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• China, African leaders agree on major financing, trade deals at FOCAC summit in Beijing
• China’s economy faces challenges even as it ‘holds steady’: 4 takeaways from August’s PMIs
• US expels China’s consul general in New York over Beijing agent charge
• China’s consul general in New York reportedly expelled
• Chip war: Taiwan accuses 8 mainland Chinese firms of poaching talent, stealing secrets
• Malaysia to probe media leak of classified diplomatic note from China
• China urged to ‘fully evaluate’ wider impact of US tech war
• Mao artist Gao Zhen held under Chinese law against defaming revolutionary ‘heroes’
• Samsung said to slash 8% of sales team in mainland China amid weak performance
• China to build migrant children database to improve welfare and services
• China’s money-laundering crackdown needs ‘urgent’ plan to recover illicit digital assets
• [Sport] 'Chinese spy mayor' wanted by Philippines arrested
• China ‘mistress counsellor’ restores broken marriages by persuading lovers to depart
• China honours WWII Flying Tiger aircrews in push to improve people-to-people ties with US
• China’s localities need ‘profound reform’ to draw investment, state newspaper says
• US, China fracking boom is reshaping global energy sector but at what cost?
• China’s Geely Auto launches first compact EV, called Xingyuan, to compete with BYD’s Seagull
• China’s hypersonic missiles can be made from steel, scientists say
• 2 strangers lock noisy China toddler in plane toilet to discipline her, igniting heated debate
• In food paradise Singapore, Chinese eateries get a taste for expansion in bid to go global
• China’s Sanergy puts blame for Hong Kong stock meltdown on major investor’s forced stake sale
• Rock ’n’ roll, internet are potential Western ‘colour revolution’ traps: Chinese textbook
• Northern China loses Din Tai Fung’s dumplings as consumers keep budgets under wraps
• Road rage China woman faces online backlash for vicious attack on ex-soldier who does not retaliate
• Skies over South China Sea seen as new flashpoint as Manila begins ‘aerial provocations’
• China’s services activity expansion slows in August despite summer travel peak: Caixin PMI
• China’s BYD pauses Mexico factory plans until after US election
• China’s 3 monetary pivots under the first year of central bank governor Pan Gongsheng
• [Sport] A Ferrari, a Honolulu hideaway, salted duck - top NY official allegedly spied for China
• [Sport] 'No preaching' and other tactics as China woos African leaders
• Chinese companies seek gold in ‘silver economy’ as population greys
• Ex-aide to New York governors charged with being agent of Chinese government

China, African leaders agree on major financing, trade deals at FOCAC summit in Beijing

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3277225/china-african-leaders-agree-major-financing-trade-deals-focac-summit-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed

African leaders attending a summit in Beijing have secured major deals on infrastructure financing, green energy, space cooperation and trade expansion with China in bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping.

The 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), running from Wednesday until Friday, is the largest gathering of African and Chinese leaders since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kenya secured 2 billion yuan (US$281 million) to finance the construction of rural roads that will serve 70 per cent of the nation’s population – part of Beijing’s revised Belt and Road Initiative to focus on “small and beautiful” projects.

The East African nation also restarted talks to extend the Standard Gauge Railway from Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Congo-Brazzaville, according to a statement by Kenyan President William Ruto’s office after a meeting on Tuesday.

“Kenya and China have excellent and cordial diplomatic relations. These ties have been mutually beneficial to our two countries, phenomenally transforming Kenya’s railway, road and port infrastructure, and deepening people-to-people exchanges,” Ruto said in the statement.

Meanwhile, Tanzanian and Zambian leaders agreed to a plan to rehabilitate the Tazara railway, which connects Zambia’s copper belt region to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam. The US$1-billion plan to refurbish the railway comes as global powers vie for control over critical mineral trade routes.

During a meeting with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Xi said the summit was an opportunity to promote progress on the railway, cooperate to improve the East African rail-sea transport network, and recognise Tanzania as model of “high-quality” China-Africa cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative.

The refurbishment deal comes as the United States has also pledged to renovate the Lobito Atlantic Railway – its first major project in Africa in decades – which will stretch 1,300km (808 miles) across Zambia and the DRC to create a logistics corridor to the port of Lobito in Angola. Zambia and the DRC are rich in critical metals such as copper and cobalt used in electric batteries.

China also agreed to import more agricultural products from Africa and promised to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Africa’s critical mineral development in several countries amid a global rush for a green energy transition.

In a meeting with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Xi said China would continue to promote the development of infrastructure, energy and mineral industries, and encourage cooperation in areas such as the digital economy and new energy.

The two leaders also agreed to encourage exports of more “high-quality” Nigerian products to China.

Nigeria mostly exports petroleum products, lead ore, zinc ore and other minerals to China, but the West African nation also hopes to export agricultural products to China. Nigeria also struck a peanut export deal as part of a trend that has seen African countries granted Chinese market access to balance trade.

In their joint statement, Xi and Tinubu said that human rights issues, including the right to development, “are the common cause of all mankind, and they oppose the politicisation of human rights issues and interference in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of human rights”.

China has also agreed to help support industrial upgrades in Zimbabwe and develop its mineral processing capabilities as the country positions itself as a key producer of lithium, an essential material for electric vehicles.

A joint statement from the countries’ two leaders said that Beijing encouraged Chinese companies to invest and start businesses in Zimbabwe to help it upgrade industries and its national railway system, and support its digital transformation.

Zimbabwe also secured a deal to export avocados to China, joining three other African countries – Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa – with similar agreements.

During bilateral talks with the African leaders, Xi urged them to guarantee the safety of Chinese personnel and projects in their countries, especially in the DRC, where some Chinese have been kidnapped or killed.

Xi also encouraged them to support China at the United Nations, the G20 and in the Brics bloc. Xi has said the UN Security Council “should balance regional representation to reflect the current geopolitical realities.”

Africa wants two permanent seats on the Security Council, and its number of non-permanent members expanded from three to five.

China’s economy faces challenges even as it ‘holds steady’: 4 takeaways from August’s PMIs

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3277140/chinas-economy-faces-challenges-even-it-holds-steady-4-takeaways-augusts-pmis?utm_source=rss_feed

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China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to a six-month low of 49.1 in August, down from a reading of 49.4 in July.

The survey of sentiment among factory owners fell short of a survey by Bloomberg. A reading above 50 typically indicates an expansion of economic activity, whereas a reading below implies a contraction.

But the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI – which mostly covers smaller, export-oriented firms - rose to 50.4 in August from 49.8 the previous month, beating analysts’ forecasts.

“The Caixin manufacturing PMI for August returned to expansionary territory, but the growth was limited. Considering the government’s ambitious annual economic growth target, the challenges and difficulties in stabilising growth over the coming months will be substantial,” said Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group.

Gabriel Ng, assistant economist at Capital Economics, said the average across the two gauges “rose a touch” from 49.6 to 49.7.

The new exports component, meanwhile, fell to 49 from 49.5 last month.

“At face value, that points to a slowdown in exports. But it is worth keeping in mind that the PMIs have tended to understate the strength of foreign demand in recent years,” Ng said.

China’s official non-manufacturing PMI – a measure of sentiment in the service and construction sectors – stood at 50.3 in August compared to 50.2 in July, with analysts pointing to a pickup in services activity, particularly the entertainment and telecommunications sectors.

The gauge remained in expansion territory for the 20th straight month as it exceeded expectations in a Bloomberg survey for a slight fall to 50.1.

But within the non-manufacturing PMI, the construction subindex reached its lowest point since 2020 after falling from 51.2 in July to 50.6 in August.

The services subindex, meanwhile, stood at 50.2 from 50 in July.

“To the extent that the recent step-up in government borrowing is supporting infrastructure spending, this appears to have been insufficient to offset the drag on construction from the property downturn,” Ng said.

Elsewhere, the Caixin/S&P Global services PMI slipped to 51.6 in August from 52.1 in July.

The new business index remained above 50, but the rate of growth was softer than July, with export business quickening as overseas client interest in the tourism industry supported faster business growth.

“Although the index remained in expansionary territory for the 20th straight month, growth in activity slowed,” Wang added.

Taken together, the average of the two services PMIs decreased to 50.9 from 51.1 a month earlier, Ng said.

China’s official composite PMI – which tracks both the services and manufacturing sectors – stood at 50.1 from 50.2 in July.

Meanwhile, the Caixin/S&P Global composite PMI posted 51.2 in August, unchanged from July as faster manufacturing output growth was offset by slower services activity expansion.

The average across the composite PMIs “fell a touch” to 50.6 from 50.7, Ng said.

“The increase in policy support since July does seem to have succeeded in stabilising growth. And momentum could improve somewhat in the near-term given that fiscal spending looks on track to pick up further,” he added.

“But any cyclical recovery is likely to be short-lived, with downside risk to exports mounting and the structural downturn in construction activity likely to persist for many years.”

On Wednesday, Bank of America cut its forecast for China’s gross domestic product growth in 2024 from 5 per cent to 4.8 per cent. It also lowered its forecasts for both 2025 and 2026 from 4.7 per cent to 4.5 per cent.

But Ng at Capital Economics said the fall in the Caixin services PMI did not affect the fact that economic momentum “held broadly steady” last month.

“All told, the average of the official and Caixin composite PMIs fell only a touch. And we think momentum could improve in the near-term given that fiscal spending looks on track to pick up further,” he added.

But overall, Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said economic momentum had likely weakened recently.

“The fiscal policy stance remains quite restrictive, which may have contributed to the weak economic momentum,” he said.

“To achieve economic stabilisation the fiscal policy stance needs to become much more supportive.

“With the US economy slowing, exports may not be as reliable a source for growth as it was in the first half of the year.”

US expels China’s consul general in New York over Beijing agent charge

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3277238/us-expels-chinas-consul-general-new-york-over-beijing-agent-charge?utm_source=rss_feed

New York’s governor says she called for the expulsion of China’s New York-based consul general after her aide was criminally charged as an agent for Beijing.

“I have conveyed my desire to have the consul general from the People’s Republic of China and the New York mission expelled, and I’ve been informed that the consul general is no longer in the New York mission,” said Kathy Hochul, New York’s top official.

But State Department spokesman Matthew Miller denied that the Chinese envoy, Huang Ping, had been expelled, instead characterising the official’s departure as “the end of a regular scheduled rotation”.

Huang began his post as China’s consul general in New York in 2018. He previously served as a visa officer in Washington from 1988 to 1990 and as consul general in Chicago from 2008 to 2010.

The diplomat arrived in America’s most populous city after serving as China’s ambassador to Zimbabwe.

Prosecutors said Linda Sun, a naturalised US citizen born in China, was arrested on Tuesday morning at her home in Long Island and pleaded not guilty in US District Court in Brooklyn later in the day.

Sun’s husband Chris Hu – a business owner and likewise a naturalised US citizen originally from China – also faced criminal charges and pleaded not guilty.

Sun was released on a US$1.5 million bond, and Hu was released on a US$500,000 bond.

“The moment we discovered the misconduct, we fired this individual,” the governor said.

“This individual who served in my administration 15 months was fired by this administration and we reported immediately to law enforcement and in the meantime we’ve been helping the Department of Justice for many months and will continue to work with them.”

Hochul said the indictment “lays out very clearly evidence that these actions taken by [the defendant] Linda Sun were an absolute betrayal of the trust of two administrations and state government lying and misleading to our these administrations breaking our ethics rules and even forging my signature on a document”.

More to follow …

China’s consul general in New York reportedly expelled

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/04/china-consul-general-ny-expelled

China’s consul general in New York has been expelled, CNN reported on Wednesday, deepening the crisis swirling around the former aide of the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, who has been charged with acting as a secret agent for the Chinese government.

The news network said that Hochul had broken the news about the expulsion of Huang Ping, the consul general, at an unrelated event. She told reporters that she told the Chinese consulate she wanted the Ping expelled after she had been in touch with the US state department at the request of the secretary of state, Antony Blinken.

“I have conveyed my desire to have the counsel general from the People’s Republic of China and the New York mission expelled, and I’ve been informed that the counsel general is no longer in the New York mission,” she said.

No confirmation of the expulsion has yet been made by either the Chinese or the US governments.

The reported expulsion of a top Chinese diplomat comes 24 hours after Linda Sun was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, money laundering conspiracy, visa fraud and alien smuggling. Sun had risen to the rank of deputy chief of staff to Hochul having also worked for the previous New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

She worked for state government for about 15 years until she was fired by Hochul after the governor’s office said it had discovered “evidence of misconduct”. Hochul said that her former aide had demonstrated an “absolute betrayal of the trust of two administrations in state government”.

Sun’s husband, Chris Hu, was also charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. They have both pleaded not guilty to all charges and are out on bond.

Sun had promoted policies favored by the Chinese government while working for New York state, including turning away Taiwanese government officials from the governor’s office, according to prosecutors. In return, Hu was allegedly granted preferable treatment for his China-based businesses and the couple received gifts such as “Nanjing-style salted ducks”.

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Chip war: Taiwan accuses 8 mainland Chinese firms of poaching talent, stealing secrets

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3277223/chip-war-taiwan-accuses-8-mainland-chinese-firms-poaching-talent-stealing-secrets?utm_source=rss_feed

Taiwanese authorities have accused eight mainland Chinese tech companies, including chip equipment giant Naura Technology Group, of illegally poaching talent from the island, underscoring growing cross-strait tensions as Beijing doubles down on its semiconductor self-sufficiency drive.

The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau in Taiwan said in a statement published on its website on Wednesday that it raided 30 locations and questioned 65 individuals in four cities, including Taipei and Hsinchu. The agency found that eight mainland companies were suspected of poaching talent and stealing trade secrets in Taiwan, which “seriously affects the competitiveness of Taiwan’s hi-tech industry”.

The eight companies were Naura, iCommsemi, Shanghai New Vision Microelectronics, Nanjing Aviacomm Semiconductor, Emotibot, Tongfang, Chengdu Analog Circuit Technology, and Hestia Power.

Naura – which produces etching, deposition and cleaning tools, as well as other chip-making gear – allegedly poached semiconductor equipment engineers in Taiwan. The Beijing-based company supplies to the mainland’s largest chip makers, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation, and Hua Hong Semiconductor Group.

In a statement to the Post on Wednesday, Naura denied poaching local workers. The company said its Taiwan office “was established and operates in accordance with local laws and regulations”.

Many of the companies named by Taiwanese investigators, including iCommsemi and New Vision Microelectronics, specialise in chip design. Meanwhile, Emotibot develops automation artificial intelligence platforms based on technologies such as natural language processing and deep learning.

The three companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

Several of the accused companies are supported by the mainland Chinese government, according to Taiwanese authorities.

Investigators said Hestia Power, a Shanghai-based developer of chip materials, receives backing from the “Big Fund” – a major state investment vehicle set up by Beijing to support domestic chip industry development and bolster tech self-sufficiency.

Shanghai-listed Tongfang, known previously as Tsinghua Tongfang, was set up by the prestigious Tsinghua University in 1997. It is currently controlled by state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation and operates in various sectors, including the consumer electronics, energy and environmental industries.

Taiwanese investigators accused Tongfang of poaching nearly 100 research and development workers through a company it formed in Taiwan.

Tongfang and Hestia Power could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Beijing has been doubling down on efforts to achieve self-reliance in the chip industry, as Washington has tightened export controls to restrict the shipments of advanced semiconductor technologies to mainland entities.

The Beijing municipal government last month launched a semiconductor investment fund with a registered capital of 8.5 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), according to Chinese corporate database Qichacha. That came three months after China created its largest-ever chip investment fund – the third phase of the Big Fund – with a registered capital of 344 billion yuan.

Malaysia to probe media leak of classified diplomatic note from China

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3277224/malaysia-probe-media-leak-classified-diplomatic-note-china?utm_source=rss_feed

Malaysia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday it would file a police report and carry out an internal investigation into the leak of a classified diplomatic note sent by China’s foreign ministry to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing in February.

The note was published in an article by a Philippine media outlet on Thursday , the ministry said, without elaborating on the contents.

Philippine news outlet The Inquirer on that date reported China had sent a two-page document to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing in February, asserting that Kuala Lumpur’s oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea infringed on China’s sovereignty.

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the document.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory based on historic maps, including parts of the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, complicating energy exploration efforts by several of those countries.

“The ministry views the leak of this document, which constitutes an official communication channel between the two countries, with grave concern,” Malaysia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

China’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside office hours.

Malaysia, under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, has traditionally struck a dovish line on Beijing including over the South China Sea, despite an intensifying row between China and US ally the Philippines that has triggered concerns about a dangerous escalation.

Anwar last year said Beijing had expressed concerns about energy activities by Malaysian state firm Petronas and he was prepared to negotiate with China on maritime disputes.

Petronas operates oil and gas fields in the South China Sea within Malaysia’s EEZ and has in recent years had several encounters with Chinese vessels.

In March Anwar said that trying to contain China’s rise would only aggravate the country and sow discord in the region.

In its statement on Wednesday, Malaysia said it would continue to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights in the South China Sea, handle disputes peacefully and engage all countries concerned, including China, with which it said it shares close and active bilateral ties.

“Regarding the South China Sea, both countries have expressed commitment and determination to resolve any issues peacefully through consultations and dialogue using existing platforms and diplomatic channels, without recourse to disputes or violence,” the ministry said.

An international arbitration tribunal in The Hague in 2016 said China’s claim to about 90 per cent of the South China Sea had no basis under international law, a ruling Beijing does not recognise.

China urged to ‘fully evaluate’ wider impact of US tech war

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3277178/china-urged-fully-evaluate-wider-impact-us-tech-war?utm_source=rss_feed

China should “accurately” judge the impact its tech gap with the United States has on international relations and productivity, a former tax official said.

Xu Shanda, a former deputy director of the State Administration of Taxation, also urged Beijing to prioritise boosting consumption and the confidence of the private sector in its latest reform plans.

In an article published by the Beijing-based SSEC Research Institute think tank on Tuesday, Xu said that China should not underestimate the impact of technological progress on international relations.

“The United States is now in an absolute leading position, not a partial lead, but it leads the system,” Xu said, citing the trillion-dollar market capitalisation of US’ most advanced information technology companies.

“This gap is not a gap with the United States alone, but a gap with the developed country system dominated by the United States.”

The US has taken technology, led by artificial intelligence, to a new stage, changing the structure of production and improving productivity, said the former official.

“We must fully evaluate the impact of this gap on productivity and international relations,” he added.

“At the same time, we are faced with a major strategic choice: should we establish a completely independent system or join the system of developed countries?”

His comments highlighted concerns over the wider impact on China from a tech war with the US and risks of decoupling from Western markets.

The Biden administration has sought to overcome opposition from allied nations and the tech industry in expanding restrictions aimed at slowing China’s ability to make the most advanced semiconductors, which Washington said could be used to bolster Beijing’s military capacity.

The US-led semiconductor supply chain includes Dutch company ASML, a dominant player in the lithography equipment market, which provides technology crucial for creating the circuitry of chips.

The production of photoresist, specialised chemicals critical for chip making, is also dominated by a few Japanese companies.

To narrow the tech gap with the US, Xu said China’s state sector needs to invest more in advanced technology rather than infrastructure.

Private companies in China have opted to invest abroad to avoid US restrictions on Chinese exports and their weak confidence in investing in their home market is also a problem that needs to be addressed, Xu said.

Xu suggested that some proceeds from China’s treasury bonds could be channelled to private companies to relieve them from tax burdens and to fund innovation.

Xu also urged policymakers to boost consumption by reforming China’s pension scheme, as there are still hundreds of millions of elderly people receiving very little pension, which is not enough to maintain basic living.

China is faced with a rapidly-ageing population, and as of 2023, it had nearly 297 million people aged 60 or above, accounting for 21.1 per cent of the national population.

Better financial support to retirees could help to reduce the need for high amounts of savings, he added.

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Mao artist Gao Zhen held under Chinese law against defaming revolutionary ‘heroes’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277213/mao-artist-gao-zhen-held-under-chinese-law-against-defaming-revolutionary-heroes?utm_source=rss_feed

Gao Zhen, a Chinese artist who is known for his critical depictions of Mao Zedong, has been detained under a law banning the defamation of “heroes and martyrs”.

In a post published on Facebook on Saturday, the artist’s brother Gao Qiang said the 58-year-old had been detained on Monday when police came to the pair’s studio in Sanhe, Hebei on the outskirts of Beijing.

Gao Zhen’s wife received a detention notice last Tuesday, saying her husband was suspected of “injuring the reputation and honour of a hero or martyr”, the post added.

The new offence was added to China’s criminal law in 2021 and carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

The addition came three years after another law passed in 2018 that bans the defamation of those who died protecting the country.

The Gao brothers have exhibited their works internationally and many of them feature critical, sometimes provocative presentations of Mao. The most famous of these is Mao’s Guilt, which depicts a kneeling Mao as a sinner.

A Facebook page promoting the brothers’ works said police had taken some artworks from their studio as evidence, mainly “works from more than a decade ago that artistically reflect the Cultural Revolution launched by Mao”.

The decade-long Cultural Revolution, which started in 1966 and continued until Mao’s death in 1976, caused violent upheavals through Chinese society. The Communist Party has since officially described it in two historical resolutions as a “disaster” and an “error” by Mao.

But the party has never sought to devalue Mao’s central position in the party’s history and his status as founder of the People’s Republic and he is still revered by tens of millions in China.

The Gao brothers, who have been working together since 1985, have previously said that their creations are inspired by their father’s death in prison after he was denounced as a “class enemy” during the Cultural Revolution.

Gao Zhen moved to the United States in 2022, joining his younger brother who had moved there some years previously.

He was due to fly back to New York on Tuesday after visiting family in China, the Facebook post said. His younger brother was in the US at the time.

In recent years, a number of Chinese commentators who sought to challenge Beijing’s official version of history have been convicted and jailed.

In 2021, former journalist and blogger Qiu Ziming was given an eight-month sentence for defaming soldiers who died in a border clash with Indian troops in 2020 after questioning the official death toll and criticising the unit’s commander.

The following year, the former investigative journalist Luo Changping was jailed for seven months for a Weibo post poking fun at Chinese soldiers depicted in a film about the Korean war.

Both men were also forced to issue public apologies.

Samsung said to slash 8% of sales team in mainland China amid weak performance

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3277208/samsung-said-slash-8-sales-team-mainland-china-amid-weak-performance?utm_source=rss_feed

Samsung Electronics has notified employees in mainland China of a restructuring that will eliminate about 130 positions – equivalent to 8 per cent of domestic sales staff – according to South Korean media reports, as the company continues to grapple with sluggish smartphone and television demand in the world’s second-largest economy.

This marks the start of a broader restructuring initiative that would potentially cut up to 30 per cent of Samsung’s mainland workforce by next year, the Seoul Economic Daily reported earlier this week, citing a company official.

Samsung – the world’s largest smartphone vendor the past two quarters, according to research firm IDC – has already begun accepting voluntary resignations, the report said. Samsung is expected to pursue selected lay-offs in case the number of voluntary terminations falls short of its target.

In a statement to Chinese digital media outlet Jiemian, Samsung’s China unit said the staff adjustment aims to improve operational efficiency and strengthen market competitiveness. “The company plans to eliminate redundant positions to better allocate resources and enhance organisational performance,” the statement said.

The size of Samsung’s major local offices in Beijing, Nanjing and Xian has contracted in recent years owing to weak business performance, with research departments last year seeing lay-offs or non-renewal of contracts, according to a former Samsung China employee, who declined to be named because the matter has not been made public.

According to a Samsung report, the company’s workforce in China peaked at 63,316 employees in 2013. By early 2022, that number had fallen to fewer than 20,000.

The latest job cuts planned on the mainland reflect Samsung’s continuing struggle to regain its past glory in the market, where it was once the biggest Android smartphone vendor with a 20 per cent market share in 2013.

Samsung’s strong run in the world’s largest smartphone market took a disastrous turn in late 2016, when the company amid increased concerns about the device catching fire.

The Korean firm ranked dead last among the market’s major handset vendors by 2018, with just a 1 per cent share and has since remained around that level amid the rapid growth of major Chinese handset vendors led by Huawei Technologies, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.

Over the past several years, Samsung has shut down multiple production bases on the mainland, including its last smartphone plant in Huizhou, a city in southern Guangdong province, and last personal computer factory in Suzhou, a bustling metropolis in the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu.

Outside China, Samsung continues to be challenged by mainland smartphone vendors. Recently, Honor – a spin-off from Huawei – surpassed Samsung to top western Europe’s foldable smartphone market, according to data from industry consultancy Counterpoint Research.

In July, Samsung released on the mainland its latest foldable smartphones – the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 – alongside wearable devices like the Galaxy Ring, watches and earbuds, but the reception has been lukewarm.

Still, Samsung remains a force in the global tech industry. The company reported its fastest pace of net income growth since 2010 after the artificial intelligence boom lifted earnings at its semiconductor division.

The world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones posted a six-fold surge in net income to 9.64 trillion won (US$6.96 billion) in the June quarter, versus the average analysts’ projection for 7.97 trillion won. Earlier in July, Samsung reported a 15-fold rise in preliminary operating profit and a 23 per cent rise in revenue, the biggest gain in sales since 2021.

In the same month, a Korean workers’ union at Samsung staged a strike in a dispute over wages and benefits.

Additional reporting by Coco Feng

China to build migrant children database to improve welfare and services

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277209/china-build-migrant-children-database-improve-welfare-and-services?utm_source=rss_feed

China is setting up a nationwide database of the children of migrant workers as the country grapples with a rise in juvenile crime.

The database will cover children who have been “left behind” in their hometowns while their parents work elsewhere, as well as children who have moved with their parents to other parts of the country for job opportunities.

Guo Yuqiang, director of the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ Department of Child Welfare, said on Wednesday that the central government aimed to have a precise list of children in need of care by 2026.

It also aimed to deliver obvious results in the protection of the psychological and physical health of these children by 2035.

Gao said the central government had set up an action plan for the protection of migrant children, the first plan of its kind at a national level in China.

A particular focus of attention will be children with disabilities, those without guardians, and those with psychological and behavioural needs.

Children with these categories will be identified for special care, with cadres from local authorities required to check on their welfare on a regular basis.

Local governments have already started gathering information for the database, with directives issued to various agencies to submit information.

The children of migrant workers are broadly defined as those under the age of 16 whose parents have left home for more than six months for work.

According to data released by the government after the 2020 census, there were about 71 million migrant children and 67 million left-behind children in China in 2020, with more than 60 per cent of left-behind children living in rural areas.

The database covers different aspects of these children, from residency status to medical insurance and disabilities.

For example, civil affairs bureaus will gather information about the family status of these children and their guardians, while education authorities will be in charge of school enrolment details.

The central government has also compiled a list of 16 services that local authorities should provide for migrant children, including vaccinations for infants, help for enrolment at public schools, support for children with disabilities and intervention for those with psychological needs.

While the action plan focuses on children who live with their migrant worker parents, the nationwide database will also include information about the left-behind children.

The plight of left-behind children and their families has been a source of national concern in recent years with a series of juvenile crimes.

In March, the country was stunned by the gruesome killing of a 13-year-old boy allegedly by his three schoolmates aged between 12 and 14. They were all left-behind children.

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China’s money-laundering crackdown needs ‘urgent’ plan to recover illicit digital assets

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3277193/chinas-money-laundering-crackdown-needs-urgent-plan-recover-illicit-digital-assets?utm_source=rss_feed

China needs to “urgently” standardise ways to recover billions of yuan worth of funds from confiscated digital assets, according to a legal expert, following last month’s revision of laws targeting money laundering using virtual currencies.

In an article published on Tuesday in the People’s Court Daily, a publication owned by the Supreme People’s Court in China, Yang Kai, a professor with the East China University of Political Science and Law, said law enforcement authorities faced difficulties in safely recuperating virtual currencies as part of criminal cases.

Yang’s comments came after the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate revised laws last month to include cryptocurrencies, online game coins and tipping during live streaming as channels of money laundering.

The revision would help China to bolster a crackdown on illegal activities and address cryptocurrency-related risks, a measure that would also align its practices with global standards as it faces stricter international scrutiny.

China does not recognise virtual currencies as legal tender and strictly prohibits their circulation in the market.

Digital currencies also cannot be auctioned or sold like other types of assets as it would violate Chinese laws and regulations, Yang added.

This means, to liquidate digital assets, law enforcement authorities would often have to go through third party companies and overseas entities, which carries compliance risks, Yang said.

“Although the law enforcement have tried a variety of disposal methods, due to the lack of unified standards, the implementation varies greatly from place to place,” he added.

“A large amount of virtual currencies has been sealed off and cannot be converted into liquid funds, affecting the normal operation of economic activities. Therefore, legalising disposal of virtual currency is urgently needed.”

China’s judicial bodies should issue a comprehensive set of guidelines to liquidate virtual currencies “as soon as possible”, said Yang.

The guidelines should cover the legal status of virtual currencies, compliance requirements, asset disposal procedures and legal responsibilities, which would help to build a fair, transparent and secure market environment, Yang said.

The growth of virtual currencies such as bitcoin and ether used in crimes has been “phenomenal”, according to Yang.

The amount of virtual currencies involved in criminal cases rose sharply to 430.72 billion yuan (US$60.5 billion) in 2023, more than 12 times the amount in 2022, according to the Beijing-based Safeis, a Chinese tech service firm specialising in global blockchain ecosystem security.

But there are also challenges in determining the value and identifying the owners of virtual currencies, said Yang.

Yang also urged Chinese regulators to actively take part in the drafting of international rules, share experiences and coordinate with authorities from other countries because of the cross-border nature of virtual currencies.

There has been a push by the international securities watchdog, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), to better coordinate cryptocurrency rules among global regulators. Both mainland China and Hong Kong are members of the IOSCO.

Tracing and seizures of virtual assets, which can be illiquid, can be challenging for regulators.

The UK government introduced a bill in 2023 to help law enforcement agencies seize and freeze cryptocurrencies used for crimes.

The changes mean police would no longer be required to make an arrest before seizing assets from a suspect, while officers would also be able to transfer illicit assets into an electronic wallet controlled by law enforcement.

[Sport] 'Chinese spy mayor' wanted by Philippines arrested

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mnyrm8739o

Facebook/Mayor Alice Leal Guo

China ‘mistress counsellor’ restores broken marriages by persuading lovers to depart

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3277053/china-mistress-counsellor-restores-broken-marriages-persuading-lovers-depart?utm_source=rss_feed

A woman in central China who runs a workshop persuading mistresses to leave the married men they are having an affair with has trended on mainland social media.

Wang Zhenxi, 39, is a Henan-based relationship counsellor who has been specialising in “mistress dispelling” for eight years, during which time she has received enquiries from about 10,000 potential clients, according to Dahe News.

Wang said she set up her company in 2016 after being a victim herself.

“My husband had an affair and I could not accept it. To go through those ‘dark days’, I started learning psychology and reading books on emotions,” she said.

Wang said she later managed to “safeguard” her marriage.

After passing psychology exams and obtaining a counselling licence, she wrote articles on emotions and marriage that brought her online fame. People sought her advice on their relationships and their partners’ infidelity.

“I responded to them individually, devising a solution to persuade the mistress to leave, which I termed the ‘marriage correction method’,” she stated.

Wang travels around the mainland for two-thirds of the year meeting clients, their husbands, and the mistresses.

These meetings allow her to gain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics at play and provide tailored support to each party.

For each case, she creates a “mind map” based on the individual family situation and the different personalities involved so she can effectively communicate with them. Sometimes, she even helps the mistresses find new boyfriends through blind dates.

Wang charges 700 yuan (US$100) an hour for her services.

However, she declines certain potential customers, including individuals with drug or gambling addictions, those indebted to loan sharks, people with a history of fraud, those facing mental health issues, and mistresses seeking assistance in persuading the wife to initiate a divorce.

She once received a call from a woman who offered her 300,000 yuan (US$42,000) to convince her husband’s mistress to leave him. Without disclosing her reasons, she declined the offer.

Wang’s successes include helping a 29-year-old woman who felt suicidal upon discovering that her boyfriend was married. After multiple visits, Wang was able to persuade her to end the relationship, providing the support she needed during a difficult time.

Another client was a 32-year-old wife whose husband had a lover. It took Wang a month to persuade the lover to leave him so he could “return to his family”, she said.

“This client then became my assistant because she thought my job was meaningful. She often helps our clients by sharing her own story,” Wang said.

After handling so many cases, Wang concluded that an affair is often not the cause of a failed marriage but rather a symptom of underlying issues with the relationship.

“Because the couple have problems in their relationship, one has an affair; thus, the mistress’s departure cannot entirely resolve the issue,” she said.

“The two partners in a marriage must be sincere with each other and value their relationship. Otherwise, while one mistress may leave, another may take her place.”

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China honours WWII Flying Tiger aircrews in push to improve people-to-people ties with US

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277181/china-honours-wwii-flying-tiger-pilots-amid-push-improve-people-people-ties-us?utm_source=rss_feed

China has paid tribute to American “Flying Tiger” aircrew members in a ceremony commemorating the end of World War II, in the latest push to foster people-to-people relations between the two nations.

For the first time, the names of more than 2,500 personnel who died fighting the Japanese on behalf of China have been published.

At a ceremony in Nanjing, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, on Tuesday, Chinese ambassador to the United States Xie Feng said the Flying Tiger spirit “will forever be a great treasure”.

He said the aircrews represented the keeping of justice and peace, as well as friendship.

“During China’s greatest hour of need in the war against Japanese aggression, a batch of US air personnel travelled thousands of miles without regard for their own lives … to fight with the Chinese army and people, to fight for peace,” he said.

The Flying Tigers were founded in 1941 as the First American Volunteer Group and became part of the newly activated 14th Air Force in 1943.

They not only engaged in air combat against Japanese forces but also ensured transport across the Himalayas from what was then British India to China’s southwestern provinces, the base of the resistance government.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, more than 2,000 American volunteer air personnel died in such missions during the war.

Xie said the aircrews shot down more than 2,600 Japanese planes during their time. The Chinese people returned the favour by helping in rescue missions, saving more than 200 personnel and building temporary runaways.

He said that to this day, many museums and monuments remained standing in the cities in which they fought, telling the story of how the US and China worked together to maintain peace.

“Chinese people treasure friendship and will never forget old friends,” he said.

The Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall released a list of the 2,590 aviation martyrs, after thorough research of new historic records, local media reported. It lists the names, dates of death and military positions of the airmen, with minor adjustments.

The hall also announced the addition of Jack W. Hammel’s name to the monument. Hammel, a pilot from Michigan, died aged 23 on July 25, 1945, in east China’s Jiangxi province after his fighter plane was hit by Japanese ground fire.

On Monday, Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation, and representatives of the pilots’ descendants visited schools in Nanjing. Greene said that in the past, the foundation had brought American students to China as well as invited Chinese students to the US.

“The students are ‘grass-roots diplomats’, they are the future of China and the US,” he said.

In recent years, China has repeatedly saluted the Flying Tigers, as Beijing seeks to promote people-to-people exchanges with the US despite tensions with Washington. In April 2022, Qin Gang, then China’s envoy to Washington, attended the 80th anniversary of the Flying Tigers wearing a jacket sent by two veterans.

Last year, Vice-President Han Zheng received a group of visiting veterans in Beijing, stressing again that “the Chinese people always remember the heroic deeds of the Flying Tigers, and we will never forget our old friends”, a sentiment echoed by ambassador Xie on Tuesday.

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China’s localities need ‘profound reform’ to draw investment, state newspaper says

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3277180/chinas-localities-need-profound-reform-draw-investment-state-newspaper-says?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s localities should reduce their dependence on land and tax incentives and instead strengthen industrial chains and improve their business environments to attract investment, a state-owned newspaper has urged in a front-page commentary.

Aggressive land deals, tax breaks and subsidies – frequently used to drive investment by local governments in past decades – have led to homogeneous competition and protectionism, both of which are weighing down the growth of the world’s second-largest economy, the Economic Daily warned on Sunday.

Prominently featured in the newspaper affiliated with the State Council, China's cabinet, the piece delivered another high-profile call from Beijing for a change in approach to draw investment and foster a “unified domestic market” to guard against uncertainties.

“China’s vast market, with its enormous scale and growth potential, remains a significant advantage and a solid foundation for navigating changing circumstances,” it said.

“However, persistent issues like local protectionism and market fragmentation continue to hinder high-quality economic development.”

To correct these issues, the traditional model requires “profound reform”, it said, including limits on financial incentives, tax rebates and land grants, as well as eliminating illegal policy concessions.

To pull in investors, Chinese localities have traditionally offered a wide range of benefits such as tax exemptions or reductions during their first years of operations, as well as loans repayable over several months or years. Some would even throw in rent-free offices or production facilities.

But the central government began to discourage these entreaties in recent years, as the differing standards that formed between regions were considered harmful to the formation of a unified domestic market – a goal considered crucial as containment efforts from the West intensify.

Local governments should “open new horizons” to prospective investors by creating competitive industrial clusters and introducing related businesses along the supply chain, the Economic Daily wrote.

To enhance their allure, the piece said, localities should also provide better services, create a fair, transparent and predictable business environment and distinguish themselves with industries suited to their strengths.

Policies intended to turn this rhetoric into reality have come quickly in recent months. China entered regulations on its fair-competition review system into force on August 1, which stipulate no tax incentives, selective or differentiated financial rewards or subsidies shall be granted to specific operators.

In a comprehensive reform plan released in July after the third plenum – a major Communist Party economic conclave – the party pledged it would “fully regulate taxation by law and standardise tax incentives”, and “launch a special campaign to sort out the various types of land being used in industrial parks”.

In the National Audit Office’s report for 2023, issued in June, it vowed to “clear up outstanding issues including local protectionism, market segmentation and improper competition in introducing investment”.

US, China fracking boom is reshaping global energy sector but at what cost?

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3277008/us-china-fracking-boom-reshaping-global-energy-sector-what-cost?utm_source=rss_feed

In her first major interview as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, US Vice-President Kamala Harris said she would not ban fracking, a reversal of her position during her first presidential run in 2020.

The discourse around November’s election is going beyond the usual issues of illegal migration or the need for tougher laws on guns and crime. This year, hydraulic fracking is taking centre stage.

Fracking involves injecting water, sand or chemicals into a well to break up tightly packed bedrock and sand under the surface of the ground, enabling the extraction of natural gas and crude oil. It can also be used to extract oil and gas from under the seabed.

This technology has significantly lowered costs for shale oil, by some estimates down from as high as US$90 per barrel to nearly US$30 per barrel. It’s easy to see why this is an important issue to US voters as cheaper extraction costs can mean lower energy bills for consumers.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), there were around 23,000 fracking wells in the United States in 2000. That number rose to 300,000 wells by 2015, representing half of US crude oil production.

It’s little wonder that fracking is a hot-button issue, especially in Pennsylvania, one of a few swing states with the power to determine the presidential election. Just as in other parts of the world, fracking has driven economic and industrial growth in the US. Any administration that bans it is bound to struggle to win over voters.

The US is not alone in embracing fracking, though. Once thought to be in its infancy compared to its US counterpart, China’s shale gas industry has experienced rapid growth since industrial exploitation began in 2012.

An EIA assessment of world shale oil and gas resources listed China as having the largest recoverable shale oil reserves in the Asia-Pacific, estimated at 32.2 billion barrels of oil. That puts it in third place globally, behind the US and Russia, which had 78.2 billion and 74.6 billion barrels respectively. While China had less than half the US levels of shale oil, it is a global leader in recoverable shale gas, with 1,152.2 trillion cubic feet, well ahead of the 622.5 trillion cubic feet of the US.

The US and China might not see eye to eye on much these days, but extracting shale gas and oil is something they have both agreed on for more than a decade. They have emerged as major players, reshaping the global energy sector and threatening the traditional monopoly of Russia and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

However, amid all its economic and geopolitical benefits, it is becoming increasingly clear that fracking is taking a huge environmental toll. The specific risks vary as countries can have different methods of extraction based on their unique geology, but two widely held concerns are increased earthquakes and groundwater contamination.

Studies in China have shown a marked rise in seismic activity in the Changning-Weiyuan National Shale Gas Demonstration Area, located in the southern part of the Sichuan Basin. Changning district in Yibin, Sichuan province, has reported at least five unusual earthquakes of 4.0 magnitude or greater since 2017, and studies have linked this seismic activity to nearby fracking activity.

Groundwater pollution from chemicals pumped into wells to fracture bedrock is a huge concern as well. In the US, fracking has raised heightened concerns over the vast amounts of waste water, noise and toxic pollution generated.

One of the biggest areas of concern is that the natural gas extracted by fracking is mostly composed of methane. A study published last year in Nature Energy revealed there were tens of thousands of inactive and offshore oil and gas wells in the US, with the potential to leak methane into the ocean.

The study estimates that plugging and abandoning these wells would cost the industry a whopping US$30 billion. At the same time, methane leaks are growing more common in China and are expected to rise as the fracking industry accelerates its operations.

The US is part of the Global Methane Pledge in which more than 100 countries have promised to help prevent the build-up of methane, which has 28 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Among the nations refusing to join the pledge are Russia, India and China.

UN development experts warned in a 2018 report against rushing into fracking without adequate policy or environmental assessment. Other studies have pointed out the damaging effects fracking can have on local communities. Under Pennsylvania law, for instance, fracking operations can get as close as 500 feet (150 metres) away from homes. Meanwhile, reports from southwestern Pennsylvania – a hotspot of fracking activity – have indicated a proliferation of rare paediatric cancer cases.

The drilling involved with fracking has the potential to release hazardous pollutants that harm air quality. Since operators are not obliged to disclose the kind of chemicals they use during the process, its impact on local communities is uncertain.

Some countries are taking a stand. The UK banned fracking in 2019 before lifting the ban in 2022 in response to the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Germany, France, Spain and some Australian states have banned the practice.

It’s clear that turning a blind eye to fracking’s environmental impact in an effort to reduce coal use is like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.

China’s Geely Auto launches first compact EV, called Xingyuan, to compete with BYD’s Seagull

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-evs/article/3277152/chinas-geely-auto-launches-first-compact-ev-called-xingyuan-compete-byds-seagull?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile Group on Tuesday unveiled its first compact electric vehicle (EV), which will compete head-on with BYD’s Seagull to attract young, first-time car buyers.

The new model, named Xingyuan – which means “wish made on a star” in Chinese – has a spacious design for its size, according to the company. Emphasising “beauty, approachability, and intelligence” as its core design principles, the car seeks to create “emotional value” for its drivers, BYD said.

The Xingyuan will compete with BYD’s Seagull, which was launched last April by the Berkshire Hathaway-backed company as its smallest and most affordable model. The Seagull is priced at less than 70,000 yuan (US$9,846).

Geely said pricing for the Xingyuan will be released later.

EV producers have been fighting a brutal price war to defend their respective market shares as China’s market becomes more crowded. Cutthroat competition is squeezing profit margins for both electric and petrol-driven vehicles.

BYD is one of the most relentless discounters. The company slashed the price of its Seagull model to 69,800 yuan last March, and before that it trimmed the price of its Yuan Plus crossover by nearly 12 per cent. Geely, Leapmotor and Tesla have also reduced prices this year.

The Xingyuan news came just days after Zeekr Intelligent Technology, a premium EV maker controlled by Geely, unveiled the Zeekr 7x, an SUV that is intended to rival Tesla’s bestselling Model Y. BYD’s Seagull, which has seen rapid growth over the past year, is also tussling with the Model Y for a top position China’s market.

BYD said it had sold 360,000 Seagull units through April.

In spite of the crowded China market and intense competition, EV makers are experiencing growth. Zeekr recently said its second-quarter revenue jumped 36 per cent from a year earlier to a record 20 billion yuan.

Geely also posted strong interim results last month, as revenue for the first half rose 47 per cent from a year earlier to 107.3 billion yuan. The group’s average selling price per vehicle increased by 4,000 yuan to 105,000 yuan. And the company’s profit attributable to equity holders shot up 575 per cent from a year earlier to 10.6 billion yuan.

BYD’s first-half revenue grew 15.8 per cent from a year earlier to 301.1 billion yuan, while its net profit rose 24.4 per cent to 13.6 billion yuan.

However, China’s EV industry could struggle to support additional price cuts. In April, Goldman Sachs warned that BYD’s net profit could approach zero if it offers another price reduction worth 10,300 yuan per vehicle.

China’s hypersonic missiles can be made from steel, scientists say

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3277127/chinas-hypersonic-missiles-can-be-made-steel-scientists?utm_source=rss_feed

A team of Chinese scientists say they have found a way to make a hypersonic missile with a steel nose cone – something once seen as a pipe dream.

The researchers, led by Huang Fenglei, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, unveiled a design for a hypersonic glide anti-ship missile in the peer-reviewed Chinese journal Acta Armamentarii last month.

The partial blueprint shows the shell of the warhead – located at the very front of the missile – made from a widely available, high-strength stainless steel.

Steel begins to melt at around 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,190 Fahrenheit), but the nose of a hypersonic weapon can hit temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees in flight due to heating by the atmosphere.

The team says their missile is designed to reach Mach 8 – or eight times the speed of sound – and that it marks a key step forward in thermal protection technology.

Its use of an inexpensive material is also in line with the Chinese military’s strategy to keep costs down in the hypersonic arms race with the United States and Russia.

The paper does not say what stage the missile is at, or if it has undergone testing.

In the US, tungsten alloys are typically used for the parts of a hypersonic vehicle that heat up the most since tungsten has a melting point above 3,400 degrees.

Boeing’s abandoned X-51 Waverider, for instance, had a tungsten nose tip to withstand high temperatures at Mach 5.

But tungsten – a rare metal – is expensive and heavy, and 85 per cent of its global production is controlled by Chinese companies.

Tungsten alloys also accumulate a lot of thermal energy, and a US Congress investigation last year identified inadequate thermal protection as the main reason American hypersonic weapons tests have been failing.

A steel hypersonic missile would not survive for more than 20 seconds at its top speed without advanced thermal protection technology, the Beijing team wrote in the journal article last month.

Their missile is designed to shoot above the atmosphere after launch, then drop to an altitude of 30km to 20km (18 to 12 miles) as it glides towards a target ship.

After 18 seconds of travelling at Mach 8, the temperature inside the warhead could reach 300 degrees – not enough to melt steel but enough to ignite the explosive agent.

Adding a layer of thermal protection on the steel shell could solve the problem, according to the team.

They propose using an ultra-high-temperature ceramic that can withstand temperatures of 3,000 degrees-plus. That would make up a 4mm top layer of the protective barrier.

Underneath it and tightly adhered to the steel shell would be a 5mm layer of aerogel – a heat insulator to keep the temperature of the explosive agent at around 40 degrees during high-speed flight.

“This structure can address the aerodynamic heating issues faced by hypersonic warheads and ensure the thermal safety of the internal explosives during flight,” Huang and his colleagues wrote in the paper.

Project leader Huang is one of the most influential scientists working in China’s defence industry. Among his many roles, he is deputy research director of a classified military programme, a technical adviser to the powerful Central Military Commission, and deputy head of a technical unit in the PLA Equipment Development Department.

According to public information, the People’s Liberation Army has proposed using hypersonic weapons to attack US aircraft carrier strike groups, overseas military bases, and facilities in the United States such as radar stations in response to any American military intervention in the South China Sea or Taiwan.

Some studies have suggested that a small number of hypersonic missiles would be enough to neutralise a carrier strike group. But China’s military has been more conservative, estimating that in actual combat significantly more of the new missiles would be needed to destroy a target.

That would make cost an even bigger factor in the race to develop hypersonic weapons.

The US Army last year put the price tag of one of its experimental glide missiles at up to US$41 million – one-third more expensive than a ballistic missile with the same range.

China has not disclosed the cost of its hypersonic weapons, but according to publicly available reports some are being mass-produced and deployed for use on mobile missile launchers, warships and bombers.

As part of its ongoing reform and modernisation programme, China’s military has recently sought to reduce the cost of military products by requiring suppliers to make use of the country’s manufacturing technologies and economies of scale.

One example is a new way of making silicon carbide aerogel developed by Chinese scientists that means it could be produced for about one-hundredth of the cost and at ten times the speed.

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2 strangers lock noisy China toddler in plane toilet to discipline her, igniting heated debate

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3277030/2-strangers-lock-noisy-china-toddler-plane-toilet-discipline-her-igniting-heated-debate?utm_source=rss_feed

Two women in China ignited a fierce debate on mainland social media after reportedly locking a noisy toddler in an airplane toilet as a means of discipline.

On August 24, a one-year-old girl travelling with her grandparents on a flight from Guizhou in southwest China to Shanghai persistently cried on the journey, according to Shangyou News.

A female passenger seated near the girl said on social media that many passengers tried to block out the noise by putting tissues in their ears. Some even moved to the rear of the aircraft.

She tried to calm the toddler by showing her entertainment videos, but unfortunately, that failed to pacify her.

Later, this woman and another female passenger took the girl into a plane toilet, locked the door, and disciplined her inside.

The two women did not know each other.

In a video posted by one of them, the two women can be seen threatening the girl by telling her that if she continued to cry, they would not bring her back to her grandmother.

The girl slapped at the toilet door, first crying out for her grandmother, and then repeatedly saying “OK” to the two women, who eventually returned her to her seat.

One of the women said the girl did not cry again for the remaining two hours of the flight.

“I prefer to take action rather than just watch like other passengers. I thought disciplining her would help everyone get some rest,” she wrote.

Juneyao Air told Shangyou News that the infant’s grandparents acknowledged their recent lack of childcare experience and had given their consent for the two strangers to discipline the child.

On August 26, the company issued a statement saying they had contacted the child’s mother, who said she understood the actions of the two passengers.

The incident soon made headlines on mainland social media with related topics on handling unruly children in public garnering 130 million views on Weibo.

One online observer wrote: “I’ve always wanted to reprimand unruly children who ruin my rest on planes. These two women did what I could not, and it’s very satisfying.”

Somebody else disapproved: “The method these women used was wrong. Imagine how helpless such a young child would feel being locked in a small toilet with strangers.”

Another person called for more tolerance towards children: “Crying and emotional instability are inevitable for toddlers. You cannot hold a one-year-old to adult standards.”

There have been other reports of children being disruptive on public transport across China.

On August 4, a woman from southern China complained that a toddler had been jumping and shouting for more than two hours on a high-speed train.

For parents, keeping youngsters quiet during long journeys is often a challenge.

In July, a father from southwestern China came up with an easy and cheap solution; he gave his little girl a cabbage to peel on a train journey.

In food paradise Singapore, Chinese eateries get a taste for expansion in bid to go global

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3277116/food-paradise-singapore-chinese-eateries-get-taste-expansion-bid-go-global?utm_source=rss_feed

Singapore’s culinary landscape is undergoing a transformation as a new wave of Chinese food-and-beverage chains make their mark on the city state. With a diverse array of offerings – from spicy Sichuan hotpot and grilled fish to hearty beef noodles – the new restaurants promise to tantalise local palates.

This culinary boom is no coincidence. While Singapore’s Chinese-majority population makes it a natural fit for these businesses, experts point to other driving forces including an influx of Chinese tourists and the global expansion of Chinese companies.

“Chinese F&B companies are looking to further expand globally, particularly in areas that are culturally and culinarily close such as Singapore and Thailand,” said Mark Greeven, a professor of innovation and strategy at IMD Business School and director of its China initiative.

“The trend underscores the industry’s stance in preparing for the future and part of that trend is also a transformation into becoming more global organisations.”

A 2023 study by Singapore’s Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao found that the number of China-based restaurant chains in the country had risen annually since 2014.

Following pandemic-related disruptions, the number of new outlets doubled in 2021, with two restaurants making their debut that year. By the end of June, there were around 184 outlets operated by 32 Chinese F&B brands in Singapore, according to local newspaper The Business Times.

“The flourishing of these Chinese companies, coupled with Taiwanese (such as Din Tai Fung) and local Chinese food companies, has created the impression that the Singaporean market has been flooded with Chinese food,” wrote Leo Suryadinata, a visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, in an August commentary.

About 75 per cent of Singapore’s 5.6 million population are ethnic Chinese – around 450,000 of whom were migrants as of 2015, according to a 2020 report co-published by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre – and the city state welcomed 1.4 million Chinese tourists last year.

Veteran operators like Haidilao International have thrived, expanding to 11 locations across the island. It opened its first outlet a decade ago in the vibrant riverside district of Clarke Quay, a popular hang-out spot for tourists and locals alike.

Meanwhile, new players like Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles have also emerged, bringing a variety of different dishes to the scene.

Since entering Singapore in 2018, the chain has expanded to nine outlets and founder Xu Rong says locals now make up around 90 per cent of his customer base – double what it was five years ago.

“The city’s reputation as a food paradise and its openness to diverse culinary experiences made it an ideal market to introduce authentic Chinese cuisines like Lanzhou beef noodles,” he said, adding that expects the boom to continue.

“The increasing number of Chinese tourists and expatriates in Singapore and an uptrend in Chinese cuisine among Singaporeans is likely to sustain the demand for authentic cuisine.”

Still, adapting to local tastes is crucial for success, according to Winson Ng, marketing manager of Xiao Long Kan Hotpot.

Despite being known for its mala and butter soup base, the restaurant also offers less spicy alternatives for locals who may not be accustomed to high spice levels.

“If restaurants just stick to authentic Chinese dishes, not everyone may like this. We try to stick to our spicy soup bases but we also have to promote our non-spicy or ‘yuan yang’ options,” Ng said, referring to hotpot divided into two parts.

Experts attribute the influx of Chinese migrants to factors such as Beijing’s crackdown on tech billionaires and strict Covid-19 curbs during the pandemic, which has heightened the demand for familiar dishes.

“The drive for these restaurants is invigorated by the Chinese moving here to work and settle down, and many of them prefer to keep to their original taste buds,” said Lawrence Loh, a business professor at the National University of Singapore.

As markets reopened post-pandemic, many businesses and high-net-worth investors also turned their attention to Singapore for new opportunities, said Yan Li, a senior lecturer at Nanyang Technological University’s business school.

The food industry offered a “relatively low-risk way to test the waters and gain experience in Singapore’s business landscape” for cautious new investors facing a steep learning curve and tighter regulations in the financial hub, he said.

However, this influx of restaurants is intensifying competition for local food businesses offering Chinese dishes, according to IMD China’s Greeven.

“With its dominant Chinese culture in the society, Singapore naturally emerges as a compelling and obvious choice for Chinese companies because of the familiarity … culturally and societally, these things fit very well. Nonetheless, this alignment also leads to a lot of competition, meaning that it’s not an easy game,” he said, noting similar tensions brewing in Thailand.

New shops and eateries backed by Chinese entrepreneurs have been sprouting up in Bangkok’s Chinatown districts of Yaowarat and Huai Khwang, Benar News reported last year, resulting in a fourfold increase in commercial rental rates, according to local vendors.

While Singapore may face similar challenges, veteran industry observers believe the multicultural city state remains an open market that has long welcomed global chains, enhancing the vibrancy of its dining scene.

“When these Chinese chains come to Singapore, they’re definitely eyeing popular malls like Ion or Vivocity. For some of them, they just want to set up something because their kids are studying here,” said Andrew Tjioe, president of TungLok Group, noting that such motivations can lead to higher rents. “That may actually affect the market a bit if that is the case.”

Ultimately, industry experts agree that the mix of diverse cuisines enriches Singapore’s culinary landscape.

“For many young Singaporeans especially, mala is considered the same as bak chor mee and it’s in almost every coffee shop now,” said Kenneth Lee, chairman of Kheng Keow Coffee Merchants Restaurant and Bar Owners Association.

Leong Chan Hoong, a senior fellow for social cohesion research at the Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, described Sichuan mala dishes as a “staple” of Singapore’s food culture, alongside offerings from South Korea, Japan, and South Asia.

“This is an example of local integration, our gastronomic cravings don’t differentiate tribal identities, it’s all about how the food stimulates our taste buds,” he said.

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China’s Sanergy puts blame for Hong Kong stock meltdown on major investor’s forced stake sale

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3277135/chinas-sanergy-puts-blame-hong-kong-stock-meltdown-major-investors-forced-stake-sale?utm_source=rss_feed

Sanergy Group’s 98 per cent stock-price crash was triggered when its largest shareholder was forced to sell part of its stake, the maker of graphite products said Wednesday.

Sanergy cratered on Tuesday when about 370 million shares, amounting to a 36.6 per cent stake in the company, were forcibly sold onto the Hong Kong market by brokerages using margin securities accounts, Sanergy said in a statement to the city’s bourse on Wednesday. Sanergy said it was informed about the forced sale by major shareholder Otautahi Capital, which now owns 21 per cent of the graphite products company, down from about 57.7 per cent before the forced liquidation. Otautahi Capital is controlled by Sanergy executive director Hou Haolong.

“The group’s business operation remains normal, and there is no material change to the business operation and financial position of the group,” Sanergy said in its statement.

Sanergy’s precipitous decline on Tuesday caught investors off guard; many scrambled to determine what was behind the meltdown. Tuesday’s action wiped away HK$20.1 billion (US$2.58 billion) in Sanergy’s market value, as its daily turnover surged 1,000-fold from the 30-day average.

Otautahi Capital was previously Sanergy’s largest shareholder, and a group of 25 stakeholders owned an additional 27.65 per cent interest, according to an earlier statement from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The SFC had conducted an inquiry into the company’s shareholder structure.

The SFC determined that Sanergy’s ownership was highly concentrated and warned investors about the risks of trading the stock. Sanergy shares surged more than 400 per cent in the three months through mid-August. The company’s stock-price collapse has exposed the risks of a number of small-capitalisation stocks trading in the city, as regulators move to increase scrutiny in an effort to bolster investor confidence.

“Shareholders and potential investors of the company should exercise caution when dealing in the securities of the company and, if in doubt, may seek professional advice from their own professional or financial advisers”, Sanergy said in its statement.

Sanergy shares jumped 40 per cent to HK$0.455 on Wednesday. They were suspended for the last hour of trading on Tuesday pending a clarification statement.

A potential driver of Sanergy’s gains over the past few months was that it might be added to the Stock Connect programme. If that happens, mainland investors can buy its shares.

Sanergy will join the Hang Seng Composite Index starting Monday, Hang Seng Indexes said last month. That is a prerequisite for inclusion in the cross-border investment scheme.

Sanergy is China’s fourth-largest manufacturer of ultra-high-power graphite electrodes and is the seventh largest worldwide, according to its .

Rock ’n’ roll, internet are potential Western ‘colour revolution’ traps: Chinese textbook

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277076/rock-n-roll-internet-are-potential-western-colour-revolution-traps-chinese-textbook?utm_source=rss_feed

Rock ’n’ roll, pop music and the internet are Western vices that can be used to sow the seeds of “colour revolution” among Chinese youth, according to China’s latest college textbook on national security.

The textbook, which was officially launched last week, represents the latest move from Beijing to strengthen ideological control and promote national security among young Chinese.

It will be used in the foundational course on national security education in universities, according to Community Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.

According to the book, university students must remain vigilant against Western popular culture and beware of “colour revolution” traps when surfing online.

“Colour revolution” is Beijing’s code for subversion instigated by Western powers, and their attempts to infiltrate various sectors of society and fuel unrest with the purpose of overthrowing the ruling establishment.

“The internet is a key channel of communication; popular culture like pop and rock music are often used as covers for [colour revolution],” the textbook warns.

It cites the 2010 Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia and the Arab spring movement that followed as examples of colour revolutions, arguing that these movements led to national turmoil.

The new textbook is based on various speeches on national security by President Xi Jinping and includes several essays tailored for university students.

The Ministry of Education, which held a symposium on Friday to mark the launch of the book, has urged teachers to make full use of it to boost awareness of national security risks.

“Comprehensively promote the use of the textbook, effectively equip university students to have a proper understanding of the concept of overall national security, guide them to become the firm practitioners of national security,” the ministry said in an announcement on the launch.

Students are also required to study the meaning of “overall national security” – a concept put forward by Xi in 2014 about raising such awareness and written into the National Security Law a year later.

The book argues that the internet is a crucial platform for shaping public opinion, and China must defend cyberspace as it is a key battleground for national security in its ideological struggle with the West.

It also says that failure to safeguard national security was the main reason behind the collapse of the former Soviet Union, which had abandoned Marxism and one-party rule.

Xi has repeatedly called on his party to learn from the lessons of the Soviet Union’s disintegration to avoid a similar fate.

It uses quotes from ancient Chinese texts to argue that university students should have a sense of crisis about national security, saying that they must be conscious about their roles in safeguarding national security, actively participate in related activities on campus and be vigilant against foreign infiltration.

“It’s imperative to heighten sensitivity about national security on campus, and individuals must take the initiative and dare to struggle”.

Primary and junior high schools have also been issued new textbooks that emphasise national security and traditional culture, state broadcaster CCTV reported as the autumn semester began on Sunday.

Since Xi came to power over a decade ago, the leadership in Beijing has stepped up national security education in school as a defence against what it calls infiltration by Western forces among Chinese youth.

In 2015, China designated April 15 as National Security Education Day, with numerous related activities organised in schools every year on this day since then.

In a speech delivered at the National Education Conference in 2018, Xi attacked Western countries for their attempts to “westernise” Chinese youth and orchestrate colour revolutions, as he stressed the importance of ideological education in classrooms. The speech was recently published in the party journal Qiushi.

Northern China loses Din Tai Fung’s dumplings as consumers keep budgets under wraps

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3277049/northern-china-loses-din-tai-fungs-dumplings-consumers-keep-budgets-under-wraps?utm_source=rss_feed

The Yins have a conundrum.

Regulars at their local branch of Din Tai Fung – a renowned chain of restaurants originally from Taiwan – the Beijing residents, both in their 70s, will soon have to find another option.

“My granddaughter loves the dumplings here, so we always come for lunch,” said Mrs Yin, gesturing towards the 4-year old as the family waited for a table at the national capital’s China World Mall. “We still haven’t figured out where else to take her. We are expecting a tantrum when she finds out.”

They may be out of luck. The chain’s announcement it would close all its shops in northern China – no alternate Beijing locations for the Yin family – marks the end of a 20-year engagement between the wildly popular restaurant and a consumer base once flush with discretionary income and hungry for new places to spend it.

The region’s 14 stores will be closed by October 31, the company said last week in a written statement which attributed the decision to the expiration of a business licence and disagreements over renewal. However, the 18 shops in southern China will remain open, as they are operated by a separate franchisee.

Din Tai Fung, founded in Taiwan in 1958, has built a global brand on its dumplings and beef noodles. By 2021 it had over 160 branches around the world, including the United States and United Arab Emirates. Its first mainland China outpost was established in Shanghai in 2001.

“These were times when the Chinese economy was experiencing a boom, with an expansion in international exchanges, the middle class and expat populations,” said Wei Wei, a researcher at Beijing-based think tank Anbound.

Though consumer spending as a whole has been sluggish, food and drink has been one of China’s top performing subcategories this year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, total spending on catering was 3 trillion yuan from January to July, increasing 7.1 per cent over the same period last year and outpacing the 3.1 per cent registered in overall consumption growth.

But this uptick has not manifested in restaurant profits.

Beijing’s statistics bureau reported overall catering revenue of 74.4 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 4.2 per cent. Restaurants in the capital with annual revenues of over 2 million yuan reported a total profit of 180 million yuan over the same period – a 88.8 per cent year-on-year drop that has slashed margins razor thin, as low as 0.4 per cent in some cases.

This steep decline has proven impossible to weather for many establishments. According to Chinese corporate database Tianyancha, 1.35 million food and beverage companies were registered in the first half of this year, but 1.06 million were delisted or suspended their business over the same period.

Data from Chinese food and beverage platform Hongcan 18 showed 1.36 million restaurants severed their licences in 2023, more than double the 519,000 closures reported in 2022.

“Data shows that 30 per cent of [Din Tai Fung’s] price comes from the cost of food and 30 per cent comes from labour, so they are not competitive in lowering prices,” Wei said. “When the economy is in a downturn, there is not much room to make such a transition.”

Din Tai Fung’s partial closure on the mainland does not appear to be unique – other restaurant brands from Taiwan have scaled back their operations or pulled out entirely.

Bafang Yunji, another popular chain specialising in dumplings, entered the mainland market in 2014, running 110 shops at its peak. By 2022 it had thrown in the towel, closing its last 17 outlets in the southern province of Fujian. At the time of its exit, the company pointed to indigenous competition and uncertainties regarding pandemic lockdown policies.

These brands’ struggles reflect an overall decline in Taiwanese investments, with the mainland’s Ministry of Commerce reporting a precipitous drop – from US$124.3 million in 2014 to US$70.9 million in 2023.

The correlation is less clear-cut for overseas firms. While China’s overall foreign direct investment has fallen, the performance of food and beverage companies has varied.

American coffee giant Starbucks’ sales in China fell 11 per cent during the second quarter of this year, but Burger King – a US brand which sold its China franchise rights to a Turkish company – has announced plans to open at least 200 new restaurants in the country each year.

While Din Tai Fung may only represent one of many trends in China’s food and beverage industry, Wei of Anbound said it is symbolic of a consumer market more cautious in its spending, creating more hurdles for restaurants in the upper strata of prices.

“There is an overall transition towards a lower-price market. It is therefore difficult for higher-end brands, because their customers are regular and they depend on repeat visits,” Wei said.

“However, this could just be temporary, as the company said itself that there is a problem regarding the license. When the economy is better, they could come back again.”

Road rage China woman faces online backlash for vicious attack on ex-soldier who does not retaliate

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3277098/road-rage-china-woman-faces-online-backlash-vicious-attack-ex-soldier-who-does-not-retaliate?utm_source=rss_feed

A wealthy woman driver in China attacked a former soldier after he refused to let her dangerously reverse into oncoming traffic, requiring him to go to the hospital.

On August 28, a 38-year-old woman, surnamed Wang, attempted to back her car into the opposite lane in Qingdao, Shandong province in eastern China.

After several failed attempts, she rear-ended a bus.

The enraged woman leapt out of her car, blaming the driver – a decommissioned soldier – for not letting her cut in, hurling insults and attacking him with her hands and phone.

A video circulating online shows the driver bleeding from his mouth and nose, but not retaliating.

When a passing driver tried to intervene, Wang turned on him: “So what if I was driving against traffic? I hit you, so you should take responsibility. If you have the courage, call the police.”

The passer-by got out of his car and tried to talk to her, but Wang sped off.

On August 29, the police issued a statement saying that Wang had been administratively detained for 10 days and fined 1,000 yuan (US$140) for intentionally assaulting others.

One netizen pointed out that Wang was driving a Land Rover SUV worth 1.3 million yuan (US$180,000).

A local community officer said Wang, originally from a small village, moved to the city after marrying and used to run a clothes shop. Her current employment status is not known.

The assaulted driver, 26, surnamed Lin, joined the military in 2019 and was discharged in 2022.

He and his wife now run a hotel and work as tour guides in Qingdao.

Lin wrote on social media: “I did not fight back, not out of fear, but because I was holding back for the sake of my children in the car.”

“I firmly believe that my country supports me. The government will ensure justice, and my dignity as a soldier must not be compromised,” he said.

On August 31, Lin posted on Douyin that leaders from the local Veterans Affairs Bureau visited him in the hospital, which brought him comfort.

He said he had spent 4,000 yuan (US$560) on medical expenses and would apply for administrative reconsideration to seek legal justice.

On September 3, the police said Wang had apologised to Lin and was willing to cover his medical expenses.

This incident has sparked a strong backlash against Wang on mainland social media garnering 150 million views on Weibo.

One online observer wrote: “Lin is admirable. He joined the military to protect his country, and he did not retaliate when attacked. He is a true soldier.”

“Lin spent 4,000 yuan on hospitalisation, but Wang was fined only 1,000 yuan? This is unfair. I hope Lin receives financial compensation soon,” another commented.

“I am also a veteran, and it’s heartbreaking to witness a comrade being assaulted. Some individuals become arrogant and lawless after acquiring wealth. It’s truly hateful and shameful,” a third remarked.

Skies over South China Sea seen as new flashpoint as Manila begins ‘aerial provocations’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3277036/skies-over-south-china-sea-seen-new-flashpoint-manila-begins-aerial-provocations?utm_source=rss_feed

The skies above the South China Sea have become a new front for potential conflict as the Philippines ramps up air patrols and airdrops near reefs also claimed by China, a Chinese think tank has warned.

The South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) also urged heightened vigilance in response to the “aerial provocations”, as it issued the note of caution on social media.

“As China strengthens its maritime control, the Philippines has exhausted its tactics and means of maritime infringement. Air incursions are becoming another major front for the Philippines to stir up trouble in the South China Sea,” the Beijing-based think tank said in an article posted on its WeChat account on Monday.

The risks and unpredictability associated with aerial encounters, especially those of a confrontational nature, significantly exceeded encounters at sea, it said.

“Should the Philippines continue its air intrusions, China will be forced to take corresponding measures. Friction or even collisions in the air could have consequences more severe than ship collisions.”

Last month, the Philippines carried out military air patrols four times around the contested Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. This had “exacerbated the situation in the South China Sea”, according to the SCSPI.

It said the Philippines was also airdropping supplies more frequently to personnel stationed on disputed atolls in the resource-rich, busy waterway, citing four such operations this year.

These included a supply mission last week for the BRP Teresa Magbanua, an advanced Philippine coastguard patrol vessel that has been anchored on the disputed Sabina Shoal since April.

The Spratlys feature, known as Xianbin Reef in China and Escoda Shoal in the Philippines, has seen more frequent and intense maritime encounters between the two sides in recent weeks.

The Philippines used a helicopter to deliver last week’s supplies, after Chinese vessels thwarted earlier attempts to deliver essentials by boat.

The Chinese coastguard said on Thursday that it had closely monitored the airdrop operation, while warning that “such risky behaviour is highly prone to causing unexpected incidents at sea or in the air”.

The SCSPI said Manila’s increasing patrols, airdrop operations and forays into airspace near Beijing-controlled islands were “deliberate intrusions” attempting to alter the status quo in the region.

The Philippines mostly used single-engine turboprop planes, it noted, warning that these were “less capable of handling complex maritime environments” and were prone to accidents when frequently deployed at sea.

According to the article, Philippine aircraft also frequently operate with their Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transponders deactivated, significantly increasing safety risks.

Deactivating such transponders means real-time positioning of the aircraft is not shared with air traffic controllers and other aircraft, making it more difficult to maintain situational awareness and avoid potential conflicts or collisions.

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr recently said that his country was considering deploying FA-50 light combat aircraft to escort patrol planes over the South China Sea.

Last month, Manila accused Beijing of carrying out dangerous aerial manoeuvres in the region, such as releasing flares in the flight path of a Philippine patrol aircraft during a routine mission near Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground controlled and called Huangyan Island by China. The Philippines calls it Panatag Shoal.

The aerial face-offs come as maritime confrontations between China and the Philippines continue around disputed South China Sea reefs.

Frequent encounters over the past year have included allegations of ramming from both sides, and the use of water cannons and military lasers by the Chinese coastguard. The bulk of the damage has been sustained by Philippine vessels, including the Teresa Magbanua last week. Filipino crew have also been injured in some run-ins.

“The Philippines’ determination to alter the existing status quo has led to frequent maritime disputes and collisions with China. As the Philippines escalates its aerial provocations, the likelihood of dangerous aerial encounters is increasing, which warrants greater caution and vigilance,” the SCSPI said.

China’s services activity expansion slows in August despite summer travel peak: Caixin PMI

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3277102/chinas-services-activity-expansion-slows-august-despite-summer-travel-peak-caixin-pmi?utm_source=rss_feed

Growth in China’s services sector activity slowed in August despite the summer travel peak, prompting some firms to cut staff amid concerns about rising costs, a private-sector survey showed on Wednesday.

The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to 51.6 in August from 52.1 in July. The 50-mark separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.

“Although the index remained in expansionary territory for the 20th straight month, growth in activity slowed,” said Wang Zhe, senior economist at the Caixin Insight Group.

The new business index remained above 50, extending the sequence of expansion that started from January 2023, but the rate of growth was softer than July.

Export business quickened, however. According to panellists, overseas client interest in the tourism industry supported faster business growth.

The State Council, or the cabinet, on Tuesday published a notice to improve high-quality development of China’s service trade, including easing cross-border talent flow and enhancing international transport service capacity.

Although still below the series average, the survey showed the level of business optimism climbed to the highest since May.

An official survey on Saturday showed an upbeat picture of the industry, with services activity returning to expansion last month.

But growth in new business did not translate into more jobs. According to Caixin survey, employment declined in August after rising in July.

According to panellists, job shedding occurred due to resignations and redundancies stemming from the need to lower costs.

Average input prices continued to rise, with the rate of cost inflation accelerating to the highest since June 2023.

In contrast, selling prices fell for the first time in seven months and the rate of decline was the most pronounced since April 2022.

Anecdotal evidence suggested that rising competition led service providers to lower prices and offer discounts to support sales.

Together with the manufacturing PMI, the Caixin/S&P Global composite PMI posted 51.2 in August, unchanged from July.

Faster manufacturing output growth was offset by slower services activity expansion in August.

With factory owners trimming product prices to stay competitive, consumers tightening their belts and the ailing property sector failing to see meaningful rebound, the economy faces increasing challenges in tandem with external geopolitical uncertainties.

“The economy was under a double whammy of weather shocks and weak demand in August,” said Citi analysts on Tuesday.

The government’s 2024 growth target of “around 5 per cent” could be at risk, they added.

China’s BYD pauses Mexico factory plans until after US election

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3277112/chinas-byd-pauses-mexico-factory-plans-until-after-us-election?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s top electric-vehicle maker BYD will not announce a major plant investment in Mexico until at least after the US election, according to people familiar with the matter, as shifting American policy forces global businesses into wait-and-see mode.

BYD was scouting three locations for a car production facility in Mexico but has stopped actively looking for now, several of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing information that is private.

The postponement is largely because BYD would prefer to wait and see the outcome of the race between former US president Donald Trump and vice-president Kamala Harris in early November, the people said. They added that BYD’s paused factory plans may still be revived or could change, and no final decision has been made.

BYD said in a statement to Bloomberg that it “has not postponed a decision on a factory in Mexico”.

“We continue working to build a factory with the highest technological standards for the Mexican market, not for the United States market, nor for the export market,” the company said in a statement attributed to executive vice-president Stella Li. “For BYD, the Mexican market is very relevant.”

One area that was under consideration was around the city of Guadalajara, one of the people said. That region has emerged over the past decade as a technology hub sometimes described as Mexico’s Silicon Valley. BYD sent a delegation to the area in March.

Li also visited Mexico City in February for the launch of the automaker’s Dolphin Mini model, while senior management held court at a box sponsored by BYD at the Formula E Mexico City E-Prix in January.

Mexico has seen a surge in investment announcements from both Chinese and Western auto manufacturers, including from Tesla. But Tesla’s planned mega-factory was put on pause in July, pending the US election outcome. Trump, who Tesla CEO Elon Musk has endorsed, has repeatedly threatened to hit products made in Mexico with tariffs.

Tesla had announced plans to build the plant in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, with an estimated investment of US$10 billion over several phases.

Mexico could be one of BYD’s key overseas production sites, along with plants that it is currently building or already operating in Brazil, Hungary, Turkey and Thailand. Like other big Chinese carmakers, Shenzhen-based BYD is increasingly seeking to localise production to avoid punitive tariffs that governments around the world are starting to levy on imported electric cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles from Asia’s biggest economy.

While BYD has previously said any cars built in Mexico would be for local consumption, the prospect of exporting its affordable range of EVs to a huge auto market like the US would be tantalising.

Mexico is seen as a strategically attractive landing point for foreign carmakers given its proximity to the US. It’s also part of a North American free trade agreement with the US and Canada.

The US already plans tariffs of 100 per cent on Chinese EVs, an action president Joe Biden’s administration said will ensure the future of the auto industry will be made in America by American workers.

The Biden administration is also watching for any attempts by Chinese companies to export cars from Mexico into the US, and considering ways to block them if they seek to circumvent tariffs targeting EVs made in China, US trade representative Katherine Tai said in an interview in May.

BYD’s Li said in a Bloomberg News interview in late August that she planned to meet at some point with Mexico’s incoming president Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office on October 1, and that the company was still weighing three locations for a factory in Mexico.

China’s 3 monetary pivots under the first year of central bank governor Pan Gongsheng

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3277021/chinas-3-monetary-pivots-under-first-year-central-bank-governor-pan-gongsheng?utm_source=rss_feed

China has been resetting its financial regulatory structure and monetary mechanism, while also reshuffling its 476 trillion yuan (US$67 trillion) financial industry, as President Xi Jinping released a grand ambition of turning the country into a financial superpower.

And in Pan Gongsheng’s first year of governor of the People’s Bank of China, having replaced Yi Gang in July 2023, China’s central bank has conducted at least three large monetary adjustments to fulfil Xi’s vision and try to make the regulator as influential as the US Federal Reserve.

China’s central bank has been pivoting to monetary tools, such as reverse repo rates, loan prime rates and yield curve controls, and moving away from quantitative measures like bank credit.

In recent years, it has also no longer set a growth target for M2 – the broad money supply gauge – new bank loans or aggregate financing.

The shift reflects China’s fast changing economic and financial landscape, with market liquidity seen as ample after rounds of stimulus since 2008, and concerns about risk exposure and a liquidity trap.

M2 had jumped to 303 trillion yuan (US$42.6 trillion) at the end of July from 47.5 trillion yuan at the end of 2008.

China’s M2 is higher than US$21 trillion in the United States, although the two countries may employ different definitions.

The current size of aggregate financing – a term used by Chinese policymakers to measure the funding support for non-financial sectors – has increased tenfold from the end of 2008 to 396 trillion yuan at the end of July.

Monetary authorities in China have designed a variety of relending programmes to optimise the existing lending structure as they try to push more credit for tech sectors and control the flow to the crisis-hit property sector and local government financing vehicles.

Beijing has built an interest rate corridor, now a range between 2.7 and 0.35 per cent to help anchor market expectations and ensure central bank policies can be effectively implemented.

The one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF), which now stands at 2.3 per cent, was widely watched as a key policy rate in the past and each rollover of MLF loans could trigger rate changes from the PBOC.

However, governor Pan said in June that the central bank would place more emphasis on short-term rates than the one-year MLF, while it is also considering narrowing the interest rate corridor for better monetary policy transmission.

“The seven-day reverse repo rate has basically shouldered the function,” he told the Lujiazui forum in June in Shanghai.

“We need and have the conditions to deliver clearer interest rate target signals to anchor market confidence.

“In addition to clarifying the main policy rates, it may also be necessary to moderately narrow the width of the interest rate corridor.”

The seven-day reverse repo rate is now 1.7 per cent.

Some 10 months after President Xi ordered the use of treasury bond trade to adjust liquidity, China’s central bank announced on Friday that it had bought short-term treasury bonds from primary dealers and sold long-term bonds, with a net purchase of 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion).

The PBOC conducted its first treasury bond trade in nearly two decades in open markets, debuting a long-awaited monetary tool to help manage the domestic bond market and stabilise the economy.

The move marked a gradual shift from the money supply mechanism being driven by outstanding foreign exchange funds between 2002 and 2014, and that had relied on reserve requirement ratio cuts, the MLF and daily open market operations over the past decade.

While the central bank denies quantitative easing, questions remain how much the central bank would expand its balance sheet and how it can resist financing requests as Chinese authorities have increasingly resorted to government bonds sales to drive up its economy.

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Chinese companies seek gold in ‘silver economy’ as population greys

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3276974/chinese-companies-seek-gold-silver-economy-population-greys?utm_source=rss_feed

In a small Shanghai supermarket recently, customers were surprised to see more options for adult diapers than what was available on shelves for babies. A few aisles away, in the section for milk formula, they noticed a similar trend – more choices for adults than for infants.

“High calcium and low fat milk powder is particularly popular,” a store assistant said. “There are quite a few people buying adult milk powder now.”

China’s leaders and its business community face significant challenges as the population gets older; the number of people aged 60 and above reached nearly 297 million, or 21.1 per cent of its total population, last year. But these seniors, with their financial resources and active lifestyles, are increasingly being targeted with a litany of products and services.

“Many older people are healthy, active, time-rich and have significant purchasing power,” said Irina Fan, director of research at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

China’s growing cohort of seniors have worked their way through a period of unparalleled economic expansion. The country’s gross-domestic product (GDP) growth has averaged nearly 9 per cent a year since 1989. And some companies have already started to reap the benefits from their pivots to address this burgeoning market.

For example, Trip.com’s “Old Friends Club” debuted earlier this year, but the brand – which is focused on China-based users aged 50 and above – has already recorded 1.6 billion yuan (US$224.36 million) in user spending.

“In general, senior consumers now demand for higher quality products and services,” said Fan.

To attract older travellers, the “Old Friends Club” offers curated travel experiences and exclusive discounts. On top of that, the club allows younger family members to use their personal devices to help elderly relatives plan trips.

The online travel company believes there is “significant potential” for growth from the elderly population and it is committed to meeting their needs, CEO Jane Sun said during an earnings call last week. Trip.com’s net profit more than doubled to 8.15 billion yuan for the first half of the year.

Aside from tourism, the health and wellness sector is also expected to benefit from the demographic changes, Fan said.

“Senior consumers have a heightened emphasis on health consciousness [and] are actively investing in healthy food and supplements,” she said.

China’s producers of food and drinks have responded by developing products with nutritional benefits for the elderly.

Makers of milk products, in particular, are taking advantage of demand for elderly-oriented products. According to a survey conducted by consumer research group Mintel, around 70 per cent of respondents said they have bought and will continue to buy adult milk powder.

Dairy company Yili offers a range of milk powders for older people, including one that claims to stabilise blood sugar levels. Another Yili product says it helps users sleep.

Domestic and international dairy companies have introduced products for older consumers that are offered alongside their infant formulas. This trend has intensified in recent years as birth rates have fallen.

China’s birth rate fell to a record low of 6.39 per 1,000 people in 2023, as its population shrank for a second consecutive year. Meanwhile, the number of people aged 60 and above is expected to rise to more than 30 per cent of the population in 2035, according to the National Health Commission.

Infant diapers used to be the main revenue driver for Hangzhou Coco Healthcare Products, but they accounted for less than 38 per cent of total revenue in the company’s latest half-year earnings. Now, the diaper manufacturer’s adult segment brings in more than half of its total revenue, up from around 26 per cent in 2020.

Haoyue Personal Care, another major Chinese diaper maker, said its revenue for infant diapers fell by nearly 10 per cent, while revenue for its adult products held steady in the first half of 2024.

Hangzhou Coco Healthcare posted a 6.07 per cent rise in profit for the first six months of 2024, while Haoyue’s profits fell 2.86 per cent.

Companies focused on consumer goods and services are not the only ones tapping into the “silver economy.” Hong Kong-listed Ping An Health said first-half revenue from senior care services jumped 205 per cent, after its parent company shifted focus to elderly care and other parts of the healthcare ecosystem last year.

Fewer elderly today are choosing to rely on their children for care, “driven by the desire for a more independent, a more comfortable and stress-free lifestyle than many of their predecessors”, said Fan.

Ping An Health offers an online concierge service that monitors seniors’ vital signs as well as environmental quality at home. Doctors are available at all times to provide remote diagnosis and treatment, making medical care more accessible for elderly people who live alone.

The company’s healthcare business unit reported a profit for the first time, posting 56.6 million yuan in profit for the first six months of the year.

The size of China’s silver economy stands at 7 trillion yuan, or 6 per cent of the nation’s GDP, according to the state-affiliated China Research Centre on Ageing.

That figure is expected to increase to 30 trillion yuan by 2035.

Ex-aide to New York governors charged with being agent of Chinese government

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/03/kathy-hochul-aide-ny-china-agent

A former New York state government official who worked for the former governor Andrew Cuomo and current governor, Kathy Hochul, was charged on Tuesday with acting as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors revealed in a sprawling indictment.

Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government before rising to the rank of deputy chief of staff for Hochul, was arrested on Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $3.5m home on Long Island.

Prosecutors said Sun, at the request of Chinese officials, blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the governor’s office, shaped New York governmental messaging to align with the priorities of the Chinese government and attempted to facilitate a trip to China for a high-level politician in New York, the indictment said. Hu is charged with money-laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.

In return, she and her husband received benefits including help for Hu’s China-based business activities and undisclosed tickets to performances by visiting Chinese orchestra and ballet groups, the indictment says. A Chinese government official’s personal chef prepared “Nanjing-style salted ducks” that were delivered to Sun’s parents’ home, it adds.

The couple then laundered the financial proceeds, using them to buy their property in Manhasset, a condominium in Hawaii for $1.9m and luxury cars including a 2024 Ferrari, the indictment says.

“As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as deputy chief of staff within the … state executive chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the” country’s communist party, US attorney Breon Peace said. “The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars.”

A lawyer for Sun, Seth DuCharme, did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Sun and Hu were expected to make an initial court appearance on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn said.

The indictment outlines a series of exchanges Sun had with officials in the Chinese consulate in New York in January 2021, when Cuomo was still governor and Hochul was lieutenant governor. Neither leader is named in the document, but they are instead referred to as “Politician-1” and “Politician-2.”

After Chinese officials requested a lunar new year video from the governor, Sun said Hochul could probably do it and asked for “talking points of things you want her to mention”.

“Mostly holiday wishes and hope for friendship and cooperation / Nothing too political,” an official told her, according to the indictment.

Sun later told a different official that she had argued with Hochul’s speechwriter over the draft because the speechwriter insisted on mentioning the “Uyghur situation” in China. She promised that she would not let that happen, and the final speech did not mention the Muslim ethnic minority, according to the indictment.

The FBI searched the couple’s $3.5m home in Manhasset in late July but declined to release details at the time.

Sun worked in state government for about 15 years, holding jobs in Cuomo’s administration and eventually becoming Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, according to her LinkedIn profile. In November 2022, Sun took a job at the New York labor department as deputy commissioner for strategic business development, but she left that job months later in March 2023, the profile said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Hochul’s office said the administration fired Sun after “discovering evidence of misconduct”.

“This individual was hired by the executive chamber more than a decade ago. We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” the statement reads.

A spokesperson for Cuomo did not immediately return an emailed request for comment.

Sun and Hu live in a gated community on Long Island called Stone Hill. The couple bought the house in 2021 but placed it in a trust earlier this year, records show.