Month: January 2024

China’s Shenzhen reveals bold tech plans for an economic, industrial resurgence in 2024

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Shenzhen’s overall economy grew by 6 per cent in 2023, in line with its official target and outpacing both the 4.6 per cent growth in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, and the projected 3.2 per cent growth in Hong Kong, just across the border. We have to break free of the West’s tech strangulation … and forge strong scientific and technological innovationQin Weizhong, Shenzhen mayor This year, Shenzhen aims to grow its economy by 5.5 per cent, city mayor Qin Weizhong said at a parliamentary meeting on Tuesday. That…

US Congress considers new legislation to further restrict investment in Chinese tech sectors

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Amid the growing tech war between the world’s two largest economies, the US Congress considered new ways on Tuesday to restrict US investment in China that involves sensitive technology. The hearing by the House Financial Services subcommittee on national security, illicit finance and international financial institutions followed US President Joe Biden’s executive order in August prohibiting US private equity and venture capital investments from flowing into four Chinese tech sectors: artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and microelectronics. Biden’s order “took a step in the right direction but could be improved…

China’s Jailing of Brit for Espionage Will Further Discourage Business, Analysts Say

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LONDON —  Beijing’s revelation that it sentenced an elderly and well-connected British businessman who has lived in China for decades to five years in prison for espionage will further discourage business and trade, say analysts and a friend of the man. Last week, China’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that in August 2022 a Beijing court found Ian J. Stones, a 70-year-old consultant, guilty of “buying and unlawfully providing intelligence for an organization or individual outside China.” Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was responding to a question about Stones at a regular press…

In song and dance, Uyghurs forced to celebrate Lunar New Year

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Authorities in Xinjiang are forcing Uyghurs to participate in upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations by learning Chinese dances and playing Chinese songs, state-run media reported, as part of the vast region is still recovering from a 7.1-magnitude earthquake. The Jan. 23 quake that struck a remote northwestern part of Xinjiang killed at least three people and injured five others, and displaced more than 12,400 people in Uchturpan county in Aksu prefecture, next to Kyrgyzstan. The temblor was felt in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.  While news about the earthquake in…

Blizzards and extreme weather could disrupt China’s Lunar New Year travel

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Snowstorms and other extreme weather could disrupt transport for the hundreds of millions travelling across China during the Lunar New Year travel period, known as chun yun. The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said on Tuesday that “complex” winter weather across the country, including rain and snow, could have “a significant impact” on transport during this year’s holiday travel period, which began on January 26 and will end on March 5. Northern China, including the northeastern provinces of Jilin and Liaoning and the far western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, were hit…

Europe’s top chipmaker Infineon boosts hiring in India and Vietnam

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Top European chipmaker Infineon is racing to hire more skilled workers in south and south-east Asia as the regions become increasingly important to the world’s semiconductor and tech supply chains. Infineon’s Asia-Pacific president and managing director, Chua Chee Seong, told Nikkei Asia that the company is recruiting more staff in India, which is already the German chipmaker’s crucial Asian research and development base, and that it also aims to significantly…

Pollution from pig farm causes mountain of dead fish in nearby river

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A burst sewage pipe at a Chinese-owned pig farm in northeastern Laos has polluted a nearby river, killing over 230 kilograms (500 pounds) of fish, an important food source people in nearby villages, local government officials and villagers told Radio Free Asia. It’s the latest example of industry causing environmental damage in Laos, which has been aggressively pursuing policies that encourage rapid development through foreign investment for the past few years. The waste from the farm in Viengxay district in Houaphanh province entered the river on Jan. 23 and 24.…

FirstFT: Hong Kong proposes new security law to follow China’s crackdown

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get it sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning Good morning. Hong Kong has unveiled details of a proposed new national security law that analysts warned would further curb civil freedoms in the city and damage its status as an international financial hub. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Hong Kong’s…

Vietnam, Philippines Sign Deals on South China Sea Security

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Vietnam and the Philippines agreed on Tuesday to boost cooperation between their two coast guards to prevent incidents in the South China Sea, waters claimed in their entirety by Beijing. Both Southeast Asian nations dispute China’s claim to the resource-rich maritime territory that is a major shipping route, and each nation has had tense run-ins with China in the strategic waterway. The two memoranda of understanding on maritime cooperation were announced during a state visit to Hanoi by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and are “aimed at strengthening the understanding,…

Beijing says construction of multibillion-dollar China-Thailand rail must be sped up

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China and Thailand need to speed up the construction of a delayed, high-speed railway to link their countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Monday at the end of a three-day visit to Bangkok. The Thai PM, for his part, said Beijing’s loan of pandas to Thailand signified the warm ties between the two nations and he hoped China would soon send a giant member of that rare bear species to replace Lin Hui who died last April. Wang said he appreciated Srettha’s decision…