• Trump’s order to end ‘de minimis’ tariff break expands from China to rest of the world
• China, Russia to conduct naval drill; growing interest in C919 jet: SCMP daily highlights
• Chinese semiconductor, AI firms form pact as Nvidia faces inquiry on H20 chip’s security
• 31 die in Chinese elder care centre as human cost from flooding disaster rises
• ‘Extreme limits’: China-led mission finds thriving oasis in Earth’s deepest reaches
• China’s Tokyo embassy sounds alarm after 2 citizens attacked in Japan
• US-China trade talks signal shift that could reshape global order: analysts
• India sends warships to Philippines for joint South China Sea patrol
• Malaysian airlines interested in China’s C919 jet, country’s transport minister says
• China boy, 3, survives 18-floor plunge; dad honours ‘life-saving tree’ with big red flower
• China’s Shenzhou-19 astronauts reveal record spacewalk featured surprise repair
• China’s cyberspace regulator summons Nvidia to explain H20 chip’s alleged ‘back door’ risks
• Wuxi AppTec raises US$981 mn in Hong Kong offer amid growing appetite for Chinese biotech
• Are EU’s hopes of reducing reliance on China feeding its dependence on the US?
• China courier puts sick daughter in delivery box while working as she can’t afford childcare
• ByteDance’s Douyin takes on Alibaba, Meituan and JD.com in China’s instant delivery race
• Will China win renewables race while US pivots to fossil fuels and nuclear?

Trump’s order to end ‘de minimis’ tariff break expands from China to rest of the world

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3320315/trumps-order-end-de-minimis-tariff-break-expands-china-rest-world?utm_source=rss_feed

Washington’s decision to suspend the “de minimis” tariff exemption for all countries – expanding on an earlier move that targeted Chinese shipments – is set to disrupt and ultimately reshape the global cross-border e-commerce sector, analysts said.

The White House announced the order on Wednesday as part of efforts to close loopholes used to evade tariffs and smuggle “deadly synthetic opioids as well as other unsafe or below-market products” into the United States. It will come into effect on August 29.

In May, the US eliminated the exemption – which had allowed small packages worth less than US$800 to enter the country duty-free – for goods from China. The move aimed to close what many considered a regulatory loophole exploited by Chinese platforms like Temu and Shein to rapidly scale their businesses.

Experts said the latest action marked a return to trade normalcy and left Chinese exporters with limited options: either compete in an already saturated domestic market, or battle fellow Chinese sellers abroad.

“Before, they could source from other countries to get around rules — that’s no longer viable, as the pathways to the US market are all blocked,” said Zhuang Bo, global macro strategist at Loomis Sayles Investment Asia, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers.

While expected, the move marks a significant setback for China’s digital trade dominance, as the whole “business model was largely driven by Chinese firms, both operationally and in market share”, he added.

“We’ll likely see Chinese outbound FDI become far more common, as companies seek to maintain market access… Sellers will now either continue the brutal price competition at home or face off with fellow Chinese firms in markets beyond the US.”

The most effective solution, Zhuang added, would be to accept slower growth and allow industrial capacity to normalise. “But as long as national policy still targets high growth, companies will be forced to keep cutting prices to defend market share.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Thursday that Beijing had “taken note” of the latest US move. He urged Washington to uphold “the principles of fair competition” and provide a “fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment” for all foreign firms.

In early February, Trump sought to revoke the “de minimis” exemption for low-value parcels from China and Hong Kong, citing trade imbalances. The move was part of an executive order he signed on February 1 that also raised tariffs on Chinese goods by 10 per cent.

While the rule briefly took effect, it was quickly delayed to give US agencies more time to establish systems for collecting duties – effectively pausing enforcement.

The exemption had played a crucial role in driving the growth of China’s cross-border e-commerce sector, allowing vendors to send small shipments directly to US consumers without incurring import duties or facing customs checks.

Over the past decade, shipments entering the US under the exemption have surged by more than 600 per cent – from about 139 million in the 2015 financial year to over 1 billion in the 2023 financial year, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

For small Chinese businesses, the news did not come as a surprise. Many have already shifted their focus to the domestic market or diversified to alternative export destinations.

Meng Siyuan, an online seller of crystal bracelets targeting overseas buyers, said she had been adjusting her strategy since the beginning of the year when Trump first signalled he would cancel the policy.

“I never had any hopes for Donald Trump – he is not a reliable man,” Meng said, adding that she is considering diversifying to the Middle East and other developing regions beyond Europe, currently her main export destination.

“But it will be quite different because America is still the largest market.”

China, Russia to conduct naval drill; growing interest in C919 jet: SCMP daily highlights

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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 .

Future negotiations could take place against a more fragmented backdrop, as the superpowers vie for influence over third countries.

China and Russia will hold their “Joint Sea 2025” joint naval exercise in August, followed by the sixth joint maritime patrol in the Pacific, China’s National Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act dramatically reverses American support for clean energy in a world racing towards decarbonisation. Meanwhile, China is projected to contribute 60 per cent of the world’s expansion in renewable energy capacity by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

Chinese astronauts revealed an unexpected problem with the Tiangong space station’s hardware, which had to be repaired unrehearsed during their record-breaking nine-hour spacewalk at the end of last year.

The latest trade deal between Brussels and Washington may deepen the European Union’s economic and security dependence on the US and increase the risks to the bloc’s pursuit of strategic autonomy, according to a senior Chinese diplomat.

Growing air travel in Southeast Asia and backlogs in Airbus and Boeing deliveries are driving regional interest in China’s C919 passenger jet, according to Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

In the crushing darkness of the northwest Pacific Ocean, a China-led deep-sea expedition has pulled back the curtain on the deepest life habitat ever known to exist: thriving colonies of tubeworms and molluscs.

Chinese semiconductor, AI firms form pact as Nvidia faces inquiry on H20 chip’s security

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3320301/chinese-semiconductor-ai-firms-form-pact-nvidia-faces-inquiry-h20-chips-security?utm_source=rss_feed

A group of Chinese semiconductor and AI companies has formed an alliance to push the adoption of locally developed processors for artificial intelligence projects, as mainland regulators question Nvidia about any “back door” risks in its H20 chips.

Initial members of the Model-Chips Ecosystem Innovation Alliance include Tencent Holdings-backed AI start-up StepFun, Infinigence AI, SiliconFlow, Huawei Technologies’ Ascend computing business unit, MetaX, Biren Technology, Enflame, Iluvatar Corex, Cambricon Technologies and Moore Threads.

The alliance was announced by Shanghai-based StepFun at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), which concluded on Monday.

The alliance reflected the growing efforts in the country’s semiconductor industry and nascent AI sector to push forward Beijing’s tech self-sufficiency agenda – covering computing hardware, software and services – amid US export restrictions on China and rising geopolitical tensions.

The group’s establishment comes amid an inquiry that the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) was conducting on Nvidia, which was recently given the green light by the Trump administration to resume shipments of its China-specific H20 AI processors.

The CAC said its inquiry was based on recent reports of “serious security issues” involving Nvidia’s processors and demands from US lawmakers to add tracking features to advanced chips. Moreover, US AI experts indicated that remote-control technologies related to Nvidia’s chips have matured.

The Model-Chips Ecosystem Innovation Alliance also comes at a time when Chinese AI infrastructure collaborations are increasing.

Infinigence AI – a computing infrastructure platform provider backed by talent from Tsinghua University and funding from domestic Big Tech companies – on Monday said it was working with Huawei to launch an updated version of its “compute ecosystem platform” in the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Centre, a renowned AI incubator in the city.

Hong Kong-headquartered AI firm SenseTime on Sunday unveiled at WAIC a “compute mall” initiative with more than 10 domestic chip design companies, including Huawei and Moore Threads. This initiative would allow AI developers to freely combine and allocate a variety of computing resources, platform tools and AI model services just like “purchasing goods” at a supermarket.

Still, a number of analysts expected Nvidia’s H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) to continue seeing high demand in China when sales resume.

During his visit to Beijing earlier this month, Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang told Chinese media that the company was “working at full speed to restore [the H20’s] production capacity”. He said it currently took about nine months between placing wafer orders with the contract manufacturer and delivery of the chips.

According to a Morgan Stanley report earlier this month, the lifting of US export restrictions on H20 sales to China “removes a key near-term headwind” for AI development on the mainland. AI spending by China’s major cloud services providers was set to reach 380 billion yuan (US$53 billion) this year, up 60 per cent from 2024, the report said.

The US investment bank said China still depended on foreign-made GPUs, as Huawei’s latest Ascend 910C chip was not yet available for large-scale commercial applications.

31 die in Chinese elder care centre as human cost from flooding disaster rises

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3320320/31-die-chinese-elder-care-centre-human-cost-flooding-disaster-rises?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese officials have declared 31 people in an elderly care centre in Beijing died during heavy rainfall and flooding, bringing the disaster death toll in China’s capital to 44, while nine people remain missing.

The number of casualties in neighbouring Hebei province has also risen in recent days, indicating the severity and mounting human cost of the emergency which started last week, although no official figures for the province or overall data have been released.

At a press conference on Thursday, Beijing vice-mayor Xia Linmao said the city had been hit by extremely heavy rain from July 23 to 29, causing severe damage in mountainous districts, including Miyun, Huairou, Yanqing and Pinggu.

Worst affected this week was Miyun, a mountainous district northeast of Beijing, where the disaster claimed the lives of 37 people, including the dozens who died in the elder care centre, although no further information about the circumstances of their deaths has been released.

Yu Weiguo, secretary of the Miyun party committee, said that according to a preliminary count, 162 villages in 17 towns across the district were affected, with more than 31,000 houses, 6,994 vehicles and 10 roads damaged.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Monday that the heavy rainfall and flooding in Miyun “have caused heavy casualties”, according to Xinhua.

While wet weather is usual for China in July and August, it has hit the northern part of the country – including Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin, as well as the northeastern province of Liaoning and the eastern coastal province of Shandong – hard this year.

State media said the disaster had caused heavy casualties and property losses, and videos of flooding and landslides, as well as rescue efforts, have been circulating on social media. Online posts show houses submerged and destroyed, with debris embedded in the mud or drifting in floodwaters.

In Hebei on Monday, eight people died in a landslide in Luanping, a county within the city of Chengde. Intensive search and rescue operations were launched to find four who remain missing.

Meanwhile, heavy rainfall in Xinglong county, also in Chengde, claimed eight lives on Wednesday, and rescuers are searching for 18 people who are missing.

The same day, a commenter from Hebei said on social media that local vegetable greenhouses and homes were submerged up to their roofs, and that some villagers in the mountains had died and many others were trapped.

Another local resident wrote that because of damaged roads and bridges, as well as disrupted communications and power supplies, several villages and towns in Hebei had become “isolated islands” and described the situation as “an unprecedented massive challenge”.

Beginning on Saturday, Jizhou, a district of the northern Tianjin municipality, experienced its worst mountain flood in 70 years, causing more than 10,000 people to be evacuated.

‘Extreme limits’: China-led mission finds thriving oasis in Earth’s deepest reaches

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3320314/extreme-limits-china-led-mission-finds-thriving-oasis-earths-deepest-reaches?utm_source=rss_feed

In the crushing darkness of the northwest Pacific Ocean, a China-led deep-sea expedition has pulled back the curtain on the deepest life habitat ever known to exist: thriving colonies of tubeworms and molluscs.

The improbable hidden oasis of life – in numbing waters up to 9,500 metres (31,167 feet) deep – synthesises energy by feasting on chemicals such as hydrogen sulphide and methane that seep out of faults in the tectonic plate.

The remarkable creatures have bypassed the need for sunlight. Instead of photosynthesis, they obtain energy from chemical reactions. The researchers have found that the methane used by the colonies is made through microbial processes in organic matter found in the sediments.

Scientists from China, Denmark, New Zealand and Russia reported their “discovery of the deepest and the most extensive chemosynthesis-based communities known to exist on Earth” in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on Wednesday.

“Given geological similarities with other hadal [deepest] trenches, such chemosynthesis-based communities might be more widespread than previously anticipated,” they wrote.

“These findings challenge current models of life at extreme limits and carbon cycling in the deep ocean.”

The team investigated the trench bottom of the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench and the western portion of the Aleutian Trench during a month-long mission from July last year using the Chinese submersible Fendouzhe, or Striver.

Scientists in the submersible took videos with cameras mounted on the vehicle and operated its two swing arms to acquire and store samples. They then transferred the specimens to the laboratory on the research mother ship Tan Suo Yi Hao for analysis.

The researchers found that the communities dominated by tubeworms, siboglinid Polychaeta, and Bivalvia spanned a distance of 2,500km (1,553 miles) at depths from 5,800 to 9,533 metres.

During a dive to 9,120 metres in the central Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, to a site called Wintersweet Valley, the scientists found forests of two species of threadlike worms.

“These frenulate siboglinids were found in great abundance along a substantial portion of a seep field, around 2km in length, which was explored during a single dive,” the scientists wrote. “The colonies consist of thousands of individuals with tubes extending out of the sediment.”

Alongside them were tube-dwelling worms and numerous slugs and snails that settled on the siboglinid tubes, free-moving worms, crinoids, sea cucumbers and amphipods.

But at another site around 120km southwest of Wintersweet Field, the scene was very different.

The area – appropriately dubbed Dead Valley – was more like a deep-sea graveyard, full of dense clusters of frenulate siboglinids, “with tubes covered by white flocculent material and lying almost horizontally”.

“Siboglinids seem to be dead, suggesting cessation of fluid activity in this part of the field,” they wrote.

Just 50 metres southwest, the researchers arrived at Cotton Field, where they found dense populations of living frenulate siboglinids with numerous free-moving worms as well as slugs and snails.

Meanwhile, in the Kamchatka Aleutian Transition, a sharp corner where the Kamchatka and Aleutian zones intersect, the scientists found “a high abundance” of two species of clams.

During a dive, the team found a clam bed extending around 2km along a steep fault at a depth of 5,800 metres. There were also snails and slugs, tube-dwelling and free-moving worms, amphipods and sea anemones.

The team said the western part of the Aleutian Trench had a “notably higher” abundance of bivalves and tube-dwelling worms compared to the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench.

In addition to animal studies, the researchers used modelling to reveal that methane occurred in a dissolved form in pore water, which is found in the small spaces between sediment particles, and as hydrate, a chemical compound containing water, at all observed seep sites.

“The potential presence of methane hydrates at great depths in hadal trenches may enhance [the] global inventory of methane gas hydrate resources,” they said.

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China’s Tokyo embassy sounds alarm after 2 citizens attacked in Japan

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320306/chinas-tokyo-embassy-sounds-alarm-after-2-citizens-attacked-japan?utm_source=rss_feed

The Chinese embassy in Tokyo has issued a security alert after two Chinese nationals were wounded in an attack in the Japanese capital on Thursday.

Four unidentified men armed with iron pipes attacked two Chinese men as they were walking in Tokyo’s Kanda district at around 9am, according to Japanese media reports.

The two victims sustained head wounds but their condition was not life-threatening.

Police were searching for the attackers, who were believed to be in their 20s and reportedly not known to the Chinese men before the incident. The victims said the suspects did not make any demands for money or valuables.

The Chinese embassy said it immediately contacted the injured individuals and visited the police station in the area, urging Japanese authorities to take swift action to apprehend the suspects.

“In response to the recent xenophobic sentiments in Japanese society, the embassy has lodged a solemn representation with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanding concrete measures to be taken by the Japanese side in terms of protecting the safety and legitimate rights of Chinese citizens in Japan,” it said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the ministry had promptly conveyed concerns to the Japanese authorities and was working to understand the situation.

“We urge the Japanese side to take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens,” Guo said.

Chinese nationals are the biggest group of foreigners living in Japan and one of the largest groups of visitors. In addition, last year, Chinese nationals became the largest group of foreigners to be naturalised as Japanese citizens.

But anti-foreign sentiment has been having a political moment, with the far-right Sanseito party – known for its “Japan first” rhetoric – breaking through in Japan’s recent upper house elections to win 14 seats.

Without identifying a specific immigrant group, the party previously raised concerns about Chinese buying up land and resources in Japan.

The attack in Tokyo also comes in the lead-up to the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

China has organised various commemorative activities for the anniversary, including a major military parade in Beijing on September 3. Films about the subject are also scheduled to be screened in cinemas in the coming months.

The Japanese consulate in Shanghai issued a security alert last week, urging Japanese citizens in China to exercise heightened caution about the potential rise in anti-Japanese sentiment, which may be triggered by the anniversary and related events.

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US-China trade talks signal shift that could reshape global order: analysts

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3320287/us-china-trade-talks-signal-shift-could-reshape-global-order-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed

As the dust settles on the latest round of US-China trade talks in Stockholm this week, the world’s two biggest economies may be shifting towards “indirect forms of negotiation” by strengthening partnerships with third countries that could reshape the global economic order, analysts said.

The talks concluded on Tuesday with Beijing announcing that both sides had agreed to extend their “tariff truce” by another 90 days. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said the two countries had reached a “fair” deal on trade, without providing further details. No breakthroughs were announced on specific issues.

“I think confirmation of another 90-day extension is probably the best we can hope for at this point,” said Nick Marro, principal economist for Asia and lead for global trade at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“The fact that we haven’t seen any more substantive announcements after two days of negotiations suggests that the talks may have been a little bit difficult.”

Analysts agreed that future US–China negotiations would likely go beyond bilateral tariff levels, as both sides seek to win over other trading partners to align with their interests.

Matteo Giovannini, a senior finance manager at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said the outcome of the latest talks “underscores” how Beijing and Washington were “recalibrating” their strategies.

“While the temporary tariff freeze signals a willingness to keep dialogue alive, neither side wants to be seen as making unilateral concessions. As a result, we are likely to see more indirect forms of negotiation,” said Giovannini, who is also a non-resident associate fellow at the Centre for China and Globalisation think tank in Beijing.

He added that future trade talks would revolve around “shaping a new status quo for the global economic order”.

James Downes, head of the politics and public administration programme at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, said both countries were “increasingly supplementing” direct talks with efforts to strengthen “economic and strategic ties” with third countries and regional blocs.

Washington has already reached trade agreements with several major partners, including Britain, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, the EU, Pakistan and South Korea – ahead of a Friday deadline to finalise deals with countries other than China.

The US has also announced it will impose a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, along with an additional “penalty” import tax, despite Trump calling the country a “friend”.

For its part, China is expanding trade ties with Latin America, Africa and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) by leveraging its Belt and Road Initiative.

Meanwhile, the US is seeking to reduce its reliance on China by de-risking supply chains through partnerships with traditional allies like the Group of Seven (G7), the European Union and Indo-Pacific countries.

“By expanding their networks of trade allies and fostering new spheres of influence, both sides can strengthen their negotiating positions without being forced into zero-sum compromises at the bilateral table,” Giovannini said.

The evolving strategies signal a broader reordering of the trade landscape, according to Downes.

“Despite ongoing direct US-China talks, both sides are increasingly leveraging global alliances to build influence and shape a new, multipolar world order,” he said.

“These dual approaches are shaping a new, more fragmented global order where influence and alignments with either power will impact future negotiations.”

However, Marro warned that Washington’s “hawkish” trade policy – including efforts to block Chinese goods from entering the US market via third countries – was creating a “fortress America” and would “persist for quite some time”.

“For China, we’re likely to see [it] continue to reach out to its own trade partners to find alternative markets and offset the potential loss of US demands,” he added.

The Stockholm talks, led by US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, marked the third meeting between the delegations since both countries raised tariffs on each other’s goods to triple-digit rates in April.

India sends warships to Philippines for joint South China Sea patrol

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3320258/india-sends-warships-philippines-joint-south-china-sea-patrol?utm_source=rss_feed

India’s deployment of three naval warships to the Philippines in the lead-up to a joint patrol in the South China Sea has raised hope that Manila is not alone in its long-standing stance against Beijing’s assertiveness in the region.

Currently docked at the Port of Manila, the Indian Navy warships – INS Mysore (D60), a guided missile destroyer, INS Kiltan (P30), an anti-submarine warfare corvette, and INS Shakti (A57), a fleet tanker – will participate in the joint sail from August 4 to August 8, including in waters contested by Manila and Beijing.

The drill will coincide with a scheduled visit by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr to India over the same period, where he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold discussions. During his first visit to India since assuming office, Marcos Jnr will also meet Indian President Droupadi Murmu, while External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will call on the Philippine leader.

India’s 163-metre INS Mysore is equipped with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles – jointly developed by India and Russia – with an extended range of up to 800km.

The coordinated maritime patrol, part of the Indian navy’s ongoing operational deployment across Southeast Asia, reflects a united front presented by New Delhi and Manila as tensions continue to rise in the contested waters amid China’s growing influence.

At the arrival ceremony on Wednesday, Rear Admiral Susheel Menon, the flag officer commanding India’s Eastern Fleet, thanked the Philippine government for its warm reception. His crew introduced various surveillance aircraft to the Philippine media, highlighting their capability to accurately distinguish military vessels from civilian ships.

“We are extremely looking forward to this opportunity. Our two nations share common values and interests, particularly in the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific,” Menon said.

While in the country, the Indian navy is also set to engage in various professional exchanges with its Philippine counterparts. These activities aim to strengthen interoperability and foster closer naval cooperation between the two countries.

The dispatch of Indian warships to patrol with the Philippines shows Delhi’s policymakers are aware that China is not a status quo power, according to security experts.

Anita Abbott, chair of the New Zealand-based Asia-Pacific Security Innovation Forum, told This Week in Asia that India’s assertive posture signalled a shift from occasional cooperation with Manila to a more consistent regional presence.

“The South China Sea and the Indian Ocean Region are interconnected strategic theatres, especially for China. This means, by cooperating with the Philippines, India will be able to extend its reach eastward, and build maritime depth, which consequently enables India to project itself as a pan-Indo-Pacific maritime power,” Abbott said.

“Moreover, by strengthening its posture in the South China Sea, India reinforces its ‘necklace of diamonds’ strategy in the Indian Ocean region,” she added, referring to a network of allies around the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific to contain China’s influence.

Abbott, however, also pointed out that India still wished to avoid direct provocation of China and it did not explicitly endorse Manila’s legal claims against Beijing in the contested waterway.

“There are also other ways to balance its support for the Philippines with its relationship with Beijing. For instance, by taking part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,” Abbott said.

Sarang Shidore, director of the Global South Programme at the Quincy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said India’s approach towards China post-Galwan was undergoing an evolution, noting there was significant progress in the military disengagement at the border last year. Shidore was referring to the clashes in the Galwan river valley between Indian and Chinese forces in recent years.

Shidore also referred to India having resumed visas for Chinese tourists and considering allowing Chinese investment on a curated basis.

“The volatility from Washington toward its closest Asian partners is incentivising both India and the Philippines to cooperate bilaterally and regionally for balancing against China,” he told This Week in Asia.

“So both Manila and New Delhi are engaging China more, but also putting in place strategies independent of the United States on balancing against it.”

Shidore acknowledged that while it was difficult to predict the consistency of India’s military presence in the South China Sea, the geopolitical alignment between Delhi and Manila was likely to endure.

Last year, the same three warships made a goodwill port call to Manila, while the last joint naval drills between India and the Philippines took place in 2021 in the West Philippine Sea.

India has played a significant role in Manila’s military modernisation, supplying the country with hardware such as its BrahMos anti-ship missiles.

Chris Gardiner, CEO of the Institute for Regional Security, described India as an emerging global and maritime power engaging Southeast Asia through its Act East policy, with growing economic interests in the region.

“It is a defender of international law as expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It is signalling in its current naval deployments a more proactive promotion of its interests,” he said.

“This naval deployment shows effective diplomacy by both the Modi and Marcos governments. It adds to the Philippines’ arguments about why and how its approach to defence of its sovereignty and of international law is supported beyond its alliance with the US.”

A more frequent Indian naval presence in international waters in the South China Sea and in Philippine waters would be a welcome contribution to balancing and stabilising the regional maritime environment, according to Gardiner.

Shidore argued that even if India’s naval presence in the Philippines was occasional, it remained significant for Manila, as it signalled to Beijing that the Southeast Asian country was strengthening a web of security partnerships with other Asian nations concerned about China’s actions.

“But Manila will need to carefully calibrate these relations so that they help in its defence while not provoking Beijing,” he said.

Malaysian airlines interested in China’s C919 jet, country’s transport minister says

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3320247/malaysian-airlines-interested-chinas-c919-jet-countrys-transport-minister-says?utm_source=rss_feed

Growing air travel in Southeast Asia and backlogs in Airbus and Boeing deliveries are driving regional interest in China’s C919 passenger jet, according to Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

China is promoting aircraft made by Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) – including the C919, the country’s first home-grown narrowbody airliner – as cheaper alternatives to aircraft manufactured by Airbus and Boeing.

Loke told the Post recently that Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia and a new airline, Air Borneo, were among the airlines to have shown interest in the Comac aircraft.

All airlines were looking to diversify their procurement of aircraft and were seeking faster delivery and cheaper options, Loke said.

“There is currently a long wait for aircraft delivery from Boeing and Airbus,” he said. “For sure, Comac is one of the aircraft manufacturers looked at by airlines.

“AirAsia is interested … to look at them but nothing is confirmed. I am not privy to commercial negotiations.”

Loke said Air Borneo, a new airline from the Malaysian state of Sarawak that is scheduled to begin operations by the end of this year, had also expressed interest.

A joint Malaysia-China statement issued at the end of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Malaysia in April said the two sides would “support Malaysian airlines in introducing and operating Chinese commercial aircraft”.

Zachary Abuza, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at the United States’ National War College in Washington, said China had been “aggressively promoting” the C919 across Southeast Asia.

“Lao Airways purchased two, and deals appear to have been reached for the lease of the smaller C909 regional jet with Vietnam’s VietJet,” he said, adding that Comac has also been negotiating a C919 deal with Indonesian flag carrier Garuda.

“While some countries may push their state and private airways to purchase Boeings, as it’s a quick way to even out trade surpluses with the United States and give [US President Donald] Trump a ‘win’, there is still a lot of unease at the unilateral imposition of economically devastating US tariffs,” Abuza said.

“China is presenting itself as the protector of the status quo, and the country that is committed to regional growth, integration and prosperity. And that may be enough for Comac to seal some deals.”

Abuza said the C919 was “much cheaper” than its Boeing and Airbus rivals for the carriers that make up Southeast Asia’s “large budget air sector”.

The C919 has yet to receive certification from Europe’s aviation regulator, with European Union Aviation Safety Agency executive director Florian Guillermet telling a French magazine in late April that the certification process would take three to six years.

Loke said he did not expect EU certification to be an issue for Southeast Asian airlines as the region’s carriers were mostly looking for single-aisle narrowbody aircraft to fly on domestic routes and within Southeast Asia – not on long-haul routes to Europe.

He said that if any Malaysian airlines were to purchase Comac planes, they would need to get approval from the country’s civil aviation authority.

An increase in tourist arrivals sparked by visa-free entry arrangements, along with growing numbers of business and student travellers, has seen the number of flights between the two countries jump in recent years.

As of July 13, there were 499 one-way Malaysia-China flights a week and 997 two-way ones – excluding charter flights – up from 435 and 870 respectively last year, taking total weekly seat capacity to 197,171, according to Malaysia’s Transport Ministry.

“Most Chinese airlines have increased their flights to Malaysia,” Loke said. “They are coming in a bigger way.

“Apart from the big airlines, you also have the regional and provincial [airlines] … flying to Malaysia, especially those from the coastal and southern areas.”

Sixteen airlines have been flying between Malaysia and China this month. They comprise five Malaysian airlines, including Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Batik Air, and 11 Chinese carriers, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Qingdao Airlines.

From this month, Chinese tourists are eligible for 90 days of visa-free travel to Malaysia over the course of 180 days, but each visit is limited to a maximum of 30 days.

That marks an expansion of a 30-day visa-free arrangement introduced in December 2023 that saw Chinese visitor arrivals surge by over 100 per cent last year, jumping from 1.6 million in 2023 to 3.7 million. Their numbers are expected to increase further this year, Loke said.

China boy, 3, survives 18-floor plunge; dad honours ‘life-saving tree’ with big red flower

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3319408/china-boy-3-survives-18-floor-plunge-dad-honours-life-saving-tree-big-red-flower?utm_source=rss_feed

A three-year-old boy in China has shocked the nation after he miraculously survived an 18-storey fall from his residential building, thanks to a tree that broke his fall.

As a mark of gratitude, the boy’s father later adorned the tree with a large red flower.

The incident unfolded on July 15 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, southeastern China, when the unidentified toddler was left in the care of his grandparents.

Believing the child was asleep, the grandparents briefly left home to buy groceries, locking the door of the flat to prevent him from wandering.

However, the boy woke up and made his way into the bathroom.

The bathroom window had no safety bars, so he was able to climb onto the toilet and then to the window, from which he fell.

Miraculously, his plunge was broken by a tree and he survived.

The boy was found on the ground by a resident who recorded a video and shared it with the property management group.

The boy’s father, surnamed Zhu, recalled his initial disbelief: “At first, I could not believe he had fallen from the 18th floor until surveillance footage from the property management group confirmed it.”

said that during the fall, his son had likely been “obstructed” by an open window on the 17th floor, which caused a “deviation” in his trajectory.

This crucial deflection led him to land directly on a tree, which acted as a vital buffer, absorbing much of the impact before he hit the ground.

“Otherwise, the child would have landed directly on the concrete,” Zhu said.

When the boy arrived at hospital, medical staff described his survival as a “miracle”.

He suffered injuries including a broken left arm, spinal strain and internal organ damage. His head was unharmed.

The boy was conscious throughout and, astonishingly, was able to tell the doctors: “Ask Daddy to buy me a Bumblebee.”

In a gesture of gratitude, Zhu later “offered a big red flower”, a traditional Chinese symbol of honour and celebration, to the “life-saving tree”.

The boy’s survival sparked a widespread discussion online.

One person said: “How could the parents be so careless? Even when raising a cat, people know to seal all the windows.”

While another person added: “Such a lucky little one, he is truly blessed. Get well soon, baby! It is a miracle.”

China’s Shenzhou-19 astronauts reveal record spacewalk featured surprise repair

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3320230/chinas-shenzhou-19-astronauts-reveal-record-spacewalk-featured-surprise-repair?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese astronauts revealed an unexpected problem with the Tiangong space station’s hardware, which had to be repaired unrehearsed during their record-breaking nine-hour spacewalk at the end of last year.

Cai Xuzhe, commander of the Shenzhou-19 mission, recounted the incident in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday. He first disclosed the episode during a press conference with his crew members, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, on July 9. It was their first official public appearance since returning from their 183-day mission on April 30.

Cai told CCTV that a payload adaptor unexpectedly jammed during a cargo installation outside the spacecraft.

The adaptor is a docking mechanism used for various tasks, such as extravehicular experiments or the replacement and maintenance of spacecraft or platform components.

Normally, a robotic arm can unlock the two locks on the adaptor, but the automatic process failed and left one half of the adaptor still attached to the spacecraft. It needed to be fixed manually.

According to Cai, because of limited time and the unplanned nature of the task, they did not have specialised equipment at hand and needed to find an unrehearsed solution in cooperation with the ground team.

“We were under a lot of pressure after receiving the task,” he said during the press conference.

Under normal circumstances, astronauts rehearse and train for extravehicular activity (EVA) when preparing for their missions. They are considered some of the most dangerous activities in space exploration.

However, Cai said that even with repeated training on the ground, “after arriving in space, it is impossible to operate with as much ease as in practice”.

Before Cai and Song exited the spacecraft, the ground team simulated the adaptor malfunction so they could give guidance during the actual repair.

“Every successful EVA is a result of the crew’s unity and the coordinated efforts between the space and ground teams,” Cai said.

Another challenge was time. During the first seven hours of the EVA, Cai and Song completed planned tasks such as installing a space debris protection system. Discarded objects in space can collide with each other, which is an important reason to protect space stations against any damage.

They had only about 40 remaining minutes of sunlight – necessary for unobscured vision – to carry out the repair, putting them on a tight schedule, Cai told CCTV.

As time passed, the astronauts had to carefully monitor their oxygen levels. China’s second-generation Feitian EV spacesuits have two oxygen cylinders to ensure astronauts have enough oxygen to return inside safely.

Cai said that despite the length of their spacewalk – the longest in the history of space flight – they did not have to activate the backup oxygen cylinder. The task was successfully completed.

“I believe it demonstrates the reliability of our spacesuits, as well as our capability to work for nine hours without issues,” Cai said. “Additionally, it proves the maturity and confidence of our manned space flight technology.”

The crew’s tasks during the mission included a number of space science experiments, cargo delivery and extravehicular activities, many of which were the first of their kind, according to official government data.

China’s manned space programme was established in 1993. A decade later, it launched its first manned space flight, and in 2008 its astronauts successfully completed their first EVA. The goal is the country’s first crewed lunar landing by 2030.

In March, the China Manned Space Agency announced that preparations for the moon landing were fully under way, including the development of a spacesuit specifically designed for the unique challenges of the lunar environment.

Additional reporting by Edith Mao and Carl Zhang

China’s cyberspace regulator summons Nvidia to explain H20 chip’s alleged ‘back door’ risks

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3320240/chinas-cyberspace-regulator-summons-nvidia-explain-h20-chips-alleged-back-door-risks?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s cyberspace regulator has summoned Nvidia to explain the security risks related to the so-called “back door safety” of its H20 chips, according to a statement on its website.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said it has summoned and interviewed Nvidia over the tracking and remote control risks of its H20 chips and has requested the US company to explain and provide relevant proof regarding the issue.

More to follow …

Wuxi AppTec raises US$981 mn in Hong Kong offer amid growing appetite for Chinese biotech

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3320237/wuxi-apptec-raises-us981-mn-hong-kong-offer-amid-growing-appetite-chinese-biotech?utm_source=rss_feed

Wuxi AppTec, Asia’s largest provider of contract pharmaceutical research, has raised HK$7.70 billion (US$981 million) through a sale of additional shares in Hong Kong as it rides the wave of bullish appetite for Chinese biotechnology shares.

The Shanghai-based company sold 73.8 million new shares to institutional investors at HK$104.27 each, a 6.9 per cent discount to their closing price of HK$112 on Wednesday, it said in a filing to Hong Kong’s bourse on Thursday. The stock fell 5.2 per cent to HK$106.20 amid a declining market at 10.20am.

The sale of additional shares, involving the issuance of stock equivalent to a 2.57 per cent stake in the company, was led by Morgan Stanley, Citi, Goldman Sachs and HSBC.

“The proceeds will provide readily available funding for the company to accelerate global expansion and capacity construction, serving as a driving force for its sustained long-term growth,” Wuxi AppTec said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Wuxi AppTec is following the footsteps of other Chinese novel drug developers in tapping the capital markets for funds. Innovent Biologics raised HK$4.27 billion on July 4, Ascentage Pharma sold HK$1.49 billion of shares last week, while Shanghai Junshi Biosciences raised HK$1.04 million last month following Duality Biotherapeutics’ HK$1.64 billion initial public offer in April.

Much of this bullishness has been driven by mainland investors buying shares in Hong Kong-listed Chinese biotech and pharmaceutical firms, according to Tony Ren, head of Asia healthcare research at Macquarie Capital.

“Chinese biopharma have become a critical part of the global [novel drugs development] ecosystem, after a wave of head-turning out-licencing deals,” he wrote in a July 16 report in which he said sentiment is expected to stay buoyant for the rest of this year. “Southbound funds are driving Hong Kong shares higher.”

Other factors bolstering investment sentiment include expectations that several bellwethers are on the verge of reporting maiden profits on the back of revenue ramp-up from newly launched drugs, and reforms that favour the development of commercial health insurance products to help pay for expensive novel drugs in China.

Founded in 2000, Wuxi AppTec conducts new drugs research and development for clients and helps them with manufacturing. It has 38,000 employees in 32 sites in Asia, the United States, Europe and the Middle East, which support the needs of some 6,000 customers, according to its website.

On Monday, it announced a better-than-expected 95.5 per cent year-on-year jump in net profit to 8.29 billion yuan in the year's first six months.

The Hang Seng Biotech Index, which tracks the performance of the 50 largest biotech companies listed in Hong Kong, closed on Wednesday at 16,754 points, doubling the level at the start of the year.

The rally was supported by the announcement of a series of agreements by Chinese novel drug developers to license overseas market development and commercialisation rights to international pharmaceutical firms, besides the sales growth of their innovative drugs in the domestic market.

An example is Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals. Its shares jumped 24.5 per cent on Monday, after it announced a US$12.5 billion deal to develop and commercialise a dozen drugs in its preclinical research to GlaxoSmithKline in the UK for markets outside China.

Are EU’s hopes of reducing reliance on China feeding its dependence on the US?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320105/are-eus-hopes-reducing-reliance-china-feeding-its-dependence-us?utm_source=rss_feed

The latest trade deal between Brussels and Washington may deepen the European Union’s economic and security dependence on the US and increase the risks to the bloc’s pursuit of strategic autonomy, according to a senior Chinese diplomat.

Shi Mingde, who served as China’s ambassador to Germany from 2012 to 2019, gave his assessment of Sunday’s transatlantic agreement to academics and reporters at an event in Beijing on Tuesday to mark 50 years of China-EU relations.

The deal came hard on the heels of last Thursday’s one-day EU-China summit in the Chinese capital, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the 27-member bloc.

While Beijing has supported Europe’s push for strategic autonomy, it has firmly rejected its de-risking policy – to reduce the EU’s reliance on China – as a veiled attempt to contain Chinese growth, particularly in technology and the economy.

“The Europeans have proposed to reduce reliance to mitigate risk, but this reasoning is flawed,” Shi said.

“They claim that greater reliance leads to greater risk, yet their dependence on the United States remains even stronger – both in terms of security and economics – and the recent deal ... further reinforces the EU’s dependence on the US in terms of security and the economy.

“So, will this agreement ultimately lead to greater strategic autonomy for Europe? Not yet.”

Touted by US President Donald Trump as “the biggest deal ever made”, the agreement puts a 15 per cent tariff on most European imports to the United States, while the average rate on goods in the other direction will drop below one per cent, according to the White House.

The EU has also agreed to buy US$750 billion in American energy and make US$600 billion in new investment in the United States – all by 2028.

There have been concerns that a transatlantic agreement may increase Trump’s leverage in the continuing trade talks with Beijing while allowing the US and the EU to refocus on their alignment in the competition with China.

On Monday, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said that as part of the deal, Washington and Brussels would develop a metals alliance to mitigate the impact of subsidised Chinese products – notably “steel, aluminium, copper and the derivatives” – on global markets.

Without going into the agreement’s details, Shi said that while Beijing’s policy with the bloc had been “consistent” and “cooperative”, it was the EU’s own job to shape its future with major powers like the US, China and Russia.

How Sino-EU relations develop would depend on how the bloc definef China, “but the premise is how the EU defines itself in a turbulent world”, he said.

“[Would Brussels really] want a full-scale confrontation with Russia, comprehensive suppression by the US ... and an increasingly fractious relationship with China?”

Despite the frictions in the relationship, China has positioned itself as a partner to Europe and has been encouraging the European Union to do more to assert its strategic autonomy.

At last week’s summit, expected to set the tone for China-EU relations, President Xi Jinping urged his visitors – European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the European Council Antonio Costa – to make “the right strategic choice”.

Speaking before Shi at the same event, Di Dongsheng, professor and associate dean of the Renmin University of China’s school of international studies, observed that the EU’s policy on China had been largely influenced by Washington rather than Beijing.

The results of a 2023 study by his team at Renmin University suggested there was a risk that the EU might use China as leverage if Brussels was pressed hard by the US, he said.

The researchers analysed more than 200 million recorded events – including diplomatic engagement and conflicts – related to relations between China, the US and Washington’s allies since 2009, when former president Barack Obama took office.

“Our research shows Europe’s China policy isn’t shaped by Beijing’s actions at all – whether we’re positive or negative makes no difference in the EU’s attitude on China,” Di said.

“The real decider is America’s stance towards China and, to a lesser extent, the United States’ attitude towards the EU.

“In this sense, when the Europeans talk about cutting dependence on China, in the economy and supply chains, I think they should also be pursuing real political and strategic autonomy.”

China courier puts sick daughter in delivery box while working as she can’t afford childcare

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3319383/china-courier-puts-sick-daughter-delivery-box-while-working-she-cant-afford-childcare?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese mother who delivered food with her 4-year-old sick daughter inside a meal-carrying box so that she could look after her has received sympathy online.

The woman, surnamed Zhu, and her child were caught on camera by an online influencer in eastern China’s Anhui province.

The 25-year-old delivered food on an electric bicycle in the summer heat while carrying her daughter in the box attached to the vehicle.

The girl has a vein-detained needle on one hand and a chemo port on her chest.

Her mother, surnamed Zhu, said the girl, Nuoxi, was diagnosed with a tumour two years ago.

Her father, surnamed Guan, is also a delivery rider, but he works full time and cannot not look after her.

Zhu said she wanted to make money to pay for her daughter’s treatment.

She sometimes left Nuoxi in the box while delivering orders.

On occasion, she had to climb the stairs of a building with one hand carrying the food and the other holding her daughter.

Zhu said she was afraid of customer complaints if she was running out of time, but every time Nuoxi offered to press the lift button for her, she felt it was worth it.

Her child had endured three operations, nine chemotherapies and 12 radiotherapies, but she remained strong and optimistic.

As the influencer’s video went viral, many people flocked to the mother’s social media account to donate money.

The local government also reacted immediately to help the family apply for an allowance. Zhu said they also received financial aid from the food delivery company Meituan.

Some people worried about the child’s safety and health, asking if it was suitable for her to be outside in very hot conditions.

Guan said he planned to work harder and let Zhu stay at home to look after their child full time.

One person also called for the government to help those in need and not wait until they post videos online.

Food delivery work is considered well-paid and is popular among migrant workers.

China has 545 million food delivery service users, and an average of 3.3 billion yuan (US$460 million) is spent every day on such deliveries, according to data from the China Internet Network Information Center and the China Hospitality Association.

Some food delivery workers said they work between 14 and 15 hours a day.

Meituan launched an anti-fatigue mechanism on its app, forcing riders to rest after they work 12 hours consecutively.

However, some riders have complained that the mechanism affected their income and said they would switch to another platform when Meituan forces them to stop working.

ByteDance’s Douyin takes on Alibaba, Meituan and JD.com in China’s instant delivery race

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3320146/bytedances-douyin-takes-alibaba-meituan-and-jdcom-chinas-instant-delivery-race?utm_source=rss_feed

ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese counterpart of TikTok, is set to heat up competition in China’s instant commerce sector against Alibaba Group Holding, JD.com and Meituan with the merger of its online shopping platform and instant delivery service, according to a report by Chinese tech news website 36Kr on Wednesday.

Douyin Supermarket, akin to TikTok Shop, is integrating with Douyin Hourly Delivery, which leverages precise mapping and location services to ensure rapid deliveries to consumers, according to the report.

Douyin did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

The move aligns with China’s evolving e-commerce landscape, where the emphasis is increasingly on so-called instant delivery – typically within minutes – amid growing competition among Meituan, JD.com and Post owner Alibaba.

Douyin is striving to convert its online popularity into revenue, with e-commerce emerging as a key avenue.

Launched in 2023, Douyin Supermarket initially targeted users looking for a seamless e-commerce shopping experience alongside timely delivery. So far, however, only select items were available for next-day delivery, while many products still took several days to arrive, according to 36Kr.

Consumers have also been posting complaints on Chinese social media regarding poor experiences with Hourly Delivery, as Douyin lacks its own delivery team and relies instead on merchants and third-party riders.

The overlapping business models of Douyin Supermarket and Hourly Delivery have also hurt their market positions. The merger is expected to address growing demand for timely delivery and underscores Douyin’s commitment to moving away from traditional, less time-sensitive online supermarket business models.

Currently, Douyin Supermarket and Hourly Delivery still maintain separate entry points on the Douyin app, with the latter occupying a more prominent spot.

While traditional e-commerce faces slowing growth, instant commerce has emerged as a new battleground for Chinese e-commerce giants. On Monday, Alibaba said it achieved a daily transaction record exceeding 90 million orders, while Meituan and JD.com reported daily orders of 150 million and 25 million, respectively, in recent weeks.

China’s instant commerce sector was projected to exceed 2 trillion yuan (US$279 billion) by 2030, according to a report from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank under the commerce ministry.

Will China win renewables race while US pivots to fossil fuels and nuclear?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320090/will-china-win-renewables-race-while-us-pivots-fossil-fuels-and-nuclear?utm_source=rss_feed

US President Donald Trump’s signature budget bill, signed into law earlier this month, marked a startling pivot towards fossil fuels and nuclear power, reigniting a fierce debate over how best to balance the country’s energy future with its national security.

The act, known officially as the One Big Beautiful Bill, rolls back Joe Biden era subsidies for solar, wind and electric vehicles – a dramatic reversal of long-standing US support for clean energy in a world racing towards decarbonisation.

At the same time, the act preserves subsidies for nuclear projects, particularly fusion, which is framed as a dependable, low-carbon energy source and a long-term strategy to lessen US reliance on rare earths.

Washington has described the energy overhaul as a strategic imperative rooted in national security concerns – especially after Beijing leveraged its near-monopoly over rare earths in the renewed US-China trade war.

The legislation’s supporters say it is a bold attempt to secure energy independence, arguing that the US must close technological gaps and mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities that could hand additional strategic leverage to Beijing.

In this view, China’s clean tech manufacturing dominance and control over critical minerals – essential to renewable technologies from solar panels and wind turbines to EV batteries – have left the US exposed to supply disruptions and geopolitical manipulation.

Critics argue that the act prioritises short-term security and economic gains over long-term sustainability and global competitiveness – potentially ceding US leadership in the clean energy transition and threatening the planet’s climate future.

They also warn that the rollback of clean energy measures established by the Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) represents a high-stakes gamble based on a strategic miscalculation.

In an illustration of the intensifying competition, just days after Trump’s bill became law, Beijing unveiled a state-owned behemoth with a registered capital of 15 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) and a target to achieve commercialisation of nuclear fusion by 2050.

Last week’s launch of China Fusion Energy Co Ltd signalled Beijing’s ambition to lead in next-generation energy technologies, with thermonuclear power widely regarded as an ultimate energy solution.

The Shanghai-based fusion company is backed by a coalition of seven state-owned giants across the nuclear and petroleum sectors, including China National Nuclear Corporation, PetroChina’s Kunlun Capital, and the Shanghai Future Industry Fund.

Also last week, China and the European Union issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to shared climate leadership and underscoring the urgency of global cooperation in the wake of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement – for the second time under Trump – earlier this year.

And at the Brics summit earlier this month, China joined the major developing nations – including India, Brazil and South Africa – in a pledge to “intensify global efforts to contain global warming”.

According to Li Shuo, director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s China Climate Hub, the legislative changes showed that the green industrial strategy previously pursued by the US had become “politically unsustainable” in today’s Washington.

“The rollback of subsidies for clean tech manufacturing and deployment will reduce domestic supply of these products and in turn dampen demand. This will slow down clean tech development in the US and underscores the challenges ahead for US decarbonisation,” he said.

“In recent years, Washington has opted not to rely on Chinese technologies yet. With what happened to the IRA, it will continue to struggle to develop viable alternatives.”

Scott Moore, director of China Programmes and Strategic Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, said it was “pretty clear” that Trump’s goal of cutting US dependence on China in critical minerals and other areas aligned with his predecessor’s approach.

“That objective has been present for some time,” he said, adding that the second Trump administration had been “even more forward-leaning” and assertive on that front.

According to Moore, “one of the most telling examples” that the Trump White House particularly prioritises reducing US dependence on rare earths is the MP Materials deal announced earlier this month.

Under the multibillion-dollar partnership deal, Washington has acquired a 15 per cent stake in the company, which owns the only operational rare earths mine in the US, Mountain Pass in California, supplying roughly 15 per cent of global rare earth elements.

“There are alternatives, but it’s difficult to replicate the entire supply chain – especially the processing [that] involves highly toxic materials, which makes it challenging to get local approvals and overcome community opposition. But it’s still possible,” Moore said.

While the US could still narrow the gap with China on rare earths and clean energy, success would ultimately depend on cost, he suggested.

Anders Hove, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, also highlighted the challenge of processing toxic rare earth materials as posing a critical gap in the US supply chain.

Hove said the legislation’s fossil fuel emphasis reflected deep political divides and ideological differences in the US that could be traced back to the oil shocks of the mid-1970s.

“Since the 1970s, the two parties have grown more polarised in their positions on almost every issue,” he said.

“But starting in the 2000s, the Republican Party began to oppose any action on climate change, and renewable energy began to lose its bipartisan character. At the same time, supporting coal became a symbol of the culture war, more than [something] substantive or strategic.”

Hove – whose public and private sector experience in energy policy and markets includes 12 years in China and nine on Wall Street – noted that the US under Trump and Biden, as well as Europe, each had distinct strategies to reduce their reliance on foreign sources.

“The Biden approach was more similar to Europe’s, in the sense of working with trading partners like Canada or Chile to diversify critical minerals supply – including processing,” he said.

Sun Haiyong, a researcher at the American Studies Centre of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, observed that fossil fuel interests were a core base for the Republican Party, which often downplayed climate mitigation in favour of economic and political priorities.

“The current US shift towards fossil fuels is driven mostly by the interest groups behind the Trump administration,” he said, adding that the lack of competitiveness in clean energy equipment manufacturing was also contributing to its retreat from renewables.

“Most production capacity for wind and solar technologies, energy storage systems and other related equipment is concentrated in China, which also holds technological and production advantages in processing and raw material extraction – particularly for critical minerals needed in energy transition technologies like wind turbines and energy storage.”

Sun noted that there were also “short-term economic benefits” for the Trump administration in ramping up fossil fuel production and exports – including greater economic leverage over Europe and support for the increasingly unstable US dollar.

Meanwhile, China is projected to contribute 60 per cent of the world’s expansion in renewable energy capacity by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. The country produced roughly half of global solar capacity in 2023, while accounting for more than 60 per cent of global EV production.

Tom Moerenhout, head of the Critical Materials Initiative at Columbia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy, said the US’ entrenched status as a major producer, consumer, and exporter of fossil fuels was a driving force behind the sweeping policy shift.

“There’s a refocus on those sectors,” he said, referring to renewed investment in natural gas power plants and internal combustion engine vehicles – developments shaped by both market forces and political priorities.

“The US is the world’s biggest producer of both oil and gas – they get enormous revenue from that. They have deep market knowledge and strong technological expertise in fossil fuels,” Moerenhout said.

“It would make no sense for the US to suddenly abandon fossil fuels from an industrial or know-how perspective,” he noted, acknowledging that they yielded “far more immediate cash than renewables”.

Nevertheless, the refocus on fossil fuels is “pure short-termism”, according to Moerenhout, who described the legislation as a serious setback for US clean energy ambitions, with Washington widely perceived internationally as “throwing in the towel” on renewables.

“I don’t think [pulling back from clean energy] is necessarily wrong. It’s just that the US is not going to compete globally,” he said.

“It’s a very immature and problematic industrial policy if your goal is to be a player in tomorrow’s world rather than someone left behind.”

The new legislation is also designed to insulate the US economy by disqualifying products made with Chinese components or resources from federal subsidies – a move that has prompted several critical questions.

Li, from the Asia Society Policy Institute, noted that with the scrapping of the IRA and the new legislation’s rules limiting access to Chinese green technologies, the US cleantech landscape faced constraints on two fronts.

“[The US] refuses to import Chinese clean technologies – as per Biden’s original stance – and, with Trump’s repeal of the IRA, it has also surrendered much of its domestic manufacturing capacity,” he said.

“This combination sets the stage for major setbacks in decarbonisation efforts over the medium to long term [and] marks a critical inflection point – not just for US-China climate dynamics, but for the global climate agenda as a whole.”

“The US is simply stepping off the field,” according to Li, who predicted that US-China climate relations would become increasingly asymmetrical.

“The US is retreating both politically and economically from climate action while China is gradually realising that decarbonisation serves its commercial interests,” he said.

“The long-standing global climate storyline, in which developed countries push developing ones to accelerate action, may well be rewritten in reverse. And we are only at the beginning of this shift.”

In Shanghai, Sun raised similar doubts about the long-term viability of Washington’s pivot to fossil fuels, which he said “cannot serve as a long-term energy solution for the US”.

He said this was mainly because of the growing environmental impacts of fracking, the urgent need to address climate change, and the inevitable policy shifts driven by changes in political leadership.

“As for nuclear fusion, while the technology pathway is viable, its commercialisation is still a long way off,” he said, adding that construction of new nuclear power projects or the restart of previously halted ones in the US had long been plagued by delays, cost overruns and cancellations.

Sun also cautioned against overstating the importance of the new legislation, pointing out that there were “significant hurdles in advancing re-industrialisation”.

The Oxford Institute’s Hove shared this view, adding that nuclear power tended to get more expensive over time, while renewable energy was more likely to benefit from rapid learning and cost declines.

“Fusion plant [technology] is decades from being demonstrated at scale – presumably funded by the government – and commercialisation decades beyond that, if it even has any economic viability, which right now is a huge unknown,” he said.

Hove also highlighted the impact of trade disputes on securing critical supplies from abroad, adding that slowing demand for wind and electric vehicles in the US was weakening incentives for companies to invest in long-term supply chains or upstream innovation.

Moore, from the University of Pennsylvania, questioned whether fossil fuels should remain a long-term option, even if they could. He also predicted that wind and solar would likely remain central to the energy mix.

In contrast, fusion, due to capital intensive and its dependency on specialised infrastructure, would probably remain a centralised power source, he said.

Columbia University’s Moerenhout rejected the notion that fossil fuels were simply a place holder until nuclear fusion became viable, noting that the technology remained a distant, expensive gamble that was often hyped by those with vested interests.

“It’s not illogical to think fusion may eventually produce electricity commercially – but that day isn’t coming in the next decade,” said Moerenhout, who described the legislation as a “mixed bag”.

In his view, small modular reactors are “much closer to economic competitiveness than fusion”, though they would still need real-world deployment to prove their viability.

And while fusion and small modular reactors may hold long-term promise, meaningful cost reductions were already happening in proven technologies such as renewables and smart grid technologies, Moerenhout said.

“If you want to see where the biggest cost reductions for reliable electricity are happening, it’s in clean energy [like] wind, solar, in demand-side management, smart meters, and so forth … There the cost reductions are real. They’re clear. They’re visible. They’re already happening.”

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