Mistral点评

• Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda will stumble without China
• Xi urges ‘extreme caution’ from US on Taiwan matters, South China Sea disputes
• Mainland Chinese tourists fall down Hong Kong escalator ‘like dominoes’
• China turns on hypergravity machine to ‘compress’ time and space
• 2024 FBS event wraps up with talks on Asean, scientific research, Europe, US-China ties
• China’s new drug approvals take market scale beyond US$13 billion as innovation picks up
• China doctor kills insomniac girlfriend by injecting anaesthetics 20 times in 6 hours
• China’s EV market lures new entrants with eyes on BYD’s crown – at great peril
• Lithuania’s next government wants to patch things up with China. But is it even possible?
• China mum has 9 kids, aiming for 1 of each zodiac sign to avoid ‘wasting’ husband’s genes
• South China car attack suspect still in a coma, Zhuhai authorities say
• Why China’s big cities are losing foreign workers even as post-Covid travel picks up
• China, Singapore key to Hongkong Land’s US$10 billion asset disposal goal
• China scientists crack oil-water recycling in potential green win for industry
• 8 die in knife rampage as China suffers second mass killing in a week
• Southeast Asia is the new Singles’ Day battleground as lustre fades in China
• Second-generation boss charts new course for Chinese agribusiness
• ‘For love’: China student makes weekly Australia trips for class, returns home to see partner
• How passion and tech resurrected China’s headless statues, and unearthed historic wrongs
• Xi tells Biden he’s ‘ready to work’ with Trump, but warns against US-China decoupling
• As China-Japan climate action grows, Tokyo must rethink LNG push in Asia

Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda will stumble without China

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3286214/trumps-america-first-agenda-will-stumble-without-china?utm_source=rss_feed

With US president-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House, the United States faces a critical question about its position in global innovation. As Trump revives his “America first” strategy and pushes for manufacturing independence, a paradox looms: can the US lead in innovation if it lacks the infrastructure to build at scale?

For years, US tech giants have relied on China to bring their visions to life. Now, Trump’s renewed reliance on tariffs, with plans for import rates as high as 60 per cent on all Chinese imports, represents an attempt to reshape US manufacturing by discouraging foreign competition on American soil. However, this approach could disrupt the agility and global integration that modern innovation demands.

Historically, tariffs protected fledgling industries; today, they often inflate prices without addressing the core issue of a need for a domestic manufacturing base. In a globalised economy, tariffs alone cannot recreate the manufacturing strength of mid-20th-century America.

With the US already struggling to catch up in critical sectors such as solar energy and electric vehicles (EVs), a comprehensive approach is needed if it hopes to reclaim its place as a manufacturing leader. In clean energy, for instance, US solar factories lag behind those in China while Chinese-owned facilities on US soil show advanced scaling capabilities. Trump’s tariffs reveal US reliance on foreign expertise in industries it aims to lead.

This underscores the complexities of pursuing manufacturing independence while retaining a foothold in hi-tech markets built on global collaboration. It also reflects a broader truth: without integrated manufacturing, US firms risk stagnation in their own innovation cycles.

Detroit’s historic carmakers face similar challenges as they compete with Chinese EV giants such as BYD, whose advanced technology and rapid production cycles have set high standards. Ford CEO Jim Farley has acknowledged the appeal of Xiaomi’s EV technology, saying of his Xiaomi Speed Ultra 7 that he “didn’t want to give it up”. This reflects the success of China’s integrated model, where R&D and manufacturing work together to enable rapid iteration and scalability.

For decades, the US relied on a model that outsourced production while keeping research and development at home, making use of foreign manufacturing’s cost efficiencies. Yet, as Chinese companies expand in clean energy and consumer electronics, cracks in this model are becoming increasingly apparent.

US manufacturing output now trails China’s by about US$2.4 trillion, a gap that has widened since the US lost its title as the world’s top manufacturer in 2010. As US companies drift further away from production, their capacity for swift, effective innovation wanes, making tariffs a stopgap measure rather than a true path to technological leadership.

While efforts such as the Chips and Science Act aim to rebuild US manufacturing in semiconductors, this will require decades and an ecosystem that extends beyond mere funding. Tariffs are only a partial solution; they cannot substitute for the long-term investment needed to integrate R&D and manufacturing domestically.

As the US seeks to reshore manufacturing, it must balance domestic production with access to global R&D and manufacturing expertise, leveraging partnerships without compromising national interests. Meanwhile, China’s “Made in China 2025” initiative aims to secure self-sufficiency in critical technologies – a strategic effort that goes beyond production to build integrated, future-ready industries.

Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, has called the push to bring chip production back to the US “a very expensive exercise in futility”, citing prohibitive costs and a lack of skilled labour. Nvidia, a dominant force in AI, still relies heavily on TSMC’s manufacturing expertise in Asia, highlighting the vulnerability of US tech firms in an increasingly protectionist environment.

In contrast, China views production as a strategic asset, blending manufacturing with innovation in a model that underpins its rapid technological ascent. This approach extends beyond EVs and solar. It has become a hallmark of China’s economic strategy across many sectors, from pharmaceuticals to AI hardware. China’s model shows that this close integration enables rapid iteration, cost efficiencies and scalability – advantages essential in hi-tech industries.

Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory exemplifies this advantage, allowing the company to adapt quickly to market demands. Such agility would be difficult to replicate without being near advanced manufacturing facilities. The US, therefore must go beyond merely relocating manufacturing; it must build an ecosystem where R&D and production work in tandem – whether domestically or through strategic international partnerships.

Intel’s recent US$300 million expansion in Chengdu, Eli Lilly’s 1.5 billion yuan (US$207.25 million) investment in Suzhou and Apple opening its “most extensive” lab outside the US in Shenzhen underscore that, for many firms, working within China’s integrated R&D and manufacturing environment is not just advantageous but strategically essential.

These investments highlight a critical reality: while reshoring manufacturing may be a goal, American firms cannot afford to ignore the competitive advantage provided by China’s infrastructure.

At this industrial crossroads, Trump’s policies will undoubtedly shape the US path forward, but tariffs alone may not be enough to reclaim global leadership. While tariffs may help reshape manufacturing, true innovation will come from blending domestic production with the best global practices, including the integration of R&D and manufacturing, as seen in China.

To stay at the forefront of global technology, the US must balance independence with strategic partnerships, developing a manufacturing ecosystem that can evolve alongside advances in global collaboration.

The future belongs to those who build, not just to those who envision. As tariffs rise, the US must weigh its drive for autonomy with the pragmatic need for partnership – even with competitors like China – to secure its place in the new industrial era.

Xi urges ‘extreme caution’ from US on Taiwan matters, South China Sea disputes

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286948/xi-urges-extreme-caution-us-taiwan-matters-south-china-sea-disputes?utm_source=rss_feed

President Xi Jinping has urged Washington to exercise “extreme caution” in handling matters related to Taiwan and avoid fanning “provocative actions” in the South China Sea, according to Beijing’s foreign ministry.

The ministry on Sunday released an online statement on the talks between Xi and outgoing US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Lima, Peru.

Taiwan independence forces were “fundamentally incompatible” with peace and stability in the region, Xi told Biden, as he called on Washington to explicitly oppose such moves and “support China’s peaceful reunification”, according to the statement.

“If the US wishes to maintain peace in the region, it is critical to recognise the ‘Taiwan independence’ nature of [Taiwanese leader William] Lai Ching-te and [his] … administration,” he was quoted as saying.

Xi also listed Taiwan among four “red lines” for exchanges with Washington – alongside democracy and human rights, political systems and Beijing’s development right – saying they must not be challenged.

Tensions have been high in the Taiwan Strait since its independence-leaning leader William Lai, branded by Beijing as a “troublemaker”, was sworn into office in May.

Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary, has since stepped up its military drills around the island. The United States, like most countries, does not recognise self-governed Taiwan as an independent state, but is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force and is legally committed to arming it for defence.

US president-elect Donald Trump in his campaign speeches repeatedly called on Taiwan to pay a “protection fee” and increase its defence spending to 10 per cent of GDP, from 2.45 per cent at present.

Beijing has consistently opposed such sales. At their last summit a year ago, Xi urged Biden to stop arming Taiwan while calling the island the “most dangerous” issue in the bilateral relationship.

In Lima on Saturday, local time, Xi told Biden that he was “ready to work” with Trump to improve the bilateral relationship, while warning against attempts to decouple the world’s two largest economies.

He also urged Washington to refrain from intervening in bilateral disputes over the contested South China Sea.

China’s expansive claims over the busy, resource-rich waterway overlap with those of several neighbours including Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Chinese vessels in recent months have been involved in several clashes in the disputed waters, especially with the Philippines, a US treaty ally.

China is committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea and dialogue among “directly involved parties” has always been the best way to manage disputes in the region, Xi was quoted as saying in the ministry statement.

He also said that the US “should not encourage or support provocative actions” in the region.

In the White House readout released on Sunday, Biden underscored that Washington’s one-China policy remained unchanged, but reiterated its opposition to any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. He also called for an end to Beijing’s military activity around Taiwan.

“We expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, and that the world has an interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Biden was quoted as saying.

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Mainland Chinese tourists fall down Hong Kong escalator ‘like dominoes’

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3286952/mainland-chinese-tourists-fall-down-hong-kong-escalator-dominoes?utm_source=rss_feed

Members of a mainland Chinese tour group visiting Hong Kong fell down an escalator “like dominoes” in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday, with one man sent to hospital.

The Fire Services Department said it received a report at 5.20pm that people had been injured at the junction of Kowloon Park Drive and Salisbury Road.

A video of the incident circulating online showed several people sprawled on a halted escalator near the L6 exit of the East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station outside The Salisbury YMCA building.

One elderly woman who fell down was trying to lift herself up, while a younger man was seen assisting an elderly man who had fallen face down. Others were seen trying to get back up to the top of the escalator.

The elderly man, whose shins were bleeding, was moved by wheelchair to a waiting ambulance.

There was blood at the scene and the operation of the escalator was suspended.

A witness said one person lost their balance and caused the rest of the group “to fall like dominoes”.

He said the group was heading from the Cultural Centre to Kowloon Park Drive using an underground tunnel.

The fire department said the injured man was sent to Kwong Wah Hospital for treatment.

According to the police, another woman in her sixties was also injured but did not require hospital treatment.

The group wearing identical orange caps were tourists from Hubei province and were believed to have carried on with their itinerary after the accident.

In response to media queries, an MTR Corporation spokesman said the company was aware of the accident but the escalator was outside the scope of its management.

The MTR Corp launched a campaign earlier this month urging commuters to stand still on both sides of escalators and refrain from walking, contrary to the long-standing habit of reserving the left for commuters who need to pass in a hurry.

The rail giant said 430 accidents involving station escalators were logged in the first nine months of the year.

The campaign triggered heated debate, with many rejecting the suggestion to patiently wait on escalators and saying it is at odds with the city’s fast-paced environment.

China turns on hypergravity machine to ‘compress’ time and space

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3286791/china-turns-hypergravity-machine-compress-time-and-space?utm_source=rss_feed

The world’s most advanced hypergravity machine – capable of generating forces thousands of times greater than Earth’s surface gravity – has been switched on in China, a step that scientists say will advance their understanding of events like the rise of mountains, or catastrophes such as dam collapses.

Once fully operational, the Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF) will offer a multidisciplinary science platform with the world’s largest hypergravity centrifuge, helping to solve perplexing engineering problems in several fields.

The project’s preliminary completion is a milestone in the field of hypergravity research, according to a news release on Monday by the government of Hangzhou, the capital of eastern China’s Zhejiang province, where the facility is located.

“As planned, the first phase of commissioning will take place this year,” it said in a release.

The project was given the green light in 2018 by China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Construction began in 2020, under the supervision of scientists from Zhejiang University.

CHIEF consists of three main hypergravity centrifuges – a machine that spins a container around very quickly so that the heavier liquids and solids are forced to the outer edges or bottom – and 18 on-board units.

The main engine of the first centrifuge – a device resembling two massive arms holding two baskets where the experimental modules will be placed – has been installed. Fabrication of the remaining two centrifuges and 10 on-board units is under way, according to the Hangzhou government.

Earth’s gravity – referred to as normal gravity – is expressed as 1g (unit of gravity), and anything greater than 1g is called hypergravity.

When an astronaut returns to Earth in a space vehicle, that person is subjected to 4g of hypergravity, which is equivalent to four times their body weight.

Hypergravity centrifuges are seen as a revolutionary research tool because of their ability to create extreme physical conditions that do not exist in everyday environments.

In a 2019 Zhejiang University article detailing the proposal and design of CHIEF, Chen Yunmin, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor at the university, said that facilities like this could “compress” time and space, allowing for research into many complex physics problems and serving a wide range of engineering purposes.

“For example, scientists can observe the transport of pollutants that in nature would take tens of thousands of years,” wrote Chen, who is also the mastermind behind the massive science facility.

The world’s leading hypergravity facility was developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and has a capacity of about 1200 g-t (gravity acceleration × tonne). The one under construction in Hangzhou will have a total capacity of 1900 g-t.

The project is designed to house six hypergravity experiment chambers, each of which will focus on a particular area of research: slope and dam engineering, seismic geotechnics, deep-sea engineering, deep-earth engineering and environment, geological processes and materials processing.

In deep-sea engineering, for example, such scientific exploration could bring natural gas hydrates a step closer to reality.

Natural gas hydrates – or combustible ice – are a frozen fossil fuel found in the seabed and beneath permafrost, consisting of water and gas, usually methane. They are considered to be abundant energy reserves, with wide distribution and offering clean combustion, making them one of the most promising alternative energy sources of the future.

The hypergravity experiments will be capable of reproducing the extraction process and simulating different extraction methods in the deep sea, providing important scientific and experimental support for optimal extraction and minimising future mishaps, according to scientists involved in the project.

According to publicly available information, CHIEF was listed as one of the 10 major national science and technology infrastructures to be built in China’s 13th 5-year plan between 2016 and 2020, at a cost of more than 2 billion yuan (US$276.5 million).

2024 FBS event wraps up with talks on Asean, scientific research, Europe, US-China ties

https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3286932/2024-fbs-summit-wraps-talks-asean-scientific-research-europe-us-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed

The 2024 Family Business Summit (FBS) concluded in Hong Kong as more than 100 wealthy family principals and speakers gathered to discuss a broad range of topics.

The second day of the by-invitation event kicked off with a discussion about opportunities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as Malaysia prepares to assume the rotating chairmanship of the regional bloc. The panel, moderated by the Post’s Executive Managing Editor Zuraidah Ibrahim, featured Malaysia’s Minister of Transport Anthony Loke and Tony Fernandes, the chief executive of Capital A Berhad, which operates Southeast Asia’s largest airline AirAsia.

A panel about Hong Kong’s role in cutting-edge science was headlined by two trailblazing researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, both among the world’s foremost authorities in their respective fields.

Professor Dennis Lo, the incoming president of the university, spoke about his groundbreaking work in finding fetal DNA in maternal plasma, while Professor Ng Siew Chien spoke about her work in gut microbiome, moderated by the Post’s Managing Editor Eugene Tang.

A panel about the future of Europe’s security took place before lunch. Moderated by JPMorgan’s co-head of global banking Filippo Gori, the panel featured the European Commission’s former president Jose Manuel Barroso, the former Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Arancha Gonzalez, and Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, the former French ambassador to China, Japan, the UK and Germany.

The highlight of the day was a post-lunch fireside chat about US-China relations with Cui Tiankai, the former Chinese ambassador to the United States who dealt with three administrations through the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Cui also spoke about the trilateral relationship between the US, China and the European Union, as well as Hong Kong’s potential in promoting people-to-people exchange during his chat with the Post’s editor-in-chief Tam, before a principals-only audience.

The half-day event concluded the second FBS in Hong Kong, which was organised to create an environment for candid and meaningful discussions about the most pressing and relevant issues faced by patient investors, multigenerational wealth and business owners.

“Family businesses form the backbone of Asia’s economy and are a major growth driver for this region”, the Post’s CEO Catherine So said in her welcoming remarks to kick off the conference on Friday. “To put things in perspective: Hong Kong is home to most of the mature Asian single family offices with a 30-plus-year history. Many of these are closely related to local family businesses, which account for over 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s GDP and 68 per cent of listed companies.”

Hong Kong’s pledge to entice family offices to set up operations in the city has seen growing interest. The number of Asia-Pacific single-family offices is expected to surge by 40 per cent to 3,200 by 2030, outpacing all regions globally, according to a report by Deloitte published last week. Hong Kong alone is home to more than 2,700 single-family offices, with more than half of them founded by individuals whose wealth exceeds US$50 million.

The summit built on last year’s success, with an expanded programme comprising five fireside chats, eight panel discussions, and a special performance by the Las Vegas mentalist Chris Hanna.

The first day of the conference was packed with discussion panels featuring some of the top experts in various fields, from artificial intelligence to the South China Sea.

Two economists who advise China’s leaders spoke about the nation’s latest economic stimulus plan. Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po spoke about Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a financial centre during a fireside chat.

The conference featured conversations between cultural trend setters, retired diplomats, and the appearance by four medallists at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

China’s new drug approvals take market scale beyond US$13 billion as innovation picks up

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3286924/chinas-new-drug-approvals-take-market-scale-beyond-us13-billion-innovation-picks?utm_source=rss_feed

China has approved 113 innovative drugs since its 14th five-year plan began in 2021, according to data shared at a forum in Shanghai on the development of the domestic medicine industry.

The number of approvals already marked an increase of nearly three times over the previous five-year plan, and had reached a market scale of 100 billion yuan (US$13.8 billion), the China Pharmaceutical Industry Development Conference heard on Saturday.

As many as 37 innovative drugs and 51 medical devices were approved for sale this year alone, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology data released at the forum showed.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, the data also put China at No 2 in the world in the number of new drugs under development.

“[We will] hasten the industrialisation of important innovative products, carry out work to coordinate the upper and lower streams of the supply chain, and push forward the transformation of pioneering technology such as AI-made medicines,” industry and information technology minister Jin Zhuanglong told the forum.

The minister also pledged to boost medicine supply and production capacity reserves, with the sector expected to further open up for cooperation with different parties, CCTV reported.

China is upgrading its pharmaceutical industry to make drugs and healthcare more accessible. This is part of its plan to become more self-reliant through “new quality productive forces” driven by technical innovation and a supportive business environment.

Cheng Zengjiang, vice-president of the China Food and Drug Corporation Quality and Safety Promotion Association, earlier this year highlighted how the drive was making drugs more affordable.

“The rapid development of domestic innovative drugs has not only greatly improved the access to drugs for patients, but also significantly reduced their [financial] burden,” the official Science and Technology Daily quoted Cheng as saying in April.

According to online database Statista, China was the world’s second largest pharmaceutical market in 2023, behind the United States with 44 per cent of total pharmaceutical spending worldwide. China was at 7 per cent, but in terms of the in-hospital market only, with data on retail sales not included.

A report on the sector’s progress during the 14th five-year plan to 2025 released at the forum also revealed a “high level” of artificial intelligence use in medicine production, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The forum applauded pharmaceutical experts for the “high quality” development, and said China aimed to nurture engineers who could help realise the national goal of a digitalised drugs production industry, Xinhua said.

Recent achievements in the field include the go-ahead for a cancer therapy facility by China Isotope & Radiation Corporation, a Hong Kong-listed arm of the state-backed China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

China Isotope announced last week that a subsidiary focusing on medicine production had received a radiation safety permission that would help it build the largest base in Asia for molecularly targeted cancer therapy.

The production base is a pillar project of CNNC, according to Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, and will house facilities related to radioactive pharmaceuticals.

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China doctor kills insomniac girlfriend by injecting anaesthetics 20 times in 6 hours

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3286714/china-doctor-kills-insomniac-girlfriend-injecting-anaesthetics-20-times-6-hours?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese doctor has been condemned online after he tried to treat his girlfriend’s insomnia by administering anaesthesia more than 20 times in six hours, a move which tragically resulted in her death.

The medic, identified only by the surname Qu, is an anesthesiologist at an unnamed hospital in Jiajiang county, Leshan, Sichuan province, in southwestern China.

He met the victim, surnamed Chen, a pharmaceutical sales representative, through an online dating platform in the summer of 2022, according to Cover News.

Details about Qu’s medical qualifications and practical experience have not been disclosed.

After the couple established their relationship, Chen frequently asked Qu to administer propofol, a major anaesthesia, to her in hotels to help alleviate her insomnia, from September 2023 to March 2024, when the tragedy occurred.

On March 6, Qu gave nearly 1,300 mg of propofol in over 20 doses through Chen’s ankle over six hours from 11 pm to 5 am the following day.

He also left an additional 100 mg of propofol for Chen to use on her own when he left the hotel in the morning. He discovered Chen had died upon his return.

A medical examination confirmed that the cause of her death was acute propofol intoxication.

Qu promptly reported the incident to the police, confessed to his actions, and later compensated Chen’s relatives with 400,000 yuan (US$55,000), securing their forgiveness.

An anonymous employee from a leading international propofol manufacturer in Shanghai told The Post that propofol is not intended to treat insomnia and that the dosages used in this case far exceeded safe limits.

“Propofol is a short-acting general anaesthetic used primarily for inducing and maintaining general anaesthesia and sedation. Typically, clinical doses for anaesthesia induction are 1.5-2.5 mg per kilogram of body weight.

“For maintenance of anaesthesia, the doses usually range from 4-12 mg per kilogram, while sedation doses vary from 1.5-4.5 mg per kilogram, adjusted according to the procedure and patient’s age,” the employee explained.

She added:”An injection dose of 1,300 mg is significantly higher than standard treatment protocols. Fatalities from excessive use of anaesthetics like this are not uncommon. Besides, drug abuse, apart from safety issues, can lead to addiction.”

On November 1, the People’s Court of Renshou county in Sichuan province sentenced Qu to two and a half years in prison for negligent homicide.

The court acknowledged that Qu’s self-surrender, confession, compensation to the victim’s family, and their subsequent forgiveness contributed to the leniency of his sentence.

However, the lenient penalty has been condemned online.

One online observer said: “An anesthesiologist does not know the proper dosage for anaesthetic drugs? Is this negligence? Is this not murder?”

While another added: “More than 20 injections in six hours. How did he manage to get so much anaesthetic out of the hospital? Should the hospital not also be held responsible?”

A third person asked: “Negligent homicide plus a confession and compensation equals only 2.5 years?”

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China’s EV market lures new entrants with eyes on BYD’s crown – at great peril

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3286904/chinas-ev-market-lures-new-entrants-eyes-byds-crown-great-peril?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s US$376 billion electric vehicle (EV) market is attracting new entrants from an array of investors, including a maker of vacuum cleaners and hair dryers. In an industry ridden with losses and failures, that optimism is intriguing.

Dreame, whose products compete with foreign brands like Dyson and Philips, has recruited a team to develop and launch a hybrid EV model after 2026, according to a local media report last month. Based in Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province, the firm also aims to export to Europe, the report said.

Rox Motor is also thinking big after launching its Rox 01 sport-utility vehicle (SUV) last year. The car maker has signed deals to distribute and sell its hybrid SUV called Rox 01 – its only EV model so far – in Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Philippines and Egypt.

China’s domestic EV market is the world’s biggest, is projected to stagnate over the next two years in terms of industry-wide revenue. Big guns including BYD, Geely Auto, Xpeng and Li Auto have delivered more than 10 million units to customers this year, while more than a dozen among 100-odd players have crashed and burned since the first of 25 million EVs hit the road in 1993.

Car dealers nationwide have lost nearly US$20 billion fighting overcapacity and a price war.

“It’s an inevitable trend in the industry, we need to foster a new growth driver,” said Yuan Zhijun, chairman of Wuling Motors, which has a three-way venture with General Motor and SAIC Motor making a two-seater mini EV called Hongguang. “We have reached a consensus to transition to EVs.”

Based in Liuzhou in southern Guangxi province, Wuling had mostly been a component supplier to its joint venture and other makers like BYD. Yuan amis to generate half of its EV sales from overseas by 2030.

The transition reflects the shifting focus in Beijing. President Xi Jinping has called for “new productive forces” such as advanced technologies as the traditional old-economy faltered. Under the Made in China 2025 industrial strategy, China wants the two top EV makers to generate 10 per cent of their sales from overseas markets by 2025.

Wuling Motors is confident it can beat the drop. Some pretenders have disappeared from the market, including WM Motor, Byton and Levdeo, which filed bankruptcy last year. Others like Aiways, Zhidou and Haima have either sought more survival funding, or been absorbed by bigger players.

“Companies entering the EV sector may be seeking new revenue streams after hitting growth bottlenecks in their old businesses,” said Phate Zhang, founder of CnEVPost, a Shanghai-based electric-car data provider. “The domestic [EV] market has become pretty saturated. Those who are not competitive enough will get eliminated.”

William Li, founder and CEO of Nio, said in 2020 that at least 20 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion) was needed to invest in an EV start-up before it can develop a production model. That explains why only deep-pocketed newcomers like smartphone makers Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi can sustain the fight, while debt-stricken China Evergrande’s NEW venture crashed spectacularly.

Wang Chuanfu, chairman of the world’s biggest EV maker, said in March that the country will enter a “brutal elimination round” to compete for buyers. Amid an economic slowdown, China offered rebates under its subsidy programme to encourage consumers to ditch their petrol-powered cars for new EVs.

The top 13 listed carmakers in China generated an average profit of 2,600 yuan per unit in 2023, analysts at Goldman Sachs estimated in a report in April. A price cut by 10,300 yuan per car in this year’s price war will plunge the industry into losses, they added.

BYD launched its first electric model, the F3DM plug-in hybrid car, in 2008. It achieved the feat three years after producing its first car known as F3, a barebone minicar with a 1.6-litre petrol engine. The Shenzhen-based car maker only became profitable in 2022, according to its filings.

Li Auto reported its first profit in 2023, four years after rolling out its first EV model called Li One in 2019.

New entrants may have more opportunities in the commercial EV segment, in the absence of dominant players with clear-cut advantage, according to Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai consulting firm Automotive Foresight. The segment also has lower requirements for slick digital features and artificial intelligence that are becoming a standard menu in the passenger EV segment, he added.

“The competition is extremely fierce, but there are still some opportunities,” said Zhang from CnEVPost, adding new companies have more chances to survive if they develop more personalised EV models that cater to specific consumer groups. “This industry is not a winner-takes-all game.”

Lithuania’s next government wants to patch things up with China. But is it even possible?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286874/lithuanias-next-government-wants-patch-things-china-it-even-possible?utm_source=rss_feed

For years, Lithuania has been one of Beijing’s most vociferous critics in Europe as it sought to build close ties with Taiwan.

But with a new government in the offing, there are signs that the Baltic state might be looking to mend ties with the world’s second largest economy – even if observers believe the relationship is beyond repair.

Gintautas Paluckas, the candidate the Social Democratic Party want to make prime minister if it can form a coalition after coming first in last month’s election, has said he wants to “normalise” ties.

“Having normal relations is certainly an aspiration because the EU – even though relations with China will not be rosy, they will argue about the economy, about tariffs, about protectionist measures [...] – but the EU is trying to maintain diplomatic relations,” Paluckas told national broadcaster LRT.

He described the previous centre-right government’s decision to allow a “Taiwanese Representative Office” to be opened in 2021 as a “grave diplomatic mistake”, but has stopped short of saying that he would ask Taipei to rename it.

“Let’s not speculate, we don’t know what the Chinese will ask for. We don’t know the real situation,” Paluckas told LRT.

President Gitanas Nauseda, who was re-elected this year with 75 per cent of the vote, echoed Paluckas’s views.

“Relations between China and Lithuania should be based on the principle of mutual trust and international commitments. The president supports the [efforts] to normalise diplomatic relations between Lithuania and China, but the interest must be mutual,” Nauseda’s office said.

“The president hopes that China will change its decision to downgrade the level of diplomatic representation and that ambassadors will return to work in both countries.”

The spat saw China remove Lithuania from its customs system, meaning its exporters could not ship goods to the country. Beijing claimed Vilnius had violated the European Union’s one-China policy and expelled its ambassador in 2021, while also withdrawing its own envoy from Lithuania.

It also deepened tensions between the EU and China, which have worsened further because of Beijing’s close relationship with Russia.

The EU has said that Lithuania had not breached its one-China policy and launched a World Trade Organization case against the trade embargo. The incident also helped garner support for an EU anti-coercion instrument, which is now law and allows Brussels to respond if a member state is thought to be put under economic pressure for political reasons.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has not ruled out the use of force to reunify it. Most countries, including Lithuania, and the European Union do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. However, the EU states that it wishes to expand business and cultural ties with Taipei, short of diplomatic recognition.

There has been speculation that the next Lithuanian government will end the dispute with China but observers and party insiders are sceptical.

Paluckas has said that he would negotiate with China “without humiliating ourselves, falling to our knees and begging for anything”. It is unclear what could be done short of renaming or closing the Taipei office and annoying Taiwan, which has become an important trade and investment partner.

“China has no leverage on us anymore - for us, China is nothing now,” said Marius Laurinavicius, a geopolitical analyst at the Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis, pointing to the near collapse in trade following the dispute.

“Some people feel like we need to do something to fix things with China, but why? China can’t do anything to us anymore.”

The deputy leader of the Social Democrats, Liutauras Gudzinskas,recently said there would be “no major changes” in the China policy.

“It’s important to see this in the context of the [Ukraine] war. China’s reluctance to condemn Russia and its cooperation with Moscow damaged its image in Lithuania. If politicians now started making changes to this, they would immediately be suspected of working for Russia,” Gudzinskas said.

Another factor is the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January. As the ultimate guarantor of Lithuania’s security, the United States enjoys significant influence in the country.

“Trump is rather anti-China and determined to wage trade wars. In Lithuania, most experts and decision makers agree it would be irrational to turn towards China,” explained Gudzinskas, also an associate professor of comparative politics at Vilnius University.

It is also clear that Paluckas’s views may not be shared through his party ranks. Dovile Sakaliene, who has been tipped to be the next defence minister, is known for a hawkish stance towards China and has been sanctioned by Beijing in retaliation for similar EU moves against Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Officials are also unlikely to want to rock the boat after a bruising two weeks since October’s elections, Laurinavicius said.

“This a safeguard against major changes. They have started so badly that they can’t afford anything else that would draw too much attention, so I don’t believe they will offer major concessions to China,” Laurinavicius said.

The Social Democrats have been roundly criticised for attempting to enter a coalition with Nemunas Dawn, a populist party whose leader was expelled from one of the main centre-right parties for antisemitism.

China mum has 9 kids, aiming for 1 of each zodiac sign to avoid ‘wasting’ husband’s genes

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3286711/china-mum-has-9-kids-aiming-1-each-zodiac-sign-avoid-wasting-husbands-genes?utm_source=rss_feed

A woman in China who has given birth to nine children aspires to have a child for each of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, motivated by the desire not to “waste her husband’s good genes”.

Tian Dongxia, 33, from Zhejiang province in eastern China, met her husband Zhao Wanlong in 2008 and married him two years later.

In 2010, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter born in the Year of the Tiger.

They believe that “having more children is a blessing”.

Over the following years, the couple expanded their family with eight more children, including a set of twin boys born in the Year of the Dragon. Their youngest son, also a Tiger, was born in November 2022.

Tian explained her desire to have so many children stems from wanting to encompass all 12 Chinese zodiac signs, as she does not want to waste her husband’s “good genes”.

The couple have five sons and four daughters but are still missing the Ox, Rabbit, Snake, Horse, and Sheep zodiac signs.

On October 17, Tian posted a video on Douyin featuring her husband accompanying her to a hospital check-up, where she is preparing for her tenth child.

“Due to my health condition, I cannot have a baby in the Year of the Dragon, so I’m hoping for a Snake baby next year,” she stated.

In Chinese culture, the Snake is regarded as the earthly incarnation of the Dragon.

Zhao is the CEO and founder of a power supply company, while Tian serves as the company’s general manager.

The couple have run their business since 2009, with recent annual earnings reportedly nearing 400 million yuan (US$55 million).

Online reports indicate that in the couple’s 2,000-square-metre villa, six nannies and a nutritionist care for the children.

Tian also expressed her hope that all her children will have nine children each, just like her.

To prepare for their future family expansion, the couple plan to renovate their villa to accommodate “future 81 grandchildren”.

Their story has garnered widespread attention on mainland social media.

One online observer commented: “Only with sufficient money can you afford to raise so many children. The children will have plenty of playmates and will not feel lonely.”

Another individual remarked: “What if all the kids’ classes have parent-teacher meetings at the same time? Will the parents be able to give each child equal love?”

A third observer added: “This is crazy! Having children continuously could cause irreversible harm to the mother’s body.”

Tian’s remarkable childbirth journey sharply contrasts with China’s declining birth rates, which hit a historic low of 9.02 million last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In response, the government has introduced measures to boost birth rates.

In October, streets in Changsha, a city in southern China, were decorated with controversial slogans such as “Having three children is the coolest.”

Meanwhile, a company in eastern China has offered employees who have five children a 280,000-yuan (US$38,000) reward along with priority for promotions.

South China car attack suspect still in a coma, Zhuhai authorities say

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3286910/south-china-car-attack-suspect-still-coma-zhuhai-authorities-say?utm_source=rss_feed

The man suspected of being responsible for a car attack that killed 35 people in southern China is still in a coma and cannot be questioned, the local authorities have said.

The suspect, a 62-year-old man surnamed Fan, remains in a stable condition in hospital after trying to cut his throat following Monday’s attack in Zhuhai, the city’s government told the Post.

The police have now arrested Fan, triggering a formal judicial process, state news agency Xinhua reported.

It took five days between Fan’s detention and the formal approval for his arrest – a relatively fast pace under Chinese criminal procedure.

He is accused of killing 35 people and injuring 43 others after an SUV was driven into crowds of people exercising at a local sports stadium.

Police have previously said he may have been motivated by his anger about a recent divorce settlement.

Authorities had not previously released any information about Fan’s health in the days since the attack, but local officials have pledged to speed up the handling of the case and “severely punish the criminal”.

The Post reported on Friday that the suspect may be the owner of a construction store, but Zhuhai authorities told the Post on Saturday that it was “not convenient” to release details.

The police are “investigating and collecting evidence” and will “make an announcement at an appropriate time” they added.

The authorities have also said that they have arranged for more than 140 medical professionals to help the injured and the victims’ families to deal with the mental health crisis created by the attacks.

The authorities also said that floral tributes left outside the stadium had been moved to an arena inside the complex to “make it easier for the public to express their grief”.

Nanfang Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece in Guangdong province, where Zhuhai is located, reported on Saturday that the provincial party committee had held a meeting about the handling of the attack and demanded that police “strengthen patrols at key locations and crowded places”.

Why China’s big cities are losing foreign workers even as post-Covid travel picks up

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3286717/why-chinas-big-cities-are-losing-foreign-workers-even-post-covid-travel-picks?utm_source=rss_feed

Fewer Westerners are working in major Chinese cities as high-paying jobs dry up amid slow economic growth, with living costs and China’s geopolitical tensions with the West also taking their toll.

But some of those gaps are being filled by professionals from Southeast Asia, as foreign firms increasingly turn to local or regional talent.

Census data shows that while more nationals from developed countries are leaving China, those from emerging markets are taking their place, although the total is still lower than before the pandemic.

Roy Ren, vice-chairman of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China’s human resources working group, said short-term travellers were returning to China, but fewer foreigners were choosing to live and work in the country than in the pre-pandemic years.

“Foreign firms in China are adapting to the changing environment by adjusting their recruitment structure to focus on local talent,” Ren said, referring to the country’s patchy post-Covid recovery and its impact on the job market.

They were also trying to upgrade the skills of “existing employees by providing them with more training” to meet the shortfall, he added.

“Labour cost is one of the reasons for the change, as the salary and relocation packages for foreign top executives are expensive. It is also because local talent in China has been more mature, and the localisation level of overseas companies is now higher,” Ren added.

A report released by the Beijing International Talent Exchange Association last month said around 22,000 foreigners were working long-term in the Chinese capital.

That compares to the 37,000 foreigners working in Beijing in 2014, according to data from the state-held China News Service.

Ren said demand for overseas workers as top executives was still high, even though they might find it difficult to land mid-level or technical positions in China as a result of the post-Covid adjustment.

But some member firms of the chamber still found it difficult to hire senior executives from overseas, as some candidates found the salaries offered were lower than expected, while tuition fees at international schools for their children were high, he said.

Further deterrents are China’s geopolitical conflicts with the United States and the European Union, and the complexities of getting China visas, according to Ren.

Shanghai was home to 72,000 foreign workers by the end of last year, according to official data. That is about one-third of the 215,000 foreigners working in Shanghai in early 2019, as reported by Jiefang Daily, a publication affiliated to the Communist Party branch in the Chinese financial hub.

Jeffrey Wilson, an American national who works as an employment lawyer in Shanghai, said there were fewer foreigners working in China partly because of the reduced competitiveness of foreign companies.

“Some foreign companies are downsizing or shutting down altogether and local companies are now good competitors. But foreigners are not that likely to be hired by local companies,” he said.

Having worked and lived in Shanghai since 2002, Wilson feels that the job market for foreigners in China has greatly changed over the decades.

“Now the market and businesses are so much more specialised … It takes more skills and it is helpful to have expertise in a niche market to work in China,” he said.

The demographics of foreigners working in Shanghai had also changed, he said, with more companies transferring in staff from Southeast Asian countries, rather than from the US and Europe.

Data from China’s seventh national census showed citizens of developed countries such as South Korea, Japan and the United States had been leaving China between 2010 and 2020.

By contrast, more nationals of developing countries had settled down in China during the same period.

Citizens of Myanmar led the way, their numbers growing nearly nine-fold over the decade, followed by those from Vietnam and Laos.

The southwestern province of Yunnan, which borders all three countries, saw a sevenfold increase in foreign residents during the period. By 2020, it had the largest foreign population among Chinese provinces.

Singapore citizen Lena Gidwani, community director of an international school in Guangzhou, has seen the number of foreign residents falling in the southern Chinese city. Her school had fewer European or American students than before, though there were more from Southeast Asian and overseas Chinese backgrounds, she said.

“Those multinational companies are not extending expat contracts and fewer expats’ children are coming in,” she said.

She attributed the decline to higher living costs.

“The international school fees are high, and the rents are going up. Living in China is not what it looked like 20 years ago,” said Gidwani, who has worked in China since 2002.

Gidwani, whose husband is a Dutch businessman, said she noticed many foreigners were upbeat about business opportunities in China, but just chose not to live in the country and work remotely instead.

“Business is there. But people are not choosing to call the country home,” she said.

Cameron Wilson, a Scotsman who has worked in Shanghai for 20 years, said a lack of financial support, such as expat packages, deterred overseas talent from pursuing careers in China.

“When you get married and have a family here, it becomes a problem to educate your kids. The international school fee is so high and there is no way you can afford it,” Wilson said.

China, Singapore key to Hongkong Land’s US$10 billion asset disposal goal

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3286727/china-singapore-key-hongkong-lands-us10-billion-asset-disposal-goal?utm_source=rss_feed

Dozens of Hongkong Land’s assets in China and Southeast Asia are likely to be divested while those in Hong Kong are likely to be spared, as the developer shifts its focus to ultra-luxury commercial developments, according to analysts.

Last month, the developer, the biggest commercial landlord in Hong Kong’s Central business district, said its goal was to recycle US$10 billion in capital by 2035, including US$6 billion from development properties.

To reach this goal, Hongkong Land is likely to sell 37 of its residential projects on the mainland, six in Singapore and more than 14 across Southeast Asia, according to Xavier Lee, equity analyst at Morningstar.

“As Hongkong Land will likely retain at least partial ownership of their premium commercial properties, we believe they might recycle some of their malls in their ‘The Ring’ series, which is more mass-market in nature,” Lee said.

The Ring is the developer’s signature shopping centres in Chinese cities such as Chengdu and Chongqing.

Hongkong Land, which is controlled by conglomerate Jardine Matheson, manages US$32 billion of investment properties. It is selling and reshuffling its assets to unlock capital, an initiative made following a review over the past six months, according to CEO Michael Smith.

Besides Hong Kong and mainland China, the developer also has assets and projects in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Hongkong Land will certainly not spend additional money on projects in the future that are developed for sale only, said Jeff Yau, executive director at DBS Bank (Hong Kong).

“They may engage in some mixed developments, with most of them for leasing and some portion for sale,” he said.

The company is likely to exit from the Chinese residential market, Singapore and the rest of Asia, Yau added, echoing Morningstar analyst Lee’s sentiments.

Of the US$10 billion target, about US$6 billion will come from the “gradual wind down” of residential projects across the region, as well as mid-market shopping malls in mainland China that are either in operation or under development, chief financial officer Craig Beattie said last month.

The rest will come from either a new real estate investment trust (Reit) or by working with third-party capital, including private fund structures, Beattie added.

As for assets that could be part of the potential Reit or private vehicles, DBS’ Yau said that assets in Singapore or mainland China were the most likely candidates.

Given the high-interest rate environment, commercial property glut and depressed sentiment in Hong Kong currently, it would be a bit challenging to spin off assets in the city, Yau said, adding that it would be easier to do so in Singapore.

Hong Kong’s office market has been struggling with record high vacancy rates. It is likely to worsen next year with another 3 million sq ft of new space to come on stream. Meanwhile, prime office rents are forecast to fall by another 5 per cent on top of an 8 per cent slump this year, according to forecasts by CBRE and Colliers.

S&P Global Ratings believes mature investment property assets “mostly in Hong Kong and Singapore” are likely to be offered for the proposed Reit.

The developer’s “strategic business pivot” is seen favourably by analysts, but execution remains key for its success, said Oscar Chung, an analyst at S&P. “Asset recycling will help Hongkong Land replenish cash and fund new investment, but the process will take time and involve execution risks.”

“Execution of Hongkong Land’s fund management business strategy is a watchpoint,” he added. “While recurring management-fee income will grow, our assessment of Hongkong Land’s credit profile will also depend on the asset and earnings quality of the expanded portfolio and the funding mix of projects.”

Hongkong Land said its pivot will ultimately grow its business over the long term and double dividends to shareholders. That means doubling its profit before interest and tax, and growing its assets under management to US$100 billion by 2035, according to a recent exchange filing in London and Singapore.

China scientists crack oil-water recycling in potential green win for industry

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3286642/china-scientists-crack-oil-water-recycling-potential-green-win-industry?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists says they have developed a significantly more efficient system for separating oil and water in complex emulsions, which could transform the sustainability of waste water treatments and other industrial applications.

The researchers achieved simultaneous oil and water recovery of up to 97 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively, with purity levels approaching 99.9 per cent for both, according to the study published on Friday by the peer-reviewed journal Science.

The record-breaking result was achieved using a Janus Channel of Membranes (JCM) – named after the ancient two-faced Roman god to reflect its dual-purpose design. Traditional separation technologies typically recover only oil or water.

According to co-authors Yang Haocheng, Zhang Chao and Xu Zhikang from Zhejiang University, the JCM consists of a water-attracting membrane and one that repels water, arranged to create a confined channel between them.

The oily-water mixture is pumped into the channel, where water is drawn through the hydrophilic membrane while oil is channelled to the hydrophobic membrane for collection, the paper said.

Industries such as petrochemicals, metallurgy, food production and pharmaceuticals generate vast quantities of oily waste water – particularly emulsified waste water that has been stabilised by surfactants and is among the hardest to treat.

Whether the emulsion consists of oil droplets dispersed in water, such as in mayonnaise, or water droplets dispersed in oil, as is the case in margarine, separating these mixtures is notoriously challenging.

Unlike traditional methods that typically recover only oil or water, the JCM can separate both, not only at the same time but also to a level that meets environmental discharge standards, according to the paper.

The researchers found that the width of the gap between the two membranes was crucial – too large and they operated independently, yielding low separation efficiency. However, by narrowing the distance they achieved a significant boost, the paper said.

By narrowing the gap from 125mm (5 inches) to just 4mm, the team observed a jump in oil recovery from 5 to 97 per cent on the hydrophobic side, while water recovery improved from 19 to 75 per cent on the hydrophilic side.

The team attributed the improvement to a “positive feedback mechanism” created at the smaller width by emulsified droplets colliding and accumulating within the channel.

As the hydrophilic membrane removes water, the emulsion’s concentration increases, encouraging droplets to merge and destabilise, facilitating oil separation, according to the paper.

Continual oil removal also lowers the concentration of emulsion on the membrane surface, further supporting water permeability and boosting the system’s overall separation efficiency, it said.

In an official press statement on the university’s website, co-author Yang said the JCM used simple materials and demonstrated “broad applicability to both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions, encompassing a diverse range of oils and surfactants”.

“These membrane pairs hold promise for assembly into a multistage module to scale up,” the team said in the paper, indicating the technology’s potential to be used in practical industrial applications.

According to the paper, the JCM is also more robust than conventional hydrophilic membranes, which typically clog rapidly and perform well only with emulsions containing less than 10 per cent oil by volume.

In contrast, the JCM can handle emulsions with oil content of up to 40 per cent, achieving over 50 per cent water recovery and more than 80 per cent oil recovery, both with purities exceeding 99.9 per cent.

In a perspective article published in the same issue of Science, Professor Xing Yang from KU Leuven in Belgium said the approach “goes beyond simple oil-and-water separation and opens doors to other challenging separations on an industrial scale”.

“It has the potential to separate complex mixtures, such as removing water or glycerol from biofuels, recovering valuable metals from mining waste, and isolating proteins and vitamins from dairy products,” she said.

8 die in knife rampage as China suffers second mass killing in a week

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3286907/8-die-knife-rampage-china-suffers-second-mass-killing-week?utm_source=rss_feed

Eight people have died in a knife attack in eastern China, the country’s second mass killing in a week.

The stabbing, in which another 17 people were injured, happened at around 6.30pm on Saturday at Wuxi Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing city in Jiangsu, which is about 200km (120 miles) west of Shanghai.

The suspect, a 21-year-old surnamed Xu who had studied at the college, was detained at the scene, local police said.

Videos circulating on social media from Wuxi showed police entering the school with shields and subduing the attacker on a playing field.

Police said the suspect had failed his exams and was also angry about the low pay he received as an intern in a factory.

A purported suicide note circulating online, which included the alleged killer’s full name, said he was angry about the exploitation of factory workers.

The vocational college has more than 10,000 students and employs 590 staff.

It is the second mass killing to happen in China this week. On Monday night, 35 people died in the southern city of Zhuhai after a car rammed into crowds of people exercising at a sports stadium.

Southeast Asia is the new Singles’ Day battleground as lustre fades in China

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3286909/southeast-asia-new-singles-day-battleground-lustre-fades-china?utm_source=rss_feed

On the bustling streets of Bangkok, TikTok Shop’s Singles’ Day shopping campaign is hard to miss, as large LED screens flash promotions in endless loops.

Promotions have been infiltrating people’s lives in other ways, as well. On the ride-hailing app Grab, TikTok Shop’s Double 11 logo appears prominently on the map interface. A promotional blitz from Lazada, which like the Post is owned by Alibaba Group Holding, has turned it into a top-trending topic in Thailand, while the microblogging platform X is full of in-feed ads trumpeting enticing discounts.

The world’s biggest online shopping festival, also known as Double 11 because of its original November 11 date, is finding fresh momentum in rapidly growing Southeast Asian markets 15 years after Alibaba’s Taobao started the event in China, where its allure is now fading.

Nattapong Koomuang, a 28-year-old Bangkok resident, recently bought skincare products worth 3,600 Thai baht on Shopee, the online marketplace run by Singapore-headquartered Sea Group. Discounts on the platform saved him around 20 per cent, and his package arrived on time as usual – a late delivery would earn the customer additional coupons.

“Discounts during Double 11 are typically better than other campaigns,” Koomuang said. “It’s easier for me to decide to purchase pricier products.”

He also occasionally shops on TikTok Shop, but his purchases there are more spontaneous, often triggered by content he finds interesting.

With a young population and growing internet access, Southeast Asia has emerged as one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets globally, reaching US$139 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) last year, according to a report released by Google, Tesmasek and Bain & Company.

That has made the region a key battleground for international e-commerce giants, led by Shopee. ByteDance’s TikTok Shop and Alibaba’s Lazada have also become mainstream options, while PDD Holdings’ Temu entered the fray last year, competing alongside a host of local platforms.

While none of the platforms have disclosed the exact GMV figures for Singles’ Day, the impact of the sales bonanza is tangible.

More than 5 million Malaysians tuned in to TikTok Shop’s four-hour 11.11 Mega Live Showdown event on November 10, according to Malaysian news agency Bernama. The event generated around 80,000 live-stream orders. Meanwhile, Shopee Live sellers in Malaysia moved more than 2.5 million products within the first two hours of November 11, marking a sixfold increase from their typical sales.

In a WeChat post on November 13, Lazada described this year’s Singles’ Day as “the biggest business opportunity for merchants”, highlighting the brands and categories that saw significant growth in November. The platform introduced savings for reaching certain spending thresholds across the platform and free shipping to attract shoppers.

This year, Lazada reported its first ever profitable month in July, based on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

The rising interest in e-commerce is being felt by logistics providers, as well. Between November 1 and 11, J&T Express, the largest delivery company in Southeast Asia by volume, handled more than 15 million parcels in the region, up 73 per cent year on year, according to the company.

To meet demand, J&T Express began upgrading its operations months ahead of the shopping season. In Thailand, the company expanded sorting areas by roughly 19,000 square metres and added more than 13 automated systems to boost efficiency. It also deployed over 900 additional transport vehicles and hired more than 3,800 staff members to strengthen its sorting, delivery, and customer service capabilities.

“The e-commerce sector across Southeast Asia has rebounded this year, entering a steady growth phase,” said Li Jianggan, founder of Singapore-based consultancy Momentum Works. “This comes after the boom during the Covid-19 era, a subsequent contraction period, and the rapid growth of TikTok Shop as a disruptive player.”

Li attributed this growth, in part, to greater market efficiency. “For example, the cost per parcel has been consistently going down,” he said.

In China, meanwhile, enthusiasm around Singles’ Day is cooling amid a slowing economy. Sluggish consumer spending has also put deflationary pressure on prices.

E-commerce platforms largely stopped releasing sales figures for the event two years ago. This year, Alibaba’s Tmall chose not to splurge on the traditional gala, a high-profile affair that in the past featured performances by international stars such as Taylor Swift and Scarlett Johansson.

Since July, Beijing has repeatedly warned against “involution”, a term used to describe shrinking opportunities in a highly competitive environment, as it seeks to rein in the price wars that have gripped the e-commerce sector in recent years.

With a saturated market at home, Chinese firms have been pushing to expand overseas, leveraging the country’s vast supply chain to undercut rivals in other markets. But the platforms also face challenges navigating diverse cultures, market dynamics, regulations and local protectionism.

PDD’s Temu and fast-fashion giant Shein have come under increasing scrutiny in Vietnam, where authorities have warned consumers about buying from unregistered platforms. In October, Indonesia banned Temu after it tried multiple times to enter the market, citing the need to protect local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and to curb influx of cheap imports.

“In each market, we must comply with laws and regulations while respecting local cultures and customs,” said Charles Hou Junyi, vice-president of J&T, in a recent interview with the Post in Thailand. While cross-border e-commerce platforms are key partners for J&T, he said the company is also diversifying into non-platform businesses.

Second-generation boss charts new course for Chinese agribusiness

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3286760/second-generation-boss-charts-new-course-chinese-agribusiness?utm_source=rss_feed

Poised, with a sleek bob and understated, elegant jewellery, it would be easy to imagine 40-something Liu Chang as part of the arts scene rather than a key player in China’s pig farming sector. But Liu is no ordinary agribusiness executive.

The daughter of Liu Yonghao, one of the richest men in China, went to high school in the United States, has an executive master of business administration degree from Peking University, and now helms the listed subsidiary of one of China’s largest privately-owned agribusiness firms, which was founded by her father.

As the chairwoman of New Hope Liuhe, Liu Chang runs a company that has become a key player in agriculture, animal feed, dairy, and food production in the world’s second-largest economy.

And like the modern face of the traditional company, New Hope is trying to adapt to the economic shift reshaping China’s consumer landscape.

“We’re seeing people prioritise practicality and value for money,” Liu Chang said. “When we look at the consumption habits of the post-2000 generation, they’re not spending like before – they’re even going to senior citizens’ canteens.

“This shift reflects a group-wide change. They’re starting to save, and they don’t have the same drive to accumulate assets that we, the post-80s generation, did when we were all focused on buying homes and cars. It’s a major structural shift.”

Amid the prevailing pessimism over spending levels in China, Liu Chang said that “confidence issues” should not be used to sum up everything, and “if you look at the underlying forces at play, there are still companies that will emerge victorious”.

“It might be a natural shift with the times, as each generation has its own perspective – this one isn’t worried about buying a house, getting married, or having children or any of those demands,” she said.

“Society itself seems to have reached this stage and one can’t just attribute everything to a lack of confidence. In fact, in the coming years, China may very well see the rise of truly great companies with a long-term vision, much like post-war Japan. At the same time, some businesses – those overly opportunistic or lacking competitiveness – may indeed find they have less space to grow.”

As chain restaurants in China have followed a trend towards centralised preparation, often using pre-prepared ingredients produced in factories to replace time-consuming tasks in individual kitchens, Liu Chang said New Hope focused on evolving consumer habits and restaurant profit models, as well as the changing dynamics of home kitchens.

For example, where people once used individual seasonings like peppercorns, chilli, MSG and salt, they now preferred ready-made seasoning blends.

“Today, when young people cook, they’re not measuring ‘a pinch of salt’ or ‘a dash of soy sauce’; instead, they use pre-made sauces for dishes like Mapo tofu or Kung Pao chicken,” she said.

These shifts in consumer habits and lifestyles present opportunities for those who plan ahead and invest early, she added.

In its 2023 annual report, New Hope recorded the sale of 268,700 tonnes of processed meat products and ready-to-eat meals, up 6 per cent year on year, and revenue of 4.614 billion yuan (US$638.83 million), up more than 10 per cent.

Nationwide sales of one popular item, Xiao Su Rou crispy fried pork, reaped over 1.3 billion yuan.

Liu Chang said there were far more external advantages in her parents’ era, with population growth, urbanisation and favourable policies creating abundant opportunities that allowed persistent and ambitious entrepreneurs to flourish.

During the 2000s and early 2010s, private enterprises and a wave of pioneers capitalised on China’s rapid economic expansion to thrive.

Many of China’s most iconic billionaires rose to prominence in that era, building fortunes as China’s economy surged. They included Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, who transformed retail and online shopping in China; Dalian Wanda Group’s Wang Jianlin, who amassed billions through real estate and entertainment; and the late Zong Qinghou, the founder of beverage company Hangzhou Wahaha Group. Alibaba owns the Post.

“In our generation, those external benefits have dwindled, or even disappeared,” Liu Chang said. “Now, growth comes more from internal adjustments, innovation, and sometimes even by competing for market share.

“This makes effective management and operations critical. Where previously bold expansion was encouraged by abundant opportunities, today’s environment requires a return to fundamentals: product quality, pricing, meeting consumer needs, and emphasising real value.

“In the past, many companies structured themselves either like government offices – mirroring bureaucratic departments – or directly copied foreign enterprises’ structures, or were shaped by the CEO’s personal interests rather than what truly optimised the business.”

While Chinese companies looked to others for inspiration, Liu Chang said “it wasn’t always clear whether what we learned truly applied to us, especially in an expansive economic climate”.

“In contrast, our generation is focused on simplification and streamlining, organising around core business logic to remain competitive in a tighter, more competitive market,” she said.

‘For love’: China student makes weekly Australia trips for class, returns home to see partner

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3286531/love-china-student-makes-weekly-australia-trips-class-returns-home-see-partner?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese international student in Australia commuted between two countries weekly for three months so that he could be physically together with his girlfriend, astonishing many people online.

Xu Guangli, 28, travelled between his home in eastern China’s Shandong province and the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, where he studies arts management, every week for 11 weeks from August to October.

Each return trip took him three days in total.

He usually left home in third-tier city Dezhou at 7am to the capital city Jinan where there is an airport, took a layover flight to Melbourne and arrived the next day for a class, and went back home on the third day.

Xu told Shandong newspaper Dazhong Daily it was the last semester of his master’s degree studies, and he only needed to do one class a week to meet the graduation standard.

More importantly, his girlfriend finished her studies in Australia in the summer and returned to China, so Xu decided to commute between China and Australia for love.

“Life in Melbourne on my own was lonely,” Xu said.

Xu, who had been studying in Australia for eight years, added he also made the decision to study domestic work environment for his future career.

Xu filmed his trips and posted the videos online, winning nearly 10,000 followers on his account.

In one video, he calculated the cost of one of the trips, which was 6,700 yuan (US$930) in total including a 4,700-yuan return flight ticket, taxi and meal fee.

During the one night he spent in Melbourne each week he stayed on the couch at his friend’s home.

Xu confessed that the trips were still more expensive than renting a flat in the city, which used to cost him 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) a month, but all the time and money was worthwhile “for love” and “good food at home”.

He said he bought different airlines’ connecting flights each time, and took the opportunity to visit several Chinese cities and even Vietnam one time.

Xu said he completed all his studies at the end of October and would not need to travel to Australia for a while.

The social media was shocked by his dedication to love and great energy.

“I have never seen anyone so devoted to love before,” said one online observer.

“I would not travel such a long distance every week for anything. It is simply too tiring,” another said.

“I would not commute between school and my home every week even if they are in neighbouring cities,” said a third.

How passion and tech resurrected China’s headless statues, and unearthed historic wrongs

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3284661/how-passion-and-tech-resurrected-chinas-headless-statues-and-unearthed-historic-wrongs?utm_source=rss_feed

Long before the Chinese smash-hit video game electrified gamers around the world, sparking new interest in the Buddhist statues and grottoes featured in the game, Katherine Tsiang had already been working for decades on the conservation of such heritage sites and art.

A groundbreaking project led by the Chinese-American art researcher involves the sixth-century Buddhist cave temples at remote Xiangtangshan, or Mountain of Echoing Halls, in China’s northern Hebei province.

The caves –which are shrines carved from limestone cliffs – were extensively damaged by looters during political upheaval in China around the turn of the century, with smaller statues stolen and large Buddha heads or hands chiselled off, to be sold on the international art market. It is believed that more than 100 such pieces are now scattered around the world.

Tsiang’s team has tracked and scanned the dispersed fragments of sculpture and the original sites using advanced 2D and 3D imaging technologies to produce digital reconstructions of the caves that date to the short-lived Northern Qi dynasty (AD550-577). In 2019, digitally printed missing pieces from six Buddhas were displayed in a museum in Xiangtangshan, with more exhibitions expected.

“You cannot glue a 600 pound (272kg) sculpture back on the wall of the cave, but with the digital information, you can create a virtual reconstruction of a cave, even print it out and make it into an actual space that people can visit,” said Tsiang, who now works as a consultant for the Centre for the Art of East Asia at the University of Chicago after retiring as its associate director earlier this year.

Tsiang joined the renowned academic centre in 1996 after a stint teaching Chinese, Indian and Japanese art history at the Herron School of Art and Design at Indiana University Indianapolis. She studied Buddhist art with a focus on the Xiangtangshan caves for her PhD and has since built a career as a “monuments woman” – a term first coined to describe people dedicated to the protection of cultural treasures during and after World War II.

For the Xiangtangshan Caves Project, Tsiang’s team took hundreds of overlapping scans of nearly 100 objects believed to be from the site but scattered around the world, while another imaging team scanned the caves in China. The 3D scans captured details that enabled the researchers to match the various fragments to their original locations in the caves and render full-scale, three-dimensional and interactive digital models.

Their work culminated in an innovative exhibition titled Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan, which incorporated actual sculptures from the caves with digital installations, giving viewers a rare glimpse into the Chinese Buddhist art and iconography placed in their original historical and spatial settings.

After opening in Chicago in 2010, the exhibition toured for three more years around different museums in the US, including the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, which holds some of the Xiangtangshan sculptures in its collection and supports the Chicago institution’s digital restoration project.

Tsiang’s success with the Xiangtangshan grottoes led her fellow researchers to launch another restoration project for the Buddhist cave temples at Tianlongshan, or Heavenly Dragon Mountain, in Shanxi province a year later.

Dubbed the “headless grottoes” in China, the Tianlongshan Buddhist statues, which span at least three dynasties, suffered severe damage after a notorious Japanese antique dealer bribed the abbot of Tianlong Temple who allowed him to cut off the Buddha heads and smuggle 45 of them out of the caves in 1926.

The Tianlongshan Caves Project took a similar approach and scanned more than 100 statues distributed across Asia, Europe and the United States to produce a database of images and 3D models of sculptures outside China and of the caves, in collaboration with the Tianlong Mountain Grottoes Museum and the Taiyuan University of Technology. An exhibition was held at Taiyuan Municipal Museum in 2019 to display the work.

Many Chinese caves of Buddhist relics have been decimated by looters, with the heads and hands of sculptures hacked off in the early 20th century amid a rising demand for Asian art and a lack of laws in China at the time to protect the works, resulting in rampant trafficking and the loss of national treasures.

The popularity of Black Myth: Wukong has rekindled debate over the repatriation of cultural relics back to China. Internet users have compared the imagery of a headless monk – a character named Bodhisattva Lingji in the game – to actual headless Buddha statues from Chinese grottoes such as Tianlongshan.

More than 10 million Chinese artefacts have been taken to overseas locations since the first opium war of 1839-42, according to the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics. For example, treasures from Beijing’s Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, which were looted by French and British troops in 1860, are scattered across 47 museums globally.

Tsiang, who spent years travelling around the world to locate lost artefacts, said it was a “natural reaction” for people to want the pieces returned to their places of origin, but such efforts are complicated by many practical barriers, including legal and ownership issues as well as the return and restitution agreements set down by the United Nations heritage body Unesco.

To better document, preserve and digitally restore artefacts taken from important cultural sites in China, the Centre for the Art of East Asia launched the Dispersed Chinese Art Digitisation Project in 2019, with funding from the Cyrus Tang Foundation, in collaboration with Xi’an Jiaotong University and numerous museums around the globe.

As part of the initiative, Tsiang supported a digital restoration of Zhihua Temple in Beijing. Built in 1444, the temple is one of the finest surviving examples of wooden architecture from the Ming dynasty. However, two precious coffered ceilings in its main halls were sold to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City during the 1930s.

With permission granted by the US museums and Zhihua Temple, researchers from Tsiang’s centre, Tsinghua University and Xi’an Jiaotong University conducted detailed 3D scanning of both the ceilings and the temple spaces to digitally reconnect the pieces, resulting in an exhibition that can be viewed on the centre’s website.

“Digital imaging provides a great alternative that is even better than giving the pieces back,” Tsiang said, adding that she would be delighted if her work “brings people together” over a common objective to restore historical sites to their original form.

“If it is a bridge, then that is good. Most of the media coverage about China in the West nowadays is bad, so if it can have [something] to do with cultural interaction, cultural exchange, that could be a good thing,” she said.

More recently, Tsiang’s centre has been working on the digital restoration work at the Binyang Central Cave in the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, one of China’s ancient capitals. The World Heritage site has lost large sections of its elaborate stone relief carvings but managed to retain most of its colossal figures, except a for a 1-metre (39-inch) head of a smaller bodhisattva that was acquired by the Tokyo National Museum but has now been scanned for the purpose of restoration.

Tsiang’s research has also contributed to preservation work at the Dunhuang Grottoes in Gansu province in China’s northwest. The laser scanning technology can be used to analyse the composition of the caves and mural paintings, informing authorities on the best ways to protect and preserve the sites.

“Dunhuang’s desert environment has been important for the preservation of the caves there. However, now with visitors breathing and sweating, the air inside the caves can become quite moist, which can harm the mural paintings,” Tsiang said.

Tsiang’s laser scans and other digital imaging technology are used to analyse the composition of cave paintings and the condition of the rock, so restoration work can use traditional or approximate types of materials.

“With this new technology, cave monitoring can be done regularly so workers can track moisture seepage, erosion and color fading over time quite efficiently,” she added.

Despite the success and popularity of Tsiang’s China-focused pursuits, academics like her are facing increasing challenges as Sino-US political tensions intensify.

“A lot of institutions outside China are cautious now to have anything to do with China: projects are being cut; museums are not doing Chinese art exhibitions; universities are hiring fewer people in Chinese studies,” Tsiang said. “If they need Asian studies experts, they go for the Japanese and the Koreans.”

The environment for Chinese academics in the US has become increasingly harsh as ties deteriorate, with a recent report noting that some US schools have lost 89 per cent of their Chinese enrolment since 2017.

“It is difficult, but we are very fortunate in having funding to carry on with our projects … and we hope, as the projects continue, that things will improve in the future. This may be just the stage we are going through, and it will not last forever,” Tsiang said.

Conservation work by Tsiang and other researchers at the heritage sites has already led to positive changes. Xiangtangshan, the focus of her earlier work, has transformed from a backwater into a popular tourist spot, with visitors uploading thousands of posts about their experiences to social media.

When Tsiang first visited the mountain, she stayed at a local guest house that had “lizards crawling around on the floor and the walls”. Now, the thriving area is teeming with tourists and modern hotels.

“I think people in China are very proud of their local heritage, so historical sites or discoveries of important archaeological materials have a lot of local interest,” she said.

“Many of the people who go to these places live nearby. Now they can get in the car and go to these places.”

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Xi tells Biden he’s ‘ready to work’ with Trump, but warns against US-China decoupling

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3286893/xi-tells-biden-hes-ready-work-trump-warns-against-us-china-decoupling?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s President Xi Jinping told US President Joe Biden that he is “ready to work” with president-elect Donald Trump to improve the relationship and warned against attempts to decouple the world’s two largest economies.

In what was likely their final meeting before Trump takes office, Xi also appeared to criticise the Biden administration’s attempts to restrict the flow of advanced technology to China.

“China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences, so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-US relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said through a translator at the meeting in Peru’s capital city of Lima.

“Only solidarity and cooperation can help humanity overcome current difficulties,” Xi said. “In an age of flourishing sci-tech revolution, neither decoupling nor supply chain disruption is a solution.”

Biden, speaking in response, said he was “very proud” of progress that the two sides have made in establishing bilateral dialogue that he said have prevented open conflict, high-level military-to-military talks, in particular.

“We haven’t always agreed, but our conversations have always been candid and always been frank,” he said. “These conversations prevent miscalculations and they ensure the competition between our two countries will not veer into conflict.”

In an apparent swipe about a series of executive orders issued by Biden, which have blocked the flow of advanced semiconductor chips and artificial intelligence capabilities, the Chinese president referenced some of Biden’s most hardline policies against Beijing

“Humanity is faced with unprecedented challenges,” Xi said. “Major country competition should not be the underlying logic of the times. Only solidarity and cooperation can help humanity overcome current difficulties.”

“Only mutually beneficial cooperation can lead to common development,” Xi said. “Small yard, high fences is not what the major countries should pursue.”

As China-Japan climate action grows, Tokyo must rethink LNG push in Asia

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3286279/china-japan-climate-action-grows-tokyo-must-rethink-lng-push-asia?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese and Japanese officials sat down at a forum in Tokyo recently to hammer out ways to help the planet reduce carbon emissions. This is good news – particularly amid growing geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific.

The 17th China-Japan Comprehensive Forum on Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection signed 27 new projects this year, covering areas including waste-to-energy technology, decarbonisation of industrial estates, green buildings and environmental restoration. Since 2006, the forum has led to Sino-Japanese cooperation in 457 projects.

It brings together the world’s second and third largest economies – China and Japan make up about 20 per cent of the global gross domestic product. This, according to Japan’s environment minister Keiichiro Asao at the forum, gives both countries substantial influence over the global economy, as they play crucial roles in addressing the world’s environmental challenges.

In turn, Zhao Chenxin, vice-chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC), highlighted the complementary industrial strengths of China and Japan, their large market potential and solid foundation for cooperation when it comes to energy conservation and environmental protection.

China is keen to boost this cooperation with Japan, he said, including in environmental industries, energy-saving equipment and environmental infrastructure, supporting joint demonstration projects and cooperation in third-party markets between organisations and businesses from both countries.

The meeting comes at a pivotal time for both countries’ energy sectors. China has much to celebrate. Its carbon dioxide emissions stayed flat in the third quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year, according to Carbon Brief. This was despite a rebound in coal-fired power production.

China’s increase in coal usage was largely due to heatwaves in August and September. The surge in electricity demand, along with weak hydropower output, caused a 2 per cent increase in coal-fired power generation and a 13 per cent increase in gas-fired power. China is still on track to meet its 2030 target of installing 1,200 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity six years early.

A decade ago, fossil fuels made up two-thirds of China’s power capacity; this has been cut to less than half, according to a Yale Environment 360 report. Beijing is also slowly deprioritising natural gas in its policies. China’s state planners see gas as less helpful in achieving its goals of energy security, growth and cutting harmful emissions. So far, so good.

Japan’s emissions are also decreasing, dropping by 2.5 per cent for the year ended March 2023 to reach the lowest since 1991. The reduction comes as Japan brings more renewable energy into play and gradually restarts many of its nuclear reactors that had been idled after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

But any climate change mitigation progress by Japan in reducing its carbon footprint at home is being offset by its aggressive liquefied natural gas (LNG) investment and development drive in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Simply put, Japan is persuading nations in the region to consider developing more LNG infrastructure when much of the world is sounding the alarm about such projects. LNG, once thought to be the ideal transition fuel away from coal towards renewables, has turned out to be not so clean after all.

LNG proponents point out that the fuel emits at least 50 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than coal when used in the power sector. But comparing LNG to coal, the world’s dirtiest burning fossil fuel, is irrational.

Moreover, LNG leaks methane across its entire value chain. Methane is about 85 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it’s emitted. As such, how can LNG be the ideal energy transition fuel? It can’t. But the scientific case against more LNG development seems to be lost on the Japanese government, as well as the country’s gas and power utility companies which carry considerable clout with Japanese politicians and lawmakers.

The Japanese government is appeasing these corporate interests in the name of economic development while peddling its geopolitical influence in the region. The strategy is clever. Japanese utilities, including Tokyo Gas and JERA, two of the world’s largest LNG importers, help to fund and develop LNG terminals and infrastructure in neighbouring countries.

They then cut deals to supply the needed LNG, often at a mark-up. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is the largest fossil gas financier in Southeast Asia – the Centre for Energy, Ecology, and Development in the Philippines estimates that JBIC, owned by the Japanese government, has issued US$3.3 billion in loans to the region since the Paris Agreement.

To date, Japanese utilities and banks have seen some 30 LNG and gas-to-power projects being developed in the region, including in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

But there is a better way forward. Renewable energy projects have mostly become less expensive than their fossil fuel counterparts, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. So why fund more LNG projects and grow their destructive carbon footprint? And renewable energy projects not only cost less – they also give developing nations a fighting chance to decarbonise and reach their net zero emission goals.