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☆ NASA's chief says China is being 'very, very secretive' and pretending its space projects aren't linked to the military
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA chief Bill Nelson accused China on Wednesday of secretly working on military projects in space. Nelson told lawmakers that NASA believes Beijing is masking these projects as civilian efforts. "We believe that a lot of their, so-called civilian space programs is a military program," Nelson continued. Related storiesThe NASA chief alluded to the Spratly Islands, an archipelago in the South China Sea claimed by several nations. Meanwhile, China has repeatedly denied that it intends to establish any military presence in outer space.

Persons: Bill Nelson, Nelson, —, Artemis Organizations: NASA, China, Service, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, South China, Artemis Accords, Alxa League, Inner, Getty, UN, Embassy, Business Locations: Beijing, China, Spratly Islands, South, Russia, Alxa, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Washington , DC

☆ US Marines train for war with China on an island-hopping battlefield, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

New US Marine formations are learning to battle adversaries like China on remote islands. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementUS Marines are learning how to battle adversaries like China on remote islands in response to rising tensions in the Pacific, a report says. Pentagon experts expect that US satellites will be jammed or destroyed by China in the event of a potential war, the Post noted. In 2021, The Washington-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, conducted war games to imagine how a war between China and the US over Taiwan would play out.

Persons: —, John Aquilino, We've, Col, John Lehane, Lehane, Lewis B, Puller, Sarah Stegall, Mark Cancian Organizations: The Washington Post, Service, US Navy, US Armed Services House, China US, 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, 3rd, Littoral, Pentagon, Marine, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Marine Corps, US Marine Corps, Marines, Center for Strategic, International Studies, US Air Force Locations: China, Pacific, Beijing, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Inner Mongolia, Sarah Stegall China, South, The Washington, United States

☆ China built a mock-up of key area in Taiwan's capital city at a desert training site, satellite images show
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Satellite images show China's mock-up of Taiwan's presidential office at a desert training site. AdvertisementOut in the desert at a military training site, China has built a mock-up of a key area of Taiwan's capital city where the presidential office and other government buildings are located, satellite images show. Related storiesThe office mock-up was a convincing replica. A general view of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. People watch a video about China's military advancements at the Military Museum in Beijing on March 3, 2024.

Persons: —, Joseph Wen, Wen, it's, Walid Berrazeg, Chiu Kuo, cheng, John Aquilino, GREG BAKER, Party's Lai Ching, Hou Organizations: Service, Alxa League, Planet Labs, Business, Planet, CCTV, Presidential, Rocket Force, Alxa, US, Pacific Command, US Armed Services House Committee, Military Museum, Getty Images, Democratic, ih Locations: China, Taiwan, Alxa, Mongolia, Taipei, Taiwan's, Zhurihe, Inner Mongolia, Beijing, AFP, Getty Images China, It's

☆ Spending in Shenzhen: Chinese used to escape to this former British colony. Now Hongkongers are heading in the opposite direction
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Chris Lau | Veronica Lin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Hong Kong CNN —With Hong Kong’s sky-high cost of living, residents like Andy Tsui have been looking for alternative ways to have more fun and spend less. Rather than spending his cash in his hometown of Hong Kong, he’s been crossing the border into mainland China to splurge instead. Such trips are noteworthy because, for much of Hong Kong’s modern history, the traffic has been largely — conspicuously, even — in the other direction. Hong Kong used to be the place where Chinese would escape to, not from. In 2023, just 26 million mainlanders — about half of the 2018 crowd — visited Hong Kong.

Persons: Andy Tsui, he’s, boba, ” Tsui, Justin Robertson, Noemi Cassanelli, CNN Hong Kong’s, Hong Kong —, misbehaving, —, ”, Steve Tsang, Hong, Shenzhen’s, Hongkongers, Gilles Sabrie, Hongkonger Eddy Lam, Lam, Cherrie Leung, Qilai Shen, Hugo Sin, “, Gary Ng, John Lee, Tsang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN, Shoppers, Yuen, Britain, Newspapers, Hong, Hong Kong Immigration Department, China Institute, SOAS University, Huawei, Tencent, Bloomberg, Getty, Sam’s Club, Costco, Sam’s, Walmart, Hong Kong, Shenzhen hasn’t, Xinhua, RTHK, SOAS University of London Locations: Hong Kong, China, splurge, Peking, Shenzhen, East, Hong, People’s Republic of China, British, Beijing, London, Bay Area, San Francisco , New York, Tokyo, Kowloon, Coco, Shanghai, “, Inner Mongolia, Taiwan, Japan, Mainland China, Hong Kong’s, Britain, Canada, Australia, Bay, ”

☆ Major companies in China are setting up their own volunteer armies
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Hong Kong CNN —Chinese companies are doing something rarely seen since the 1970s: setting up their own volunteer armies. According to China’s Military Service Law, male militia members should be 18 to 35 years old. It was latest in a slew of militias established by major Chinese companies in the past year. After 1949, when the party took control of mainland China, the units were eventually embedded into governments, schools and companies. This can, in the long run, save the PLA resources by delegating some duties to militia forces to care for,” Heath said.

Persons: Xi, ”, Neil Thomas, Nuo Nuo, Huang Zhiqiang, Qilai Shen, Liu Jie, Mao Zedong, Mao, Timothy Heath, homebuyers, Heath, ” Heath, Willy Lam, Sam Yeh, ” Lam, China’s Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN, People’s Armed Forces Departments, America’s National Guard, Communist, Asia Society, Center for, Communist Party, China Labour Bulletin, Foxconn, Yili, Armed Forces Department, China’s Military Service Law, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, government’s Communist Party, Inner Mongolia Autonomous, Bloomberg, Getty, Shanghai Municipal Investment Group, Construction Investment, Development, Defense Ministry, People’s Armed Police, Armed, Rand Corporation, Jamestown Foundation, Party, Taiwan Locations: China, Hong Kong, Center for China, Beijing, Zhengzhou, Henan, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, Yili, Shanghai, Mengniu, Nantong city, Jiangsu, Huizhou city, Guangdong, Wuhan, Hubei province, People’s Republic, United States, Taiwan, Fangchenggang City, Guangxi, ”, PLA, Taiwan's, AFP

☆ China's LandSpace readies satellite launch with methane rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Beijing-based LandSpace Technology, one of China's private space companies, is preparing to launch a satellite payload to orbit in the first commercial test of its rocket powered by liquid fuel using methane and oxygen. The company did not specify a launch window for the rocket, which will blast off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia. The company had fundraising rounds of undisclosed sizes since, Chinese company record tracking database Tianyancha showed. LandSpace rival OrienSpace, founded in 2020, said it plans to launch its first rocket, Gravity-1, based on solid fuel, in December. ($1 = 7.1368 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Ella Cao, Roxanne Liu and Bernard Orr; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Miral FahmyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: LandSpace's, LandSpace, Elon Musk's, Jeff Bezos, Zhang Changwu, OrienSpace, Ella Cao, Roxanne Liu, Bernard Orr, Kevin Krolicki Organizations: Technology, Weibo, Jiuquan, Elon, Elon Musk's SpaceX, SpaceX, Sequoia Capital, China SME Development Fund, LandSpace's, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, China, U.S, HongShan, Sequoia Capital China

Local governments plan to use the proceeds of the latest bond sales to purchase equity or convertible bonds from smaller banks, most of them state-owned, effectively recapitalising them, according to the deal prospectuses. DEEPER IN DEBTThe intensified efforts to support smaller banks also come amid growing worries about the impact of ballooning local government debt on the economy. While policymakers are highly concerned over rising debt levels, Beijing has little option but to support smaller banks to contain spillover risks, analysts said. It was not immediately clear if the central authorities had given any guidance to the local governments on recapitalising smaller banks, and who were the buyers of these special-purpose bonds. "Local governments are a likely the first line of defense whenever regional banks become stressed," they said.

Persons: Kim Kyung, Gavekal, Zhang Xiaoxi, Pan Gongsheng, Ziyi Tang, Ryan Woo, Sumeet Chatterjee, Kim Coghill Organizations: People's Bank of China, REUTERS, Rights, China Electronic Local Government Bond, Authorities, National Financial Regulatory Administration, International Monetary Fund, Beijing, Thomson Locations: Beijing, Rights BEIJING, China, Henan, China's, Liaoning, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia

Peak electricity demand may increase by as much as 140 million kilowatts (12%) compared with winter 2022/23, the National Energy Administration (NEA) forecast on Oct. 31. Planners have been anxious to avoid a repeat of the fuel and power shortages that occurred in the autumn and winter of 2021/22. Chartbook: China electricity generationIn the first ten months of 2023, domestic coal production increased by 144 million tonnes (11%) and imports by 154 million tonnes (67%) compared with the prior year. The NEA said power generators’ inventories should be maintained at 200 million tonnes, up from 170 million tonnes a year ago. In the same period, domestic gas production increased by 8 million tonnes (6%), while liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose by 6 million tonnes (12%) and pipeline imports increased by 2 million tonnes (5%).

Persons: Tingshu Wang, John Kemp, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, National Energy Administration, Planners, NEA, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Yanqing district, Beijing, China, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Chartbook, Guangdong, Hainan

☆ An Epic Pilgrimage Across Three Great Religions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Aatish Taseer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +111 min

Before there was tourism, there was pilgrimage: a trip of endurance, hardship and ecstasy in celebration of one’s faith. On an epic pilgrimage of his own, one writer ventures into the heart of three great religions in Bolivia, Mongolia and Iraq. The Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala the day after Ashura. “They’re poor, but they come thousands of kilometers for the love of Imam Hussein.” PILGRIMAGE WAS A great equalizer. “Labaik ya Hussein,” came the solemn chorus of surrounding voices.

Persons: Eduardo Quintela Gonzáles, ” Quintela, JAN, “, ”, Quintela, Victor, Edith Turner, Chaucer, ferne, sondry londes, Vaishno Devi, Lyra Skinner, Lyra, Victoria Preston’s, —, Prophet Muhammad, Virgin Mary, Bath, Naipaul, Augustus, Ryan, garret, Virgin, Monica Machicao, Nicholas Casey, ” Monica, Casey, Evo Morales, sloughing, Columbus, Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Monica, glitzy cholets, Peru —, Viracocha, it’s, Pablo Quisbert, Leandro Chitarroni, Eichmann, Father Chitarroni, Father Chitarroni’s, Conquistadores ”, Fernando Cervantes, Bernabé Cobo, Quisbert, Edgar Quispe, Tatiana Huayhua, Francisco Tito Yupanqui, Mary, Yupanqui’s, su, Yupanqui, Chitarroni, she’s, Friar Abelino Yeguaori, Friar Yeguaori, Friar Yeguaori’s, Irene, Juana, hajji, Waka, Aracely Alcón, Santiago, Alcón, ‘, don’t, ” Alcón, Tito Yupanqui, Uma Marka, Pachamama, haggard, Amaru Fiorilo Barrios, he’d, ” Fiorilo, Fiorilo, who’d, Valeria Alcón, Laureano Jose Quisbert, Elena Ticona Flores, Eduardo Quintela’s, Ensamble, pang, padre, consolations, Sincrético, El, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, Axel, amauta, strode, La, Aatish Taseer, Saint Helena —, Constantine I, La Paz, Orgilbaatar Tsolmon, Orgil, Genghis Khan, Edward Gibbon, ” Orgil, Araniko’s, Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan’s, Kubla Khan, Coleridge, Kublai, Stalin, sybarite, Khamar, Dalai Lama, Lama, Christopher Kaplonski, ger, I’d, banshtai tsai, Prim, Egi, Munkhdul, Gandantegchinlen, Haidav, herder, “ Um sain, boltugai, Danzanravjaa, Zanabazar’s, Erdene, Mandakhtsog Monkhbaatar, Monkhbaatar’s, Dalai Lamas, prostrated, He’d, Zuu, she’d, Santiago de, L.K, Advani, Emperor Babur, Ram, kar sevaks, Ayodhya, Narendra Modi, Munkhbaatar Batchuluun, Henry Wallace, Franklin D, Potemkin, Munkhbaatar, Gerelmaa, Giimaa, She’d, Eduardo Quintela, Aracely, Santiago’s, Joseph Brodsky’s, Muhammad’s, Hussein, William Keo, ” Khuder, pillion, Labaik, Hussein ”, O Hussein, hearkened, Prophet, Ali —, Ali, Yazid, Imam, crackling, chickpeas, Imam Ali, Imam Hussein, Saddam Hussein, Tusi, Qasim, Imam Hussein’s, Khuder, “ Will, Najaf, prestes, — I, Yasir Yaseen, Ashura, Ali Akbar, Abbas, Ali Asghar, “ We’re, Francisco Goya’s, Hussein’s, Groom, Joseph, ” Wissam, Turfi, Saddam —, Arbaeen, Saddam, “ Imam Hussein, WE, Muhammad, Barnaby Rogerson, Prophet Muhammad ”, ” Ali, Muhammad — Muhammad, formlessness, Muqtada al, Abrams, chiding, Abu Musab Al, Zarqawi, Al Qaeda, William, “ They’re, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, flagellants, ruddy, stylishly, Hussein — shahid —, Farman Ahsan, Syed Salman Raza —, Saddam’s, ” Raza, William “, Ali Zayn al, Abidin, Labaik ya Hussein, thrall —, Lloyd, Susanne Rudolph — Organizations: CITY LA, LA, LA PAZ, Virgin, Crusaders, Dolorosa, Sun, The New York Times, Bolivian, Spain, La, Cordillera, Universidad Mayor de, Catholic, Good, La Paz, Dominican, Pakistan, Caesars, Nissan, Coke, Communists, Communism, ardor, Communist, Hyundai, flails, sacra, Apache, Mahdi Army, Al, ISIS, Karachi —, Princeton Locations: Bolivia, Mongolia, Iraq, Aatish Taseer Bolivia Mongolia Iraq, CITY LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, NAJAF, IRAQ, ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, LA PAZ, La Paz, Bolivian, Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, New York, Christian, British, sondry, India, Delhi, Varanasi, Europe, American, Mecca, Arabia, Long, Vino Tinto, Chile, Peru, Monica, Plurinational State, Bolivia —, Americas, Spain, Columbian, Aztec Mexico, Inca Peru, Calvary Hill, Virgen del Cerro, South America, Puerto Rico, Huatajata, ”, Argentine, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Mexican, revelry, Spanish, “, morena, La, “ India, multilayered, Potosí, Argentina, Warisata, Scotch, Santiago de Compostela, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Nations, El Alto, Buenos Aires, Bombay, Tibet, Bolivia’s, Yamuna Rivers, United States, Buddhist Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolian, Istanbul, Asia, Islam, China, Beijing, Dadu, Erdene Zuu, Soviet, Gobi, Los Angeles, gers, Qing China, Karnataka, Töv Province, Karakorum, Khamar, Erdene, Ukraine, Korea, Golden, Bayankhongor, Lhasa, Dalai, Inner Mongolia, Mongol, Nalaikh, Santiago, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury, Bulgan Province, Somnath, Gujarat, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, ger, East German, Uvs Province, Pakistani, Indian, Tennessee, Najaf, Baghdad, Khuder, —, abayas, KARBALA, Kufa, Medina, Saudi Arabia, Karbala, Imam Ali, Bab, Kuwaiti, Bohras, South Asia, Tajikistan, Zaydis, Yemen, Alawites, Anatolia, Syria, Iran, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Sadr, U.S, Jordanian, Al Qaeda, Mesopotamia, Al, Multan, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan’s, Islamabad, Lahore, Kuwait, Karachi, Doha, Qatar

☆ China's truck industry is buying more driver-assist technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Huanqiu.com | Visual China Group | Getty ImagesBEIJING — China's truck industry is finding more reasons to buy vehicles with assisted-driving technology. The companies trying to sell trucks to fleet operators are including driver-assist tech as a way to make the vehicles more attractive, Gui said. In addition, Chinese authorities require all newly manufactured trucks since 2022 to come with basic driver-assist tech for warning against forward collision and lane departure, Gui said. The startup claims its trucks cost about 5% less than traditional options, on top of safety and environmental benefits. PlatooningOther startups are testing out different forms of driver-assist trucks in China.

Persons: Gui Lingfeng, Gui, Julian Ma Inceptio, Inceptio, Julian Ma, That's, Ma, Didi, Junqing Wei Organizations: Visual China, Getty, BEIJING, Kearney, it's, Industry, SF Holdings, CNBC's East Tech West Locations: Shanghai, China, Tianjin, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Nansha, Guangzhou

☆ China’s northeast hit by unseasonable blizzard as heavy snow causes mass disruption
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

In Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province, the railway operator halted 51 passenger trains on Tuesday due to the snowstorm. Heavy snow falls in Xiangfang district of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, on November 6, 2023. Harbin issued a red blizzard alert – the highest in China’s four-tier warning system – on Sunday and Monday. In the neighboring province of Jilin, more than 200 expressway entrances were closed on Monday due to heavy snowfall. China’s national weather forecaster issued an orange blizzard alert – the second highest level after red – on Saturday and renewed it on Monday for parts of Jilin, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Xie Jianfei Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, National Meteorological Center, CCTV, Xinhua Locations: China, Hong Kong, Heilongjiang, China’s, Harbin, Jiamusi, Xinhua, Xiangfang, Heilongjiang province, Qiqihar, Jilin, Inner Mongolia

BEIJING, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Unseasonably cold weather and blizzards hit northeast China on Monday, forcing hundreds of flights to be rescheduled and closing schools as several cities issued heightened weather alerts and warned people to stay indoors. China's weather authority warned of a drastic drop in temperature in coming days, along with blizzards, anticipated to substantially affect several cities, state media reported. Provinces and cities upgraded weather response protocols as heavy snowfall is expected in parts of Inner Mongolia, and Hebei, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, China Daily reported. Chinese weather forecasters kept orange alerts for blizzards in several areas, while China's National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert for blizzards and a blue alert for cold waves and strong wind, Global Times reported. China has a four-tier colour-coded weather alert system, with red the highest, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Persons: Bernard Orr, Ella Cao, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Harbin Taiping International Airport, China Daily, Central Meteorological Observatory, Meteorological Center, Global Times, Central Meteorological Administration, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Heilongjiang, Harbin, Jilin, Liaoning, Mongolia, Weibo, Provinces, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai

While freezing temperatures are not uncommon for the time of year, the sudden change is unusual. A few days ago, uncharacteristically warm weather saw parts of northern China post record high temperatures exceeding 30C. Winter this year, however, could be warmer due to a moderate El Nino, Jia Xiaolong, deputy director of China's National Climate Centre, told a press conference on Friday. El Nino is a natural climate pattern associated with warming of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific. But statistics showed that winter temperatures could fluctuate greatly during El Nino, Jia warned.

Persons: REUTER, Tingshu Wang, Doksuri, El, Jia Xiaolong, El Nino, Jia, Ethan Wang, Ryan Woo, Simon Cameron, Moore, Robert Birsel Organizations: Business, Rights, El, China Meteorological Administration, CMA, Authorities, El Nino, Climate Centre, 0.5C, Thomson Locations: China, Rights BEIJING, El Nino, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Mohe, Pacific, El

☆ China Set for Abrupt Switch From Warm to Freezing Weather in Year of Extremes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING (Reuters) - Temperatures in northern China are set to plunge as much as 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) after summer-like conditions in the final days of autumn, state forecasters said on Friday, extending a year-long trend of unusual swings in the weather. Parts of northern China posted record high temperatures of more than 30C earlier this week, while also suffering widespread smog. Extreme weather has become more pronounced in China this year, destroying urban infrastructure as well as farmland, leading to hefty economic losses. In the summer, typhoons dumped historic rainfall in parts of inland China less used to tropical storms. Earlier in spring, northern China basked in unseasonal heat with temperatures reaching summer-levels.

Persons: Doksuri, Ethan Wang, Ryan Woo, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: National Meteorological Administration, CMA Locations: BEIJING, China, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei province, Mohe

☆ A 'revolution' is coming: CEO shares the challenges and opportunities in autonomous trucking
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The CEO of a firm focused on autonomous trucking believes huge change is coming to the sector — with humans and technology working hand in hand to transform the way goods are delivered. Wei said KargoBot was incubated by the Chinese ride-sharing powerhouse Didi for the past three years. KargoBot, he said, already has more than 100 autonomous driving trucks on the road, mainly on routes in Inner Mongolia, northern China. "They have been automatically driving and also, they are delivering goods, they are actually doing commercial operations already." The logistics market, Wei said, is worth more than $1 trillion, with KargoBot focusing on the delivery of raw material for manufacturers and factories.

Persons: Junqing Wei, Wei, KargoBot, Didi Organizations: CNBC's East Tech West Locations: Nansha, Guangzhou, China, Inner Mongolia

Those shipments sometimes accounted for more than half of Chinese malting barley demand, depending on the year. "The return of Australian barley means everyone will be happier," said Miller Meng, brewmaster at Shanghai craft beer bar, The Brew. "Australian malt in the market return prices back on the right track," he said. But in the absence of Australian malting barley, many Chinese craft brewers turned to alternatives such as French or Canadian malt. That meant a perilous thinning of margins and the hope is that Australian imports will reverse this trend, craft brewers told Reuters.

Persons: Miller Meng, brewmaster, Trueman, Yang Zhenglong, Matthew Jimenez, Duvel, Casey, Dominique Patton, Peter Hobson, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Canberra, EqualOcean International, Reuters, Casey Hall, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, BEIJING, China, Shanghai, Tianjin, Mongolia, Ukraine, Australian, Australia, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Beijing, Canberra

☆ Sixteen killed in accident at state-owned coal mine in China's Guizhou province
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Sixteen people were killed in a coal mine accident in Panzhou city in southern China's Guizhou province on Sunday, according to a filing by the mine's owner, Guizhou Panjiang Refined Coal Co, with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday. All coal mines in Panzhou city have suspending production for a day, according to Shanghai-based commodities consultancy Mysteel. The area has a total production capacity of about 52.5 million metric tons per year of mostly coking coal, representing about 5% of China's coking coal production capacity, according to Mysteel. The company operates seven coal mines with a total capacity of about 17.3 million tons. The mine where the accident took place has an annual capacity of 3.1 million tons, according to Mysteel.

Persons: Andrew Hayley, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Shanghai Stock Exchange, Reuters, Authorities, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Panzhou, China's Guizhou, Guizhou, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia, Beijing

☆ China's 1.4 billion population isn't enough to fill the country's empty homes, former official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former Chinese official said the country's entire population couldn't fill its empty homes. He Keng said China's 1.4 billion population was likely insufficient to fill all its vacant houses. AdvertisementAdvertisementChina has long relied on real-estate development as a safe investment to bolster economic growth. Today, farmers have taken over the ghost town, plowing the land and letting cattle roam free around the empty mansions. But by 2016, its population was only around 100,000, and it has been described as "the largest ghost town in the world."

Persons: Keng, Evergrande, that's, Li Gan, Shenyang . Jade Gao Organizations: Service, Reuters, China News Service, Texas, M University, Greenland Group, Getty, Nikkei Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, France, City's, Shenyang, Shenyang ., AFP, Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Ordos, Nikkei Asia

Xie Xuguang, from CNOOC Gas and Power Group's research centre, told a conference on Thursday that China's total gas demand may reach 396.4 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year. "We're expecting industrial gas demand to recover in the second half. Gas demand growth this year was seen at between 5.7% and 7.4%, according to estimates this week by ICIS, Energy Aspects and SIA Energy. China's total gas demand was forecast to peak in 2040 at 700 bcm, Xie added, echoing a previous forecast by state major Sinopec. Imports of both piped gas and liquefied natural gas were both expected to increase to meet rising domestic demand.

Persons: Stringer, Xie Xuguang, Xie, CNOOC, Andrew Hayley, Chen Aizhu, Christian Schmollinger, Michael Perry Organizations: Sinopec, Inner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous, REUTERS, CNOOC Gas, Power, ICIS, SIA Energy, Imports, Thomson Locations: Erdos, Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, TIANJIN, Japan, Russia's, Siberia, Russia

☆ Opinion | Can We Put a Price on Climate Damages?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But whenever anyone tries to put an actual price on the damages from global warming — to calibrate a carbon tax, assess past responsibility or aid in litigation against fossil-fuel malefactors — the numbers are almost too much to process. One problem is that the damage accumulates over time, like a compound interest of climate degradation. Most carbon, once emitted, hangs in the air for centuries — and some of it lingers even longer. A lump of coal being burned in Shaanxi or Inner Mongolia today does climate damage equivalent to a lump that was burned in 19th-century Newcastle or 20th-century Pittsburgh, and an oil well decommissioned three decades ago may still be doing climate damage three centuries from now. I used an optimistically low future price for such technology and assumed no obstacles to scaling that tech, though many analysts see many such roadblocks.

Locations: United States, China, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Newcastle, Pittsburgh

☆ China's diesel exports surge in August, have nearly tripled so far in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Total diesel exports for the first eight months of the year are up 197.2% versus the same period in 2022. Gasoline exports were up 23.7% to 1.38 million tons from 1.12 million tons in August last year. Jet fuel exports were 1.55 million tons, up 98.1% from 780,000 tons a year earlier. China's surging fuel exports have coincided with monthly refinery throughput rising to a record 15.23 million bpd in August. (This story has been corrected to say that domestic flight levels are around 17% above pre-pandemic levels, not 17% of pre-pandemic levels, in paragraph 7)Reporting by Andrew Hayley; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Stringer, refiners, Andrew Hayley, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Dalian Airlines, REUTERS, Administration, Customs, Total, Domestic, Jet, Citi, Thomson Locations: Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, BEIJING

☆ Chinese rare earth prices hit 20-month high on Myanmar supply worry
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING/HANOI (Reuters) -Chinese rare earth prices jumped to their highest in 20 months, as mining suspension in major producer Myanmar sparked stockpiling ahead of the peak consumption season, analysts said on Thursday. A mining machine is seen at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China July 16, 2011. Rare earth is a prized group of 17 minerals used in consumer electronics and military equipment. Myanmar accounted for 38% of rare earth imports into China in January-July, Chinese trade data showed, while the Southeast Asian country was the fourth biggest source of rare earth mining in 2022, data by the U.S. Geological Survey showed. ($1 = 7.3275 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Persons: Stringer, Eikon, SMM, “, ”, Yang Jiawen, David Merriman, Merriman, ” Merriman, SMM’s Yang Organizations: REUTERS, Shanghai Metals, Mines, U.S . Geological Survey, Reuters Locations: BEIJING, HANOI, Myanmar, Bayan, Inner Mongolia, China, Myanmar’s Pangwa, Kachin State, Chipwi, Pangwa, Kachin, Southern China, Laos, Jiangxi province

☆ Wall, what wall? Two detained after leveling part of China's Great Wall
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Lisa Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

It may have seemed like a good idea at the time. In an apparent attempt to create a shortcut, two people allegedly used heavy machinery to remove a sizeable section of the Great Wall of China in Shanxi province, according to an online notice by local authorities. The duo used an excavator to widen a pre-existing gap so that their heavy machinery could pass through it, according to the notice issued by Youyu County security officials. The pair — a 38-year-old man named Zheng and a 55-year-old woman named Wang — removed the wall "to shorten a journey," according to a CNBC translation of the notice published on Aug. 31. The suspects are both from Inner Mongolia.

Persons: Zheng, Wang — Organizations: CNBC Locations: China, Shanxi, Youyu, Inner Mongolia

☆ Workers Plow Through Great Wall of China, Leaving a Hole
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Livia Albeck-Ripka | More About Livia Albeck-Ripka | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two workers have been detained in northern China after local authorities said they plowed through a section of the country’s Great Wall with an excavator, leaving a gaping hole. The security bureau said it was first notified of the hole in a section of wall, near the township of Yangqianhexiang, about 215 miles east of Beijing, on the afternoon of Aug. 24. Law enforcement officers rushed to the scene to find that a piece of the wall, believed to have been constructed by the Ming dynasty between the 14th and 17th centuries, had been severely “excavated and damaged by large-scale machinery,” the bureau said. The man, named in the release as Zheng, and the woman, named as Wang, are from the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia in the country’s north and were taken in for investigation, the bureau added. They have been charged with destroying a cultural relic, The China Daily, a state-owned media outlet, reported.

Persons: Zheng, Wang Organizations: Public Security Bureau Locations: China, Youyu, Yangqianhexiang, Beijing, Inner Mongolia

The logo of Tyson Foods is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. While it was not immediately clear what valuation Tyson Foods is seeking for the China poultry business, it has annual sales of about $1.1 billion, one of the people said. Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Calls to Tyson Foods' China headquarters in Shanghai went unanswered. In the food industry, U.S. agricultural giant Cargill struck a deal in May to sell its China poultry business to private equity firm DCP Capital for an undisclosed price.

Persons: Arnd, Goldman Sachs, Tyson, Cargill, Hope Liuhe, Kane Wu, Abigail Summerville, Roxanne Liu, Tom Polansek, Jamie Freed Organizations: Tyson Foods, REUTERS, HONG KONG, Goldman, Capital, Reckitt, Primavera Capital Group, Industrial, Thomson Locations: Davos, Switzerland, HONG, China, Springdale , Arkansas, Shanghai, Russia, Ukraine, Mongolia, Nantong, Xiaogan, Hong Kong, New York, Beijing, Chicago

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