China’s installations of wind and solar in May are enough to generate as much electricity as Poland, as the world’s second-biggest economy breaks further records with its rapid buildup of renewable energy infrastructure. China installed 93 GW of solar capacity last month – almost 100 solar panels every second, according to an analysis by Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Wind power installations reached 26 GW, the equivalent of about 5,300 turbines. While estimates for the amount of power generated by solar panels and wind…
Tag: China
The world wants China’s rare earth elements – what is life like in the city that produces them?
Central Baotou, an industrial hub of 2.7 million people that abuts the Gobi desert in north China, feels just like any other second-tier Chinese city. Large shopping malls featuring western chains including Starbucks and KFC stand alongside street after street of busy local restaurants, where people sit outside and children play late into the evening, enjoying the relative relief of the cooler temperatures that arrive after dark in Inner Mongolia’s baking summer. But a short drive into the city’s suburbs reveal another typical, less hospitable, Chinese scene. Factories crowd the…
The Guardian view on China, Africa and disappearing donkeys: an unexpected crisis offers a clue to perils ahead | Editorial
What can help to protect women’s health, boost the incomes of impoverished families and thus allow girls to avoid early marriage? What – when it disappears – can set back children’s education, damage mental wellbeing, drive conflict within communities and become a vector for racial hatred? The humble donkey has rarely been in the spotlight. Yet Chinese demand for its skin proved so destabilising that African governments agreed to a continent-wide ban on the slaughter of the animal for its hide last year. This week, officials are meeting in Ivory Coast…
Swarms of tiny nose robots could clear infected sinuses, researchers say
Swarms of tiny robots, each no larger than a speck of dust, could be deployed to cure stubborn infected sinuses before being blown out through the nose into a tissue, researchers have claimed. The micro-robots are a fraction of the width of a human hair and have been inserted successfully into animal sinuses in pre-clinical trials by researchers at universities in China and Hong Kong. Swarms are injected into the sinus cavity via a duct threaded through the nostril and guided to their target by electromagnetism, where they can be…
Chinese exports to UK rise as firms seek to avoid US tariffs
Chinese exports to the UK jumped in May, according to data from Beijing, raising the prospect of a flood of cut-price goods as firms look for alternative markets to avoid Donald Trump’s tariffs. Data published by the Chinese government showed a 16.1% increase in exports to the UK in May compared with the same month last year, hitting the highest level since February 2022. That could be an early signal of an acceleration from the 10% annual rate of increase in April in the UK data published by the Office…
Chinese carmaker Chery Auto ‘actively considering’ building UK factory
The Chinese carmaker Chery Auto is considering building its second European factory in Britain. After launching two brands, Omoda and Jaecoo, in the UK in September, Chery’s UK director, Victor Zhang, said the company is making inroads in the British market with the appetite growing for Chinese cars. He was speaking at the annual conference of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, where the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, admitted that there was “still a lot of work” to do in negotiating away all of Donald Trump’s tariffs against the…
A.I. Computing Power Is Splitting the World Into Haves and Have-Nots
‘Sometimes I Want to Cry’ Few Choices If You Build It
‘A new space to play in’: can vertical dramas save the UK’s TV sector?
They’re a Chinese cultural phenomenon which keeps millions of viewers glued to their phones, but the runaway success of “vertical dramas” is providing an unlikely source of employment for film and TV crews here in the UK. The bite-size melodramas have breathless titles such as A Flash Marriage with the Billionaire and My Firefighter ex-Husband Burns in Regret, and are chopped into one minute episodes for avid consumption on viewers’ vertically held smartphones. The UK is an increasingly popular location for these typically low-budget productions, reflecting the popularity of British…
Serial rapist Zhenhao Zou facing second trial as more women come forward
Serial rapist Zhenhao Zou is facing a second trial with police and prosecutors preparing to charge the Chinese student with a second round of offences. Zou, 28, is already serving a minimum 24 years for attacking 10 young women in London and China. Sources say there have been discussions between detectives and lawyers for the Crown Prosecution Service about at least one more trial for the Chinese student. Zou was sentenced on Thursday to life imprisonment, even offering to be chemically castrated in hopes of getting a lighter sentence. Since…
Hong Kong teachers allegedly told to avoid US Independence Day events
Teachers in Hong Kong have been warned to keep themselves and students away from any US Independence Day celebrations as they may breach national security laws, educators have alleged. A text message purportedly sent by the principal of a Hong Kong school to staff said the education bureau’s regional education office had reminded them “to be careful about Independence Day activities organised by the US consulate in Hong Kong, and not to participate to avoid violating the national security law and Hong Kong laws”. The text was published on Edu…