DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ When Tragedy Strikes in China, the Government Cracks Down on Grief
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Li Yuan | More About Li Yuan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Many innocent lives were lost to tragic events in China in the past month. So far we haven’t learned a single name of any of them from China’s government or its official media. Despite an outpouring of public grief and anger around the country, the government never released their names. Social media posts sharing their names and tributes to their lives were censored. Then there were the people — probably dozens, possibly hundreds — who died in severe flooding in northern and northeastern China in recent weeks.

Persons: — Locations: China, Covid

A gentle downtrend in foreign direct investment gave way to a steep drop last quarter and inflows to China slammed to their lowest since records began 25 years ago, raising the prospect that the long-term trend is turning. Sources have told Reuters the Biden administration is likely to adopt new outbound investment restrictions on China in the coming weeks. Japan, the U.S. and Europe have already restricted the sale of high-tech chipmaking tools to Chinese companies while China has hit back by throttling exports of raw materials. To be sure, investment flows often fluctuate and many firms aren't leaving China completely or aren't leaving at all. "A lot of our clients are worried about their exposure to China as a sole country of supply."

Persons: Carlos Barria, Deng Xiaoping, Logan Wright, Biden, John Ramig, Buchalter, Daniel Seeff, Cardigan, Chi Lo, Lee Smith, Baker Donelson, Samuel Shen, Tom Westbrook, Winni Zhou, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: REUTERS, Corporate, China Markets, China's, Administration of Foreign Exchange, Investors, Reuters, Oxford Economics, Ministry of Commerce, Management, Thomson Locations: Pudong, Shanghai, SHANGHAI, SYDNEY, China, Japan, U.S, Europe, Haining, Peru, Hong Kong, Baker, Singapore

☆ Archaeologists are too scared to open the tomb of China's first emperor because they fear booby traps
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Archaeologists worry that the tomb of China's first emperor contains deadly booby traps. An ancient Chinese historian wrote that the tomb is filled with mercury and crossbows ready to fire. A 2020 study found that mercury concentrations around the tomb are higher than to be expected. Ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian wrote an account around 100 years after the emperor's death about possible booby traps inside the tomb. The terracotta army and Qin Shi Huang's tomb complex are designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites and remain some of the most significant archaeological discoveries in history.

Persons: China's, Qin Shi Huang, Sima Qian, Craftsmen, Qin Shi Organizations: Service, UNESCO, Heritage Locations: Wall, Silicon, Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

“When the spring breaks the ice in the Mississippi River, I get up at 5:00 a.m. to row. The river is veiled with mist, and the water foams and whirls with driftwoods after a heavy rain. Woosh, the boat dashes like a long-legged insect, cutting the water in a straight line. Her grandmother used to sing to her: “Life is a river running to the sea, taking in every stream and every drop of rain along its way. But a neighborhood friend had an illicit copy of “The Little Mermaid.” Ping was smitten.

Persons: ”, “, Wang Ping, ” Ping Organizations: driftwoods, . Locations: Mississippi, Shanghai, East

SHANGHAI, June 29 (Reuters) - Geopolitics and the national security concerns of some countries are threatening the globalisation of the world’s chip industry and its future growth, the chairman and acting CEO of memory chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) said on Thursday. "Our industry itself is cyclical, and each practitioner has his own way of dealing with the cycle. The move barred YMTC's suppliers from shipping U.S. goods to it without a difficult-to-obtain licence. Chen hinted at YMTC's own troubles during his speech, with a direct appeal to equipment suppliers in attendance. "For YMTC that I manage, we can no longer procure parts and components for equipment we had legally bought.

Persons: Chen Nanxiang, Taiwan's TSMC, Morris Chang, Chen, Casey Hall, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Christina Fincher Organizations: Technologies, Huawei Technologies Co, Shanghai Newsroom, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Shanghai, United States, Washington

Exports and factory output in the world's second-largest economy tumbled in May, as looming downturns force the United States and Europe to pare back orders for goods made in China. Some factories closed or are struggling to pay wages or severance for laid-off workers as a result, according to Chinese labour researchers. "We believe that the drop in manufacturing orders and that factory closures will continue," said Aidan Chau, researcher at Hong Kong-based rights group China Labour Bulletin (CLB). Labour unions were central to the Communist Party's proletariat beginnings but play only a marginal role in modern authoritarian China. However, some analysts say factory strikes could become a political headache for the Party.

Persons: pare, Aidan Chau, CLB, Dian, Xin Dian, Zhong Min, Xu Tianchen, Xu, Laurie Chen, Nicoco Chan, Marius Zaharia, Sam Holmes Organizations: China Labour Bulletin, Min, Goods Shenzhen Ltd . Co, Dian Cable Ltd . Co, Reuters, China's Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Human Resources, Shenzhen, China Federation of Trade Unions, Manufacturers, Workers, Security, Labour, Party, Economist Intelligence Unit, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, United States, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Guangdong province, Shenzhen, Communist, Beijing, Shanghai

☆ As climate change hits, China weighs new water megaprojects
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( David Stanway | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"What they have been doing so far is using engineering solutions to try to physically supply water and fix their water problem," said Mark Wang, a geographer at Melbourne University who studies the impact of China's water infrastructure. "If China can reduce water use and increase efficiency, it doesn't need mega-diversion projects." Total investment in fixed water assets exceeded 1.1 trillion yuan ($154 billion) last year, up 44% compared with 2021, analysts said. It rose 15.6% to 407 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2023 and officials say even more funding will be made available. 'CHAIN REACTIONS'Part of the new plan involves the expansion of the South-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP), an ambitious engineering project that diverts surplus Yangtze River water to the arid Yellow River basin in the north.

Persons: Li Guoying, Mark Wang, Wang, Genevieve Donnellon, Gorges, David Stanway, Gerry Doyle Organizations: of Water, Melbourne University, China's Ministry of Water Resources, Oxford Global Society, Diversion, Thomson Locations: China, SINGAPORE, Sichuan, Liangshan County, Poyang Lake, Tibet, India

☆ The scarcity of water is emerging as a global economic threat. With China and India looking the most at risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ghosh warned that water scarcity must not be viewed as a sectoral issue, but one that "transcends the entire economy." Asian economies "must understand that it is a regional common good and it is in their own interest to mitigate the risks that come their way in order to prevent the economic shocks that severe water scarcity will impose," he said. India, now the world's most populous nation, will be the hardest hit from water scarcity. "Water scarcity is not particularly problematic to these industries because a lot of the water can be recycled. The Gezhouba dam water conservancy project of the Yangtze River after heavy rain in Yichang, Hubei Province, China.

Persons: Ritesh Shukla, Arunabha Ghosh, It's, Ghosh, Shanshan Wang, Wang, Wayne Middleton, Arup Organizations: Getty, Council, Energy, CNBC, World Bank, Lowy Institute, Arup, Visual China, Getty Images, Water, Future Publishing Locations: Peth, India, China, Asia, Philippines, Singapore, Kunming, Yunnan Province, Getty Images India, Taiwan, Yichang, Hubei Province

In the next three days, most of southern China is expected to suffer temperatures of more than 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), with temperatures in some areas exceeding 40C, national forecasters said on Friday. Extreme hot weather beset China, like many part of Asia in recent weeks, even before summer arrived. But how they are occurring - it's just been week on week on week of these records being shattered," said Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a climate scientist with the University of New South Wales. ELECTRICITY DEMANDDemand for electricity in southern manufacturing hubs, including Guangdong, has surged in recent days, with China Southern Power Grid, one of the country's two grid operators, seeing peak power load exceeding 200 million kilowatts - weeks earlier than normal and close to historical highs. Powerful convection weather has also wreaked havoc in central China in recent weeks, with protracted downpours and even hail devastating the country's ongoing wheat harvest.

Persons: David Kirton, we've, Zhao, Yang, haven't, heatstroke, I'm, Sarah Perkins, Kirkpatrick, Mei, Gao Rong, Ryan Woo, Qiaoyi Li, David Stanway, Michael Perry, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: heatwave, REUTERS, Reuters, University of New, China Southern Power Grid, National Climate Centre, Thomson Locations: Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, BEIJING, Shanghai, Asia, University of New South Wales, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Henan, Beijing, Singapore

☆ Farm animals, crops suffer from extreme weather affecting China
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This year, extreme heat has ravaged many parts of the country even earlier than last year. Animals killedIn recent days, reports of farm animals killed by extreme heat have dominated the news. The pigs suffocated to death amid extreme heat and poor air circulation, Jimu News, a government-owned news website, cited an unnamed employee at the farm as saying. The heat wave was blamed for killing large numbers of farmed carp living in rice fields in the southwestern region of Guangxi. And more extreme weather events are likely to come.

Persons: Sheng Xia, El, El Niño, ”, Sheng, Wang Gang, Niño, Xi Jinping, Shi Guangming Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China Meteorological Administration, Citic Securities, “, El, World Meteorological Organization, Qiushi, Communist, Villagers, China Today, China Media Group Locations: Hong Kong, China, Yunnan, Sichuan, El, Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Henan, Pingdingshan, Henan province, Xinjiang

☆ 'Relentless' heatwaves scorch southern China, test power grids
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Workers of grid operator China Southern Power Grid inspect power cables connecting transmission towers in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China May 29, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/File PhotoBEIJING, June 2 (Reuters) - Having sweltered through May, southern and eastern China face more weeks of unrelenting heatwaves, putting power grids under strain as demand for air-conditioning soars in mega-cities like Shanghai. Like many parts of Asia, China has been besieged by extreme hot weather in recent weeks ahead of summer proper in the northern hemisphere. But how they are occurring - it's just been week on week on week of these records being shattered. Powerful convection weather has also wreaked havoc in central China in recent weeks, with protracted downpours and even hail devastating the country's ongoing wheat harvest.

Persons: Stringer, I'm, Sarah Perkins, Kirkpatrick, Gao Rong, Ryan Woo, Qiaoyi Li, David Stanway, Michael Perry, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: China Southern Power Grid, REUTERS, University of New, National Climate Centre, Thomson Locations: Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, BEIJING, Shanghai, Asia, Provinces, University of New South Wales, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Henan, Beijing, Singapore

☆ Shanghai breaks more than century-old heat record in sweltering May
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A person uses clothing to protect themselves from the sun, as they walk on the Bund on a hot day, in Shanghai, China May 15, 2023. The peak recorded by the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau on Monday beat the previous May record of 35.7 degrees Celsius set in 1876, 1903, 1915 and 2018, according to bureau statistics. Earlier, many localities in Sichuan province, which is home to more than 80 million people, issued high-temperature warnings, with some areas maxing out at 42 degrees Celsius, local media reported. In the next three to five days, the maximum temperature in some cities in Sichuan, located in China's southwest, will reach 38 degrees Celsius, and hit 42 degrees Celsius in some areas, according to state media. China, known for extreme weather conditions, has also been experiencing torrential rains for weeks in some regions.

☆ China's Wuhan finance regulator urges hundreds of firms to repay debt, local media report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, May 27 (Reuters) - The financial regulator of China's Wuhan city publicly exposed 259 firms with debt to the government and urged them to immediately pay up, local media reported on Saturday. The rare action from Wuhan's finance bureau on Friday comes as local governments in China become increasingly pressed by higher debt and expenses. The debtors, their corresponding guarantors and successors were requested to repay their debts to the asset management firm immediately after May 26, Yicai reported. State-owned Wuhan Yangtze River Asset Management Co is a professional platform responsible for the disposal of various non-performing assets in the central city, according to its official website. Wuhan's local budget revenue slid 8.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, according to data released by local the finance bureau.

☆ China fails Micron's products in security review, bars some purchases
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

According to China's broad definition of critical information infrastructure, this could include sectors ranging from transport to finance. "The review found that Micron's products have serious network security risks, which pose significant security risks to China's critical information infrastructure supply chain, affecting China's national security," the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement. China announced its review of Micron's products in late March. The larger chunk of Micron's products flowing into China are being purchased by non-Chinese firms for use in products manufactured there, according to analysts. China in September 2021 imposed rules aimed at protecting critical information infrastructure, which require their operators to comply with stricter requirements around areas such as data security.

☆ China says Micron's products fail security review, bars some purchases
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The review found that Micron's products have serious network security risks, which pose significant security risks to China's critical information infrastructure supply chain, affecting China's national security," the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement. Operators of critical information infrastructure will be required to stop procuring from Micron, the CAC added. According to China's broad definition of critical information infrastructure, this could include sectors ranging from transport to finance. The CAC did not detail what risks it had found nor what Micron products this would impact. China in September 2021 imposed rules aimed at protecting critical information infrastructure, which require their operators to comply with stricter requirements around areas such as data security.

☆ ‘De-Americanize’: How China Is Remaking Its Chip Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Chang Che | John Liu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last October, construction plans for a hulking semiconductor factory owned by a major state-backed company in central China fell into disarray. The facility belonged to Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation, or YMTC, a memory chip company that Xi Jinping, China’s president, has extolled as a flag-bearer in China’s race toward self-reliance. Now, the chip maker and its peers are hurriedly overhauling supply chains and rewriting business plans. Nearly seven months later, the U.S. trade barriers have accelerated China’s push for a more independent chip sector. Western technology and money have pulled out, but state funding is flooding in to cultivate homegrown alternatives to produce less advanced but still lucrative semiconductors.

☆ Weird and wonderful trains that break the rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ben Jones | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Here’s a selection of unusual railways that break the rules in order to reach the places other trains can’t roll. The single rails carrying the trains are supported by a series of 486 steel portals weighing almost 20,000 tonnes in total. It is the oldest continuously operating pier railway in the world. Six miles of the route are along a rural railway line, with the rest in bus mode. Katoomba Scenic Railway, AustraliaNot far from the wonderful city of Sydney is a railway experience unlike anything else in the world.

☆ US urges South Korea not to fill China shortfalls if Beijing bans Micron chips, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 23 (Reuters) - The United States asked South Korea to urge its chipmakers not to fill any market gap in China if Beijing bans memory chipmaker Micron (MU.O) from selling chips, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The United States made the request as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol prepares to travel to Washington on Monday, the newspaper reported, according to four people familiar with the talks. China's cyberspace regulator Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in March that it would conduct a cybersecurity review of products sold in the country by Micron. In a response, Micron said that it is cooperating with the Chinese government and that its operations in China are normal. It has blacklisted a number of China's largest chip firms, including Micron rival Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd.

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports fell sharply in 2022 because of the disruption caused by lockdowns to control the coronavirus epidemic and the massive exit wave of infections when they were lifted. But the import rebound could be smaller than some analysts anticipate because domestic gas production is rising strongly and the country has mostly completed its transition to natural gas for urban residents. Both LNG and pipeline imports remained subdued in the first two months of this year with any rebound delayed until later in 2023. China’s LNG purchasers have proved price-sensitive and will likely wait for prices to decline before increasing imports and refilling storage. PIPELINES NOT LNGThe shift from LPG and especially gasworks gas has turbocharged consumption of natural gas over the last decade.

☆ China to examine US chipmaker Micron's products for cybersecurity risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 31 (Reuters) - China's cyberspace regulator will conduct a cybersecurity review of products sold in the country by U.S. memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology Inc (MU.O), the regulator said on Friday. It gave no other details, including which Micron products it was reviewing. The Netherlands, which makes advanced lithography equipment critical for the manufacture of advanced chips, made a similar announcement earlier this month. Weak consumer demand has roiled the memory chip market, which is dominated by South Korea's Samsung Electronics (005930.KS). The larger chunk of the company's products flowing into China are being purchased by non-Chinese firms for use in products manufactured in the country, according to analysts.

☆ In China, more families on the fence on home buying, foreclosures cloud sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Stabilising the crisis-hit property sector will be a key challenge for policymakers this year as they try to kick-start an economic recovery. The number of families opting to stay on the sidelines for property in the last quarter rose to 27.2% of respondents from 20.1% in July-October, the survey showed. Respondents' willingness to allocate money to domestic stocks, funds, and overseas asset classes also increased, the survey showed. Cities with high numbers of foreclosures were mostly in central and western China, as well as the prosperous Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, according to the property research firm. But analysts expect a sustainable recovery in the sector will only kick in towards the second half of this year.

☆ China's economic recovery is off to a slow start
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Hector Retamal | Afp | Getty ImagesBEIJING — China's economic recovery is off to a modest start. Migrant workers have mostly returned to work after China's biggest holiday of the year, and children went back to school this week. It also remains to be seen how demand from China's growth picks up as businesses resume work and travel after the Lunar New Year holiday. Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley, pointed out that in-person meetings are particularly important for doing business in China, and that such interactions weren't easily feasible last year. Ting Lu chief China economist, Nomura

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chinese chip design company Unisoc (Shanghai) Technologies Co is seeking to raise 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in a new funding round that will value the firm at about 70 billion yuan ($10.3 billion), three people with knowledge of the deal told Reuters. Unisoc has approached several state-backed investment funds for the round, tapping increased local investor interest in China's domestic chip industry, which is gearing up to be more self-sufficient in the face of U.S. pressure, the people said. Unisoc is controlled by private equity firm Wise Road Capital, which took over the company in 2022 after Tsinghua Unigroup, its former parent company, faced bankruptcy. In its statement from Feb. 8, it added it had reached revenue of 14 billion yuan in 2022. A statement in July 2022 said it had revenue of 11.7 billion yuan in 2021.

☆ Factbox: Chinese chipmakers caught in U.S.-China tech spat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

TSMC is the world's most valuable chipmaker and counts Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) among major clients. Its government-backing and ambition to make high-end chips caught the attention of the United States which put the firm on its Entity List in 2020. To date, most of SMIC's sales are made using the outdated 45 nanometer process node and above. Since late 2020, this specialisation in older chips has proven a boon due to a global shortage of lower-end chips. It produces DRAM at the 19 nanometer node and is moving into the 17 nanometer node - process nodes behind the industry leading-edge.

☆ Ronaldo's Saudi switch another symbol of Chinese decline
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Michael Church | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Portuguese striker's Saudi Arabia switch following the cancellation of his Manchester United contract has highlighted a shift within Asian football that started before the COVID-19 pandemic and which continues to have a significant impact. With money pouring into clubs often owned by debt-fuelled property developers, the Chinese Super League (CSL) had been enticing an increasing number of leading players and coaches to the country since early last decade. The downturn in Chinese football has spared few. Two-time Asian champions Guangzhou FC, once Chinese football's dominant force, went into decline after their owners, developers China Evergrande, were forced to limit funding after the government restricted borrowing. With attention now squarely focused on the oil-funded riches on offer in a newly assertive Saudi Arabia, Chinese football's lustre has all but disappeared.

Search resuls for: "Yangtze"

25 mentions found