Month: January 2026

Subdued Chinese demand was a key contributor to a decline in Australia’s wine exports last year, according to the Australian government agency that promotes the industry. With consumer sentiment and evolving tastes reshaping the Chinese market, shipments to mainland China fell 17 per cent year on year to A$755 million (US$532.10 million) – the biggest single factor in an 8 per cent fall in Australia’s total wine exports last year – Wine Australia said in a report released on Wednesday. The weak performance in China, which came despite the removal…

Advanced chipmaking engineer Xu Zhenpeng has left the United States to take up a full-time position at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), one of China’s leaders in artificial intelligence hardware research. Before his return to China, Xu led a team at the California-based manufacturing start-up Atomic Semi, developing 3D printing techniques aimed at making chip production faster and cheaper than conventional methods that used bulky, multimillion-dollar machines. Investors in the company, founded in 2023, have included ChatGPT creator OpenAI’s start-up fund, former CEO of GitHub Nat Friedman and co-founder of…

South China Morning Post

The notion that China is flooding the world with excess industrial capacity is usually based on its massive surplus in goods trade, now standing at nearly US$1.2 trillion. That number is real, but treating it as proof of systemic overcapacity is not entirely correct. Goods trade is only one slice of China’s external balance, and it is increasingly offset by large outflows such as import of services and investment income payments. Moreover, China’s total current account surplus is US$657 billion or 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Having…

A key US congressional panel on Thursday advanced four Taiwan-related bills aimed at strengthening the island’s energy security, communications resilience and diplomatic influence as lawmakers ramp up efforts to counter Beijing ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected visit to China in April. The move by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee reflects a broader trend in Congress, in which support for Taiwan often exceeds the administration’s position. Thursday’s coordinated action signals to the White House that the US-Taiwan partnership remains a priority. The bills advancing on Thursday include the Taiwan…