• White House race tests US-China ties, but Beijing won’t use ‘two sessions’ to air opinions on the election
• China removes Hong Kong affairs veteran Zhang Xiaoming from senior role at top advisory body
• Chinese astronauts take a walk to fix damaged solar panel on Tiangong space station
• China’s state media in positive economic spin mode in countdown to ‘two sessions’
• A Chinese immigrant led the fight for women’s suffrage — then couldn’t vote
• Chinese scientists produce a powerful winter-proof lithium battery
• How pork allowed earliest Chinese immigrants to find success amid structural racism in America, build self-reliant community
• Chinese scientists reveal ‘liquid armour’ secret of Huawei’s foldable smartphone
• China’s Xi Jinping calls for ‘loyalty and honesty’ from younger officials as morale runs low
• Intrigue swirls about possible reshuffles as China’s parliament convenes
• Sierra Leone leader’s visit to China shines a light on Xi Jinping’s challenge to the West
• Childless China couple drop to knees in tearful thanks for TCM doctor who brought them joy of pregnancy after 8 years of marriage
• Apple dealers in China sell iPhone 15 Pro Max at US$160 discount, as rivals like Huawei lure away high-end consumers
• China urged by foreign chambers of commerce to take firmer hand with private sector support
• China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: Hong Kong delegates to raise ways to keep city unique, help mainland companies go global
• China economy gaining momentum despite calls for hardline US stance: senior diplomat
• China is betting its charm offensive can turn Europe away from US
• US Chamber of Commerce cites concerns about ‘Made in China 2025’ after trip to Beijing
• Joining Nato ‘will bring opportunities’ for Sweden’s arms makers in Asia-Pacific amid tensions with China
• US consumers face safety risks as Chinese goods flood country, congressional panel hears

White House race tests US-China ties, but Beijing won’t use ‘two sessions’ to air opinions on the election

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3253947/white-house-race-tests-us-china-ties-beijing-wont-use-two-sessions-air-opinions-election?utm_source=rss_feed

During last year’s “two sessions”, China’s annual legislative meetings, President Xi Jinping took a direct swipe at Washington, criticising what he called a US-led campaign of “encirclement and suppression”.

It was a highly unusual example of a Chinese leader singling out the United States but pointed to the parlous state of relations between the two countries so soon after a Chinese air balloon was shot down over US territory.

A year later, the incident has passed and China and the United States have taken more conciliatory positions but the two powers remain locked in a geopolitical rivalry that will be tested by this year’s race for the White House.

When China’s political elites gather for the two sessions next week, many will be watching to see how Beijing views the US presidential election and the future of bilateral ties.

But as the chances of a rematch between US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump grow, observers say China is likely to take a cautious and neutral stance on the election during the gatherings of its legislature and top political advisory body.

There is a pervasive view in China that neither candidate would be a relief for Beijing or change the direction of Sino-American ties as both Biden and Trump share the same strategic stance on China, differing only in their tactics.

The annual meetings of China’s National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, while mainly focused on domestic matters, also serve as a platform for Beijing to broadcast its position on foreign policy issues.

Pang Zhongying, a chair professor of international political economy at Sichuan University, said Chinese authorities were likely to sidestep questions about their opinions of the two US presidential candidates during the two sessions.

He added that the US presidential election posed a “dilemma” for Beijing, as it was “very risky” to bet on Biden’s re-election given Trump’s strong momentum, but it was also hard to expect favourable results from a Trump victory given his tough stand on China.

“It’s a really tough one to deal with,” he said.

According to He Jun, a senior researcher with the Beijing-based independent think tank Anbound, the election’s outcome might not make a difference in the fundamental factors affecting China-US relations.

“The basic situation of China-US relations in an intense geopolitical game will not change, nor will the US change its position of viewing China as a long-term strategic competitor,” he said.

The tensions between Beijing and Washington are widely seen to have begun with the trade war launched six years ago by the Trump administration.

Trump labelled China a strategic “competitor” in 2017. Biden later echoed this, framing Beijing as a “pacing threat” and Washington’s only competitor with “both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it”.

The Biden administration also left Trump-era tariffs in place on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese products while rallying US allies to reinforce technology controls against Beijing and build up a military presence on China’s doorstep in the Indo-Pacific.

Sun Chenghao, head of the US-EU programme at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy, said Biden, if reelected, was likely to continue to refine his systemic framework for competition with China.

At a seminar at Tsinghua in January, Sun said US-EU relations were in a “honeymoon” period, which could be extended for at least another four years if Biden were to win. In that situation, Washington and Brussels would most likely focus their foreign policy cooperation on dealing with China, he added.

No end to US trade war with China, Biden policy document signals

However, if Trump recaptured the White House, he said, Republicans were likely to play up China as a threat while pushing for domestic investment and creating more barriers in technology. Sun added that communication channels between Beijing and Washington might also become unstable with a second Trump presidency.

Sun added that Trump might remain interested in some bilateral cooperation channels established under Biden, such as the one on fentanyl.

“I think it depends on specific areas and issues, we can’t say that all the mechanisms will be gone once the Republican Party comes into power,” he said in an interview with the Post.

Lu Xiang, an expert on US-China relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also said Chinese officials were unlikely to comment on the US election during the two sessions.

“China has always been firmly committed to non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, including those of the US,” he said.

He said Beijing might reaffirm its long-standing stance on the bilateral relationship.

“The Chinese side will resolutely express its hope and efforts for building a constructive and stable China-US relationship,” he said.

Trump says would impose tariffs on China again if re-elected in November

Exchanges between US and Chinese senior officials have increased in recent months. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month and met White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in January.

Building on the consensus reached between Xi and Biden during their November summit in San Francisco, the US and China have launched working groups focused on the climate and narcotics, and the two sides resumed high-level military talks in December after a hiatus of more than a year.

But the countries remain at odds on a spectrum of issues, from Taiwan and the South China Sea to the war in Ukraine to trade and technology.

Lu from CASS said there seemed to be little chance that the recent communication between Beijing and Washington would deliver any results, saying the Biden administration was distracted by issues such as the election, immigration, inflation, Ukraine and the Middle East.

He said he expected Chinese authorities would focus on “scenario management” to prepare for different developments in the US election.

“I believe there are a number of tool kits sitting there,” Lu said.

Zhu Feng, executive dean of the school of international studies at Nanjing University, said China was still in “wait-and-see” mode regarding the election.

During the two sessions, China was likely to continue its posture of actively managing bilateral relations, improving cooperation and deepening pragmatic exchanges, he said.

He added that Beijing would probably emphasise its “uncompromising” stance on Taiwan.

Beijing sees the island as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

Zhu said China’s overall policy framework towards US relations – including seeking more cooperation and defending its interests and principles – had already fundamentally taken shape.

“The basic policy elements will be further reiterated and developed during the two sessions with no substantial changes,” he said.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now in its third year and conflicts in the Middle East continuing to escalate, Beijing has pitched itself as a reliable actor in global affairs.

Speaking at last month’s Munich Security Conference, which was dominated by the prospect of a US retreat from the international stage under a Trump administration, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China would be “a force for stability” no matter how the world changed.

He conveyed the same message in meetings with European leaders on the sidelines of the conference and again during his visits to Spain and France.

Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said he expected China to elaborate on this position at the foreign minister’s press conference during the two sessions.

“The world is now in … perhaps the most chaotic and tense phase since World War II,” he added.

He of Anbound noted that the present geopolitical situation was very turbulent and said this year’s two sessions might reflect more on that context than in previous years.

“China is expected to continue to express its stance of peace and stability to the world, articulating its principles.”

China removes Hong Kong affairs veteran Zhang Xiaoming from senior role at top advisory body

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3253954/china-removes-hong-kong-affairs-veteran-zhang-xiaoming-senior-role-top-advisory-body?utm_source=rss_feed

Zhang Xiaoming, Beijing’s former top official on Hong Kong and Macau affairs, has been removed as deputy secretary general of China’s top political advisory body.

The decision was endorsed on Saturday at the close of a two-day meeting of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The CCTV report was brief and did not give the reason for the removal but did refer to him as “comrade”, a title reserved for Communist Party members.

He remains a member of the CPPCC and the party, a source told the South China Morning Post.

Zhang, 60, was a minister-level official and is below the usual retirement age of 65.

He began working at the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) in 1989 after graduating from Renmin University of China’s law school, serving as the agency’s deputy director from 2004 to 2012.

He was then promoted to director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, and became director of the HKMAO in 2017.

But Zhang’s term was rocked by anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019, which were triggered by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.

In February 2020, the central government appointed Xia Baolong, the CPPCC’s vice-chairman and secretary general, to take over as director, while Zhang was made executive deputy director.

In 2022, Zhang was appointed to the deputy role in the nation’s top advisory body.

He was replaced at the HKMAO last year by Zhou Ji, the former deputy secretary and security chief of Henan province.

“[I] respect and trust the central government’s personnel arrangements,” Starry Lee Wai-king, the city’s sole representative on the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, told the Post.

Additional reporting by Fiona Sun

Chinese astronauts take a walk to fix damaged solar panel on Tiangong space station

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3253937/chinese-astronauts-take-walk-fix-damaged-solar-panel-tiangong-space-station?utm_source=rss_feed

Astronauts aboard China’s Tiangong space station performed the orbiting facility’s second spacewalk for repairs on Saturday in an eight-hour mission to finish fixing damaged solar panels.

Astronauts Tang Hongbo and Jiang Xinlin left the station and used a robotic arm mounted on the outside of the facility to repair the panels on the Tianhe core module, the China Manned Space Agency said.

Tang Shengjie, the third member of the Shenzhou 17 crew, stayed on board and coordinated with scientists on Earth to help control the robotic arm.

“This is the first time that Chinese astronauts have completed the maintenance of extravehicular facilities of an orbiting spacecraft,” the agency said on Saturday.

Astronauts Tang Hongbo and Jiang returned safely to the Wentian experimental lab module, it said.

During the repair mission, the astronauts also inspected the station’s surface.

The Shenzhou 17 crew conducted their first extravehicular maintenance mission on December 21, when they began the task of repairing the panels.

That exercise took about 7½ hours.

After the spacewalk on Saturday, power from the solar panels was “normal”.

The Tiangong’s flexible solar panels, which are on the Tianhe and the Wentian and Mengtian experimental modules, power the station.

Before the crew lifted off in October, agency deputy director Lin Xiqiang said the station’s solar panels had suffered minor damage from small, flying space debris.

The agency had announced plans for the spacewalk on Friday, saying the crew had inspected their spacesuits and station equipment.

Since their mission in December, the crew had practised operating the robotic arm, as well as familiarised themselves with various safety and debugging procedures, the agency said.

The Shenzhou 17 crew are scheduled to return to Earth in April after handing over control of the station to the Shenzhou 18 crew, whose members and departure date have not been announced.

In their time left on the Tiangong, the Shenzhou 17 crew will continue to conduct planned scientific experiments in fields including life sciences and microgravity.

China’s state media in positive economic spin mode in countdown to ‘two sessions’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3253941/chinas-state-media-positive-economic-spin-mode-countdown-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s official media are trying to put a positive spin on the economy, countering global concerns about the slowdown ahead of next week’s annual gathering of the national legislature.

In an editorial on Saturday, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily focused on the record box office and increases in holiday spending over the Lunar New Year, saying the rises reflected the “vitality and resilience of China’s high-quality development”.

“Negative elements in the international political and economic environment are rising, and domestic cyclical and structural problems are making the situation even more complex,” the editorial said. “However, our economy is generally in a sound recovery. We are still the world’s largest growth engine.”

China’s economy grew 5.2 per cent last year from 2022, slightly higher than the official target of around 5 per cent. But stock market plunges last year, the property sector downturn and the party’s emphasis on security have made investors skittish.

When the National People’s Congress convenes next week, observers will be watching to see what support Beijing will give the economy.

“It’s still uncertain what concrete measures China will take to spur economic growth,” an economist with a leading university in Beijing said on condition of anonymity.

“The sure thing is, however, they will talk up the economic prospects to boost confidence, as officials believe confidence and perception are the biggest challenges.”

In the editorial, People’s Daily said China’s long-term economic outlook was rosy, underpinned by China’s large pool of talent, advances in science and technology and strong exports of electric vehicles, solar cells and lithium batteries.

But there are big challenges to China’s 1 trillion yuan (US$139 billion) exports of EVs, lithium batteries and solar cells, including higher tariffs and legal action taken by the United States and European Union.

The actions could set back the critical segment of the world’s second-largest economy unless China diversifies away from the West and also boosts domestic demand, according to analysts.

Economic Daily, managed by the party’s propaganda wing, was also in assurance mode on Saturday, calling for the public to “view China’s structural problems objectively”.

“The problems of an aging population and high government debt are shared by many countries, and [China economy] has felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the worsening international geopolitical environment, especially all kinds of containment measures from the US,” it said in an editorial.

While the party and the central government have introduced policies to address these problems, people should have the confidence that the problems will be solved if the policies are properly implemented, it said.

During the party’s annual economic work conference in December, President Xi Jinping pledged to make development a top political priority, guide public opinion, and play up China’s “bright prospects” in 2024.

A Chinese immigrant led the fight for women’s suffrage — then couldn’t vote

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/03/02/mabel-lee-women-suffrage/2024-02-29T20:58:12.775Z

On a sunny afternoon in May 1912, as the sun began to descend over the Washington Square arch in New York City, thousands of women gathered for a march.

Women of every age and background packed onto the sidewalks, with the oldest following the procession in carriages and the youngest being pushed in strollers by their mothers. Hundreds more people peered out of their windows upon the nurses, teachers, writers, social workers and students. “There were women who work with their heads and women who work with their hands and women who never work at all. And they all marched,” the New York Times reported the next day.

They were all there to demand the same thing: women’s suffrage.

At the head of the procession — which the Times called 10,000 strong — trotted a small brigade of women on horseback. Among those, wearing a dark hat pinned with the green, purple and white badge of the Women’s Political Union, rode Mabel Lee, a Chinese immigrant who was around 16. The only non-White horseback rider, the high school student helped lead what was at that time the biggest suffrage march in U.S. history.

Over the next decade, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee would fight tirelessly to advance women’s rights, advocating for the vote as the only path toward women’s equality. Despite her young age, Lee drew crowds for her speeches, and her public appearances were covered by the Times, the New York Tribune or the Sun. She was a major force behind the movement that won women the vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

But because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which made it illegal for Chinese immigrants to become American citizens or vote between 1882 and 1943, Lee herself would be prevented from voting for many decades.

Such was the fate of the many Black, Indigenous and Asian American women who fought to win the right to vote for everyone — and then were barred, often violently, from exercising those same rights. “We can talk about whether the right to vote was actually won for Chinese American women, or for African American women, or for Native women in 1920. Because — for the most part — it was not,” said Cathleen Cahill, historian and author of the book “Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement.”

“The story doesn’t end in 1920,” Cahill said.

Lee came to the United States when she was around 8 with her mother. They reunited with Lee’s father, who was already working in New York as a Baptist minister. Lee had begun learning English in China, and she subsequently learned enough Latin, English and math to graduate from the prestigious Erasmus High School. She entered Barnard College, soon after the suffrage parade.

While at Barnard, Lee continued her advocacy for women. Bathed in the campus atmosphere of first-wave feminism, she grew more impassioned in her many speeches and essays. She spoke to American women and Chinese women alike, recognizing that both nations were at turning points: China on the heels of a revolution, and the United States at a crossroads on progressive issues such as suffrage.

In a 1914 article in a student magazine, Lee, then about 18, wrote that women’s suffrage was simply the “application of democracy to women.” Sweeping away misconceptions that many men held and would hold about feminism for decades to come, she wrote: “The feministic movement is not one for privileges to women, but one for the requirement of women to be worthy citizens and contribute their share to the steady progress of our country towards prosperity and national greatness.”

Lee was a powerful orator whose speeches often drew enormous crowds. She was such a phenomenon that some people who heard her speak coined the term “Mabelize” to describe how they came away feeling mesmerized and inspired by her words, Cahill said.

Around 1915, in a widely publicized speech titled “The Submerged Half,” Lee argued that keeping women from voting “handicapped” a country. “For no nation can ever make real and lasting progress in civilization unless its women are following close to its men if not actually abreast with them,” she said. “In the fierce struggle for existence among the nations, that nation is badly handicapped which leaves undeveloped one half of its intellectual and moral resources.”

All the while, Lee had to contend with vicious stereotypes about Chinese people in general and Chinese women in particular. Even positive press coverage denigrated Lee. One article in the New York Tribune described her as a “hopeless little suffragette” from the “Chop Suey District.”

The reigning stereotype in the United States at the time was that women of Asian descent were either meek or sex workers. “There’s very little perception of Chinese women outside of those two stereotypes. And that goes back even before the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act,” said Jeanne Gutierrez, a women’s history scholar at the New-York Historical Society.

White suffragists welcomed Lee into their movement, but racism persisted both inside and outside women’s organizations. It ranged from outright racism to a softer prejudice that argued suffrage should be for White women only to make it palatable to Southern men, Gutierrez noted.

Lee continued her activism alongside her education, eventually earning a PhD in economics from Columbia University in 1921. She is believed to be the first Chinese woman to be awarded a PhD in the United States and one of the first women of any background with a PhD in economics. She went on to write a book on economics.

In 1917, New York state granted women the right to vote. And in 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, that right was extended on a national level. It would take another 23 years for Lee to become eligible for the naturalization that would allow her to vote. But even when the law did change in 1943, a quota limited the number of applications from Chinese immigrants to about 100 per year.

Lee died in 1966, one year after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act eliminated these quotas. Historians do not know whether Lee became an American citizen or ever voted in an election.

What we do know is that thanks to Lee and the many women like her — women whose names were rarely recorded in the history books — democracy was “applied to women,” as she had advocated. It took many more decades and many more marches for that to be true for all American women.

Chinese scientists produce a powerful winter-proof lithium battery

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3253745/chinese-scientists-produce-powerful-winter-proof-lithium-battery?utm_source=rss_feed

A new electrolyte that allows lithium-ion batteries to charge and operate in temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit) has been developed by Chinese scientists.

Their work, which also uncovered a previously unknown ion transport method within batteries, could pave the way for creating high-energy batteries capable of operating in extreme conditions.

These batteries could be used in a wide array of applications, including electric vehicles, aviation, marine electronics, railways, polar exploration and telecommunications, according to Fan Xiulin, a professor at Zhejiang University and one of the lead scientists behind the development.

Lithium-ion batteries have been limited for use in low-temperature environments because it is “virtually impossible” to create a battery that can simultaneously have high energy density, have a wide operating temperature and be fast charging.

One of the reasons is because an electrolyte – a battery component that transfers ions between electrodes – enabling all of these aspects requires contradictory properties.

But such a battery could become a reality using a new electrolyte detailed in a paper published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

Researchers at Zhejiang University along with collaborators from the United States developed an electrolyte, made up of very small solvent molecules, which enables battery properties that are “unattainable” with existing electrolyte designs.

Their findings showed the electrolyte allowed lithium-ion cells to perform with high capacity and stability in temperatures ranging from 60 degrees down to minus 80 degrees, and enabled ultra-fast charging in cold conditions.

In ultra-low temperatures, the battery “can be charged in 10 minutes to reach 80 per cent of charge capacity”, Fan told the Chinese-language news site Science Times.

Lithium-ion battery electrolytes are typically made of lithium salts dissolved in an organic solvent. Electrolytes are a limiting factor on ionic conductivity – or ion transport – in a battery.

But after four years of research, which involved screening different solvents in a wide temperature range, the team developed an electrolyte using a solvent called fluoroacetonitrile.

Using soft pack lithium-ion batteries – or flat-pouch battery cells – for testing, the team found the electrolyte enabled a previously unknown method of structural transport within batteries.

‘Cheaper, safer’: Chinese team’s calcium battery offers alternative to lithium

Small solvent molecules in the electrolyte form two sheath layers around lithium ions and create channels for the ions to be transported through, called ligand-channel transport, according to Nature.

“The ligand-channel-facilitated conduction mechanism paves the way for high-energy batteries operating at extreme conditions,” the paper said.

Compared to conventional electrolytes, at minus 70 degrees this mechanism allowed for their electrolyte to have an ionic conductivity that was 10,000 times higher, Nature reported.

Beyond lithium-ion batteries, the team found that their electrolyte design principle “is also very effective for sodium-ion batteries and potassium-ion batteries”, Fan told Science Times.

There are still limits to this research, as further work may be needed to ensure the electrolyte can operate effectively within a conventional battery design, according to Nature.

While the present work serves as a model for the validity of their electrolyte design principle, “we believe this electrolyte can reach commercial use in the future”, Fan said, noting that a potential limiting factor for commercialisation was the cost of the solvent.

How pork allowed earliest Chinese immigrants to find success amid structural racism in America, build self-reliant community

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3253939/how-pork-allowed-earliest-chinese-immigrants-find-success-amid-structural-racism-america-build-self?utm_source=rss_feed

The US is famous for being a land of immigrants, but its history is also defined by its xenophobic and racist past.

The Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882 was the first race-based immigration restriction the country passed, and it would be followed with increasingly draconian updates until the law was repealed in 1943.

During that period, a large Chinese population decided to stay in the US and often tried to forge their future in the years after completing jobs building America’s railroad system.

Those people faced steep odds and would have faced intense racism along their path. But they built a resilient and stable support system. One such example was a complex Chinese economic network in Los Angeles built around pork butcher shops.

A recent study published in American Antiquity, a peer-reviewed journal, focused on Chinatown in Los Angeles and analysed how the “economy of pork” created a nutritional and financial safety net that allowed the Chinese community to circumnavigate the institutional racism they faced in the US.

Jiajing Wang, an anthropological archaeologist at Dartmouth College in the US and study author, told the Post: “Pork has long been a staple food for most Chinese migrant communities, so this business provided them with a stable source of protein.

“Analysis of pig bones from the Los Angeles Chinatown also suggests that the residents likely sold the more profitable parts to people outside Chinatown for additional income while consuming cheaper cuts themselves.”

During the Chinese Exclusion era, Chinatown in Los Angeles housed between 5,000 and 15,000 people. It was filled with Chinese-owned businesses like laundromats, herbalists, and vegetable shops.

Butcher shops – of which there were at least four in Chinatown – became essential to the village’s success and often created a social safety net for fellow Chinese immigrants.

Through bone analysis, the researchers could determine that the pigs likely ate slop made from domestic and commercial rice discards, borrowing practices that had become popular in southern China.

“Although it remains unknown whether there were rice farms in the Los Angeles region, the presence of rice-leaf phytolith lends further support that the pigs were raised locally by Chinese migrants,” said Wang.

The presence of rice suggests an extensive Chinese economic network in California that may have stretched as far north as Sacramento, over 600km to the north.

As the butcher shops found success, they experienced a racist backlash from white butchers who staged public protests to “take the pork trade out of the hands of Chinese”.

They would boycott businesses that worked with Chinese shops, fire Chinese workers, and spread unsubstantiated claims that the rice slop made Chinese pork inferior to corn-fed pigs.

Evidence suggests that the racist campaigns did make an impact, as some parts of California did experience a decline in the Chinese pork industry.

But despite – or because of – the headwinds, the butcher shops built a self-reliant network and would play a crucial social and financial role in Chinatown.

For example, a butcher shop called Sam Sing provided affordable housing and food to fellow Chinese, specifically people with the surname Wong, because it was the same as the owners.

Sam Sing would also provide testimony to prove that Chinese immigrants could return to America after visiting their homeland. A vegetable farmer named Wong Yee even kept his money at the shop when he visited China, suggesting that Sam Sing was providing banking services.

“These examples show how reliant Chinese migrants were on Chinese-owned stores for surviving in a society that was vehemently anti-Chinese,” the authors wrote.

The Los Angeles Chinatown peaked in 1933 and began a decline that was accelerated by external forces. Laura Wai Ng, a study author and assistant professor at Grinnell College, said: “The Chinese Exclusion Act ended in 1943, and much of the original Los Angeles Chinatown was destroyed in 1930 by the construction of the Union Station passenger terminal.

“Later, the construction of the 101 freeway in the late 1940s and early 1950s destroyed the rest of the original Los Angeles Chinatown.”

The destruction of Chinatown highlights how archaeology can be used to retell the histories of marginalised communities. The Los Angeles Chinatown is long gone, and history is usually written by those in power, meaning the stories of the earliest Chinese immigrants are often not told.

“However, archaeological studies of material records provide an alternative avenue through which historically marginalised communities can reclaim their voices,” said Wang.

Chinese scientists reveal ‘liquid armour’ secret of Huawei’s foldable smartphone

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3253606/chinese-scientists-reveal-liquid-armour-secret-huaweis-foldable-smartphone?utm_source=rss_feed

Researchers with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei spent three years developing the technology for its foldable phone screens, drawing inspiration from the impact-absorbing qualities of starches under certain conditions.

Huawei’s technical team told the Post that the resilience of its Mate X3 and X5 phones stemmed from the unique properties of a flexible inner screen beneath the scratch-resistant outer surface.

The material – which took more than 100 experiments to develop – is based on a phenomenon that turns starch solution in the right proportions into a non-Newtonian fluid that acts like water but hardens into a solid under sudden impact.

Mush like people seen in TikTok videos running across a pool filled with starch slurry without sinking, the trick is to move quickly, as the slurry hardens directly beneath each step before instantly returning to liquid when the pressure is gone.

Paint and honey can also become non-Newtonian fluids under certain conditions and the phenomenon’s unique property is already used to make military liquid body armour.

Huawei’s researchers said their intention in developing the flexible inner screen was to mitigate the growing risk of shattered screens that has come with the trend for larger and thinner devices.

“Incorporating this ‘strength-on-impact’ material into the screens of foldable phones not only meets the demands of folding mechanisms but also significantly enhances the screens’ resistance to impacts,” the team said.

According to Wei Yanpeng, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Mechanics who is not associated with Huawei, there are two ways to achieve a non-Newtonian fluid state.

“In terms of composition, [one form of a] non-Newtonian fluid material … is a suspension system, such as starch paste, and the other is made up of a single molecular-level material, which absorbs impact forces through chemical bonds,” he said.

The Huawei team adopted the second option and started work on what would eventually become polysiloxane – a non-Newtonian fluid that is light, foldable and transparent.

Can Apple fend off rivals in China as consumers crave AI and foldable designs?

This material’s long molecular chains and perpendicular chemical bonds create a cage-like structure that maintains screen hardness under normal conditions but absorbs impact by breaking the dynamic bonds.

“The flexible inner screen maintains softness during slow bending, aiding the folding process, and instantly hardens upon rapid impact,” the researchers said. The result is akin to a “transparent vest” that protects against accidental drops or sharp impacts.

When it came to producing the material, the researchers said they were able to improve on filtering techniques to achieve a transparency rate of 92 per cent for the finished flexible screen.

Another plasma spray treatment added a hydrophilic layer to the material’s surface, improving adhesion with the optical clear adhesive and easing assembly with other phone parts, they said.

“This technology was first applied in the Mate X3’s composite foldable screen, marking the first use of non-Newtonian fluids in consumer electronics, with the Mate X5 continuing this innovative design,” they said.

According to the research team, the flexible inner screen of the Mate X5 smartphone – which received a five-star impact resistance certificate from SGS Switzerland – is a fourfold improvement on the performance of the earlier Mate X2.

The screen is capable of resisting the impact of lipstick, capped whiteboard pens and other everyday items dropped from a height of one metre (3ft), the team said.

China’s Xi Jinping calls for ‘loyalty and honesty’ from younger officials as morale runs low

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3253931/chinas-xi-jinping-calls-loyalty-and-honesty-younger-officials-morale-runs-low?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged young and middle-aged officials to be loyal, honest and “keen on reform and innovation” in an effort to rally morale and encourage unity in the face of economic and social risks.

“[Young and middle-aged officials] must actively practice loyalty and honesty towards the party, and must make their political stance clear,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.

He called on young cadres to strictly uphold the Communist Party’s political discipline and rules, show honesty and maintain a high degree of unity with the party at all times.

China revamps discipline inspection rules to focus on Xi Jinping’s instructions

The message was conveyed at the opening ceremony of a training programme for young and middle-aged officials on Friday at the Central Party School in Beijing, where Xi urged party organisations to nurture reliable and qualified successors.

“[Party members] should be strong promoters of good and clean political ecology … resolutely oppose privileged thoughts and privileged behaviours, and maintain the political integrity of the party,” Xi added.

He also called on them to guard against major risks and solve prominent problems.

Xi emphasised that young party members should be “selfless” and dedicate themselves to improving people’s well-being. They should also be “keen on reform and innovation and dare to confront difficulties”, he said.

Xi has previously highlighted the importance of innovation in China’s modernisation path, saying it should be given a prominent position in overall development, according to an excerpt published last year in Qiushi, the party’s theoretical journal.

“Chinese-style modernisation is an exploratory undertaking with many unknown areas that the country is required to boldly explore through reform and innovation, and we should never rigidly cling to an idea or approach without considering the reality of the situation,” Xi said, according to the journal.

China doubles punishment for bribery as tough new rules take effect

Morale is running low among China’s public servants as Xi’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign has increased the pressure on rank-and-file cadres, while the risk of social unrest is growing because of the country’s economic slowdown.

Chen Daoyin, a political analyst and former professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, noted that it was “party tradition” to train young and middle-aged officials at the Central Party School, where cadres learn to fill key party and state positions.

“The points emphasised in Xi’s speech this year suggest prevalent problems among young and middle-aged officials, including the lack of a sense of responsibility and capability and low awareness of their roles,” Chen said.

In January, Xi warned that the party should continue to fight corruption and other problems with “tenacity, perseverance and precision”.

Later that month, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China’s top anti-corruption body, revealed that around 110,000 party officials faced disciplinary action last year.

China’s former foreign minister Qin Gang and former defence minister Li Shangfu were also stripped of their titles and state councillor positions last year. The reasons for their dismissals have not been revealed publicly.

Additional reporting by Jane Cai

Intrigue swirls about possible reshuffles as China’s parliament convenes

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/02/intrigue-possible-reshuffles-china-parliament-convenes

Thousands of delegates are due to arrive in Beijing this weekend for China’s most high-profile political gathering, a closely observed series of meetings that will lay out the government’s policy blueprint for the year ahead.

The event, known as the “two sessions”, begins on Monday as China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC) convenes alongside a separate but parallel meeting of the country’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

The nearly 3,000 NPC delegates can amend the constitution, enact new legislation, approve the government budget and fill vacancies in state offices. But in reality the NPC is a rubber-stamp parliament. It has never voted down any item on the agenda, and the Communist party (CCP) holds the ultimate power over the state.

Nevertheless, it is a keenly watched political event. The premier, Li Qiang, will present the government work report, which lays out its plans for the year ahead, including the GDP growth target. And while no changes are expected to the position of Xi Jinping, who was granted a norm-busting third term as president at last year’s NPC, personnel changes may be announced, after months of uncertainty about who is responsible for some of China’s most important government departments.

The most significant changes are at the offices of the foreign minister and the defence minister. Speculation around the fates of Qin Gang, the former foreign minster, and Li Shangfu, the former defence minister, has swirled since the two men were removed without explanation from their positions last year, in a season of turbulence for China’s government.

Qin has not been seen since in public since June, leading to rumours about his fate. Last week Qin was removed as a NPC delegate, concluding his eradication from the levers of China’s government.

Unlike other delegates who were “dismissed” from parliament, the official notice said Qin had resigned. James Palmer, a deputy editor of Foreign Policy, said in his China Brief newsletter that this indicated Qin’s “fall from grace has been relatively cushioned”.

Qin was replaced as foreign minister by his predecessor, Wang Yi, who is also the director of the more powerful CCP foreign affairs commission. Many experts believe that Wang’s reappointment was intended to be temporary, with a replacement expected to be announced at this year’s NPC. A likely candidate is Liu Jianchao, a senior party cadre who has travelled extensively in recent months to participate in diplomatic meetings.

At the defence department, Li was recently removed from the website of the CCP’s central military commission.

The demotions of Qin and Li have left vacancies on the state council, China’s cabinet. Li’s vacancy may be filled by his replacement as defence minister, Dong Jun. But it is far from certain that Dong or any new foreign minister will be appointed to the state council.

Neil Thomas and Jing Qian, researchers at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said in a recent analysis that if the spots remained vacant, it “could suggest a higher degree of mistrust and paralysis at the centre of Xi’s leadership and a poorer outlook for China’s attempts to both manage tensions with the west and lead the global south”.

Observers will be paying close attention to the government work report, which Li will deliver on Tuesday. He is expected to announce a relatively modest GDP growth target likely to hew closely to 2023’s target of 5%.

There may be some modest fiscal support, although not the deep structural reform or more aggressive stimulus that many economists say is necessary to recharge China’s struggling economy. That is because Xi’s third term as China’s leader has been characterised by a focus on national security, even at the expense of economic growth or business confidence.

Underlining this, on 27 February the NPC standing committee, which meets when the NPC is not in session, revised the law on state secrets, expanding the scope of sensitive information to “work secrets”. The update requires government agencies to protect information that may not be a state secret but “would cause a definite adverse impact after leaking”.

Although the law only applies to state institutions, Thomas and Qian said the widened scope of sensitive information “could affect firms that deal with China”, meaning more uncertainty for businesses in China.

Sierra Leone leader’s visit to China shines a light on Xi Jinping’s challenge to the West

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3253839/sierra-leone-leaders-visit-china-shines-light-xi-jinpings-challenge-west?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s ongoing efforts to challenge the dominance of the West in global governance have been on show this week with the visit of Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio to Beijing.

And according to observers, by winning support from developing countries like Sierra Leone, China is positioning itself as a voice for the Global South – offering an alternative to the largely Western leadership of international affairs.

In a meeting with Bio at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the two countries should strengthen their cooperation at the United Nations Security Council so they could “jointly safeguard the interests of Africa and developing countries”.

Sierra Leone is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, representing the interests of African countries, while China is a permanent member of the council with veto power. Africa has long argued that the present global governance system disproportionately favours the West.

“China has always regarded the development of solidarity and cooperation with African countries as an important cornerstone of its foreign policy,” Xi was quoted as saying in a statement released after the talks.

Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Washington-based Centre for Global Development and a former ­minister in Liberia, said Africa’s leverage was significantly more political than economic – voting with China at the UN and other international forums.

“President Xi gave a speech in which he communicated China’s intent to be a voice for developing countries. It is thus important to have the support of those countries to lend that voice legitimacy,” Moore said of China’s increased efforts to court countries in the Global South, which are developing nations mostly in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.

Xi and Bio agreed that reform of the UN Security Council should support developing countries, including those in Africa, “to play a greater role, expand their representation and voice in the Security Council, and correct the historical injustice suffered by Africa”.

The African Union has been pushing for reform of the international system for decades, in line with the 2005 Ezulwini Consensus and the 2005 Sirte Declaration which call for, among other things, two permanent seats on the Security Council for Africa and an expansion of non-permanent seats to five, with the members to be decided by the continent.

According to David Shinn, a professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, Bio is the first African head of state to visit China this year, “probably marking the revival of increased high visits by African leaders to China in the post-Covid era”.

China is also Sierra Leone’s largest trading partner.

Shinn said Bio supported China’s “core” interests, and during the visit the leaders agreed to deepen their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

“The visit underscores Xi Jinping’s goal to become the leader of the Global South. On the other hand, China made only modest new financial commitments for Sierra Leone,” Shinn said.

During the talks, Xi promised that Beijing would continue to bankroll the construction of Sierra Leone’s infrastructure and allow more products from the West African nation to enter the Chinese market.

He said China “will provide assistance and support within its capacity” to develop Sierra Leone’s agriculture, infrastructure construction and human resources.

Beijing will further encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in the nation and start businesses there. Xi also said China would “deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in mining, fishery, vocational and technical education and related infrastructure construction”.

Sierra Leone would also be invited to take part in the China International Import Expo and “actively support more Sierra Leone products to enter the Chinese market”, Xi said.

Meanwhile, Bio agreed to improve the business environment and provide good conditions for Chinese companies to operate in his country.

Chinese funding of Nigerian railway highlights its support of African growth

Bio, whose five-day state visit ends on Saturday, described China as “a friend that Sierra Leone trusts and relies on”.

He also said he appreciated China’s strong support for his country’s economic and social development.

Bio added Sierra Leone was willing to learn from China’s experience, strengthen cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative, and expand infrastructure construction, trade and education.

“We look forward to leveraging strategic opportunities for the benefit of our two countries,” he said, adding that relations with China had flourished, encompassing various areas, including trade, infrastructure development, education, mining and healthcare.

During his trip, Bio has also talked with Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and Premier Li Qiang. He also made a speech at the Sierra Leone Investment Forum in Beijing, inviting Chinese investors into the West African nation, as he spruiked its abundant natural resources.

Moore of the Centre for Global Development said the economic slowdown in China carried serious risks for African economies.

“China is Sierra Leone’s largest trade partner, so securing Chinese investment and retaining China as a market is important for the Sierra Leonean economy,” Moore said. “The obverse is not true; Africa as a whole comprises a single-digit percentage of total Chinese trade.”

Chinese business interests in Sierra Leone include mining, ports and fishing.

Chinese firm Leone Rock Metal Group, for example, last year broke ground on a 12 million tonne iron ore processing plant through its local subsidiary Kingho Mining Company.

It is investing US$230 million to build a mineral beneficiation plant for the second phase of its expansion strategy at the Tonkolili mine, which has an estimated 13.7 billion tonnes of iron ore.

Leone Rock Metal Group is also upgrading the railway and port infrastructure in the coastal town of Pepel, where bulk iron ore is shipped from, at a cost of US$153 million. According to the Chinese firm, the works will improve the haulage capacity of the rail line and the operational capacity of the port to ensure it attains an annual material handling capacity of 20 million tonnes.

The firm has since signed a lease agreement with the Sierra Leonean government to operate the rail and port facilities.

China is also funding the building of a US$55 million industrial fishing harbour in Sierra Leone. But conservationists and landowners have criticised the project as “a catastrophic human and ecological disaster” that would destroy pristine rainforest, plunder fish stocks and pollute fish breeding grounds and marine ecosystems.

How China merges funding and diplomacy in push to lead the Global South

John Calabrese, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said Sierra Leone was minerals-rich but has a very impoverished and fragile economy.

“I know that China has invested in the extractive and agricultural sectors, and that Chinese companies have built roads and other infrastructure,” Calabrese said.

There was also a sizeable Chinese community in Sierra Leone capital Freetown, he said.

“President Bio is probably in Beijing looking for an infusion of new investment and loan cancellation or at least debt rescheduling,” Calabrese said. Meanwhile he said Xi would make new pledges for Sierra Leone “to generate goodwill and build political influence”.

After their talks, Xi and Bio witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents regarding the Belt and Road Initiative, agriculture, economic development, and the implementation of global development initiatives.

Childless China couple drop to knees in tearful thanks for TCM doctor who brought them joy of pregnancy after 8 years of marriage

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3253347/childless-china-couple-drop-knees-tearful-thanks-tcm-doctor-who-brought-them-joy-pregnancy-after-8?utm_source=rss_feed

A video clip of a woman in China crying and kneeling in thanks before a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctor who cured her infertility has trended on mainland social media.

The woman, from the central province of Henan, had been trying for a baby over eight years of marriage and was overcome with emotion when she learned she was pregnant.

Feelings of joy and relief made her drop to her knees to express her gratitude to Dr Song Zhaopu, according to a viral video, the news outlet Da Can Kao reported.

Song is well known in Ruzhou in Henan and has more than 40 years’ experience as a TCM practitioner.

“No, no, please do not do that,” a smiling Song says in the video to the woman as he helps her up.

“You should be happy. Don’t cry,” he tells her.

The woman’s husband also kneels and says: “Doctor, this is the biggest happiness for our family,” while her mother expresses extreme delight at the news.

“I am delighted, too. As a doctor, my major joys come from the trust of patients and their recovery from illness,” says Song.

It is not clear how long he had been treating the woman, or if her husband had also received therapy.

Luo Shaobo, a TCM doctor at Guang’anmen Hospital in Beijing, wrote on Baidu.com that the TCM therapies for infertility usually include acupuncture, moxibustion, and medicine to adjust the functions of various organs.

China’s birth rate has been on the decline for seven years.

In 2017, the number of newborn babies in the country was 17.23 million, which dropped to nine million in 2023, national statistics showed.

About one in eight Chinese couples have reproductive problems, according to figures released in 2017.

Experts say the current infertility rate is much higher than that of three to four decades ago due to environmental issues, unhealthy lifestyles, life pressure, and a higher occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases.

While young people are increasingly unwilling to have babies, many families still follow the traditional Chinese belief that having children is essential.

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Apple dealers in China sell iPhone 15 Pro Max at US$160 discount, as rivals like Huawei lure away high-end consumers

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3253855/apple-dealers-china-sell-iphone-15-pro-max-us160-discount-rivals-huawei-lure-away-high-end-consumers?utm_source=rss_feed

Apple-authorised retailers are offering steep discounts on the latest iPhone series in China, in a fresh round of promotions aimed at reviving sales there, as the Californian tech giant faces stiff competition from domestic brands, such as Huawei Technologies.

The top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Pro Max, launched last September, is selling for 8,849 yuan (US$1,230) on Alibaba Group Holding’s e-commerce platform Tmall and rival JD.com, roughly 1,150 yuan cheaper than the original price.

Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.

The discounts are part of the platforms’ sales promotion for International Women’s Day on March 8. Prices for the iPhone 15 series remain unchanged on Apple’s official mainland China website.

The latest price cuts by authorised dealers more than double the maximum 500 yuan discount that Apple provided in mid-January on its official online store, which applied to customers buying any models in the iPhone 15 line.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The iPhone discounts are in line with expectations, said Toby Zhu, senior analyst at market research firm Canalys, adding that Apple should be aware of its growing inventory of iPhones, which have been expanding since the end of last year.

The new promotions underscore the mounting pressure that Apple is under in China, as local smartphone manufacturers jostle for bigger shares of the premium handset segment, according to analysts.

“Apple is feeling the competition from local vendors, as companies including Huawei move towards the premium category,” said Guo Tianxiang, senior analyst at market consultancy IDC China.

Huawei climbed to the top spot of the Chinese smartphone market in the first two weeks of this year, thanks in part to its release of the Mate 60 Pro models last August, which are equipped with advanced 5G chips, according to tech market researcher Counterpoint.

iPhone sales have been weak since the beginning of this year, while premium Android handsets – defined as those priced at above 4,000 yuan – have seen strong demand, according to IDC’s Guo.

Consumers are swayed by the narrowing gap between functions offered by the iPhone and those by high-end Android models, he said. While iPhone models in the past few years had only incremental upgrades, their Android counterparts have been making technological strides.

None of the iPhone models are foldable phones, which are becoming increasingly popular among high-end users in China.

Can Apple fend off rivals in China as consumers crave AI and foldable designs?

Apple has also been slower than rivals in incorporating generative artificial intelligence functions into smartphones, although CEO Tim Cook told shareholders this week that the company will disclose its AI plans later this year.

The iPhone is contending with structural changes in the sector, such as the emergence of a new paradigm in premium mobile phone design, according to a research note in January by Kuo Ming-chi, an analyst at TF International Securities known for his accurate assessment of the Apple supply chain.

Those transformations will lead to a continuous decline in iPhone shipments in the Chinese market this year, he said.

Apple reported a nearly 13 per cent drop in revenue from Greater China – which includes the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – in the December quarter.

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China urged by foreign chambers of commerce to take firmer hand with private sector support

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3253864/china-urged-foreign-chambers-commerce-take-firmer-hand-private-sector-support?utm_source=rss_feed

Foreign chambers of commerce in China have repeated their now-familiar call for action from Beijing to back its pro-business rhetoric – part of a larger effort to rekindle investment – even after the August unveiling of a 24-point plan to support overseas firms.

Chambers that took part in a round table discussion hosted by Deputy Minister of Commerce Ling Ji specifically requested traceable implementation of policies in reference to the omnibus package, announced amid Beijing’s charm offensive to prevent an exodus of foreign capital.

“European businesses look forward to a timeline detailing the full implementation of the remaining measures listed [in the package],” said Jens Eskelund, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, who attended the round table on Wednesday.

Beijing said most of the 24 policies, including better intellectual property protection and tax incentives, had been enforced.

Retaining foreign investment and optimising the business environment are among the more pressing issues that Chinese lawmakers will discuss next week, as they meet in the capital for the country’s annual parliamentary gatherings, known as the “two sessions”, to review and approve the government work report and economic plans for the year.

Fixed-asset investments by foreign firms rose a mere 0.6 per cent year on year in 2023, compared to 3.2 per cent for mainland Chinese firms, while foreign direct investment dropped 11.7 per cent year-on-year to 112.7 billion yuan in January.

The most recent survey by the British Chamber of Commerce in China also found its members were having a harder time doing business in 2023, with many treading water on investment into the country.

“Whilst many strides have been made to see the guidelines and goals put into policy, this didn’t necessarily translate into a return to confidence,” said the chamber in a statement.

Other business leaders attributed the hurdles facing foreign companies in China to the country’s broader economic headwinds.

Maximilian Butek, executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China, said the utmost priority would be real work to revitalise the Chinese economy, not just “window dressing.”

“This includes measures to build confidence among consumers and the private sector,” he said.

Chambers have also registered concerns over a perceived tangling of priorities, as top Communist Party meetings continue to put the onus on politics and national security rather than a flourishing economy.

China’s foreign firms fear golden era over as Beijing aims to ‘solidify control’

“China has to decide if it wants to be fully open to foreign business or not,” Butek said. “To increase confidence, signals and messages must be aligned.”

But for now, exiting China outright is an “unpopular choice” for Europe’s CEOs, according to a report from The Conference Board, an American think tank.

While two-thirds of Europe’s CEOs are planning supply chain changes in the near future, less than 2 per cent plan to exit China, the researchers found, adding the appetite for decoupling is “less popular” among Europe’s CEOs than peers in other surveyed regions.

But with an EU probe into subsidies for China-made electric vehicles under way, and persistent complaints from the bloc about “lopsided” trade ties with China, sentiments may change.

“If you look at container movement, it’s 6.4 million containers going west to Europe [from China] but only 1.6 million coming back,” said Joerg Wuttke, former president of the EU Chamber, in a recent interview with Phoenix TV. “The ratio goes from 2.9:1 years ago to 3.7:1 or 3.8:1 now.”

Trade between China and the EU dropped 7.1 per cent year on year in 2023 – steeper than the 5 per cent decline in China’s overall trade – and China came close to losing its perch as Germany’s biggest trading partner the same year.

With the two sessions fast approaching, hope springs eternal for Beijing to do more to reassure businesses.

At a Politburo meeting on Thursday, China’s leadership vowed to make its policy environment “transparent and predictable” and take a firmer hand in boosting growth as well as confidence.

Foreign chambers expressed guarded optimism in response.

“The 24-point guidelines saw issues regularly raised in British Chamber advocacy cemented in policy with a clear commitment to address them, followed by a broader Chinese government move to open communication channels, which attracted positivity from members,” said the British chamber.

China’s ‘two sessions’ 2024: Hong Kong delegates to raise ways to keep city unique, help mainland companies go global

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3253911/chinas-two-sessions-2024-hong-kong-delegates-raise-ways-keep-city-unique-help-mainland-companies-go?utm_source=rss_feed

Hundreds of Hong Kong politicians and tycoons heading to Beijing for China’s biggest annual political gatherings next week will be meeting top officials and policymakers face to face for the first time in four years.

This year’s meetings of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and National People’s Congress (NPC) will see the country’s elites moving around freely without masks after four years of strict Covid-19 pandemic arrangements, although everyone must still do a pre-event nasal swab test.

Known as the “two sessions” meetings, or lianghui, the gatherings come at a time when mainland China and Hong Kong are grappling with sluggish economies and need fresh moves to reinvigorate growth in the face of domestic and external challenges.

The Hong Kong delegates have prepared hundreds of proposals to raise at the meetings, many centred on ideas to attract more mainland tourists, strengthen cross-border integration, and how the city can help mainland companies go global.

Proposals on Hong Kong competitiveness

“The keyword is unique,” said CPPCC Standing Committee member Henry Tang Ying-yen, who is chairman of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and a former chief secretary.

“If Hong Kong became another Shanghai, Hong Kong would no longer be unique and would become a burden to the central government. We must not be a burden to the central government,” he told the Post.

Tang came up with seven proposals to boost the city’s competitiveness, building on its strong financial and legal systems and market, and complementing the country’s pursuit of high-quality development.

To attract more visitors, he will propose raising the duty-free shopping limit for mainlanders from the current 5,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan. He said the idea had the support of two-thirds of the 200 Hong Kong CPPCC members.

The city’s largest pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, has 30 proposals for the central government, including one to “streamline the vetting process” of the stock exchange to encourage more quality mainland companies to list in the city.

Liberal Party lawmaker Nick Chan Hiu-fung, a delegate to the NPC, said Chinese firms had been affected by historically high inflation rates in Europe due partly to soaring energy prices and some “irresponsible self-serving yet inflation-exporting monetary policies” in the West.

30,000 yuan in duty-free? Hong Kong CPPCC members want new cap for mainland visitors

He wants Beijing to promote Hong Kong’s professional services, especially in dispute resolution and the insurance and marine sectors, among mainland businesses.

He said mainland firms might not be aware that they did not need to rely only on “the Western club” for services related to foreign trade and going global.

“Why not think about Hong Kong’s better and cheaper services?” he asked.

Delegates from the Business and Professionals Alliance will be seeking Beijing’s support to promote Hong Kong as a “one-stop professional service platform” for the Belt and Road Initiative, a national development blueprint aiming to link China with the rest of Asia, Europe and Africa.

What to watch for in meetings

Political analysts said there were some things to look out for when the CPPCC, China’s top political advisory body, starts meeting on Monday and the NPC, the national legislature, opens its session on Tuesday.

China is still facing multiple headwinds particularly after property investment fell by 9.6 per cent last year. This was despite last year’s economic growth of 5.2 per cent meeting the target of “around 5 per cent”.

The country’s growth targets and government work reports to be unveiled next week will be seen as the first report card for Premier Li Qiang and other state leaders who took up their new roles a year ago.

These announcements, together with the state leaders’ closed-door exchanges with Hong Kong delegates, will also provide clues to Beijing’s strategies and priorities for the city in the coming year.

Lau Siu-kai, a consultant from the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, said some key issues expected to surface during the two sessions meetings were linked to Hong Kong: the mainland’s downturn in the real estate market, stagnant domestic consumption and the lack of foreign investment.

“These are not purely economic problems,” he said. “They were aggravated by suppression and smears by US-led foreign powers. Beijing has to ensure Hong Kong, as an externally oriented economy, will not be susceptible to undesirable influence by foreign forces.”

He said he expected that national security would continue to be a priority in the central government’s consideration of Hong Kong-related policies, even though the city had been calm since Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020.

National security and Hong Kong’s role

The year ahead is expected to be pivotal for the US-China relationship, and observers of the two sessions will be looking for signals from Beijing on this front.

Last year saw a series of high-level bilateral meetings, yet long-standing tensions continue to pose risks.

Washington’s export controls on high-end semiconductors and chipmaking tools to China have no sign of easing.

The latest crossfire occurred on Friday, over Hong Kong’s draft national security legislation, a requirement under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.

China slams US ‘double standards’ over Hong Kong security law criticism

After a US State Department spokesman declared that the proposed legislation would weaken the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning shot back that Washington’s view was “completely naked political manipulation”.

But veteran China watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu said the Article 23 legislation was not on the agenda of any official meetings during the two sessions, possibly reflecting Beijing’s preference that mainlanders not pay attention to the draft law.

He said he felt it was more urgent for top leaders to discuss how to make use of Hong Kong to boost foreign direct investment into the country, after reports suggested that last year’s total was 82 per cent lower than in 2022 and the lowest since 1993.

“Maintaining Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre is becoming more important than ever to attract overseas investors amid the ongoing geopolitical challenges,” he said.

“But this could be tougher than ever, especially if Beijing continues to emphasise national security in the city.”

Additional reporting by Denise Tsang

China economy gaining momentum despite calls for hardline US stance: senior diplomat

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3253919/china-economy-gaining-momentum-despite-calls-hardline-us-stance-senior-diplomat?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s economy is gaining momentum towards recovery and high-quality development as it becomes a “modern socialist country in all respects”, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday, even as he denigrated American critics calling for hardline policies against the Asian giant.

The comments by Qian Jin, China’s deputy consul general in New York, come as the administrations of Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping seek to stabilise relations and build on good will following their November summit in California amid escalating US rhetoric ahead of the nation’s presidential election in November.

“Some people have been hyping up [the] so-called ‘China threat’, advocating cutting China off from chips, slapping new sanctions,” said Qian in prepared remarks.

“The stabilising momentum in China-US relations should not be disrupted by domestic politics.”

Friday’s statement, one of several over the past year by Beijing officials aimed at boosting investor and consumer confidence in China’s struggling economy, was released amid a slew of headwinds.

Qian knocked detractors who voice “concerns and doubts” about China’s economic development and who use such phrases as “struggling for momentum”, “lack of drive” and “dragging down the world”.

“This is further from the truth,” he said. “The ship of China’s economy is breaking turbulent waves of the global economy and moving steadily forward.”

Qian argued critics should note that Beijing achieved its 5.2 per cent growth target in 2023.

US Chamber of Commerce cites ‘Made in China 2025’ concerns after Beijing trip

In addition, China’s economy remained a strong engine of global growth, he said, and planners had avoided “massive stimulus” for short-term gain given “sound and solid fundamentals”.

Beijing has sought to project confidence as it tries to right its economic ship. Its swooning property market is a grave concern, accounting for some 25 per cent of the country’s economy and about 70 per cent of household wealth.

On other fronts, local debt levels are mounting, and youth unemployment stood at 15 per cent in December. Last summer, the total surpassed 20 per cent, after which China’s National Bureau of Statistics temporarily stopped releasing figures, citing a need to change how the index was calculated.

Furthermore, deflationary fears have intensified, and consumers during the closely watched Lunar New Year period stayed cautious.

China, US flights to rise to a third of pre-pandemic levels

While the number of domestic tourists was up 34 per cent during the major annual holiday over last year – and 19 per cent above 2019 pre-coronavirus pandemic levels – average spending per person was nine per cent below 2019.

“In short, Chinese households are readily partaking in the service economy but remain frugal in their spending,” said Michael Hirson of 22V Research, a New York-based investment research firm.

“Cautious household spending and investing has been a key factor behind weak domestic demand since the post-Covid reopening and we see few catalysts to reverse it any time soon,” added Hirson, who served as the US Treasury Department’s attaché in China from 2013 to 2016.

Qian countered that the economy was stable, saying 2023 grain output fell only slightly below 2022 levels, R&D spending held strong and a shift was under way to new sources of growth.

China continued to welcome foreign investors, he added, while electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and new energy developments remained promising. Some economists noted overcapacity concerns, however.

The country’s domestic EV sales could grow 25 per cent to 9.44 million units this year, according to a forecast by Citic Futures. That is down from annual growth rates of 31 per cent last year and 89 per cent in 2022.

Beijing has sought to tackle the mounting economic uncertainties, vowing to embark on a host of pro-growth policies. “Proactive fiscal policy must be moderately strengthened and improved in quality and efficiency,” according to a statement from the Politburo on Thursday.

In a meeting with US business executives in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang touted the “huge demand potential” in advanced manufacturing, urbanisation, consumption upgrading and green energy transformation. He did so even as he criticised any move to decouple the two economies.

What does Li Qiang’s schedule reveal about the changing role of China’s premier?

On trade, prospects for China look mixed, analysts said, as 2023 exports fell, the US has maintained its insistence on restricting exports of high-end semiconductors and other key technologies and Europe grows warier of Beijing’s ambitious EV plans, which the continent has viewed as a threat to its own efforts.

But Qian said better Sino-American trade relations were mutually beneficial.

“Decoupling between us will not work and will produce no winner,” the diplomat said. “For Chinese companies in the US, unreasonable tariffs, sanctions and suppression are most unwanted.”

Beijing’s bid to bolster confidence with foreign investors comes amid steep stock market declines – partially reversed after recent government intervention – and plunging sentiment.

China’s home prices fall at a slower pace as Beijing moves to resuscitate sector

According to an American Chamber of Commerce in South China survey released on Tuesday, 63 per cent of US firms in China were looking to reinvest in China, down 5 percentage points.

The same survey found that only 11 per cent of non-American foreign firms planned to reinvest in China, down sharply from last year’s 71 per cent.

Trade tensions are also weighing on the economy. More than 60 per cent of American firms and over half of Chinese firms in the South China AmCham survey said they had been negatively affected by tariffs both from Beijing and Washington, with 85 per cent expecting bilateral trade tensions to worsen.

The low level of trust and ongoing mudslinging between the world’s two largest economies was evident in this week’s annual US assessment of China’s membership in the World Trade Organization.

‘Mistrust remains high’: why half of US firms have no plans to expand in China

Washington accused Beijing of a “state-directed, non-market approach” and an array of non-market practices targeting industries for global market domination, according to the 80-page report.

The US added that China’s socialist market economy “has turned decidedly predatory”.

Beijing quickly denied the charges, countering Washington relied on “discriminatory” industrial policies that disrupt global supply chains and used “smear tactics and blame-shifting methods to cover up its violations and sabotage”.

Qian on Friday contended doubters would be proved wrong. “The Chinese economy can handle ups and downs,” he said. “The overall trend of long-term growth will not change.”

China is betting its charm offensive can turn Europe away from US

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3253505/china-betting-its-charm-offensive-can-turn-europe-away-us?utm_source=rss_feed

Amid multiple sources of conflict around the world, there seems to be one bright spot. Since the November 2023 meeting at the Apec summit between US President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping, the downward spiral in US-China relations has been somewhat halted.

Even so, Beijing seems convinced that constructive relations with the US can no longer be maintained beyond a superficial level of engagement. As outlined in its Global Security Initiative, Beijing now sees itself as a force for stability and security in a world that has moved beyond the need for the US.

This makes relations with the European Union and its 27 member states crucial for China in its search for global partners in an increasingly polarised world. It also goes some way to explaining why the world is witnessing a Chinese charm offensive for the soul of Europe.

In addition to meeting European leaders or foreign ministers at the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Minister Wang Yi made visits to France and Spain. While the conference launched its annual report in the context of “lose-lose” dynamics, Wang was determined to turn his attendance at the conference into a “win-win” situation.

Despite China’s support of Russia in the midst of the latter’s invasion of Ukraine, the effective failure of its 12-point peace proposal and Beijing’s passivity in the Red Sea crisis, Wang highlighted China’s desire to act as a “staunch force for stability” in the world. More importantly, he focused on the future of EU-China cooperation, saying “China and Europe are the world’s two major forces, markets and civilisations”.

With an eye on the US and the re-establishment of close transatlantic relations under the Biden administration, Wang said it was “imperative that China and Europe stay clear of geopolitical and ideological distractions, see each other as partners rather than rivals and join hands to inject positive energy into a volatile world and point the way for overcoming difficulties together”.

The elephant in the room was the potential return of Donald Trump after the US election in November. A drastic change in Washington’s foreign policy could make Europe forge ahead with a more independent global policy, which would benefit China. Beijing appears to be preparing for the eventual realisation of European “strategic autonomy”, as long advocated by France’s lingering Gaullist foreign policy tendencies.

Wang subsequently met several European policymakers, including the EU’s High Representative for External Affairs Josep Borrell, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. China’s message for all these meetings highlighted the need for each side to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and bilateral development.

Wang’s carefully orchestrated meeting agenda at the Munich conference was indicative of China’s re-prioritisation of Europe in its foreign policy agenda. Although the Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting took place at the same time, Wang chose to attend the meetings in Europe and sent Vice-Minister Ma Zhaoxu to Brazil instead.

After China’s harsh “zero-Covid” pandemic policy, it has reinforced its efforts to appear at important international venues and symbolise to the world that China is open again for business.

Next on Wang’s schedule was a short trip to Madrid to meet Spain’s King Felipe VI, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. The two sides agreed to “fair, just and non-discriminatory business relations” and Beijing lifted its 24-year ban on beef imports from Spain.

The last stop of Wang’s European tour was in Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron and other officials. Not surprisingly, among the topics discussed were the promotion of free and fair trade as well as deepening strategic coordination.

The true battleground in the US-China cold war will be in Europe

Wang advocated that Paris and the EU need to play an independent and “constructive role” in world affairs, while Macron told him that China needed to put pressure on Russia “to return to the negotiating table” with a credible offer to end the Ukraine war.

The nations Wang visited are among the most diplomatically active countries within the EU. Most recently, they have taken a similar route through creating new strategies towards China and committing to ‘de-risking’. Beijing might hope Berlin and Paris will turn towards China in the wake of a potentially isolationist second Trump administration, but Germany and France abandoning their long-standing ally in favour of China is unlikely.

While the foreign minister was busy in western Europe, Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong travelled to Budapest to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. While there, he also met Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter to finalise agreements on law enforcement and security cooperation.

Beijing might view this as a successful first step in efforts to forge closer ties with European states, though Hungary is something of an outlier among EU members and has aligned itself more closely with autocratic governments in recent years.

Following the foreign minister’s European tour, Chinese and European officials met in Brussels to discuss cooperating on matters such as automobiles and critical minerals.

Nothing has been set in stone for Sino-European relations, though, especially with the EU’s decision to blacklist some Chinese firms for aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Regardless of whether the US remains a dependable ally, Europe must decide how to forge its own path in the coming months. Whether China’s charm offensive has been effective in reversing the growing push in Europe to “de-risk” relations and turning the tide in China’s favour remains uncertain.

US Chamber of Commerce cites concerns about ‘Made in China 2025’ after trip to Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3253915/us-chamber-commerce-cites-concerns-about-made-china-2025-after-trip-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States Chamber of Commerce has voiced apprehensions about potential overcapacity in a variety of Chinese industries linked to the nation’s ambitious “Made in China 2025” plan after a delegation visited Beijing this week.

The chamber is the largest American business lobbying group and the delegation, led by its chief executive, Suzanne Clark, aimed to address the complicated trade dynamics and challenges between the two nations as their economic relations come under increasing tensions.

In high-level meetings with Chinese government officials and business leaders, including Premier Li Qiang, the delegation discussed issues related to China’s non-market economic policies, digital protectionism, commercial coercion and intellectual property theft.

It also “conveyed business concerns regarding China’s use of heavy-handed commercial pressure tactics, digital protectionism, and intellectual property theft”, the chamber said in a release on Friday.

Launched by Beijing in 2015, “Made in China 2025” aims to transform the nation’s manufacturing sector by focusing on the rapid development of 10 hi-tech industries, including electric cars, telecommunications, robotics and artificial intelligence systems.

Chinese premier meets US business group in Beijing as part of charm offensive

However, the initiative’s approach – which is fuelled by state subsidies, the dominance of state-owned companies, and the aggressive acquisition of intellectual property – has sparked controversy. Critics, particularly from the US and other industrialised democracies, argue that these tactics undermine international trade norms and pose a threat to those nations’ security.

The delegation also met with US Ambassador Nicholas Burns and members of the foreign diplomatic corps and business community. The talks focused on promoting a mutually beneficial relationship while safeguarding US national security interests.

The delegation argued against a complete decoupling of the two economies. Instead, it called on China to institute more transparent and predictable procedures for the authorisation of companies, to relax restrictive national security standards and to clarify its foreign investment policy.

The chamber reiterated its support for trade that promotes employment without being hampered by national security concerns.

In ‘unprecedented action’, US to probe Chinese tech in cars over security risks

“While affirming the importance of US government efforts to safeguard national security, the chamber emphasised its staunch support for job-supporting commerce with China for the majority of the commercial relationship where national security concerns are absent,” the statement reads.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Joining Nato ‘will bring opportunities’ for Sweden’s arms makers in Asia-Pacific amid tensions with China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3253889/joining-nato-will-bring-opportunities-swedens-arms-makers-asia-pacific-amid-tensions-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Sweden’s entry into Nato “will bring opportunities” for its arms industry in the Asia-Pacific, analysts say. That could include supplying fighter jets to Manila as tensions escalate with Beijing over the South China Sea.

Hungary’s parliament approved Sweden’s accession to Nato on Monday, clearing the way for it to join the transatlantic security alliance after more than 200 years of neutrality – a move prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

It comes as Sweden and the Philippines have been negotiating to finalise an “implementing arrangement” on the procurement of defence equipment. The Philippine defence ministry said the deal was expected to be signed during a meeting in Sweden this month.

As part of the agreement, Sweden has indicated it would participate in Manila’s programme to acquire multi-role fighter jets as part of a military modernisation drive known as Horizon 3, the ministry said.

The JAS 39 Gripen made by Swedish defence and aerospace company Saab is among the options the Philippines is considering for the new fighter jets, along with the F-16 produced by American firm Lockheed Martin.

Swedish ambassador to the Philippines Annika Thunborg proposed the sale of up to a dozen Gripens to Manila when she met Defence Minister Gilberto Teodoro Jnr in August.

A fourth-generation single-engine and multi-role fighter jet, the Gripen has been exported to five countries – Brazil, the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa and Thailand – since it was introduced to the Swedish Air Force in 1996.

Manila is seeking to modernise its fighter jets at a tense time in the South China Sea. In recent months there have been frequent run-ins between Chinese and Philippine vessels near the disputed Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.

Modernising the fleet would certainly help Manila to project air power over its claimed maritime zones in the South China Sea, according to Aaron Jed Rabena, a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines’ Asian Centre.

Rabena said the Gripens offered “bang for the buck” as they were cheaper to acquire and maintain than F-16s. “Yet its specs and features are comparable to the F-16,” he said. “[It] is better than the current squadron of FA-50s in the Philippine Air Force’s inventory.”

Agust Börjesson, a research fellow with the Asia programme at Stockholm-based think tank the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), said Swedish manufacturers like Saab could add significant capability and modernisation to the Philippine Air Force at a more modest price.

“The Asia-Pacific region is complex and prone to tensions, which naturally translates to a significant market potential among democratic partners in the region,” Börjesson said.

“Swedish manufacturers like Saab have reason to be optimistic that a Nato membership will bring opportunities among Nato allies and partners in the context of the alliance’s current focus on the Indo-Pacific.”

Sweden is among the European countries that have taken a relatively hawkish stand on China’s military activities in the Indo-Pacific region. Its foreign ministry last month described Beijing’s conduct towards Taiwan as “worrying” and said “threats of military violence are unacceptable”.

Filipino envoy says South China Sea is the ‘real flashpoint’ in Asia, not Taiwan

In China, after Sweden got the go-ahead to join Nato this week, state-run tabloid Global Times reported that the security situation in Europe would become “more complicated and unstable”, citing Chinese analysts.

Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an assistant professor at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan, said that response indicated that China “sees Europe through the lens of its strategic rivalry with the US”.

“In reality, Beijing wants to protect its trade with EU member states and slow down Europe’s de-risking agenda, so it will not risk alienating its European partners,” Ferenczy said.

Mirna Galic, a senior policy analyst on China and East Asia at the US Institute of Peace, said being a Nato member could help Sweden to facilitate contact with the alliance’s Indo-Pacific partners to “coordinate on the conventional weapons supply chain or other arms issues”.

“China does not like to see the strengthening of US alliances, and since Nato has become more aware of security challenges that China poses for Nato, China has also become more wary,” Galic said.

Swedish arms contractors like Saab have already emerged as key players in the international arms trade, especially in the Indo-Pacific, where their activities will grow along with those of other Nato members, according to Jagannath Panda, head of the ISDP’s Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs.

He said global politics was becoming more bipolar between the US and China and noted that Sweden would share a closer security undertaking with Washington and its allies as a Nato member.

“In other words, Sweden’s entry into Nato explains the fact that its relationship with China will never be in order,” Panda said.

“Since most of the Nato members perceive Russia as an enemy from the past and China as an enemy for the future, Sweden’s foreign policy will be drawn almost in a similar parallel fashion.”

US consumers face safety risks as Chinese goods flood country, congressional panel hears

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3253916/us-consumers-face-safety-risks-chinese-goods-flood-country-congressional-panel-hears?utm_source=rss_feed

The health of American consumers is highly vulnerable to a torrent of Chinese goods entering the country through a loophole allowing shipments under US$800 to bypass import tariffs, most safety inspections and other oversight, according to testimony before a US congressional commission on Friday.

Products qualifying under de minimis trade provisions – the object of two bipartisan bills in Congress aimed at limiting or outlawing the exemptions granted smaller imports – have expanded 30 per cent in the past year, commissioners reported.

While the huge increase is driven in part by Chinese exporters, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission heard, it also reflects changes in American consumer behaviour as e-commerce has proliferated following the coronavirus pandemic, undercutting retailers who import huge volumes that are often easier to scrutinise.

“We’re looking at risk factors, such as who’s in the supply chain, regardless of country, are there new companies involved, repeat violators, products of interest,” said James Joholske of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which protects consumers from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death.

“I would just say, from a risk-assessment perspective, I don’t think we need to target China because the risk is leading us into that direction.”

Joholske said its oversight was driven by the sheer volume of exports from the Asian manufacturing powerhouse.

While China may account for some 80 per cent of the violations the agency finds, it is also a massive source of US consumer-product imports.

Furthermore, he added, Chinese authorities have been relatively cooperative, allowing the safety agency to hold training seminars for Chinese exporters and agreeing to a trilateral meeting with US and European Union safety regulators next month.

EU fails to pass supply chain law that would require audits on Chinese firms

Among the many violations making headlines in recent years involving shipments from China are children’s mattresses, toys, pacifiers and other consumer products that catch fire, lead to choking hazards or are tainted with lead or thallium, a toxic heavy metal used in the optical, jewellery, electronic and photographic industries.

In general, Chinese-made toys were safer than in past decades and on paper the number of violations often appeared modest.

The products have drawn scrutiny in light of sensitivities around children and the fact that 79 per cent of toys sold in the US and Europe are made in China – twice the average for consumer goods overall.

Furthermore, even a single improperly manufactured toy could have massive implications given the numbers being shipped, witnesses testified.

Of 336 imported toys recommended by the US consumer safety commission for recall last year, only two, both made in China, were actually recalled, said Teresa Murray of the US Public Interest Research Group, a not-for-profit watchdog.

In one case, a toddler’s choking death in 2018 was linked to a part of Calico Critters animal sets. But it took five years of legal wrangling until March last year to pull 3.2 million sets of this single item off the shelves.

Similarly, several children suffered internal bleeding from cuts to their groin starting in 2018 after falling on Baby Shark bath toys made of hard plastic. Yet it was not until last year that 7.5 million sets of that toy were recalled.

Beijing slams ‘smear tactics’ in US assessment of China’s ‘predatory’ economy

“Part of the problem here is people do a lot more shopping online these days,” said Murray. “That means a greater risk of buying something that either doesn’t meet standards or it’s already been recalled.”

“A lot of the online marketplaces are international. So what you get in the mail doesn’t even get inspected,” she added.

Other difficulties include Chinese exporters’ ability to quickly shift corporate identities and the vast number of channels through which dangerous and counterfeit Chinese goods can reach American consumers, others testified.

China’s 17-year run as top source of US imports ends as Mexico rises

These include Chinese global marketplaces like Alibaba, AliExpress, DHK, JD.com, Shein and Temu, said Daniel Shapiro of Red Points, an anti-counterfeit company representing global brand companies, which he said accounted for 86 per cent of counterfeits. The South China Morning Post is owned by Alibaba.

Meanwhile, Amazon, eBay, Walmart and other US platforms were responsible for about 6 per cent, and Chinese platforms like Pandabuy that divert Chinese domestic consumer products overseas made up around 8 per cent, he added.

A contributing factor is the explosion of de minimis shipments, defined as less than US$800 in value and thus not subject to import duties, taxes or fees.

In financial year 2023 ending September 30, US Customs and Border Protection reported clearing about 1 billion of these shipments – a 46 per cent surge over the prior year.

In value terms, small e-commerce parcels last calendar year skyrocketed by 19.6 per cent, reaching 1.83 trillion yuan (US$254 billion) to comprise over 7 per cent of total exports, according to preliminary Chinese customs estimates.

Yet even if de minimis provisions were stopped, problems would not disappear, witnesses said on Friday.

Resources for American oversight agencies are badly stretched, with only 50 US product safety agency inspectors tracking 327 US ports of entry.

It can also be easier to search a single mailed package identified as suspicious than large containers containing tens of thousands of Chinese products, most of which may be legitimate.

China’s industrial profits set for 2024 rebound due to upbeat US export outlook

Many foreign manufacturers lack a US presence, no matter how goods are shipped, complicating enforcement efforts.

Murray believed a more effective strategy might be to focus on those over whom the US has jurisdiction, namely American retailers, importers, distributors and warehouse operators that fail to vet their overseas suppliers.

Monitoring consumer vulnerabilities outlined in testimony Friday is part of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s mandate. The independent agency was set up in 2000 to investigate and reports to Congress on the national security implications of Sino-American trade and economic relations.

Meanwhile, the US House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party on Friday called for tougher rules involving de minimis shipments.

US House panel renews push to punish trade fraud by Chinese companies

Citing figures from US Customs and Border Protection, it said more than 485 million de minimis shipments had already entered the US since October 1, on target to exceed the 1.05 billion shipments that entered tax-free in financial year 2023.

“We can’t expect American companies to compete with foreign companies that don’t have to pay taxes,” said Republican congressman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the committee’s chairman, in a statement.

Joholske of the US consumer safety commission said his agency did not take a position on whether such shipments should be eliminated.

“Even if de minimis went away … the volume of stuff coming in is overwhelming,” he said. “So we do the best we can.”