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☆ With eye on Ukraine, top Chinese general calls for unconventional warfare capabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, May 16 (Reuters) - Drawing lessons from the Ukraine crisis, a top Chinese general urged greater integration of novel capabilities, including artificial intelligence, with conventional warfare tactics ahead of any confrontation with the West. A new genre of hybrid warfare has emerged from the Ukraine conflict, with the intertwining of "political warfare, financial warfare, technological warfare, cyber warfare, and cognitive warfare," General Wang Haijiang, commander of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Western Theatre Command, wrote in a front-page article in an official newspaper on Monday. The scale and sweep of Chinese military preparations are closely watched not just by the West, but also by China's neighbours and democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own. "At present and in the future, local conflicts and turmoil are frequent, global problems are intensifying, and the world has entered a new period of turmoil and change," Wang wrote in Study Times. The ability to win is needed to maintain national security, Wang wrote.

☆ Chinese warships return to West Pacific for live-fire drills
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, May 16 (Reuters) - Two Chinese warships have ventured into the Western Pacific for live-fire exercises, the military said on Tuesday, shortly after one of China's two aircraft carriers returned from a patrol, in its latest projection of force into more distant waters. The destroyer Dalian and guided-missile frigate Huangshan sailed to an unidentified area of the West Pacific "not long ago" and conducted attack and defence drills, the Southern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement. "China's aircraft carrier is not a homebody and cannot just stay at home," Song Zhongping, a military commentator with Hong Kong's Phoenix TV, told Reuters, referring to the Shandong. "There will be more and more of these distant sea travels in future. Despite China's military expansion, it could be more than a decade before it can mount a credible carrier threat far from its shores, defence analysts say.

The consumer price index (CPI) in April rose 0.1% year-on-year, the lowest rate since February 2021, and cooling from the 0.7% annual gain seen in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. Reuters GraphicsPBOC TESTEDOverall inflationary pressures remain low with the core consumer inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, up 0.7%, unchanged from the previous month. The statistics bureau attributed the weaker consumer inflation to the base effect. Vegetable prices extended their decline to 13.5% and pork, a major driver of CPI, slowed its price growth to 4.0% from 9.6% in March. "Securing income growth and improving consumer confidence remain key policy priorities for delivering a more sustainable consumption recovery," said Pang.

☆ China's consumer inflation slows to over 2-year low, factory gate deflation deepens
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, May 11 (Reuters) - China's consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in more than two years in April, while factory gate deflation deepened, data showed on Thursday, suggesting more stimulus may be needed to boost a patchy post-COVID economic recovery. The consumer price index (CPI) for the month rose 0.1% year-on-year, the lowest rate since February 2021, and cooling from the 0.7% annual gain seen in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The producer price index (PPI) fell at the fastest clip since May 2020 and was down for a seventh consecutive month, declining 3.6% from a year earlier after a 2.5% drop the previous month. Month-on-month, the PPI fell 0.5% after remaining flat the previous month, while the CPI fell 0.1% in April after a 0.3% fall in March, bigger than a flat reading in a Reuters poll. Overall inflationary pressures remain low with the core consumer inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, up 0.7%, unchanged from the previous month.

☆ China's aircraft carrier Shandong returns to home port after show of might
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

This year, the Shandong has been spotted in the Taiwan strait, the Bashi channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, and even as far as Guam. "The Shandong carrier group, for the first time, in a formation and of scale, went to the waters of the western Pacific," it added. The carrier, commissioned in 2019, has featured prominently in China's military propaganda. During the April drills, China showed extensive images of the Shandong and its fighter jets being launched from the carrier. In March 2022, the Shandong, one of China's two operational carriers, sailed through the Taiwan Strait just hours before the Chinese and U.S. presidents were due to talk.

☆ China reports first arrest over fake news generated by ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, May 10 (Reuters) - A man in China's Gansu province has been detained for allegedly using ChatGPT to generate a fake story about a train crash, marking China's first arrest in an AI-related probe as Beijing tightens deepfake technology. China's new rules for deepfake bar service providers and users from using such technology to produce, release and fabricate untrue information. The rules, which took effect from Jan. 10, are designed to curb the use of generative AI technology to alter online content. Hong allegedly edited ChatGPT-generated news and uploaded it on the Baidu-owned platform, local police reported, adding that investigations were continuing. Reporting by Ella Cao and Ryan Woo Editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HONG KONG, May 10 (Reuters) - China will appoint Li Yunze as the head of a new financial regulator as part of a broader restructuring of its financial regulatory regime, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. Li, 52, a banking veteran and currently vice governor of southwestern Sichuan province, will take the helm of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), the sources told Reuters. The NFRA is a new government body under the State Council tasked to supervise the multi-trillion dollar financial industry, excluding the securities sector. Li has a relatively low-profile in the sector compared to previous financial regulatory heads. In 2018, he was appointed as vice governor of Sichuan province.

☆ Utah changed its state flag to honor Mormon work ethic — but it was a total flop. Now, even the state's governor admitted he 'should have known better.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Utah's new flag design is ruffling feathers, and people are already trying to replace it. Spencer Cox said that he should "have known better" that the new flag would be unpopular. Brandon Beckham, a member of Utah's Republican party central committee, told the Journal that the new design is "just a logo." "The original Utah flag has built in its ideals that are true to the founding of the state that are linked to history," Beckham told the Journal. Ryan Woods, a conservative drag performer known as Lady MAGA USA, said the change flies in the face of history.

☆ Chinese property brokers need to reduce fees, regulator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) - Chinese real estate brokerage agencies need to implement reasonable reductions to fees for housing transactions and leasing services to promote healthy development of the sector, the housing regulator said on Monday. Some real estate brokers in recent years "have charged excessive, unclear and bound fees, and misused clients' personal information, which has increased the burden on parties to transactions and infringed their legal rights", the regulator said in a notice. Real estate brokers must not abuse a dominant market position to charge unfairly high prices for broking services. The industry has grown increasingly important, with large numbers of property transactions relying on real estate agencies, said analyst Zhang Dawei at property company Centaline, adding that some agents are taking advantage of their scale to increase fees. However, it is a guiding document; the specific impact on the market will depend on implementation by each city," Zhang said.

☆ Mystery Chinese spacecraft returns to Earth after 276 days
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) - An experimental Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth on Monday after staying in orbit for 276 days, China's state media reported, completing a landmark mission to test the country's reusable space technologies. The uncrewed spacecraft returned to the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest China on Monday as scheduled, according to state media. The test marks an "important" breakthrough in China's research into reusable spacecraft technology that will provide a more convenient and inexpensive way to mount future space missions, state media reported. It landed on Earth "horizontally," according to China's main space contractor at the time. The uncrewed and reusable X-37B returned to Earth in November last year in its sixth and latest mission, after more than 900 days in orbit.

☆ China's services activity expands as consumers return - Caixin PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The figure echoed the official PMI released on Sunday, which showed a slightly slower pace of growth. The world's second-biggest economy is facing an uneven recovery and some persistent headwinds, with strong activity in services and a contraction in manufacturing. Surveyed services firms' production activity and new orders including new export order expanded for the fourth consecutive month in April. Caixin group attributed the rise in activity to the return to more normal operating conditions as the impact of COVID-19 continued to fade. Caixin/S&P's composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and services activity, fell to 53.6 from 54.5 in March, marking the fourth straight month expansion.

☆ Chinese troops to hold rare joint military exercise in Laos
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, May 5 (Reuters) - China will hold a rare joint military exercise with its landlocked neighbour Laos this month as Beijing tries to bolster security ties with regional allies to counter an expanding U.S. presence in Southeast Asia. Southern Theater Command, one of the five theatre commands of the People's Liberation Army, will send troops to Laos for the "Friendship Shield 2023" joint exercise, the Chinese defence ministry said on Friday in a brief statement. The drill marks a step up from previous "Peace Train" joint humanitarian medical rescue exercises between Chinese and Laotian militaries in Laos. China's stronger military ties with its Southeast Asian allies coincide with Beijing's diplomatic push to deepen engagement with its southerly neighbours. In November, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith on a visit to Beijing that the two countries must ensure efforts to "build a shared future between China and Laos."

☆ China's skidding factory sector taps brakes on economic recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Ellen Zhang | Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s factory activity unexpectedly contracted in April as orders fell and poor domestic demand dragged on the sprawling manufacturing sector, a private survey showed on Thursday, imperilling the broader economic outlook for the second quarter. China Daily via REUTERSThe Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 49.5 in April from 50.0 in March. The latest PMIs may lower expectations for the economy in the second quarter, said Zhou Hao, economist at Guotai Junan International. “But to what extent the economic recovery momentum will weaken, the market is not sure,” Zhou said. “The manufacturing sector will be under pressure in the second quarter, and won’t get any relief at least until June.”

☆ China urges 'high vigilance' over NATO expansion in Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, May 4 (Reuters) - China said on Thursday "high vigilance" was needed in the face of NATO's "eastward expansion" following a media report the alliance is planning to set up an office in Japan to facilitate consultations with allies in the region. NATO is planning to open its first liaison office in Asia, in Japan, to facilitate talks with security partners such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, with geopolitical challenges from China and Russia in mind, the Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday, citing Japanese and NATO officials. The Nikkei Asia said the proposed office was due to open next year in Tokyo. Asked about the Nikkei Asia report, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said earlier the alliance would not go into details of NATO allies' deliberations. Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China factory activity unexpectedly shrinks in April
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Ellen Zhang | Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in April, official data showed on Sunday, raising pressure on policymakers seeking to boost an economy struggling for a post-COVID lift-off amid subdued global demand and persistent property weakness. That missed expectations of 51.4 tipped by economists in a Reuters poll and marked the first contraction since December, when the official manufacturing PMI was at 47.0. The world’s second-biggest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter thanks to robust services consumption, but factory output has lagged amid weak global growth. The manufacturing sector, which employs about 18% of China’s workforce, remains under pressure due to slack global demand. The composite PMI, which includes manufacturing and non-manufacturing activity, dropped to 54.4 from 57.0.

☆ China factory activity unexpectedly cools in April
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Ellen Zhang | Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Manufacturing PMI 49.2 in April vs 51.9 in MarchNon-manufacturing PMI 56.4 vs 58.2 in MarchBEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) - China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in April, official data showed on Sunday, raising pressure on policymakers seeking to boost an economy struggling for a post-COVID lift-off amid subdued global demand and persistent property weakness. That missed expectations of 51.4 tipped by economists in a Reuters poll, and marked the first contraction since December last year, when the official manufacturing PMI was at 47.0. China's economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the first quarter thanks to robust services consumption, but factory output has lagged amid weak global growth. The manufacturing sector, which provides jobs to about 18% of those employed nationwide, remains under pressure due to slack global demand. The composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and non-manufacturing activity, dropped to 54.4 from 57.0.

☆ Tickets to popular China tourism sites sold out as Labour Day holiday begins
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, April 29 (Reuters) - Passenger travel on the first day of China's five-day Labour Day holiday surged 151.8% from the same day last year, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. The number of air, road, waterway and railway trips rose to 56.99 million on the first day of the holiday that runs through Wednesday, CCTV said. Tickets to some popular tourism sites in China had almost sold out during the holiday. Tickets for Beijing's Badaling Great Wall sold out for May 1 and 2. Tickets for Shanghai Disney had sold out through Tuesday and tickets for Beijing's Universal Park sold out through Monday, China's national radio reported on Saturday.

☆ China Jan-Mar industrial profit slump underlines slow economic recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, April 27 (Reuters) - China's industrial firms' profits shrank at a slightly slower pace in January-March but the decline remained in the double-digits as the economy struggled to fully recover despite the country's exit from its zero-COVID policy. The decline compared with a 22.9% slump in industrial profit in the first two months, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. In March alone, industrial profits fell 19.2%, according to a rare data breakdown provided by the NBS. Industrial earnings fell 4.0% in 2022, and the latest data underline the gloomy conditions facing China's vast factory sector as global demand is hit by slowing world growth. Industrial profit data covers firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan ($2.89 million) from their main operations.

☆ China completes landmark national real estate registration system
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - China has finished building a national and unified system for real estate registration, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, in a landmark move that will boost transparency in ownership. In 2014, China issued rules requiring real estate owners to register their holdings with authorities but faced heavy resistance from local governments unwilling to open up their books. China has completed the system after 10 years of hard work, Xinhua reported, citing Minister of Natural Resources Wang Guanghua at a work conference. More than 790 million real estate registration certificates have been issued nationwide over the past decade, according to state television. A unified real estate registration system with a national database of information on ownership would also pave the way for China to implement a property tax in the future.

☆ China's cooperation with Europe 'unlimited' as with Russia - Chinese envoy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, April 24 (Reuters) - China's cooperation with Europe and other nations is "endless" just as its ties with Russia are "unlimited", China's envoy to the European Union said, giving some reassurance of China's neutrality over Ukraine in an interview published on Monday. It was unclear when Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassador to the EU, gave the interview to the Chinese news outlet The Paper. Sino-Russian cooperation is "unlimited", and the same is true for China and Europe." China's naval and air force drills in the Taiwan Strait and around the island of democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own, have also drawn criticism from Europe. On Sunday, in an opinion piece in French newspaper Le Journal Du Dimanche, Borrell called on European navies to patrol the Taiwan Strait.

☆ China, Singapore plan military drills as Beijing forges defence ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, April 24 (Reuters) - China and Singapore will hold a joint military exercise as soon as this week, their first combined drills since 2021, as Beijing deepens its defence and security ties with Southeast Asia, a region with strong existing U.S. alliances. Two years ago, China and Singapore held a combined military drill in international waters at the southern tip of the South China Sea, following the upgrade of a bilateral defence pact in 2019 to include bigger-scale exercises among their army, navy and air force. Such passages annoy China, which lays claims to nearly all of the South China Sea despite an international ruling to the contrary. Around the same time, China sent fighter-bombers to Thailand in joint air force drills code named Falcon Strike 2022. China's increased military engagement in Southeast Asia is widely expected to challenge the influence that the United States has shaped with countries including Singapore and Indonesia in coming years.

☆ China to test out 3D printing technology on moon to build habitats
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, April 24 (Reuters) - China will explore using 3D printing technology to construct buildings on the moon, the official China Daily reported on Monday, as Beijing solidifies plans for long-term lunar habitation. In the 2020 Chinese lunar mission, the Chang'e 5, named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, an uncrewed probe took back to Earth China's first lunar soil samples. China, which made its first lunar landing in 2013, plans to land an astronaut on the moon by 2030. China wants to start building a lunar base using soil from the moon in five years, Chinese media reported earlier this month. The race to set foot on the moon has intensified in recent years, particularly with the United States.

☆ France, Baltic states dismayed after China envoy questions Ukraine sovereignty
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, April 23 (Reuters) - France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay after China's ambassador in Paris questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet countries like Ukraine. "These ex-USSR countries don't have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status," Shaye added. "On Ukraine specifically, it was internationally recognized within borders including Crimea in 1991 by the entire international community, including China," a foreign ministry spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that China will have to clarify whether these comments reflect its position or not. The three Baltic states, all formerly part of the Soviet Union, reacted along the same lines as France.

☆ China lodges complaint over South Korean president's 'erroneous' Taiwan remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, April 23 (Reuters) - China's Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has lodged solemn representations with the South Korean ambassador over "erroneous" remarks by the South Korean president about Taiwan, China's foreign ministry said on Sunday. "The Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue," Yoon said. Yoon's remarks are "totally unacceptable," Sun said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. "The South Korean leader made no mention of the One China principle, but equated the Taiwan issue with the Korean Peninsula issue," Sun said. Sun's complaint followed criticism from the Chinese foreign ministry last week that South Korea should "prudently" handle matters related to Taiwan.

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