• China’s state-asset watchdog explores potential role of stablecoins, other digital assets
• China must ‘play long game’ with trade partners as ‘US looks like the big bully’: analysts
• Marco Rubio meets Wang Yi, China’s maglev train makes maiden voyage: SCMP daily highlights
• Chinese fighter jets buzzing Japanese aircraft: ‘a new status quo’?
• China bans popular Alzheimer’s disease surgery pending clinical studies
• Is Singapore key for the US to fight against China as Tammy Duckworth says?
• Buckle up: China unveils maglev marvel, redefining the future of high-speed rail
• China’s cotton topping robot promises fully automated production of Xinjiang crop
• South China Sea: expect ‘more provocations’ from Manila, and Hanoi could be next
• Chinese man buys coffin for elderly mum to sit in, believes it promotes longevity
• China’s strategic green investments fuel renewable sector: World Energy Investment report
• Malaysia’s South China Sea defences set for fighter jet boost in ‘quiet’ military build-up
• China blows up 300 dams, shuts hydropower stations to save Yangtze River habitat
• Will China’s first-half GDP data reveal need for more fiscal stimulus?
• Mainland China standards will get Hong Kong its northern rail line faster, cheaper. How?
• In global race for critical minerals, China identifies dozens of new reserves
• Why China’s white- and blue-collar workers are worried about losing their shirts

China’s state-asset watchdog explores potential role of stablecoins, other digital assets

https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/3317902/chinas-state-asset-watchdog-explores-potential-role-stablecoins-other-digital-assets?utm_source=rss_feed

The Shanghai branch of the regulator overseeing the assets of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) called on these organisations to explore the potential role of stablecoins and other digital assets in trade.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) in Shanghai said SOEs must “maintain a keen awareness of emerging technologies” and strengthen research on digital currencies, according to the agency’s statement on Friday.

The statement followed SASAC’s study session on the “development trend and response strategies” of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins held in China’s financial hub, where the regulator urged state-backed organisations to explore the use of blockchain technology in cross-border trade, supply chain finance and asset tokenisation.

This marked an extraordinary pronouncement from the regulator amid the central government’s years-long ban on a range of crypto-related activities on the mainland, including initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency trading and bitcoin mining.

It reflects recent calls made by state media for Beijing to be more proactive in considering legislation to regulate stablecoins, while studying their potential role in making the yuan a more global currency.

According to an article last month by state-owned financial newspaper Securities Times, “the unique advantages and potential risks of stablecoins cannot be ignored”, and “the development of [yuan-backed] stablecoins should be sooner rather than later”.

Apart from SASAC’s Shanghai branch, the municipal government of Wuxi, in eastern Jiangsu province, said in a statement last week that it would “explore practical pathways” for stablecoins to empower the development of foreign trade.

Unlike highly volatile cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum, stablecoins maintain a fixed value by being pegged to a reference asset, typically a fiat currency such as the US dollar.

The Hong Kong government, meanwhile, has received Beijing’s tacit approval and encouragement to develop the city into a digital-asset hub.

The city’s new stablecoin law, which requires issuers of these assets to be licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), is set to take effect on August 1.

“Stablecoins can offer a cost-effective alternative outside the traditional financial system and have the potential to revolutionise payment and capital market activities, including cross-border payments,” Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in a blog post last month.

Hong Kong’s stablecoin law has drawn interest from major Chinese tech firms including JD.com, through subsidiary Jingdong Coinlink Technology, and fintech giant Ant Group’s affiliates Ant International and Ant Digital Technologies. Ant Group is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.

JD.com chief economist Jianguang Shen recently said that offshore yuan stablecoins could promote the international adoption of the mainland’s currency, while elevating Hong Kong’s position as a global financial centre.

JD.com founder and chairman Richard Liu Qiangdong last month said the company was betting on its international foray into stablecoins to cut cross-border e-commerce transaction costs.

“JD.com intends to secure stablecoin licences across key currency markets globally … to reduce cross-border transaction costs by 90 per cent,” Liu said. “We hope that JD stablecoin will become a universal payment method worldwide.”

Hong Kong’s new stablecoin regime could be used as a pilot for real-world cross-border settlement and offered a way to expand the use of the digital yuan internationally, Morgan Stanley analysts led by chief China economist Robin Xing said in a report last month.

While Hong Kong-listed stocks related to stablecoins have seen their prices rally, HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man warned in a blog post last month that stablecoins were “not an investment or speculative instrument”, and by their nature had “no room for appreciation”.

China must ‘play long game’ with trade partners as ‘US looks like the big bully’: analysts

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3317908/china-must-play-long-game-trade-partners-us-looks-big-bully-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed

With US President Donald Trump sending more tariff letters to trade partners, Beijing has stepped up efforts – like rallying its own trade partners – to collectively push back against Washington’s trade protectionism.

The world’s second-largest economy will provide considerable development opportunities – from broader market access to greater regional integration – while being mindful of US threats, according to statements this week following a string of overseas visits by Chinese officials.

Some analysts say the comments suggest that Beijing is embracing an increasingly pragmatic approach, rather than just strongly worded warnings, as it fortifies itself for another round of talks with Washington early next month.

“China needs to project a firm diplomatic stance to declare its principles, while this should be coupled with actions that offer tangible benefits to its neighbouring trade partners,” said Chen Fengying, a senior fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

“The US will inevitably impose additional tariffs on transshipped goods,” Chen said. “So, it is crucial for China to play the long game with its neighbours and gradually build a more unified regional market.”

While meeting his counterparts on Thursday at the China-Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi vowed to upgrade the existing free-trade agreement with the 10-nation bloc. Most members received a 20-40 per cent hit from Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs.

Wang also offered an olive branch to South Korea and Japan, vowing to move towards a trilateral free-trade deal, and to promote the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a trade deal comprising major Asian economies and Australia.

“The more complex the situation becomes, the more we must shield our cooperation from disruptions,” he said.

A day earlier, commerce vice-minister Ling Ji arrived in Cambodia, where he expressed to officials China’s willingness to “jointly address the risks and challenges posed by protectionism and unilateralism”.

Cambodia, a country with rising Chinese investment, was hit with a 36 per cent US tariff.

Transshipments by Chinese exporters are a key target of the US tariffs.

Louise Loo, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics, said that while the definition of a “transshipment” remains unclear, the tiered-tariff system in the Vietnam-US deal is set to weaken the advantage of “China plus one” manufacturing.

“Economies like Vietnam and Cambodia, which are highly reliant on Chinese inputs, are particularly vulnerable,” Loo said.

Nick Marro, principal economist for Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: “It’s obvious that the transshipment tariffs are targeting China – Beijing knows this. So, they are going to be very sensitive to any move by the Vietnamese or any other economy to crack down on Chinese shipments.

“At the end of the day, Beijing doesn’t want to alienate other countries at a time when the US looks like the big bully in the room.”

Asian governments, caught between China and the US, may seek lower tariff rates before Trump’s August 1 deadline.

However, Washington’s one-after-another tariff decisions set a high threshold for tariff relief, according to analysts, and some say it could be advantageous for Beijing to encourage other countries to take a harder stance.

“Tariffs would presumably be removed if recipient economies decide to build or manufacture products within the United States,” Loo said. “We think this represents a very high bar for a complete tariff de-escalation.”

Loo pointed to South Korea’s experience, noting that, despite relocating part of Hyundai’s production to the US and increasing reshoring efforts, the country still faced a 25 per cent tariff.

And Vietnam, despite being receptive to a deal since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, still saw its US-bound goods hit with a 20 per cent tariff.

South Korea and Japan – US allies slapped with 25 per cent US tariffs – are seeking to take a harder stance in negotiations. Canada, a free-trade neighbour of the US under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, was hit with a 35 per cent duty.

Brazil, a key member of the Brics bloc of emerging economies, including China, has threatened to retaliate against the 50 per cent tariff that Washington slapped on Brazilian exports to the US.

“The tariffs on Brazil, in response to the treatment of former president Jair Bolsonaro, showcase how tariffs are being used as a tool for a number of aims of the administration,” two of HSBC’s global economists, James Pomeroy and Maitreyi Das, wrote in a note on Friday.

Marco Rubio meets Wang Yi, China’s maglev train makes maiden voyage: SCMP daily highlights

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3317909/marco-rubio-meets-wang-yi-chinas-maglev-train-makes-maiden-voyage-scmp-daily-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the odds for a summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this year were “high” after concluding “constructive” talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a regional meeting.

China’s employment picture is bleak – and the whole workforce, across all ages and income levels, is having trouble seeing a way forward.

A Chinese-built maglev train that will be the nation’s fastest-ever ground transport vehicle has made its public debut in Beijing – an ambitious project that is expected to drastically reduce travel times and cement China’s reputation as a world leader in high-speed rail networks.

US President Donald Trump said he would slap a 35 per cent tariff on many goods coming from Canada, marking a dramatic escalation of trade tensions with America’s closest neighbour and long-term ally.

Analysts awaiting details of China’s economic performance in the first half of the year, which are due to be released on Tuesday, will be looking to see whether more fiscal stimulus is needed to weather the tariff storms emanating from Washington.

China identified 38 new sites of mineral reserves in the first half of this year, discoveries that are expected to help the country meet its resource security goals.

China has demolished 300 dams and shut down most of the small hydropower stations on a major tributary of the upper Yangtze River to safeguard fish populations as part of an effort to restore the ecology of Asia’s longest waterway.

Chinese fighter jets buzzing Japanese aircraft: ‘a new status quo’?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317863/chinese-fighter-jets-buzzing-japanese-aircraft-new-status-quo?utm_source=rss_feed

Tokyo has expressed “serious concerns” to Beijing after a Chinese fighter jet came close to a Japanese aircraft operating in international airspace over the East China Sea on two occasions this week, with analysts suggesting that a pattern is emerging of China being increasingly willing to challenge Japan at sea and in the air.

According to Japan’s Defence Ministry, a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber flew within 70 metres of an Air Self-Defence Force YS-11EB electronic surveillance aircraft on Wednesday and maintained that position for about 15 minutes. A similar approach took place the following day and lasted about 10 minutes.

Tokyo lodged a formal protest with Beijing on Thursday, calling the behaviour “abnormal” and warning that such close contact risked “accidental collisions”. It urged Chinese authorities to take steps to prevent a repeat of the incidents.

The encounters came just a month after Tokyo protested against another “abnormal approach” by a Chinese fighter jet – this time launched from the aircraft carrier Shandong – towards a Japanese P-3C maritime patrol aircraft monitoring Chinese naval manoeuvres over the Pacific Ocean.

Analysts say the incidents reflect a longer-term shift in China’s regional posture.

“China is attempting to create a new status quo in the region and these are emerging long-term trends in Chinese security and defence policy,” said Masayuki Masuda, director of Chinese studies at the Ministry of Defence’s National Institute for Defence Studies in Tokyo.

President Xi Jinping “gave a clear order” about two years ago for the Chinese armed forces to “step up what they term ‘law enforcement’ activities around the [Diaoyu] Islands in the East China Sea in order to reinforce Beijing’s claims”, Masuda told This Week in Asia.

The islands, also known in Japan as the Senkakus, are presently controlled by Tokyo but are claimed by China. As well as operating aircraft in areas around the islands, Chinese coastguard vessels maintain an almost permanent presence within Japanese territorial waters or in the surrounding contiguous zone.

“Using the Chinese navy and air force is a way of sending a signal to Japan that Beijing is willing to monitor and challenge Japanese activities in areas that are close to China or that it considers to be its own territory,” he said.

And while it is common and perfectly acceptable for nations’ armed forces to keep a close eye on their rivals, international law and common sense dictate that such monitoring should be done at a safe distance, according to Masuda.

“This is not professional behaviour by the Chinese side,” he said. “Acting like this causes concern among Japanese personnel, although we have obviously seen such actions before against US and Australian aircraft in the South China Sea and elsewhere.”

Garren Mulloy, a professor of international relations at Daito Bunka University and a specialist in military issues, agrees that a “pattern is emerging” of a greater number of confrontations and over a larger geographical area.

“It used to be around the Senkaku Islands, but it is happening now in a far broader area, including close to Okinawa prefecture and close to other Japanese islands in the Pacific Ocean,” he said. “We are also seeing China and Russia carrying out joint air and naval exercises in areas around the Japanese archipelago.”

Increased confrontations would inevitably mean a greater chance of accidents occurring, he said, pointing to the April 2001 incident off the Chinese island of Hainan when a US Navy EP-3 signals intelligence aircraft collided with a Chinese J-8 interceptor.

The Chinese pilot was killed when his jet crashed at sea, while the US aircraft was able to make an emergency landing at an air base on Hainan, where its crew was detained for 10 days before the crisis was defused.

An incident over the East China Sea could potentially be worse, Mulloy said.

“That is a large expanse of water with very few places for a damaged aircraft to land and it is therefore difficult for search-and-rescue teams to operate in, so an accident could very well end up with fatalities,” he said.

Still, he anticipates that such close encounters will continue in the future, and potentially become even more frequent.

“China is doing this for multiple reasons, including to challenge Japan’s ability to govern its maritime and air spaces in areas of the East China Sea that Beijing disputes,” he said. “China is aiming to erode Japan’s legitimacy over the territory.”

Beijing’s military is also keen to determine response time and capabilities in the event of a clash or intrusion, as well as taxing Japanese military hardware and crews to reduce their efficiency, according to Mulloy.

While Beijing’s message is also in part aimed at Washington at a time when the United States’ relationships with long-term allies are at a low ebb due to trade and tariff disputes, Masuda says China’s confrontations have been on a rising trajectory for some years.

“I see this more as a message to US forces in the Indo-Pacific, that the Chinese military is able to operate largely at will in the region, rather than an attempt to drive a wedge between the two allies,” he said.

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China bans popular Alzheimer’s disease surgery pending clinical studies

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3317855/china-bans-popular-alzheimers-disease-surgery-pending-clinical-studies?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing has banned a surgical treatment for Alzheimer’s disease that has been carried out in almost 400 hospitals across China, but has left open the possibility that it could be re-evaluated after rigorous clinical trials.

The procedure, known as lymphatic-venous anastomosis (LVA), involves connecting the patient’s lymph vessels to veins near the neck to speed up the flow and drainage of lymph fluid. The aim is to boost the removal of harmful brain proteins and slow the disease’s progression.

The surgery has grown in popularity, particularly over the past year, since it was first performed in 2021 by a microsurgery expert from a private hospital in Hangzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

Based on publicly available information, an estimated 382 hospitals across almost all Chinese provinces had performed the procedure by the end of June.

However, in a notice on Tuesday, the National Health Commission said the therapy was still in the exploratory stage of clinical research, with indications and contraindications yet to be clearly defined.

“There is a lack of high-quality medical evidence supporting its safety and efficacy,” the notice said. The procedure has been prohibited for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, pending further clinical studies.

The authority did not rule out the surgery completely. Once sufficient preclinical evidence was available, it would guide qualified medical institutions to conduct clinical studies in a scientific and standardised manner, it said.

“Based on the results, we will organise another review of the clinical application of this procedure at an appropriate time.”

Hospitals that have been conducting the surgery for research purposes have largely suspended their operations.

A doctor at the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University said that its clinical trial – which started recruiting patients on May 30 – was suspended at the beginning of July, with “no idea when it can reopen”.

Another doctor from the Second Hospital of Jilin University said they were asked to stop research on June 28 for the clinical trial launched in November. “We were just about to start the research and were asked to stop it, without any prior notice,” he said.

Alzheimer’s disease – the leading cause of dementia – is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually the ability to carry out the simplest tasks.

Since it was first described in 1906, scientists and doctors have been striving to find an effective treatment without success. In China, around 10 million people are living with Alzheimer’s.

When the surgery first came to public attention, some Chinese doctors promoted it enthusiastically on social media, claiming it was “effective for 60 to 80 per cent of patients”.

In December, the South China Morning Post visited Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha, where Dr Tang Juyu, head of the hospital’s microsurgery unit, and his team had already performed the procedure on more than 70 patients.

According to Tang, improvements were observed in around 80 per cent of those patients, though he stressed that this was based on a preliminary, qualitative observation.

The surgery has also been met with scepticism, with some medical experts questioning its fundamental mechanism and long-term effectiveness.

Dr Fan Dongsheng, a professor with the neurology department at Peking University Third Hospital, warned that the scientific mechanism behind the treatment had not been well studied and was at present not convincing.

He also noted that reported improvements in patient symptoms were qualitative and not based on the accepted evaluation system.

Fan welcomed the government’s decision to halt the treatment, calling it “apparently problematic” that many hospitals, even small ones, performed the surgery extensively without solid evidence and had charged patients for it.

On Chinese social media platforms, many commenters expressed their anxiety that diagnosed family members would no longer be able to receive the treatment.

“If the patient’s family agrees, I think it’s worth trying, because some patients are in a really serious condition and their families are exhausted and desperate,” a person from northeastern Liaoning wrote.

One man said that his father, who was treated in March, had recovered well and could now recognise people and look after himself. If surgery had the potential to improve patients’ conditions, “most families would choose to give it a try”, he told the Post.

Cheng Chongjie, one of the first doctors to share details of the procedure with the public in December, said in a video posted to social media on Thursday that he “firmly supports” the ban.

“I think this surgery should have been stopped a long time ago because there is no standard way in which it is currently performed,” he said.

Cheng, from the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in southwestern China, said there were huge discrepancies in results, with some medical institutions having an effectiveness rate of less than 30 per cent.

“By taking this opportunity, I hope that the regulator will determine a standardised way of performing the surgery and collaborate with major medical institutions to conduct a multicentre, high-level clinical study,” he added.

Is Singapore key for the US to fight against China as Tammy Duckworth says?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317885/singapore-key-us-fight-against-china-tammy-duckworth-says?utm_source=rss_feed

Remarks by a US senator labelling Singapore as a key place for “fighting against” major rival China have offered a revealing glimpse into how some American politicians view the city state, amid Washington’s regional power struggle with Beijing.

The comments came to light after clips of a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday showed an exasperated Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth admonishing Anjani Sinha, US President Donald Trump’s ambassador nominee to Singapore.

“You want to be ambassador to Singapore, one of the most important … friends we have in the Indo-Pacific, a key place that we’re going to be fighting against our greatest adversary in the region, the PRC,” said Duckworth, a Thai-American veteran, as she referred to the People’s Republic of China.

Sinha, a Florida orthopaedic surgeon who reportedly plays golf at the same country club as Trump, grossly overestimated how large the US’ trade surplus was with Singapore last year and did not know when Singapore was going to next chair Asean or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

After chiding Sinha for not doing his “homework” on the city state, the senator from Illinois stressed the importance of Singapore to the US, adding: “This nation is too important to the United States, to Asean, to the entire region.

“And frankly, I think the mission is important to US interests and national security, and it should actually be a foreign service officer. But I have even larger concerns with the political pick when that political pick is somebody as unqualified as you.”

Analysts told This Week in Asia that while Singapore had close ties with the US, especially in terms of its security cooperation, it did not see itself as being on the frontline for America’s response to China.

Singapore has long held the position that it is neither pro-China nor pro-America but “pro-Singapore”. While China has been Singapore’s largest trading partner, the city state has long-standing defence ties with the US.

In April, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong noted that both powers claimed they did not wish to force countries to choose sides. “But in reality, each seeks to draw others closer into their respective orbits. This rivalry is already reshaping our world, and will continue to define the geopolitical landscape for years to come.”

Speaking during a lecture organised by the foreign ministry, Wong stressed that Singapore would continue to be “a safe harbour, a global emporium, and a trusted hub for all sides to engage”.

This came right after the Trump administration announced a 10 per cent tariff on Singapore despite both sides having a free trade agreement and the US having a trade surplus with Singapore. Wong expressed disappointment with the move and said in Parliament: “These are not actions one does to a friend.”

Benjamin Ho, an assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), pointed out that Duckworth’s comments offered a rare glimpse into how important Singapore was to the US outside the usual diplomatic niceties.

He noted that Duckworth had grown up in Southeast Asia and spent time in Singapore, which would give her a more intimate understanding of the country than most other US senators. Duckworth, who was born to an American father and a Thai mother, reportedly went to Singapore American School as a teenager in the 1980s.

“If you marry these two characteristics together – her own personal experience being in Singapore and the fact that the PRC represents, indeed, the biggest challenge to the US, then you’ve got that statement,” Ho said.

Ho argued that he would not read her statement as meaning that Singapore was going to be the frontline of the US’ contention with China, since it had other allies in the region, but that the statement was her personal view.

“To translate her words to mean that the United States is going to use Singapore as a front line in its challenge and response against China, and this will be translated into actual foreign policy, is stretching it a bit too far,” Ho said.

Joseph Liow, Tan Kah Kee chair in comparative and international politics and senior research adviser at RSIS, similarly noted that while Singapore was not a formal ally of the US like Japan or the Philippines, it had deep and extensive security cooperation with the superpower.

“This is a known fact and Singapore has no qualms acknowledging it. This is because its relationship with the US does not preclude it having strong ties with other countries, nor is the defence relationship directed at other countries,” Liow said.

“The premise has always been that Singapore sees the US as a major security actor in the region by way of being an offshore balancer,” he added, referring to the strategic concept of having a major power present in the region to ensure stability and dissuade adventurism of any other regional power that might seek to assert itself in a destabilising way.

Joanne Lin, a senior fellow and coordinator at the Asean Studies Centre at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, argued that viewing Singapore solely through the lens of US-China strategic competition was reductive and risked misreading Singapore’s foreign policy posture.

“Singapore, like Asean, values strategic autonomy and operates with a strong sense of agency. It prefers to engage all major powers constructively based on its national interests,” Lin said.

“Rather than framing Singapore as a frontline outpost in the rivalry with China, it’s far more productive and respectful to recognise Singapore’s value on its own terms, [that is] as a trusted partner with deep economic, defence, and people-to-people linkages, and a principled voice on regional issues,” she added.

Buckle up: China unveils maglev marvel, redefining the future of high-speed rail

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3317905/buckle-china-unveils-maglev-marvel-redefining-future-high-speed-rail?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese-built maglev train that will be the nation’s fastest-ever ground transport vehicle has made its public debut in Beijing – an ambitious project that is expected to drastically reduce travel times and cement China’s reputation as a world leader in high-speed rail networks.

The train – which can reach speeds of 600km/h (373mph) – was unveiled this week at the 17th Modern Railways exhibition, offering a futuristic glimpse of China’s rail transport aspirations.

Developed by the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), the train features a sleek, aerodynamic shape with a pointed nose to reduce drag from air moving past. Video from CCTV showed a large video screen inside a futuristic interior.

Representatives said that the first phase of engineering was completed in July 2024. More route and safety tests and engineering viability assessments will be carried out before the train can be put into commercial service.

The train will serve as a “point-to-point transport tool” between major cities as an addition to the existing railway network, according to a report in the Shanghai-based The Paper.

For example, with a top speed of 600km/h, a superfast maglev travelling the 1,200km distance between Beijing and Shanghai could slash the current travel time of 5½ hours by high-speed rail to as little as 2½ hours.

Senior CRRC engineer Shao Nan told The Paper that they expect to “fill the speed gap between high-speed rail and aviation within 2,000km”, combining the punctuality and safety of rail transport with the speed of air travel.

The superconducting electric high-speed magnetic levitation technology promises more environmentally friendly transport and energy efficiency. The benefits include higher speed, lower long-term maintenance due to the non-contact system reducing friction and mechanical wear, lower operating noise and no emissions.

Magnetic levitation uses electromagnetic induction between the onboard superconducting magnet and the track, which takes over after reaching 150km/h, enabling the train to hover. Before that threshold, rubber wheels carry the train.

“This model is equipped with a fully automated driving function … [which] requires integrating a variety of technologies such as 5G communication, AI video capture, acoustic sensing, and the deployment of various types of sensors along the line,” Shao told The Paper.

China’s first maglev line opened in 2003 with a German-built link connecting Shanghai Pudong International Airport with the city. China opened its first domestically built line in Changsha in 2016, and Beijing opened a maglev line in 2017. However, both lines are low-speed maglevs, with top speeds limited to 120km/h.

China’s high-speed rail network has expanded rapidly since the mid-2000s. According to figures, China had the largest high-speed rail network in the world, with 48,000km of track by the end of 2024. The country’s railway operator aims to surpass 50,000km of track this year.

CRRC’s new high-speed maglev train is one of several advanced transport projects under way in China.

Last year, China conducted a milestone test run of its maglev hyperloop project, designed to reach a top speed of 1,000km/h, verifying key technologies. Hyperloop technology – still in the experimental phase – utilises low-pressure vacuum tubes with magnetic propulsion systems to move trains at extreme speeds.

In May, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation scientists reported they had developed an AI-guided suspension system that eased the problem of intense vibrations that occur at high speeds, which could cause extreme discomfort for passengers.

Despite the technological advances, experts have pointed to the many challenges that come with high-speed rail innovation, including technical, economic and infrastructure hurdles.

For instance, initial construction costs are extremely high, requiring advanced technologies such as superconducting magnets and separate track infrastructure for both maglev and hyperloop systems.

China’s cotton topping robot promises fully automated production of Xinjiang crop

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3317806/chinas-cotton-topping-robot-promises-fully-automated-production-xinjiang-crop?utm_source=rss_feed

China has unveiled the world’s first laser topping robot, overcoming a major hurdle in cotton’s laborious cultivation cycle to achieve the quest for fully mechanised cotton production, according to its developer.

Cotton topping involves removing the plant’s top bud to redirect nutrients towards lateral branches, boosting boll formation and yield – a process that has long been plagued by inefficiency, inaccuracy and crop damage.

The laser topping robot was jointly developed by Xinjiang University and EAVision Robotic Technologies, a company that exports its agricultural drone products to various countries, including Japan, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand.

The robot, which made its debut in the city of Changji in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, is in the pilot test phase, with commercial availability expected to be still some years away.

It resembles a mobile canopy and uses advanced solid-state lidar – or light detection and ranging – and machine vision systems to identify the terminal cotton bud and vaporise it with a burst of heat delivered by a high-powered blue laser – all without touching the plant.

Because the plants are different heights and also sway in the wind, Xinjiang University’s Zhou Jianping, who led the development team, described the operation as “like hitting a moving target with a moving gun”.

“The robot achieves 98.9 per cent accuracy in bud detection, with under 3 per cent plant damage, and over 82 per cent topping success,” he told the official Xinjiang Daily newspaper.

“Operating at 6-8 mu [or 0.4-0.53 hectares] per hour, it’s 10 times faster than manual labour, yet its performance still has much room to improve with future upgrades,” he said, according to an article that appeared in the newspaper on Wednesday.

The robot was the result of three years of research, with the team integrating sensor technology, machine vision, and laser control to tailor the device to Xinjiang’s dense farming pattern, ensuring stability in dynamic environments, the article said.

“Compared to mechanical or chemical topping, lasers minimise plant stress, eliminate herbicide use, and allow round-the-clock operation,” Zhou said.

Xinjiang is China’s largest cotton production base, with an output of 5.686 million tonnes last year – an increase of 574,000 tonnes on 2023, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

According to Pei Xinmin from Xinjiang Agricultural University, cotton topping is the last hurdle in achieving fully mechanised cotton production.

“The successful development and application of this laser topping robot signifies that China’s cotton production is about to achieve true full mechanisation,” Pei told Xinjiang Daily.

“This is a prime example of artificial intelligence empowering smart farming. It not only promotes the upgrading of Xinjiang’s cotton industry, but also provides replicable and scalable technological models for global agriculture.”

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South China Sea: expect ‘more provocations’ from Manila, and Hanoi could be next

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3317820/south-china-sea-expect-more-provocations-manila-and-hanoi-could-be-next?utm_source=rss_feed

Tensions could worsen between Beijing and Manila over the disputed South China Sea with “more provocations” expected after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr shored up support in the midterm election, a Chinese maritime analyst says.

Wu Shicun, founder of the government-sponsored think tank the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, also said Beijing and Hanoi could be heading for confrontation over Vietnam’s increasing land reclamation activities in the contested Spratly Islands.

He said there was no sign that tensions would ease over the maritime disputes in the South China Sea and the Philippines was now the “most prominent” rival claimant.

Wu made the remarks at a seminar in Beijing on Thursday ahead of the ninth anniversary of a historic ruling by a tribunal in The Hague that dismissed China’s claims to large swathes of the resource-rich South China Sea, saying they had “no legal basis”. The case was brought by the Philippines and the ruling was rejected by China.

Addressing foreign diplomats, academics and officials, Wu accused Manila of trying to “occupy” new maritime features and to “expand disputes” over Second Thomas Shoal, Sandy Cay and Scarborough Shoal, where a series of run-ins between Chinese and Philippine vessels have taken place in recent months.

He also pointed to the Philippines allowing a US mid-range missile system to be deployed in the north of the country, saying it was an attempt to “disrupt cross-strait peace”.

The mid-range capability launcher, also known as Typhon, was stationed in the Philippines in April 2024 during joint exercises with the US, its first overseas deployment. Manila later said it had decided to keep the system indefinitely.

Beijing was angered by the move given the strike capabilities of the ground-based launcher, which can fire Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles with a range of up to 2,000km (1,242 miles) – meaning parts of the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait and even southern China would be within reach.

“This not only ties the Philippines to another country’s war chariot but also endangers the peace and security of the entire region,” Wu said.

Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema‑ala added to Beijing’s concerns when he said last month that the country would welcome more Typhon missile systems to boost training and deterrence.

The Donald Trump administration has yet to unveil its Indo-Pacific strategy, but Wu expected it to be a “continuation” of the approach under Joe Biden, which he said focused on “strengthening regional military alliances and accelerating forward deployment against China”.

Wu also said the midterm election victory for Marcos – who has embraced the US since he took office in 2022 – would further consolidate his power, and China should be prepared for more confrontations with the Philippines.

“Marcos Jnr remains relatively stable in power, and as a result there could be more provocations in the South China Sea in the second half of the year,” Wu told reporters on the sidelines of the seminar.

“From China’s perspective, it must be prepared to respond, including the possibility of a second arbitration case,” he said, referring to a potential case against Beijing over environmental damage that Philippine officials say has been caused by China.

The ruling in favour of the Philippines in the first case was made on July 12, 2016 by five judges in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. It has become a thorny issue in Beijing’s ties with rival claimants to the waterway, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei – all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

During an Asean-China summit in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan urged all parties involved in the South China Sea to act with “wisdom and prudence” to ensure that “geopolitical tensions do not escalate or threaten to undermine security and global trade”.

In Beijing on Thursday, Wu also raised concern over Vietnam’s expanding land reclamation activities in the Spratly Islands.

Vietnam has ramped up land reclamation since October 2021, adding more than 8.5 sq km (3.3 sq miles) of new land on 11 features it controls in the disputed archipelago up to May, according to a recent report by Beijing-based think tank South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative.

It said the work was done using powerful cutter suction dredgers manufactured in the Netherlands. Citing satellite imagery, it said military-related facilities such as harbour basins, wharves and runways were also being built on eight of those features.

Wu said that while Beijing had been largely quiet about Hanoi’s land reclamation, that was likely to change.

“China is unlikely to remain silent or restrained forever,” he said. “When pushed beyond a certain point, these simmering tensions will inevitably erupt into open conflict.”

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Chinese man buys coffin for elderly mum to sit in, believes it promotes longevity

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3316793/chinese-man-buys-coffin-elderly-mum-sit-believes-it-promotes-longevity?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese man has attracted widespread attention online after he bought a coffin for his 70-something mother to sit in and hired 16 men to carry it from the shop to his home as a gesture of filial piety.

The unidentified man from Shuangxikou Town, Taoyuan County, Changde, in Hunan province, southern China, hired porters to carry his elderly mother home in a casket in the hope that doing so would bring her good fortune and longevity.

A viral video shows the elderly woman sitting cheerfully inside the coffin, holding a fan, while 16 men, eight at the front and eight at the back, carry it.

Behind them, a brass band played ahead of a large crowd following the strange procession.

Once the coffin reached their home, a ritual that included incense burning and offerings was held.

Tang, a local villager who took part in the event, told Guizhou Radio TV Station that he had seen such ceremonies three times.

“The core idea is to express filial piety. It is a rural tradition. The elderly are usually very happy about it, but it is not very common these days,” he said.

In Chinese culture, caskets are considered auspicious because guancai, the Chinese word for coffin, sounds similar to “official wealth.”

Allowing living elderly people to experience the coffin is believed to bring blessings, longevity and peace.

“It is simply meant to bring joy. Buying a coffin for an elderly mother is a symbolic gesture to wish her a long and blessed life,” said Tang.

“Including the coffin bearers, horn players and a large banquet for guests, the total cost of the ceremony is about 20,000 yuan (US$2,800),” he added.

In many rural areas, when elderly people reach the age of 70 or older, they often prepare a coffin in advance and keep it at home.

Funerals for the living are often regarded as “celebratory”, or xisang in Chinese, reflecting a peaceful and accepting attitude towards death.

Coffin-carrying is also a deeply significant part of traditional Chinese funeral rituals.

While there are no strict rules regarding the number of pallbearers, according to folk customs, coffins are typically carried by either eight or 16 people. These are referred to as the “Eight Immortals” or “Eight Great Vajras.”

An unspoken rule of the procession is that the coffin must not touch the ground, so many people stand by to help, ensuring a smooth journey.

The unusual ritual sparked lively online discussion.

One person said: “It is the first time I have seen a living person being carried in a coffin. May she live to 100!”

While another added: “It is common to prepare a coffin at the age of 70 as a wish for longevity, but such a grand display is truly rare.”

China’s strategic green investments fuel renewable sector: World Energy Investment report

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3317823/chinas-strategic-green-investments-fuel-renewable-sector-world-energy-investment-report?utm_source=rss_feed

Already the world’s largest investor in energy, China is poised to shore up that position in the coming years by continuing to splash out on renewable energy, as international experts say energy security has become a key driver in the growth of global investments this year.

China’s share of global clean energy spending has risen from a quarter to almost a third in the past decade, underpinned by strategic investments in a wide range of technologies, including solar, wind, hydropower, nuclear, batteries and EVs, according to the World Energy Investment 2025 report.

Issued annually by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), the report provides a comprehensive overview of last year’s investment landscape while offering insights into the emerging trends for this year. On Wednesday, the IEA co-hosted an event in Beijing with Energy Foundation China to discuss the report, which was published on June 5.

“Today, China is by far the largest energy investor globally, spending twice as much on energy as the European Union – and almost as much as the EU and United States combined,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, was quoted as saying in the report.

The IEA, which works with countries to shape energy policies for a secure and sustainable future, expects that China will account for the largest share of investments flowing into the clean-energy market by 2035, Haneul Kim, an energy investment analyst at the IEA, said during a panel discussion at the event.

For the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases to achieve President Xi Jinping’s goal of making China carbon-neutral by 2060, investments totalling US$19.5 trillion to US$36.2 trillion will be required over the next 35 years, said Du Xuan, a programme director at Energy Foundation China, during the panel chat.

The power sector alone presents an investment potential of US$7 trillion to US$19.7 trillion, with nearly half dedicated to wind, solar, grid infrastructure, and energy storage, she noted.

Compared with traditional energy, a large portion of the full life-cycle investment in most clean-energy sectors comes from upfront capital input, Chen Ji, a managing director at China International Capital Corp, said at the event.

“We have been calling for fiscal policies to play a greater role in supporting green industries,” Chen noted.

Efforts have been made to stimulate demand through targeted policies, including the government’s trade-in programme, Chen said.

The programme, launched in 2024, aims to boost domestic demand and support the Chinese economy through equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, including EVs.

Chen also mentioned the product carbon footprint labelling plan that China has been preparing for years, and for which it released pilot rules in March, as a measure that lays the foundation for more green consumption.

He noted that fiscal support should be directed towards infrastructure investment, as China’s charging and battery-swap facilities are at a stage that calls for more funding.

Experts at the event also discussed promising sectors that are expected to be boosted by the clean-energy push, including the recycling of used clean-energy products and key mineral resources.

With China’s wind and solar projects now reaching the end of their lifespans after two decades of use, and electric vehicles entering their 10th year, recycling old panels, turbines and batteries has become a rising issue for China and the world, Huang Wei, an energy specialist from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said during the panel discussion.

The transition to clean energy is also shifting the focus of demand away from fuels to mineral resources, said Ju Jianhua, former director general of the Department of Mineral Resources within the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, at the event.

Most countries have established lists of critical minerals vital to clean-energy technologies, Ju said, noting that these resources have become central to global geopolitical competition and represent a growing area of opportunity for the mining industry, which is poised for strong growth.

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Malaysia’s South China Sea defences set for fighter jet boost in ‘quiet’ military build-up

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317779/malaysias-south-china-sea-defences-set-fighter-jet-boost-quiet-military-build?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States’ approval of Malaysia’s purchase of dozens of fighter jets is set to bolster the Southeast Asian country’s air capabilities – especially in the South China Sea – as part of a strategy to “quietly” build deterrence while also preserving cordial ties with China.

Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) chief General Tan Sri Asghar Khan Goriman Khan confirmed during a June 17 briefing that Washington had approved Malaysia’s request to acquire up to 33 used F/A-18C/D Hornet fighter jets from Kuwait.

The move, which requires congressional sign-off under the US Arms Export Control Act, comes after years of negotiations that began in 2017. Malaysian Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari has said the deal is expected to be finalised this year.

Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia programme, said the purchase of the fighter jets would significantly bolster Malaysia’s air defence capabilities.

“This is critical in East Malaysia, where Malaysia’s energy blocks are located in the South China Sea, close to Sarawak,” Rahman said.

If deployed in East Malaysia, the Hornets would complement newly developed naval facilities in Sarawak and demonstrate Kuala Lumpur’s efforts to build deterrence in an area that had seen increasing Chinese activity, Rahman added.

Last year, the RMAF began strengthening its air surveillance capabilities in East Malaysia by deploying US-supplied AN/TP77 and French GM400A radars. These long-range radars enable Malaysia to monitor the airspace over its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

Rahman said Washington was also expected to provide support to ensure the Kuwaiti aircraft were up to date and to strengthen the Southeast Asian country’s maritime domain awareness.

“These projects reflect a close US-Malaysia defence partnership, which is generally kept under the radar. It also reflects the Malaysian government’s policy of engaging China positively while quietly building up Malaysia’s defence capabilities,” Rahman added.

The RMAF’s current fleet was insufficient in covering both Peninsula and East Malaysia, Rahman said, noting that in 2021 the country could only send its old Hawks to deter Chinese combat aircraft that were spotted flying towards Malaysian airspace.

In May 2021, 16 Chinese military transport aircraft – identified as Ilyushin Il-76 and Xian Y-20 strategic transporters by the RMAF – were detected flying near Malaysian airspace over the South China Sea.

Kuala Lumpur protested against the incident, describing it as a “serious threat to national sovereignty and flight safety”, and summoned the Chinese ambassador.

Beijing said the planes were conducting routine flight training and “strictly abided by” international law without violating the airspace of other countries.

Oh Ei Sun, principal adviser at the Pacific Research Centre of Malaysia, said the upgrade in terms of numbers and technology was needed as the RMAF had to patrol vast land and sea territory.

“[This includes] not only in the South China Sea, but also the Sulu Sea and the Malacca Strait,” Oh said.

The acquisition of used as opposed to new aircraft, Oh said, was due primarily to financial constraints, although maintenance cost could also be a concern moving forward.

Rahman said air domain awareness and defence was a major weakness for Malaysia, and the RMAF did not have sufficient air defence capabilities, including the Ground Based Air Defence System.

The latter is designed to protect land-based assets and forces from aerial threats, including aircraft, drones and missiles, and is said to be crucial for ensuring the safety of critical infrastructure and personnel.

Kuala Lumpur is said to be buying more additional radar systems to strengthen its air defence capabilities, most notably through the acquisition of two more Ground Master 400 alpha (GM400α) long-range air surveillance radars from the French to add to its current two.

The radars will be deployed in Peninsular and Eastern Malaysia to improve situational awareness and detection of various threats, including low-flying and fast-moving targets.

Under the US-Malaysia military partnership, both sides conduct frequent bilateral and multilateral joint exercises, such as Bersama Warrior and CARAT Malaysia.

Washington also provides support in strengthening Malaysia’s defence capabilities, including through training and equipment transfers.

Malaysia, like Vietnam, is taking a “softer” approach with China regarding the South China Sea, mostly “done behind the scenes through diplomatic channels”, according to Rahman, to avoid embarrassing Beijing publicly.

“One former Vietnamese defence official advised that when engaging China, Beijing must not lose face. This is the same approach undertaken by Malaysia,” Rahman said.

While there have been several encounters with Chinese vessels at Malaysian state energy firm Petronas’ oil and gas projects in recent years, Malaysia and China have said they will seek to peacefully resolve disputes in the South China Sea.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said Petronas will continue its exploration activities in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone, despite objections from China.

China blows up 300 dams, shuts hydropower stations to save Yangtze River habitat

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3317644/china-blows-300-dams-shuts-hydropower-stations-save-yangtze-river-habitat?utm_source=rss_feed

China has demolished 300 dams and shut down most of the small hydropower stations on a major tributary of the upper Yangtze River to safeguard fish populations as part of an effort to restore the ecology of Asia’s longest waterway.

According to a report by the state news agency Xinhua on Monday, 300 of the 357 dams on Chishui He – also known as the Red River – had been dismantled by the end of December 2024.

In addition, 342 out of 373 small hydropower stations have been decommissioned, enabling many rare fish species to resume their natural reproductive cycles, the Xinhua report said.

The Red River flows for more than 400km (249 miles) through the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. It is regarded by ecologists as the last refuge for rare and endemic fish species in the Yangtze’s upper reaches.

Over the decades, water flows have been increasingly blocked by the dense network of hydropower stations and dams, restricting water volumes downstream and occasionally even causing some sections to dry up entirely.

This has drastically reduced the amount of suitable habitat and spawning grounds. The stations also blocked the routes of migratory fish species between breeding grounds and non-breeding areas.

Zhou Jianjun, a professor of hydraulic engineering at Tsinghua University, said that the decommissioning of hydropower stations usually referred to the cessation of electricity generation.

“The key is not whether the facilities still exist, but that, after power generation stops, the method of water control can be changed to meet ecological needs,” he said.

According to the Xinhua report, the large-scale rectification work that began in 2020 has meant that aquatic wildlife species, including the Yangtze sturgeon, have regained their habitat and vitality.

Along with the Chinese paddlefish, the freshwater sturgeon species – known as the last giant of the Yangtze – was declared extinct in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2022.

The natural population of the sturgeon has declined sharply since the 1970s, largely as a result of dam construction and the development of a shipping industry in the Yangtze River.

No naturally bred young sturgeon had been found in the entire Yangtze River since 2000, but a team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Hydrobiology has reported promising signs of recovery, according to Xinhua.

The team, led by Liu Fei, a researcher at the institute in Wuhan, released two batches of Yangtze sturgeon into the Red River in 2023 and 2024, which have successfully adapted to the wild environment and are thriving.

This year, the researchers decided to take it a step further and examine whether the fish could migrate naturally for reproduction. In April, they released 20 adult Yangtze sturgeon into a section of the river in Guizhou.

By mid-April, they observed the fish displaying natural spawning behaviour and successfully hatching fry, the researchers said.

“This achievement indicates that the current ecological environment of the Red River can now meet the habitat and reproductive needs of Yangtze sturgeon,” Liu told the news agency.

According to the institute’s latest monitoring results, the Red River’s aquatic biodiversity is steadily improving, with a significant increase in the number of fish species collected in various sections of the river.

China has launched a series of policy measures to protect the Yangtze’s critical role as an aquatic habitat, all centred on a 10-year fishing ban imposed in 2020 and the regulation of the small hydropower stations that have affected its biodiversity.

For example, by the end of 2021, Sichuan had essentially finished rectifying its 5,131 small hydropower stations, which included shutting down 1,223 of them, according to a local official report the following year.

The local government has also strictly prohibited sand mining in the rivers in a bid to create a more favourable environment for aquatic animals to breed and reproduce.

In a communique released in August last year, Beijing announced that aquatic biodiversity had steadily improved since the fishing ban and other measures were introduced.

Fish, invertebrates and amphibians continued to recover, while the overall water quality of the Yangtze and its tributaries was rated as “excellent”, it said. The intensity of sand mining and other projects affecting fisheries had also decreased.

Will China’s first-half GDP data reveal need for more fiscal stimulus?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3317789/will-chinas-first-half-gdp-data-reveal-need-more-fiscal-stimulus?utm_source=rss_feed

Analysts awaiting details of China’s economic performance in the first half of the year, which are due to be released on Tuesday, will be looking to see whether more fiscal stimulus is needed to weather the tariff storms emanating from Washington.

While the market largely expects second-quarter economic growth to reach 5 per cent, in line with the full-year target, concerns linger that the rosy headline figure could mask persistent weakness in domestic demand and employment.

On top of these structural challenges at home, rising external uncertainty – particularly amid shifting US trade policy – has emerged as a pressing concern, prompting many economists to call for stronger fiscal support.

“In the second half of the year … the economy will remain under intense external challenges and shocks,” economists led by Lian Ping, chairman of the China Chief Economists Forum, said in a note issued on Wednesday.

“Achieving the full-year growth target will not be easy, and will require more forceful, innovative, wide-ranging and targeted policy measures,” they wrote, citing the pressures on the domestic economy stemming from the trade war with the United States.

Similarly, central bank adviser Huang Yiping said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin last month that he “would be very much in favour of a proactive fiscal policy” if external uncertainties were to trigger a downturn in the domestic economy.

“What we see at the moment is rising uncertainties,” he said. “We are very much worried about deglobalisation, trade, protectionism and so on.”

On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced tariffs of up to 40 per cent on 14 countries, most of which are major destinations for Chinese exports, despite breakthrough talks in London that laid the groundwork for the removal of most bilateral export controls.

The next bilateral talks are planned for early next month, when a 90-day tariff truce expires, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC on Tuesday.

“Despite all the headlines about tariffs, economic data from the first five months of 2025 shows little damage from the trade war 2.0,” Larry Hu and Zhang Yuxiao, from investment bank Macquarie, said in a note issued last week.

While year-on-year gross domestic product growth might exceed 5 per cent in the first half of the year, they also noted that “this growth has been deflationary, jobless and profitless” due to weak domestic demand.

“Without a strong policy stimulus, it’s hard to escape the ongoing deflationary spiral,” they said. “However, a policy bazooka is unlikely until exports slow down significantly. This is because policymakers only want to hit the 5 per cent growth target, not overachieve it.”

The market expects the world’s second-largest economy to have grown by about 5.17 per cent in the second quarter, according to a poll of economists conducted by financial data provider Wind.

The National Bureau of Statistics will release GDP, investment, consumption and employment data on Tuesday.

Analysts are also cautioning that Beijing needs to address a disconnect between macroeconomic data and on-the-ground sentiment.

“There is indeed a gap between the lived economic experience and the headline macro data,” Hu Yifan, managing director and regional chief investment officer for Greater China at UBS, told a forum in Hong Kong last week.

She said that while holiday spending – such as that seen during the Labour Day holiday in May – might appear robust on the surface, average spending per customer was down compared with pre-pandemic levels.

“Retailers aren’t making money,” Hu said.

Amid external headwinds, Beijing has doubled down on stimulating domestic consumption this year, including a 300 billion yuan (US$41.8 billion) central government trade-in programme. But that scheme has shown signs of losing momentum in recent weeks.

Some economists are relatively upbeat about China’s outlook in the second half of the year.

“Overall momentum is better than most expected, reflecting the economy’s internal resilience to tariff shocks and the positive impact of early-year fiscal stimulus,” said Xu Tianchen, senior China economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, adding that the decent growth seen so far this year did not make a case for immediate stimulus.

He said he did not foresee another tariff shock hitting China any time soon.

“The US hasn’t gained the upper hand in either round of economic warfare with China – one over tariffs, the other on export controls – and Trump would have to think twice before launching another assault,” Xu said.

Meanwhile, some analysts argue that China’s consumption level is much stronger than that suggested by mainstream metrics, with the actual gap in real consumption volumes between China and developed countries far narrower than it appears.

A report by the China Finance 40 Forum, a Beijing-based think tank that comprises senior Chinese regulators and financial executives, said last week that China’s actual consumption power – based on per capita consumption volumes across categories such as food, clothing, computers, home appliances, housing and travel – may have already surpassed that of Mexico and reached 40 to 50 per cent of the levels seen in developed nations such as Japan and Germany.

Mainland China standards will get Hong Kong its northern rail line faster, cheaper. How?

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3317768/mainland-china-standards-will-get-hong-kong-its-northern-rail-line-faster-cheaper-how?utm_source=rss_feed

Hong Kong’s move to use mainland standards for a cross-border rail project in the Northern Metropolis megadevelopment can set a viable precedent for the future, experts have said, as it capitalises on China’s established and rapidly growing railway sector.

Although the Hong Kong government did not specifically set out which mainland Chinese standards would be applied to the construction of the Northern Link spur line, it forecast that the project could be completed two to four years earlier in 2034 and costs would be lowered by 20 to 30 per cent.

Some experts said the switch to China’s rail standards from the existing United Kingdom and European ones meant the city could leverage the mainland’s expertise, workers and sourcing of materials on the back of the country’s extensive railway network.

They also suggested it could be a way out of the city’s notorious reputation for having the highest construction costs in Asia.

The government considers the Northern Link project to have “significant strategic value” as the cross-border railway connecting Hong Kong and the mainland is expected to complement the development of the Northern Metropolis, which aims to transform 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) of land into an engine for economic growth, supporting a population of about 2.5 million and creating around 650,000 jobs.

Henry Cheung Nin-sang, chairman of the Association of Hong Kong Railway Transport Professionals, said the mainland set national standards for various industries including the railway and construction sectors. They were about 95 per cent similar to those in Europe and the United States as the country had export business with these markets.

“Mainland contractors normally produce prefabricated modular sections for bridges and railways in factories and assemble them on site, which significantly lowers costs, avoids restraints from labour issues and boosts efficiency,” he said.

Lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu, a former engineer with rail giant the MTR Corporation, said the city could deploy mainland machinery and work methods.

“In Hong Kong, a tunnel boring machine is typically used in a single project, whereas on the mainland, it is used across multiple projects, resulting in cost reductions,” he said, noting that the distinct working styles in both regions contributed to the cost variance.

Rail experts said a tunnel boring machine tended to be used only once in Hong Kong because it was normally imported from Europe and was too expensive to ship back upon completion of a project. So its fate was to end up being scrapped. On the mainland, contractors can ship a tunnel boring machine to other provinces for use due to lower transport costs.

Zhang said that railway construction in Hong Kong, particularly for tunnels, was around HK$1 billion (US$127 million) per kilometre, roughly 10 times higher than the cost on the mainland.

He also noted that Beijing’s procurement advantage was one reason for this disparity.

Aaron Bok Kwok-ming, former president of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, said that when a communications system was built using international or European standards, components such as fans would generally be sourced from Europe.

However, he said that using “mainland standards” could mean creating a comparable communications system using materials produced in and sourced from the mainland at a much lower price.

He added that mainland factories sometimes employed a “one-stop” shop approach to supplying materials, which significantly differed from Hong Kong’s and added to higher costs.

The International Construction Cost Index showed Hong Kong ranked ninth globally in 2024. The city was among the top three most expensive in the world from 2016 to 2020.

In last year’s ranking, compiled by consultancy firm Arcadis, the city had the most expensive construction costs in Asia.

Zhang stated that because the project’s spur line would connect to Huanggang port and serve as a cross-border railway link, exclusively using Hong Kong standards would effectively require applying procedures from both the city and the mainland, thereby increasing costs and time.

Before the announcement this week that the MTR Corp would use mainland railway standards, the construction industry had already called for their adoption over the European standards long used by the city.

John Batten, global cities director at Arcadis, earlier told the Post that Hong Kong had traditionally peer-reviewed itself or consulted European Union and British standards, with such materials linked to a supply chain that was far away and tended to incur much higher premiums.

Batten, whose company has acted as a consultant for local projects such as the M+ art museum and several public housing estates, said that the supply chain in China was typically at a lower price point than European standards.

Batten said materials from the mainland were of comparable standards to those from elsewhere.

British construction standards have had a long history in the city. The Kowloon-Canton Railway, Hong Kong’s first major railway, opened its British section in 1910 under its colonial administration.

Its construction methods have adhered to the prevailing British railway engineering and operational standards of the era.

The colonial context and involvement of UK experts meant British standards heavily influenced the MTR’s initial design, construction and crucial safety protocols.

Meanwhile, the mainland’s railway operator is rapidly ascending, leveraging its extensive network. It is on track for a record-breaking 2025, with the country’s total high-speed railway mileage projected to exceed 50,000km (31,068 miles).

Since its first high-speed passenger line debut in 2008, China has now become home to the world’s largest high-speed railway stretching about 45,000km. The mainland developed high-speed trains that can travel as fast as 400km/h (249mph), the world’s fastest commercial bullet train.

The country has been at the forefront of international railway developments and standardisation efforts, from the Eurasian freight rail routes between China and Europe to projects in many developing countries and developing Arctic rail lines, working with Russia.

On the safety front, Lau Chun-kong, a surveyor and managing director of real estate company Colliers Hong Kong, noted that the mainland had built an extensive high-speed rail network and so far, it has run well without major incidents or complaints. It is considered to be one of the safest in the world.

An industry insider anticipated the Northern Link spur line project could serve as a test and, if it worked out, it could pave the way for more projects subject to mainland standards.

Lau said that the mainland’s extensive experience in railway construction could give it a significant procurement advantage.

“The mainland has rich experience in building railways, which allows it to drive down material costs through bulk purchasing,” he said.

Additional reporting by Denise Tsang

In global race for critical minerals, China identifies dozens of new reserves

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3317722/global-race-critical-minerals-china-identifies-dozens-new-reserves?utm_source=rss_feed

China identified 38 new sites of mineral reserves in the first half of this year, discoveries that are expected to help the country meet its resource security goals.

The Ministry of Natural Resources said on Thursday that the number of new mineral sites increased 31 per cent year on year during the period, and included the discovery of reserves with an estimated 3.37 million tonnes of rubidium and 81 tonnes of gold.

Rubidium is used in biomedicine, telecommunication systems, pyrotechnics and specialty glass, and gold is used, among other things, in the development of electronics and aerospace components.

In the first six months, China’s investment in mineral exploration rose more than half from a year earlier including in tin, bauxite, tungsten, copper and phosphate – all of which are critical elements in the aerospace, semiconductor and green energy industries.

Investment in non-hydrocarbon mineral exploration grew rapidly – up 23.9 per cent year on year to 6.69 billion yuan (US$932 million).

“[We] will improve basic geological work and advance strategic prospecting to further strengthen … national energy and mineral resource security,” said Niu Li, deputy director of the ministry’s geological exploration department.

Mineral reserves are vital to Beijing’s national strategic planning, industrial development and energy transition, and while they are diverse in China, they are unevenly distributed. With substantial domestic demand, the country is highly dependent on external supplies of certain critical metals, notably iron ore.

In 2011, the State Council, China’s cabinet, approved a plan to expand resource exploration, particularly in minerals used in energy, bulk commodities and strategic emerging minerals. The ministry said that those national efforts had resulted in advances in exploration technology, extraction methods and equipment innovation.

The ministry said China had met the exploration targets for most mineral types ahead of schedule under the five-year plan for 2021-2025.

One of the most recent discoveries is a super-large altered granite-type lithium deposit in the Jijiaoshan mining area in the central province of Hunan province. The site had an estimated 490 million tonnes of lithium ore and 1.31 million tonnes of lithium oxide, according to Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.

The report quoted Hunan’s natural resource department as saying the deposit held medium-to-large scale reserves of strategic by-product minerals, including rubidium, tungsten, tin, niobium and tantalum.

In January, China discovered a 2,800km world-class spodumene-type lithium metallogenic belt in the Kunlun Mountains region in western China. Verified resources exceeded 6.5 million tonnes, with total potential estimated at over 30 million tonnes, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Dubbed “white petroleum”, lithium is a critical element in emerging industries such as electric vehicles and advanced energy storage systems.

China is the world’s second-biggest holder of lithium reserves, with about 16.5 per cent of the global total.

Why China’s white- and blue-collar workers are worried about losing their shirts

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3317748/why-chinas-white-and-blue-collar-workers-are-worried-about-losing-their-shirts?utm_source=rss_feed

This is the final story in a exploring the domestic economic challenges China faces as it navigates an unprecedented trade war with the United States. In this piece, we explore the country’s cloudy employment outlook for workers across all sectors, and how truck drivers and high-powered lawyers alike are learning to adjust their expectations.

When his chemical company laid off a third of its team, Liang Wang felt a mix of emotions: relief that he was not among them, but dread that more cutbacks would soon be on the way.

Liang, a corporate culture director based in Dongguan – a manufacturing hub in the southern province of Guangdong – was able to keep his job, but had to take a steep pay cut.

“There just aren’t enough orders for production,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do.”

For years, he thought himself lucky to have landed a stable job in an established company with R&D labs and factories across several provinces. Now in his 40s, Liang said his salary was once sufficient to raise two children and pay a mortgage, but “it’s definitely not enough” at present.

“The problem is, it’s much harder than two years ago to find another job with similar pay.”

Liang is far from alone.

Anxiety is gripping China’s workforce, with few exceptions among industries, age groups and income brackets. From factory floors to corporate offices, the fear of lay-offs, shrinking wages and a dearth of alternatives is becoming universal.

While the country’s urban jobless rate was 5 per cent in May – under the government’s official target of 5.5 per cent for the year – the rate among those aged 16 to 24 was 14.9 per cent excluding enrolled students. This was an improvement on April’s reading, but significantly higher than the 14.2 per cent reported for the same month last year.

But these broad metrics do not capture the less quantifiable aspects of life in the current job market. Across China, mid-career professionals, blue-collar workers and seasoned executives are finding themselves equally vulnerable – trapped in roles that no longer pay enough, or pushed out of jobs they once thought were secure.

Not even those who have spent much of their lives atop the professional pyramid are immune. Senior lawyers – long associated with stability and success – are now quietly tightening their belts.

For Janet Deng, a partner at a mid-sized law firm in Guangdong, working hours are significantly longer, but earnings per case are generally lower than two years ago.

“Clients are less willing to seek legal services, and even when they do, the fees they can pay are very low,” the 46-year-old said.

During the industry’s boom years, some ambitious lawyers would invest heavily in their image to attract high-end clients. “It used to be common to buy luxury watches or upgrade to a fancy car to boost one’s profile. Now, those kinds of budgets have been cut entirely.”

While the lack of a Rolex may be a more manageable problem than most, financial pressures are beginning to encroach elsewhere – including on housing, a basic necessity and in past years a rock-solid investment for the average person. “I bought an apartment before the pandemic, thinking it would hold its value, but prices have plummeted.”

The outlook is even bleaker for junior lawyers and new graduates – fewer cases, lower pay and meagre job security.

“In the past, graduates of prestigious law schools could easily land offers from major corporations or government agencies like the courts and prosecutorial offices,” Deng said.

“But now, with fierce competition, many fresh graduates are willing to accept positions at ordinary law firms.” Even then, she said, salaries are not what they used to be – over the last two years, starting pay has dropped to 5,000 yuan (US$697) per month from 7,000 yuan, and only graduates from China’s top five law schools stand a real chance at landing a position.

Wang Dan, a director of the China team at the Eurasia Group consultancy, said this wave of doubt spans the whole of the labour force.

“It’s the first time in China’s 40 years of reform and opening-up that such a broad, multifaceted employment challenge has emerged,” she said.

“In the past, major employment crises were typically triggered by specific shocks like the global financial crisis. But this time, it’s structural, cyclical and compounded by other factors. We’ve never faced anything quite like it.”

While the crunch is being felt across all sectors, China’s manufacturing industry is under particularly intense strain. A toxic mix of depressed growth, domestic policy tightening and geopolitical uncertainty has sapped companies’ willingness to hire, or done away with firms altogether.

In Guangdong alone, factory and small business closures have become frequent headlines in recent weeks, as companies fight to survive amid shrinking orders, rising costs and a murky outlook on global trade.

In the province’s industrial hubs, the chronic bad news has kept local communities on edge, prompting fears of job losses and dampening consumer confidence, which only serves to make the problem worse in a vicious feedback loop.

For instance, Aocai Packaging – a firm in Foshan that raised 100 million yuan in a 2023 funding round – shut down in June and laid off hundreds of employees due to rising costs and industry downturn.

The Canada-funded manufacturing and design company Celestica, which works on behalf of international giants such as IBM and Cisco, closed its Dongguan factory on July 1 after operating for more than 20 years. It told local employees that the move was in response to market changes and future strategic adjustments at its headquarters.

“It’s really tough for business owners and workers right now,” said Tan Jian, owner of a lighting supply company in the province and witness to a string of company closures. “Everyone can relate when they see these stories of companies shutting down.”

His firm has not been spared, he said. “Honestly, even our own export orders have been declining. One piece of bad news after another – it’s putting the entire industry under pressure.”

At the same time, global trade tensions, particularly with the United States, have put China’s exporters on edge.

“When global demand is uncertain and tariffs can change overnight, no one wants to commit to new hires,” said an operations manager at a mid-sized export firm in Yiwu, who requested anonymity.

“Even if we get short-term orders, we’re afraid to expand the team – it’s just too risky.”

Meanwhile, the government’s push to curb stifling intra-industry competition and reduce excess capacity in some rapidly growing sectors – though intended to guarantee long-term economic health – has also stoked fears of lay-offs in the short run.

Last week, the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission – a Communist Party body that supervises economic matters – held their sixth meeting. In a readout issued afterward, the commission called for a crackdown on the cutthroat competition between firms that has sent prices into a downward spiral.

The committee also urged the phasing out of obsolete industrial capacity, as several manufacturing sectors develop sophisticated production lines that require less human input - while both recommendations are good for efficiency, they could be troublesome for the job market.

Leading solar glass manufacturers, for instance, appear poised to scale back production. The China Cement Association, a non-governmental trade group, has issued formal guidance on restructuring for its member firms, and several steel mills have already received notices from local officials to limit their output and control emissions.

Authorities are also taking direct action. According to a circular released on Wednesday by the State Council, China’s cabinet, a one-time employment subsidy will be provided for companies and social organisations that hire unemployed people from the ages of 16 to 24.

Employers who provide formal contracts for these hires and make full contributions to unemployment, work injury, and pension insurance funds for at least three months will receive up to 1,500 yuan per person.

China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, has also allocated an additional 10 billion yuan in central government funding to expand its “work-for-relief” programme, intended to create jobs through large-scale public works projects.

Such ameliorative measures will be welcomed in many fields, including the hard-hit solar sector. In 2024, amid plummeting prices and a glut of supply, mass lay-offs swept the industry. Top players – including Longi, Tongwei, Trina, Jinko and JA Solar – underwent painful rounds of downsizing in a desperate bid for survival.

According to Longi’s annual report, its workforce shrank from 75,000 to just 37,800 in one year – a 49.6 per cent drop, the sharpest in the industry.

Jinko Solar cut over 23,600 employees, down 41.1 per cent from the previous year. Other major firms slashed staff by more than 20 per cent, as collapsing profits forced deep cuts even among industry behemoths.

While the giants struggle to stay afloat, temp workers and fresh graduates are already deep underwater.

Jack Wang, who has run a boot factory in Dongguan for years, noted that pay for temporary workers has been falling steadily in the city – 20 yuan per hour in 2022, 17 yuan in 2023, and just 13 yuan this year.

Further inland, long-haul truck driver Zhang Liang of Jingshan in Hubei province sleeps in his truck and transports goods across provinces in scorching heat just to earn about 9,000 yuan a month.

“I cook instant noodles in the truck,” the man in his late 30s said. “A few years ago, I used to dream of buying a Casio watch. Now I don’t even think about it. Every penny is hard to earn.”

He bought his home in 2012, and its market value has now fallen back to roughly the same level. It is hard to find a buyer, if not downright impossible.

And in major cities, young white-collar workers are also recalibrating their ambitions. With the bleak employment picture appearing to be a fact of life, many are opting for stability over risk as they stay in their jobs and lie low, waiting for the storm to pass.

When Li Yin graduated two years ago, she wasn’t satisfied with her first job at an urban planning firm in Guangzhou, or her monthly salary of around 5,000 yuan. She was determined to go to graduate school to secure better options.

That is no longer the case. “I’ve changed my mind,” she said. “This job doesn’t require much overtime. Honestly, for an ordinary college graduate, that’s not bad.”

Mark Tang, a 30-year-old working at a leading internet company in Beijing, said he has no plans to seek a new position.

“Of course I’m afraid of losing my job – it would mean losing a steady income,” he said. “Everyone’s saying it – articles, videos – they all talk about how hard it is to find work right now. So I figured, staying put is probably the best option.”