• Trump says US and China nearing a ‘good deal’, links agreement to meeting with Xi
• ‘China is next in line’: after India, Trump tariff threats loom over Russian oil purchases
• Has China just released pictures of another 6th generation stealth fighter?
• Can Russia, India and China work together to stabilise Asia?
• US-China battle over rare earths, Beijing’s beef industry boost: SCMP daily highlights
• As Trump funding cuts hit even maths prodigy Terence Tao, China remains a talent magnet
• As US’ effective tariff rate rises to 17%, analysts say China has an opportunity
• Philippines, India mark strategic leap in 75 years of ties amid China tensions
• Shanghai targets 5 new data centres in 2025 as China boosts AI computing capacity
• China’s top court showcases how landmark private sector law is being enforced
• China’s property slump may be bottoming, as analysts point to hopeful signs of recovery
• China scammers con man by posing as 1 woman using voice changers before he reports them
• China’s high-speed rail nears 50,000km milestone – but debt and profit concerns mount
• Chinese tourists stranded while rafting in valley
• China needs smarter, not less, investment to unlock household demand
• Philippines rejects Chinese ‘fake news’ broadcast of South China Sea clash
• China is ‘on high alert’ for South China Sea disruption after Philippine-India patrol: PLA
• Chinese city orders real-name registration for chikungunya fever medication amid outbreak
• China university plans nation’s first BBQ research centre, trains 1,000 ‘craftsmen’ in 3 years
• France’s struggling factories need investment. Is China the answer?
• What clues do we have about China’s KJ-3000 long-range early warning and control plane?
• China’s beef prices are still low – Beijing’s new plan aims to wrangle up consumption
• ‘I can swim’: Chinese husband insists flood rescuers save wife first, touching many online
• Hong Kong trade promoter to form ‘strategic alliance’ with Bank of China: Frederick Ma
• China’s Hainan eyes medical tourism boom after South Korea axes cosmetic surgery tax perks
• China opens door to Brazilian coffee as US slaps on new tariff
• In US-China battle over rare earths, developing nations are the front line

Trump says US and China nearing a ‘good deal’, links agreement to meeting with Xi

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3320864/trump-says-us-china-deal-very-close-links-agreement-xi-jinping-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed

US President Donald Trump, hailing his “good relationship” with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, said on Tuesday that a deal with China was taking shape, a week after officials from both countries concluded talks on tariffs in Sweden.

“It’s not imperative, but I think we’re going to make a good deal … I won’t meet with China if we don’t make a deal. We are getting along with China very well … I have a very good relationship with President Xi,” Trump told CNBC.

He also said in the interview that China was very reliant on the US and that he did not ask for a meeting with Xi.

“They had a thing that Donald Trump really wanted to go there. No, it’s a 18-hour flight. It’s a long flight,” he said, referring to the travel time from Washington to Beijing.

“I’ll end up having a meeting before the end of the year, most likely, if we make a deal,” he added.

“At some point in the not too distant future, I will.”

Upon the conclusion of the Stockholm meeting, Chinese officials said that both sides agreed to extend the pause on new tariff hikes, which is set to end on August 12. A week later, however, the Trump administration has yet to formally confirm the extension.

In a telephone call in June, Trump and Xi exchanged invitations to visit each other’s country, a conversation that paved the way for subsequent negotiations to resolve trade and other disputes.

Following the call, China eased export restrictions on rare earth magnets and the US resumed export of high-tech products, including Nvidia AI chips.

In the CNBC interview Trump also renewed threats of “substantial” tariffs on India soon for its purchases of Russian oil, calling New Delhi “not a good trading partner”.

“Because they do a lot of business with us, but we don’t do business with them. So we settled on 25 per cent [tariffs], but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil,” he warned.

Trade talks between the US and India are stuck and have so far failed to yield a deal.

Citing two sources, the South China Morning Post reported last week that, other than ties with Russia, a major stumbling block remained India’s reluctance to opening farm and dairy markets to the US.

Trump said last week that he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on Indian imports.

However, Indian negotiators have changed plans and will not be coming to Washington in mid-August as a follow-up to their previous meeting about two weeks ago, according to one person familiar with the issue.

‘China is next in line’: after India, Trump tariff threats loom over Russian oil purchases

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3320830/china-next-line-after-india-trump-tariff-threats-loom-over-russian-oil-purchases?utm_source=rss_feed

Even in the face of threats by US President Donald Trump to levy tariffs on countries that import Russian goods, analysts expect that China “will not stop” buying oil from its northern neighbour, given their mutually beneficial relationship of energy cooperation.

Oil from Russia will continue to flow south over the long run because “China’s strategic goals require a stable and secure supply of critical resources such as oil”, said Matt Gertken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research in Canada.

His comments came with Trump sharpening his threat of sanctions on Russia if it fails to engage in a ceasefire in Ukraine, where Moscow has waged war for the last three and a half years.

Previously, both the United States and the European Union announced blanket sanctions on Russia, and they also tried to cut off its lifelines by threatening secondary sanctions on those helping it.

“The US said at the time that it would implement those [tariff] threats by August 7-9 if trade with Russia was not curtailed by then, and affirmed that China would be a target,” Gertken added. “The US has already taken action on India, so China is next in line.”

Russia is China’s top source of crude imports, supplying a record high 108.5 million tonnes, or 19.6 per cent of its total imports, last year.

Guo Jiakun, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a press conference last week that “China will take energy supply measures … based on national interests”, while “tariff wars have no winners”.

And Beijing is not alone in rebuking the US threat.

New Delhi said in a statement on Monday that Washington’s “targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable”, and vowed to safeguard its economic security, after Trump said in a social media post that he would substantially raise tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

Li Lifan, who specialises in Russian and Central Asian studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that the US could not disrupt the political and economic relationships between China and Russia, as leaders of both countries will be meeting at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Tianjin Summit and the China Victory Day Parade in September.

“China and Russia can settle oil trade with their own currencies, which would help evade the secondary sanctions of the US,” Li explained. “Also, both countries have comprehensive energy cooperation from upstream to midstream processing work in Tianjin and Harbin.”

Meanwhile, China’s customs data shows that monthly supplies have slowed significantly in recent months. The volume of Russian oil imported from January to June was down 10.9 per cent, year on year, to 49.11 million tonnes.

Li Xing Gan, a financial markets strategist consultant at trading platform Exness, attributed that decrease in volume to the impact of US sanctions on Russian maritime exports and China’s move to diversify its oil sources, but “Russia remains the largest oil supplier to China”.

Aleksei Chigadaev, a former visiting lecturer with the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, said: “No one seriously believes that Trump will impose sanctions on China and India”, and so “no one is doing any preparatory work or looking for alternative ways to bypass potential sanctions”.

“China-Russia trade continues to slow down and stay asymmetric,” he noted. “Russia depends on China for critical imports and payment infrastructure, while China uses Russian commodities to secure long-term energy stability.”

Has China just released pictures of another 6th generation stealth fighter?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3320863/has-china-just-released-pictures-another-6th-generation-stealth-fighter?utm_source=rss_feed

Images of a previously unknown stealth aircraft have started circulating on Chinese social media, triggering a debate about whether it is a new piloted warplane or a “loyal wingman” drone.

At least two photographs of the aircraft, taken from various angles on the ground, have been circulating since Monday. It is not clear from the pictures whether the plane had a cockpit or internal weapons bay.

The images reveal a slimmer fuselage and smaller size compared with images of another plane thought to be the J-36 stealth fighter, suggesting that the new aircraft might have a higher top speed.

Some military analysts suggested it could be China’s third distinct sixth-generation stealth combat aircraft, with the J-36 already believed to be nearly ready for pre-production testing.

Some analysis, including the US-based website The War Zone argued that its streamlined design and lack of the features typical of piloted fighters suggested it may indeed be a drone optimised strictly for stealth rather than manoeuvrability.

Andreas Rupprecht, an aviation analyst, wrote on social media that its shape – a lambda-wing layout reminiscent of the J-50, another Chinese stealth fighter under development – suggested it might be the design for a collaborative combat aircraft.

These autonomous drones – sometimes known as “loyal wingmen” – are designed to operate in coordination with piloted planes but are able to make their own tactical decisions using artificial intelligence.

Analysts on Chinese social media, however, tended to argue that the model was a crewed fighter.

Images of the new aircraft posted next to a design for a carrier-based fighter patented by Northwestern Polytechnical University prompted suggestions of a link between the two.

China is one of a number of countries, including the United States, that is racing to develop sixth-generation stealth fighters, but it would be unusual to develop so many new planes within the space of a single fighter generation.

In May the US Air Force said it was planning to carry out maiden flights for its loyal wingmen drones before the end of the year as part of its Next Generation Air Dominance programme.

However, two weeks ago it was reported that the US F-47 was likely to face a two-year delay and there is an ongoing debate in Washington about whether to prioritise that plane or a sixth-generation carrier-based model for the navy.

The shift towards tailless sixth-generation designs reflects changing priorities in aerial warfare, where stealth, long-range detection and strike capability are increasingly prioritised over the close-in manoeuvrability favoured for previous generations of warplanes.

Other countries working on sixth-generation fighters include a collaboration between Britain, Italy and Japan, and the Future Combat Air System being developed by France, Germany and Spain. However, last month reports emerged of disagreements between the three over the division of labour.

Can Russia, India and China work together to stabilise Asia?

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3320703/can-russia-india-and-china-work-together-stabilise-asia?utm_source=rss_feed

As geopolitical tensions realign global power centres, the trilateral forum of Russia, India and China (RIC) is seeing renewed diplomatic interest. While Moscow has expressed optimism about reviving the grouping and Beijing seems to support the idea, New Delhi has walked a cautious tightrope between signalling openness and managing its strategic autonomy.

Against the backdrop of an increasingly transactional and multipolar world, the question arises: Can the elephant, the dragon and the bear truly dance together again, or is this just strategic choreography shaped by necessity?

For Moscow, the RIC revival serves a dual strategic purpose. Isolated by the West over the Ukraine war and facing sweeping sanctions, Russia finds itself increasingly dependent on Asian partnerships to sustain its economy and counter international isolation. Russia sees the triumvirate as a low-cost yet high-visibility stage to show it has partners who hold weighty stakes in Asian stability. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s call for RIC revival in June reflects Moscow’s diplomatic imperative as well as projects it as a regional mediator.

RIC offers Russia a multilateral forum to demonstrate non-Western solidarity, and this revival has the potential to strengthen the Brics bloc, which is of utmost importance for Russia to counter Western institutions such as the Group of 7 (G7) and the International Monetary Fund. Moscow arguably stands to gain the most from reviving RIC, leveraging the platform to reaffirm its Eurasian influence while subtly balancing its deepening reliance on China.

This latter relationship, though mutually beneficial, has raised concerns about growing asymmetry. RIC would allow Moscow to engage both India and China on an equal footing, reinforcing its image as an independent power, maintaining strategic flexibility and reducing the risk of being overshadowed by China in a bilateral setting.

China’s support for RIC’s return is neither sentimental nor symbolic. When asked about RIC at a press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian indicated that China-Russia-India cooperation was essential for regional stability. However, China is focused on the People’s Liberation Army’s modernisation goals and potential Taiwan-related contingencies. As Beijing sharpens its focus on maritime priorities, it is keen to stabilise its continental flank with India, with which relations have remained tense since the 2020 Galwan Valley clash.

China likely sees the RIC revival as a diplomatic lever to avoid multi-front economic complications amid the US-China trade war and tensions with Europe. Additionally, it would serve as a signal to the Global South that China still champions inclusive, multipolar institutions, as well as a flexible channel to test India-China rapprochement without committing to a full bilateral reset – something that would require resolving questions around their shared border, a key priority for India.

China’s engagement with India remains layered. While its support for India’s counterterrorism efforts in response to the US designating The Resistance Front a terrorist organisation indirectly put pressure on Pakistan, Beijing has also subtly signalled coercion to India. Recent moves, such as hampering India’s auto sector with rare earth export controls and halting shipments of speciality fertilisers used by India’s agriculture sector, show China still has the upper hand with its economic tools. Last month, it was reported that Apple supplier Foxconn asked over 300 Chinese workers in India to return home.

In this context, an RIC revival could be something of a respite for India, which has long advocated for a more multipolar Asia. Amid growing friction between its Western partners and long-time friend Russia, Delhi finds itself increasingly boxed into making difficult diplomatic choices. US President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on Indian exports – which he partially justified by citing Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil and weapons – only add to the pressure. Forums such as RIC offer India a platform to maintain strategic balance, resist selective coercion and uphold its autonomy.

Even if only in the context of a “consultative format”, India supporting an RIC revival would send a signal of its desire for strategic autonomy. While India manages ties with the US, the RIC platform would allow New Delhi to preserve diplomatic space with Russia and keep open channels with China. Notably, India has resumed issuing tourist visas for Chinese nationals after a five-year pause, announced the restarting of direct flights to China and tentatively opened its electronics sector to Chinese investment with a new joint venture between Dixon Technologies and China’s Longcheer Intelligence.

Delhi’s cautious approach is particularly important as the announcement of Trump’s tariffs on India – which came into effect on August 1 – could create delays in efforts to seal a US-India trade deal. That requires India to avoid overtly antagonising anyone on either side while weighing both geopolitical and economic concerns.

Beyond being a matter of trilateral interest for the nations involved, an RIC revival carries resonance for the broader Global South. With many nations watching the G7 and Brics from the sidelines, RIC offers a pragmatic, issue-specific alternative that emphasises dialogue over confrontation. Its resurrection would send a signal that Asia’s major powers are willing to engage even if they disagree amid a model of strategic realism over ideological alignment. Even in a limited form, it can foster regional stability and predictability amid global uncertainty.

The dragon, the bear and the elephant might never dance in perfect sync, but they no longer need to do so. The new realism that defines their interactions is sufficient for this moment in Asian geopolitics. As today’s world becomes more multipolar but remains fragmented, efforts to revive RIC reflect a renewed necessity to stabilise Asia’s strategic landscape and reduce bilateral friction.

US-China battle over rare earths, Beijing’s beef industry boost: SCMP daily highlights

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3320857/us-china-battle-over-rare-earths-beijings-beef-industry-boost-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 .

Taiwan would run out of natural gas supplies in about 10 days if Beijing blockaded the island, according to a report published by a Washington-based geopolitical think tank.

Multilateral moves to break Chinese dominance of the supply chain are largely diplomatic and many solutions are long-term, analysts say.

Amid falling prices and stiff competition from imports, China has unveiled plans to bolster the cattle industry – the latest in a series of policies aimed at strengthening key agricultural sectors.

Renowned mathematician Terence Tao says funding delays at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have left his lab struggling to support graduate students and research projects. Not only Tao, but the entire UCLA system and several other top universities have been impacted by federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump.

China’s newest airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, the KJ-3000 could be key to the People’s Liberation Army’s ability to deliver lethal strikes from ultra-long ranges.

French companies fear competition from China, but the country could also play a crucial role in reinvigorating European manufacturing.

After a construction boom spanning nearly two decades, China’s high-speed rail network has made record-breaking strides. But to ensure long-term sustainability, analysts said the government needs to address challenges around commercial profitability and mounting debt.

As Trump funding cuts hit even maths prodigy Terence Tao, China remains a talent magnet

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3320853/trump-funding-cuts-hit-even-maths-prodigy-terence-tao-china-remains-talent-magnet?utm_source=rss_feed

Renowned mathematician Terence Tao says funding delays at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have left his lab struggling to support graduate students and research projects.

Not only Tao, but the entire UCLA system and several other top universities have been impacted by federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump.

The predicament in the US scientific community sharply contrasts with China’s active efforts to attract talented science and technology researchers, particularly mathematicians.

“The suspension of my grant has a non-trivial impact on myself, and now gives me almost no resources to support my graduate students going forward,” Tao – often called the “Mozart of Mathematics” – posted on social media on Saturday.

“In particular, my summer salary, which I had already deferred to allow the previously released NSF funds to support several of my graduate students over this period, is now in limbo,” he added.

He was referring to the National Science Foundation (NSF) which, along with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is among the top US government institutions hit with sharp funding cuts since Trump took office in January.

This has led to grant suspensions, project halts and career uncertainty, especially for younger researchers, and prompted a brain drain.

Australian-American Tao is among the world’s best mathematicians and was widely recognised as a child prodigy.

Born in 1975 to Chinese immigrant parents in Australia, he won an International Mathematical Olympiad gold medal at age 13, became a tenured professor of maths at UCLA at 24 and won the prestigious Fields Medal at just 31.

Awarded every four years, the Fields Medal is one of the highest international prizes in maths for trailblazers under 40.

Tao’s frozen project was funded by an NSF grant totalling US$750,000 and scheduled to run from 2024 to 2027.

The funding would mainly support Tao and several of his graduate students in addressing the Chowla conjecture in number theory and exploring the twin prime conjecture. It was also intended to provide opportunities for his graduate students to receive research training.

Tao was also concerned about the potential impact on UCLA’s Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), which has had its US$25 million grant suspended by the NSF.

The international hub hosts around 2,000 visiting scholars annually for workshops and other programmes. However, without federal funds, IPAM’s emergency reserves were only sufficient to sustain operations for a few more months, he warned.

As far back as May, Tao had posted on social media that “there were no longer resources to invest in any future long-term projects”.

“For instance, my experiments with using new technologies for mathematical workflows are currently being conducted purely by myself, together with contributions from unpaid online volunteers,” he wrote.

He mentioned at the time that the NSF had already reduced spending on the basic sciences by 50 per cent or more since the start of the year, with similar cuts proposed for 2026.

The funding for UCLA was cut last Saturday, with the Trump administration citing the university’s “failure to foster a research environment free from antisemitism and bias”, according to the online news platform of the journal Science.

Nearly 300 NSF grants would be “suspended until further notice”, the report said, citing a letter to the UCLA chancellor.

It said a list obtained from an NSF insider had revealed that the suspended funding spanned fields ranging from computer science to plasma physics.

In April and May, the agency cancelled more than 1,000 grants worth about US$1.5 billion, including nearly 200 grants for Harvard researchers.

UCLA is not the only public university affected. The government also froze US$108 million in NIH funding to Duke University, alleging “systematic racial discrimination” and civil rights violations.

Columbia University, which had also faced pressure over alleged violations of anti-discrimination laws, announced on July 23 that it had reached a settlement deal worth more than US$200 million, payable over three years.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific, China is actively working to attract talented people from around the world, especially mathematicians.

Last month, China-born University at Buffalo maths professor Li Hanfeng returned to join Chongqing University.

This follows the return of trailblazing mathematician couple Shen Jie and Chen Min, as well as their famous Peking University peer Zhang Yitang. All of them spent several decades in the United States.

Among China’s largest and most prominent initiatives targeting leading researchers and entrepreneurs is the Thousand Talents Plan, which includes a “youth” branch for those under 40, according to a Nature news story on July 29.

Various Chinese universities are actively seeking out outstanding young talent, particularly top young professors and postdoctoral researchers.

They receive housing subsidies and preferential treatment upon their return. Their partners are also offered suitable jobs, their children can be admitted to the best local schools, and their families receive quality medical care at university-affiliated hospitals.

Young returning Chinese researchers can receive initial research funding of up to 3 million yuan (around US$418,000) - about equal to the frozen part of Tao’s three-year funding.

As US’ effective tariff rate rises to 17%, analysts say China has an opportunity

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3320827/us-effective-tariff-rate-rises-17-analysts-say-china-has-opportunity?utm_source=rss_feed

The United States has become one of the most protected markets in the world, with its effective tariff rate against the world rising to 17 per cent from around 2 per cent last year – prompting renewed calls in China for greater trade diversification and a strategic push to seize opportunities in technological self-reliance and global governance.

Fitch Ratings updated its US Effective Tariff Rate (ETR) Monitor – an interactive tool tracking tariff policy – last week, following Washington’s announcements on July 27 and July 31 of new tariffs on most trading partners.

As a result, the US effective tariff rate now stands at 17 per cent.

China continues to face the highest tariff burden among America’s major trading partners, with China’s ETR at 41.4 per cent, up from 10.7 per cent at the end of last year.

Liao Yue, a lecturer at Renmin University of China, pointed out that US President Donald Trump’s second term has pushed his Make America Great Again (Maga) agenda to new heights.

“Maga supporters believe that free trade has put the US at a disadvantage – especially blaming China for the hollowing out of American industry – and they advocate for protectionist policies such as high tariffs and reshoring manufacturing to restore the economic dominance of a perceived golden age,” Liao said during an online forum last week.

He added that while the near term may see China facing more intense trade frictions, or even a full-scale tariff war, a window of opportunity exists for China in the weakening of the US alliance system under Trump’s “America first” agenda.

Last week, Beijing and Washington officials met in Stockholm for their third round of trade talks. The Chinese side revealed that they had agreed to an extension of the trade truce that is due to expire next Tuesday.

The fundamental approach, Liao said, is to “remain strategically focused and manage China’s own development well”.

“As US global leadership contracts, China should actively promote the reform of global governance, deepen cooperation with Global South countries, and enhance strategic communication with Europe, Asean and other key partners – working to build a more balanced and inclusive international order,” he said.

Fitch Ratings said the 17 per cent US ETR reflected a 15 per cent tariff rate on European Union goods, as well as higher tariffs for major trading partners Brazil, Taiwan, India and Switzerland.

The US has imposed a 15 per cent “reciprocal” tariff rate on goods from countries with which it has a trade deficit and maintains a 10 per cent baseline tariff for most other countries, the institution said.

Li Xiangyang, director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said during the same online forum last week that the Maga movement was not a temporary phenomenon, and that short-term opportunities were limited for China.

However, he said that, in the long run, the decline of US international credibility and its reduced provision of global public goods serve to create opportunities – such as by filling governance gaps through institutionalised initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative.

“At the same time, we must clearly recognise that China still faces limitations in fully replacing the US in supplying global public goods,” Li said. “The key remains focusing on our own development and seizing historical opportunities while maintaining our strategic composure.”

Philippines, India mark strategic leap in 75 years of ties amid China tensions

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3320847/philippines-india-mark-strategic-leap-75-years-ties-amid-china-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s state visit to India has culminated in the elevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership, marking a symbolic high point as the two countries celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations.

Beyond the ceremony, analysts say the trip reflects a growing convergence between Manila and New Delhi on maritime security, defence cooperation and economic resilience – a relationship shaped by shared democratic values, overlapping interests in the Indo-Pacific, and parallel tensions with China.

“As this year marks 75 years of India-Philippines diplomatic relations, President Marcos Jnr’s visit will be seen as a landmark in the bilateral relationship,” Pooja Bhatt, associate professor at the Jindal School of International Affairs, told This Week in Asia.

On Tuesday, Marcos and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos were formally welcomed at the presidential residence in Delhi, Rashtrapati Bhavan, following a meeting the previous day between Marcos and the Filipino community in India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two leaders held wide-ranging talks on Tuesday, discussing “mutual cooperation, regional issues, and international situations in detail”.

Besides Modi, meetings with President Droupadi Murmu and members of the Indian business community were also on Marcos’ agenda, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said.

They were set to ramp up discussions and agreements on trade, defence, and security, as well as “exchange views on regional and international issues of common concern”.

Don McLain Gill, geopolitical analyst and international relations lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, told This Week in Asia that the Marcos administration had seen “an intensification of institutionalising” bilateral ties, which included signing of a memorandum of understanding between Philippine and Indian coastguards in August 2023, and the countries’ first Track 1 maritime dialogue in December last year .

“These are very important frameworks to be able to fast-track and deepen existing relations, especially in the security realm,” he said.

Marcos on Monday said he had brought along a large delegation, including several Cabinet leaders, to help realise “the vision of a close strategic relationship with India” and boost commitments at government and business levels.

The visit is “expected to yield concrete agreements and renewed commitments that would further enhance the robust partnership between Manila and New Delhi”, according to a release from the Presidential Communications Office.

Analysts say India and the Philippines have come a long way in recognising the crucial and practical areas of interest and cooperation.

“As growing regional economies, there is a growing appetite between the two countries to operationalise these areas of interest into a mutually beneficial relationship,” Bhatt said.

Matteo Piasentini, an international relations lecturer at the University of the Philippines, highlighted the “burgeoning” ties that were a result of “multi-year engagement and like-mindedness” on several issues.

“The official visit is a testimony of this process,” he told This Week in Asia.

One key area of focus in trade discussions could be on critical minerals, Gill said, noting both countries’ abundant supply of nickel and steel. The Philippines is the second-largest producer of nickel behind Indonesia.

“India is the second-largest producer of steel, and nickel is in fact an important aspect. And I believe that we would be able to create more alternative supply chains for steel and nickel, particularly in line with defence manufacturing, between the Philippines, India and Japan,” he said.

Oorja Tapan, a doctoral candidate at Jawaharlal Nehru University, noted that India sought a “like-minded and responsible partnership” with the Philippines, with P2P relations being the priority, along with maritime infrastructure, maritime domain awareness and interoperability.

Marcos’ visit comes against the backdrop of increasing maritime cooperation between India and the Philippines, as both face a common adversary in China in disputed areas.

For the first time, Indian navy warships patrolled alongside their Philippine counterparts in the West Philippine Sea – Manila’s term for its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, which China claims in nearly its entirety – during a two-day sail that began on Sunday after docking in Manila last week.

Meanwhile, India is embroiled in its own conflicts with China, including a disputed land border at Galwan in Ladakh, although Delhi has since made efforts to thaw its relations with Beijing.

“With the Philippines being the oldest constitutional democracy in Asia, and [India being] our continent’s largest democracy, our two countries share several core interests, such as our democratic ideals, our respect for basic freedoms, and the preservation of a rules-based order in the international arena,” Marcos said in his pre-departure speech.

Gill noted that the timing of the visit coinciding with the joint naval exercises was “a clear illustration of the importance attributed by the emerging partnership towards maritime security cooperation”.

India’s supply of BrahMos missiles to the Philippines was “very important, but merely the foot in the door” for bilateral ties to blossom, Gill added.

The countries also shared “mutual concerns” such as ensuring freedom of global trade routes, upholding international maritime law and boosting trade and investment while staying committed to regional peace and operation, Bhatt said.

Tapan agreed, adding that “just like the Philippines, India has always advocated against any unilateral maritime claims which hinder territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

The elevation of ties could also signify an opportunity for the South Asian country to widen its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, analysts note.

The joint naval exercises, Tapan said, showed India “clearly aims to expand its outreach” by building more partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Philippines could be a “key partner” and play a major role in what India called its “Double Fish Hook” strategy – a maritime plan to counter China’s purported “String of Pearls” scheme, or its growing network of ports and naval bases along the Indian Ocean, Tapan added.

“Net security and safeguarding of the main sea lanes will always be a priority for both Delhi and Manila – and these two states should develop greater interoperability in this regard.”

Shanghai targets 5 new data centres in 2025 as China boosts AI computing capacity

https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3320813/shanghai-targets-5-new-data-centres-2025-china-boosts-ai-computing-capacity?utm_source=rss_feed

Shanghai aims to complete at least five new large-scale data centres by the end of the year to meet rising demand for computing power, as China enhances its digital infrastructure to support its artificial intelligence ambitions.

The initiative is expected to elevate the city’s AI computing capacity beyond 100 exaflops, according to a recent plan from the Shanghai Communications Administration, made public on Friday. Exaflop is a measuring unit for computer speed, equivalent to 1 quintillion floating-point operations per second.

For reference, China’s computing power reached 246 exaflops as of June last year, placing it second only to the US, according to data from the state-backed China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Since DeepSeek introduced its high-performance, open-source reasoning model in January, China has seen “a new wave of data centre construction across the country”, according to a report published by Moody’s Ratings on Monday.

China was expected to remain the largest data centre market in the Asia-Pacific region, with growth projected to accelerate at about 20 per cent annually through 2030, as the sector enjoyed “strong policy support” and domestic operators were set to receive increased government backing, the report said.

Shanghai is the latest example of how local governments in China are driving the development of AI infrastructure.

In January, Beijing’s largest computing cluster – the Beijing E-Town AI Public Computing Power Platform – increased its capacity by 67 per cent to 5 exaflops. The administrative body of E-Town, a state-backed hi-tech manufacturing hub in southeastern Beijing, is providing computing vouchers worth 100 million yuan (US$14 million) annually for companies renting computing power.

Other notable initiatives include two government-backed projects in Shenzhen slated for completion by the end of next year, aimed at adding a combined capacity of 18 exaflops, and central Henan province’s 56.8 billion yuan government investment last year to support data centre construction and AI research.

Such efforts coincided with increased US public investments in AI infrastructure.

In July, the administration of US President Donald Trump launched a plan to “accelerate federal permitting of data centre infrastructure”. In addition to easing “federal regulatory burdens”, the government aimed to “provide financial support for qualifying projects”, including loans, loan guarantees, grants, tax incentives and offtake agreements.

The US has relied heavily on Big Tech companies to expand its digital infrastructure.

In February, Apple budgeted US$500 billion over four years to enhance its computing resources and facilities, while Amazon.com said it planned to invest US$100 billion this year to seize “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities in AI.

In January, Microsoft reaffirmed its plans to allocate more than US$80 billion for building data centres this financial year. That same month, Trump announced a US$500 billion project to build AI infrastructure over the next four years, led by Japan’s SoftBank Group and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

Privately owned companies in China are also making significant investments in the AI infrastructure sector.

In their last financial year, Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings collectively poured about 190 billion yuan in capital investment focused on AI development and cloud computing infrastructure – more than double their spending the previous year, according to Moody’s.

Alibaba owns the Post.

China’s top court showcases how landmark private sector law is being enforced

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3320840/chinas-top-court-showcases-how-landmark-private-sector-law-being-enforced?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s Supreme People’s Court has released a series of court rulings to illustrate how a wide-ranging private sector law passed this year is safeguarding the rights and interests of entrepreneurs.

“The release of these cases demonstrates how the courts are applying the law to safeguard the private economy... and aims to boost public confidence – particularly among private business owners,” the court said in a recent statement.

The 12 rulings, drawn from courts at various levels across the country, are also intended to guide the judiciary in their efforts to improve legal protections for private sector development, the court added.

The move was reported on Tuesday by the People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece, and came as Beijing seeks to restore private investor confidence amid economic headwinds, including a slowing economy and the US-China trade war.

Enacted on May 20, the Private Economy Promotion Law consists of 78 articles aimed at ensuring fair market competition, encouraging private sector participation in science and technology projects, and strengthening legal protections for businesses.

The rulings highlighted by China’s top court last week focused on equal treatment before the law, safeguarding innovation, protections for businesses engaged in international trade, and fostering the lawful, healthy growth of private companies.

Most of the cases involved disputes between private firms and state-backed entities. In one ruling, a small-to-medium-sized medical device manufacturer sued a state-backed hospital that had failed to pay nearly 3 million yuan (US$417,404) after purchasing diagnostic equipment.

The court rejected the hospital’s defence that the payment was delayed due to fiscal approval procedures, and ordered it to pay the outstanding sum plus interest.

Other rulings addressed contract breaches and delayed payments involving state-owned enterprises and private firms.

“Difficulties such as recovering payments and high legal costs often hinder the growth of smaller firms. Strengthening the protection of their rights helps improve the rule of law in the business environment and boosts market vitality,” the Supreme People’s Court said in its announcement last Friday.

One cross-border dispute involved a Zhejiang-based company that was sued by its Spanish client, who demanded compensation of US$248,000. The Spanish buyer claimed the products it received – triangular traffic signs – failed to meet EU quality standards, despite no prior written agreement on specifications.

A local court in Zhejiang ruled in favour of the seller, citing a United Nations convention on international sales. In the absence of a clearly agreed standard, it found that the seller was not obliged to comply with the buyer’s domestic requirements.

The court also noted that the Spanish firm had not raised quality concerns in previous transactions, and dismissed the case.

China’s private sector accounts for over 60 per cent of gross domestic product and more than 80 per cent of urban employment. But business owners have long complained about limited market access, funding difficulties and rigid local law enforcement.

China’s property slump may be bottoming, as analysts point to hopeful signs of recovery

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3320821/chinas-property-slump-may-be-bottoming-analysts-point-hopeful-signs-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s slumping property market may finally be reaching a bottom, as credit has resumed flowing to developers while the nationwide inventory of unsold homes has shrunk, analysts said.

The decline in China’s new home sales this year may slow to 7 per cent, Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday after revising its forecast from a previous decline of 15 per cent, due to the better-than-expected performance of the property market in the first half. The credit-rating agency also lowered its forecast of the sales drop by gross floor area to 5 per cent, better than a previous estimate of 10 per cent.

Government support is helping, as relaxed rules around home purchases, lower mortgages, interest rate cuts, as well as the absorption of excess housing inventory via special-purpose bonds issued by local governments.

Five early indicators are supporting China’s housing market recovery, HSBC analysts wrote on Monday. These include improving credit conditions among developers, industry consolidation, inventory clearance, stronger land sales and improving market-oriented pricing models for residential homes, especially in higher-tier cities.

“The downturn has been shorter than the ‘lost decade’ rhetoric that some investors embraced,” the analysts wrote. Since the property crisis began in 2021, the market has consolidated rapidly, with the top 15 state-owned developers expanding their market share from 15 per cent four years ago to 23 per cent in the first half of this year – a shift that has been instrumental in stabilising the sector, HSBC said.

Inventory clearance is another key indicator. While housing stock remains abundant nationwide, 13 major cities tracked by the bank posted a 15 per cent inventory decline year on year as of June. Shenzhen, the southern tech hub bordering Hong Kong, saw housing stock fall close to 50 per cent, while in Hangzhou and Suzhou, inventory dropped by 23 and 20 per cent, respectively.

HSBC highlighted the improving credit situation among developers – as seen in Country Garden’s progress in July to restructure US$178 million in offshore debt – as another major factor contributing to a broader market recovery. Such progress showed that “banks have become more accommodative” in resetting their expectations on property projects’ future cash flows and reflects their willingness to absorb losses.

“We believe banks’ changes in attitude will facilitate more developers’ restructuring, and ultimately help achieve faster market clearance and risk resolution in the property sector,” wrote HSBC.

However, there are also near-term setbacks pointing to the shakiness of the recovery: new home sales dropped 12.6 per cent year-on-year, while home prices for 70 major cities declined 0.3 per cent month-on-month, – marking the worst performance in eight months, official data shows.

“The latest data highlight that the sector’s recovery remains tentative and is contingent on economic conditions, the job market’s performance and household income prospects,” wrote Fitch.

They expect headwinds on these fronts to continue in the second half of this year, challenging the sustainability of the housing market recovery. Meanwhile, a slowing economy as a result of increased US tariffs hitting exports will pose further challenges to the sector.

China scammers con man by posing as 1 woman using voice changers before he reports them

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3320280/china-scammers-con-man-posing-1-woman-using-voice-changers-he-reports-them?utm_source=rss_feed

A bizarre and sophisticated dating scam involving a 14-man fraud gang has sparked disbelief and amusement on mainland social media.

The elaborate scheme came to light after the male victim surnamed Wang, from Zibo in Shandong province, northern China, reported to police that he had been defrauded out of 4,000 yuan (US$550) by his “girlfriend”, surnamed Sheng.

Wang had met Sheng through a gaming and entertainment app, where her profile featured a sweet-looking young woman.

Sheng showed her care and concern, and the two quickly developed an online relationship.

Over several months, their digital romance flourished, with Sheng frequently sending flirtatious messages and requesting “red envelopes” in symbolic amounts such as 1,314 yuan (US$180), 521 yuan and 520 yuan.

Such numbers represent “a lifetime” and “I love you” in Chinese.

Later, Sheng came up with other excuses to get cash.

She claimed she needed help with rent or money for medicine.

Emotionally invested in the relationship, Wang diligently transferred the requested amounts, which eventually totalled more than 4,000 yuan.

However, the illusion was shattered during one voice call, when Wang noticed her voice was unusually hoarse and drastically different from the sweet tones in her previous voice messages.

When he asked for an explanation, the person hung up and immediately blocked Wang on all platforms.

It was then that Wang realised he had been scammed and reported the incident to the police.

Investigators uncovered a sophisticated operation behind the scam, with a clear division of labour.

Some members were responsible for seducing victims and building emotional connections; others crafted excuses for financial requests, while a separate team handled the money transfers.

The group, led by an individual surnamed Lv, specifically targeted single men, exploiting their desire for online relationships.

The identity of “Sheng” was also a collective fabrication, with multiple male members taking turns to portray the persona.

They used voice changers and stolen photos of women to create a convincing “girlfriend” image.

A total of 14 suspects were arrested, all of whom have confessed to the fraud.

They have been placed under criminal compulsory measures, and the case remains under further investigation.

The scam, reported by state media CCTV, has shocked many and sparked a lively online discussion.

One person said: “14 people, just over 4,000 yuan in total, that is only about 285.7 yuan (US$40) per person. With that many people, could they not have done something better? Even collecting bottles would earn more than that. What were they thinking, turning to crime?!”

Another person added: “As expected, men understand men best.”

China’s high-speed rail nears 50,000km milestone – but debt and profit concerns mount

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3320817/chinas-high-speed-rail-nears-50000km-milestone-debt-and-profit-concerns-mount?utm_source=rss_feed

After a construction boom spanning nearly two decades, China’s high-speed rail (HSR) network has made record-breaking strides. But to ensure long-term sustainability, analysts said the government needs to address challenges around commercial profitability and mounting debt.

The warnings came ahead of the next five-year plan, covering the years 2026-2030, in which policymakers will decide whether to take on more debt to expand the 48,000-kilometre network – already the world’s largest, surpassing the combined lengths of those in Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.

On one hand, Beijing has succeeded in building the network at a breakneck pace, while maintaining safety and achieving record travel speeds. Recently tested maglev trains have topped 600km/h, and a new generation of bullet trains capable of 400km/h could cut travel time between Beijing and Shanghai – China’s two main cities – by more than one hour, reducing the four-hour journey to three.

But some analysts have urged officials to hit the brakes.

“Many newly built HSR lines should not have been built, if assessed according to the standards set by the central government,” said Zhao Jian, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University.

As a manufacturing powerhouse, China needs greater freight capacity – especially for bulk commodities – but high-speed rail, which typically runs at about 300km/h, is limited to carrying passengers as the speed of travel is unsuitable for transporting heavy loads, he said.

In March 2021, the State Council issued guidelines calling for stricter assessments of new lines where parallel routes already exist. But the network continues to expand, reaching 48,000 kilometres by the end of 2024.

China State Railway Group, the main operator, has set a 50,000-kilometre target for this year despite accruing a mountain of debt since it launched construction on the network in 2008 – with levels reaching 6.2 trillion yuan (US$863 billion) by the end of 2024, according to the firm’s balance sheets.

The debt-to-asset ratio stands at 63.5 per cent, with most funding financed through bank loans and bond sales, it said.

Zhao Zhijiang, a researcher at the Beijing-based think tank Anbound, urged policymakers to pay greater attention to long-term financial sustainability in the next five-year plan.

“The risks associated with a debt level at such a scale cannot be ignored,” he said in a report last month.

According to the paper, huge maintenance costs – which could reach 20 per cent of the initial investment – will also be needed in the coming years.

China State Railway Group reported a profit of 3.9 billion yuan in 2024, though it did not disclose figures for many specific lines, especially those in remote regions. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, whose operator is listed in Shanghai, posted a net income of nearly 12.8 billion yuan last year.

However, overall profits remain modest compared to the scale of debt. In June, Lu Dadao, an economic geographer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, estimated that only a few lines in China’s eastern coastal region were breaking even.

Despite the financial pressures, it remains unclear whether construction will be reined in. In a blueprint released five years ago, China State Railway Group set a target of about 70,000 kilometres of high-speed rail by 2035, connecting all cities with populations exceeding 500,000.

Zhao from Beijing Jiaotong University questioned whether a single enterprise should have sole authority over the development of a national transport network that relies heavily on public resources – including fiscal funds and land – unless officially mandated by the government.

At a press conference on July 21, An Lusheng, deputy director of the National Railway Administration, said the coming five-year plan would focus on improving the network, enhancing transport efficiency and lowering logistics costs.

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Chinese tourists stranded while rafting in valley

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3320804/chinese-tourists-stranded-while-rafting-valley?utm_source=rss_feed

Hundreds of tourists were stranded in a valley while rafting in southern China’s Guizhou province. At another tourist site, rafts were seen crashing into each other and piling up in the downstream area.

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China needs smarter, not less, investment to unlock household demand

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3320670/china-needs-smarter-not-less-investment-unlock-household-demand?utm_source=rss_feed

“Boosting consumption” has become one of the most familiar refrains when it comes to discussing China’s economy. From official statements to think tank reports, the idea that China must pivot away from its decades-long reliance on investment and exports towards a more consumer-driven model has gained near-universal traction.

However, this growing consensus risks simplifying a far more complex question: what exactly is the role of consumption in China’s growth, and is its perceived weakness truly the root of the country’s economic challenges?

China’s supposed failure to unlock household demand is viewed not just as an internal policy misstep – it’s the structural flaw underpinning everything from global overcapacity to unfair trade advantage. Critics argue that Beijing’s preference for supply-side expansion – more factories, more infrastructure, more exports – has crowded out domestic demand at the expense of foreign producers, justifying protectionist responses.

In more ideological corners, this economic trajectory is portrayed as the result of a development playbook that prioritises national power and industrial dominance over household welfare. The implication is clear: China will never become a “normal” consumer-driven economy because it lacks the political incentives to do so.

Ironically, even within China, the post-Covid policy discourse has begun to echo this narrative. Since 2022, “expanding domestic demand” has re-emerged as a central theme of economic policymaking. That shift has been welcomed by many economists, who view it as overdue recognition that China must transition from an investment-led growth model to a more balanced one.

Moreover, in public perception, building a “consumption-oriented economy” has begun to sound like the end goal in itself – a necessary badge of economic maturity and a way for China to finally enter the ranks of developed economies.

This intuitive story finds ample support in the data. China’s final consumption expenditure accounted for roughly 57 per cent of gross domestic product in 2023, lagging the global average and significantly lower than developed economies like the US (81 per cent) or Japan (75 per cent).

Narrowing in on household consumption alone, China’s ratio was 40 per cent of gross domestic product in 2023. By contrast, in the US, household consumption makes up 68 per cent. Despite steady income growth, Chinese households remain cautious spenders, with per capita consumption persistently lagging behind income gains. Add to this China’s high national saving rate, and the diagnosis seems obvious: China consumes too little, saves too much and needs rebalancing.

But this diagnosis, while statistically grounded, risks encouraging a dangerously linear conclusion: that China’s main economic problem is insufficient domestic demand, that boosting consumption is the silver bullet and that the government’s efforts fall short because it refuses to let go of its investment habit. The reality is much more complicated.

To begin with, the gap between income and consumption in China is not primarily a matter of unwillingness to spend. It is a function of structural risk. Chinese households save not because they lack the desire for better lives, but because they remain uncertain about the cost and accessibility of education, healthcare, housing and care for the elderly.

Many families see precautionary savings as a necessary form of self-insurance. Others lack access to affordable credit or stable employment contracts, making long-term spending plans inherently risky. Exhorting consumers to simply spend more misses the point. Confidence, not income alone, is the true bottleneck.

More importantly, consumption is not an independent policy lever. It is the consequence of decisions made elsewhere – in employment, investment, service provision and governance. Treating consumption as an isolated target divorces it from the upstream forces that shape it.

After all, consumption grows most sustainably not through subsidies or slogans, but through better jobs, stronger safety nets and more accessible services. The idea that investment and consumption are in zero-sum tension overlooks the reality that the right kind of investment – targeted, inclusive and demand-enhancing – can boost consumption.

That brings us to a deeper policy challenge. Much of the debate frames investment as the problem child of China’s growth model: overused, inefficient and politically entrenched. Rather than shrinking investment in the name of rebalancing, China’s priority should be changing its composition. Investment in heavy industry or real estate expansion is no longer productive. However, investment in childcare facilities, elderly care systems, affordable housing, public health and low-carbon infrastructure can yield long-term dividends for consumption, productivity and social cohesion.

There is already some movement in this direction. Recent policies promoting service-sector development, regional infrastructure for less-developed provinces and public-private partnerships in areas like community care for the elderly hint at a more nuanced approach.

Large-scale energy projects such as the newly launched Yarlung Tsangpo hydropower dam show signs of strategic planning, not just for supply security but also for regional rebalancing and long-term industrial upgrading. These are not mere supply-side indulgences; they are foundation-laying efforts that will, over time, shape the demand side of the equation.

What’s missing, however, is a clearer articulation of how these investments connect back to household confidence. The conversation must shift from how much China consumes to why Chinese households still feel they cannot afford to consume. That means tackling institutional questions of hukou restrictions, pension shortfalls, school access and housing affordability, as opposed to merely focusing on macro-level aggregates.

Seen this way, the challenge is not about “fixing” China’s consumption numbers but constructing a more resilient feedback loop where investment builds confidence and confidence supports consumption. That’s a far more difficult task than simply dialling down infrastructure spending or handing out consumption vouchers. It requires a cultural and institutional reset: a society where people believe the future is worth spending on.

Philippines rejects Chinese ‘fake news’ broadcast of South China Sea clash

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3320794/philippines-rejects-chinese-fake-news-broadcast-south-china-sea-clash?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese state media broadcast, claiming to show its coastguard towing a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, has triggered a fresh diplomatic rift between Beijing and Manila, with Philippine authorities dismissing the footage as “fake news” and accusing China of recycling video from past confrontations to manipulate public opinion.

The controversy has renewed scrutiny of Beijing’s information strategy in one of the world’s most contested maritime regions. Analysts caution that while such tactics may fail to sway Western observers, they could erode trust in the Philippines’ narrative by muddying the waters – complicating efforts to marshal domestic and global support.

The footage in question – a segment from a People’s Liberation Army anniversary documentary aired by state broadcaster CCTV on Friday – appears to show a tense six-minute stand-off at Second Thomas Shoal, known in the Philippines as Ayungin Shoal and in China as Renai Jiao. In the video, a Chinese coastguard vessel is seen towing a smaller craft as shouts are heard in the background.

The video is undated and was published without context, officials in Manila contend. Philippine authorities were quick to repudiate the video’s claims, insisting that no such incident had taken place in recent months. Instead, they suggested that the footage likely depicted the clash that occurred on June 17 last year during a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine outpost at Second Thomas Shoal.

“Obviously this is another form of [dis]information or fake news to weaken our country’s stance in the West Philippine Sea,” said Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesman for the Philippine coastguard, using Manila’s name for the section of the South China Sea it claims as its own.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines echoed this warning in a statement, labelling the release of undated videos as “deceptive tactics” designed to “manipulate public perception, distort the truth, and weaken our shared resolve in asserting the nation’s sovereign rights”.

Beijing asserts sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, a claim that was rejected by an international arbitration ruling in favour of the Philippines in 2016. China has repeatedly dismissed that ruling as illegitimate.

Observers say this is the first time Chinese state media has broadcast footage of its coastguard towing a Philippine vessel, signalling an escalation in the battle of narratives over the disputed waters.

Vincent Kyle Parada, a former defence analyst for the Philippine Navy, said the video was emblematic of China’s long-standing effort to shape global perceptions surrounding its maritime claims.

“Beijing’s disinformation infrastructure is robust – it’s enshrined in the country’s political and military philosophy, and it has no qualms about leveraging it to its fullest potential,” Parada said.

“Even if overseas audiences do not necessarily buy their messaging, it still saturates the information environment enough to drown out opposing narratives while propagating its own to potential sympathisers.”

Parada pointed out that the Philippines had, in recent years, adopted a more forceful posture, launching an “assertive transparency” initiative aimed at exposing grey-zone activities in the South China Sea and drawing international attention to Chinese actions.

“It’s Sun Tzu-ian at its core: to win without fighting,” he said. “The goal here really is to sow confusion, especially at a time when the Philippines is ramping up efforts against Chinese disinformation.”

“You saturate the information environment until people can’t figure out what’s real and what isn’t; what’s happened before and what’s actually happening now,” Parada added.

China’s approach risks undermining its credibility on the world stage, according to Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation think tank.

“If they keep on doing this, the world will believe that China doesn’t truly own the South China Sea,” he said.

Cabalza described China’s efforts as part of a broader disinformation campaign intended to project an illusion of control over the contested waters. “Their remedy is the use of disinformation and distortion of news to make believe that they are in control,” he said, adding that such tactics had so far failed to win broad international acceptance.

Still, he cautioned against Manila underestimating the reach of Beijing’s messaging, noting that even disputed claims could “confuse global perceptions” and weaken the position of smaller claimant states seeking international backing.

Parada argued that Manila’s response should go beyond fact-checking, calling for comprehensive reforms to strengthen information security and counter-influence efforts.

“That’s everything from strengthening anti-espionage laws and clamping down on fake news, even at the domestic level, to developing robust cybersecurity capabilities, both in terms of technological capacity and human capital,” he said.

“More importantly, it [Manila] needs to figure out a calculated response to Chinese provocations in the disputed territories – one that not only abides by international law but also bares the Philippines’ teeth to back up its bark.”

Last year’s creation of the Philippines’ National Maritime Council was a step in the right direction, Parada said. The council centralises policy and coordination across agencies responsible for maritime security.

“We’re seeing a much more cohesive narrative these days,” he said. “Not just in terms of the Philippines as a responsible member of the international community exercising its right to self-defence, but also by emphasising that – beyond ships and blips on a map – China’s illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea have a personal, distinctly human cost for many Filipinos.”

To sustain momentum, Cabalza said Philippine agencies must be steadfast and credible in communicating the nation’s position.

“We have shown the world that honest people do not tell lies,” he said. “Our legal approaches and steadfast spirit are admirable to the world. The military and our diplomatic corps will just keep on repeating the same story to remain consistent and credible. These are basic principles in stating grand narratives.”

China is ‘on high alert’ for South China Sea disruption after Philippine-India patrol: PLA

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320806/china-high-alert-south-china-sea-disruption-after-philippine-india-patrol-pla?utm_source=rss_feed

Beijing is on high alert for New Delhi’s involvement in South China Sea disputes after the first-ever joint patrol between India and the Philippines in the strategically important waters, which observers say may further complicate relations between India and China.

The assessment was made as Indian and Philippine navies on Monday wrapped up their maritime cooperative activity (MCA), which coincided with a state visit by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr to India.

The MCA involved three Indian naval vessels, including a guided missile destroyer and an anti-submarine corvette.

Two Philippine Navy warships, including BRP Miguel Malvar, a guided missile frigate that was commissioned in May, also took part in the two-day patrol that “spanned strategic waters” from Masinloc in Zambales province to Cabra Island in Occidental Mindoro and highlighted “the growing security collaboration between the two Indo-Pacific partners”, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) tweeted on Monday.

Masinloc is a town on the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, just 124 nautical miles (230km) east of Scarborough Shoal, a triangle-shaped chain of reefs and rocks that is at the centre of the recent maritime confrontations between Beijing and Manila.

On Monday, AFP chief of staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr told local media that “several” Chinese vessels had been spotted during the patrols, according to the Manila Bulletin.

“We didn’t experience any untoward incidents, but there were still some vessels that shadowed us. We expected that already,” he said, adding that he hoped the joint patrol would allow more joint activities between Manila and Delhi.

In a statement on Monday, Beijing said the People’s Liberation Army Navy had wrapped up a two-day “routine patrol” in the South China Sea in response to what it called a “so-called joint patrol” by the Philippines and “non-regional countries”.

The PLA would “remain on high alert at all times, resolutely safeguarding national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and any military activities aimed at disrupting the South China Sea or creating tensions are fully under control”, Tian Junli, the spokesman of the PLA Southern Theatre Command, said in the statement.

Bao Yinan, an associate research fellow at the Huayang Centre for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance in Hainan, said whether the joint patrols had crossed China’s designated 12-nautical-mile baseline around the shoal would “be a key issue for China to monitor”.

He was referring to the geographic coordinates China announced in November around Scarborough Shoal – known as Huangyan Island in China and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines – in response to the introduction in Manila of two laws that aimed to strengthen Philippine maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Zheng Zhihua, an associate professor specialising in maritime affairs at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said Beijing had strengthened its control over the disputed shoal with more frequent maritime exercises and patrols since the baseline announcement.

“As a result, Manila appears to be seeking the backing of external powers to enhance its leverage in negotiations and to counterbalance China,” Zheng said.

He added that Beijing was expected to take tougher action if the activities took place within the 12-nautical-mile baseline, but if they remained in waters far from the shoal, Beijing might simply carry out routine monitoring.

Benjamin Blandin, an expert in maritime security and research fellow at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies, said the latest patrols meant India had joined the three other Quad nations in getting involved in the maritime row “at a significant level”.

Quad members the United States, Australia and Japan have previously joined the Philippines in bilateral patrols in the contested waters, which have also drawn protests from Beijing. China sees the four-way grouping as an attempt by the US to encircle China with strategic and military allies and partners.

“To China, all lights seem to be turning red, and no improvement is in sight … which might lead China to be even more aggressive against its direct neighbours,” Blandin said.

According to maritime analysts, the first joint patrol signalled India’s growing alignment with Manila on the maritime dispute, as it went beyond the simple tactical manoeuvres and passage exercises that the Indian navy had previously undertaken in the region.

“[It] underlines the fact that India has now aligned more closely with the Philippines in its dispute with China,” said Nishant Rajeev, a senior analyst at the South Asia Program in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

India initially took a cautious stance to acknowledge the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling – which determined that China’s claims in the South China Sea were unfounded under international law.

But it revised its position in 2023 when India underscored the need for “adherence” to the arbitral award. Last year, this commitment deepened further when Delhi’s then foreign minister reiterated India’s support for the Philippines in safeguarding its national sovereignty.

“The MCA backs up this pro-Philippine diplomatic posture with concrete actions on the ground,” Rajeev said, adding that both Manila and Delhi derived benefits from their growing engagement.

“India views the security of maritime sea lines as critical to their economic prosperity and continued growth. The Philippines sees India as a potential and reliable defence partner.”

Blandin said New Delhi viewed deeper engagement with claimant nations as a strategic and cost-effective means to counterbalance China’s activities in the Indian Ocean while strengthening India’s ties with Southeast Asia.

In 2022, the Philippines became the first foreign nation to acquire India’s BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles under a US$375 million deal, with the first of the three batches delivered last year. In April, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr said a second batch of the missiles was set to be delivered soon.

Observers said it remained to be seen how much strain the joint patrols would put on bilateral relations between China and India.

During President Marcos’ four-day state visit to India that started on Monday, boosting defence ties with India is expected to be high on the agenda.

Harsh Pant, vice-president of studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi, said India had signalled its commitment to supporting partners in Southeast Asia and building deterrence to counter China.

He added that while China might disapprove of naval activities such as the exercises this week, it had little grounds to protest because India and the Philippines, as sovereign nations, were free to shape their bilateral ties.

Rajeev estimated possible immediate and longer-term outcomes from the joint exercise.

“This particular MCA will likely provoke China,” he said. “But I don’t foresee any major breakdown in relations

“In the long run, however, the India-China relationship will likely see more friction.”

Chinese city orders real-name registration for chikungunya fever medication amid outbreak

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3320793/chinese-city-orders-real-name-registration-chikungunya-fever-medication-amid-outbreak?utm_source=rss_feed

The southern city of Foshan has required real-name registration for medication to treat chikungunya fever, while two cities in southeastern China have asked travellers returning from affected areas to monitor their health for signs of the mosquito-borne illness.

The market supervision bureau in Foshan, Guangdong province issued a public notice on Sunday asking all retail pharmacies to start real-name registration and to keep records when selling medications to treat symptoms of chikungunya, including fever, rashes and joint pain.

This practice was also used during the Covid-19 pandemic to help mainland Chinese authorities track potential cases that were not reported.

Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. It cannot be contracted through direct contact with another person. While rarely fatal, the illness can lead to debilitating symptoms lasting weeks.

Those who buy the medications are required to provide their personal information and tell pharmacies about any recent mosquito bites or chikungunya symptoms, according to the notice.

Some health authorities in Foshan have handed out administrative penalties for businesses that fail to promptly eliminate mosquito breeding sites, such as hotels and restaurants, according to state-run news site Southcn.com on Tuesday.

The policy change comes as southern China is hit by a wave of chikungunya fever cases. The combination of heat, humidity and rain has created a favourable environment for mosquitoes to thrive and spread the disease.

Zhanjiang city in western Guangdong province reported four local cases of chikungunya fever from Sunday to Monday, according to a notice published by the health bureau of the city’s Xiashan district on Monday. It is the 14th city in mainland China to report at least one case of the disease.

All four patients had mild symptoms and were placed under isolation and receiving treatment, it said.

Guangdong province reported 2,892 new cases last week, with 2,770 of those in Foshan and 65 in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, according to a report by state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday.

Kang Min, director of the Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s infectious disease institute, told Southcn.com on Monday that “the rapid rise” of the outbreak in Guangdong had been “initially contained”.

Kang said the number of newly reported cases across the province had begun to decline.

The number of newly reported local chikungunya cases in Foshan’s Shunde district declined from last Tuesday to Saturday, according to state news agency Xinhua on Sunday.

Fuzhou and Quanzhou, two cities in the southeastern province of Fujian, started issuing health advisories last week asking people who have travelled from chikungunya-affected cities in Guangdong to self-monitor for symptoms. They reminded people to seek treatment immediately if they experienced fever, joint pain, or rashes and to tell their doctors about their recent travel.

Health workers in Quanzhou told the People’s Daily on Monday that self-monitoring was not mandatory and there was no need to formally report cases to community health authorities.

Zhao Wei, director of the Biosafety Research Centre at Southern Medical University’s School of Public Health, said self-monitoring was different from home quarantine, and as long as personal protection measures were in place, workplaces and schools could continue to operate as usual.

China university plans nation’s first BBQ research centre, trains 1,000 ‘craftsmen’ in 3 years

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3319453/china-university-plans-nations-first-bbq-research-centre-trains-1000-craftsmen-3-years?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese university has sparked disbelief by partnering to establish the country’s first Barbecue Research Institute.

The unusual institute aims to professionalise the beloved street food industry and train a new generation of grill masters.

Yueyang Open University in central China’s Hunan province has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Yueyang Barbecue Association to jointly establish the Yueyang Barbecue Research Institute.

The ambitious plan aims to train 1,000 professional barbecue artisans within three years.

The programme spans two and a half years of theoretical study followed by a six-month internship. Each year, it plans to enrol between 50 and 100 students.

Specialised courses on craftsmanship and business management will be offered.

The programme will be open to middle school graduates, out-of-school youth, and current industry practitioners looking to upgrade their skills and obtain professional qualifications.

The project is still in its planning phase, with recruitment expected to begin next year.

Qiao, a member of staff with the Yueyang Barbecue Association, said: “As it is a new initiative, recruiting students this year would be premature, so we plan to begin by recruiting from the public.”

Barbecue cooking holds a deeply rooted place in Chinese culture.

China’s barbecue market generated revenue of US$421.9 million in 2024 and is expected to reach US$606.5 million by 2030, according to Grand View Research.

Yueyang boasts a rich history and distinct local barbecue culture, with over 2,000 barbecue establishments generating an annual output of more than 2 billion yuan (US$280 million) and creating an estimated 50,000 jobs.

Meng Yinshuai, President of the Yueyang Barbecue Industry Association, said.

“The barbecue industry has long been undervalued, so it is natural for differing opinions to arise now that it is gaining recognition. We aim to expand its influence through sustained promotion and public outreach.”

The news has ignited a fiery debate across mainland social media.

While many found the concept fascinating, some netizens were quick to respond with scepticism and humour.

One person said: “This is too vulgar. It would be better to find a mentor directly on the street.”

Another person said: “I could try this major. Do you get free barbecue as part of the programme?”

France’s struggling factories need investment. Is China the answer?

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3320774/frances-struggling-factories-need-investment-china-answer?utm_source=rss_feed

This year marks half a century of formal diplomatic relations between China and the European Union as well as the 25th anniversary of the founding of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. This piece, the third of a examining ties between the two powers, looks into attitudes towards Chinese investment in France.

Born and raised in the central French town of Châteauroux, Laurent Joly has spent his entire life working in local factories.

Throughout his 38-year career, Joly likely never thought that one day China would have a significant impact on his life, let alone that his job would be saved by a Chinese company.

But that is precisely what happened when Joly’s employer – the French automotive supplier Groupe Mécanique Découpage (GMD) – was acquired by the Suzhou-based Dongshan Precision Manufacturing (DSBJ) in May.

The deal will allow the struggling French industrial group to keep the lights on at its 15 factories, with DSBJ pledging not to make any job cuts for a year and to maintain at least 80 per cent of the company’s 1,800-strong workforce the year after, according to Joly.

Chinese investors often face strong resistance in France due to geopolitical concerns, but the GMD acquisition shows how China could play a crucial role in reinvigorating the French and European manufacturing sectors by providing much-needed capital, industry insiders and analysts said.

“We really did not mind whether the buyer was Chinese, French, or another foreign industrial group,” Joly, the secretary of GMD’s employee committee and a representative for the labour union CGT, told the Post.

“What we cared about most was the industrial plan itself and, of course, the long-term future of the sites and the jobs. And if we can be complementary to DSBJ, I think it can really work.”

GMD, like many other automotive suppliers in Europe, has been impacted by an industry-wide crisis as car sales decline across the continent and European brands face increasing competition from Chinese electric vehicle makers.

The group first informed its employees that it was looking for a buyer to take over the company in 2023.

It was initially in discussion with an investment fund owned by the conservative French businessman Pierre-Édouard Stérin, who reportedly has close ties with France’s far-right party, National Rally.

But Stérin’s fund pulled out at the last minute, paving the way for the deal with DSBJ, which came as a relief to many workers.

“For us, it felt a bit ambiguous to be bought by someone who supported the far-right,” Joly said.

“We were very reassured when DSBJ stepped in at that moment, because from what we knew, it was an industrial group that, like GMD, started out in stamping and cutting – they followed more or less the same path as GMD.”

Political affiliations aside, unions and workers often do not want to see their companies bought by investment funds, because they tend to think in purely financial ways, emphasising returns, which generally leads to job cuts and factory closures further down the line, according to Denis Bréant, head of France’s national automotive metalworker union FTM-CGT.

DSBJ did not respond immediately to the Post’s request for comment.

Jobs have become a crucial factor determining attitudes towards Chinese investment in France and Europe, as economic relations between Beijing and Brussels become increasingly intertwined with geopolitical issues.

The European Union’s decision to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles last year was partly driven by fears that China’s rising EV exports would undermine European companies and destroy European jobs, according to Harald Hendrikse, head of autos research at Citi.

To change the narrative, Chinese companies need to do more to make sure that Europeans can benefit from China’s investment on the continent, he said.

“We need some sort of win-win that basically maintains some level of European profitability, and really importantly, some level of European employment,” Hendrikse told the Post. “Once you involve the local companies, those local companies will then lobby on your behalf and suddenly your business becomes almost a European business.”

China is only the eighth largest foreign investor in France, but Chinese investment receives a disproportionate amount of attention from the French public due to rising geopolitical concerns, according to Sacha Courtial, a China researcher at the Institut Jacques Delors think tank in Paris.

The French government remains relatively open to Chinese investment in certain sectors, such as renewable energy and autos. France launched more investigations into investments from the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland last year than China, according to a report published by France’s finance ministry.

In 2024, Chinese investment in Europe shot up by 47 per cent year on year – the first increase recorded in nine years – as China’s electric car and battery makers shifted more production to the continent.

For the Chinese companies arriving in France, the challenge now is to deliver on their promise of prosperity as they bid to win over a country known for its powerful unions and leftist traditions.

What clues do we have about China’s KJ-3000 long-range early warning and control plane?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3320680/what-clues-do-we-have-about-chinas-kj-3000-long-range-early-warning-and-control-plane?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s newest airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, the KJ-3000 could be key to the People’s Liberation Army’s ability to deliver lethal strikes from ultra-long ranges.

Its design is based on a modified version of the country’s long-serving transport plane the Y-20B, and its most distinctive addition is a radar dome on top of the fuselage that hides an array of advanced equipment.

China is trying to rapidly grow its fleet of airborne information command centres with at least three new models in the pipeline: the lightweight shipborne KJ-600, the medium-sized KJ-700, and the largest and most advanced KJ-3000.

Although other militaries, including the United States, have decided the planes are not suited for modern warfare, Beijing appears committed to the strategy, with footage of the aircraft circulating on social media giving a series of clues about what the next generation of the aircraft will be able to do.

Blurry footage of the KJ-3000 first emerged on social media on December 27.

The aircraft, painted in the green-yellow typically used for prototypes, has a similar outline to the Y-20B – a transport plane sometimes known as the “chubby girl” – with the addition of a rotodome, a rotating saucer-shaped fixture typically fitted with radar equipment.

Although no official information is available about the KJ-3000’s avionic equipment, the use of the Y-20B platform could represent a major leap in the PLA’s AEW&C capabilities.

Its predecessor, the KJ-2000, was based on the Russian Ilyushin-76, which had half the lifting capacity of the Y-20B, which can carry 60 tonnes.

Both the KJ-2000 and KJ-500 have a maximum range of about 5,500km (3,400 miles), while the Y-20B is known to be able to fly for 8,000km with a moderate payload.

The prototype KJ-3000 also had what appeared to be a refuelling nozzle on its nose that could allow it to extend its operational range, or time spent in the air.

Based on the Y-20B’s reach, this should allow the new plane to operate in regional hotspots such as the East and South China seas, as well as the western Pacific.

The Y-20 can also fly at altitudes of 13,000 metres (42,650 feet), compared with the Y-9’s ceiling of 10,000 metres, potentially boosting its survivability, area of coverage and ability to detect low-flying objects.

It is still unknown what type of radars the KJ-3000 is equipped with, but there is no doubt it would use the country’s most advanced products.

In the latest footage that appeared on social media in May, the KJ-3000 appeared to have two back-to-back radar arrays, instead of the three-sided active electronically scanned array radar system on the KJ-2000.

The latter already provides 360-degree coverage, but the back-to-back system could allow the new planes to detect and track smaller objects at greater distances with higher resolution, improving the ability to counter stealth fighters and drones.

On the side of the rear fuselage there are also rectangular fairings, which are believed by military observers to be dual-band active electronically scanned array antennas that improve the planes’ ability to detect targets to the side with greater precision.

Additional sensors and antennas were also visible around the forward fuselage, the nose and tail, which were likely to be designed for signal intelligence detection.

All these features may suggest that the new AEW&C aircraft offers significantly improved situational awareness and data transmission capabilities.

If this supposition is correct, the plane would be able to function as an airborne intelligence hub that could coordinate aerial operations from a distance of hundreds of kilometres away, as well as take part in wide-area electronic warfare missions.

The PLA is committed to leveraging AEW&C technologies to the fullest in its transition to a modernised force.

According to the Pentagon’s 2024 China Military Power Report, the PLA now fields more AEW&C aircraft than the United States, although not all are equal in capability.

In May, state broadcaster CCTV aired footage of the PLA Navy’s Type 055 destroyer Lhasa launching a simulated attack under the guidance of an AEW&C aircraft.

The aircraft detected and locked onto the target, then sent targeting data to the warship, according to the report.

The report said some of the missiles fired by the destroyer could receive in-flight datalink updates from the AEW&C aircraft to improve precision.

Pakistan was reported to have used AEW&C aircraft to perform a similar role during the recent conflict with India, and planes that were integrated into Chinese datalink systems reportedly played a key role in an operation in which Islamabad claimed to have shot down Indian Rafale jets.

When the KJ-3000 enters service, it will probably be the only AEW&C aircraft of its generation.

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth last month confirmed that the Pentagon had dropped plans to buy Boeing E-7 Wedgetails, saying the planes were “not survivable in the modern battlefield”.

His comments reflect the US belief that high-powered radar makes AEW&C planes inherently unable to escape detection, while the growing capability of long-range missiles and drones are sufficient to hit this too-obvious target.

Russia has reportedly also dropped plans to develop next-generation AEW&C aircraft, raising speculation that this was prompted by the losses its fleet of A-50 planes has suffered in Ukraine.

The development of long-range missiles that can strike targets thousands of kilometres away may well be a factor in both countries’ thinking, with Hegseth saying the US Air Force could use the navy’s E-2D Hawkeye aircraft for now, and switch to satellite surveillance and command facilities and other space assets in the long run.

But for now, China appears to be hedging its bets by developing its satellite network in parallel with its AEW&C programme.

China’s beef prices are still low – Beijing’s new plan aims to wrangle up consumption

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3320685/chinas-beef-prices-are-still-low-beijings-new-plan-aims-wrangle-consumption?utm_source=rss_feed

Amid falling prices and stiff competition from imports, China has unveiled plans to bolster the cattle industry – the latest in a series of policies aimed at strengthening key agricultural sectors.

China will step up its beef production and implement a quality-grading system for locally produced beef to promote consumption of high-quality versions of the meat – part of an effort announced by the nation’s top economic planner and nine government departments to boost consumption of farm produce.

A top producer and consumer of agricultural products, China will unleash new consumption potential for a range of diverse, high-quality and differentiated products, while enhancing the appeal of domestic products amid increasing competition from imports, the ministries said in a plan released last week.

“Currently, the nutritional structure of Chinese residents’ diets is still not well balanced, with an insufficient intake of high-quality proteins,” said Jiang Wensheng, vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, at a press conference last week. “This leaves significant room for consumption growth.”

While China’s annual beef consumption has been rising steadily for the past few years, much of that demand has been met with imports, weighing on domestic prices as the local cattle industry struggles with financial losses.

The average wholesale price of beef stood at around 63.8 yuan (US$8.90) per kilogram between July 21 and July 27, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

This marked a slight rebound from March prices of around 57.2 yuan per kilogram – the lowest in eight years – but remained 17 per cent lower than its average of around 77 yuan per kilogram before prices started slipping in 2023.

Domestic producers have blamed the flood of imports for the price decline, prompting the commerce ministry to launch an investigation into imported beef late last year.

Imports accounted for around 27 per cent of China’s total beef supply in 2024. And customs data showed that while China’s imports of beef rose 5 per cent in volume last year to 2.87 million tonnes, their total value was down nearly 3.7 per cent compared with the year before.

Imported beef from major suppliers is often cheaper than domestically produced beef, even after levies are applied, Sinolink Securities researcher Zhang Ziyang wrote in a research note on Thursday.

“China primarily imports beef from South America, where it is relatively low-priced,” Zhang said, noting that Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay accounted for about 73 per cent of China’s beef imports last year.

China scaled back its imports of beef by 9.5 per cent in volume in the first half of the year, after suspending imports from seven companies in South America and Mongolia, and amid rising trade tensions with the US.

Zhang was expecting the import volume to continue to decline, allowing local prices to rebound over time.

Implementing a quality-grading system for locally produced beef forms part of a broader push to encourage the differentiation and consumption of higher-quality beef.

In April, the agricultural ministry announced plans to increase the number of high-quality cattle through initiatives such as subsidies for livestock breeding in pastoral areas.

Other measures in the latest plan to boost agricultural consumption include initiatives such as strengthening online sales through collaboration with e-commerce platforms and supporting rural live-streamers – a growing phenomenon where farmers leverage their online presence to directly market and sell local farm produce.

A report by Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, showed that the platform recorded 7.1 billion orders for agricultural products in 2023-2024, with over 33,000 merchants exceeding 1 million yuan (US$139,400) in annual sales.

‘I can swim’: Chinese husband insists flood rescuers save wife first, touching many online

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/environment/article/3320271/i-can-swim-chinese-husband-insists-flood-rescuers-save-wife-first-touching-many-online?utm_source=rss_feed

When a couple in northern China became trapped in floodwaters, and as rescuers approached, the husband insisted that they save his wife first, moving mainland internet users.

Heavy rains wrecked northern parts of China at the end of July.

In Beijing, at least 30 people were killed after a year’s worth of rain fell in less than a week.

While in neighbouring Hebei province, a mudslide hit a village, leading to the death of eight locals. Another four are missing.

Jizhou District, in the northern part of Tianjin municipality, recorded the biggest mudslide in the past seven decades after receiving as much as 200mm of rain between July 28 and 29.

More than 10,000 residents were relocated, the Beijing News reported.

Floodwater inundated the streets of the district, with the water level rising to one metre or above.

One couple were trapped in their small eatery on July 28, awaiting rescue.

Firefighters walked towards their shop and threw a life ring to them.

“Save my wife first. She cannot swim,” the husband told the rescuers.

He put his wife in the life ring before pushing her towards the rescuers.

However, the rushing water moved them further away and hindered the rescue effort.

After the wife was collected by the rescuers, the husband, who was standing metres away, said: “I am fine. I can swim. You just take her to safety first.”

“No, you should also come here,” the rescuers urged him.

Finally, both of them were taken to safety.

“At that time, we were extremely frightened. This is the most dangerous situation we have been in since we got married more than 10 years ago,” the husband, surnamed Liu, said in the report.

“My wife cried because she could not swim. As a man, the first thing that came to my mind was to save my wife first,” he said.

“Thanks very much to the firefighters for saving us,” Liu added.

A video of the rescue has trended on mainland social media, attracting huge admiration for the husband.

“Critical moments put human nature under scrutiny. Sister, you have chosen a good husband!” one person said.

“I have come to believe in love again,” said another.

While a third person added: “He has set an example as a responsible man.”

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Hong Kong trade promoter to form ‘strategic alliance’ with Bank of China: Frederick Ma

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3320723/hong-kong-trade-promoter-form-strategic-alliance-bank-china-frederick-ma?utm_source=rss_feed

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) will form a “strategic alliance” with the Bank of China (BOC) to get mainland Chinese companies to rely on the city as a “superconnector” as they venture overseas, its new chairman, Frederick Ma Si-hang, has said.

The council’s new task would be part of an expansion of its role in response to continuing geopolitical tensions, he told the Post in an exclusive interview last week.

As Ma outlined his vision to realign the statutory body’s global network of 51 offices to support businesses as they navigated the ongoing trade war initiated by Washington, he stressed that threats from American lawmakers to close the Hong Kong government’s trade offices would only prompt the HKTDC to intensify its own promotion efforts in the United States.

Ma, 73, brings his extensive government and business experience to the city’s major trade promotion body at a time when Hong Kong and mainland companies face mounting challenges caused by supply chain disruptions that may be exacerbated by the latest round of US tariffs targeting dozens of countries.

Ma, now two months into his tenure, said that during a meeting with BOC chairman Ge Haijiao in Beijing on July 23, the pair discussed forging an alliance that leveraged their respective strengths, referring to the bank’s financial reach spanning more than 60 countries and the HKTDC’s global trade network.

“What we decided is that we should cooperate. We should form a strategic alliance to bring their clients to overseas markets … We have excellent contacts in the overseas market, and we can also promote Hong Kong to its clients,” he said.

“We could organise some overseas trips … and take [BOC’s] clients to markets that we are familiar with, like Europe, where we have 11 offices.

“We have all the right answers for their clients … Of course, they have a lot of networks and connections too, but combining the two, one plus one would equal three.”

He stressed that such cooperation could enhance Hong Kong’s status as a superconnector and a “super-value-adder” for global trade.

Ma, who previously served as secretary for financial services and the treasury and as the MTR Corporation’s chairman, was appointed as an independent non-executive director at the Bank of China (Hong Kong), or BOCHK, in 2023.

That same year, Ge was appointed as BOCHK’s chairman of the board. Ge also serves as a delegate to the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature.

US President Donald Trump announced his latest round of global tariffs last week, with China not among those targeted because of ongoing trade negotiations between the two nations. Both countries are also seeking to extend an earlier truce by three months.

The trade war has seen the US target a wide range of Chinese goods with tariffs, disrupting supply chains and forcing businesses to diversify their markets.

Hong Kong businesses are also seeking to navigate the trade turbulence, as many companies act as intermediaries between mainland manufacturers and US buyers.

In May, Trump axed “de minimis” duty exemptions for small parcels from China, including Hong Kong, raising costs for e-commerce and logistics companies in the city. The exemption will also be scrapped for all countries from August 29.

Ma’s appointment makes him the 10th chairman of the HKTDC, a statutory body established in 1966 to promote trade opportunities for Hong Kong companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises.

He said he aimed to complete an evaluation of the HKTDC’s offices by the end of the year to ensure “resources were maximised” and aligned with the government’s strategy to cultivate new markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Ma also said the council would not scale back its presence in the US, especially after the Hong Kong government’s three Economic and Trade Offices (ETOs) in New York, San Francisco and Washington had become “less effective” because of the geopolitical climate.

In April, members of the US House of Representatives revived a bipartisan bill to close the offices. A version of the proposed legislation cleared a committee in the country’s Senate in 2023 but never went to the full floor for a vote.

“Due to the geopolitical situation, they wouldn’t be able to contact, for example, ministers or congressmen,” he said.

“The economic and trade arm is supposed to be functioning, but because one arm has been chopped off, the other arm will definitely be affected somehow.

“So the HKTDC needs to do more in this regard … we will show them more responsibility.”

Ma previously oversaw Hong Kong’s ETOs during his time as commerce chief between 2007 and 2008. The city currently operates a network of 14 such offices.

The HKTDC has three offices of its own in the US, which are located in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

Ma told the Post that it was important for the statutory body to foster business-to-business links in the US market.

“Trade with the US has gone down a bit for obvious reasons, but it is still a big market, and we shouldn’t ignore it while we are developing new markets. It doesn’t mean that we would abandon the US market,” he said.

The US is one of Hong Kong’s key global trading and investment partners.

It was the city’s third-largest trading partner in 2024, with total goods trade estimated at about US$33.8 billion.

“It’s a very interesting area to look at how we position ourselves in the US, and how we continue to connect with the US,” Ma said.

“Europe is also a very important market, but we have to, given the current geopolitical situation, be very careful.”

China’s Hainan eyes medical tourism boom after South Korea axes cosmetic surgery tax perks

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3320704/chinas-hainan-eyes-medical-tourism-boom-after-south-korea-axes-cosmetic-surgery-tax-perks?utm_source=rss_feed

China’s tropical island province of Hainan is accelerating its push to become a leading medical tourism hub, aiming to attract more nationals to use local healthcare services instead of seeking treatment abroad – after South Korea announced plans to scrap tax rebates for foreigners undergoing cosmetic surgery.

The popular tourist destination in southern China plans to draw more than 1.5 million domestic medical tourists annually by 2027, up from the current level of over 400,000, according to a local government document issued on Monday.

Hainan has also pledged to reverse the outflow of overseas medical consumption. It aims to approve two to four real-world research pilot products for domestic market entry each year and introduce at least 40 international innovative drugs and medical devices annually.

In the first quarter of 2025, institutions in Hainan’s special medical tourism zone welcomed 111,500 visitors seeking treatment, up 29.8 per cent year on year, the state-owned People’s Daily reported last month.

The use of licensed drugs and medical devices reached 16,000 people during the same period – a 44.14 per cent rise from a year earlier, according to the report.

The push came as South Korea – a top competitor in medical tourism – risks losing its appeal due to a policy change announced on July 31. The new regulation, which takes effect next year, will remove value-added tax refunds for foreign tourists using medical beauty services.

To support the growth of a more comprehensive ecosystem, the Boao Lecheng Medical Tourism Development Conference – a flagship event held last Friday – proposed new medical tourism routes and called for greater integration across the “healthcare + conventions + tourism + wellness” chain.

The Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone – established in 2013 with special permission to import certain overseas medicines and medical devices not yet available domestically – received 413,700 medical tourists in 2024, a 36.76 per cent increase from the previous year, the State Council said last month.

Hainan, designated as China’s largest free trade pilot zone, will also adopt a new customs regime on December 18 that will support the introduction of foreign hospitals and pharmaceuticals, enhancing services for international tourists.

Still, many Chinese nationals continue to seek treatment abroad. A Deloitte report published last month projected that the number of people travelling overseas for medical aesthetic services in 2025 would rise by 9 per cent to 26 per cent, compared to the previous year.

South Korea remains the top destination, accounting for 62 per cent of China’s outbound medical beauty market, the report’s authors said. About 70 per cent of respondents cited the “higher cost-effectiveness of overseas treatment” as the top reason, while 38 per cent pointed to the appeal of combining medical procedures with traditional tourism.

South Korea’s tax rebate policy, introduced in April 2016, allowed foreign patients to apply for a 10 per cent value-added tax refund upon departure – after receiving treatment at designated institutions. The measure had made the country a preferred destination for international consumers seeking high-quality, budget-friendly medical beauty services.

China opens door to Brazilian coffee as US slaps on new tariff

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3320739/china-opens-door-brazilian-coffee-us-slaps-new-tariff?utm_source=rss_feed

China has authorised nearly 200 Brazilian companies to export coffee to its domestic market amid escalating trade tensions between Brazil and the United States following the imposition of a 50 per cent US tariff on Brazilian coffee.

The weekend announcement, effective July 30, came just days after the United States levied the new tariff, which is set to take effect on Wednesday. The measure has sent shock waves through Brazil’s coffee industry and forced exporters to seek other markets.

China’s move, valid for five years, is expected to increase Brazilian coffee shipments to a country where demand is rising steadily.

The United States is the largest consumer of coffee globally, importing 3.3 million bags of Brazilian coffee in the first half of this year, nearly 23 per cent of Brazil’s total coffee exports.

In contrast, China imported 530,000 bags during the same period. Although the Chinese market is still smaller, it is gaining relevance as Brazil’s access to the US market faces new restrictions.

Industry data shows that about 85 per cent of Brazil’s 2025 production of Arabica, the variety most exported to the US, has already been harvested.

Arabica coffee plays a key role in the US market, where it is often blended with milder beans from other Latin American producers appeal to American tastes. Brazil accounts for 44 per cent of global Arabica production, making it a difficult supplier to replace in the short term.

As Brazilian authorities welcomed the news of the 183 new licences, industry leaders pointed to the volume as highly unusual.

“This is not a normal number,” Vinícius Estrela, executive director of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association, said.

“Authorisations usually happen in batches of 20 or 30 companies. Getting 183 at once is a record.”

He said that while the negotiation process had been under way for months, its publication during the post-harvest period helped Brazilian exporters.

“It comes at the right moment, when the coffee is ready and waiting to move,” he said.

Increasing the number of exporters, Estrela said, gives more producers access to foreign buyers and shipping routes, making shipping easier by lowering exporters’ shipping costs. He warned, though, against overestimating China’s ability to import the amount of coffee previously headed for the US.

“The United States imports more than 8 million bags of coffee per year. China consumes nowhere near that,” he said. Even under optimistic projections, he estimated that redirection to the Chinese market might reach only a few hundred thousand bags.

“It helps, yes, but it is not a replacement,” he said, adding that US buyers are still likely to rely on Brazilian supply despite the tariff.

But the Chinese market, according to Estrela, offers more than just volume. With demand for higher-quality beans rising, Brazil may try to build a reputation beyond bulk supply.

“We are working to ensure Brazil is recognised not only for quantity but for quality,” he said.

“Being part of Luckin Coffee’s five-year blend plan, with the Brazilian origin publicly acknowledged, gives us something rare in the coffee industry, which is brand visibility at the consumer level.”

That strategy gained traction in November, when ApexBrasil, the country’s export promotion agency, signed a deal with China’s Luckin Coffee to supply 240,000 metric tons of Brazilian beans between 2025 and 2029.

The contract is valued at US$2.5 billion and follows a prior agreement worth US$500 million for 120,000 metric tons signed in mid-2024.

Luckin Coffee, founded in 2017, now operates over 22,000 stores across China, with more than 300 million customers.

While China has traditionally favoured tea, coffee consumption has been growing, particularly among young urban professionals.

Per capita consumption has doubled in five years, from eight to 16 cups annually, though it remains well below the global average of 240 cups and the US average of more than 400.

Speaking at the time of the agreement, Luckin Coffee CEO Jinyi Guo praised Brazilian coffee and described the deal as the beginning of a long-term collaboration.

“This partnership is just the beginning. In the future, we want to expand even further,” he said. Jorge Viana, head of ApexBrasil, the country’s export promotion agency, called the agreement a “milestone for Brazil’s coffee sector”.

In US-China battle over rare earths, developing nations are the front line

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320666/us-china-battle-over-rare-earths-developing-nations-are-front-line?utm_source=rss_feed

Rare earths are needed for everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles, wind turbines and fighter jets – and China controls the supply chain. In a four-part series, we look at the race for rare earths, starting with the contest for reserves in developing countries.

Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once said that “the Middle East has oil, China has rare earths”. His words carry new weight today as China’s stranglehold over the rare earths supply chain gives it leverage in the trade war with the United States.

China controls some 60 per cent of global mining of rare earths, over 85 per cent of their processing, and more than 90 per cent of permanent magnet production – used in everything from cars to medical devices and wind turbines.

That leaves the US and other Western nations vulnerable, and many are now scrambling to diversify their supply chains away from China.

Analysts say that while there are multilateral efforts under way to reduce reliance on China they are largely diplomatic, and there is a lack of investment or technical expertise to move away from Chinese supply.

They also say that developing countries with rare earths are emerging as the new front line of a high-stakes contest between China and the West.

“The United States and other countries have been seeking to diversify for years, and the challenge remains difficult to overcome, yet I think we’re seeing more momentum now than in the past,” said Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.

But she said the issue was that many solutions were long-term, while the threat of export controls was immediate.

A US Department of Defence initiative known as “mine to magnets” has been accelerated in recent years. The goal is to develop a fully domestic rare earths supply chain – from sourcing and separation to processing, metallisation, alloying and magnet production.

In 2023, the department invested US$258 million in Lynas Rare Earths – the only non-Chinese commercial-scale producer – to open a production facility in Texas. The Australian company achieved a milestone in May this year by producing the heavy rare earth dysprosium oxide at its Malaysian plant – the first time it has been done commercially outside China.

There are other moves afoot by the US and its allies to break China’s dominance in the sector.

Washington in 2022 launched the Minerals Security Partnership with 14 partners including Japan, South Korea, India, Britain and Australia. Resource-rich countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Greenland, Kazakhstan and Ukraine are involved in project development and policy dialogue as forum members.

In June, the Group of Seven unveiled a new action plan on critical minerals. And a Quad initiative was launched in July to diversify the critical minerals supply chain.

While there is momentum, analysts say these efforts might not be enough to challenge Beijing’s long-standing dominance of the industry.

“Multilateral initiatives, like the G7, Quad and [Minerals Security Partnership] are still largely in a diplomatic stage, ” said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the CSIS Critical Minerals Security Programme.

It is also not clear if the Minerals Security Partnership is a viable alternative to Chinese supply, according to Hu Xinyue, a senior analyst with the China Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore

She said the partnership had seen limited investment and it lacked technical expertise.

“Environmental concerns could be a significant hurdle to developing the partner countries’ rare earth mining or production capability,” she added.

Hu said the time it took to get mining projects up and running in the US was another obstacle, noting that it could take 16 years to secure permits and complete construction before production could begin.

There is also a battle playing out over resource-rich developing nations, which are being courted by Chinese and Western investors.

Jonathan Hykawy, president of Stormcrow Capital, a Canada-based equity research firm specialising in rare earths, said China could offer more to these nations than the US, including the size of its market and geopolitical stability.

“The current American presidential administration seems to be using uncertainty and turmoil as some sort of negotiating tactic, but it is difficult to make spending decisions in the face of uncertainty,” he said.

“The US is also making it more difficult for other nations to regard the US as a friend and ally, opening the door to Chinese efforts to do the same.”

Hu in Singapore noted that Beijing’s geopolitical playbook included a “carrot and stick” approach to rare earths – providing tech transfers and access to resources to attract and reward some nations while imposing export controls and other restrictive measures on its geopolitical rivals.

For developing nations with abundant rare earths, this presents both opportunity and risk.

“Chinese companies have a very strong position in the mining and refining of rare earths and so it’s no surprise that they also hold a lot of the IP and know-how in this sector,” according to Mazzocco from CSIS.

“As a result, many companies and countries seeking to develop their industry face a dilemma in wanting to collaborate with the biggest players in the business and also seeking to de-risk.”

Baskaran noted that developing a rare earths industry required significant capital and technical expertise. She said many emerging economies were “non-aligned and looking for the best deal and thus willing to work with China or the West”.

Vietnam holds the world’s second-largest known reserves of rare earth minerals, accounting for 19 per cent of global deposits – second only to China.

In 2023, Vietnam and the US signed an agreement to boost technical cooperation on rare earths with the aim of strengthening the Vietnamese industry and attracting foreign investment.

China also wanted a slice of the action, with state-owned China Rare Earth Group pursuing cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese mining giant Vinacomin.

Beijing and Hanoi issued a joint statement in April saying they would explore cooperation on critical minerals.

Malaysia has also become an important link in the supply chain now that Lynas is operating a processing facility there. With substantial rare earth deposits but limited ability to process them, Malaysia is keen to develop its own industry. Its foreign minister in April announced that China had agreed to share some of its processing technology with Malaysia.

Myanmar, meanwhile, is the world’s third-largest source of rare earths after China and the US. Its Kachin region is home to some of the world’s biggest mines for heavy rare earths, which are exported to China for processing.

Reuters reported last week, citing sources, that the Donald Trump administration had heard proposals aimed at diverting Myanmar’s rare earth minerals away from China.

No final decision has been reached, and any effort to implement such plans would likely require Washington to engage in negotiations with the ethnic rebel groups that control much of Myanmar’s rare earth reserves.

Hykawy noted that Myanmar and other developing countries were becoming more important as the US-led West and China sought rare earths.

“[Myanmar] pertains to the supply of the heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium, which are important to the manufacture of NdFeB magnets that can be used at higher temperatures, as needed in the automotive industry,” he said.

“But this reliance also carries some risk, as when rare earth concentrate supplies from Myanmar became uncertain in the period following the governmental coup in 2021.”

Cory Combs, head of supply chain research at Trivium China, said the value of the rare earth sector was typically set downstream, and resource-rich countries would have to capture value locally to make full use of their resources.

He said those countries should look to Indonesia’s export bans on raw minerals, which encouraged investment in local processing facilities and training local staff to do the jobs required.

Analysts say that while China’s strategy of leveraging its rare earth monopoly is highly effective in the short term, it would not last forever as a trade weapon.

Baskaran noted that initiatives including the US defence department’s recent partnership with American rare earths company MP Materials would take time to scale up, but they “effectively set a countdown in motion for developing alternative supply chain options”.

According to Hykawy, “there is almost no highly proprietary knowledge left in the rare earth space”.

“The actual deposits, the separation technology, the knowledge regarding making rare earth metals, alloys and magnets – all these exist outside China. Putting all this into commercial-scale production is a matter of time and money,” he said.

Building alternative supply chains is far more complex than just identifying new mine sites – it requires a system of processing facilities, manufacturing capabilities and technical expertise.

As a result, Western nations could find it difficult to close the gap even over the longer term, according to Combs.

“Now the world is trying to catch up with where China was yesterday, as it is trying to advance technologically tomorrow,” he said.

However, China’s dominance in rare earths has been built up over decades of strategic investment.

Combs said the West should focus on diversifying the supply chain in critical areas, such as components for military equipment.

“There is no world in which the West is able to meaningfully diversify the whole suite of commercial applications [for rare earths],” Combs said.

“It is just too big, the total volume, and China is too far ahead.”