• Chinese aircraft carrier-led fleet to visit Hong Kong for 5 days
• China to stay cautious as Iran seeks help amid clashes with US, Israel: Middle East expert
• Southwest China on alert for more deadly floods as downpours again threaten rain-soaked county
• Trailblazing mathematician Yitang Zhang leaves US for job at Chinese university
• China’s No 4 official joins in mourning death of Hong Kong tycoon Charles Ho
• Chinese woman, 50, marries son’s Russian classmate, sparks viral attention, scepticism
• Chinese sprinter gets leading gaokao marks on second go, earning a shot at top universities
• Drunk Chinese man swallows spoon, thinks it was a dream, finds out mishap 5 months later
• Why is China building AI centres on the roof of the world?
• WeChat and Alipay are China’s ‘comparative advantage’ in stablecoin race: top economist
• ‘Terrifying’: China flight forced to land, with passengers reporting burning smell
• Can China’s brain tech make Elon’s Neuralink open-skull surgery out of date?
• Cloudy with a chance of bankruptcy: US tariffs hurt China’s solar firms
• China women-only bar names drinks after inspiring women, including ex-domestic abuse victim
• As war threatens China’s Iran investments, Middle East still beckons

Chinese aircraft carrier-led fleet to visit Hong Kong for 5 days

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3316239/chinese-aircraft-carrier-led-fleet-visit-hong-kong-5-days?utm_source=rss_feed

A naval fleet led by the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong will arrive in Hong Kong next week for a five-day visit, with open tours and cultural exchanges among events to be held to improve residents’ understanding of the development of national defence.

The Ministry of National Defence announced on Saturday that the fleet, which includes the Yan’an and Zhanjiang missile destroyers, as well as the Yuncheng missile frigate, would visit from July 3 to 7 following the Central Military Commission’s approval.

The fleet will host a series of open tours and cultural exchange activities, with the visit coming just days after the city marks the 28th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on Tuesday.

“These events aim to offer Hong Kong compatriots a more direct and in-depth understanding of China’s advancements in national defence and military development in the new era,” a Xinhua News Agency report said.

Two warships, the destroyer Changsha and assault ship Hainan, visited Hong Kong for five days last November.

The Shandong, launched in 2017 and officially in service since December 2019, is China’s first domestically built and outfitted conventionally powered aircraft carrier. It followed the Liaoning, a refitted Soviet-made vessel, which was commissioned in 2012.

In an unprecedented show of strength, the Liaoning and Shandong earlier conducted exercises in the western Pacific beyond the “second island chain”, a strategic group of islands in the middle of the ocean which includes Guam, a US territory.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Navy said earlier this month that it had deployed two carrier groups in the Western Pacific and surrounding waters and conducted exercises to test their “far-sea defences and joint operational capabilities”.

Local political party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong welcomed the fleet’s visit, saying it reflected the country’s care for the city.

Former party leader Starry Lee Wai-king, a member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the country’s top legislative body, said the visit was a practical lesson in patriotic education, and she hoped that residents could seize the opportunity and take part in the activities.

China to stay cautious as Iran seeks help amid clashes with US, Israel: Middle East expert

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3316215/china-stay-cautious-iran-seeks-help-amid-clashes-us-israel-middle-east-expert?utm_source=rss_feed

Iran may look to China for weapons support amid conflicts with the US and Israel, but Beijing will remain cautious, considering strained economic ties with Tehran and its broader interest in balancing ties with Israel and other Western-aligned states in the region, according to a veteran Chinese expert on the Middle East.

In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Pan Guang, a Chinese scholar of Jewish and Middle East studies, said the conflict between Iran and Israel was unlikely to spiral into a broader war, but tit-for-tat retaliation could continue as Tehran pushes ahead with its nuclear programme, which is believed to persist despite US strikes.

Tensions escalated after Israel launched strikes on Iran on June 13. The US joined days later, targeting three of Iran’s nuclear facilities – marking the most significant Western military action against the Islamic Republic since 1979. Iran retaliated by attacking a US military base in Qatar and striking Israel’s strategic port city of Haifa, home to Chinese projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.

US President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire between Iran and Israel this week, which has largely held despite initial violations. However, prospects for a durable truce appear dim, as Iran’s core nuclear capabilities are believed to remain intact and Israel remains determined to neutralise what it sees as an existential threat.

Beijing, a close partner of Tehran, is being closely watched as the conflict unfolds. On Thursday, Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh joined nine of his counterparts at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s defence ministers’ meeting in Qingdao, China, where he called for a bigger Chinese role in easing the conflict.

Pan said Iran might seek Chinese weapons in light of its escalating tensions with Israel, drawing lessons from Pakistan’s recent conflict with India.

“Iran used to buy Russian weapons, but after the [India-Pakistan] conflict, it finds that Chinese weapons are not worse and may even be more advanced than Russian ones.”

In its May border clash with India, Pakistan deployed a highly integrated air combat system featuring Chinese-made fighter jets, long-range missiles and armed drones. The imported J-10C fighter jets from China reportedly shot down French-made Indian aircraft, prompting wide attention to the performance of Chinese weaponry in real combat scenarios.

Some observers have suggested that if Tehran had acquired Chinese J-10C or JF-17 Block III fighter jets, it could have shown stronger air defences during Israel’s attack. Tehran is reportedly considering acquiring JF-17 jets from Pakistan, which would require China’s approval.

Pan said China could be cautious about giving such weapons to Iran, citing potential frustration over limited progress in economic cooperation with Iran, as well as its desire to preserve ties with Israel and other Western-aligned regional players.

China has not directly sold weapons to Iran since 2005, even though the United Nations lifted its arms embargo on Tehran in 2020. Concerns over US sanctions and the geopolitical balance in the Middle East have kept Beijing wary.

But the US has accused Beijing of supplying dual-use items and technology contributing to Iran’s drone and missile capabilities, which China has denied.

In 2021, Iran and China signed a 25-year strategic partnership agreement aimed at deepening cooperation across energy, trade and defence. The deal was widely viewed as Beijing’s bid to increase its influence in the region while expanding its economic footprint in the Middle East and into Europe through the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s plan for building global trade and infrastructure links.

But tangible outcomes have been limited. While some rail upgrades and energy infrastructure were planned, many projects stalled due to financial concerns linked to US sanctions and domestic criticism in Iran over perceived Chinese overreach.

Tehran has also sought more strategic autonomy by diversifying partnerships with Russia and India, which many in China were “unhappy” about, according to Pan.

“Iran did not do much under this agreement, but now it’s trying desperately to get us to do things in return,” Pan said.

Pan said that China’s main interest in the region remained economic. Beijing prefers regional stability to protect and advance its belt and road projects.

Iran’s retaliatory attack on Haifa, for example, could raise Chinese concerns about the safety of its investments.

The Bayport Terminal in Haifa and the Tel Aviv light rail system – both built by Chinese firms – are seen as flagship examples of China-Israel cooperation under the belt and road, even though Israel has never formally signed on to the initiative. Some Western countries have accused China of using the belt and road plan as a model for exporting its development strategy.

Pan said China would hope to maintain friendly relations with Israel, a significant trade partner and source of advanced technology, despite Israel’s criticism of Beijing’s position on the Gaza war.

Beijing has condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and Iran but has offered to mediate the conflict.

“I think Israel-China relations could cool a little bit but we still have to maintain normal relations,” Pan said, noting that economic and people-to-people exchanges continued as usual.

In a meeting with the newly appointed Israeli ambassador to China Eli Belotserkovsky, assistant foreign minister Liu Bin said China was willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Israel in various fields, but maintained that the use of force could not bring lasting peace and urged all parties, including Israel, to implement a ceasefire and de-escalate the tension.

Pan said that China’s embassy in Israel was organising activities this year to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a period when China took in thousands of Jewish refugees, creating a historical memory that underpinned bilateral ties today.

On the prospects for a new nuclear deal, Pan said that it would be difficult amid rising tensions.

China continues to support a return to negotiations based on the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which placed strict limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment and nuclear activities, under close monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in exchange for international sanctions relief.

The US and Iran have restarted talks since Trump’s return to office, but negotiations were disrupted by Israel’s recent strikes, which Tel Aviv justified by claiming Iran was just days away from building a nuclear weapon – a charge Tehran has denied, insisting its nuclear programme is civilian.

Iran has said it will not return to talks as long as Israeli attacks continue, even as Trump announced that US and Iranian officials would meet next week. On Thursday, Iran also enacted a law halting cooperation with the IAEA.

Pan concluded that neither China nor the US had enough sway to stop Iran or Israel from pursuing their strategic ambitions.

“Neither China nor the United States wants them to fight a nuclear war,” he said. “But it’s difficult for one side to persuade Israel, and the other to persuade Iran.”

Southwest China on alert for more deadly floods as downpours again threaten rain-soaked county

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3316224/southwest-china-alert-more-deadly-floods-downpours-again-threaten-rain-soaked-county?utm_source=rss_feed

A county in southwestern China is bracing for another deluge just days after record floods killed at least six people.

Authorities in Rongjiang county in Guizhou province ordered the evacuation of half a dozen areas on Saturday as heavy rain was again forecast for the region.

“Exceptionally large floods” began sweeping through the county on Tuesday, setting new benchmarks for both rainfall and water levels, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday without saying what those levels were.

The water inundated low-lying areas and inflicted severe damage on some infrastructure, cutting transport and communication links.

By 2.15pm on Tuesday, the hydrological station on one of the rivers near Rongjiang recorded a peak water level of 256.71 metres (842 feet), or 5.21 metres above the upper limit of the flood control engineering system’s ability to ensure its own safe operation.

The county’s biggest shopping centre was underwater but by early Wednesday morning, the rain had stopped and the floodwaters had begun to recede.

On Friday, the Rongjiang administration said that all 20 townships in the county were accessible again and communication services had been restored to 90 per cent of its urban area.

However, the rain returned on Saturday morning, prompting authorities to reactivate the highest emergency flood response warning.

The hydrological station estimated that the water level would peak at 253.50 metres at around 5pm, or two metres above the safety limit.

All people in the affected areas were told to move to higher ground, though the flood control authorities did not say how many residents were in those areas.

Rongjiang sits at the confluence of three rivers, and is administered by Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture.

It has a population of 385,000 and became a tourism destination in 2023 when a local football league, known as the “Village Super League”, gained widespread social media attention for its fun atmosphere and top performances.

Among those evacuated from the county on Saturday was travel blogger Ai Shake, who had arrived the previous day.

“The rain was extremely heavy this morning, flooding vast areas of farmland along the river and completely submerging the riverside walkway. If the rain continues, the village is likely to be fully inundated,” the blogger said on his social media account.

Other parts of southern China have also been hit by heavy rain, including areas in Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces.

According to the Ministry of Water Resources, prolonged heavy rain has affected areas around the Xi River, the largest tributary of the Pearl River in southern China, since June 17, pushing 55 rivers above their warning levels.

Trailblazing mathematician Yitang Zhang leaves US for job at Chinese university

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3316222/trailblazing-mathematician-yitang-zhang-leaves-us-job-chinese-university?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese-American mathematician Yitang Zhang has left the United States to join Sun Yat-sen University in southern China as a full-time professor.

The 70-year-old number theorist has been appointed to the university’s newly established Institute of Advanced Study Hong Kong and will live and work in the Greater Bay Area, the university announced at a ceremony on Friday afternoon.

While the university did not give further details about his appointment, it noted that Zhang had relocated to China with his family. Zhang spent a decade as a mathematics professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

He is the latest in a wave of mathematicians returning to China after decades-long careers in the United States, joining figures such as Huaxin Lin of the University of Oregon, Sun Song of the University of California, Berkeley, and the husband-and-wife team Chen Min and Shen Jie, both formerly at Purdue University.

Zhang is best known for his groundbreaking work on prime numbers. In a 2013 paper published in the Annals of Mathematics, he proved for the first time that infinitely many pairs of prime numbers are separated by a bounded gap. The result marked a major step towards solving the twin prime conjecture – a fundamental unsolved problem in mathematics – and reignited global interest in number theory.

Born in Shanghai in 1955, Zhang showed a strong talent for maths from an early age. He was unable to attend high school during the Cultural Revolution but taught himself and was admitted to Peking University in 1978.

In 1985, he went to Purdue University in the US for his PhD. After graduating in 1991, he struggled to find an academic position. To make ends meet, Zhang worked various jobs, including as an accountant, restaurant manager, and Chinese food delivery driver, and at one point lived in his car.

In 1999, he began teaching pre-algebra and calculus at the University of New Hampshire. Over the next decade, he published just one paper – until his astonishing breakthrough on bounded gaps between primes brought him worldwide acclaim.

The twin prime conjecture proposes that there are infinitely many pairs of prime numbers that differ by two. Zhang’s proof was the first to show that infinitely many prime pairs exist with a gap of less than 70 million. This marked a significant step because it established a finite upper limit for the gaps between infinitely many prime pairs, opening a path to further narrowing that distance, potentially all the way down to two.

His work earned him numerous honours, including the 2013 Ostrowski Prize, the 2014 Cole Prize, the 2014 Rolf Schock Prize, and a 2014 MacArthur Fellowship. He spent a semester at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey in 2014 before taking up a position at UC Santa Barbara the following year.

During Future Science Prize Week in Beijing in 2019, Zhang expressed admiration for the strength of China’s mathematics students. While teaching in China that summer, he was surprised to find many second-year students attending his lectures.

“Compared with students back in my time, or even those at US universities today, they were already performing at the level of first-year graduate students,” he said. “Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed.”

He also mentioned that, like many Chinese who studied and worked in the US, he had been considering whether to return to China eventually.

In recent years, a growing number of Chinese-American researchers have left the US amid American government investigations into their ties with China.

Launched in 2024, the Sun Yat-sen University Institute of Advanced Studies Hong Kong is the first comprehensive research centre established in Hong Kong by a mainland Chinese university.

With a team of more than 100 researchers, it focuses on three core areas: biomedical sciences, applied mathematics, and interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences, according to the university’s website.

China’s No 4 official joins in mourning death of Hong Kong tycoon Charles Ho

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3316233/chinas-no-4-official-joins-mourning-death-hong-kong-tycoon-charles-ho?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s No 4 politician was among senior Beijing officials and other heavyweights who sent wreaths to the wake for Hong Kong tobacco and media tycoon Charles Ho Tsu-kwok.

The ceremony for Ho, former chairman of the Sing Tao News Corporation who died at the age of 75 earlier this month, was held at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point on Saturday.

Ho became a standing committee member of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in 1998 and controlled Sing Tao News before selling his shares in 2021.

Wreaths were sent by Wang Huning, the fourth-most senior official in the Communist Party of China and who oversees the CPPCC, and Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, who chairs the leading work group for Hong Kong and Macau affairs.

Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs office, the office itself and Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also sent wreaths.

Retired central government officials, including ex-top political adviser Yu Zhengsheng, former vice-premier Liu Yandong and Liao Hui, who served as director of the HKMAO, sent flowers under their names.

All their wreaths read: “Immortal Ho”.

Government officials and politicians attending the wake included No 2 local official Eric Chan Kwok-ki, financial chief Paul Chan Mo-po, health minister Lo Chung-mau and former chief executives Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Leung Chun-ying, who is now a CPPCC vice-chairman.

Business leaders attending the ceremony included Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings, Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong, former joint chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties, and entertainment tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing.

“Ho’s family members were emotionally stable and the hall was packed with attendees who bade farewell to him,” lawmaker Rock Chen Ching-nin said. “The process went smoothly but solemnly.”

More than 100 wreaths were placed outside the funeral home.

The funeral will be held on Sunday.

Born in Shanghai in 1949, Ho inherited his grandfather’s Hong Kong Tobacco Company.

Ho revealed in February he was diagnosed with lung cancer last year and that he had been receiving treatment in Hong Kong.

He started smoking when he was 16 and became a staunch critic of the government’s anti-tobacco drive. But the strain of chemotherapy had caused him to change his views on tobacco, he said.

Ho kicked the habit and said he thanked health minister Lo for his crusade against smoking.

The tycoon was also well known for his outspoken views on politics, notably the scathing attacks he mounted on Leung Chun-ying during the chief executive race in 2012.

But Leung, who won the race and is now a CPPCC vice-chairman, revealed they had mended their rift and Ho became a frequent guest at Government House during his term.

Ho, who nominated Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor for the city’s top job in 2017, was among the business leaders who urged her administration to think carefully before pushing ahead with an unpopular extradition bill, which triggered months of anti-government protests in 2019.

Chinese woman, 50, marries son’s Russian classmate, sparks viral attention, scepticism

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3315880/chinese-woman-50-marries-sons-russian-classmate-sparks-viral-attention-scepticism?utm_source=rss_feed

A woman from southeastern China has gone viral after marrying her son’s Russian classmate and announcing her pregnancy, sparking controversy and scepticism online.

The 50-year-old woman, known online as “Sister Xin”, is an e-commerce entrepreneur based in Guangzhou.

Living in a suburban villa complete with a chef and driver, she shares her daily life with her foreign husband to an audience of over 13,000 followers on Douyin.

Sister Xin divorced at 30 and raised her son and daughter on her own.

Six years ago, her son Kaikai invited three foreign classmates over for a Lunar New Year dinner.

Among them was Defu, a Russian student in an advanced year compared to Kaikai, who spoke fluent Chinese after spending several years in China. His exact age has not been disclosed.

Impressed by Sister Xin’s cooking and hospitality, Defu extended his stay from a single night to an entire week.

Sister Xin recalled: “I was still young and attractive then. Defu kept in touch with me, sending gifts and surprises over the years.”

Due to their more than 20-year age gap and a 30-cm height difference – Defu standing at 195cm – Sister Xin initially dismissed his advances, citing cultural differences and her past failed marriage.

However, with her son’s encouragement, she ultimately decided to embrace love a second time. The two registered their marriage earlier this year.

The couple have travelled extensively throughout China, sampling Cantonese cuisine and visiting the hometown of kung fu legend Wong Fei-hung.

During one trip, Sister Xin came across a social media post about a mother caring for her sick baby alone.

Moved by the story, she took Defu to visit the woman’s street stall, bringing both money and food.

Sister Xin told Defu: “There is a Chinese saying, ‘A woman may be weak, but motherhood makes her strong.’ I truly admire her.”

“Don't worry, I will protect you from now on,” Defu replied.

On June 8, Sister Xin announced her pregnancy. In her video, she stated: “Older pregnancies come with risks, but being with Defu makes it worth it.”

Their baby is reportedly expected next spring, and Sister Xin mentioned that they have already bought a cot, eagerly anticipating the new arrival.

Their love story has drawn widespread attention on mainland social media, with opinions deeply divided.

One supporter commented: “Sister Xin built her life through hard work and even found love. Truly admirable. I wish her a safe delivery.”

Another expressed doubt, saying: “This feels like a scripted romance made for attention. It is too perfect to be real.”

“Will she move to Russia with Defu? She might be the same age as his parents. How will that work?” questioned a third.

In response, Sister Xin shared her prenatal check-up report, affirming: “Time will prove our love.”

Chinese sprinter gets leading gaokao marks on second go, earning a shot at top universities

https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3316214/chinese-sprinter-gets-leading-gaokao-marks-second-go-earning-shot-top-universities?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese track and field sprinter has scored a staggering 462 in the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, earning her a place in the country’s top universities.

Liu Xiajun, 19, took the gaokao for the second time earlier this month after her score last summer fell short of admission to the country’s best school, Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Liu, who is from the city of Ziyang in southwest China’s Sichuan province, rejected an offer from the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai in 2024, considered China’s second best, to chase a spot at the institution in Beijing.

“I was very surprised [when I got my results] and asked my teacher: ‘Is there a mistake in the results?’,” Liu said.

“I believe that the most important factor in achieving such results before entering formal education is perseverance.

“Despite the immense pressure of resitting the exam, you cannot think about giving up.

“I am deeply grateful to my teachers, my family and my friends for their unwavering support throughout this journey, but most of all, I am thankful for my own unwavering persistence.”

Liu also has class-topping form outside the classroom.

She won gold in the women’s 4x100 metres relay at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in South Korea in 2023, and grabbed silver in the individual event.

Her season best in the 100m is 11.55 seconds, a time she achieved at a local competition in April.

According to local media reports, one day before the gaokao was due to start, Liu was still in training.

The gaokao, which this year took place from June 7 to 10, is widely considered the most important exam Chinese students will face.

Notoriously difficult, the test can make or break a young person’s future, since their scores largely determine if and where they can attend university and what areas of study they can pursue.

In China, high-level athletes, on average, need to score only 158 points to be admitted into a university. In most provinces, the maximum gaokao is 750, a score a student named He Biyu attained in 2000 – at age 14. She went on to study at Tsinghua University.

Admissions to Tsinghua University in other subjects range from 650 to 676.

Drunk Chinese man swallows spoon, thinks it was a dream, finds out mishap 5 months later

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3315746/drunk-chinese-man-swallows-spoon-thinks-it-was-dream-finds-out-mishap-5-months-later?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese man accidentally swallowed a coffee spoon while intoxicated in Thailand, believing it to be merely a dream for several months.

The 29-year-old, known as Yan, visited a doctor in Shanghai in June, suspecting he had ingested plastic while eating takeaway food.

However, instead of plastic, the doctor at Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital discovered a 15cm long spoon lodged within him.

The spoon was trapped in his duodenum – the first section of the small intestine.

It was positioned precariously; even a slight movement could cause perforation of the intestine, resulting in inflammation or severe bleeding.

It was at this point that Yan realised his experience in Thailand back in January was not a figment of his imagination.

While travelling there, he had been drinking and attempted to use a coffee spoon in his hotel room to induce vomiting.

The ceramic spoon was inadvertently pulled from his hand by a force in his throat and slid into his stomach.

Following this, he experienced an alcoholic blackout.

When he awoke the next morning, his memory was so hazy that he believed he had merely dreamed about swallowing the spoon. He attributed his stomach discomfort to the effects of vomiting.

For the next six months after returning to Shanghai, he continued to work out, feeling no significant issues.

Doctors explained that extracting the spoon from his body was complex, as its slippery surface and the position it was in made removal challenging.

On June 18, he underwent endoscopic surgery. The initial attempt to use a snare forceps to retrieve the spoon failed due to its slippery surface.

Subsequently, Zhou Hongping, the director of the endoscopy centre at Zhongshan Hospital, decided to employ a combination of two forceps to first drag the spoon back into the stomach before switching to the snare tool for extraction.

They succeeded 90 minutes into the surgery.

Yan has since been discharged from the hospital and expressed gratitude that the spoon was discovered by chance.

Recently, a report emerged about a 64-year-old Chinese man who found a 17cm long toothbrush lodged in his intestine for 52 years.

He had swallowed it while brushing his teeth at age 12, was too afraid to inform his parents, and believed the brush would dissolve on its own.

“Another crazy thing one can do after getting drunk,” commented an online observer.

“It’s amazing he sought medical attention for something other than the spoon,” noted another.

Why is China building AI centres on the roof of the world?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3316207/why-china-building-ai-centres-roof-world?utm_source=rss_feed

Yajiang-1, a cutting-edge computing centre perched in the cradle of Tibetan civilisation along the Yarlung Tsangpo River, is up and running as part of China’s plan to transform the so-called roof of the world into a strategic frontier for sustainable supercomputing.

The facility, the first major hub of the “Eastern Data, Western Computing” project on the Tibetan Plateau, takes advantage of the region’s extreme environment to make massive artificial intelligence (AI) training tasks – amounting to millions of processing hours a year – radically more energy efficient.

China plans to harness the natural cold, abundant solar power and innovative waste heat recovery to build more AI centres like Yajiang-1, which sits at an altitude of 3,600 metres (11,800 feet).

Located in Shannan, a city in Tibet autonomous region, the centre’s initial phase will deploy more than 256 advanced computing servers, delivering a total processing power of 2,000 petaflops – a measure of floating-point operations per second.

The facility, which was jointly developed by Tibet Yarlung Zangbo Computing Technology Company and the local government, aims to pioneer high-altitude digital economies.

“Yajiang-1 will catalyse frontier innovation across AI training, autonomous driving, smart healthcare and plateau ecosystem monitoring,” said Han Shuangshuang, general manager of the computing firm, in an interview with Science and Technology Daily published on June 20.

“Multiple partnerships are already established to advance these fields,” he told the official newspaper of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

China launched its Eastern Data, Western Computing strategy in 2022 to shift data processing from eastern regions, where computing needs are intensive, to renewable energy-rich western regions. The national initiative establishes data centres in the west to handle offline analytics, storage and non-urgent computing tasks from eastern China.

Yajiang-1 leverages Tibet’s unique environment for sustainable operations. Its high-altitude location provides naturally cold, low-oxygen conditions that reduce cooling demands, while abundant renewable resources – including solar, hydro and wind power – lower operational costs.

However, a local government report acknowledged the tension between the area’s distinctive and valuable environment and the economic and technological demands of the programme.

“To address the global challenge of balancing computing needs with ecological protection in building a data centre at 3,600 metres above sea level, the centre employs an innovative ‘solar power + waste heat recovery + high-efficiency cooling’ system,” said the report published by Shannan’s investment promotion bureau on Wednesday.

The integrated approach maintains an industry-leading power usage effectiveness rating below 1.3, achieving 40 per cent greater energy efficiency than conventional data centres, according to the Shannan report.

It said that on reaching full capacity, the 2,000-petaflop centre would process around 4 million annual AI training hours for eastern China – the equivalent of saving 320 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and reducing carbon emissions by 280,000 tonnes a year.

The investment bureau report said the environmental footprint was further minimised through 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft) of on-site solar panels generating 48 gigawatt-hours of clean power annually, while advanced heat-recovery systems converted server waste heat into building warmth for nearby facilities, eliminating 12,000 tonnes of coal consumption per year.

The original Eastern Data, Western Computing plan designated eight national computing hubs – with western clusters only reaching Ningxia and Gansu. Yajiang-1 extends this framework into Tibet.

Han emphasised its role as a “critical node” in Tibet’s “computing Everest” development plan, connecting Lhasa with regional centres such as Nyingchi and Qamdo in Tibet autonomous region.

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WeChat and Alipay are China’s ‘comparative advantage’ in stablecoin race: top economist

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3316124/wechat-and-alipay-are-chinas-comparative-advantage-stablecoin-race-top-economist?utm_source=rss_feed

China already has de facto stablecoins in the form of WeChat Pay and Alipay, a top economist at the country’s leading investment bank has argued – amid growing calls for Beijing to quickly adapt to the global rise of digital assets.

“From an economic perspective, money based on third-party payment platforms functions much like stablecoins – and China holds a comparative advantage in this area, having already built a relatively mature regulatory framework,” said Peng Wensheng, chief economist at China International Capital Corporation, in a research note published on Friday.

Stablecoins are digital currencies pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar or Hong Kong dollar, or to reserve assets such as gold. Unlike highly volatile cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, they combine the speed and efficiency of crypto with the stability of traditional money.

According to Peng, platform-based digital money is an extension of legal tender, with safeguards in place to maintain a 1:1 peg with fiat currency.

“Its stability is underpinned by stricter safeguards – customer funds are backed by central bank base money, and regulatory oversight imposes tighter limits on its financial expansion,” he said.

As stablecoins move to the forefront of global economic and financial debate, Chinese state media has urged policymakers to stay ahead of the curve.

Securities Times, a publication under the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, said on Monday that “the development of [yuan-backed] stablecoins should be sooner rather than later”, warning that the “unique advantages and potential risks of stablecoins cannot be ignored.”

Peng said the US dollar’s role as a global reserve currency gives it an advantage in the race. Dollar-backed stablecoins benefit from this status, with network effects and favourable regulations helping to reinforce the greenback’s dominant global position.

Last week, the US Senate passed landmark legislation establishing federal guardrails for dollar-pegged stablecoins, paving the way for private companies to issue digital dollars with government approval.

“For non-dollar economies, developing local-currency stablecoins to counter the inherent market advantage of the dollar is not necessarily the optimal strategy,” Peng said.

“For China, the priority lies in leveraging its vast real economy and large population – with broad application scenarios – by actively promoting the cross-border use of platform-based digital currencies like WeChat Pay and Alipay.”

Peng also proposed using China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, to promote the international use of third-party payment platforms. He called for multilateral cooperation between central banks to help build a new, efficient and low-cost global payments infrastructure.

Compared to US dollar-pegged stablecoins, China’s platform-based digital money – issued by third-party payment providers – is more deeply integrated in the real economy and less driven by financial motives, Peng said.

This integration – along with a vast domestic user base and established network effects – is China’s “comparative advantage”, he added.

“As a new payment technology and business model, the mechanism behind US dollar stablecoins may have spillover effects that are not yet fully understood.”

“Completely rejecting them may not be the optimal choice.”

Peng suggested that Hong Kong, as both an international financial centre and offshore yuan hub, could serve as a testing ground for yuan-backed stablecoin.

The city’s new stablecoin regulatory regime – the first of its kind globally – is set to take effect on August 1.

In a policy statement released on Thursday, the Hong Kong government called for market proposals to trial the digital currency’s use in real-world scenarios, as part of its strategy to cement the city’s role as a global crypto hub while supporting Beijing’s broader fintech ambitions.

‘Terrifying’: China flight forced to land, with passengers reporting burning smell

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3316194/terrifying-china-flight-forced-land-passengers-reporting-burning-smell?utm_source=rss_feed

A Shandong Airlines flight from Qingdao to Shanghai was forced to make an emergency landing in Nanjing on Friday, with passengers saying they smelled a burning odour.

According to a social media post by the airline on Friday, flight SC4667 experienced an “aircraft malfunction” and the crew diverted to an airport in Nanjing after handling the situation in accordance with procedures to ensure passenger safety.

“All affected passengers have been properly accommodated, and another aircraft has been dispatched to operate subsequent flights,” the post said.

A user claiming to have been on board the flight said in a social media post that something appeared to have been sucked into the aircraft’s left engine while it was cruising.

“Terrifying,” the user wrote. “There were a few loud bangs, then the plane started shaking side to side by about 10 degrees, with a burnt smell that lasted for five to 10 minutes.”

The captain then announced the emergency landing in Nanjing, and the entire process was “very smooth,” the user said, adding: “Thumbs up to the Shandong Airlines pilots.”

Can China’s brain tech make Elon’s Neuralink open-skull surgery out of date?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3316165/can-chinas-brain-tech-make-elons-neuralink-open-skull-surgery-out-date?utm_source=rss_feed

A team led by China’s Nankai University has completed what it calls the world’s first human trial of a brain-computer interface (BCI) implanted via blood vessels, helping a paralysed patient regain limb movement.

Unlike the open-skull approach of Elon Musk’s US-based neurotechnology company Neuralink, the Nankai University method reportedly reduces risk and shortens recovery time.

This research was led by Professor Duan Feng, vice dean of the university’s medical college, and the interventional surgery was performed at the Fujian Sanbo Funeng Brain Hospital, according to a university statement.

A 67-year-old male patient with left hemiplegia from a cerebral infarction six months earlier, who was showing slow rehabilitation progress, underwent BCI interventional implantation.

Hemiplegia is a paralysis affecting one side of the body.

Under high-precision digital subtraction angiography (DSA) imaging guidance, surgeons inserted a stent electrode into the patient’s intracranial vasculature, a network of blood vessels in the skull that supply blood to the brain, via a minimally invasive neck vein procedure, according to a university statement.

The procedure embedded a stent in the vascular wall, integrated with 50-micrometre thick electrodes.

Vascular electrodes connect via a chest guide wire to a subcutaneous wireless device placed beneath the skin, enabling EEG signal collection and transmission.

According to the statement, Duan said the team combined interventional BCI with functional electrical stimulation, enabling real-time adjustments to stimulation. This approach provided auxiliary motor training while enhancing neuroplasticity, leading to stable, natural limb movements.

Post-treatment, the patient regained voluntary grasping and the ability to perform daily tasks, such as picking up medication, with no side effects from infection or thrombosis, China Science Daily reported on Monday.

Before conducting the clinical trial in humans, the team conducted numerous animal studies that integrated BCI technology with functional electrical stimulation.

In 2022, researchers successfully controlled the actions of a sheep using a BCI after identifying the electrical signals associated with its movements. The following year, electrodes placed in a monkey’s superior sagittal sinus allowed it to self-feed using a robotic arm via thought-controlled signals from the motor cortex.

In the university statement, Duan noted that this human trial marked the world’s first BCI implantation via interventional surgery.

Synchron, another American BCI company, has also received investment from billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and previously conducted 10 human interventional surgeries.

However, Synchron’s BCI only enables social media posts, music or games via Apple devices – not motor function restoration.

“The success of this trial not only verifies the safety and efficacy of invasive BCI but also enables future large-scale application,” the university statement quoted Duan as saying.

China’s BCI technology is rapidly advancing beyond US capabilities, with clinical trials expanding across cities and universities.

On March 5, Fudan University reported four minimally invasive spinal cord interface surgeries, enabling the world’s first completely paralysed patient to stand and walk.

Later, on May 21, Zhejiang University’s Second Affiliated Hospital performed the first-in-the-nation closed-loop spinal cord neural interface implantation, enabling a paraplegic patient to walk and use a bathroom independently.

The Chinese government is also actively advancing the clinical application of BCIs.

On March 12, 2025, the National Medical Insurance Administration of China established a separate item for the new BCI technology.

By March 31, the Hubei Provincial Medical Insurance Administration released the first national project on the pricing of BCI medical services, specifying the costs for the insertion and adaptation of BCIs.

In China, billing items and rates must be established by medical insurance before large-scale clinical roll-out.

Meanwhile, Neuralink, the former industry star and bellwether, is faltering.

A year and a half after enrolling quadriplegic US internet influencer Noland Arbaugh, the first human recipient of Neuralink’s brain-computer interface implant, the company only has three volunteers. Musk previously projected 20 to 30 surgeries by 2025.

Concurrently, implanted electrodes are failing; nearly 85 per cent of Arbaugh’s 1,024 electrodes malfunctioned.

When the patient inquired about the possibility of removing or replacing the implant, the medical team decided against performing another surgery.

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Cloudy with a chance of bankruptcy: US tariffs hurt China’s solar firms

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3316074/cloudy-chance-bankruptcy-us-tariffs-hurt-chinas-solar-firms?utm_source=rss_feed

The rain and gloomy skies during the SNEC PV Conference – the biggest in China’s solar-panel manufacturing industry – summed up the mood in the market, whose major players congregated in Shanghai earlier this month for the four-day annual event.

The scale was noticeably smaller this year. Several leading companies opted out for a variety of reasons, including tight budgets. More tellingly, CEOs from major producers Longi Green Technology and Tongwei – keynote speakers last year – gave it a miss.

The weariness is not surprising. The industry, billed as one of China’s three new economic drivers along with electric vehicle and lithium battery manufacturing, is facing a double whammy: producers are swimming in a sea of red amid a price war and supply glut at home, while tariffs are blocking access to export markets.

Prices in every segment of the solar panel supply chain plummeted by 60 to 80 per cent in 2024 from a peak in 2023, according to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, with 39 of the nation’s 121 listed producers in the red. Losses in the photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing value chain reached US$40 billion, according to Gao Jifan, chairman of Trina Solar. Including other business lines, the tally was US$60 billion, he said.

“Everyone is questioning how deep and prolonged this downturn will be,” Yang Liyou, general manager of solar-panel maker Jinneng Clean Energy Technology, said at a panel discussion during the conference. “It has not eased. In fact, it’s become deeper and longer than we anticipated.”

Shares of Jinko Solar, the world’s top solar panel maker in terms of shipment volume, have declined by nearly 30 per cent in New York this year, bringing the slump to more than 60 per cent from a peak in 2022. Rivals like JA Solar, Tongwei, Trina Solar, Longi, and GCL have slumped by as much as 80 per cent since 2022.

China is the world’s biggest solar-panel producer, commanding 80 per cent of the global capacity from material processing to final assembly, according to the International Energy Agency. More than 50 Chinese companies along the solar supply chain have filed for bankruptcy this year, data compiled by market tracker Solarbe showed.

China’s solar-panel manufacturers enjoyed a bit of a honeymoon in the first half of this year as developers rushed to complete installations before incentives ended this month under China’s power market reform. The front-loading means the second-half outcome could be dire.

Citigroup forecasts project installations to slump by as much as 44 per cent from an estimated 160GW in the first half. Globally, growth in solar installations is expected to slow to 10 per cent in 2025 from 33 per cent in 2024 and 87 per cent in 2023, according to forecasts by Washington-based Global Solar Council, which represents the industry at key international forums such as COP and G20.

“Market prices for all solar products declined the week after SNEC on tepid demand,” according to Pierre Lau, an analyst in Hong Kong at Citigroup, who has sell ratings on major solar producers including Longi, Tongwei, Sungrow, Jinko Solar and JA Solar.

Over the past year, the industry has attempted to reorganise and reform without much success. Attempts to export their way out of the crisis were met with punitive US tariffs, with the Trump administration fixing the loophole by targeting Chinese factories located in Southeast Asia.

China’s solar module exports declined by 8 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, with shipments shrinking again in April. Sales to all overseas markets slumped, with the exception of Europe, according to data compiled by InfoLink, a renewable energy market research firm based in Taipei.

Solar-panel producers are working on alternative strategies, such as setting up factories in tariff-friendly markets in Europe, South America and the Middle East, expanding into new business lines and capacity rationalisation. Optimism remains scarce, industry analysts said.

The SNEC PV Conference organisers invited speakers from countries like Argentina, Australia, Germany and the Philippines to introduce Chinese manufacturers to the potential in their markets. Several producers stated that establishing factories in overseas markets to meet local demand, rather than relying on exports, was a necessity.

Currently, about 80 per cent of their overseas capacity – solar wafers, cells, and modules – is concentrated in Southeast Asian countries. However, due to US tariffs on products originating from these countries, nearly all of the “reshoring” plans were focused on the Middle East and Africa, according to data from S&P Global Ratings.

The regulatory environment is a crucial consideration when deciding on production sites. Conducive government policies and big local demand make the Middle East and Africa favoured destinations, said You Xin, an analyst in Shanghai at S&P. Ultimately, high margins make the US the most attractive market.

“Whether in Southeast Asia, Saudi Arabia or Ethiopia, the goal is to sell to the US,” said Zhang Haimeng, a vice-president at Longi, a producer based in Shaanxi province. “The US is one of the few countries where significant profits can still be made at this stage. Other countries don’t hold much significance.”

Yet, reshoring poses challenges due to supply chain complexities because it involves raw material mining, processing and manufacturing of solar wafers and modules. While China dominated all these steps, these upstream segments were difficult to replicate overseas, said Jessica Jin, a senior analyst at S&P in Shanghai.

“Currently, most announced plans focus on downstream segments such as module assembly, which is easier to reshore but is also more susceptible to tariffs,” she said.

Expanding capacity overseas was a highly risky venture, according to Trivium China, a China-focused research firm.

“Domestically, we already face massive overcapacity, and increasing overseas production compounds the issue, especially when existing capacities in Southeast Asia are becoming stranded assets,” said Cosimo Ries, a Shanghai-based analyst at Trivium. “No matter how you look at it, there’s no way solar demand is going to catch up with the supply any time soon.”

In a challenging environment, companies are also diversifying by exploring other cleantech sectors, particularly energy storage systems and green hydrogen.

The SNEC conference highlighted this shift, featuring an inaugural energy storage forum, with major EV battery producers like Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), BYD and Eve Energy setting up booths. Market leaders Longi and Ming Yang Smart Energy Group showcased their ambition in hydrogen, with plans to manufacture electrolysers for generating this zero-emission fuel.

Energy storage systems, such as lithium batteries, can capture energy produced at one time for use at a later time and mitigate the intermittency of solar energy. Trina Solar, Jinko Solar, and GCL Group plan to manufacture battery cells for their own systems. However, the market is also plagued by falling prices and excess capacity.

“We are all suffering, only just slightly less than the solar industry,” said Cao Hui, general manager of REPT Battero Energy, a Shenzhen-based company that produces lithium batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. “Battery prices are going down, prices of battery materials are also going down. So are the prices of energy storage systems. Everyone is feeling distressed.”

The hydrogen market in China is not much different. Despite strong government support, the nascent industry has yet to prove its commercial and financial viability, and it is already struggling with overcapacity and price wars.

Industry players were swimming in a sea of red ink amid mounting losses, said a manager at Refire, a Hong Kong-listed hydrogen electrolyser producer headquartered in Shanghai.

It’s not easy to diversify. Solar-panel makers were squaring off with established companies in the energy storage and hydrogen businesses and lacked the necessary technical experience, according to S&P’s You. Deep-pocketed CATL and BYD had supply chain and technology advantages, as did other hydrogen production companies, she added.

EV battery giants are also flexing their financial muscle to enter the solar sector. Robin Zeng Yuqun, founder of the Fujian province-based CATL, has been vocal about his ambition to become a holistic energy provider.

“If that happens at some point, it’s going to be even more difficult for the solar companies,” said Ries at Trivium.

Major players are calling for the elimination of low-quality manufacturing capacities. Zhu Gongshan, chairman of polysilicon maker GCL Group based in Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province, said at the Shanghai conference that the industry needed “radical consolidation, adjustments, and changes across all segments.”

Some top players are taking action. GCL co-CEO Lan Tianshi said leading companies were forming a new entity run by professionals to help trim surplus capacity, control output through mergers and acquisitions, and facilitate orderly exits from the industry.

In April, Quzhou Industrial Holding, a state-owned firm in eastern Zhejiang province, acquired a controlling stake in DAS Solar, a PV cell producer in the same province that has been struggling with financial difficulties. However, such M&A activity remains minimal.

“We’re not seeing any meaningful acquisitions,” Ries said. “All the major players are losing over a billion yuan each quarter, so they’re not in a strong financial position to buy anyone out.”

China’s biggest solar panel producers last year agreed to a “truce”, accepting self-discipline measures to comply with a recommended floor price and production quota. None of that worked, and industry officials have again appealed for Beijing to intervene.

“There should be self-discipline and a reduction in capacity,” said Shi Yonghong, vice-president of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products based in Beijing. “However, companies want to grow and are reluctant to cut production. So, intervention is necessary.”

Zhu, the chairman of GCL Group, said the industry faced a “crucial window” up to next March to enforce a supply-side reform. That applies to the EV industry too, as more players have gone belly up after aggressive price discounts drew a state rebuke.

“These are all pretty impressive industries, but they cannot continue to generate the type of growth rates that we’ve got used to over the years,” said Ries at Trivium. “The super high growth phase has passed.”

China women-only bar names drinks after inspiring women, including ex-domestic abuse victim

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/gender-diversity/article/3315049/china-women-only-bar-names-drinks-after-inspiring-women-including-ex-domestic-abuse-victim?utm_source=rss_feed

A woman in China known as Auntie Jinjin has captivated social media after she overcame violent domestic abuse and became a cleaner with ambition at a women-only bar in Shanghai.

She eventually became a bartender and now has a cocktail named after her.

Jinjin’s story emerged after a Chinese blogger named Frayeef visited a bar called “Women’s Drinking Society” on May 20 and shared her experience online.

Originally from Yunnan province in southwestern China, Jinjin moved to Shanghai after getting married. She worked as a cleaner in bars across the city for more than a decade.

However, her first 10 years in the city were marked by betrayal and domestic violence, leading her to leave her marriage with nothing.

To support her daughter after her divorce, she worked two jobs, one of which involved washing cups for eight hours every evening.

Her only breaks from work were spent helping her daughter prepare for the college entrance exam or visiting family in Yunnan.

At the end of 2023, she went to work at the Women’s Drinking Society bar, starting as a part-time cleaner before making her first attempt at bartending.

The bar is entirely run by women and its menu features cocktails named after famous women, including the actresses, Lucy Liu, Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett.

It also serves drinks named after American legal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Mulan, the legendary Chinese folk heroine.

It aims to celebrate women not only for conventional success, but also for being inspiring in diverse and meaningful ways.

In recognition of her extraordinary journey and resilient spirit, the bar introduced a signature cocktail in honour of the cleaner who became a bartender called the Auntie Jinjin.

The drink combines tree tomato, basil, sour plum, and grape soda, delivering a complex blend of sour and fragrance to symbolise the ups and downs in her life.

To the blogger’s surprise, during the visit to the bar, which coincided with China’s unofficial Valentine’s Day, they turned out to be the last group of customers.

After serving them shots, Jin Jin brought over a plate of boiled corn that she had cooked to share.

“It is very glutinous and still a bit hot, eat it slowly,” she said warmly.

“I was already on my fourth drink when I suddenly felt a wave of emotion and wanted to cry,” the blogger said.

“It felt like I was being cherished again, like I was someone’s daughter. Gently and thoughtfully cared for.”

Jinjin’s story has touched and inspired countless Chinese netizens.

One person said: “I am truly moved. I met her last year. At the time, I had not eaten much before drinking and started to feel dizzy.

“She noticed immediately and handed me a tea egg she had personally prepared. I even told her I wanted to learn bartending from her. I genuinely admire this woman, always smiling, strong and warm-hearted.”

Another said: “Much respect to Auntie Jinjin. Her story deserves to be made into a film.”

While there is no publicly available data on the exact number of women in China who suffer from domestic violence, the People’s Daily reported that in 2023 alone, police issued 98,000 warning letters in response to complaints of domestic violence.

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As war threatens China’s Iran investments, Middle East still beckons

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3316085/boom-goes-deal-war-threatens-chinas-iran-investments-middle-east-still-beckons?utm_source=rss_feed

Watching as missile bombardments threaten key shipping routes and blow up some of their trade deals in the Middle East, with Iran at the centre of the firestorm, Chinese exporters are feeling the heat.

After finalising a deal with an Iranian buyer she met at China’s Canton Fair in April, Miya Yu, a trader of light industrial goods – valves, toys, aluminium containers, etc – collected the necessary materials to begin production and fill the order.

Production never began. The contracted client vanished without a word as his country engaged in battle with the United States and Israel, putting Yu’s business plans at risk of becoming an economic casualty of the latest violent crisis in a region that is among the world’s most volatile.

“We simply can’t tell whether delivery will still be possible,” she said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Cai Zhan, a foreign trade entrepreneur from Wenzhou and a social media influencer with more than 1.2 million followers on Douyin – China’s version of TikTok – said in a recent video that she had cancelled August plans to attend an auto-parts expo in Iran, after clients warned her not to come, citing the “serious” security situation.

“The ongoing conflict has severely disrupted business,” she said. And with clients cutting orders, shipping costs rising, and the outlook shrouded in uncertainty, she said many exporters in her network are tightening their belts.

In terms of tremors of instability in the pulse of global shifts, few are more attuned than Chinese exporters navigating its shock waves in real time.

In the Middle East, where security shocks and supply disruptions spill across the borders of Iran and Israel, many Chinese businesspeople are on, or near, the front lines, bracing for the geopolitical fallout. And there is a burning question they are asking with renewed urgency:

How safe are Chinese assets in the Middle East?

The Middle East, accounting for nearly half of China’s oil imports, sits at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, making it a vital transit corridor for China’s overland and maritime trade routes.

China has built deep economic ties across the region, investing in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, ports and logistics through its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

China has leveraged “economic diplomacy while carefully navigating the Middle East’s tapestry of conflicts, alliances and rivalries”, said Mohan Malik, a fellow at the US-based Near East South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies and a professor in the UAE.

“The Middle East remains a critical part of China’s belt and road ambitions,” he said. “But now, it’s all about managing risk amid escalating conflicts in a polarising strategic environment.”

For Iran, which is under a comprehensive set of US sanctions, trade with China has been declining in recent years, but it remains an important oil source for China. This gives Tehran an economic lifeline but leaves Beijing exposed to any potential tightening of US sanctions.

In 2024, trade between China and Iran totalled US$13.37 billion, with China exporting US$8.93 billion worth of goods to Iran and importing US$4.44 billion, according to official data.

The US House Committee on Financial Services reported that China buys more than 80 per cent of Iran’s oil exports. Other firms, such as commodity intelligence firm Kpler, estimated that China makes up 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports. But these have never been verified by Chinese authorities.

China is the world’s largest oil importer, getting more than 70 per cent of its supplies from abroad, having surpassed the US for that title in 2017. And about half of that oil comes from the Middle East.

With that in mind, analysts say, the Strait of Hormuz has become a flashpoint.

Iran threatened this week to close the strait following the US missile strikes. The strait has never been fully closed, but a potential blockade “would not only strike a major blow to Chinese energy security but also prompt a global spike in the price of oil, insurance and transport costs”, Malik said.

Zhou Chao, a researcher with Anbound, an independent Beijing-based think tank, said: “The China-Iran relationship is largely a pragmatic arrangement shaped by converging regional interests and economic considerations, rather than a genuine strategic partnership,” without ideological alignment or alliance.

China’s direct investment presence in Iran reached US$322 million in 2023, with total investment standing at more than US$3.9 billion by the end of that year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

“Granted, Iran’s chronic instability presents considerable risk for China’s plan for a transcontinental logistics network to Europe, on which Iran would serve as a key transit hub, but these networks are still in the planning stage and are not irreplaceable – alternative routes, such as through the Central Asian republics, remain available,” Zhou said.

Iran’s theocratic nature, and the country’s strategic conflicts with Israel and the US, mean the hostility will be difficult to reconcile, Zhou said, adding that further sanctions and pressure could be coming, and economic strains could undermine Iran’s ability to further fund China’s local infrastructure projects.

And he said that recent remarks by US President Donald Trump suggested that, if China were to buy more US oil, Washington may ease up on the China-Iran energy trade, potentially reducing international constraints on Chinese firms operating in Iran.

Although the conflict between Iran and Israel and the US threatens China’s investments, key projects, trade flows and oil imports, China has long sought to hedge its bets with other regional states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The diversification – supported by new renminbi-clearing arrangements with the UAE and infrastructure partnerships in Duqm, Jebel Ali and Suez – helps Beijing insulate its ambitious belt and road footprint from the volatility of conflict-prone regions such as Iran, according to analysts.

Some Chinese investors see the crisis as a potential catalyst for new export opportunities in the region.

Cairo, while not far away from hot zones, feels quite peaceful to Xie Junping, a businessman from Zhejiang province who opened an overseas warehouse in Cairo this month to ship more Chinese products to markets in the Middle East and Africa.

“Chinese products sell very well here, especially Chinese-brand cars,” he said on Monday, after arriving last week, noting that roads are also filled with Chinese cars, and that locals are friendly to Chinese businesspeople.

“Cairo is building a new administrative capital, and much of the construction is being undertaken by Chinese companies,” Xie said.

“Most of us Chinese investors here aren’t too worried about the safety of our investments here. In fact, I think that, after the conflict, there will be strong demand across the Middle East for infrastructure and essential consumer goods – from street lights to sofa fabrics – which will all be investment opportunities.”

He said he knew of more than a dozen textile companies back in Zhejiang that were similarly invested in Cairo, “and their sales are pretty good”.

It shows, he said, how Chinese enterprises can still enjoy relative safety in China-friendly Gulf states where political friction is lower, but nonetheless, the risk premium could increase due to “regional instability, US-China decoupling pressure, and the unpredictability of Iran-Israel and US dynamics”.

Dany Qian Jing, global vice-president for JinkoSolar, one of China’s biggest solar panel manufacturers, said the conflict between Iran and Israel had not impeded the company’s plan to build a factory in Saudi Arabia. It is still expected to be operational early next year.

“The Middle East is a very big place,” Qian told the Post on the sidelines of “Summer Davos” in Tianjin, indicating that Chinese investments in Saudi Arabia were far enough from conflict zones.

Chiang Chun Yuan, a veteran investor with ongoing projects in the UAE, said the crisis would not stop Chinese brands from “going global” in the Middle East market, despite short-term disruptions to shipping and trade.

Ongoing experiments with cross-border payments and international supply-chain settlements – pushed through Hong Kong – could also unlock more opportunities in the Middle East, added Chiang, who is also executive vice-president of the Hong Kong Institution for International Finance.

Chinese companies have a high risk appetite and are familiar with operating markets that are volatile, said Ben Simpfendorfer, partner and Asia-Pacific chief macro strategist at consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

“Firms may pause but won’t postpone investments. The Middle East, Saudi Arabia and UAE, in particular, are real prizes that can’t be overlooked,” he told the Post, adding that the region has the appetite for the type of innovation that China delivers, including rechargeable batteries, electric vehicles and solar panels.

Additional reporting by Ji Siqi

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