• China trade talks could include TikTok, Lutnick says
• China slams US envoy nominee for framing Argentina as a great power ‘battlefield’
• Chinese team’s ultratough aerogel could shield aircraft from new extremes
• Xi meets EU leaders, China’s little-known oversupply problem: SCMP daily highlights
• Hong Kong firms eye proprietary Chinese medicine opportunities on the mainland: HKTDC
• China and EU agree to upgrade export safeguards to ensure critical mineral supply chains
• China’s quest for AI self-reliance undeterred by Trump’s new action plan
• Chinese drones carry 180 tonnes of steel and concrete up mountain in pioneering feat
• China cuts back on pork as excess hog supply drives down prices
• ‘Respect for life’: China sets out ethical guidelines for autonomous driving technologies
• Chinese man spends US$600,000 at hair salon for detox treatments, feels pain, denied refund
• China approving innovative drugs at record pace as discovery momentum shifts from West
• US and European users open to Chinese AI models like DeepSeek despite scrutiny: survey
• China seeks to boost trans-Himalayan project amid contest with India to win over Nepal
• China’s little-known oversupply problem: insufficient waste amid glut of incinerators
• China tenant finds school desk he used 33 years ago in new flat, hopes to keep it as memento
• 6 students from Chinese university drown in mine processing tank in Inner Mongolia
• SenseTime, Mengniu join UBTech in wave of Chinese firms tapping capital markets
• China, Russia relaunch joint maritime research missions, eyeing Arctic ambitions
• As ‘2 big guys’ on world stage, China and Europe must work together: Xi
• European firms call for return to free and fair trade at China-EU summit
• China pet clinic runs over ‘untreatable’ dog called Lucky to ‘get owner insurance payout’
• US agrees trade deals with Indonesia, Philippines – but Chinese firms a step ahead: analysts
• Could China’s Tibet mega dam help boost its sway with South Asian neighbours?

China trade talks could include TikTok, Lutnick says

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/3319507/china-trade-talks-could-include-tiktok-lutnick-says?utm_source=rss_feed

TikTok may come up in trade talks with China next week, but if Beijing does not approve a divestment deal for Chinese owner ByteDance, the app will soon go dark in the United States, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump’s administration will allow TikTok to remain in the US “if it’s in American control, and … China can have a little piece or ByteDance, the current owner, can keep a little piece”, Lutnick said, speaking on CNBC.

“Americans will have control. Americans will own the technology, and Americans will control the algorithm. That’s something Donald Trump is willing to do. If that deal gets approved then by the Chinese, then that deal will happen,” he said. “If they don’t approve it, then TikTok is going to go dark, and those decisions are coming very soon.”

Asked whether an agreement over TikTok is part of current trade negotiations, Lutnick said “yes and no”.

“It’s not really part of the trade talks, but you can’t really go meet somebody and not bring up the topics that are relevant,” he said. “So … it’s not officially part of it, but unofficially? Of course.”

ByteDance is under pressure to divest the short-video app by September 17 or face a ban in the US. Last year, then-US President Joe Biden signed a sale-or-ban law, requiring that a “foreign adversary” no longer control the app, defined as a 20 per cent stake, over national security concerns. Despite an original January deadline, Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law.

The original deadline as set in law was January 19, with allowance for a one-time 90-day extension if progress towards a sale was evident. Trump had extended that deadline his first day in office via executive order, days after a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which TikTok was discussed. He has since extended it twice more.

If the sale is approved, the app is expected to use an algorithm and data system separate from its global platform, Reuters reported this month. That would resolve years of debate over whether ByteDance would share what is considered TikTok’s secret sauce – the recommendation algorithm – and mark a potential end to years of angst over the app’s security concerns in Washington.

A deal had reportedly been in the works earlier this year to spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors. But the plan was put on hold after Beijing indicated it would not approve it after Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese imports, according to Bloomberg.

Under current Chinese export controls, some technologies used by TikTok, including the recommendation algorithm, require Beijing’s approval for export. The restriction was implemented by Beijing in 2020, killing a deal that had been under negotiation involving ByteDance, Oracle and Walmart during the first Trump administration.

In the years since, Beijing had given little indication it would support a sale, urging the US to provide an “open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment” for Chinese businesses.

The law mandating the divestment, passed last year as part of a foreign aid package, reflects concern in Washington that TikTok’s ownership makes it beholden to the Chinese government and that Beijing could use the app to spy on Americans or conduct influence operations.

Free speech advocates have argued that a ban would unlawfully restrict Americans from obtaining access to foreign media in violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Other critics, including some US lawmakers, have pointed to the lack of evidence of content manipulation by Beijing. The US Supreme Court upheld the forced divestment law in January.

Over 60 per cent of American teens and about a third of US adults use TikTok, according to a Pew Research Centre study from last year. In a separate survey conducted in late February and early March, Pew found that support for a TikTok ban is at 34 per cent among American adults, down from 50 per cent in 2023.

Efforts to force a sale of TikTok go back to 2020, when Trump signed an executive order banning transactions between US individuals and entities and ByteDance, citing national security risks posed by the short video app. A federal court had blocked that order from going into effect.

Additional reporting by Robert Delaney in Washington

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China slams US envoy nominee for framing Argentina as a great power ‘battlefield’

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3319506/china-slams-us-envoy-nominee-framing-argentina-great-power-battlefield?utm_source=rss_feed

China has issued a sharp rebuke to comments made by Peter Lamelas, the US ambassador-designate to Argentina, saying they reflected a “Cold War mentality” after he accused Beijing of fostering corruption and being a malign influence across Latin America.

At his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Lamelas said he intended to travel across Argentine provinces to monitor agreements involving Chinese companies, which he claimed “could lend themselves to corruption”.

On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Buenos Aires condemned the remarks, warning that such rhetoric risked turning Argentina into “a battlefield for great power confrontation”.

The statement also accused Lamelas of ideological prejudice and criticised what it described as an outdated foreign policy reminiscent of the Monroe Doctrine.

During the hearing, Lamelas – a Cuban-born doctor and Republican donor with no prior diplomatic experience – grouped China with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Iran, saying these governments were working to undermine democratic values in the region. He identified limiting their influence as a key objective if confirmed to the post.

The hearing also drew swift political responses in Argentina. Several provincial governors denounced the comments as interference in domestic affairs. Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof said that Lamelas would not be welcome in the province, while opposition lawmakers presented a resolution urging the government to reject the nomination altogether.

Cristina Kirchner, the former Argentine president who is now serving a sentence under house arrest for corruption, responded on social media, writing that the US was sending “a new prosecutor straight from Mar-a-Lago”.

Despite the criticism, Lamelas is expected to secure Senate approval once the US Congress returns from recess in September. His arrival in Buenos Aires is likely to follow shortly after.

While the administration of President Javier Milei has not commented publicly on the controversy, officials familiar with internal discussions told local media that the government was seeking to preserve its close ties with Washington without jeopardising its commercial and financial relationship with Beijing.

That balancing act has defined Milei’s foreign policy since taking office in December 2023. During his presidential campaign, he had threatened to cut ties with China, labelling it a “communist dictatorship”. But in recent months, his government has taken steps to rebuild the bilateral relationship.

Earlier this week, Argentina eased visa requirements for Chinese nationals holding US visas, allowing entry without a separate Argentine visa.

The move came amid delays in the administration’s trade talks with Washington and increasing signs of friction over Argentina’s engagement with Beijing.

Relations with China have also advanced on other fronts. Construction resumed this year on two hydroelectric dams in the province of Santa Cruz, financed by Chinese banks, following months of stalled negotiations.

Although recent overtures to Beijing might suggest a recalibration, some analysts caution against reading too much into them. Patricio Giusto, director of the Sino-Argentine Observatory in Buenos Aires, said that the steps taken so far reflect a lack of coherent planning.

“Milei’s administration lacks an overall foreign policy strategy. Long-term visions are non-existent, especially in relation to China,” he said.

Giusto argued that the real risk lies not in strengthening ties with China or the US, but in the absence of direction. Also, despite these developments, he contended that Milei was still focused on Washington.

“Milei remains obsessed with getting a bilateral meeting with Trump at the White House, something that he still could not produce, even though he travelled 10 times to the US since he took office, a totally absurd world record for a head of state.”

Chinese team’s ultratough aerogel could shield aircraft from new extremes

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3319454/chinese-teams-ultratough-aerogel-could-shield-aircraft-new-extremes?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese scientists have proposed a novel method for producing aerogels that significantly improves their heat resistance and mechanical properties, with potential for use in high-speed aircraft and space exploration, according to a paper published this month in a top journal.

Aerogels are lightweight, porous solid materials with extremely low density and exceptional thermal insulation properties. They are widely used for insulation or thermal protection in spacecraft, military equipment and electronics.

However, despite their superior insulating abilities, conventional aerogels typically suffer from poor mechanical strength, making them vulnerable to pressure or impact.

Researchers from Zhejiang University in eastern China have developed a universal preparation technique that enables the creation of aerogels with an internal dome-like cellular structure. By varying the raw materials, hundreds of formulations can be derived, each exhibiting high elasticity. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on July 17.

The method, dubbed the “2D channel-confined chemistry” approach, involves the use of nanoscale graphene oxide during production.

“The key lies in the layered assembly process, akin to making a mille-feuille pastry,” explained Xu Zhen, an associate professor at Zhejiang University and one of the paper’s corresponding authors.

For instance, in creating graphene-ceramic aerogels, the researchers used graphene oxide’s natural layered structure, which contains 2D channels between each sheet. Precursor molecules for the aerogel were inserted into these interlayer spaces before undergoing foaming. This process generated numerous spherical bubbles between the graphene oxide layers, ultimately forming a uniform microstructure of microscopic domes.

“The 2D channels facilitate the formation of the dome-celled architecture, while precise control over the raw material ratios allows us to fine-tune the material’s properties,” Xu added.

The dome-celled structure transforms the aerogel from brittle to highly elastic.

“These microdomes function like helmets or cathedral ceilings, effectively dispersing pressure,” Xu said. “The resulting aerogel can recover completely even after being compressed to 0.1 per cent of its original thickness, enduring such deformation over 10,000 cycles.”

Pang Kai, a researcher at Zhejiang University and the paper’s first author, elaborated: “Since the formulations are highly adaptable, we can use more stable materials to replace traditional silica or alumina.”

The team’s graphene-ceramic aerogel remains stable at temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 degrees Fahrenheit), much higher than the 1,600 degrees achieved by Nasa’s Parker Solar Probe.

This structure stays stable under continuous thermal shock. Experiments showed that graphene-ceramic aerogels retained 99 per cent of their elastic strain when subjected to extreme temperature swings from minus 268.8 degrees to 2,000 degrees – and maintained structural integrity even after 100 repeated thermal shocks at 2,000 degrees.

The method represents a new approach in aerogel production, unlocking vast possibilities. Graphene can hybridise with metals, oxides, carbides, and other compounds, enabling the creation of 121 oxide-based, 38 carbide-based, and 35 metal-based aerogel systems – dramatically expanding the material’s versatility.

“This technology has strong potential for industrial-scale production,” Xu said.

“Our goal is to identify optimal applications for different formulations, balancing cost and performance.”

Potential uses range from high-performance thermal insulation for hypersonic aircraft and endurance in solar probe environments to cost-effective solutions for consumer electronics.

Pang Kai added that specific scenarios, such as deep space exploration or fusion reactor shielding, would require further validation.

Originally commercialised in the last century with Nasa’s support, aerogels are now seeing an upgraded production road map led by Chinese scientists – reflecting the country’s growing prowess in advanced materials research.

“China’s vast manufacturing base drives stringent material demands across industries, pushing academia to deliver cutting-edge solutions,” Xu said.

“Moreover, China’s research landscape is increasingly focused on tackling fundamental challenges, with material scientists pioneering breakthroughs at the limits of performance. This shift in research philosophy aligns with our work.”

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Xi meets EU leaders, China’s little-known oversupply problem: SCMP daily highlights

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3319464/xi-meets-eu-leaders-chinas-little-known-oversupply-problem-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 .

At a meeting in Beijing on Thursday, President Xi Jinping urged European leaders to “make the right strategic choice” as the world grapples with profound changes. He made the remarks to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, who are in Beijing for a summit that some Chinese analysts expect to be tone-setting for China-EU relations.

Six university students drowned in an industrial tank during a field trip to a mining operation owned by China’s most prestigious gold producing company, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The United States has struck new trade deals with Indonesia and the Philippines, in a move analysts say could indirectly undercut China by reshaping regional supply chains and tapping rare earth reserves – even if Beijing is not explicitly targeted.

China’s latest mega dam on the Tibetan Plateau could help draw neighbouring countries closer into its economic orbit by supplying electricity and boosting growth, analysts have argued.

In an unprecedented show of China’s advanced civilian drone technology, a swarm of heavy-lift unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has carried 180 tonnes of construction materials up a remote mountain in the country’s southwest, according to state media.

China hopes to speed up work on a trans-Himalayan network project to connect it with Nepal, a development that may raise concerns from regional rival India.

While severe oversupply in Chinese industries ranging from the traditional steel sector to the hi-tech production of solar panels has made headlines recently, one lesser-known sector suffering the same fate is waste-to-energy incineration.

Hong Kong firms eye proprietary Chinese medicine opportunities on the mainland: HKTDC

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3319483/hong-kong-firms-eye-proprietary-chinese-medicine-opportunities-mainland-hktdc?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing’s move to simplify the process for approving oral proprietary Chinese medicine (PCM) from Hong Kong to be sold across the border has created new opportunities for firms in the city to exploit the mainland’s 450 billion yuan (US$62.8 billion) market, according to Hong Kong’s trade promotion body.

The streamlined procedures have opened a more convenient channel for Hong Kong companies to expand into the mainland, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a report published on Thursday.

“We understand that some companies are making preparations to take advantage of the new rules,” said Wing Chu, principal economist and head of Greater China research at the council. “But we are talking about pharmaceuticals, so there are still hurdles to clear and approvals do not happen overnight.”

Since late April, oral PCM products that have been sold in Hong Kong for more than 15 years, and whose production processes complied with “good manufacturing practices”, were eligible for the simplified approval process.

PCM refers to traditional Chinese medicines in tablet or capsule form that are made from herbs, animal parts or minerals.

The city exported HK$2.88 billion (US$367 million) worth of PCM products last year, 93 per cent of which were locally produced. Over 70 per cent of those exports went to mainland China.

Before the simplified rules were implemented, the process for Hong Kong firms entering the mainland market was not straightforward due to different technical standards.

Still, some Hong Kong PCM firms have enjoyed decades of brand recognition on the mainland and in Southeast Asia, said Bian Zhaoxiang, professor and associate vice-president of the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University.

“Hong Kong can play a key role in the internationalisation of PCM through clinical trials and collaboration with international partners,” he said.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any PCM for prescription.

FDA approval would require the deployment of modern equipment to confirm the PCM’s active ingredients, clinical trials to prove efficacy and safety, and good manufacturing practices in line with Western pharmaceutical firms.

The Centre for Chinese Herbal Medicine Drug Development at Baptist University is conducting or preparing to conduct clinical trials on four PCM candidates.

The centre, set up in 2020 with funding from the Hong Kong government’s Innovation and Technology Commission, was tasked with turning Chinese herbal medicine formulations into medications that met international requirements.

In August, the centre received approval from the mainland’s new drug regulatory body to start a phase-two clinical trial this year to verify the effectiveness and safety of a formulation including nine Chinese medicine ingredients for remission maintenance of ulcerative colitis.

It was also collaborating with the University of Chicago and the University of Macau on a series of clinical trials studying the ancient herbal remedy semen cannabis for chronic constipation suffered by oncology, obesity and Parkinson’s disease patients.

It was the first Hong Kong-developed PCM that got FDA approval in April 2023 to conduct an early-stage clinical trial, Bian said.

The trial was completed last year and the centre applied to the FDA to conduct Phase 2 and 3 trials in the next three to five years.

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China and EU agree to upgrade export safeguards to ensure critical mineral supply chains

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3319484/china-and-eu-agree-upgrade-export-safeguards-ensure-critical-mineral-supply-chains?utm_source=rss_feed

The EU and China agreed to a new “export supply mechanism” to address Europe’s concerns about Beijing’s export controls on rare earths, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a summit in Beijing on Thursday.

“We agreed – and this is new – to have an upgraded export supply mechanism. In other words, if there are bottlenecks, this upgraded support supply chain support mechanism can immediately check and solve the problem or the issue that is out there,” von der Leyen said.

She acknowledged China’s efforts “on fast tracking licences for the critical raw materials” and said progress was vital to repair “trust in our trade relationship”.

“We need a reliable and secure supply of critical raw materials from China. Being seen as a reliable supplier and partner is clearly aligned with China’s long-term economic and strategic interests,” she said.

The remarks came after the 25th summit between the EU and China, held in Beijing to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.

The two parties pledged to work together on global issues such as tackling climate change and preserving biodiversity, signing a joint statement on climate ahead of the Cop30 summit in Brazil later this year.

The two sides haggled over the statement up to the day before the summit, and while the document bound both parties to “submitting before Cop30 their respective 2035 nationally determined contributions”, there were no fresh commitments.

“Climate has long been the lowest common denominator in EU-China relations, but even that baseline appears to be slipping. This latest statement offers few specifics, just vague pledges for more pledges and to do more of the same,” said Byford Tsang, senior policy fellow for Asia at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“It is a stark contrast to the last joint statement back in 2021, when Beijing at least signalled willingness to tackle its coal consumption.”

The build-up to the event was marked by sharp disagreements, particularly on geopolitical issues such as China’s close Russian ties. Just a week before the summit, the EU sanctioned two regional Chinese banks – reportedly over crypto transactions with Russia.

These tensions spilled over into the summit. While both European leaders described their meeting with Xi as “excellent”, they also raised their concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Beijing’s relations with Moscow.

“The EU repeated its calls on China not to provide any material support which sustains Russia’s military-industrial base. The EU encouraged China to use its influence to support a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, based on the principles of the UN Charter,” the bloc said in its account of the meeting.

Trade has also been a long-standing point of difference that has widened in recent years – overall bilateral commerce may have grown but China’s trade surplus has ballooned alongside it.

The EU complained about market access for its firms in China and “ongoing systemic distortions and growing manufacturing overcapacity”, the EU readout said, pledging to “take proportionate, legally compliant action to protect its rightful interests”, should dialogue fail.

It asked Beijing to “put an end to unjustified and retaliatory trade defence cases and measures on EU exports of brandy, pork and dairy”, tactics seen as payback for Brussels’ tariffs on Chinese EVs. It also asked China to remove restrictions on the export of rare earths.

In a sign of how far apart the sides were going in to Thursday, they could not even agree on which meetings were included in the summit.

While the Europeans insisted that the talks in the morning with Chinese President Xi Jinping marked the start, Beijing considered this to be a bilateral meeting and prelude to the summit with President Li Qiang in the afternoon.

This difference is thought to be a reason why Xi decided not to travel to Brussels for the event.

Desperate for face time with the president, the EU even sounded out the Belgian government and king at the start of the year to assess the viability of bolting on a state visit for the president. Xi was still unmoved, sources said, so the Europeans decided to travel to him.

In opening remarks at the morning session, Xi focused on the elements of partnership, saying “China and Europe are ‘big guys’ in the international community” who must “strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation” at a time of “intertwined changes and chaos”.

In a thinly veiled swipe at the United States, Xi told the Europeans that “the challenges facing Europe at present do not come from China”, according to a Chinese government readout of the meeting.

Xi added that there were “no fundamental conflicts of interest or geopolitical contradictions between China and Europe, and the basic and main tone of cooperation outweighing competition and consensus outweighing differences has not changed”.

In their own opening remarks, the European leaders pushed Xi on major grievances. “As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, we call on China to use its influence on Russia to respect the UN Charter and to bring an end to its war of aggression against Ukraine,” European Council President Antonio Costa said.

Von der Leyen focused on trade imbalances. “We have reached an inflection point. Rebalancing our bilateral relation is essential,” she said.

Along with the climate statement, the sides made progress on some minor technical files, including a new dialogue on financial regulation, an action plan for regional policy cooperation between their respective constituent parts, the relaunch of a group on drug precursors, and an increase in the number of products protected by geographical indicators.

China’s quest for AI self-reliance undeterred by Trump’s new action plan

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3319470/chinas-quest-ai-self-reliance-undeterred-trumps-new-action-plan?utm_source=rss_feed

Despite recent concessions and shifts in rhetoric, US President Donald Trump’s new artificial intelligence action plan leaves the core of American policy towards China unchanged – maintaining tight restrictions on key technologies while accelerating deregulation and infrastructure support for his country’s AI giants.

Analysts said the administration’s strategy would intensify the US-China tech rivalry, and with Washington unlikely to loosen its grip, China would have little choice but to double down on self-reliance.

The White House on Wednesday unveiled its first comprehensive AI strategy since Trump’s return to office, outlining plans to tighten export controls on US chipmaking tools and curb the global spread of Chinese AI models.

Trump’s AI strategy reflects a subtle shift in rhetoric from the “small yard, high fence” approach of his predecessor Joe Biden, but in essence little has changed, said Bo Zhengyuan of Plenum.

“So far, the ‘yard’ hasn’t gotten any smaller,” added Bo, a partner at the independent China-focused research platform. “What’s different is the rhetoric – it’s now more head-to-head than containment.”

The 28-page action plan tasks the US Commerce Department with closing loopholes in current export restrictions, boosting oversight of end users abroad, and exploring the use of geolocation tools to block access to “countries of concern” such as China.

Speaking about the White House plan at an AI summit on Wednesday, Trump said he wanted to make the US an “AI export powerhouse” while maintaining “necessary protections for our national security”.

The move came just days after Washington decided to open the door for Nvidia and AMD to resume exports of some advanced AI chips to China, with Trump emphasising the need to outcompete rather than contain Beijing’s rapidly developing AI industry.

The Trump administration is framing AI regulation more through the lens of global technological competition – with an emphasis on shoring up US dominance in the AI ecosystem – rather than Biden’s more layered approach of trying to block China’s access to specific technologies, Bo pointed out.

“But in practical terms, the export control framework remains largely unchanged from the final days of the Biden administration – if anything, it has expanded,” Bo said, pointing to new restrictions that could affect third countries using Huawei’s Ascend series of AI chips.

The plan, which was published ahead of high-level trade talks between Washington and Beijing, signalled a “clearer focus on preserving US dominance in the global AI ecosystem”, Bo added.

However, neither strategy is likely to deter China and its companies from attempting to gain ground on their international competitors in the domestic market; in fact, analysts said, US measures are only fuelling Beijing’s resolve.

“Export controls have created a unique opportunity for domestic AI chip vendors, as they are not competing with the most advanced global alternatives,” said Bernstein analysts led by Lin Qingyuan in a research note published on July 17.

They forecast that the share of domestic chips in China’s AI accelerator market would climb to 55 per cent by 2027, up from just 17 per cent in 2023, thanks to ongoing advancements and a rapid expansion in local 7-nanometre production.

While Chinese accelerators still trail Nvidia and AMD’s top-tier chips in raw power, they increasingly match the performance of the downgraded chips sold to China – such as Nvidia’s H20, the note said. Accelerators speed up processing times for high-level functions, particularly AI and machine learning applications, as compared to standard CPUs.

The top domestic performer, Huawei’s Ascend 910C, now reaches about 65 per cent of the supreme Nvidia H100’s capacity. However, its actual computing power is limited by infrastructural compatibility with Nvidia’s CUDA software platform, the analysts added.

“With that, by 2027, the industry could transition from being supply-constrained to demand-constrained,” they noted, adding that this could put downward pressure on the price of chips.

Bo added that Beijing was ramping up efforts to localise upstream semiconductor production and expand its AI ecosystem, but “AI isn’t something that can be built overnight through policy support alone – it’s a long game shaped by engineering, talent, and infrastructure”.

Though US chip controls have constrained its computing power, China’s data pool, algorithms and AI talent are on par with the US, according to Bo. “There won’t be a clear winner or loser in the next decade,” he said.

Chinese drones carry 180 tonnes of steel and concrete up mountain in pioneering feat

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3319460/chinese-drones-carry-180-tonnes-steel-and-concrete-mountain-pioneering-feat?utm_source=rss_feed

In an unprecedented show of China’s advanced civilian drone technology, a swarm of heavy-lift unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has carried 180 tonnes of construction materials up a remote mountain in the country’s southwest, according to state media.

State broadcaster CCTV reported last Thursday that the aerial operation had taken place in May at a solar power project in Xichou county in Yunnan province, where rugged karst terrain and cliffs made traditional transport difficult.

The feat drew widespread attention online after news reports noted the labour-saving benefits of unmanned aerial systems, with headlines declaring that workers had moved the materials “while reclining in lounge chairs”.

A fleet of 16 drones carried out precision flights along preset routes, delivering steel and concrete to build three electricity transmission towers at altitudes up to 1,650 metres (5,413 feet). The drones completed the task in just three days – a big improvement from the one month usually required to build cableways.

The aerial drone swarm method boosted efficiency by a factor of 10, according to CCTV.

“The drones flew autonomously along preset routes without manual operation, achieving a precision comparable to aerial courier delivery,” said Wang Fangmin, a senior manager at Yunnan Power Grid Corporation’s planning and construction centre, in comments aired by CCTV.

Wang also revealed that each drone could transport payloads individually or as part of a coordinated swarm, with a maximum single-item load of 420kg (926lbs) and a flight distance of up to 1.3km (0.8 miles). The technology reduced road construction costs by 80 per cent, cut human labour by 60 per cent, and significantly improved transport precision.

Wang explained the drones underwent simulated flights to fine-tune synchronisation, ensuring payload stability.

“We no longer need to build roads, so there’s zero ecological disruption,” Wang said.

The drone operation also protected the environment because it eliminated the need to clear vegetation, saving around 2,000 trees and preventing damage to the fragile karst landscape, according to local authorities cited by CCTV.

While drone technology has advanced to handle increasingly heavy payloads, with records reaching nearly 400kg for a single aircraft, the operation in Yunnan appears to be a first-of-its-kind achievement in both scale and coordination.

The endeavour also prompted speculation about the potential military uses of the technology.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has developed drone swarm warfare capabilities, according to an April report by the China Aerospace Studies Institute, a US Air Force think tank. Chinese military publications and state media have increasingly highlighted advances in drone swarming and coordinated attacks using numerous small unmanned aircraft employing artificial intelligence.

China’s drone industry has flourished due to investment in research and development and benefited from advances in 5G technology. Real-time remote control and data transmission abilities have greatly improved the precision of drone operations, allowing operators to safely manage flights from a distance.

China had more than 50,000 companies engaged in the low-altitude economy as of 2024, with over 600 licensed drone manufacturers based in Shenzhen alone, according to a December report by state news agency Xinhua.

Shenzhen, known as China’s Silicon Valley, plans to invest US$1.7 billion by 2026 to improve infrastructure for low-altitude flights. This includes building more than 1,200 take-off and landing platforms and installing over 8,000 new 5G-Advanced base stations, according to a November report by Shenzhen Economic Daily.

In March, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly published guidelines to promote the use of intelligent manufacturing standards. Drone technology upgrades are a major component of this strategic shift towards intelligent industrialisation.

China cuts back on pork as excess hog supply drives down prices

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3319437/china-cuts-back-pork-excess-hog-supply-drives-down-prices?utm_source=rss_feed

In response to a persistent oversupply of pigs that has contributed to a steep drop in pork prices, China’s agricultural authorities have announced concrete plans to cut back on the country’s breeding stock.

Measures should be taken to reasonably cull the sow population, reduce secondary fattening – feeding hogs past standard slaughter weights to increase margins – and strictly control new capacity to address the issue, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun at a meeting on Wednesday.

The announcement comes as pig, chicken and duck farmers across the country report deep losses and mounting financial pressure.

Analysts noted weak end-market demand and high inventory levels are weighing heavily on the sector, and while marginal improvements are expected in the second half of the year, the overall scope for recovery remains limited.

“This round of losses has lasted more than seven months, unlike anything the industry has experienced before,” said Liu Changsheng, head of the Shandong Duck Breeding Alliance industry group, in an interview with financial news platform CLS.cn.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of June the national breeding sow inventory stood at 40.43 million – down 370,000 from its peak in 2024, but still 3.7 per cent above the official target of 39 million.

In a report last week, commodity market data provider Sublime China Information (SCI) said as production tightens, the average hog price could rebound to around 15.07 yuan/kg (US$2.10) in August. However, the report authors noted that overall supply remains ample and any price increase is likely to be moderate.

According to data from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, the average price per kilogram of live hogs fell to 14.45 yuan in the second week of June – the lowest level in 17 months and well below the 2020 peak of 37.83 yuan.

The poultry industry is under similar strain. According to SCI, the output of white-feather broiler chickens – the most popular breed for meat production – reached 4.412 billion birds, up 11.7 per cent year on year. But prices have remained depressed, with wholesale quotes in the poultry hub of Shandong province falling as low as 6 yuan/kg in July, leaving many farmers operating at a loss.

Duck producers have also begun cutting output since April. By the middle of July, about 9 million breeding ducks had been culled, CLS.cn reported.

Liu estimated that daily duckling output would fall from 12 million in April to about 8.5 million by the end of August.

‘Respect for life’: China sets out ethical guidelines for autonomous driving technologies

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3319459/respect-life-china-sets-out-ethical-guidelines-autonomous-driving-technologies?utm_source=rss_feed

China has released ethical guidelines for autonomous driving technologies, highlighting user safety and technology transparency.

In publishing the guidelines on Wednesday, the Ministry of Science and Technology said automated driving systems “must demonstrate a high degree of respect for human life and actively seek effective strategies to minimise harm” in case of unavoidable traffic accidents.

Algorithms, models and other content related to the technologies must be clearly documented and readily accessible for inspection, it said.

The guidelines aim to “guide the regulated development and application of automated driving technologies, prevent ethics risks during R&D and product application, and promote the healthy growth of the sector”.

Beijing stepped up its oversight of self-driving technology after three people died in a crash involving a Xiaomi electric vehicle in late March. The car, with its driver-assistance system in operating mode, crashed into a barrier two seconds after the system alerted the driver to take control.

During a meeting in April, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China’s top regulator of the manufacturing and IT sectors, urged EV makers and technology providers to fully comply with regulations and not to overstate the role of the assistance systems.

China’s latest guidelines were drafted by a committee for AI ethics under the national ethics committee for science and technology.

The document said the related research and development of the technologies should include comprehensive risk monitoring and emergency response mechanisms to ensure risks could be detected and controlled to reduce potential threats.

It also requires that major research results be presented accurately and cautioned them against making false claims about the capabilities of automated vehicles.

“Automated driving systems possess both technical and social attributes. Therefore, innovation and industrialisation in this area must fully consider public values and ethical concerns,” Gong Ke, a member of the AI ethics subcommittee, told the official Science and Technology Daily.

Gong said the general public could misunderstand the technologies, which might lead to improper use or false expectations, and noted that developers and manufacturers – driven by market competition - might overstate their technologies’ capabilities or hide potential risks.

The guideline also clarifies who is legally responsible – the human driver or the automated system – depending on the level of automation used.

In mainland China, most available self-driving ­systems are classified as either level 2 (L2) or L2+, both of which require drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times.

According to standards set by US-based SAE International, L3 is considered a “hands-off” system, but still requires drivers to be alert and ready to take over, while L5 is a fully automated system that requires zero human intervention.

Over the past two years, Chinese autonomous driving system providers have been aggressively expanding at home and abroad with a reliance on their tech advancements and the country’s buoyant EV sector.

Leading self-driving system providers include Baidu, WeRide and Pony.ai, which are operating robotaxi fleets under pilot programmes in large cities, including Beijing, Shang­hai and Wuhan.

Chinese man spends US$600,000 at hair salon for detox treatments, feels pain, denied refund

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3318100/chinese-man-spends-us600000-hair-salon-detox-treatments-feels-pain-denied-refund?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese man has surprised many by revealing he spent over 4.3 million yuan (US$600,000) at a hair salon over two years on unlicensed detox and wellness treatments – including enemas and acupuncture – which resulted in severe health issues and a denied refund.

The ordeal began in April 2023, when the man, surnamed Cheng, from Hefei in northern China’s Anhui province, met a salon manager, surnamed Chen, at a local hair salon.

The manager invited Cheng to the opening of a new branch, where another manager, surnamed Zhou, persuaded him to go upstairs to “experience a beautician’s massage.”

It was during this visit that Cheng was pressured into purchasing beauty services in the form of an account top-up.

Cheng asserted that during subsequent visits, he faced continual coercion to add more funds to his account.

“They were all young boys and girls, kneeling and saying they were poor and couldn’t even afford rent, relying on customers to help support their parents. Older beauticians nearby would consistently urge customers to top up, stating that the staff earned commissions based on performance,” Cheng recalled.

Over two years, Cheng spent more than 4.3 million yuan on various “wellness” services, including treatments like “skin-breaking needle detox” and multiple enema sessions marketed as “bowel cleansing.”

He noted that a single course of enema treatment alone cost around 300,000 yuan (US$42,000).

Other services comprised massages priced at 500-600 yuan per body area and “belly dampness removal” sessions, which ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 yuan each.

Records indicate that one top-up in January alone totalled 388,000 yuan (US$54,000), and by March 30, his account balance exceeded 1.7 million yuan.

Salon staff reportedly promised him results such as weight loss and a return to a more youthful appearance.

However, after undergoing several of these treatments, Cheng began to experience serious health issues, including recurrent diarrhoea and persistent, unhealed needle marks on his skin.

When he discovered that the salon lacked the necessary medical qualifications to perform such procedures, Cheng requested a refund, but was denied.

He subsequently reported the incident to the relevant authorities.

On July 9, Hefei police issued an official statement confirming that a joint investigation had been initiated in collaboration with market supervision into the alleged unlicensed medical practices.

This astonishing story, reported by Chongqing Daily News Group, quickly went viral on Chinese social media, sparking widespread disbelief among netizens.

One observer commented: “An enema… at a hair salon? Is this even a legitimate establishment? My former boss once recommended it to me, claiming she felt much better afterwards. I guess she was also duped by a so-called beauty clinic.”

Another wrote: “Wait, did you say 4.3 million yuan?... For this person, is spending 4.3 million yuan comparable to how an average person spends 43 yuan?”

A third added: “He’s lucky if he didn’t end up with hepatitis or HIV. What if the equipment wasn’t properly sterilised? Without proper medical training, how can they guarantee safety? How did he even dare to go through with it?”

China approving innovative drugs at record pace as discovery momentum shifts from West

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3319431/china-approving-innovative-drugs-record-pace-discovery-momentum-shifts-west?utm_source=rss_feed

China is making inroads in the race for innovative pharmaceuticals, with a record number of drug approvals this year amid growing appeals for multinational giants to run onshore research entities.

Authorities approved 43 innovative drugs in the first half of 2025, marking a 59 per cent year-on-year increase and nearly matching the total of 48 approvals for all of last year, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday, citing data from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).

Many of the 43 innovative drugs approved for market launch are for serious conditions such as cancer, metabolic disorders and immune diseases, the report said.

“China’s reform of drug review and approval processes has enabled pharmaceutical companies to better forecast their returns on R&D investments … making them more willing to pursue long-term, high-risk innovative drug development,” said Yang Ting, director of the NMPA’s drug registration department, in an interview with CCTV.

China is the world’s second-largest biomedicine market, and global players have been increasingly expanding their presence there.

Also in the year’s first half, China set a record for licensing out innovative drugs – referring to rights granted to overseas markets – with a total value of US$48.4 billion, according to figures from mainland pharmaceutical consultancy DrugTimes.

To further refine manufacturing processes and improve drug quality, additional approval procedures are often required after a drug’s market launch.

These approval procedures in China typically take 200 working days, but under the reform pilot programmes launched by the NMPA in 11 provinces and cities that lead in innovative drug development, the processing time has been reduced to 60 days, Yang said.

Shanghai, home to the headquarters of numerous pharmaceutical companies in China, announced on Thursday a plan to upgrade its biopharmaceutical industry zone in Pudong district into a world-class cluster.

It vowed to promote five new projects with foreign investment and to localise the production of 100 products by 2027.

China’s rapid progress in the field of pharmaceuticals has already begun setting off alarms in the West.

Scott Gottlieb, who headed the US Food and Drug Administration during President Donald Trump’s first term, called for swift measures, including streamlining US regulatory policies and reinvesting in early-stage innovation, to counteract the shift of drug discovery from the US to China.

“The US biotechnology industry was the world’s envy,” he wrote in an op-ed for the biopharmaceutical media outlet STAT in May. “But if we’re not careful, every drug could be made in China.”

Moving forward, China’s industry insiders have vowed to tackle challenges, such as bridging the gap between innovative drug development and foundational clinical research, as this gulf has undermined the quality and efficiency of pharmaceutical R&D, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Tuesday.

The issue of redundant R&D efforts – or homogenisation – remains widespread in the sector, Song Ruilin, executive president of the China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association, was quoted as saying.

US and European users open to Chinese AI models like DeepSeek despite scrutiny: survey

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3319392/us-and-european-users-open-chinese-ai-models-deepseek-despite-scrutiny-survey?utm_source=rss_feed

Most US and European Union respondents in a recent survey said they were open to using artificial intelligence models from China, underscoring the growing international popularity of tech innovation from the world’s second-largest economy.

According to a report published this month by tech consultancy Artificial Analysis, which surveyed more than 1,000 users worldwide, 71 per cent of US respondents and 87 per cent of EU respondents expressed willingness to adopt Chinese large language models (LLMs) – the technology behind applications like chatbots and AI agents.

However, 59 per cent of EU respondents and 58 per cent of US respondents indicated they would only use such AI models hosted on non-Chinese infrastructure. That preference highlights the scrutiny Chinese models face globally, a concern that analysts suggested were not unfounded.

Chinese AI systems are often trained to provide “correct” answers regarding politically sensitive topics, a trait that may be viewed unfavourably by users in other countries, according to James Wang, general partner at US-based venture capital fund Creative Ventures.

“There are many specific historical or cultural questions that will lean towards either a Chinese context … or are deliberately reinforced to give the ‘correct’ answer from the Chinese government’s perspective,” Wang said.

He added that these built-in responses could not be easily changed or removed without significantly hampering the models’ functionality.

Still, open-source AI models from leading Chinese start-ups like DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax, as well as Big Tech companies like Alibaba Group Holding, are gaining global recognition, largely because of their ability to achieve similar performance to higher-priced proprietary products from top-tier US competitors. Alibaba owns the Post.

DeepSeek’s V3 and R1, MiniMax’s M1, Alibaba’s Qwen3, and Moonshot’s Kimi K2 ranked top among the world’s 15 most intelligent models, alongside closed-source systems from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Google, and Amazon.com-funded Anthropic, according to Artificial Analysis’ latest rankings.

The permissive open-source licences adopted by Chinese AI models, which allow third-party developers to freely use, modify, and redistribute the models with minimal restrictions, have facilitated both domestic and international adoption.

Hangzhou-based DeepSeek, which garnered global attention earlier this year for its cost-effective models, emerged as the most popular open-source LLM choice in Artificial Analysis’ survey, selected by 53 per cent of the respondents.

Alibaba’s Qwen ranked seventh, selected by 25 per cent of respondents.

Overall, respondents still preferred US closed-source systems, with OpenAI’s GPT and o series, Google Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude favoured by 84 per cent, 80 per cent and 67 per cent of the survey participants, respectively.

China seeks to boost trans-Himalayan project amid contest with India to win over Nepal

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3319399/china-seeks-boost-trans-himalayan-project-amid-contest-india-win-over-nepal?utm_source=rss_feed

China is calling to accelerate a trans-Himalayan network project to connect it with Nepal as Beijing works to draw its Himalayan neighbour closer – a development that may raise concerns from regional rival India.

The head of China International Development Cooperation Agency, Chen Xiaodong, said, “[China] is willing to strengthen the alignment of development cooperation strategies with Nepal and accelerate the construction of a trans-Himalayan multidimensional connectivity network”.

Chen was speaking during a three-day visit to Nepal that ended on Tuesday.

“[We] should implement more projects in areas such as agriculture, new energy, health and education to promote Nepal’s economic and social development and improve people’s livelihoods,” Chen was quoted saying in a statement published on the agency’s WeChat account on Wednesday.

Chen’s visit comes as China has managed to repair ties with its regional rival India after a tense relationship following a border clash in 2020, and as it competes for influence in the region to win over partners such as Nepal.

Landlocked Nepal sits between India and China, with India traditionally seen as Nepal’s main ally because of their shared culture and proximity

However, it has been drawn closer to China in recent years because of Beijing’s infrastructure investment. China has in recent years boosted economic interactions with the Himalayan nation by pumping millions of dollars into projects, ranging from roads to hydropower plants.

Chen’s trip followed a visit by Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s visit to China in December, his first overseas trip in the role, which marked a departure from the tradition of visiting New Delhi first.

The trans-Himalayan multidimensional connectivity network is seen as part of the massive package of infrastructure and communication to connect the two nations after Nepal signed up to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2017.

During a visit to Nepal in 2019 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing signed bilateral deals to improve infrastructure connectivity, including for the US$8 billion cross-border railway from Shigatse – also called Xigaze – in south Tibet to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

The rail project has been opposed by India amid rising competition with China for strategic influence in the Himalayas, while Nepal agreed to fast-track a rail connection from Kathmandu to the Indian mainland in 2020.

During Oli’s visit to China, both sides agreed to speed up the feasibility study of the cross-border railway and that Beijing would also train talent in the rail sector.

In 2023, China opened Lizi Port, a trading facility at a Tibetan village at the border in Yagra, Zhongba county, in Shigatse prefecture. It aims to become a trading hub with Nepal.

The port will be the fourth trading channel to open along the 1,400km China-Nepal border.

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China’s little-known oversupply problem: insufficient waste amid glut of incinerators

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3319398/chinas-little-known-oversupply-problem-insufficient-waste-amid-glut-incinerators?utm_source=rss_feed

While severe oversupply in Chinese industries ranging from the traditional steel sector to the hi-tech production of solar panels has made headlines recently, one lesser-known sector suffering the same fate is waste-to-energy incineration.

The optimistically planned industry, giving China the world’s highest processing capacity, is struggling to find enough waste to burn, with experts blaming a slowdown in the growth of supply driven by factors including an economic downturn and slowing urbanisation.

Since 2019, the amount of municipal solid waste generated in China has increased by more than 10 per cent, but incineration capacity has more than doubled, resulting in 40 per cent of waste-to-energy incineration capacity sitting idle, according to government data and estimates from researchers.

Last year, China collected and transported over 262 million tonnes of municipal solid waste, an increase of about 11 per cent on the 235 million tonnes in 2019, according to data released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

In October last year, there were 1,010 incineration enterprises nationwide with a total capacity of around 1.11 million tonnes a day, the ministry said at a news conference in December. That was more than double the 457,639 tonnes a day reported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in 2019.

In a note issued earlier this month, analysts from Cinda Securities said China’s waste incineration plants are seriously underutilised and estimated to be running at an average capacity of 60 per cent.

“Overly optimistic expectations for regional development have led to excessive construction of waste incineration facilities despite inadequate waste collection capabilities,” they said.

From the 2000s to the 2010s, driven by the fast pace of urbanisation and policy support, China shifted from putting most municipal waste in landfills to rapidly expanding incineration, despite public protests over pollution concerns and the siting of incinerators.

The five-year plan for municipal solid waste classification and treatment facilities for the period from 2021 to 2025 proposed that by the end of this year, China’s municipal solid waste incineration capacity should reach around 800,000 tonnes a day.

But according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, that target was achieved as early as 2022.

Previous plans misjudged the level of urbanisation and failed to foresee a decline in the population and a turning point in the overall economy, said Chen Liwen, an environmental activist who has more than a decade of experience in waste disposal.

“The main reason for overcapacity is that the original plans were based on peak population and corresponding waste generation,” she said.

“But then came the significant population loss [in big cities] during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as adjustments in consumption patterns as the economy slows, which all inevitably affected waste production.”

Government financial incentives had been the main drivers behind the rapid expansion of incinerators, Chen said.

In early 2006, the central government classified waste-to-energy incineration as part of renewable energy under biomass power generation, offering generous subsidies for electricity produced by incineration plants, which attracted many companies to what was seen as an industry with guaranteed profits.

By 2020, the central government announced a gradual phasing out of central subsidies, but signs of oversupply in incinerator construction were already evident, Chen said, adding that the situation is set to worsen because it takes incinerators at least a decade to recover investment costs.

The promotion of waste sorting was another factor that reduced the amount of waste available for incineration, Cinda Securities analysts said.

In an effort to enhance recycling, China began promoting waste sorting in 2017, with a national push for mandatory household waste classification starting in major cities such as Shanghai in 2019.

The analysts said that stark regional differences mean incinerator oversupply is not spread evenly across the country.

They said the provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang, which led the rush to build incinerators, faced underutilisation rates of 60 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, in 2023 due to lagging waste volume growth, while the provinces of Sichuan, Hunan and Shaanxi enjoyed healthier utilisation rates of close to 90 per cent.

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China tenant finds school desk he used 33 years ago in new flat, hopes to keep it as memento

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3318577/china-tenant-finds-school-desk-he-used-33-years-ago-new-flat-hopes-keep-it-memento?utm_source=rss_feed

A man in eastern China who rented a flat and discovered an old desk he used at school 33 years ago has trended on mainland social media.

The man, surnamed Shen, rented the flat near Huaiyin High School in Huaian, Jiangsu province in early July, the Jiangnan Metropolis News reported.

His family is set to move there so that it will be convenient for his son to attend school.

When Shen and his wife were cleaning the house, they found a small and shabby school desk, one side of which carried the Chinese characters “Qing” and “Zhong” and the serial number 246.

That mark led Shen to believe that the desk was the one he used at Qingjiang Middle School in 1992.

“Qing Zhong” is the abbreviation for Qingjiang Middle School.

“I remember the number 246 very clearly because the desk used by a good friend of mine was marked with the number 135,” Shen was quoted as saying.

“I was so thrilled to see this desk. At that moment, many happy hours during my middle school life instantly appeared in my mind. What a coincidence!” he said.

According to Shen’s landlord, Qingjiang Middle School was renovated years ago and its old desks were put up for sale.

The landlord bought this desk because most of his tenants are families with children who need to study.

“My alma mater used to be a top institution. It is a pity that it has declined and is not as glorious as before,” said Shen, adding: “I hope my old school can become better and better.”

He said he hoped the landlord could give him the desk as a souvenir when the lease period ends.

The story struck a chord with millions of people in China, attracting 15 million views on one major platform alone.

“It is full of memories. No wonder the man feels so excited,” said one internet user.

“I also used this type of school desk. My school is also on the downturn. Many of my teachers have died. This made me feel emotional!” said another person.

While another online observer joked: “Life is so magical. If the desk could speak it might be saying, ‘Kid, you have grown up and you have your own kid’.”

6 students from Chinese university drown in mine processing tank in Inner Mongolia

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3319371/6-students-chinese-university-drown-mine-processing-tank-inner-mongolia?utm_source=rss_feed

Six university students have drowned in an industrial tank while on an educational visit to a mining operation connected to China’s most prestigious gold producing company, according to state news agency Xinhua.

One teacher was also injured in the incident, which occurred on Wednesday morning at China National Gold Group’s Wunugetushan copper-molybdenum mine in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, it said.

The students, from Northeastern University in Liaoning province, drowned after a grating panel gave way. They were pulled from the tank in the mine’s beneficiation plant, but rescue efforts could not revive them, according to Xinhua.

The report did not provide further details on the victims, nor any indication of where responsibility might lie for the accident.

According to the official Jimu News in Wuhan, which published interviews with students from Northeastern University on Thursday, the victims were in their third year and majoring in mineral processing engineering.

The article quoted an unnamed student who had previously visited the plant and described the flotation cell as more than 10 metres (33 feet) tall and filled with slurry – “similar to a mudslide”.

The flotation tanks are used to separate valuable minerals from mined ore, a process in which the mineral attaches to bubbles that float to the surface. The structure is usually made of metal, plastic or wood and features a grating panel.

“There are usually only 20 to 30 employees in the flotation area, but when students and teachers come to visit, the number often exceeds that of the staff present,” the student said, according to the Jimu News report.

China National Gold Group confirmed the accident in a statement on Thursday and offered condolences for the victims and apologies to the public.

The company is the only central state-owned company in China’s gold industry, and it is the first Chinese board member in the World Gold Council, according to the introduction page from the company.

The introduction said the company owns 48 mines and six smelters in China and abroad, including Congo, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

SenseTime, Mengniu join UBTech in wave of Chinese firms tapping capital markets

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3319376/sensetime-mengniu-join-ubtech-wave-chinese-firms-tapping-capital-markets?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese companies are stepping up their fundraising activities to shore up liquidity and manage refinancing needs as market sentiment shows signs of recovery in the second half of the year.

On Thursday, artificial intelligence firm SenseTime unveiled an agreement to raise HK$2.5 billion (US$318 million) through a share subscription, and dairy giant Mengniu Dairy said it would generate 3.5 billion yuan (US$489 million) through a bond issuance. Those plans came to light a day after UBTech Robotics divulged a HK$2.4 billion share placement plan.

The financing moves come amid strong momentum in Hong Kong’s equity market. Initial public offerings in the city surged 695 per cent year on year in the first half to US$14.1 billion, making it the world’s largest IPO market during the period, according to a report released by bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) on Wednesday.

“Investor sentiment has improved markedly,” despite complicated geopolitical tensions, HKEX said, noting that both international institutions and retail investors had shown strong demand for new offerings. Equity fundraising was particularly active in the consumer sector and the technology, media and telecommunications sector, with firms in AI, healthcare and fast-moving consumer goods raising substantial capital to fuel expansion, it said.

SenseTime said its conditional subscription agreement with unnamed investors would involve 1.67 billion new shares priced at HK$1.50 apiece, representing a 6.25 per cent discount to its last closing price. The proceeds were expected to support the firm’s business development and general corporate use, including ongoing investment in AI infrastructure and research into generative models, as well as new areas such as robotics and digital finance, it said.

Mengniu, one of China’s largest dairy producers, said it would issue two tranches of yuan-denominated bonds: a 2 billion yuan bond maturing in 2030 with a 2 per cent coupon, and a 1.5 billion yuan bond maturing in 2035 with a 2.3 per cent coupon. The company said the proceeds would be used for refinancing existing debt, with an equivalent amount to be allocated to eligible green and social-responsibility projects under its sustainable-financing framework.

Shenzhen-based UBTech, one of China’s top makers of humanoid robots, planned to use the proceeds from its share placement to support business operations, repay loans and invest in product development. It offered 30,155,450 new shares at HK$82 per share, representing a discount of about 9 per cent to the closing price of HK$90.25 on Monday. Since its listing in 2023, UBTech has conducted several follow-on fundraisings, securing nearly HK$2 billion over the past year.

According to data compiled by Dealogic, companies raised US$31.4 billion in the first half of the year in Hong Kong through follow-on offerings, including share placements and equity-linked debt issuances like convertible bonds, compared with US$27.9 billion in 2024 and a record US$83.9 billion in 2021.

Daily turnover in Hong Kong jumped 82 per cent from a year earlier to HK$240 billion in the first half, it added. The benchmark Hang Seng Index has gained 30 per cent this year, outperforming major global peers.

China, Russia relaunch joint maritime research missions, eyeing Arctic ambitions

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3319308/china-russia-relaunch-joint-maritime-research-missions-eyeing-arctic-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed

For the first time in five years, China and Russia have set sail on a joint oceanographic expedition, a research mission to learn more about the evolution of oceans and the forces behind global climate change.

A total of 25 members from the two countries are on board the research ship Akademik M.A. Lavrentyev, which left the port of Vladivostok on Tuesday, according to China’s First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) under the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The ninth such expedition for the two countries – and the first since the pandemic – is focused on the effects of a changing climate on deep-sea environments, according to Chinese authorities.

The expedition, jointly launched by FIO and the Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI) at the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is expected to last 45 days, during which researchers will conduct environmental surveys in the Bering Sea and the northwestern Pacific Ocean. They will explore the response systems and feedback effects in the region over the last 126,000 years, a period known as the Late Quaternary.

The FIO said on its website that the scientists would investigate source-to-sink sediment processes, which are the cycles of deposit movement from land into water.

“The resumption of China-Russia joint oceanographic surveys shows [a] shared commitment to addressing global climate change and exploring cutting-edge marine science, and marks a new chapter in bilateral marine research cooperation,” said Wang Jun, acting head of the Chinese consulate general in Vladivostok, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua.

Denis Makarov, director of the POI, said the research would help to reconstruct the evolution of oceans and climate to better predict the impact of current and future climate change on regional marine ecosystems, fisheries, transport and other related fields.

A total of 110 Chinese scientists have taken part in the joint expeditions since they were first launched in 2010, according to the ministry. The research areas have expanded beyond the Sea of Japan – also known as the East Sea – the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea and now include several Arctic areas, including the Chukchi, East Siberian, Laptev and Kara seas.

Aside from maritime expeditions, the two countries have also collaborated on projects such as the first China-Russia Marine Science Symposium, held in Qingdao, in eastern China’s Shandong province in 2009. The event attracted more than 120 scientists from 25 Russian and Chinese research institutions.

In 2017, the FIO and POI set up a joint research centre on oceanology and climate, the ministry said.

Last year, the two nations agreed to set up a subcommittee to cooperate on the Northern Sea Route – which spans 5,600km (3,500 miles) from the Barents Sea near Scandinavia to the Bering Strait near Alaska – amid growing geopolitical tensions between both countries and the West.

The effort is aimed at promoting the role of Arctic passages in international sailing, improving icebreaker capacities, and encouraging Sino-Russian shipping cooperation in the region. The collaboration on the Northern Sea Route is also focused on sailing development, shipping security, and vessel technology and construction for the Arctic.

In addition to the Northern Sea Route along Russia’s northern coastline, Beijing has been considering the viability of two other Arctic passages: the Northwest Passage running mostly through Canadian waters and a potential transpolar route crossing the North Pole.

Beijing put forward its plan for a “Polar Silk Road” – as a complement to its massive infrastructure scheme, the Belt and Road Initiative – in a 2018 white paper that envisioned greater access to the Arctic’s rich natural resources and a bigger role in its governance.

Besides scientific research and commercial shipping, maritime defence has also been a priority. In October, the Chinese coastguard joined its Russian counterpart on a patrol for the first time, sailing from the North Pacific to the Arctic Ocean.

In March, China held a joint naval exercise with Russia and Iran in the Indian Ocean, which included simulated attacks on maritime targets, joint search and rescue drills, and spot checks and arrests.

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As ‘2 big guys’ on world stage, China and Europe must work together: Xi

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3319367/2-big-guys-world-stage-china-and-europe-must-work-together-xi?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for stronger communications and further engagement with the European Union, that he said could add certainties to the world.

“China and Europe should enhance communication, strengthen mutual trust, and deepen cooperation, providing the world with more stability and certainty through a stable and healthy China-Europe relationship,” the Chinese leader told visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa on Thursday.

Xi described China and the European Union as “two big guys” in the world, adding that the two sides should join efforts so as to “firmly grasp the right direction of China-Europe relations and work together to usher in an even brighter next 50 years” in bilateral relations.

As the two sides mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and the European Union were “once again standing at a critical historical juncture”.

A key lesson to draw from the 50-year experience was “mutual respect, seeking common ground while reserving differences, openness and cooperation, and mutual benefit and win-win outcomes,” he said.

“China and the EU must once again demonstrate foresight and responsibility, making strategic choices that meet the expectations of their peoples and stand the test of history,” Xi continued.

This was their first meeting since December 2023, when Xi hailed the EU “as a key partner in trade, a prioritised partner in technology cooperation, and a trustworthy partner in industrial and supply chain cooperation” in talks with top EU officials.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Costa and von der Leyen are expected to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang later today, when they will co-chair the 25th China-EU summit.

The EU, which has long complained about China’s lack of progress to ensure a level playing field for a balanced economic and trade relationship, has increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) to as much as 45 per cent for Chinese manufacturers that receive state subsidies that allow them to undercut their European competitors.

Meanwhile, China’s recent restrictions on rare earth exports – introduced during the trade war with the US – have added to the frustration in Europe as industries have faced an “alarming situation” due to a shortage of the minerals, which are essential to making everything from electric cars to military tanks and aircraft.

China’s deep ties with Russia also cast a shadow, with senior officials in Brussels, including von der Leyen, openly accusing China of supporting Moscow in its prolonged war in Ukraine.

In a move that touched a nerve in Europe, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told EU officials earlier this month that Beijing did not want to see Moscow lose the war because it feared the US could then shift more attention to China.

While expectations for a breakthrough in Thursday’s meeting have been low, there is hope that the talks could be a tone-setting moment for China-EU relations.

Earlier on Thursday, von der Leyen said on social media that today’s summit was “the opportunity to both advance and rebalance our relationship”.

“I’m convinced there can be a mutually beneficial cooperation. One that can define the next 50 years of our relations,” she wrote.

Cui Hongjian, head of European Union studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said Beijing and Brussels should use the occasion to establish a shared understanding of their 50-year relationship and outline guiding principles to drive the relationship forward.

“It is hoped that Beijing and Brussels can come up with better and pragmatic ways to manage the interplay of competition and cooperation alongside the bilateral relationship – whether in trade or geopolitical differences – and turn competition into new opportunities for collaboration,” he said.

“I believe this highest level engagement will mark the start of a new phase in bilateral ties, where they must work to find a mutually acceptable way to engage meaningfully.”

The meeting offers both China and the European Union a valuable opportunity to understand the concerns and priorities of each side, according to Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“China-EU relations are still undergoing changes, and we should view them objectively. They have cooperation and competition at the same time, but both sides have the willingness to engage in dialogue and negotiate,” Feng said.

Cui, a former Chinese diplomat, said both Beijing and Brussels had squandered a chance for candid exchanges and more effective solutions to trade disputes in the first half of this year – a chance that was presented by Trump and his “Make America Great Again” approach, which has sent waves across the Atlantic.

“The core issue lies in Europe’s lingering belief that it can eventually resolve trade and economic frictions with Washington… This mindset has made Europe hesitant or cautious in advancing dialogue and deepening cooperation with China,” Cui said.

He said the two sides should “adjust their previous approaches to communication and cooperation”.

Cui noted the cancellation of a high-level EU-China economic and trade dialogue earlier this year and said there had been a gap in terms of each side’s goal for the talks, with Brussels seeking tangible outcomes and Beijing viewing the dialogue as a platform for talks, cooperation and management of competition.

“If high-level dialogues are no longer Europe’s preferred approach, the critical question is whether China and the EU can identify a mutually acceptable framework to address their persistent challenges.”

Observers in Europe said they were less optimistic about the future of bilateral relations.

Abigael Vasselier, director of policy and European affairs at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, said on a Monday briefing that Europe was entering the summit “with no illusion that it is going to be a deal-making moment”, given that there was a mismatch over various disputes.

She said she expected the summit would not change the course of EU-China ties over the long term, which were deeply troubled by structural issues.

On Tuesday, commerce minister Wang Wentao and EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic had a discussion via video link. During the discussion, which Beijing described as “candid and in-depth”, Wang protested against the inclusion of two Chinese banks in the bloc’s sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war.

European firms call for return to free and fair trade at China-EU summit

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3319363/european-firms-call-return-free-and-fair-trade-china-eu-summit?utm_source=rss_feed

European companies called for a return to the spirit of free and fair trade at Thursday’s highly anticipated China-European Union summit in Beijing, urging leaders to settle their policy differences and promote a level playing field for businesses in both markets.

They expected the European side to press China on issues including reducing the bilateral trade imbalance, lowering market access and regulatory barriers, and ensuring equal treatment for foreign companies operating in the country.

“I think that one of the main expectations shared by many industries would be to preserve free trade … anything that becomes an obstacle to this free trade is, in our view, a problem,” an EU industry source told the Post on Wednesday.

“The core of today’s debate between the European Union and China is how to maintain this idea of free trade, while recognising that certain sectors may be more competitive on one side than the other. The goal is to ensure that, when free trade happens, it takes place on fair and equitable terms,” the source said.

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) said it expected both sides to identify areas where “cooperation is still possible and necessary”, highlighting in particular the need to step up cooperation on the green transition and climate change, in a statement published on Tuesday.

Environmental regulations – specifically the gap between European and Chinese environmental laws – are one of the two main concerns for the EU industry source, the other being the subsidies enjoyed by China’s state-owned enterprises.

The key question is how Europe can keep pushing ahead as a global leader in building cleaner, more sustainable industries without undermining its own competitiveness, the source said.

Europe’s environmental regulations are beneficial in the long term but economically burdensome in the short term. This is an area where Brussels and Beijing may need to meet in the middle, according to the source.

The source’s factories in China follow the EU’s environmental rules to ensure a global standard, which has increased production costs and made the firm suffer when their Chinese clients in the electric vehicle industry were drawn into a brutal price war between October and May. Some brands switched to cheaper products made by Chinese firms, many owned by the state, to cut costs.

“To put it bluntly, I think perhaps Brussels is going too fast and too far, while other governments or states – and China isn’t the only one, the same question applies to India – perhaps aren’t going fast enough or far enough,” the source said.

Business leaders will have the chance to voice their concerns directly to senior officials from Beijing and Brussels at a CEO round table hosted by China’s Ministry of Commerce on the sidelines of the summit on Thursday, bringing together 60 European and Chinese business leaders as well as senior officials such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, according to the EUCCC statement.

In the long term, European companies remain committed and optimistic about the Chinese market. Beijing’s efforts to curb the electric car price war since June have begun to produce results, with the situation calming down and some Chinese clients switching back to their products, according to the source.

“For us, it’s really about having a clear strategy – a way to bring value to the Chinese economy, while also drawing value from it to help shape our brand’s future. That’s how I would define what it means to be a winner in the Chinese market,” the source said.

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China pet clinic runs over ‘untreatable’ dog called Lucky to ‘get owner insurance payout’

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3318562/china-pet-clinic-runs-over-untreatable-dog-called-lucky-get-owner-insurance-payout?utm_source=rss_feed

A pet clinic in China killed a sick dog called Lucky by running over it with a car after realising it could not save him, sparking public outrage.

The border collie’s owner accused the You Bai clinic in northern China’s Inner Mongolia of murdering her beloved pet.

She said the three-year-old animal, which was considered a member of the family, was run over by a car at the behest of the clinic.

The unidentified woman said she sent her pet, called Lucky, to the clinic for sterilisation on July 10.

The clinic told her they could not find a blood vessel to carry out the procedure and had to discontinue the operation. They said they would keep the dog to monitor its status.

Three hours after the owner left the clinic, they called her and said the dog had been involved in a car crash.

She rushed to the clinic to be with her injured pet, which died at midnight.

The clinic told her the dog became sick after she left, so they performed surgery on him without her permission, but the operation failed to save him.

Afterwards they took him for a walk, which was when the car accident happened.

The owner found their explanation weird and did not understand why they took him for a walk if he was dying.

Also, a friend told her it was unlikely that a border collie would die in a car accident because they are exceptionally smart animals.

The owner checked surveillance camera footage from the street and saw a staff member leave her dog in the middle of the road. Then a car ran over her beloved pet.

She said the clinic admitted that they killed her dog, saying they did so because they wanted her to get compensation from the insurance company.

They reportedly told her it was “better to accept his death”.

The owner said she was appalled: “Do you have basic medical ethics? How can you even live with doing this?” she said in an online post.

She said she could not accept the death, adding that she suffered from depression and Lucky had given her emotional support.

However, a pet influencer later revealed that the owner did not seek legal help.

Instead, her family picked a fight with the clinic, and she had to reconcile with the clinic to protect her family from punishment.

The owner said the authorities had suspended the clinic’s operations.

Online observers expressed outrage and called for the introduction of proper animal protection laws.

“This is murder. Animal abuse and murder should be made punishable under the law to protect these animals from being hurt by bad people,” one person said.

“According to the logic of the clinic, if its staff have an incurable illness one day, they should also be dealt with like this for their family’s good,” said another.

“I thought I already knew how ugly humans can be, but I was wrong,” said a third online observer.

US agrees trade deals with Indonesia, Philippines – but Chinese firms a step ahead: analysts

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3319304/us-agrees-trade-deals-indonesia-philippines-chinese-firms-step-ahead-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States has struck new trade deals with Indonesia and the Philippines, in a move analysts say could indirectly undercut China by reshaping regional supply chains and tapping rare earth reserves – even if Beijing is not explicitly targeted.

Still, some analysts warn that efforts to counter China may deliver less than intended results, as Chinese firms are already adapting by localising operations across Southeast Asia.

“Having failed to secure direct wins against China on tariffs and export controls, [the US] has a stronger incentive to contain China in a more indirect manner, and the deals with Southeast Asian countries are examples of that tactic,” said Xu Tianchen, senior China economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

But Chinese factories are not as reliant on transshipments as they were five years ago, as they increasingly seek to localise production in Southeast Asian countries, he added.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had reached trade agreements with the Philippines and Indonesia.

According to Trump, imports from the two countries will be charged a 19 per cent tariff, while American shipments to the Philippines and Indonesia will not face any duties.

Prior to the deals, Washington had threatened 32 per cent tariffs on Indonesian imports, and 20 per cent on goods from the Philippines.

The US will also continue military cooperation with the Philippines, while Indonesia will supply critical minerals and sign multibillion-dollar deals to purchase Boeing aircraft, American farm products and energy.

However, the US announcement could be exaggerated and needs to be viewed with a pinch of salt, Xu added.

In the US-Indonesia deal, for example, “the real problem with critical minerals is processing capacity – which the US severely lacks – not access to raw materials in Indonesia.”

Rare earths have become a geopolitical and trade flashpoint in recent months, following Beijing's tightening of export controls in April to assert its dominance over the supply chain – a move widely seen as a response to similar restrictions by the US on the flow of advanced semiconductors, as well as increased tariffs.

Indonesia’s rich critical mineral reserves and its downstream processing capacity could make it a rising strategic counterbalance to China in the global tech supply chain – especially as Washington seeks supply chain diversification and resilience.

Jayant Menon, visiting senior fellow at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said that unlike the Vietnam deal – which explicitly includes a different tariff rate on goods perceived as Chinese transshipments – neither of these deals directly targets China, although both could disrupt regional supply chains.

“It will affect the incentive to invest in Southeast Asia to try and avoid prohibitive tariffs proposed for China,” Menon said.

“Depending on the gap in tariff rates with China, foreign firms will likely shift their production bases in order to obtain the best access to the US market.”

Earlier this month, Trump announced a new trade deal with Vietnam, which includes a 20 per cent tariff on Vietnamese exports and a steep 40 per cent duty on transshipped goods – measures that could hit companies reliant on supply chains linking the Southeast Asian country and China.

He Dong, chief economist at the Singapore-based Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), said on Tuesday that Beijing should “encourage their firms to become more deeply ingrained or integrated with local economies” in the region.

Chinese businesses should have the autonomy to make long-term decisions about their role in local economies, which would also protect them from unpredictable tariff rates, he told the Post.

Could China’s Tibet mega dam help boost its sway with South Asian neighbours?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3319326/could-chinas-tibet-mega-dam-help-boost-its-sway-south-asian-neighbours?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s latest mega dam on the Tibetan Plateau could help draw neighbouring countries closer into its economic orbit by supplying electricity and boosting growth, analysts have argued.

According to some estimates, the dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo will be the world’s biggest, producing up to 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, three times the output of the Three Gorges Dam.

State news agency Xinhua said over the weekend that its output would “primarily deliver electricity for external consumption” but would also meet local demand in Tibet.

But the project has drawn concerns about the impact on water supply and ecological risks downstream in India and Bangladesh, where the river is known as the Brahmaputra, although Beijing has said it was not seeking to benefit at the “expense of its neighbours”.

India is also worried about Beijing’s efforts to strengthen its influence in South Asia, and Chinese observers said the project could help increase its sway over countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh, which have long struggled with power shortages.

The project “will undoubtedly become a major power hub for surrounding countries and related neighbouring regions”, according to Zhu Feng, dean of the school of international studies at Nanjing University.

“It will have significant strategic value in boosting electricity supply and industrial growth in the surrounding regions,” he said.

It would also play an important role in driving economic cooperation with its neighbours, something Beijing has made a priority in light of its rivalry with the US.

Lin Minwang, deputy director of Fudan University’s Centre for South Asian Studies, said that in the long run, the hydropower project could help draw Southeast and South Asian countries more closely into China’s economic orbit through electricity exports.

He said India might also benefit from the power generated from the dam, but border tensions would complicate the issue.

“The key issue is political relations,” said Lin. “Northeast India is a highly sensitive area for New Delhi, and if electricity is to be sent to Bangladesh, it would require a transit route.”

India has already been investing heavily in hydropower projects in Nepal and Bhutan to secure its own supplies.

“Whether those countries will choose China or India [for future power imports] is another much bigger question,” Lin added.

The dam will be built close to the border with India and flows through Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian-controlled state that China claims as part of southern Tibet. Beijing has previously objected to Indian infrastructure projects in the state.

Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Beijing’s Renmin University, said the project was first of all designed to meet China’s own power needs, and “whether demand is sufficient in the present domestic economic downturn and whether it is environmentally less risky are other matters”.

China has tried to address concerns about the environmental risk posed by the project and its impact on water supplies downstream, and said it would continue to strengthen cooperation with neighbouring countries.

Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that the project “aims to accelerate the development of clean energy” and “comprehensive ecological and environmental protection measures” would be adopted.

“It will, as a by-product, aggravate the tensions with India and attract some Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] countries to China’s power diplomacy. So it has double effects both internal and external,” Shi said.

“It will correspondingly increase China’s influence [in Southeast Asia], in a competitive geopolitical arena over which the US and its allies have somewhat preponderance, especially because of [Donald] Trump’s most recent trade agreements.”

Lu Gang, director of the Institute of International Studies at East China Normal University, said ensuring stable power supplies for its neighbours could “help shape a positive image of China”.

“[This] will build trust with other countries. And, naturally, economic dependence will follow,” Lu said.

He also said the project may also have a longer-term strategic impact on regions such as Central Asia.

“For Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – both have abundant hydropower resources, but their infrastructure is weak. So if the project in Tibet is successfully implemented and generates economic benefits, it will serve as a stimulus,” he said.