Month: June 2025

For those attending the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions this week, “uncertainty” was the inescapable word. It could be found on the lips of almost everyone; senior Chinese officials, global executives, foreign academics and thought leaders from all fields. Advertisement This should not come as a surprise. Simmering regional tensions, unpredictable policy pivots from Washington and a foggy picture for global trade were all top of mind as speakers and panelists gathered in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin for the forum, also known as “Summer…

Chinese scientists have deployed a buoy-based research platform in the South China Sea that can track both atmospheric and oceanic changes – even in typhoon-force winds. Advertisement Anchored 3,500 metres (11,400 feet) below the surface, the system is designed for synchronised, multilayered observations spanning 10km (6.2 miles) into the atmosphere and 1km into the ocean, according to the Institute of Oceanology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao, which led the project. The buoy – powered by a hybrid energy system that combines solar, wind, thermal gradient and wave…

China’s industrial profits fell by more than 9 per cent in May over the same month of 2024, according to data released on Friday, reflecting what analysts said was weak domestic demand for minerals and motor vehicles, coupled with ramifications of the US-China tariff dispute. Advertisement The National Bureau of Statistics said profits for industrial companies making more than 20 million yuan a year in revenue dropped in May by 9.1 per cent, year on year. Industrial profits fell 9.7 per cent in May over April, after seasonal adjustments, following…

Miao Hua, a top general who once oversaw the People’s Liberation Army’s ideology work, has been removed from the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC). Advertisement State news agency Xinhua said the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress “voted to remove Miao Hua from his position as a member of the Central Military Commission” at its closing meeting on Friday in Beijing. The announcement about the high-profile military corruption investigation came two months after Miao, 69, was stripped of his membership in the National People’s Congress (NPC), the top legislature.…

Chinese charging peripherals maker Anker Innovations has forged a strategic partnership with battery maker Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), moving swiftly to secure a new battery cell supplier after jointly recalling more than a million power banks in one of the country’s largest consumer electronics recalls in recent years. Advertisement The Shenzhen-based gadget maker planned to purchase an initial batch of 45 million lithium-ion batteries from ATL, according to a statement published on Anker’s website on Wednesday. The deal is a shift for Anker’s supply chain as it seeks to restore…

Advertisement Vice Admiral Li Hanjun, chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, and Liu Shipeng, deputy chief engineer at state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, have been expelled from the National People’s Congress (NPC). Li is the latest of a string of PLA generals and a handful of defence industry executives to have been implicated in a sweeping crackdown in the military. In a statement on Friday, the NPC Standing Committee said: “The Navy Servicemen’s Congress decided to dismiss Li Hanjun from his position as a representative of the…

Southern China’s Guangdong province will launch a “domestic trade version” of the Canton Fair – the country’s largest import and export fair – to help export-oriented companies tap into the domestic market amid weak external demand and rising global trade uncertainties. Advertisement The initiative is a key component of a work plan released by the provincial government on Tuesday that aims to strengthen “domestic circulation” – a strategy focused on boosting China’s economic self-reliance by building a robust and unified internal market. According to the plan, around 20,000 export-oriented enterprises…