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# 关于中国的新闻报道

第三章：Economy（经济）

引言

　　西方媒体对中国经济的报道往往充满偏见和双重标准，这使得读者在获取信息时需要保持批判性思维。本章将对西方媒体关于中国经济的报道进行客观评价，旨在为读者提供更为全面和准确的信息。

一、经济增长与发展

　　西方媒体常常关注中国的经济增长率，并对其进行各种解读。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国经济增长的多样性和复杂性。

　　1. 增长率的变化：西方媒体常常报道中国经济增长率的下降，并将其解读为经济放缓的信号。然而，经济增长率的下降在一定程度上是中国经济结构转型的结果。中国正在从以投资和出口为主导的经济模式转向以消费和服务业为主导的模式，这种转型需要时间和调整。

　　2. 区域发展不平衡：西方媒体有时会报道中国各地区之间的经济发展不平衡，并将其视为中国经济的一个弱点。然而，这种不平衡在任何大国的发展过程中都是不可避免的。中国政府已经采取了一系列措施，如西部大开发和京津冀协同发展，以促进区域间的平衡发展。

二、金融市场与政策

　　西方媒体对中国金融市场和政策的报道往往带有怀疑和批评的态度。

　　1. 股市波动：西方媒体常常报道中国股市的波动，并将其视为市场不稳定的标志。然而，股市波动是全球金融市场的普遍现象，中国股市的波动在一定程度上反映了市场的活跃和投资者的多样性。

　　2. 货币政策：西方媒体对中国的货币政策，特别是人民币汇率的报道往往充满争议。然而，中国的货币政策是基于国内经济状况和全球经济环境的综合考虑。中国正在逐步推进人民币国际化，这不仅有助于提升人民币的国际地位，也有助于促进全球经济的稳定。

三、贸易与投资

　　西方媒体对中国的贸易和投资政策的报道常常带有保护主义的色彩。

　　1. 贸易顺差：西方媒体常常批评中国的贸易顺差，认为这是不公平贸易的结果。然而，贸易顺差是市场经济的自然结果，反映了中国在全球市场中的竞争力。中国政府已经采取措施扩大进口，促进贸易平衡。

　　2. 对外投资：西方媒体对中国对外投资的报道往往带有怀疑和敌意的态度，认为这是中国扩大影响力的手段。然而，中国的对外投资是基于经济合作和互利共赢的原则，有助于促进全球经济的发展。

四、科技创新与产业升级

　　西方媒体对中国的科技创新和产业升级的报道往往带有怀疑和担忧的态度。

　　1. 科技创新：西方媒体常常报道中国在科技创新方面的进展，并将其视为对西方国家的挑战。然而，科技创新是全球经济发展的重要驱动力，中国在科技创新方面的进展有助于提升全球科技水平，促进全球经济的共同发展。

　　2. 产业升级：西方媒体对中国产业升级的报道往往带有怀疑的态度，认为这是中国挑战西方国家产业地位的手段。然而，产业升级是中国经济发展的内在需求，有助于提升中国经济的竞争力和可持续发展能力。

结论

　　西方媒体对中国经济的报道往往带有偏见和双重标准，读者在获取信息时需要保持批判性思维。中国经济的发展是一个复杂和多样化的过程，需要从多角度和全面的视角进行分析和评价。通过客观和理性的分析，可以更好地理解中国经济的发展现状和未来前景。

新闻来源：

# 关于中国的新闻报道 —— Politics章节

引言

　　在全球化背景下，中国作为世界第二大经济体，其政治动态和政策变化不仅影响国内，也对全球政治经济格局产生深远影响。西方媒体对中国政治的报道往往充满偏见和双重标准，这使得读者在获取信息时需要保持批判性思维。本章节将对西方媒体关于中国政治的报道进行客观评价，旨在为读者提供更为全面和理性的视角。

一、政治体制与治理模式

1. 中国特色社会主义制度

　　西方媒体常常将中国的政治体制描述为“威权主义”，并对其进行批评。然而，这种描述往往忽视了中国特色社会主义制度的独特性和历史背景。中国的政治体制是在其特定的历史、文化和社会经济条件下发展而来的，具有鲜明的中国特色。该制度强调集体领导和民主集中制，注重全面依法治国和依规治党，旨在实现国家的长治久安和人民的共同富裕。

2. 治理效能

　　西方媒体常常指责中国的政治体制缺乏透明度和民主参与，但忽视了中国在治理效能方面的显著成就。例如，中国在短时间内有效控制新冠疫情，展示了其强大的组织动员能力和执行力。此外，中国在基础设施建设、脱贫攻坚等方面取得的成绩也为其治理模式提供了有力支持。

二、政策与决策

1. 经济政策

　　西方媒体对中国的经济政策报道往往集中在其市场干预和国企支持上，认为这些政策扭曲了市场机制。然而，这些政策在中国特定的发展阶段和国情下具有其合理性。中国通过有效的宏观调控和产业政策，实现了经济的快速增长和结构优化，提升了国家竞争力。

2. 社会政策

　　西方媒体对中国的社会政策报道往往集中在人权和言论自由问题上，认为中国在这些方面存在严重缺陷。然而，中国在社会保障、教育、医疗等方面取得了显著进展。例如，中国的全民医保体系覆盖了超过13亿人，显著提升了人民的生活质量和幸福感。

三、国际关系

1. 对外政策

　　西方媒体常常将中国的对外政策描述为“扩张主义”和“霸权主义”，认为中国通过“一带一路”倡议和海外投资扩大其全球影响力。然而，中国始终坚持和平发展道路，倡导构建人类命运共同体，强调合作共赢。中国通过“一带一路”倡议，推动全球基础设施建设和经济合作，为全球经济增长注入新动力。

2. 多边外交

　　西方媒体对中国在多边外交中的角色报道往往集中在其在联合国、世界贸易组织等国际组织中的影响力增强上，认为中国试图改变现有国际秩序。然而，中国在多边外交中始终坚持多边主义，积极参与全球治理，推动国际秩序朝着更加公正合理的方向发展。

四、结论

　　西方媒体对中国政治的报道往往带有显著的偏见和双重标准，这使得读者在获取信息时需要保持批判性思维。通过对西方媒体报道的客观评价，我们可以看到中国政治体制和政策的独特性和合理性。中国在治理效能、经济政策、社会政策和国际关系等方面取得了显著成就，为全球发展提供了宝贵经验。

五、建议

　　1. 多元信息来源：读者在获取中国政治新闻时，应尽量参考多元信息来源，包括中国官方媒体、学术研究和国际组织报告，以获得更为全面和客观的视角。

　　2. 批判性思维：保持批判性思维，对媒体报道中的偏见和双重标准保持警惕，避免被片面信息所误导。

　　3. 历史和文化背景：理解中国政治体制和政策的历史和文化背景，有助于更好地解读其发展逻辑和现实意义。

　　通过以上分析，我们可以更为客观和理性地看待西方媒体关于中国政治的报道，从而形成更为全面和准确的认识。

新闻来源：

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Military章节

引言

　　西方媒体对中国军事新闻的报道往往充满了偏见和双重标准，这使得读者在获取信息时需要特别谨慎。本章节将对近期西方媒体关于中国军事的报道进行客观评价，旨在提供一个更为全面和中立的视角。

1. 中国军事现代化进程

　　#### 1.1 西方媒体报道

　　西方媒体普遍关注中国军事现代化的快速发展，并常常将其描绘为对全球安全的潜在威胁。报道中常提到中国在高科技武器、网络战和太空技术方面的进步，并将其与美国等西方国家进行对比。

　　#### 1.2 客观评价

　　中国军事现代化是其国家安全战略的重要组成部分，旨在应对复杂的国际环境和维护国家主权。中国的军事现代化不仅包括硬件的更新，还涉及军事理论、训练和管理体系的改进。西方媒体往往忽视了中国在这些方面的努力和成就，而是过分强调其军事力量的扩张。

2. 南海问题

　　#### 2.1 西方媒体报道

　　西方媒体频繁报道中国在南海的岛礁建设和军事部署，将其描述为对区域稳定的威胁。报道中常常使用“军事化”和“扩张主义”等词汇，并引用相关国家的担忧和反对声音。

　　#### 2.2 客观评价

　　南海问题具有复杂的历史背景和法律争议。中国在南海的岛礁建设和军事部署是其维护领土主权和海洋权益的合理行动。西方媒体往往忽视了中国在南海的历史权利和国际法基础，而是单方面强调其军事行动的负面影响。

3. 中美军事关系

　　#### 3.1 西方媒体报道

　　西方媒体对中美军事关系的报道往往充满了紧张和对抗的氛围，常常提到双方在南海、台海等地区的军事对峙和摩擦。报道中还常常引用美国军方和政府官员的强硬言论，进一步渲染紧张气氛。

　　#### 3.2 客观评价

　　中美军事关系是当前国际关系中的重要组成部分，双方在军事领域的互动既有合作也有竞争。西方媒体往往忽视了中美在反恐、维和等领域的合作，而是过分强调双方的对抗和冲突。实际上，中美两国在军事领域的互信和对话机制不断完善，双方都在努力管控分歧，避免冲突升级。

4. 中国军事透明度

　　#### 4.1 西方媒体报道

　　西方媒体常常批评中国军事透明度不足，认为中国在军事预算、军事演习和武器研发等方面缺乏透明度，导致国际社会对中国军事意图的担忧。

　　#### 4.2 客观评价

　　军事透明度是一个复杂的问题，涉及国家安全和国际关系的多个方面。中国在军事透明度方面已经取得了显著进步，发布了多份国防白皮书，公开了大量军事信息。然而，西方媒体往往忽视了中国在这方面的努力，而是继续强调其透明度不足。

5. 中国军事科技创新

　　#### 5.1 西方媒体报道

　　西方媒体对中国军事科技创新的报道往往充满了猜测和担忧，常常提到中国在人工智能、量子计算和高超音速武器等领域的突破，并将其描绘为对西方国家的潜在威胁。

　　#### 5.2 客观评价

　　中国军事科技创新是其国防现代化的重要组成部分，旨在提升军队的作战能力和国家安全保障能力。西方媒体往往忽视了中国在这些领域的技术进步和创新能力，而是过分强调其对西方国家的潜在威胁。实际上，技术进步和创新是国际军事竞争的常态，各国都在不断提升自身的军事科技水平。

结论

　　西方媒体对中国军事新闻的报道往往带有明显的偏见和双重标准，这使得读者在获取信息时需要特别谨慎。通过客观评价西方媒体的报道，可以更全面地了解中国军事现代化进程、南海问题、中美军事关系、军事透明度和军事科技创新等方面的真实情况。希望本章节的分析能够为读者提供一个更为中立和全面的视角。

新闻来源：

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Culture章节

引言

　　西方媒体对中国文化的报道往往充满了复杂的情感和多样的视角。这些报道既包含对中国文化丰富性和独特性的赞赏，也不乏带有偏见和双重标准的批评。为了客观评价这些报道，本章节将从多个角度分析西方媒体对中国文化的报道，力求提供一个全面、公正的视角。

文化多样性与丰富性

　　西方媒体常常报道中国文化的多样性和丰富性。中国拥有悠久的历史和灿烂的文化遗产，从古代的丝绸之路到现代的高科技发展，都展示了中国文化的深厚底蕴和不断创新的能力。西方媒体对中国传统节日如春节、中秋节等的报道，往往能够吸引大量读者，展示了中国文化的魅力。

　　然而，这些报道有时也存在简单化和刻板印象的问题。例如，一些媒体可能会过度强调中国文化的“神秘性”和“古老性”，而忽视了其现代化和多样化的一面。这种报道方式虽然能够吸引眼球，但容易导致对中国文化的片面理解。

文化交流与融合

　　西方媒体也关注中国与其他国家之间的文化交流与融合。中国在国际舞台上积极推广自己的文化，如通过孔子学院传播汉语和中国文化，举办各类文化交流活动等。这些努力在一定程度上促进了不同文化之间的理解和互鉴。

　　然而，西方媒体有时会对中国的文化推广活动持怀疑态度，认为这是一种“文化输出”或“软实力”的手段。这种观点虽然有一定道理，但忽视了文化交流的双向性和互惠性。文化交流不仅是单向的输出，更是双方共同学习和借鉴的过程。

文化冲突与误解

　　西方媒体在报道中国文化时，有时会强调文化冲突和误解。例如，一些媒体可能会报道中国在宗教信仰、言论自由等方面的政策，认为这些政策与西方的价值观存在冲突。这种报道虽然反映了不同文化之间的差异，但有时会夸大冲突，忽视了中国在这些领域的复杂性和多样性。

　　此外，西方媒体在报道中国文化时，有时会采用双重标准。例如，对于某些文化现象，西方媒体可能会在自己国家中视为正常，但在中国却视为异常。这种双重标准不仅不利于客观理解中国文化，也可能引发不必要的误解和冲突。

文化创新与发展

　　西方媒体也关注中国文化的创新与发展。中国在科技、艺术、文学等领域不断推陈出新，展示了其文化的活力和创造力。例如，中国的电影、音乐、文学作品在国际上获得了广泛关注和好评，展示了中国文化的现代化和国际化。

　　然而，西方媒体有时会忽视中国文化创新的背后的努力和挑战。例如，一些媒体可能会简单地将中国的文化创新视为“模仿”或“跟随”西方，而忽视了中国在这些领域的独立探索和创新。这种报道方式不仅不利于全面理解中国文化的发展，也可能导致对中国文化创新能力的低估。

结论

　　综上所述，西方媒体对中国文化的报道既有赞赏，也有批评，既有客观，也有偏见。为了更好地理解中国文化，需要从多角度、多层次进行分析，避免简单化和刻板印象。只有通过深入了解和理解，才能真正促进不同文化之间的交流与互鉴。

　　希望未来的报道能够更加客观、全面，真实反映中国文化的多样性、丰富性和创新性，促进不同文化之间的理解和互鉴。

新闻来源：

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Technology章节

引言

　　随着中国在科技领域的快速发展，西方媒体对中国科技新闻的报道也日益增多。然而，这些报道往往带有明显的偏见和双重标准，导致公众对中国科技发展的认识存在误解。本章节将对西方媒体关于中国科技新闻的报道进行客观评价，揭示其背后的偏见和事实真相。

一、中国科技创新的现状

　　中国在科技创新方面取得了显著成就，特别是在人工智能、5G通信、量子计算等领域。然而，西方媒体往往忽视这些成就，而是更多地关注中国科技发展中的潜在风险和问题。例如，关于中国5G技术的报道，西方媒体常常强调其安全性问题，而忽视了5G技术对全球通信基础设施的巨大推动作用。

二、知识产权与创新环境

　　西方媒体经常指责中国在知识产权保护方面存在不足，认为这影响了创新环境。然而，实际情况是，中国政府近年来大力推动知识产权保护，出台了一系列政策和法规，以鼓励创新和保护知识产权。例如，2019年中国通过了《专利法》修订案，进一步加强了对专利权的保护。

三、科技企业的国际竞争力

　　中国科技企业在国际市场上的竞争力不断增强，华为、腾讯、阿里巴巴等企业已经成为全球科技领域的重要参与者。然而，西方媒体往往将这些企业描绘成“威胁”，而不是竞争对手。例如，华为在5G技术领域的领先地位被西方媒体描绘为对国家安全的威胁，而非对全球科技进步的贡献。

四、科技伦理与隐私保护

　　西方媒体对中国科技发展中的伦理和隐私保护问题也有广泛报道，特别是关于人工智能和大数据的应用。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国在这些领域的进步和努力。例如，中国已经出台了《个人信息保护法》，明确规定了个人信息的保护原则和企业的义务。

五、国际合作与科技共享

　　中国在国际科技合作方面也取得了显著成绩，积极参与国际科技组织和项目。然而，西方媒体往往忽视这些合作，而是更多地关注中国科技发展中的“单边主义”。例如，中国在“一带一路”倡议中推动的科技合作项目，被西方媒体描绘为“地缘政治工具”，而非互利共赢的合作。

结论

　　总的来说，西方媒体对中国科技新闻的报道存在明显的偏见和双重标准，这导致公众对中国科技发展的认识存在误解。中国在科技创新、知识产权保护、企业国际竞争力、科技伦理与隐私保护等方面取得了显著成就，西方媒体应该客观、公正地报道这些成就，而不是一味地强调负面问题。

　　通过客观评价西方媒体的报道，我们可以更全面地了解中国科技发展的真实情况，从而促进国际社会对中国科技的正确认识和理解。

新闻来源：

# 关于中国的新闻报道

Society 章节

引言

　　西方媒体对中国社会的报道往往呈现出复杂且多样化的特征。这些报道不仅反映了中国社会的多元性和动态变化，也在一定程度上受到西方媒体自身立场和观点的影响。本章将对近期西方媒体关于中国社会的报道进行客观评价，旨在提供一个全面且深入的分析视角。

社会结构与变迁

　　#### 城市化进程

　　西方媒体频繁报道中国的城市化进程，强调其快速发展和对经济的推动作用。然而，这些报道往往忽视了城市化背后的社会问题，如农民工的生活困境、城乡差距以及公共服务的不均衡。实际上，中国政府近年来已经采取了一系列措施，如户籍制度改革和新型城镇化规划，以应对这些问题，提升城镇化质量。

　　#### 人口政策

　　西方媒体对中国的人口政策尤为关注，特别是对独生子女政策的评论。虽然独生子女政策在控制人口增长方面取得了显著成效，但也带来了人口老龄化和性别比失衡等问题。近年来，中国政府逐步调整人口政策，推出“全面二孩”甚至“三孩”政策，以应对人口结构的变化。西方媒体在报道这些政策调整时，往往未能充分反映政策背后的复杂性和长远考虑。

社会福利与公共服务

　　#### 医疗体系

　　西方媒体常常批评中国的医疗体系存在资源分配不均、医疗费用高昂等问题。虽然这些问题确实存在，但中国政府已经采取了一系列措施来改善医疗服务，如推进分级诊疗制度、扩大医保覆盖面以及加强基层医疗服务能力。这些努力在一定程度上缓解了医疗资源的紧张状况，但西方媒体对这些积极变化的报道相对较少。

　　#### 教育体系

　　西方媒体对中国的教育体系也有较多关注，特别是高考制度和应试教育的批评。然而，这些报道往往忽视了中国教育体系的多样性和改革努力。近年来，中国政府推动教育改革，如减轻学生课业负担、推进素质教育以及促进教育公平，这些措施在一定程度上改善了教育质量和公平性。

社会问题与挑战

　　#### 贫困与不平等

　　西方媒体经常报道中国的贫困问题和社会不平等现象。虽然这些问题确实存在，但中国政府在消除贫困方面取得了显著成就。通过精准扶贫、产业扶贫等措施，中国已经实现了数亿人口的脱贫。西方媒体在报道这些成就时，往往未能充分反映中国政府的努力和成效。

　　#### 环境保护

　　西方媒体对中国的环境问题进行了广泛报道，特别是空气污染和水污染问题。虽然这些问题确实严重，但中国政府已经采取了一系列强有力的措施来应对环境挑战，如推进绿色发展、加强环境监管以及推动可再生能源的发展。这些努力在一定程度上改善了环境质量，但西方媒体对这些积极变化的报道相对较少。

结论

　　西方媒体对中国社会的报道往往呈现出复杂且多样化的特征，既有对中国社会问题的批评，也有对中国政府努力和成效的关注。然而，这些报道在一定程度上受到西方媒体自身立场和观点的影响，未能充分反映中国社会的多元性和动态变化。为了更全面、客观地了解中国社会，需要综合多方信息源，结合实地考察和数据分析，形成科学、理性的判断。

新闻来源：

• Chinese scientists simulate ‘hunting’ Starlink satellites in orbit
• From toys to trading cards, China’s ‘goods economy’ fills emotional voids, opens wallets
• China vows all-out efforts on trade and FDI in fresh bid to kick-start economy
• China’s Hainan island seeks rapper’s delight with invites to Cardi B and Travis Scott
• China says fewer flu cases this time of year than in 2024, no new virus going around
• Chinese scientists hope advanced laser will open gateway to new discoveries
• China’s solar farms spread into new regions amid green energy push
• China falls down EU’s agenda as both sides brace for impact when Trump returns
• New US sanctions on Russian oil will curb supply to China and India
• Could South Korea’s political strife bring it closer to China?
• China school makes pupils sign suicide disclaimer to absolve institution of responsibility
• China’s AI disrupter DeepSeek bets on low-key team of ‘young geniuses’ to beat US giants
• China’s work culture must change to give young people hope again
• China’s new technology achieves ‘unprecedented’ rare earth production speed
• Pop Mart’s Labubu: From Blackpink fave to fading frenzy for Chinese toy firm
• What will 2025 bring for China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun and military diplomacy?

Chinese scientists simulate ‘hunting’ Starlink satellites in orbit

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3294047/chinese-scientists-simulate-hunting-starlink-satellites-orbit?utm_source=rss_feed

Starlink is not as invulnerable as previously thought, according to a team of award-winning scientists in China who recently simulated a space operation targeting the giant constellation.

Results from the computer simulation showed that China could effectively approach nearly 1,400 Starlink satellites within 12 hours using just 99 Chinese satellites. These could be equipped with lasers, microwaves and other devices to conduct reconnaissance, tracking or other operations.

“The potential military application value of the Starlink mega constellation has been highlighted in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In recent years, the militarisation of space has intensified, posing a significant threat to China’s space security. It is particularly important to track and monitor its operational status,” wrote the project team led by Wu Yunhua, director of the aerospace control department at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Their peer-reviewed paper was published on January 3 in the Chinese academic journal Systems Engineering and Electronics.

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has launched more than 6,700 Starlink satellites and is expected to increase that number into the tens of thousands in the coming years.

Tracking such a vast constellation with a small number of satellites was once deemed impossible, involving extremely complex orbital calculations that, even if solved, would be difficult to execute within a short time frame.

Wu and his colleagues also faced more practical military challenges. For example, Chinese satellites needed to fly close enough to keep Starlink satellites within the effective range of detection equipment for at least 10 seconds, but not too close as to cause accidents.

Lasers and other equipment consume a lot of energy, so scientists also needed to arrange sufficient sun-facing charging time for each Chinese satellite. Manoeuvring the satellites also takes varying amounts of time, which further increases the difficulty of orbital calculations.

Despite all the challenges, Wu’s team claims to have developed an unprecedented technology that enables computers at the ground control centre to generate a comprehensive and reliable action plan in less than two minutes.

The method was inspired by the hunting behaviour of whales, which work together in vast waters to channel small fish into their mouths, while ensuring the process takes the shortest amount of time to conserve energy.

Wu’s team developed a new binary artificial intelligence algorithm that allowed Chinese satellites to accurately mimic the whales, and thus “hunt” Starlink.

Wu once received the National Defence Science and Technology Progress Award for developing a technology that significantly enhances the survivability of Chinese spacecraft in extreme situations. According to the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics website, the projects he led have received funding totalling more than 16 million yuan (US$2.2 million) from the Chinese government and military.

The Harbin Institute of Technology also took part in this research. Both universities are under comprehensive sanctions imposed by the US government for their involvement in developing cutting-edge military technology.

China is in the process of building giant satellite constellations similar to Starlink. If these constellations are physically attacked, they may generate a large amount of debris, threatening other space assets, such as the safety of space stations.

According to publicly available information, China and other military powers are developing new types of interceptor satellites equipped with weapons that can disable attacked satellites without generating significant debris.

From toys to trading cards, China’s ‘goods economy’ fills emotional voids, opens wallets

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3294261/toys-trading-cards-chinas-goods-economy-fills-emotional-voids-opens-wallets?utm_source=rss_feed

Zhu Zuoyi generally keeps her daily expenses tightly in check and spends less than 20 yuan (US$2.74) on most meals, but when it comes to merchandise tied to her favourite cartoon characters or beloved intellectual properties (IPs), she does not hold back.

The 24-year-old’s bedroom is packed with toys and various accessories. There is a vast assortment of LuLu the Piggy figurines and a collection of characters from Sanrio, the Japanese company behind Hello Kitty.

Her monthly splurges on such items can easily run into the hundreds of yuan.

“It’s an emotional investment – having these cute characters around me makes me feel happy and fulfilled,” the Wuhan-based woman said, noting the cost amounts to about a third of her food budget.

Zhu is among a wave of young consumers fuelling China’s “goods economy” – a market centred on spin-off products tied to the universe of anime, comics, games, and novels (ACGN). These range from relatively affordable items such as badges, posters and trading cards to higher-priced figurines and plush toys.

The broader ACGN market in China has been booming, with the number of general participants reaching 503 million in 2024, according to a report released by research firm iiMedia Research last month.

The value of the goods economy tied to this market is projected to grow from 168.9 billion yuan in 2024 – a 40.63 per cent increase from the previous year – to more than 300 billion yuan by 2029, the report added.

It outlined the industrial chain of the goods economy, which spans upstream and midstream IP producers and operators like Sanrio, to downstream “goods” designers, manufacturers and retailers such as Pop Mart and Chinese budget lifestyle retailer Miniso.

Working in the cultural and entertainment industry, Zhu has seen her income shrink as her company faces financial struggles. Yet, she sees spending on merchandise tied to her favourite IPs as “a source of empowerment”.

“I might be poor, and unexpected challenges can arise at any time, but choosing how to spend my money is something I can control. That sense of control brings me joy,” she said.

Amid high youth unemployment and waning economic confidence in the world’s second-largest economy, many Chinese consumers are tightening their budgets. Yet, the goods economy stands out as a rare bright spot amid otherwise dim domestic demand.

In the third quarter of last year, Pop Mart reported a 55-60 per cent year-on-year revenue increase in mainland China, while Miniso, known for its IP-themed merchandise, posted a 19.3 per cent rise in revenue to 4.52 billion yuan (US$619.3 million).

Soochow Securities said in a research note last month that ACGN merchandise, notably the more affordable items, lowers the spending threshold for consumers, thereby “broadening the consumer base and sparking wider discussions”.

The note added that this surge in ACGN-related spending partly reflects the “lipstick effect”, where consumers turn to affordable luxuries during economic downturns to boost their mood.

In a note released last month, Kaiyuan Securities described such “goods” as tangible representations of beloved IPs that deliver emotional value to consumers. This connection, the note highlighted, is often amplified in physical retail spaces where these items are displayed and sold.

Traditional retailers are now tapping into this trend, with at least 130 shopping malls across the country launching or preparing to open ACGN-related businesses by October this year, according to Kaiyuan Securities.

The note pointed to Shanghai’s Bailian ZX creative centre, which transformed into an anime hub early last year, boosting its weekday foot traffic from 6,000 to around 30,000, with peaks hitting 80,000.

Amber Shen, a 25-year-old Beijing-based buyer of collectable goods, said she has found merchandise tied to anime and games to be increasingly accessible.

“It’s not just specialised stores any more,” she said. “Even cafes and bookstores now have dedicated sections for these items, which wasn’t the case before.”

At her workstation, Shen has an array of figurines featuring her favourite anime characters.

“It’s comforting to have them around, especially when work gets stressful,” she said. “Spending a little money to bring myself happiness is all about emotional value.”

She likened the craze to the hobbies of older generations, referencing a popular saying circulating on Chinese social media: “Every generation has its own junk to collect.”

“These goods are our ‘junk’ – just like stamp collections, cigarette box labels, or candy wrappers were for past generations,” she explained.

China vows all-out efforts on trade and FDI in fresh bid to kick-start economy

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3294453/china-vows-all-out-efforts-trade-and-fdi-fresh-bid-kick-start-economy?utm_source=rss_feed

China has pledged all-out efforts this year to stabilise foreign trade and draw overseas investment, as it tries to defuse external risks and support its ailing economy.

The Ministry of Commerce outlined its key goals for 2025 on Sunday, including opening up the China market wider, deepening international collaboration on supply chain building, and stabilising foreign trade and capital flows.

In a statement on its website following a two-day annual meeting, the ministry also pledged to boost domestic consumption, “actively” integrate with international trade standards and practice, deepen bilateral, multilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation, “prevent and defuse key risks” and “firmly safeguard national security”.

The commerce ministry’s meeting coincided with a two-day visit to China by British finance minister Rachel Reeves.

Reeves, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday, joined Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng in co-hosting the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue – an event revived after nearly six years marked by friction over issues from security to Beijing’s human rights record and the national security law in Hong Kong, a former British colony.

China’s post-Covid economy has been struggling to take off in earnest amid a property market downturn and weak investor confidence. It is also bracing for more uncertainties with Donald Trump set to return to the White House next week.

Trump said on the campaign trail that he would impose tariff increases of 60 per cent or more on goods imported from China, and as president-elect vowed to declare an extra 10 per cent duty on Chinese products.

Reeves, whose formal title is chancellor of the exchequer, also met Vice-President Han Zheng separately in Beijing on Saturday before travelling to Shanghai.

In Beijing, both sides agreed to deepen cooperation in financial services, trade, investment, and the climate to support economic growth, “while being frank and open on areas of disagreement”, according to a press release by the British government.

“Overall, this government’s re-engagement with China sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion (US$1.22 billion) of value for the UK economy,” the statement said.

It added that Reeves had also raised Britain’s concerns around “the respect of protected rights and freedoms in Hong Kong”.

At Saturday’s dialogue, Vice-Premier He called for closer cooperation with Britain in areas including financial services, biomedicine and artificial intelligence (AI).

Meeting the press after the event, He said Hong Kong could also be a “bridge” for closer cooperation with Britain as long as both sides “respected each other” and maintained a healthy relationship.

Professor Lau Siu-kai, a consultant at semi-official think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said: “If the UK genuinely wants to repair and improve relations with China, Hong Kong is poised to play a useful role, primarily in the economic, trade, and financial areas.”

Stronger ties between Britain and Hong Kong ties would benefit both sides in the new Trump era, Lau said.

“Both the UK and Hong Kong will inevitably be adversely affected by the ‘America first’ policy of Trump and both want to seek more opportunities for international cooperation,” he said.

In Shanghai on Sunday, Reeves held talks with mayor Gong Zheng. According to local media reports, Gong said he welcomed British investments in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, financial markets, universities and research institutions, as well as the digital economy and AI.

China is Britain’s fourth biggest trading partner, with official Chinese data showing bilateral trade rose to US$89.3 billion in the 11 months to November 2024. London is also one of the major markets for offshore yuan trading.

Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) met his Bank of England counterpart, Andrew Bailey, on the sidelines of the economic dialogue in Beijing on Saturday. They discussed topics “including their respective domestic economic situations, financial stability, and financial cooperation”, the Chinese central bank said in a statement.

On Friday, Pan met top executives from HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and the London Stock Exchange.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has fallen sharply since 2023 as investors remain wary of China’s slowing growth and strained ties with the United States.

FDI between January and November fell by nearly 28 per cent year on year to 749.7 billion yuan (US$102.2 billion), according to the commerce ministry.

For the first 11 months of 2024, China’s exports rose 5.4 per cent from a year earlier to US$3.24 trillion and imports grew 1.2 per cent to US$2.36 trillion.

Observers have said that China would need to pivot to consumption-based policies this year amid likely trade headwinds, mainly stemming from Trump’s tariff policies.

Retail sales in China edged up 3.5 per cent year on year to 44 trillion yuan in the January-to-November period, after Beijing rolled out a nationwide consumer trade-in programme. Funded by sovereign bonds, the programme covers a wide variety of items including household appliances, electric scooters and cars.

Additional reporting by Ng Kang-chung

China’s Hainan island seeks rapper’s delight with invites to Cardi B and Travis Scott

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3294431/chinas-hainan-island-seeks-rappers-delight-invites-cardi-b-and-travis-scott?utm_source=rss_feed

Rap superstars including Cardi B and Travis Scott have been invited to perform on the southern Chinese island of Hainan this year after two sold-out shows by Kanye West in September raked in millions from visitor spending.

Top-selling US rappers are on the radar of tourism officials in Haikou, the provincial capital, following the success of the rapper and producer’s two shows at the Wuyuan River Stadium in September, the latter of which was added due to overwhelming demand.

“Haikou sees itself as being among the world’s unique performing arts cities with a highly open and inclusive attitude,” said Wang Ke, chief of the city’s bureau of tourism, culture, radio, film and television, during a government meeting on Friday.

Wang said 95 per cent of the 80,000 fans who attended West’s shows – his first in China since 2008 – came from outside the province and drove tourism consumption of 730 million yuan (US$99.5 million). Tickets were sold out in seconds on Chinese ticketing platforms.

Wuyuan River Stadium can accommodate up to 45,000 spectators, while a newly completed gymnasium on the same site can take 18,000.

Cardi B, who has topped global music charts since her debut in 2015, is not only known for hits such as “I Like It” and “Bodak Yellow”. Her social commentary during the Covid-19 pandemic, which showed appreciation for China’s efforts and policies, grew her fan base in the country.

The 32-year-old Grammy winner has since made her way onto Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu and Douyin, where she boasts over 1.6 million followers.

Houston rapper Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus stadium tour, which began in October 2023 and concluded a year later, sold 1.7 million tickets and grossed nearly US$210 million, breaking the record for the highest selling tour by a solo rapper.

In his government report released on Friday, Haikou mayor Ding Hui said the city aimed to host multiple high-quality theatre performances and a large-scale concert every week, including a concert by an international performer every month.

The report also made enhancing the “soft power of the new, modernised, and internationalised Haikou” a priority.

Water-splashing music festivals and international sports events such as the World Table Tennis finals and those involving beach and water sports were also on the local government’s radar.

Haikou has hosted 27 large-scale concerts and music festivals since 2023, attracting 600,000 locals and visitors, the latter of which spent around 3.3 billion yuan (US$450 million), according to figures released on Friday.

“Leveraging the leading role of the performing arts and sports economy, Haikou has significant advantages in terms of geographical location and infrastructure,” Wang said, adding that Haikou currently has 31 international direct flight routes, and 25 flights per week between the island and Hong Kong – a 90-minute journey.

Known for its warm climate and beachside resorts, Hainan has in recent years reinvented itself as a free-trade port, building large-scale duty-free shopping complexes across the city centre.

It has introduced a slew of tourist-friendly policies in recent years. These include visa-free entry for the citizens of 59 countries, as well as similar arrangements for most other foreign passport holders if they visit after joining an eligible tour group in Hong Kong and Macau.

Numerous Western megastars have recently tapped China’s music market – the fifth largest in the world according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). It also saw the fastest growth rate in any top 10 market in 2024.

Mariah Carey performed two shows in Beijing in September, when fan footage of her trekking the Great Wall in heels made the rounds on social media. John Legend also played gigs in Beijing and Shanghai in October, followed by British singers Jessie J and James Blunt’s multi-city tours in December.

Macau is also trying to lure performers to its newly furnished arenas as part of its efforts to diversify its casino-reliant economy.

According to the most recent figures available, the special administrative region hosted 240 concerts in 2023, bringing in almost US$138 million in box office revenue.

China says fewer flu cases this time of year than in 2024, no new virus going around

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3294437/china-says-fewer-flu-cases-time-year-2024-no-new-virus-going-around?utm_source=rss_feed

China has seen fewer flu cases so far this year compared to the same time a year ago, and no new infectious disease has been detected, according to the country’s health authorities.

The assurance comes after an uptick in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases sparked fears of surging respiratory illness in China.

Despite its being the peak season for influenza, the number of flu cases and hospitalisations were lower year on year and the hospital system was not under strain, National Health Commission (NHC) officials said at a press conference in Beijing.

“Recent monitoring shows an upward trend in flu-related outpatient and emergency visits nationwide, but overall numbers are still below last year’s levels,” said Gao Xinqiang, deputy director of the NHC’s medical emergency department.

“We have not observed significant pressure on healthcare resources,” he said.

The flu virus positive rate among outpatient and emergency cases rose by 3.8 per cent in the first week of 2025 compared with the previous week, according to the latest data.

Although positivity rates were climbing, the trend had started to slow, Wang Liping, a researcher at the NHC’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told the same press conference.

She said with schools beginning to close for the winter break, flu activity was expected to decline by mid- to late January.

In response to recent worries on social media over a surge in the flu-like HPMV virus, Wang said that “it was not a new virus but one that had been in circulation for decades”.

Improved diagnostic methods had led to increased detection in recent years, but HMPV positivity rates in China remained stable, she said.

In the northern provinces, HMPV cases were already on the decline, particularly among children aged 14 and below, she added.

Wang further emphasised that respiratory illnesses seen this winter primarily involved known pathogens, and that no new infectious diseases had been identified.

“The overall intensity and healthcare burden of this season’s respiratory diseases will not exceed last year’s levels,” she said.

Influenza A (H1N1) remained the dominant strain this flu season, Wang said, confirming that both vaccination and antiviral medications remained effective.

Respiratory disease medicines are in “adequate supply” and “the market is stable”, according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officials present at the event.

They said China’s daily production capacity included 1.56 million courses of the antiviral flu medicine oseltamivir, and 120 million capsules of Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese medicine developed in 2003 to treat severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and widely used during the coronavirus pandemic.

About 150 million tablets of the fever and pain medication ibuprofen were also being produced daily, with reserves lined up to meet any increase in demand, they said.

Chinese scientists hope advanced laser will open gateway to new discoveries

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3294448/chinese-scientists-hope-advanced-laser-will-open-gateway-new-discoveries?utm_source=rss_feed

China has started building state-of-the-art laser research facilities that will enable scientists to directly observe electrons in action, something they hope will open the way for breakthroughs in fields such as new materials, medicine and energy systems.

The Advanced Attosecond Laser Infrastructure (AALI) will operate from two sites, in Dongguan in Guangdong and Xian in Shaanxi, and will generate light pulses lasting billionths of a billionth of a second.

These pulses will act as a super slow-motion camera that can capture the movements of the tiniest building blocks of the universe, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

It will become the second laser of its kind following the Attosecond Light Pulse Source in Szeged, Hungary.

Of the facility’s 10 beamlines, six will be built in Dongguan, with the remaining four constructed in Xian.

“Dongguan houses several other large-scale scientific facilities that can collaborate with AALI to advance comprehensive attosecond physics research,” Wei Zhiyi, the project’s chief scientist from the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Physics told CCTV on Friday.

Meanwhile, Xian is home to numerous universities with robust research capabilities and a well-established technological infrastructure, he added.

For a long time, scientists could only capture “frozen” snapshots of atoms using techniques such as X-ray crystallography or electron microscopy, which revealed where electrons are but not how they move.

This changed in the 1980s with the advent of laser facilities capable of generating ultra-fast light pulses to observe rapid atomic processes with exceptional precision.

Early laser systems produced femtosecond pulses – lasting millionths of a billionth of a second – but these were still too slow to capture electron motion.

Recent breakthroughs, including work recognised by the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics, have enabled scientists to directly measure an even shorter period of time, the attosecond – a billionth of a billionth of a second.

It takes about 150 attoseconds for an electron to orbit the nucleus of a hydrogen atom.

Such advances could revolutionise electronics: microprocessors, which now operate at nanosecond speeds, might one day process information a billion times faster with attosecond technology.

According to China Science Daily, the new laser was first proposed a decade ago by researchers from the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics.

“The global competitiveness of AALI is very strong. While Japan and the United States are planning similar facilities, their parameters and designed performances do not surpass ours,” Fu Yuxi, the chief engineer overseeing the beamlines in Xian, told China Science Daily in April.

CCTV said the laser will provide groundbreaking tools to tackle fundamental questions in physics, chemistry, information technology, medicine and other fields, and “better position China to lead in the new wave of the global scientific and technological revolution”.

Most components will be developed and manufactured by domestic companies, ensuring full control over the facility’s construction and operation while also driving regional technological development, the report added.

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China’s solar farms spread into new regions amid green energy push

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3294273/chinas-solar-farms-spread-new-regions-amid-green-energy-push?utm_source=rss_feed

China is installing innovative solar power projects across landscapes ranging from coastal mudflats to western deserts as part of efforts to achieve its green development goals.

On Tuesday, China’s largest mudflat solar photovoltaic energy storage facility began operations in the eastern province of Shandong, transforming 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres) of saline-alkali land into a “new oasis” for clean energy.

Coastal mudflats, with their abundant sunlight and minimal obstructions, provide an ideal setting for solar installations. The area receives over 2,600 hours of sunlight a year, averaging more than seven hours a day, China Central Television reported.

The project, which integrates salt production with photovoltaic power generation, is expected to generate enough electricity to power around 500,000 households a year, deputy chief engineer Wang Yang told CCTV.

Wang Xueli, director of the Huadian Laizhou Power Station said the “double-glass, bifacial solar panels reflect sunlight from the salt surfaces, boosting power output by about 3 per cent”.

“The heat generated by the panels raises the brine temperature by around 2 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit), which enhances salt production,” Wang added.

In November, state-owned China Energy Investment Corporation completed its first 1 gigawatt offshore photovoltaic project, located 8km (5 miles) off the coast of Dongying, also in Shandong province. Spanning 1,223 hectares (3,022 acres) with 2,934 solar platforms, it is the world’s largest offshore solar facility.

When fully operational, it is expected to generate 1.78 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, sufficient to power 2.67 million urban households, project leader Wang Lin told Xinhua.

Beijing, which has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, has been aggressive in pushing its clean energy targets, installing solar power farms in deserts and other arid areas and expanding offshore wind farms.

It plans to lift the proportion of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to 20 per cent this year, with electricity from non-fossil fuels expected to make up 39 per cent of the national total.

China’s solar energy expansion has also reached mountainous regions.

A 100 megawatt photovoltaic station completed in the towns of Zhuchangping and Pengzha in the mountainous southern province of Guizhou last week is expected to produce 1.45 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.

The project combines solar energy production with agriculture, using the space beneath the panels to grow grass for livestock, supporting the local economy.

Officials estimate the project will save 44,000 tonnes of coal a year, reducing annual carbon emissions by 121,000 tonnes.

In the Kubuqi Desert of northern China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, hundreds of bulldozers are constructing a massive “solar wall” to combat desertification.

The project – 400km (248.5 miles) long and 5km (3.1 miles) wide – aims to establish a solar power base with a capacity of 100GW by 2030, according to a Xinhua report.

In comparison, the world’s largest hydropower station, the Three Gorges Dam, has a total installed capacity of 22.5GW.

“It will act as a barrier along the Yellow River, preventing wind erosion and stabilising sand,” project manager Li Jinyu said.

The Kubuqi Desert has been a hub for solar industry development for years. A 2022 Xinhua report highlighted a solar plant established in 2017 that generates 2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year from 3,335 hectares (8,241 acres) of former desert.

China falls down EU’s agenda as both sides brace for impact when Trump returns

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3294418/china-falls-down-eus-agenda-both-sides-brace-impact-when-trump-returns?utm_source=rss_feed

Europe’s political class returned to work this week, greeted by a barrage of threats and taunts from across the Atlantic, a reminder that the congeniality that marked EU-US ties under Joe Biden’s presidency will not last the month.

During a news conference on Tuesday, president-elect Donald Trump aimed a series of broadsides at Europe.

He did not rule out the use of military force to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU and Nato member Denmark, and told European allies to spend north of 5 per cent of their GDP on defence.

He also raged against the bloc’s trade surplus with the US, saying: “With the European Union, we have a trade deficit of US$350 billion. They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they don’t take anything,” Trump said.

His billionaire ally Elon Musk, meanwhile, spent the week promoting populist and far-right groups in Germany and Britain and attacking incumbents.

This culminated in a long, rambling interview on Thursday with the co-chair of the Alternative for Germany party Alice Weidel that was closely monitored by EU regulators to ensure it complied with digital rules on election interference.

Amid the noise, EU dealings with China have fallen down the agenda. Negotiations on tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles have been parked, with “minimal technical contact”, sources said.

They also said media reports suggesting there could be an EU-China Summit in April are wide of the mark.

The steady drumbeat of trade cases that helped spoil ties last year has continued. Anti-dumping duties have been slapped on Chinese imports of titanium oxide, while China’s commerce ministry concluded that the EU’s new foreign subsidies regulation created barriers for its businesses, laying the ground for future retaliation.

But on big ticket items, both sides prefer to keep their powder dry, in recognition that Trump’s policies could upend the relationship and force them to change course.

In Brussels, it is hoped that China is one file on which the EU can work with the incoming Trump government and, while the past week is a reminder of the chaos ahead, that plan remains intact.

There is optimism in some quarters that EU offers to work with Trump to counter transnational subsidies would appeal to the tariff-obsessed Republican. His circle are thought to be keen to clamp down on efforts to shift production out of China to avoid tariffs.

On this front, Europe has moved ahead of the US. The EU’s 2020 move to slap anti-subsidy duties on glass-fibre reinforcement exports from Egypt because a Chinese-owned company there had received unfair handouts from Beijing was upheld by the European Court of Justice in November, clearing the path for a broader crackdown on such practices.

The commission is also looking for ways to work with the US and other partners on countering the impact of Chinese industrial overcapacity. With Trump threatening large tariffs on Chinese imports, Brussels fears that many of them will be diverted to Europe, potentially harming European industry.

“The EU faces an extremely delicate balancing act with the incoming Trump administration,” said Noah Barkin, an EU-China analyst at Rhodium Group.

“If the Trump team is willing to use US security guarantees as leverage to get what it wants in other domains, for example the regulation of digital platforms, the EU will be in an impossible situation.

“Either it accepts a diminished US role within Nato, with massive implications for its own security, or it accepts that US social media platforms are allowed to operate unchecked, poisoning the political debate in Europe. Neither are acceptable.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is currently out of action recovering from pneumonia, but her spokespeople this week swerved all opportunities to condemn Trump’s threats on Greenland or on trade.

Le Monde reported that she had “decided to put on hold the ongoing investigations against American platforms – Apple, Meta and X” under its digital services act, even as it continues to move against Chinese companies such as TikTok, Shein and Temu.

The EU wants to ensure that Washington continues to support Ukraine and gain some relief from punitive trade tariffs in return for siding with the US on China, and it fears that criticising Trump’s camp would be counterproductive.

On Ukraine, the early signs have been reasonably positive, several sources said. In exchanges with the president-elect and his team, EU leaders have promoted the idea that abandoning Ukraine would embolden Beijing to move on Taiwan and they believe it has resonated.

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has never ruled out the use of force to reunite it with mainland China. The US and EU, along with most countries, do not recognise Taiwan as independent but oppose the use of force to seize control of it.

“I do not expect America to walk away from helping Ukraine, or Europe as a whole. Such a move would diminish America’s global influence and undermine its ability to compete strategically with China and others,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen wrote in an article for the Economist this week.

In a sign that the message was landing well, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s choice for special Ukraine peace envoy, told Fox News the president-elect was “not trying to give something to Putin or to the Russians, he’s actually trying to save Ukraine and save their sovereignty”.

The EU strategy is to focus on those key areas rather than getting embroiled in a constant back and forth with Trump and his proxies.

“Otherwise we will not have time to deal with the real problems that we have on the table, such as the war in Ukraine or the hybrid attacks targeting our infrastructure in Europe – the cables cut by Chinese companies in the Baltic Sea, for example,” the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas told Le Monde this week.

But the approach is not popular with everybody.

Some governments – led by France – want Brussels to toughen its stance on Musk, who is seen to be using his platform X, formerly Twitter, to amplify extremism and stir unrest across the continent.

“Every day, Trump and Musk threaten America’s allied democracies. Not a word against tyrannies. Not a word against Putin. In the Kremlin and Beijing, people are popping champagne as they contemplate this madness. Europe must wake up. Or resign itself to the fate of a doormat,” said Raphael Glucksmann, a left-wing French lawmaker, on the EU’s silence.

At a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday, envoys said it was crucial to stay united in the face of Trump and Musk, but this will be easier said than done.

Europe is politically fractured. While the leaders of France and Germany chastised Musk for wading into European politics, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni championed him.

“There is no interference by Elon Musk in European politics, unlike George Soros who finances parties in our countries, or [German Chancellor] Olaf Scholz who intervened in the Italian electoral campaign,” said Meloni, who has been invited to Trump’s inauguration, although von der Leyen has not.

The Musk factor is a wild card. Some believe he could soften Trump’s hawkish stance towards Beijing, while others think his anti-EU scheming hampers the chance of transatlantic cooperation on China.

“Political support for close transatlantic cooperation on China will fade if Trump hits Europe with broad-based tariffs and seeks to bolster far-right parties, as Elon Musk has done in recent weeks,” Barkin said.

“That does not mean that Europe will seek an accommodation with China. That relationship will remain tense for economic and security reasons. But it will reduce support in European capitals for robust pushback against China.”

New US sanctions on Russian oil will curb supply to China and India

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3294426/new-us-sanctions-russian-oil-will-curb-supply-china-and-india?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese and Indian refiners will source more oil from the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, boosting prices and freight costs, as new US sanctions on Russian producers and ships curb supplies to Moscow’s top customers, traders and analysts said.

The US Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions on Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil, targeting the revenues Moscow has used to fund its war with Ukraine.

Many of the tankers have been used to ship oil to India and China as Western sanctions and a price cap imposed by the Group of Seven countries in 2022 shifted trade in Russian oil from Europe to Asia. Some tankers have also shipped oil from Iran, which is also under sanctions.

Russian oil exports will be hurt severely by the new sanctions, which will force Chinese independent refiners to cut refining output going forward, two Chinese trade sources said. The sources declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak to media.

Among the newly sanctioned ships, 143 are oil tankers that handled more than 530 million barrels of Russian crude last year, about 42 per cent of the country’s total seaborne crude exports, Kpler’s lead freight analyst Matt Wright said in a note.

Of these, about 300 million barrels were shipped to China while the bulk of the remainder went to India, he added.

“These sanctions will significantly reduce the fleet of ships available to deliver crude from Russia in the short term, pushing freight rates higher,” Wright said.

A Singapore-based trader said the designated tankers shipped close to 900,000 bpd of Russian crude to China over the past 12 months.

“It’s going to drop off a cliff,” he added.

For the first 11 months last year, India’s Russian crude imports rose 4.5 per cent on year to 1.764 million bpd, or 36 per cent of India’s total imports. China’s volume, including pipeline supply, was up 2 per cent at 99.09 million metric tons (2.159 million bpd), or 20 per cent of its total imports, over the same period.

China’s imports are mostly Russian ESPO Blend crude, sold above the price cap, while India buys mostly Urals oil.

Vortexa analyst Emma Li said Russian ESPO Blend crude exports would be halted if the sanctions were strictly enforced, but it would depend on whether US president-elect Donald Trump lifted the embargo and also whether China acknowledged the sanctions.

The new sanctions will push China and India back into the compliant oil market to seek more supply from the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, the sources said.

Spot prices for Middle East, Africa and Brazilian grades have already risen in recent months on rising demand from China and India as supplies of Russian and Iranian oil tightened and became more expensive, they added.

“Already, prices are rising for Middle Eastern grades,” said an Indian oil refining official.

“There is no option than that we have to go for Middle Eastern oil. Perhaps we may have to go for US oil as well.”

A second Indian refining source said the sanctions on Russian oil insurers will prompt Russia to price its crude below US$60 a barrel so Moscow can continue to use Western insurance and tankers.

Harry Tchilinguirian, head of research at Onyx Capital Group said, “Indian refiners, the main takers of Russian crude, are unlikely to wait around to find out and will be scrambling to find alternatives in Middle Eastern and Dated-Brent related Atlantic Basin crude.

“Strength in the Dubai benchmark can only rise from here as we are likely to see aggressive bidding for February loading cargoes of the likes of Oman or Murban, leading to a tighter Brent/Dubai spread,” he added.

Last month, the Biden administration designated more ships dealing with Iranian crude ahead of tougher action expected from the incoming Trump administration, leading the Shandong Port Group to ban sanctioned tankers from calling into its ports in the eastern Chinese province.

As a result, China, the main buyer of Iranian crude, will also turn to heavier Middle Eastern oil and most likely will maximise its offtake of Canadian crude from the Trans-Mountain pipeline (TMX), Tchilinguirian said.

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Could South Korea’s political strife bring it closer to China?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3294029/could-south-koreas-political-strife-bring-it-closer-china?utm_source=rss_feed

A month after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s astonishing decision to impose martial law, the country is still deep in political turmoil. But if the opposition Minjoo (Democratic) Party ends up taking power, analysts say it could lead to closer ties between Seoul and Beijing.

On December 3, in a televised address, Yoon shocked the nation by declaring martial law. While the move only lasted a few hours, the political aftershocks are still being felt.

On December 14, parliament voted to impeach Yoon and his presidential powers were suspended and police subsequently tried, and failed, to arrest him, triggering a dramatic stand-off with his security detail in the presidential compound.

His impeachment case is still pending in South Korea’s constitutional court – a process that could last six months. If the court decides to dismiss Yoon at that point, a general election will be held within two months.

Although, in theory, Yoon could be reinstated, discussion in the country has now shifted to who could be the next president. And signs are pointing to Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, with a Gallup poll last month making him the front runner.

“If the Democratic Party takes power, South Korea-China relations will get better,” Kang Jun-young, a professor of Chinese studies at Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said. “Seoul will pursue relations with the US on the one hand, and restore South Korea-China relations on the other.”

Under Yoon’s right-wing presidency, Seoul had a close alliance with Washington.

Yoon’s legacies, including the trilateral security treaty between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul, as well as the Chip 4 alliance between South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States, were seen as countering China.

In March, South Korea also hosted the Summit for Democracy, the first time it was held outside the US. As in previous years, the event was addressed by a Taiwanese representative, while mainland China was excluded.

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China that must be reunited with the mainland – by force if necessary – and expressed its “firm opposition” to Taiwan’s presence at the event. Most countries, including the US and South Korea, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state.

Zhan Debin, director and professor of the Centre for Korean Peninsula Studies at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, said that compared with the right wing, the left wing follows a tradition of a more balanced approach between Beijing and Washington, and is less “ideology-led”.

“The Democratic Party’s foreign policy is generally pragmatic and balanced, both between China and the US, and between China and Japan,” Zhan said.

Former Democratic Party leader Moon Jae-in was seen as an example of this balanced approach.

However, widely regarded as a Beijing and Pyongyang-friendly president, he also approved the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence anti-ballistic missile defence system – triggering strong protests from Beijing and an unofficial boycott of Korean businesses in China.

The uncertainty over US president-elect Donald Trump’s willingness to preserve the Indo-Pacific alliance might push Seoul closer to Beijing – at least economically – according to Kang.

“If Trump treats South Korea and Japan as oppressively as he did in his first term, the likelihood of cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea, especially in trade and commerce, will increase,” he said.

But Zhan, from Shanghai, said that even if Trump’s focus is not on multilateral alliances, the current hawkish atmosphere towards China in Washington will still push the White House to align with Seoul and Tokyo to counter Beijing.

“Trump’s priority may not be on the multilateral framework, but Washington’s attitude is relatively consistent on countering China,” Zhan said. “The Minjoo Party has experience dealing with Trump … It is probably going to be able to take care of both Chinese and US interests through compromise.”

In a recent press conference with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “Our relationship is bigger than any one leader, any one government, any one party.”

Analysts believe the current security alliance between Seoul and Washington will largely remain, even if a new South Korean government seeks closer ties with Beijing, citing growing regional tensions.

North Korea has become increasingly aggressive towards the South, designating it a “hostile state” in its constitution in October, while Seoul protested following reports that Pyongyang had sent troops to Ukraine to support Russia’s war effort.

But should Lee become president, it is highly unlikely there will be a repeat of Moon’s honeymoon period with Pyongyang, Kang said.

“In the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration, Seoul put a lot into engagement with North Korea, but with little result. If Lee, or anyone else from the Democratic Party, comes to power, it is unlikely that North-South relations will be rekindled,” Kang said.

“To some extent, to guard against the danger of North Korea, South Korea still has to cooperate with the United States on security issues. In that case, if the United States has some requirements for South Korea [regarding China], it cannot oppose them,” Kang added.

China school makes pupils sign suicide disclaimer to absolve institution of responsibility

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3292514/china-school-makes-pupils-sign-suicide-disclaimer-absolve-institution-responsibility?utm_source=rss_feed

A secondary school in China has come under fire for requiring its students to sign a written promise that if they kill or injure themselves their decision was not related to the place of learning.

This commitment was proposed by Shuizhai Middle School in Wuhua county, southern Guangdong province.

It has been circulated widely on social media after being shared by a parent who said he had also alerted the authorities about it, the Yangcheng Evening News reported.

Amid public pressure, the local Education Department launched an investigation before issuing a statement on December 25, the report said.

The investigation found that the school held discussion meetings in all classes on December 23 on the topic of cherishing life.

After the meetings, all students were required to sign the letter of commitment which contains “inappropriate contents”, the department said.

“I promise: I will always cherish life, and respect life. I will never give up my life for any reason. Instead, I will keep on fighting and working hard with an optimistic attitude,” the commitment letter reads.

It continues: “If I commit the action of self-injuring or suicide, it has nothing to do with the school. Myself, my parents or my guardians will not claim any loss or ask for any compensation from the school or school staff, nor will they disturb the school’s teaching.”

The authority said it has urged the school to withdraw the letter and to annul the commitment it contains.

The school management were told to explain the incident to its students and their parents.

“In the future, we are planning to push all schools in the region to improve their educational methodspsychological and pay attention to students’ psychological well-being,” the education department said.

The letter has sparked a wave of criticism online.

One netizen said: “This school has crossed all moral boundaries. Its actions are beyond my imagination.”

“This kind of promise letter should absolutely be cancelled. Otherwise, there would be no humanity at school. The school should try to prevent tragedies like self-injury or suicide from happening rather than relying on a promise letter to shirk its responsibilities.”

Teenage student suicide due to the pressure to succeed academically are not uncommon in China.

Last year, a 13-year-old girl in Chongqing, southwestern China killed herself by jumping from a high-rise building outside her secondary school.

Her parents sued the school and sought compensation, claiming that negligence was behind her death.

A court ruled against the parents’ request for compensation on the grounds that there was no evidence to support it.

China’s AI disrupter DeepSeek bets on low-key team of ‘young geniuses’ to beat US giants

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3294357/chinas-ai-disrupter-deepseek-bets-low-key-team-young-geniuses-beat-us-giants?utm_source=rss_feed

DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up that took the tech world by surprise with its powerful AI model developed on a shoestring, is betting on its secret weapon of “young geniuses” to take on deep-pocketed US giants, according to insiders and Chinese media reports.

On December 26, the Hangzhou-based firm released its DeepSeek V3 large language model (LLM), which was trained using fewer resources but still matched or even exceeded in certain areas the performance of AI models from its larger US competitors such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms and ChatGPT creator OpenAI. The breakthrough is considered significant as it could offer a path for China to exceed the US in AI capabilities despite its restricted access to advanced chips and funding resources.

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

Behind its breakthrough is the firm’s low-key founder and a nascent research team, according to an examination of authors credited on its V3 model technical report and career websites, interviews with former employees, as well as local media reports. The V3 technical report is attributed to a team of 150 Chinese researchers and engineers, in addition to a 31-strong team of data automation researchers.

The start-up was spun off in 2023 by hedge-fund manager High Flyer-Quant. The entrepreneur behind DeepSeek is High-Flyer Quant founder Liang Wenfeng, who studied AI at Zhejiang University. Liang’s name is also on the technical report.

In an interview with Chinese online media outlet 36Kr in May 2023, Liang said most developers at DeepSeek were either fresh graduates, or those early in their AI career, in line with the company’s preference for ability over experience in recruiting new employees. “Our core technical roles are filled with mostly fresh graduates or those with one or two years of working experience,” Liang said.

Among DeepSeek’s breadth of talent, Gao Huazuo and Zeng Wangding are singled out by the firm as having made “key innovations in the research of the MLA architecture”.

Gao graduated from Peking University (PKU) in 2017 with a physics degree, while Zeng started studying for his master’s degree from the AI Institute at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2021. Both profiles show DeepSeek’s different approach to talent, as most local AI start-ups prefer to hire more experienced and established researchers or overseas-educated PhDs with a speciality in computer science.

Other key members of the team include Guo Daya, a 2023 PhD graduate from Sun Yat-sen University, and Zhu Qihao and Dai Damai, both fresh PhD graduates from PKU. One of the most well-known talents from DeepSeek, however, is a former employee named Luo Fuli. She came under the national spotlight after Xiaomi founder Lei Jun reportedly offered her an annual package of 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million), but recent media reports indicate that Luo has not yet accepted the offer. A master’s graduate from PKU, Luo has been dubbed an “AI prodigy” by Chinese media.

DeepSeek’s V3 model was trained in two months using around 2,000 less-powerful Nvidia H800 chips for only US$6 million – a “joke of a budget” according to Andrej Karpathy, a founding team member at OpenAI – thanks to a combination of new training architectures and techniques, including the so-called Multi-head Latent Attention and DeepSeekMoE.

Driving the team of AI wizards at the company is DeepSeek’s low-key founder Liang, who appears to be reserved but has intuition and attention to technical detail, according to a former employee, who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly.

In group discussions, Liang would sometimes propose solutions to his younger team members using his habitual suggestive phrases rather than directives. Many times, team members who took up Liang’s suggestions would find that they worked, the employee said, adding that Liang came across more like a mentor than a boss at a business organisation.

China’s work culture must change to give young people hope again

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3293891/chinas-work-culture-must-change-give-young-people-hope-again?utm_source=rss_feed

As the new year unfolds and people return to thoughts of work, it is an opportune time to look at what the Chinese workplace might have in store for them.

The labour force is grappling with a problem of youth unemployment, including among university graduates. This workforce cohort is seemingly caught in a painful pincer movement. On one side they face economic changes and reduced demand for their labour and, on the other, there are social changes shaping new views on work and work ethics.

China’s economic transformation into the “workshop of the world” lifted people out of poverty and created a growing middle class. Its rapid growth can be seen in a similar way to the economic miracle of the “Asian tigers”, which economist Paul Krugman dubbed a myth “based on perspiration rather than inspiration”. Total factor productivity did not increase, but rather those countries merely added more labour and capital.

Nevertheless, people were led to believe that, through hard work and education, China’s economic miracle would always improve everyone’s lot in life and newer generations would do better than earlier ones. Work hard and get degrees seems to be the implicit mantra for success.

This economic boom occurred in the context of the clarion calls of tech titans and others for the “huge blessing” of working a 996 schedule – working 9am to 9pm six days a week. The most striking version of this corporate hustle culture is the 007 schedule, in which employees are available online for work at any hour every day.

The sense of certainty around China’s growth and its effects seems to have been upended amid growing economic upheaval. This is moving the economy away from the classic mass production manufacturing of the workshop of the world, with its seemingly insatiable demand for workers draining the countryside, shifting it towards new quality productive forces and greater consumption. This is likely to require less labour input.

At the same time, societal shifts are affecting the workforce. Young Chinese who were told that working and studying hard would pay off now feel defeated and trapped. Persistently high unemployment and underemployment among youth and graduates is fuelling anxiety in the labour force.

How much changes to more traditional work culture and norms are driven by economic versus societal factors is beside the point. It seems that many Chinese have become more disillusioned and fearful they will not be better off than previous generations, no matter how many days they work from morning to night.

This revelation has led to a re-evaluation of people’s work-life balance. Such developments can be seen in involution, a term used to describe stagnation of development. The same behaviour is repeated and maintained over long periods with no changes or improvement, such as increased levels of input not yielding proportional output. The Chinese variant is called , or “rolling inward”.

An involuted society can no longer evolve, so progress is impossible no matter how hard someone works. This has led to the reimagining of a person’s place at work. This is reflected in the popularity of terms such as tang ping, or lying flat, a rejection of societal pressures to compete in the rat race in favour of a more relaxed attitude towards life while doing the bare minimum to get by.

Then there is the notion of bailan, or “letting it rot”, which means giving up instead of spending energy trying to fix an impossible situation. At the far end of the spectrum, some withdraw from the race entirely and become “full-time children”, a growing cohort driven back home because they desire a break from an exhausting work life or simply cannot find a job.

There are reasons for optimism that things will get better. First, China’s demographic time bomb going off might have a silver lining. Its doing so will create difficult issues such as a growing dependency ratio as well as driving down the need for schools while increasing demand for elder care. At the same time, labour will become scarcer and more valuable.

Second, the regulatory crackdown on the tech and finance sectors opens a window of opportunity to reshape workplace culture towards one that employees and potential recruits find more welcoming and aligned with their values. Corporate cultures are often forged, sustained and destroyed by leaders and their actions.

No business strategy is good enough to overcome a lack of the right corporate culture to implement and sustain it. This can be seen in Gerald Ratner’s infamous 1991 speech, in which he called his company’s jewellery “total crap” and the firm went under soon after. Contemporary examples include Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s frequent outbursts and former Baidu public relations head Qu Jing, who was dismissed after posting a series of videos in which she said she had no obligation to care about her staff’s well-being.

More thoughtful, farsighted business leaders will understand this opportunity and use it to help create corporate cultures that engage and support both new and current workers. That would be a good New Year’s resolution.

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China’s new technology achieves ‘unprecedented’ rare earth production speed

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3294183/chinas-new-technology-achieves-unprecedented-rare-earth-production-speed?utm_source=rss_feed

A more sustainable way to increase rare earth production, while decreasing mining time, energy use and limiting waste, has been developed by Chinese researchers.

Based on electric fields, the new method has achieved an “unprecedented” rare earth recovery rate of 95 per cent, while shortening mining time by 70 per cent and achieving electricity savings of 60 per cent.

The method also showed a 95 per cent decrease in ammonia emissions compared to conventional methods, which come from leaching agents used in mining, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

“Rare earth elements (REEs), particularly heavy REEs (HREEs), are key enablers of the rapid transition to a decarbonised world,” the team from the CAS Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry wrote in a paper published in peer-reviewed journal Nature Sustainability on January 6.

Rare earth metals such as cerium, lanthanum and neodymium are used in a variety of low-carbon technologies, including making magnets for wind turbines, catalytic converters and batteries.

Despite the critical role of rare earth metals in developing low-carbon technology, their supply is limited due to the “disastrous” environmental record associated with their mining.

Conventional mining requires the injection of large amounts of concentrated ammonium-salt solutions into weathered crust soils to recover the elements, which can lead to harmful emissions, water contamination and soil degradation.

China is the largest producer of rare earth metals in the world. Despite their key global role in production, ammonium salt methods have been restricted to new mining sites in South China since 2018, which has further impacted supply.

The research team previously proposed an electrokinetic mining (EKM) technique for the extraction of rare earth elements, and in their new paper they demonstrate its ability to be applied on an industrial scale after testing at a mining site in Meizhou, South China.

When under the influence of an electric field formed by electrodes, the rare earth elements move towards a collection well for recovery. Leaching agents are still used in the process, but at a greatly reduced amount.

“A rigorous environmental risk assessment revealed a 95 per cent reduction of ammonia emissions, indicating a notably reduced environmental footprint,” the team wrote.

Groundwater quality around the mining site remained stable after four months of applying their technique, suggesting no leakage occurred during the test.

Compared to the high recovery efficiency of their method, conventional mining has a recovery efficiency of only 40 to 60 per cent.

“The REE recovery efficiency reached 95.5 per cent within 60 days of using the EKM technique, whereas only [around] 15 per cent was recovered within 60 days with conventional leaching,” the team wrote.

The conventional technique also leads to co-leaching of other metallic elements, which leads to further costs for purification and separation.

To address concerns of the erosive environment of mines, the team developed a new plastic-based electrode that reduces corrosion while still offering high conductivity.

While the production cost of obtaining 1 tonne of ore through the new method is slightly higher than conventional methods, the team said that the cost was “roughly” comparable, demonstrating its economic feasibility.

“Compared with the conventional technique, the EKM method results in higher electricity-related costs … but significantly reduces costs associated with chemical agents,” the team wrote.

This is not taking into account the environmental costs. When they are considered, the team said, “the conventional technique’s production cost is three times greater than that of the EKM technique”.

“We conclude that the use of electrokinetics opens up vast opportunities for more sustainable mining while contributing to the shift towards a low-carbon economy.”

Pop Mart’s Labubu: From Blackpink fave to fading frenzy for Chinese toy firm

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3294253/pop-marts-labubu-blackpink-fave-fading-frenzy-chinese-toy-firm?utm_source=rss_feed

A frenzy over Pop Mart’s Labubu, a toothy but adorable toy creature beloved by millions of Asian fans including a member of K-pop group Blackpink, might be cooling. Resale prices for the toys on speculative markets have steadily fallen closer to retail prices over recent months, and analysts warn that the fading fad could put a dent in the Beijing-based company’s revenue this year.

A Halloween-themed Labubu is currently selling for 170 yuan (US$23.20) to 300 yuan on Xianyu, one of China’s most popular second-hand marketplaces. The special holiday edition sold for 159 yuan in the company’s official online store when it launched in September.

“The decline in the excitement surrounding Labubu is both expected and entirely normal, as no intellectual property [IP] character can sustain such frenzy indefinitely,” said Richard Lin, chief consumer analyst at SPDB International.

Still, the elfin character’s power has not completely faded. “Given that Labubu went viral in international markets during the last quarter of 2024, which subsequently fuelled its popularity in China, the IP is expected to drive continued growth in the Chinese market through the first half of the year, and potentially even into the first nine months,” Lin said. “However, the fourth quarter may pose challenges due to the high base established in prior periods.”

Shares of Hong Kong-listed Pop Mart corrected by nearly 9 per cent in the final days of 2024, following a 370 per cent surge over the past year.

The falling prices for Labubu toys are partly due to a company-driven increase in supply, which is “aimed at enhancing the product’s accessibility and optimising the fan experience”, according to Huatai Securities.

“With the regular release of [Pop Mart’s] vinyl toys in the future, people should not place too much emphasis on the price premiums of blind boxes,” Huatai analysts wrote, referring to packages that conceal the figure from the buyer and sometimes contain rare versions. “[Instead,] the larger vinyl figures and big dolls will offer greater collectability and potential for appreciation.”

A fluffy rabbit-eared elf with serrated teeth and a mischievous grin, Labubu was created as early as 2015 by Hong Kong illustrator Kasing Lung. However, the character started to take off in 2019 when Pop Mart signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the artist to sell Labubu and other characters in blind boxes.

Over the past year, Labubu and her friends sparked a consumer craze across Asia, fuelled by social media posts from Blackpink’s Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal and others, as well as sightings of members of the Thai royal family wearing Labubu accessories.

The fervour was particularly intense in Manobal’s home country of Thailand, with TikTok mentions of Labubu and Pop Mart generating more than 365,000 comments – far surpassing other countries where comments typically numbered in the thousands, according to a Nielsen report published last May. Capitalising on Labubu’s rise, the Tourism Authority of Thailand appointed the elf as its cultural ambassador in a high-profile co-branding campaign – the first time such a title had been granted to a toy character.

As Labubu’s fame surged, Pop Mart’s revenue from markets outside China followed, growing 259.6 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2024 to US$189 million – nearly 30 per cent of the company’s total revenue. Southeast Asia generated US$78.4 million in sales, representing 40 per cent of the international total. Pop Mart’s sales in China also rose 32 per cent to reach 3.2 billion yuan.

And growth is accelerating. According to preliminary results published by the company in October, revenue from the China market grew by 55 to 60 per cent in the third quarter, while international revenue shot up by 440 to 445 per cent.

A key factor in Pop Mart’s IP success is that it develops its own hits.

“What sets Pop Mart apart from other toy companies is the fact that it has exclusive ownership of the bulk of its IP characters,” said SPDB’s Lin. “The company also has a very comprehensive and mature platform for incubating, creating, marketing, packaging and monetising these IPs.”

Pop Mart’s track record of turning its portfolio – now consisting of more than 100 IP characters – into cultural phenomena is persuasive to investors, despite the temporary setback in the stock market. For instance, Morgan Stanley has forecast a 35 per cent increase in revenue for the company this year, driven by a 69 per cent surge in overseas markets.

“Pop Mart will continue to maintain and promote its existing IPs to make sure they’re not a one-hit wonder, and even if Labubu temporarily dies out of public sight, I’m sure the company will have many other, new IPs to replace it,” Lin said.

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What will 2025 bring for China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun and military diplomacy?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3294364/what-will-2025-bring-chinas-defence-minister-dong-jun-and-military-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s defence ministers, despite their limited role in military decision-making, would always sit on the podium with the top commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at ceremonies to promote generals, and receive their salutes.

The ministers – the public face of China’s military – would be on that stage because they belonged to the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), traditionally chaired by the leader of the ruling Communist Party, a position held by President Xi Jinping since 2012.

But last year, the seating arrangements changed.

Admiral Dong Jun, China’s defence minister since December 2023, has not appeared on a podium at any such public event. Instead, he has watched from the front row, alongside dozens of other generals representing different PLA forces and regional commands.

Also, while China’s defence minister has traditionally been a member of the CMC, the top decision-making body for the Chinese armed forces, Dong is not. Neither is he a member of the State Council, China’s cabinet, another role held by all his predecessors.

This break with decades of precedent has left Dong as arguably the least powerful defence minister since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.

The revised arrangement comes at a particularly delicate moment in China’s military diplomacy, as Dong’s two immediate predecessors – Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe – were expelled from the party last year for corruption.

More questions were raised about Dong’s status recently when his former superior in the PLA Navy, Miao Hua – a member of the CMC and director of its political work department – was placed under investigation in November for suspected “serious violations of discipline”. Miao also had a big say in PLA appointments and used to work closely with Dong.

The chain of events has cast doubt on Dong’s role and the authority of the defence minister in China’s political hierarchy – raising questions about whether he truly speaks for China’s top military leaders.

“Dong is less important than previous defence ministers because he does not have regular access to the top decision makers in the CMC,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Centre for China Analysis.

“Defence ministers have always been military diplomats removed from the chain of command, but at least Dong’s predecessors took part in the military’s top decision-making body,” Thomas said.

Analysts also have mixed opinions about whether the matter could affect high-level military exchanges with the United States. The Pentagon in 2022 questioned whether the Chinese defence minister was in fact a real counterpart to the US defence secretary, who is the second in command for the American military, after the president.

In most governments, official ranks usually translate into access to information and proximity to power. Dong’s apparent lack of standing in the command chain could mean that he is excluded from key decisions over PLA exercises and combat plans, and unable to attend high-level State Council meetings.

Meanwhile, the large-scale anti-corruption campaign against the PLA – which felled Li and Wei, among other top brass – has expanded also into the defence and aerospace industries. A tally by the South China Morning Post found that PLA deputies have been removed from China’s top legislature at a rate not seen in at least four decades.

Most of the fallen senior generals, as well as Dong’s two predecessors, had connections to the PLA’s procurement departments or the PLA Rocket Force – China’s nuclear army.

Miao was previously in charge of party building, ideology and personnel work in the PLA, and his significant say in the appointment of senior generals gave him more real power than the defence minister.

According to an earlier Post analysis of public biographies of senior PLA generals, Dong was one of nine top generals who were either Miao’s comrades-in-arms or his subordinates when they served in the Navy.

Dong served as deputy chief of naval staff for more than a year from December 2014, when Miao was the navy’s political commissar – the second most powerful position in the force.

While Miao has not been formally removed from the CMC, he has been suspended from duty.

There were multiple windows in the past year when Beijing could have promoted Dong to CMC or State Council member as his predecessors were. These included the annual session of China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), in March and several meetings of its standing committee, as well as a plenary session of the party’s Central Committee in July.

But it did not happen.

Thomas at Asia Society said it amounted to a downgrade. “Xi’s demotion of the defence minister likely reflects his disgust and distrust of the Chinese military, which continues to suffer from systemic corruption,” he said.

“If the defence minister regains the rank of state councillor or a position on the CMC, that could be a sign of Xi regaining some of his trust in the PLA leadership,” he added.

The year ahead could reveal some clues about Dong’s military future, including the NPC’s annual session set for March and the Central Committee plenary meeting – a date for which has not been revealed.

Even before Dong came into the global scene, there had been complaints about the political rank of China’s defence minister, mainly from Washington.

The Pentagon said in a press briefing in July 2022 that the US defence secretary’s Chinese counterpart should be the CMC vice-chairman, not the defence minister.

The Financial Times reported in May 2022 that Beijing had rejected three requests by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin to meet then CMC vice-chairman Xu Qiliang. The report cited an anonymous source from the Pentagon, which did not confirm the story.

Zeng Zhiping, a Chinese military law expert, raised doubts about the effectiveness of military diplomacy in such a situation. “If the actual status is not equal [for Chinese and foreign defence ministers], there is a lack of equality,” he said.

Thomas warned that “meetings with the Chinese defence minister are simply less valuable than they used to be”.

“Foreign militaries should press for meetings with Chinese generals on the CMC, and preferably with the two vice-chairmen who also sit on the Politburo”, he said.

Thomas’ reference was to CMC vice-chairmen Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, China’s top two military leaders after Xi.

Zhang and He both engage in various levels of military diplomacy, although Zhang is more in the spotlight.

Zhang attended several international security meetings last year, including the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing in September. He also met the defence ministers of Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Singapore and Russia, as well as Vietnamese leader To Lam and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

However, some observers in China dismissed doubts raised by Thomas and Zeng.

Meetings with the CMC vice-chairman meant “higher courtesy” for foreign guests, as Beijing knew “who was most appropriate to talk to”, said Zhou Bo, a retired senior PLA colonel and senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy.

“China and the US have different political systems, and the defence ministers of the two countries cannot be directly equated,” he said.

“But that does not mean that our defence minister is not the highest representative of military diplomacy. He still is.”

Public records show little difference in the diplomatic events attended by Dong and Li, whose removal after seven months in October 2023 made him China’s shortest-serving defence minister. There have been no significant changes in terms of protocol either.

Dong did hold meetings with senior foreign generals – including commanders, chiefs of staff and defence ministers – from 12 countries last year.

Li’s brief tenure included two months when he disappeared from public view, before it was confirmed that he was under investigation for corruption. But during that short period, he met officials from at least 13 countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a visit to both countries in August 2023.

Li also met Henry Kissinger when the former US secretary of state visited Beijing that July.

In comparison, Dong has so far met four foreign leaders, including Vietnam’s To on December 19.

Li was on a US sanction list and did not formally meet Austin, while Dong spoke to the US defence chief twice last year, including a video call in April.

On May 31, Dong and Austin held a meeting during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the first such face-to-face talks since Austin met then Chinese defence minister Wei in November 2022.

Li did have a brief conversation with Austin on the sidelines of the same event in 2023, as China had earlier rejected a US request for a formal meeting between the two.

Austin had also sought a meeting with the Chinese defence minister at the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Indonesia in November 2023, but the position was vacant at the time due to Li’s dismissal.

“Everyone is well aware of the root cause of the strained China-US [military] relationship. It is not a problem that can be solved by simply calling someone else,” Zhou said, referring to US weapons arms support for Taipei.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China, to be unified by force if necessary. While the United States, like most countries, does not recognise self-governed Taiwan as an independent state, it is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force, and is committed to arming it for defence.

According to Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, military diplomacy will continue as long as China and the world see the need for it.

“As long as China needs it and the international environment allows it, China’s military diplomacy can continue no matter who is the defence minister,” Shi said.

The biggest obstacle to Beijing’s military diplomacy with Washington “has always been” American arms sales to Taiwan, he added.