores have maintained strength among customers buying necessities like food, beverages and items like detergent, they are dealing with a shift in consumer demand and also struggling with operational missteps.

Dollar General has cut its annual profit forecast three times this year as budget-conscious shoppers have cut spending on higher-margin discretionary goods and shifted to buying more lower-margin consumable goods.

Margins have also fallen at dollar stores because they are marking down merchandise to clear excess inventory and like many retailers are also being hurt by retail theft.

Tennessee-based Dollar General has seen the steepest decline in market share compared to competitors, according to Earnest Analytics. It held a 43 per cent market share in November, down from about 57 per cent in January. Dollar Tree’s share slid nearly four percentage points from 32 per cent in January to 28 per cent in November.

Temu is benefiting from shopper fatigue with high prices and inflation, said Peter Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, a libertarian, free-market think tank. Temu’s parent company PDD Group said revenue rose by 94 per cent to 68.84 billion yuan (US$9.62 billion) in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from a year ago.

Temu takes on Shein, Alibaba in South Korea’s budget shopping arena

Temu uses a network of China-based manufacturers of cheap personal electronics, clothes and home goods. Factories and merchants on Temu send merchandise directly to Temu shoppers, using a trade exemption that allows shipments under US$800 to enter the US duty-free.

“Temu with their ‘shop like a billionaire’ slogan has mastered gamification and rewards to make online shopping fun, easy, and cheaper than the dollar stores,” Running Point’s Schulman said.

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Gold-priced steel: China’s tech breakthrough shatters Western market dominance

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3241973/gold-priced-steel-chinas-tech-breakthrough-shatters-western-market-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed

Engineers in China are producing ultra-thin stainless steel sheets that once cost as much as gold to import – breaking a previous reliance on other countries to provide the product.

Tsingtuo Group announced it had successfully rolled out “steel foil” of just 0.015mm (0.0006 inch) thickness, equal to a quarter of the thickness of a sheet of paper or one-third that of a strand of human hair.

Their “hand-torn steel” was the thinnest possible in the world, the privately held firm claimed in a post on their official WeChat social media page last month.

China’s creation of a domestic industry for high-end ultra-thin stainless steel sheets – called steel foil when they are less than 0.05mm thick – began only a few years ago.

Despite China being the largest producer of steel worldwide, foil production used to be dominated by Japan, Germany, and the United States, from whom China had to import at a high premium.

The per gram cost was roughly the same as that of gold, according to state media reports.

Steel production in China has been focused on low to mid-end products, according to an analysis done last year by China Merchants Securities.

But in less than a decade, the country has gone from buyer to producer of high-end steel foils, thanks to huge state investments in technological innovation.

In 2020, state-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel Company (Tisco) became the first Chinese company to roll out 0.015mm steel foil, which domestic media reports said was the thinnest in the world.

Now Tsingtuo – which only rolled out its first 0.05mm thin foil in 2021 – has also started mass production, boosting the domestic sector.

In its post, Tsingtuo also claimed it was the first stainless steel foil produced in China using only domestic equipment.

Ultra-thin steel sheets join a growing list of products previously sourced abroad but now being developed and produced by China, such as heavy machinery, high speed railway and semiconductors.

Steel foil, called “hand-torn steel” in China because of its ability to rip like paper, is used in a vast array of products – including cutting-edge foldable phones.

For instance, one of the biggest challenges in producing affordable, high-quality foldable phones is the folding screen.

Liao Xi, head of research and development at Tisco, said ultra-thin steel foil was key.

EU to investigate Chinese steel and aluminium sectors, with tariffs looming

The use of thin steel foil could increase the lifespan of such smartphones from 50,000 to 300,000 folds, Liao told Chinese network CGTN.

Earlier this year, Tisco began mass producing steel foil for delivery to domestic companies. The foil will be used for hi-tech products, including flexible OLED screens for smartphones, according to China’s official People’s Daily.

In the first two years after Tisco began producing their 0.02mm foil, the company experienced a revenue growth of 80 per cent. In the first quarter of 2020, their exports increased by 70 per cent year on year, according to Science Times.

According to Tisco, when a tonne of stainless steel is turned into foil, it can be sold at a profit of 300 to 500 per cent more than the cost of stainless steel before processing.

Last year, the Asia-Pacific region – namely China, Japan and India – dominated the stainless steel foil market, and was “the most lucrative region”, according to an analysis by the market research company Transparency Market Research.

Steel foil has a broad range of applications, including aerospace components, chips and circuits, thermal insulation, pipelines, solar panels, industrial processing equipment and surgical equipment.

Aerospace components where foil is used include hydraulic tubing, high-pressure seals and nozzles, according to the US-based Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals.

The foil – usually in sheets measuring 600mm across – is produced through a process of “cold rolling”. This involves very long stainless steel sheets being passed through a series of rolling machines under high pressure, with the finished product then wound up in coils.

“No other country” is able to mass produce super thin steel sheets that are also 600mm wide, Liao told state media.

In the early days of Tisco’s development of ultra-thin foil, the sheets would sometimes break after slipping on the rolling machines. It took the company several trial runs to perfect the production system, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

In 2018, after two years of development and over 700 trials, Tisco announced that they had successfully rolled out the country’s first 0.02mm foil.

Import prices were halved as the country began to meet demand domestically, according to China Daily.

“We are among the few companies in the world capable of producing soft steel foil of 0.02mm or thinner,” Wang Tianxiang, steel foil production manager at Tisco, told the state-backed paper.

Liao said a small reduction in thickness from 0.02mm to 0.015mm could “enhance battery capacity by 17 per cent”, CGTN reported.

Different grades of stainless steel foil, made of alloys with varying combinations of iron with other metals, are used in different industries.

India imposes anti-dumping duty on some Chinese steel for 5 years

HZW Technology, another Chinese steel foil maker, said the material is lightweight and flexible but strong, with higher resistance to high temperatures and corrosion than aluminium and copper foil.

In China, steel foil wider than 600mm is also used in thermal insulation for buildings, as the sheets can trap heat in the winter and keep it outside in the summer, HZW said.

HZW also listed a wide array of other uses for different grades of steel foil, including the production of engines, farming equipment, cars, kitchen appliances, and petroleum refining equipment.

Duan Haojie, director of Tisco research and development, told Chinese news site The Paper they would continue trying to make thinner steel foils.

“We can probably reach 0.012mm,” he said.

Delivering kindness: China Porsche car owner shuns compensation from injured food dispatch driver after crash, offers to pay medical bill

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3243615/delivering-kindness-china-porsche-car-owner-shuns-compensation-injured-food-dispatch-driver-after?utm_source=rss_feed

A kind-hearted sports car driver in China has refused to accept financial compensation from a delivery driver who accidentally crashed into her Porsche, moving many people on mainland social media.

The incident happened in Shenzhen in southeastern China’s Guangdong province on November 16 after he jumped a red light to deliver food by a specific time, according to Yangcheng Evening News.

When he realised he had hit a luxury car and would incur expensive repair fees, he said he could pay for the fixes but would have to do so in instalments.

“Don’t worry about my car. No need for you to compensate me,” the woman told the young driver whose face and hands were covered in blood.

Then she added: “Look, your jaw is injured. I will give you some money, and you should go to the hospital.”

The video was shot by the woman’s friend, surnamed Wang, who called the police.

An officer later confirmed that the delivery driver was responsible for the crash.

There were scratches on the bonnet and bumper of the red Porsche, said Wang, who estimated repair costs could run into tens of thousands of yuan (several thousand US dollars).

“My friend said the worker looked wretched, so she did not want to create a huge financial burden for him. What’s more, she offered to pay for his medical costs, but he refused,” Wang told the newspaper.

The woman’s kindess has caused her to trend online, receiving 1 million likes on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.

“This car owner is so kind-hearted. She understands the hardship of the delivery worker and deserves our applause. We should promote her spirit,” one person said.

“One person is good-hearted, and the other is willing to shoulder his responsibility. I hope both parties live peacefully in their lives,” said another.

Stories involving luxury cars often make headlines in China.

Last year, also in Guangdong province, a father was praised online for teaching his three-year-old son the value of taking responsibility by making him apologise and pay 2,000 yuan (US$280) for deliberately scratching several luxury cars in their neighbourhood.

China trade: exports edge up for first time in 7 months in November, but imports decline

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3244146/china-trade-exports-edge-first-time-7-months-november-imports-decline?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s exports edged up for the first time in seven months in November, although exporters are still experiencing consistent pressure from sluggish external demand.

Exports improved modestly last month, increasing by 0.5 per cent from a year earlier to US$291.9 billion, according to customs data released on Thursday.

The reading in November was better than the fall of 6.4 per cent in October, and was above the forecast by Chinese financial data provider Wind for an increase of 0.4 per cent.

China’s imports, meanwhile, fell by 0.6 per cent last month to US$223.5 billion, compared to 3 per cent growth in October, and lower than the expectation from Wind for growth of 3.5 per cent.

China’s total trade surplus in November stood at US$68.3 billion, up from US$56.5 billion in October.

The world’s leading exporter is confronting a series of trade challenges amid a global economic slowdown and shifting supply chain landscape, which are casting doubt over China’s recovery.

More to follow …

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Australia seals Papua New Guinea security deal, ups battle for influence with China in the Pacific

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3244147/australia-seals-papua-new-guinea-security-deal-ups-battle-influence-china-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed

Australia clinched a security deal with Papua New Guinea on Thursday, bolstering ties to a key Pacific neighbour that has been courted persistently by China.

Canberra pushed for a more substantive treaty earlier this year, but Papua New Guinea balked because leaders feared it undermined the country’s “sovereign rights”.

The salvaged agreement focuses on Papua New Guinea’s domestic security, as stretched police struggle to stamp out arms trafficking, drug smuggling and tribal violence.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said the deal covered a “broad spectrum of security”, including policing and support for the country’s judiciary system.

Australian Premier Anthony Albanese said it would promote “regional stability” in the Pacific.

Papua New Guinea granted the United States “unimpeded” access to key naval bases, ports and airfields under a deal hammered out in May this year.

Build now, pay later? Debt-ridden Fiji turns to China for port upgrades

But there was a swift political backlash, with opponents concerned the former British colony was yielding too much influence to foreign powers.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Euan Graham said the backlash had ultimately damaged Canberra’s efforts.

“That’s why it has taken until now, because of the political capital Marape used on the American agreement,” he said.

“He couldn’t do a deal with Australia at the same time.”

Marape and Albanese said earlier this year that they were putting the finishing touches on a major bilateral security treaty.

But that agreement – which they had hoped to sign in June – started unravelling in the closing stages of negotiations.

By July, Marape was voicing concerns that unspecified clauses encroached on his country’s “sovereign rights”.

Thursday’s revised agreement includes more resources for Papua New Guinea’s police, help for the country’s judges, and measures to tackle gender-based violence.

It also covers climate change, cybersecurity and disaster relief.

Perched less than 200km (125 miles) from Australia’s northernmost border, Papua New Guinea is the largest and most populous state in Melanesia.

It is blessed with vast deposits of gas, gold, and minerals – and peers over some of the Pacific region’s busiest shipping lanes.

“Because of its size, population, and geography it’s always going to be a logical anchor point for a Pacific policy,” said Graham.

The United States and ally Australia have been on a diplomatic blitz to shore up their relationships in the South Pacific.

They were jolted into action after Solomon Islands – Papua New Guinea’s eastern neighbour – signed a secretive security pact with Beijing in April 2022.

Australia-Tuvalu treaty sparks fears of population drain, threat to sovereignty

Marape stressed on Thursday that his country was not picking sides.

“Our major foreign policy remains friends to all and enemies to none. It’s never at the expense of relationships elsewhere.”

China has been on its own Papua New Guinea charm offensive, pouring money into trade, real estate and infrastructure projects.

But Graham said that, so far, it had struggled to convert these links into anything of major military significance.

“China’s economic links to Papua New Guinea’s elite are now very deep, that’s not going to disappear overnight,” he said.

“But in defence terms, the penetration that China has made in Papua New Guinea is fairly shallow.

“They have been casting around for ports and airfield investments, but I think those are still quite speculative.”

US Republican presidential debate: Nikki Haley targeted, rivals tussle over China

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3244162/us-republican-presidential-debate-nikki-haley-targeted-rivals-tussle-over-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Nikki Haley was targeted from the opening moments of the fourth debate for Republican presidential hopefuls as time runs out for the shrinking field to shake up a race dominated by former US president Donald Trump.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis accused Haley of backing down from media criticism and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suggested that the former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor was too close to corporate interests as she gets new attention from donors. Responded Haley: “They’re just jealous”.

Three of the four candidates onstage on Wednesday didn’t mention Trump, the overwhelming Republican front runner, in the debate’s opening minutes.

Aside from Chris Christie, the candidates have spent more time in debates going after each other than taking aim at Trump, reflecting the view of many Republican power players that there are diminishing returns in attacking the former president given his popularity among Republicans.

The candidates were at the University of Alabama for their last scheduled meeting before the Iowa caucuses kick off the presidential nominating season next month.

Trump, who has staged public appearances to compete for attention during the three prior Republican debates, made plans to spend the evening at a closed-door fundraiser in Florida.

Powerful Koch group endorses Haley’s 2024 bid to beat Trump

Christie stayed mostly silent during the opening of the debate. When he got the floor, the former New Jersey governor unloaded on them for being “too timid” to mention Trump at all, saying they were acting “as if the race is between the four of us”.

“The truth needs to be told,” he said. “This is a guy who just said this past week that he wants to use the Department of Justice to go after his enemies when he gets there. There is no bigger issue in this race than Donald Trump.”

Haley is gaining new interest from voters and donors but still remains well behind Trump in national and early-state polls.

DeSantis touted his own willingness to pick high-profile fights with his critics and criticised Haley in his opening comments, reflecting the rivalry between the two candidates’ camps reflected in television ads going after the other side.

“She caves every time the left comes after her, every time the media comes after her,” DeSantis said, touting his own willingness to pick high-profile fights with his critics.

They also tussled over China, long an animating issue for conservatives worried about Beijing’s influence.

“Deterring China’s ambitions is the number one national security task that I will do as president, and we will succeed,” DeSantis said.

“The 21st century needs to be an American century. We cannot let it be a Chinese century.”

Haley credited Trump for taking a hard line with Beijing on trade but said he was too passive on other fronts, including allowing China to capture American technology for its own military use and purchase American farmland.

Could a second Trump presidency slide into dictatorship?

Interrupting Haley, DeSantis accused her of allowing Chinese investment in South Carolina when she was governor and suggested her corporate donors would never allow her to be tough on Beijing.

“First of all, he’s mad because those Wall Street donors used to support him and now they support me,” Haley retorted before accusing DeSantis of being soft on Chinese investment in Florida.

Ramaswamy, always the most eager to deliver personal barbs on the debate stage, turned a foreign policy discussion into another attack on Haley, seemingly trolling her to name provinces in Ukraine and suggesting she does not understand the country.

As he kept piling on, Christie stepped in to declare Haley “a smart, accomplished woman” and dismiss Ramaswamy as “the most obnoxious blowhard in America”.

The debate aired on NewsNation, a cable network still trying to build its audience after taking over WGN America three years ago. NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas moderated alongside Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News anchor who now hosts a popular podcast, and Eliana Johnson of the conservative news site Washington Free Beacon.

Haley has risen in recent polling to challenge the Florida governor’s position as the leading non-Trump contender.

How old is Joe Biden? 81st birthday is now a liability for 2024

She’s leaned on her foreign policy experience since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. And she recently won the support of the Koch brothers ‘ powerful political operation, which will send organisers and canvassers into early primary states on her behalf.

DeSantis, meanwhile, faces new upheaval in his political operation. A pro-DeSantis super PAC that is handling much of his campaign apparatus in Iowa parted ways with several top staffers over the weekend.

Ramaswamy has been a fiery presence in the three earlier debates. He’ll be looking to resurrect the interest he saw over the summer but remains stalled in single digits in most polls.

And Christie, who barely met the requirements to participate, is the only leading contender to consistently go after Trump, needling his rivals for focusing on each other instead of the race’s front runner.

He has focused his campaign on New Hampshire, which holds its primaries eight days after the Iowa caucuses.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters

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China-EU summit: Beijing open to discuss trade disputes in pursuit of ‘strategic trust’, analysts say

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3244163/china-eu-summit-beijing-open-discuss-trade-disputes-pursuit-strategic-trust-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed

The China-European Union summit, with diverging priorities from both sides, is unlikely to lead to concrete outcomes over economic concerns and the war in Ukraine. But Beijing will be open to discuss trade disputes, analysts said, as it seeks to rebuild “strategic trust” with the bloc.

On the eve of the first in-person leader meetings between China and the EU since 2019 – a video conference was held in 2022 – Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on both sides to engage in dialogues to avoid “bloc confrontation” amid geopolitical complexities.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang will host meetings with Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, respectively the leaders of the European Commission and the European Council. Those cap a series of high-level exchanges this year as Beijing and Brussels have tried to mend ties while the EU has largely aligned with the US in taking a tougher stance towards China.

EU officials have low expectations for the one-day summit, saying there will be no joint statement or major deliverables, as the bloc plans to take a firm stand over trade, human rights in Xinjiang and Ukraine – all issues that have strained bilateral ties for years.

Thursday’s summit will reflect whether the two sides share a genuine willingness for rapprochement, particularly crucial at “a new phase of uncertainty in the EU-China relations”, said James F. Downes, an assistant professor in international relations at Hong Kong Metropolitan University.

“It is telling that in the run-up to the EU-China Summit that the level of commitment and expectations from both sides has been rather muted, if not drastically toned down from previous summits,” he said.

EU-China summit: thorny issues to dominate as tense ties reflect ‘sober realism’

Ding Yifan, a researcher who specialises in European affairs at the Development Research Centre of the Chinese State Council, called the summit an opportunity for Beijing to rebuild strategic trust with Brussels, although he said Brussels might be less inclined to do so.

But he said the thawing between China and the US following Xi’s discussions with US President Joe Biden last month in California could prompt the bloc to rethink its own stance on China.

“This kind of contact between China and Europe is meaningful because [China] can try to re-establish strategic trust through this kind of contact and dialogue,” Ding said.

The summit “will not see them at loggerheads”, he said. “The Europeans will also think about [its stance on China] … Europeans will realise that although the US seems to be very determined to confront China, it will also make concessions in negotiations. There will be arguments but an easing of tensions too.”

At their meeting, Xi and Biden agreed to manage tensions, resume military-to-military communications and address climate change and the fentanyl crisis in the US. No breakthroughs were achieved in deep-rooted issues such as Taiwan and military competition in the Indo-Pacific, however.

Ding did not expect immediate outcomes from the Beijing summit on thorny issues like the EU’s subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles or China’s export curbs on graphite, a key material for EV batteries.

Brussels accuses Beijing of exporting overcapacity in its manufacturing sectors and announced a subsidy inquiry on Chinese EVs in October, saying that cheap electric cars from China had damaged the interests of local manufacturers.

In the same month, China imposed export controls on graphite, which was widely seen as a countermeasure to US tech curbs. The restriction, which started on December 1, is also expected to affect Europe, which has focused on transitioning to “green” technologies in recent years.

Brussels has also been taking a “de-risking” approach in its relations with Beijing, as it has long complained about the EU’s €400 billion (US$431 billion) trade deficit and has sought to reduce what it calls economic over-dependence on China.

China and the EU have also clashed on an alleged unofficial economic embargo that Beijing placed on Lithuania since Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a diplomatic office there under its own name last year.

Zha Daojiong, a Peking University professor specialising in China’s economic relations with Europe, said China will seek to persuade the EU to keep “global supply chains as free of political or regulatory disruptions as possible”.

Brussels has always wanted Beijing to tackle the trade imbalance between it and the European market, said Abigaël Vasselier, director of policy and European affairs at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany.

But the summit might mark the first time the EU tells China that “there will be consequences” if the structural trade imbalance is not addressed, she said.

Before setting off for Beijing, von der Leyen told reporters that Brussels had European leaders who “will not tolerate over time an imbalance in the trade relationship” and had “tools to protect our market” – but preferred negotiated solutions.

Beijing, in response, said it had never deliberately pursued a trade surplus, saying Europe enjoyed “a considerable part” of profits through European businesses operating in China.

“Trade data also cannot reflect the benefit distribution pattern of China-EU trade under the integration of global industrial and supply chains. More than one-third of the exports of European companies in China are returned to Europe. On the surface, China has a surplus, but in fact a considerable part of the profits is enjoyed by the European side,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

“Buying and selling is a matter between both parties. If the EU imposes strict restrictions on the export of hi-tech products to China on the one hand, and hopes to significantly increase exports to China on the other, this may not be reasonable.”

Vasselier expected von der Leyen to deliver the message that “either we address the trade deficit ... [as well as a] level playing field and openness in our systems, or there will be consequences, and the investigation over Chinese subsidies on electric vehicles is just the first step”.

But she had doubts about the “tremendous amount of political capital” the EU invested because there had been “very limited results” from sanctions on Chinese companies.

Wang Yiwei, a China-EU relations specialist at Renmin University in Beijing, said that without being able to solve their major trade disputes, there would be little chance of smooth sailing between Beijing and Brussels. He suggested that during their summit the leaders discuss mutually beneficial proposals to solve the EV subsidy dispute.

EU set to ask Xi to stop Chinese firms getting around sanctions on Russia

“If China’s electric cars can be produced in Europe, it will provide targeted benefits for European market access and truly solve some of Europe’s practical concerns of its interests. Let’s see if that will show any good signs in China-EU relations. Otherwise, it will definitely be difficult,” he said.

Wang did not think the recent easing in China-US relations would have a major impact on the EU, since Brussels might regard the thaw as temporary. He said the EU would rather stick with its call of “strategic autonomy” to better serve the 27-nation bloc’s political agenda.

The EU, Wang said, has already attributed “the decline of its industry and its competitiveness and the economic problems” to “risks from China”.

That includes “the Russia-Ukraine conflict, [saying] Russia was not defeated because of China’s support”, he said.

“Because there are the European Parliament elections next June,” Wang noted, “Europe as a whole … is shifting right, becoming more conservative. Then there will definitely be more blame on China in the future.”

Despite disagreement of unresolved issues, the EU could still forge agreement with China on secondary areas such as technological sovereignty, said Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa, a Hong Kong-based China-EU analyst.

“Emphasising realpolitik doesn’t necessitate highlighting only the negative aspects; it implies actually pragmatic approaches and foresight,” he said.

The war in Ukraine – the bloodiest European conflict since World War II – continues to top the EU agenda. While the EU presses China to use its influence on Russia to end the invasion, China has not condemned Russia and instead criticised Nato for prolonging the war.

EU sources have told the South China Morning Post that the EU’s top leaders want to push Xi to stop 13 Chinese firms that are linked to the Russian military from gaining access to European-made goods.

They said that if a firm commitment from Beijing could not be secured, the EU might add those businesses to the bloc’s 12th package of sanctions on Russia.

Sources said the EU leaders would also press China to re-engage with the peace plan put forth by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

China has its own 12-point peace plan, which calls for a ceasefire through peaceful talks and ending of unilateral sanctions that it said will not help solve the issue. The EU is sceptical of China’s plan, saying it is not neutral and lacks details on how to achieve a ceasefire.

Chinese analysts do not expect Beijing and Brussels to achieve much consensus on Ukraine given the wide gap of their positions.

“China has long hoped that the war would end as soon as possible,” Wang of Renmin University said.

Beijing’s “relatively clear” response, he said, would be: “‘Don’t point the finger at me. We, like you, also hope for an early ceasefire’.”

‘I don’t want to live’: China food delivery driver snaps hysterically after police stop for jumping red light, puts industry stress in focus

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3243611/i-dont-want-live-china-food-delivery-driver-snaps-hysterically-after-police-stop-jumping-red-light?utm_source=rss_feed

The plight of a food delivery worker in China who knelt before a traffic police begging for mercy after he was caught jumping a red light has highlighted the pressures of working in the industry.

After making his plea, the desperate driver got to his feet and ran away screaming: “I don’t want to live anymore.”

The bizarre incident took place on November 27 when the driver from Hangzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, wearing the uniform of a well-known Chinese food delivery company, was stopped by traffic police for running a red light.

In an online video, the police officer is seen scolding the kneeling driver: “What were you doing? The road belongs to everyone, not just you! There are many cars on this road. What if someone had hit you?”

“Get up quickly!” The police officer says.

However, the driver refuses and after further reprimands, he stands up, pushes over his motorbike and runs away across the road shouting.

As the video spread online, many people assumed the driver’s distress resulted from his fear of being fired over his traffic violation.

The next day, in response to the speculation, a member of staff from the food delivery company said that the platform would take action but would not immediately suspend his account.

“The traffic officer may fine the man for running a red light, and we will offer to educate the delivery driver if the police report the incident to our platform,” the member of staff told Haibao News.

“His job is already difficult, and firing him would make his life more challenging,” the staffer added.

The incident met with mixed sentiments on mainland social media, with some people expressing sympathy for the driver while others pointed out that his actions were dangerous.

“The officer kept scolding the man after he knelt. Couldn’t he have helped the man stand up before educating him?” one online observer said.

Another said: “Life is already hard enough for him. Let’s show more understanding and humanity!”

However, a third person disagreed: “While the delivery driver’s job is tough, running a red light should not be condoned.”

A similar incident happened in March when a police officer slapped a kneeling food delivery driver because he did not follow the designated driving lanes.

Following that incident, the local traffic police department said they had yet to identify the officer and “have conducted an internal training programme.”

Chinese schools urged to step up daily health checks and work with authorities to help stop wave of respiratory illnesses

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3244103/chinese-schools-urged-step-daily-health-checks-and-work-authorities-help-stop-wave-respiratory?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s education ministry has urged schools to step up daily health checks and reporting as the country grapples with a wave of respiratory illness among children.

In a directive issued on Monday, it also said schools should conduct risk assessments with local health departments to help fight the problem.

China has seen a spike in acute respiratory diseases among children since October. Paediatric departments across the country are reportedly being packed with young patients and forced to expand services to tackle the problem.

Health authorities have said that multiple pathogens, such as the influenza virus and mycoplasma pneumoniae, were responsible for the case spike, but stressed that “no new infectious diseases caused by new viruses or bacteria have been found”.

Zhang Ligang, 53, a teacher at a primary school in Wuhan in central China, said students at her school began calling in sick in mid-November, with more than 30 students absent from a school population of over 400 at the peak. She said that so far one class at the school has been closed.

“I feel the wave this year is less severe than last winter’s outbreak,” she said, referring to the surge of Covid-19 cases after Beijing abruptly relaxed zero-Covid restrictions.

Get a flu shot, health expert says as China battles respiratory illness wave

“We’re carrying out illness reporting and health checks of students every day. It’s a tradition from the Covid years.”

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, gained global attention as the place where Covid was first detected in late 2019.

Zhang added the school would suspend classes and report to local disease control departments if more than a third of pupils in one class got sick.

In the directive, the education ministry also told schools to make preparations for online classes for sick children and guide them in home learning.

It also said schools should “guide families in disease control” and “collaborate with relevant departments to promote vaccination”.

Wang Dayan, director of the Chinese National Influenza Centre, said last Saturday that existing vaccines for prevalent respiratory diseases, including flu, have proved to be “safe and effective”.

“It is still effective for people who have not previously been vaccinated against influenza to get the flu vaccine now,” she said.

Liu Taobei, a 35-year-old designer in Wuhan, said he was “really worried” when his three-year-old daughter needed hospital treatment after coming down with a mycoplasma infection.

“The CAT scan revealed that half of her lung was white. It’s the first time since she was born that she’s been sick so badly,” he said.

“Kids are vulnerable. We do hope kindergartens can pay more attention to them, such as making them have meals separately and reminding them to wash hands regularly.”

A mother surnamed Liu in Beijing said that she hoped the her son’s school would close for a while to stop infections spreading.

“Or the school can at least change to online teaching,” the 36-year-old said. “Too many kids are sick. Some parents send their kids to school even when they’re sick, so that the kids won’t miss classes.”

She said her son in primary school had contracted pneumonia in mid-November as a result of the flu and a mycoplasma infection, and has yet to recover.

WHO worried bird flu might adapt to humans ‘more easily’

“Daily temperature checks and mass disinfection are all necessary measures. But my son’s school stopped doing them after the pandemic,” the mother said.

She said parents were struggling to get an appointment for their children at clinics and all the Beijing paediatrics departments she had visited with her son were overcrowded and admitting hundreds of children every day.

On Saturday the National Health Commission urged hospitals to “maximise the capacity of hospitals” by increasing paediatric outpatient services, extending service hours, promoting online healthcare and making sure they had enough supplies.

Xu Jinjin, a 24-year-old primary school teacher in Wuhan, said that she felt the schools “can’t do much” to control the spread of illness.

“We’ve been sending out frequent reminders to parents lately, telling them not to send children to school if they have a fever, cough, or anything like that. But some parents are still not conscious enough of this matter,” she said.

“We can’t just stop classes on a large scale; it would mess up the teaching. Infections seem inevitable at school as dozens of students gather in a classroom for lessons and meals, especially when many kids are reluctant to wear masks all the time.”

India’s aim to surpass China as Global South leader unaffected by its support for Israel

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3244114/indias-aim-surpass-china-global-south-leader-unaffected-its-support-israel?utm_source=rss_feed

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong support for Israel and his country’s abstention from a United Nations resolution for a Gaza ceasefire will “clearly not score diplomatic points” for New Delhi as it aims to outmanoeuvre Beijing to become the leader of the Global South, analysts have said.

However, India’s Global South leadership will not be determined by its position on one issue, as analysts argued that “pragmatic” developing countries care more about what India has to offer in terms of boosting their interests.

Daniel Markey, senior South Asia adviser at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), said India would clearly “not score diplomatic points with the Global South by pursuing closer ties with Israel at the expense of the Palestinians”.

“However, India’s Global South leadership has never been the result of its stance on that one issue,” he said. “New Delhi – correctly, in my view – appreciates that the Global South is an extremely diverse set of nations and that there will be other issues on which to demonstrate India’s leadership.”

India’s Modi slammed for his ‘complete solidarity’ with Israel over Palestinians

When India assumed the year-long G20 presidency beginning last December, Modi set out visions including being a champion of the Global South, a term used to refer to developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

At international forums and United Nations meetings and conferences, India had raised a range of issues concerning the Global South.

During the G20 summit in September, India persuaded the United States and Europe to soften a statement on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine so that the forum could focus on the concerns of poorer countries such as global debt and climate financing.

At the meeting, India also played a pivotal role in admitting the African Union as a permanent member of the G20.

Earlier this year, India brought together leaders of some 100 developing countries at the Voice of Global South Summit, signalling its desire to foster solidarity among these nations and consolidate its leadership in the Global South.

Indian diplomacy is getting a boost – but it’s still ‘no match’ for US, China

Since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, many Global South countries have expressed growing anger at Western countries, most notably the US, for their strong support of Israel even as Palestinian casualties surged.

In contrast, Modi conveyed that the “people of India stand in solidarity with Israel” while abstaining from a UN resolution calling for a humanitarian truce and ceasefire in Gaza. At a Brics virtual meeting last month, India did not hold Israel accountable for Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza, which by then had surpassed 11,000.

Rafiq Dossani, director of the US-based RAND Centre for Asia-Pacific Policy, said Gaza was not a top issue of concern for countries in the Global South as the ongoing war “is not viewed as an existential or ideological threat” to most of them.

“I would imagine that a certain level of pragmatism will prevail,” Dossani said, noting that Global South countries would be more interested in what India or China – the other contender for Global South leadership – can offer.

For instance, they would be asking whether China or India would provide more aid and public goods, such as climate change leadership, Dossani said.

“[They would also ask] which country would provide better regional security and which supports the causes of the Global South at the UN,” he said.

China has heavily invested in infrastructure projects in many Global South countries under its Belt and Road Initiative. It has also tried to promote itself as the leader of the Global South by urging countries to reject “all forms of hegemony” while emphasising their shared history of colonisation.

At a Brics meeting in July, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi called for the Global South’s greater representation in international reforms and global governance.

To further underscore its ambition, China told leaders at a UN meeting in September that it considers itself part of the Global South, saying it identifies with the goals and challenges of less developed nations.

China, India court Global South in competing bids to lead developing countries

According to Dossani, there is “enough space for co-leadership” between China and India given the vastness of the Global South.

China’s attraction within the Global South is mainly material – in the form of capital, technology, and trade – Markey from USIP said.

“Many members of the Global South will question whether Beijing’s policies are aligned with their own. Leadership of the Global South will almost certainly remain contested and shared,” Markey added.

Among these policies, China’s position in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war would be closely examined by the Global South.

“If Beijing takes a more active and effective diplomatic role in the Israel-Gaza dispute, perhaps it will have a more credible claim to leadership on that issue,” Markey said.

China has taken a cautious position on the war, calling for peace and condemning violence against civilians, while also focusing on Palestinian grievances.

Last week, in a position paper submitted to the United Nations on the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, China’s five-point proposal includes a comprehensive ceasefire and end to fighting, protecting civilians, providing humanitarian help, as well as strengthening diplomatic mediation and securing a political settlement.

On India’s tilt towards Israel, Dossani said the shift is not a recent one and has been particularly strong in the area of defence.

In the years before Modi became prime minister in 2014, 5 per cent of India’s weapons were imported from Israel, according to Dossani.

Under Modi’s leadership, the figure has jumped to 13 per cent, with India now accounting for over 40 per cent of Israel’s arms exports, Dossani said.

What is the Global South and how is Israel-Gaza war shaping its role?

“The shift in political support towards Israel was, therefore, likely to happen, given the shift in defence dependence towards Israel,” he added.

Jagannath Panda, head of the Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Sweden, said India’s alignment with Israel is part of its calculations to increase its clout in the Middle East.

“India has been a part of the Quad process in the Middle East that is critical to regional economic and political stability in which a strong partnership with Israel strengthens India’s forte in the region,” Jagannath said, referring to the Quad Security Dialogue comprising India, Australia, Japan and the US.

The creation of the four-nation network has led India to play a bigger role in regional security, including its involvement in the recent joint Malabar military exercises.

In several other moves seen as countering China’s influence, India has stepped up cooperation with the US in areas including defence, global health, sustainable development, climate, and technology.

“Geopolitically, India is more closely tied now with the US. This, too, has favoured Indian foreign policy shifting towards Israel,” Dossani said.

[World] The zero-Covid protesters who fled China in fear

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-67588247?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Can China diversify iron ore imports from Australia, Brazil as mining giant Rio Tinto affirms 2025 Africa production?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3244134/can-china-diversify-iron-ore-imports-australia-brazil-mining-giant-rio-tinto-affirms-2025-africa?utm_source=rss_feed

British-Australian mining group Rio Tinto has confirmed that iron ore production at its Simandou mine in Guinea, West Africa, would start in 2025, bringing China a step close to accessing alternative sources of iron ore beyond Australia and Brazil.

Analysts had projected the project, which has faced years of stops and starts due to ownership disputes and political instability, would be operational only in the later part of the decade.

On Wednesday, the miner gave the clearest indication yet on the commencement of the project, bolstering the August announcement of a pact it struck with the Guinean government to build 600 kilometres (373 miles) of rail lines to transport iron ore through the country’s mountainous geography.

Rio has interests in two blocks within Simandou, the world’s biggest untapped source of high-grade iron ore, alongside partners, Chinalco-led Chinese consortium Chalco Iron Ore Holdings, and the Guinean government.

Malaysia’s rare earths goal fuels China’s displeasure fears, ‘betrayal’ cries

Rio said it planned to spend an initial US$6.2 billion on developing its blocks and co-developing extensive rail and port infrastructure with owners of the other two blocks in the mine, WCS, another consortium of owners that include interests from Chinese steel giant, China Baowu Steel Group.

Once production started, Rio would ramp up output over 30 months to reach 60 million tonnes a year, making the supply the third-largest globally after Australia and Brazil, based on global export data.

China, the world’s biggest steel producer and consumer, is heavily dependent on Australia and Brazil.

China imports about 60 per cent of its total iron ore needs from Australia and about 20 per cent from Brazil, according to Chinese customs figures.

Its political fallout with Australia in 2020 – which is being resolved – has led to an expedited effort by China to seek other sources of iron ore, including investing in overseas iron ore mines and increasing scrap-based steelmaking.

Given its size and quality, Simandou will be China’s best chance at diversifying away from Australia and other suppliers which also explains Beijing’s interests in all four blocks of the mine.

But Simandou’s potential was still in doubt even after Guinea’s ruling junta agreed to resume Simandou’s operations in March last year following disruptions caused by the September 2021 military coup.

“The involvement of Guinea’s ruling military junta in the giant Simandou iron ore project adds sovereign risk to an already fraught asset,” S&P Global Market Intelligence had said in an analysis shortly after operations resumed.

With the project set to go ahead, China would welcome the new source of iron ore, but there could be new hurdles ahead, Singapore-based Navigate Commodities’ managing director Atilla Widnell said.

The high grade Simandou ore will be in hot demand by the time it is mined in 2025 as it will be key to the decarbonisation process that steel mills are concerned with given their carbon emission reduction targets, he said.

For the industry to become net-zero by 2050, steelmakers must switch production from blast furnaces that consume coal to green hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI) processes, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said in a report last year.

However, DRI technology requires a higher grade of iron ore than traditional blast furnaces, which Simandou has plenty of.

“So it’s highly likely that most of [the Simandou] tonnes will find their way into North American, European and Scandinavian markets, where there will be high demand for these volumes given the chemical and technical characteristics of the Simandou ore body – much to China’s disappointment,” Widnell said.

In the interim, Australia need not be too concerned about new competition from Simandou, as the mine also could be a boon for the country in the form of mining royalties and taxes that the Australia-incorporated Rio will pay.

“And it ticks the box of contributing to the decarbonisation of the world’s steel industry,” Widnell said.

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G7 warns China on military activities in South China Sea, urges it to press Russia to exit Ukraine

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3244131/g7-warns-china-military-activities-south-china-sea-urges-it-press-russia-exit-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed

The G7 on Wednesday issued a pointed warning on China’s militarisation of the South China Sea and called for Beijing to press Russia for an unconditional withdrawal from Ukraine.

The body representing most of the world’s largest economies had Beijing squarely in mind after convening a virtual meeting attended by its members’ heads of state.

In a statement, it urged China to “press Russia to stop its military aggression” and to “support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine” in line with the principles of the UN Charter.

While the Group of 7 leaders reaffirmed a commitment to building “constructive and stable relations with China”, they said Beijing must abide by international rules and address challenges like climate change and debt sustainability in vulnerable countries.

“A growing China that plays by international rules would be of global interest,” the leaders said in the statement.

“We are not decoupling or turning inwards. At the same time, we recognise that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying.”

The group added it would take steps “individually and collectively” to invest in their “own economic vibrancy” as well as “reduce excessive dependencies in our critical supply chains.”

With respect to the South China Sea, the leaders expressed their opposition to “China’s expansive maritime claims and militarisation activities” in the highly disputed region.

Philippines stands out in Asean over embrace of US’ Indo-Pacific strategy

The Chinese Navy has increasingly drawn criticism from southeast Asian countries for what has been described as belligerent conduct.

On Sunday, the Philippines accused China of “invading” a reef off its coast after more than 135 of its military boats were spotted in the South China Sea.

Whitsun Reef, also referred to as Julian Felipe Reef by Manila, lies about 320 kilometres (199 miles) off the Philippine coast. The island nation claims it as part of its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

In recent years, however, military and Chinese ships have been sighted in its vicinity more frequently.

The G7 leaders on Wednesday said there was no legal basis for Chinese maritime expansion in the South China Sea.

They called on Beijing to respect the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, also known as Unclos, and the decision made by The Hague’s Permanent Arbitration Court in 2016.

In that case, the court ruled in favour of the Philippines, invalidating China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. The 479-page ruling declared Beijing’s assertion of historical rights within its nine-dash line legally baseless.

The tribunal also found Beijing in violation of Manila’s sovereign rights by obstructing oil exploration, prohibiting Philippine fishing activities, allowing Chinese fishing operations and undertaking environmentally damaging land reclamation.

Xi calls on coastguard to enforce law, defend China’s territorial sovereignty

On Wednesday, the G7 sought to stress the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait and highlighted China’s human rights record.

The group also emphasised Hong Kong’s right to autonomy under the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution agreed between Britain and China before the 1997 handover.

“We will keep voicing our concerns about the human rights situation in China, including in Tibet and Xinjiang where forced labour is of major concern to us,” the statement read, referring to two autonomous regions in the country where the treatment of ethnic minorities has proved a geopolitical flashpoint.

It added: “We call on China to honour its commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, which enshrine rights, freedoms and a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong.”

Argentina’s Milei has a China conundrum of his own making on his hands

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3243964/argentinas-milei-has-china-conundrum-his-own-making-his-hands?utm_source=rss_feed

In the second presidential debate, just a week before Argentina’s most unpredictable run-off in decades, the atmosphere was electric. Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate, directly challenged the far-right contender, Javier Milei. His questions demanded simple answers: “Will you close the central bank? Yes or no?” “Will you dollarise the economy? Yes or no?” “Will you maintain diplomatic ties with Brazil and China? Yes or no?”

Beyond mere campaign tactics, the questions reflected the anxieties of a population grappling with years of economic instability and seeking concrete responses from Milei – responses that remain elusive. These concerns are taking centre stage with Milei assuming the presidency of Latin America’s third-largest economy on December 10.

The president-elect’s unpredictable behaviour has intensified the uncertainty surrounding his policies. Ambitious plans, such as adopting the US dollar as the national currency and dismantling the central bank, appear to be on hold. Despite lofty statements, the specifics of his agenda remain shrouded in mystery.

Argentina’s future stands at a crossroads, caught between Milei’s ideological aspirations and the practical realities of governance. A critical factor will be his willingness to push forward policies despite internal and external constraints, with profound implications for the region’s international orientation.

In geopolitics, Milei has repeatedly pledged to realign Argentina with the United States and Israel. He has openly criticised Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, branding him a “communist”, and the Chinese government, which he described as “assassins”.

Such pronouncements underscore one of the many paradoxes of Milei’s rise: a pro-market leader potentially jeopardising relations with Argentina’s top two trading partners, Brazil and China.

Yet after the general elections, Milei has adjusted his public image, tempered his tone and begun to build connections with established politicians such as Patricia Bullrich, whom he had accused of being a “terrorist” in the 1970s.

The impending handover also marks a shift in Argentina’s political landscape, which has been dominated by the Peronist Party since the restoration of democracy in 1983. For the first time, a political group totally lacking executive experience is poised to occupy the highest office.

Despite securing victories in 21 out of 24 districts, Milei’s faction did not win any provincial governorships and will hold just 15 per cent of the seats in the Congress and over 10 per cent of the Senate. Not only will these minorities hinder any significant reforms, but they will also require a more strategic, pragmatic approach to governance.

Such pragmatism is under threat due to the speed of his ascent to power. In only two years, his party, La Libertad Avanza (Liberty Marches Forward), went from being an obscure radical faction, concentrated in Buenos Aires, to a national force. The endorsement by former president Mauricio Macri signalled a tentative alliance with the traditional right. But the resilience of this union remains untested.

Milei’s meteoric rise to political prominence raises concerns, particularly in areas that demand long-term, sustained strategies, such as diplomacy.

Since the election, he has subtly shifted his international stance without abandoning the cold war rhetoric. While emphasising his alignment with the so-called free world, such as the US and Israel, his budding administration has also said that the private sector can continue doing business with China and Brazil.

Diana Mondino, Milei’s primary international affairs adviser and likely future foreign minister, explained this diplomatic conundrum. Addressing business and political leaders, she said, “We will not break off relations”, but rather seek private partnerships over state-driven agreements. She repeated the same intentions in front of Chinese reporters who interviewed her in late November.

This posture is rooted in the ideological core of their political movement, which views the government and state apparatus as inherently corrupt and inefficient. As Milei said after his election victory: “Everything that can be privatised will be privatised.”

After the vote, Chinese President Xi Jinping offered his congratulations and Milei reciprocated by posting the letter on X (formerly Twitter), extending his good wishes to the Chinese population. In a meeting with Chinese ambassador Wang Wei, Mondino invited Xi to the inauguration ceremony – a move interpreted as an olive branch.

Despite these overtures, tensions remain. Mondino has made it clear that Argentina will decline the invitation to join Brics, the grouping that currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The potential foreign affairs minister has expressed an intention to review certain contracts with China, citing suspicions over their transparency. She has also criticised China’s US$1.7 billion currency swap extension, which Argentina needed to meet its International Monetary Fund obligations.

China has reaffirmed its willingness to work with Argentina, but pointed out that “no country could step out of diplomatic relations and still be able to engage in economic and trade cooperation”.

These disputes set the tone for the relationship. On the one hand, the efforts to de-escalate indicate an acknowledgement of Argentina’s dire economic situation. With more than 8 million children in poverty and an annual inflation rate of 142 per cent, Argentina simply cannot afford to lose its second largest trading partner.

Yet, Milei’s ideological convictions will wield significant influence on policy decisions. A striking irony becomes evident when considering his posture on China. Despite his advocacy of reduced state intervention, the reality of international trade and investment demands substantial government involvement.

Herein lies the central contradiction for Argentina: In seeking to address a faltering economy, the electorate has opted for a leader who wishes to reduce the state’s role in every aspect of life.

Milei thus stands as a transformative figure in Latin American politics, representing not only a pragmatic shift but also a broader ideological reorientation for a country familiar with radical fluctuations in both its economy and diplomacy.

China education: parents decry 50-50 shot at academic degree, and they’re rolling the dice on a costly ‘Plan B’ overseas for the kids

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3244064/china-education-parents-decry-50-50-shot-academic-degree-and-theyre-rolling-dice-costly-plan-b?utm_source=rss_feed

This is the second part in a series on how the changing state of education in China is having far-reaching economic implications. The first part is available .

Over the past three years, Joey Lu endured a gruelling study regimen at her junior high school, with about three extra hours of additional cramming nearly every evening.

Hard work and splashing out on costly tutors, however, weren’t enough to gain her admission into an academic high school in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou – an essential step toward being admitted to a domestic university.

This has put her entrepreneurial parents at a crossroads: their child’s future lies in either spending more than 70,000 yuan (US$9,800) for a year of additional tutoring and retaking the high school entrance exam next year, or applying to overseas high schools.

And across China, more and more middle-class families have been facing similarly difficult and anxiety-inducing decisions for the past few years. Many can trace their frustration to a policy enacted by the Ministry of Education in 2017 that aimed to divert about half of all junior high graduates to secondary vocational schools, with the rest going to academic high schools.

The move was intended to bolster the nation’s skilled workforce – part of China’s plan to learn from Germany, a country known for its skilled vocational training, to maintain a manufacturing edge.

Number of Americans studying in mainland China falls sharply

According to data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the so-called world’s factory, and its top exporter, is expected to face a shortage of 30 million skilled workers in the manufacturing sector by 2025.

Despite China having so many college graduates, the lack of skilled workers to meet demand has forced government officials to expand the vocational education system.

“A direct consequence of the 50-50 policy is that parents are investing more and more ineffectively in their children’s education, which pushes up the cost of raising children and actually depresses the desire among Chinese couples to have children,” warned independent demographer Huang Wenzheng.

And a slim chance of entering college can disproportionately affect urban residents, especially those living in big cities.

Middle-class parents are generally reluctant to accept secondary vocational education, as a university degree remains essential for upward mobility, especially among China’s elite.

So, a growing number are weighing their options and formulating a backup plan – and such plans increasingly involve immigration and studying abroad if their children cannot beat out the domestic competition and advance to an academic high school.

In Shanghai, Robert Wang, a lawyer with nearly 20 years of experience, is applying for Hong Kong’s talent immigration programme. But it has nothing to do with career ambitions – he’s doing it for his son, who is only 12 years old.

“The investment is probably a few hundred thousand yuan for the visa, and I might need to find work or pursue a degree in Hong Kong,” Wang said. “This is our plan B for my child to attend high school in Hong Kong.

“He’s under too much academic pressure right now, and it’s highly likely he won’t make it into a local high school in Shanghai.”

With many feeling that a 50 per cent elimination rate is too harsh for their children, Chinese parents are being compelled to spend more on tutoring, despite the fact that Beijing has cracked down on private tutoring in recent years, in a bid to ease parents’ burden.

Slip of the tongue: mainland China drops 20 places in English skills rank

On the other hand, vocational school educations may also fall short of middle-class expectations.

A large number of students end up in jobs unrelated to their education, such as by going into the manufacturing or service sectors, either after graduating or dropping out.

According to the annual “Chinese College Graduates’ Employment Annual Report” for this year, released by state-affiliated higher-education consulting firm MyCOS Research, the average monthly income for college and higher vocational school graduates in 2022 was 5,990 yuan and 4,595 yuan, respectively.

In the Yangtze River Delta, one of China’s most prosperous economic regions, college graduates earn an average monthly income of 10,398 yuan after three years of work, significantly more than the 7,773 yuan earned by vocational school graduates of the same age.

To ensure their children enter high school instead of vocational school, families like the Wangs are going to great lengths, travelling as far as Hong Kong, Southeast Asia or Canada for alternative means of education.

But such costly decisions put considerable pressure on families, many of which are already struggling and reluctant to spend their hard-earned savings amid an economic downturn.

China is the second-most-costly country to raise a child behind South Korea, according to a 2022 report by the YuWa Population Research Institute.

The cost of raising a child until the age of 18 in China is 6.9 times the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, behind South Korea, where the cost is 7.79 times higher than its GDP per capita, the report explained.

The cost in China is double that in Germany, where it is 3.64 times GDP per capita, and more than triple the rate in Australia and France, where it is 2.08 and 2.24 times, respectively.

South Korea and China have the world’s lowest birth rates. Last year, the average number of babies expected per South Korean woman during their child-bearing years fell to 0.78, compared with 1.1 in China.

“We could feel the strong anxiety among parents, that nearly half of the students can’t make it to an academic high school – the common pathway to college and university,” said Ivan Zhai, a senior executive of overseas admissions at an Ontario-based high school.

“They don’t want to accept a vocational-school fate, so studying abroad has become their lifeboat, though it means more pressure on the family’s financial capacity and the worries about sending their children abroad at a young age,” Zhai said.

China and US pledge to revive academic ties in confidence-building push

“Lots of students who failed to get into high school in their cities in China actually have quite good academic records and would meet the entrance requirements for high schools in other countries such as Canada,” he added. “We are like offering them a second chance to approach reputed universities across the world.”

Zhai added Canada is also seeing an increasing number of Chinese parents who, having obtained university degrees and worked for years, are eagerly applying for undergraduate degrees at local colleges, with the aim of enabling their children to attend public middle schools in their college district.

“The policy to admit only about half of junior high graduates into high school began during the 13th five-year plan and was emphasised even more during the 14th five-year plan [from 2021-25],” said Dong Shige, an education specialist and founder of Shenzhen RDF International School. “And with the difficulties in job hunting seen by more than 10 million university graduates, the policy shift is getting faster.”

“On the one hand, private high schools face stricter restrictions, but on the other hand, there is more encouragement for private vocational schools,” Dong said.

Middle-class Chinese parents have not been able to keep pace with the authorities in terms of the transformation in education and population policy, Dong added.

In large cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with massive permanent populations, middle-class families are increasingly investing in the competition for the 50 per cent admission rate for public high schools, resulting in higher annual education budgets.

A white paper on studying abroad in 2023, released by the New Oriental Education & Technology Group, a leading provider of private educational services in China, showed that the willingness among Chinese students aged 15 to 17 to study abroad is higher than in the last two years, as the competition and pressure among teenagers mounts.

“We can see the trend that the budget allocated in preparing for children to study abroad accounts for a larger share of family expenses compared with previous years, amid intensifying worries about their children failing to get into high school,” Dong said.

At his school in Shenzhen, for example, some students transfer during the midterm to international schools, which can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars a year, rivalling college tuitions that many Chinese families will face next.