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☆ China’s Electric Cars Keep Improving, a Worry for Rivals Elsewhere
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Automakers in China are building a new generation of bigger, more technologically advanced and competitive electric cars, threatening to leap further ahead of their global rivals as they step up exports around the world. The dozens of car companies operating in China plan to put 71 new battery electric models on sale this year. The cars have bigger tires that improve braking. The changes are aimed at making the cars even more appealing for customers in China and more competitive abroad. Along with plug-in hybrid cars, battery electric cars are taking sales away from gasoline-powered cars and their manufacturers.

Locations: China

☆ Chinese Scientist Who Shared Covid Sequence Protests Lab Closure
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A well-known Chinese scientist who defied a Chinese government gag order by being the first to disclose the genome of the Covid virus to a global database four years ago held a rare protest this week in Shanghai after being locked out of his lab. The scientist, Zhang Yongzhen, had run a laboratory in Shanghai since 2018, but found over the weekend that the facility had been sealed off with one of his colleagues locked inside, according to a Chinese news outlet. Dr. Zhang’s key card had been canceled and the elevators had been turned off. On Sunday evening, he began sleeping outdoors on flattened cardboard in front of locked blue doors at the sidewalk entrance to the lab, photos posted online by students showed. At least five security guards could be seen in one of the photos.

Persons: Zhang Yongzhen, Zhang’s, “, ” Locations: Shanghai, Shandong Province

A nearly 60-foot segment of an expressway in a rural area of southeastern China collapsed before dawn on Wednesday after days of heavy rain, killing 24 people and injuring 30 others. Photos released after the incident appeared to show that a landslide had begun under two lanes of an expressway that ran along the side of a hill. A wide, brown scar of mud ran down the side of the hill between bright green foliage, leaving a large gap in the expressway. Vehicles lay jumbled at the base of the hill below the hole, blackened and still smoking from a fire that had burned vigorously during the night, drawing a large number of fire trucks to the area. The state news media said that many of the survivors were seriously injured, with drivers and passengers alike suffering severe bone fractures and injuries to internal organs.

Organizations: Vehicles Locations: China

☆ Tesla Reaches Deals in China on Self-Driving Cars
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla had faced a couple hurdles to offering the latest level of autonomous driving, which it calls supervised Full Self-Driving. It has needed approval from Chinese regulators, who questioned whether the company took adequate precautions to protect data. The government-linked China Association of Automobile Manufacturers later announced that Tesla and five Chinese automakers had obtained approval from authorities and the association for their data security precautions on dozens of car models. The rules bar automakers in China from using software that would identify the faces of anyone outside their vehicles, and include many other restrictions. Self-driving systems use cameras to guide vehicles.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, Musk, Li Qiang, Xi Jinping, Li Organizations: Sunday, Communist Party, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers Locations: Beijing, China, Shanghai

☆ ‘It Is Desolate’: China’s Glut of Unused Car Factories
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the outskirts of Chongqing, western China’s largest city, sits a huge symbol of the country’s glut of car factories. The facility, a former assembly plant and engine factory, had been a joint venture of a Chinese company and Hyundai, the South Korean giant. Hyundai sold the campus late last year for a fraction of the $1.1 billion it took to build and equip it. “It was all highly automated, but now, it is desolate,” said Zhou Zhehui, 24, who works for a rival Chinese automaker, Chang’an, and whose apartment looks down on the former Hyundai complex. China has more than 100 factories with the capacity to build close to 40 million internal combustion engine cars a year.

Persons: ”, Zhou Zhehui Organizations: Hyundai Locations: Chongqing, China’s, China

☆ What to Know About China’s Export Dominance
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China’s car shipments to foreign markets have quintupled in the past four years. Even exports in labor-intensive industries like furniture making, which China was once expected to lose to lower-wage countries, are surging. American and European leaders have become increasingly vocal that a flood of Chinese exports is swamping their markets. But China’s manufacturing sector is so strong that its export push will be difficult to counter. Chinese companies have increased exports to the West through indirect routes in Southeast Asia and Mexico, sidestepping tariffs on goods that come directly from China.

Persons: Rich, Xi Locations: China, India, Brazil, West, Southeast Asia, Mexico

☆ China’s Economy, Propelled by Its Factories, Grew at Start of Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Keith Bradsher | Alexandra Stevenson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Chinese economy grew strongly in the first three months of the year, new data shows, as China built more factories and exported huge amounts of goods to counter a severe real estate crisis and sluggish spending at home. To stimulate growth, China, the world’s second-largest economy, turned to a familiar tactic: investing heavily in its manufacturing sector, including a binge of new factories that have helped to propel the sale around the world of solar panels, electric cars and other products. But China’s bet on exports has worried many foreign countries and companies, which fear that rising shipments of Chinese goods that are flooding economies elsewhere may undermine their own manufacturing industries and lead to layoffs. On Tuesday, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the economy grew 1.6 percent in the first quarter over the previous three months. When projected out for the entire year, the first-quarter data indicates that China’s economy was growing at an annual rate of about 6.6 percent.

Organizations: China’s National Bureau of Statistics Locations: China

☆ Recent collapses raise questions on bridges and modern shipping.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But ship collision barriers are standard around the support piers of bridges over major waterways like the entrance to Baltimore’s harbor. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City, for example, has massive barriers of concrete and rocks around the bases of the piers that support it. It was not immediately clear how old the barriers are around the piers that supported the bridge in Baltimore. The crash in Guangzhou occurred on a less important waterway, a minor channel of the Pearl River. The bridge there was being fitted with devices designed to protect the piers in case of any ship crash.

Organizations: Officials, China Central Television Locations: Guangzhou, China, Baltimore, Baltimore’s, New York City

But ship collision barriers are standard around the support piers of bridges over major waterways like the entrance to Baltimore’s harbor. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City, for example, has massive barriers of concrete and rocks around the bases of the piers that support it. It was not immediately clear how old the barriers are around the piers that supported the bridge in Baltimore. The bridge there was being fitted with devices designed to protect the piers in case of any ship crash. The bridge has massive barriers of concrete and rocks around the bases of the piers that support it and protect it from ship crashes.

Persons: Spencer Platt, Basil M, ”, “, Mr, Karatzas, Amy Chang Chien Organizations: Officials, China Central Television, Getty, Karatzas Marine Advisors Locations: Guangzhou, China, Baltimore, Baltimore’s, New York City, New York

☆ China’s Plan to Spur Growth: A New Slogan With Familiar Ideas
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

From the top of the government, China is heavily promoting a plan to fix the country’s stagnant economy and offset the harm from a decades-long housing bubble. The program has a fresh slogan, presented foremost by Xi Jinping, the country’s top leader, as “new, quality productive forces.”But it has features that are familiar from China’s economic playbook: The idea is to spur innovation and growth through massive investments in manufacturing, particularly in high-tech and clean energy, as well as robust spending on research and development. And there have been few concrete provisions for how the government hopes to persuade Chinese households to reverse a prolonged slowdown in spending. 2 official, laid out the plan on Sunday in a speech to chief executives from around the globe, who had gathered in Beijing for the country’s annual China Development Forum. “We will accelerate the development of new, quality productive forces,” he said at the forum’s opening ceremony.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, ” Organizations: China Development Locations: China, Beijing

☆ Hong Kong Security Law Could Damage City’s Standing as Financial Hub
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paul Chan, the top finance official of Hong Kong, traveled to Paris, London, Frankfurt and Berlin last September to lure foreign investors. Last month he abolished taxes on foreigners’ purchases of Hong Kong real estate. Mr. Chan’s brisk work pace represents an attempt to shore up Hong Kong’s role and image as the financial hub of Asia. Under its top leader, Xi Jinping, China has asserted greater influence in the past four years over Hong Kong’s laws and prosecutors. The mainland’s own economic struggles, especially in real estate, have further shaken confidence in Hong Kong as a place to put money.

Persons: Paul Chan, Xi Jinping Organizations: Hong Locations: Hong Kong, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Asia, Beijing, Hong, China

☆ China’s Exports Are Surging. Get Ready for the Global Backlash.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China’s factory exports are powering ahead faster than almost anyone expected, putting jobs around the world in jeopardy and setting off a backlash that is gaining momentum. From steel and cars to consumer electronics and solar panels, Chinese factories are finding more overseas buyers for goods. But other countries are increasingly concerned that China’s rise is coming partly at their expense, and are starting to take action. The European Union announced last week that it was preparing to charge tariffs, which are import taxes, on all electric cars arriving from China. The European Union said that it had found “substantial evidence” that Chinese government agencies have been illegally subsidizing these exports, something China denies.

Organizations: European Union, Union Locations: China

But Mr. Li maintained that China was on the right track. China had “withstood external pressures and overcome internal hardships,” Mr. Li told the National People’s Congress, a Communist Party controlled body that approves laws and budgets. “The economy is generally rebounding.”The National People’s Congress, a choreographed weeklong event, typically focuses on the government’s near-term initiatives, especially economic objectives. China’s growth goal, and the ways that the government is attempting to achieve it, are under intense international scrutiny this year. Communist Party leaders are trying to restore confidence in China’s long-term prospects and to harness new drivers of growth, such as clean energy and electric vehicles.

Persons: Li, ” Mr, Li’s Organizations: Stock, National People’s Congress, Communist Party, People’s Congress Locations: China

China passed revisions to an already stringent state secrets law, broadening the scope of the type of information that would be considered a national security risk in the world’s second-largest economy. Over the last year, China has targeted consultants and business executives in espionage cases as part of a push to limit the spread of information sought by investors and foreign companies. The amendments to the state secrets law, which were passed by China’s top legislative body on Tuesday and go into effect in May, include a new legal concept called “work secrets.” It is defined as information that is not an official state secret, but “will cause certain adverse effects if leaked,” according to the law’s text. “The law is vague and the definition of state secret so broad that it could include anything that the party-state decides it should,” said Diana Choyleva, chief economist at Enodo Economics, a London-based research firm focused on China. “It will also further complicate life for foreign firms and their employees based in China.”

Persons: ”, Diana Choyleva Organizations: Enodo Locations: China, London

☆ Another Chinese Property Giant Faces a Creditor Who Wants It Dismantled
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Country Garden, China’s largest real estate developer as recently as 2022, said on Wednesday that a creditor had asked a Hong Kong court to liquidate its operations and pay off lenders, in the latest sign that China’s housing crisis continues unabated. Ever Credit Ltd., a Hong Kong lender, is petitioning the city’s High Court to shut down Country Garden. Ever Credit’s petition, known as a winding up petition, is meant to force Country Garden to close its doors and sell its assets to make money it can use to pay back its creditors. Country Garden dethroned Evergrande as China’s largest developer in 2021 when Evergrande endured a financial collapse. Country Garden said it would fight the court petition “vigorously,” and that the first hearing on the petition had been scheduled for May 17.

Persons: Evergrande, “ Organizations: Hong Locations: Hong Kong, China

☆ Zong Qinghou, Beverage Tycoon in China, Dies at 79
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Tiffany May | Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Zong Qinghou, a self-made beverage entrepreneur who was once the richest person in China, died on Sunday. His death was announced by his company, Wahaha Group, which said that Mr. Zong had died from an unspecified illness and gave his age as 79. Mr. Zong’s rags-to-riches story had made him prominent in China even before a public feud with his foreign business partner considerably raised his profile — and his wealth. He founded a beverage company in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, he partnered with Danone, the French food giant, to launch one of the best-known food and beverage brands in China. But tensions erupted in 2007 when Danone accused Mr. Zong of running secret companies selling virtually identical products that siphoned off as much as $100 million from the joint venture.

Persons: Zong Qinghou, Zong Organizations: Wahaha, Danone Locations: China

For years, Chinese companies and their contractors have been slaughtering millions of donkeys across Africa, coveting gelatin from the animals’ hides that is processed into traditional medicines, popular sweets and beauty products in China. But a growing demand for the gelatin has decimated donkey populations at such alarming rates in African countries that governments are now moving to put a brake on the mostly unregulated trade. The African Union, a body that encompasses the continent’s 55 states, adopted a continentwide ban on donkey skin exports this month in the hope that stocks will recover. Rural households across Africa rely on donkeys for transportation and agriculture. Yet donkeys only breed a foal every couple of years.

Organizations: African Locations: Africa, China, African Union

The files also revealed a campaign to monitor closely the activities of ethnic minorities in China and online gambling companies. The files included records of apparent correspondence between employees as well as lists of targets and materials that showed off cyberattack tools. The documents came from I-Soon, a Shanghai company with offices in Chengdu. Three cybersecurity experts interviewed by The Times said the documents appeared to be authentic. Taken together, the leaked files offered a look inside the secretive world of China’s state-backed hackers for hire.

Organizations: The Times, Ministry of State Security, United Locations: Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, China, Shanghai, Chengdu

☆ Firms With Deep Roots in China Reconsider Their Xinjiang Ties
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China and another German industrial giant is starting to sell its stakes there following new international scrutiny of forced labor using predominantly Muslim ethnic groups. Volkswagen said last week that it was in discussions with one of its main joint venture partners in China, the state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, in the wake of allegations of human rights violations at their joint venture in Xinjiang. The companies are examining “the future direction of the J.V.’s business activities in Xinjiang,” VW said, adding that “various scenarios are currently being examined intensively.”BASF of Germany, the world’s largest chemical company, disclosed on Feb. 9 that it began moving late last year to divest its stakes in two manufacturing joint ventures in Xinjiang.

Persons: VW Organizations: Volkswagen, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, BASF Locations: Xinjiang, China, Germany

☆ Angela Chao, C.E.O. of Family’s Big Shipping Company, Dies at 50
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Keith Bradsher | Michael Forsythe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Angela Chao, the chief executive of a shipping company and part of a family prominent in American politics and business deals with China, died in a car crash on Sunday, in Texas. Ms. Chao had since 2018 been the chair and chief executive of the Chao family’s Foremost Group, which operates a global fleet of bulk carrier ships. Elaine Chao is married to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader. The Chao family, led by Angela and Elaine Chao’s father, James S.C. Chao, stands out because of its deep political and commercial ties in both the United States and China. He moved to the United States in 1958 and helped found the Foremost Group in 1964.

Persons: Angela Chao, Chao, Elaine Chao, Donald J, Trump, George W, Bush, Mitch McConnell of, Angela, Elaine Chao’s, James S.C, . Chao, Jiang Zemin Organizations: Republican, Nationalists Locations: China, Texas, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, United States, Taiwan, Shanghai

☆ How China Built BYD, Its Tesla Killer
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China’s BYD was a battery manufacturer trying its hand at building cars when it showed off its newest model in 2007. “They were the laughingstock of the industry,” said Michael Dunne, a China auto industry analyst. BYD is building assembly lines in Brazil, Hungary, Thailand and Uzbekistan and preparing to do so in Indonesia and Mexico. And the company is on the cusp of passing Volkswagen Group, which includes Audi, as the market leader in China. The last automaker to accomplish that in even one year in the American market was General Motors — and that was in 1946, after G.M.

Persons: China’s BYD, ”, Michael Dunne, General Motors — Organizations: Volkswagen Group, Audi, General Motors Locations: Guangzhou, China, BYD, Brazil, Hungary, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Mexico, Europe

☆ China Deflation Alarms Raised by Falling Prices for Food and Cars
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Keith Bradsher | More About Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Consumer prices fell last month in China by the most since the global financial crisis in 2009, the latest sign that weak spending and a glut of output from factories and farms are forcing businesses to offer discounts. The decline in consumer prices was mostly confined to food and electric cars. But wholesale prices charged by factories and other producers also fell last month, and have been down from their levels a year earlier in every month since October 2022. A broad decline in the overall level of prices, a phenomenon known as deflation, could be very troublesome for the economy. Falling prices make it hard for households and companies to keep up on monthly payments for mortgages, corporate loans and other debts.

Persons: ”, Eswar Prasad Organizations: Cornell University Locations: China

☆ What China’s E.V. City Says About the State of the Economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Keith Bradsher | Joy Dong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ultramodern factories churn out electric cars and solar panels in Hefei, an industrial center in the heart of central China. Yet at Hefei’s market for construction materials, which fills 10 city blocks, local merchants are gloomy. Nowhere better showcases the opportunities and vulnerabilities of China’s economy than Hefei. Government-directed growth in industries like electric vehicles and solar panels has turned China into the world’s export superpower, making Hefei a model for other Chinese cities. But a nationwide decline in real estate has devastated the finances of millions of families and small businesses — including in Hefei.

Persons: Wu Junlin, “, ” Locations: Hefei, China, Government

A British businessman who disappeared from public view in China in 2018 was sentenced to five years in prison in 2022, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday, in its first public acknowledgment of the case. The businessman, Ian J. Stones, had lived in China since the 1970s, working for companies like General Motors and Pfizer. For years after he vanished, there was no public information about his whereabouts, though some in the business community privately discussed his secret detention. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said that Mr. Stones had been convicted in 2022 of “buying and unlawfully supplying intelligence for an organization or individual outside China.” Mr. Stones’s appeal of the verdict was rejected in September 2023, said the spokesman, Wang Wenbin. Mr. Wang was responding to reporters’ questions at a regularly scheduled news conference, after The Wall Street Journal reported Mr. Stones’s case on Thursday.

Persons: Ian J, Stones, Mr, Wang Wenbin, Wang Organizations: General Motors, Pfizer, Foreign Ministry, Street Locations: British, China

How Houthi Attacks Have Upended Global ShippingShipping routes before attacks After attacks EUROPE ASIA Suez Canal Red Sea Gulf of Aden Malacca Strait AFRICA Area of Houthi attacks Continued traffic South Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Ships diverted after attacks Cape of Good Hope Shipping routes before attacks After attacks EUROPE ASIA Suez Canal Gulf of Aden Red Sea AFRICA Area of Houthi attacks Continued traffic South Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Ships diverted after attacks Cape of Good Hope Shipping routes before attacks After attacks EUROPE Suez Canal Gulf of Aden Red Sea AFRICA Area of Houthi attacks Continued traffic Ships diverted after attacks Cape of Good Hope Note: To show the changing paths of ships that regularly traverse the Red Sea, 3,461 cargo vessels recorded at entrances to the Red Sea in the last three months are shown. Those detours, and the Houthi attacks, have persisted despite airstrikes by the United States and its allies against the Houthis. Houthi attack involving commercial vessels Other Houthi attacks in the Red Sea Three commercial vessels were struck in one day on Dec. 3. Nov. 15, 2023 Dec. 1 Dec. 15 Jan. 1, 2024 Jan. 15 Houthi attack involving commercial vessels Other Houthi attacks in the Red Sea Nov. 15, 2023 Armed Houthi fighters boarded a commerical vessel. The Houthi attacks have delayed China’s annual surge in exports before its factories are idled next month for the Lunar New Year.

Persons: Cape, Jan, JPMorgan Chase, Port Said Organizations: Global Shipping Shipping, Atlantic, Ships, Good Hope Shipping, Shipping, United States Central Command Shipping, Ikea, East, JPMorgan, Maersk, U.S . Energy Information Administration, Rotterdam EUROPE Venice, Good Hope, EUROPE Venice, International Monetary, Trade, Galaxy Leader, U.S . Navy, America Locations: ASIA Suez, Aden Malacca Strait AFRICA, ASIA Suez Canal Gulf, Aden Red, Suez Canal Gulf, Suez, Africa, Yemen, Israel, Gaza, United States, U.S, Asia, Europe, China, Northern Europe, East Coast, Maersk Hong Kong, The Singapore, Singapore, Slovenia, Port Said, Egypt, Port, Russia, Ukraine, India, Rotterdam EUROPE, Rotterdam EUROPE Venice Barcelona, Istanbul ASIA SYRIA LEBANON IRAN ISRAEL IRAQ Strait, Hormuz GAZA Suez, Kuwait, Red, Mumbai Malacca, YEMEN AFRICA, Aden, Good, Good Hope EUROPE ASIA SYRIA LEBANON ISRAEL IRAN IRAQ GAZA Suez, Strait, Hormuz Red, YEMEN, EUROPE, EUROPE Venice Tokyo Barcelona, Istanbul Shanghai ASIA SYRIA LEBANON IRAN ISRAEL IRAQ GAZA, Hormuz Hong, Suez Canal Kuwait, AFRICA Red, Mumbai Bangkok YEMEN Malaca, Istanbul Shanghai SYRIA LEBANON IRAN ISRAEL IRAQ ASIA GAZA, Suez Canal AFRICA Kuwait City Red, Red Sea, Beijing

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