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☆ Jiangxi: Explosion at chemical factory in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Hong Kong CNN —An explosion at a chemical plant in Southeast China on Saturday sent huge billows of thick black smoke into the air. The blast took place at a plant owned by the silicon oil production company Jiangxi QianTai New Materials at around noon in the city of Guixi, Jiangxi province, according to Chinese state media outlet CCTV. Footage posted on Weibo by CCTV and People’s Daily, another Chinese state media outlet, showed a huge plume of black smoke billowing into the air and emergency services attending to the scene. Initial reports suggest that the explosion occurred after silicon oil caught fire, according to CCTV. Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire that led to the explosion.

Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Saturday, Weibo, Twitter, CCTV, Firefighters Locations: Hong Kong, Southeast China, Jiangxi, Guixi, Weibo

☆ Analysis-In China's lithium hub, mining boom comes at a cost
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Siyi Liu | Dominique Patton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

FILE PHOTO: A vehicle is seen near a lithium smelter in Yichun, Jiangxi province, China March 30, 2023. It has supported mine development by taking stakes in mining companies to help battery materials makers that do not have mines overseas like those owned by China’s top lithium producers Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi Lithium. Separating lithium from lepidolite can cost as much as 100,000 yuan per metric ton, compared to 40,000-50,000 yuan for brine and 50,000-60,000 yuan for spodumene, analysts said. ‘NATURAL RESOURCES CHAOS’Further dimming the outlook for lepidolite, environmental damage is a growing concern. UBS analysts see China’s supply of lithium from lepidolite tripling to 280,000 metric tons, or 13% of global supply, between 2022 and 2025, well short of Yichun’s target.

Persons: ”, Yang Yaohua, Yang, Wu Wei, Eric Norris, ” Norris, Yongxing, Yichun, Ma Jun, ” Ma, Vicky Zhao, Li Qi Organizations: REUTERS, Staff, Australia, Guosen, Macquarie, Gotion High Tech, CRU, Xiamen University, Energy, lepidolite, Reuters, Materials Technology, Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, UBS, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Locations: YICHUN, China, Yichun, Jiangxi province, lepidolite, Beijing, Sichuan, Qinghai, Tibet, Shanghai, Jin, U.S, Jiangxi

☆ China's temple visits skyrocket amid economic uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Economic uncertainty has driven temple visits and tourism to new heights, according to analysts and travel websites. Temple visits have surged this year more than fourfold from a year ago, according to recent data from Qunar and Trip.com, another travel site. Social media has also fueled the boom in temple tourism, as young people like to share their experiences on social networks, she added. Anhui Jiuhuashan Tourism Development, which runs the Jiuhua Mountain scenic area in central Anhui province, also shattered quarterly sales records. A small temple at Wudang Mountain in China's Hubei province pictured on October 27, 2004.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, ”, Qunar.com, Soeren, Yang Yan, Ryan Pyle, supplicants, “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Nanjing Securities, Social, Communist Party, Caitong Securities Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, Qunar, Nanjing, Sichuan, Shan, Anhui Jiuhuashan Tourism, Anhui, Jiangxi province, Wudang, China's Hubei, Hangzhou

☆ An 'air train' in China runs using an overhead magnetic track, never touching it as it glides through the air 30 feet above the ground — see it in action
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An 'air train' in China runs using an overhead magnetic track, never touching it as it glides through the air 30 feet above the ground — see it in actionChina's "Red Rail" air train glides through the air without touching the track above it or anything below. Hu Chenhuan/Xinhua via Getty Images The Red Rail glides through the air suspended about 10 meters, or 33 feet, above the ground. Photo by Hu Chenhuan/Xinhua via Getty Images Source: South China Morning Post It has two cars that can carry 88 passengers total. Photo by Jiang Tao/China News Service via Getty Images Source: South China Morning Post In its experimental phase, the track is 800 meters long, or roughly 2,620 feet. Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images Source: South China Morning Post Read next China Trains Business Visual Features More...

☆ Beijing investigating illegal mining activities in Chinese lithium hub, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Workers are seen at the production line of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EV) at a factory near Shanghai, China. China's central government has sent a working group to probe illegal mining in the country's lithium hub Yichun, financial news outlet Yicai reported on Sunday. Yichun has 1.1 million tons of lithium oxide reserves and accounts for 12% of global output, according to the South China Morning Post. One lithium analyst, who declined to be named, told Yicai that the industry optimistically estimates that the shutdown will last for about a month. Yichun currently produces between 10,000 tons and 12,000 tons of lithium carbonate per month, it reported.

☆ China’s January factory activity returns to growth as economists cheer its reopening
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

A textile factory on December 30, 2022 in Jiangxi Province. Chinese manufacturing activity contracted at its sharpest pace in nearly 3 years in December. China's factory activity bounced back in January and expanded for the first time since September, data from the national bureau of statistics showed. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.1 in January, above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction. Non-manufacturing PMI rose to 54.4, the highest level since June 2022.

☆ They Poured Their Savings Into Homes That Were Never Built
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Isabelle Qian | Agnes Chang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

We talked to four people who emptied their life savings and took out huge loans for homes that have not been completed. “It was a simple dream — to have a home, a family,” Mr. Tang said. Mr. Tang, who works in a restaurant, sold a small place he had out in the countryside. “When I think about the unfinished apartment, it’s as if I’m falling from heaven to hell, ” Mr. Tang said. Homeowners atop one of the unfinished apartment towers call for construction to fully resume.

☆ China’s local governments set 2023 growth targets, offering clues on economic recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The meetings will culminate in the national parliamentary session to be held in March, in which the premier is expected to disclose the nation’s GDP growth target. So far, a group of government economists and international analysts have said they expect Beijing to set a growth target of above 5% in 2023. On Thursday, Zhejiang province, another major economic powerhouse, announced it’s targeting an expansion of more than 5% in 2023. On Wednesday, Shanghai, the most affluent city in mainland China, announced it would aim for 5.5% growth this year. On the same day, Fujian, Sichuan and Hebei provinces all disclosed growth targets of 6% for 2023.

☆ China December manufacturing contracts at sharpest pace in almost 3 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chinese manufacturing activity contracted at its sharpest pace in nearly 3 years in December. China's factory activity shrank for the third straight month in December and at the sharpest pace in nearly three years as Covid infections swept through production lines across the country after Beijing's abrupt reversal of anti-virus measures. The data offered the first official snapshot of the manufacturing sector after China removed the world's strictest Covid restrictions in early December. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Tesla plans to run a reduced production schedule at its Shanghai plant in January, extending the reduced output it began this month into next year. Weakening external demand on the back of growing global recession fears amid rising interest rates, inflation and the war in Ukraine may further slow China's exports, hurting its massive manufacturing sector and hampering an economic recovery.

[1/3] An empty road is pictured at Shanghai Central Business District (CBD) as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Shanghai, China, December 23, 2022. Subway trains in Beijing and Shanghai were packed, while some major traffic arteries in the two cities jammed with slow-moving cars on Monday as residents commuted to work. An annual Christmas market held at the Bund, a commercial area in Shanghai, was also crowded over the weekend. Crowds thronged the winter festive season at Shanghai Disneyland and Beijing's Universal Studios on Sunday, queuing up for rides in Christmas-themed outfits. The city of Qingdao, in the eastern Shandong province, has estimated that up to 530,000 residents were being infected each day.

Farmers in both are fighting a losing battle to save the soil that produces our food. By contrast, there's not enough water in the vast Yangtze basin, which produces a third of China's crops. Soil erosion could lead to a 10% loss in global crop production by 2050, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Similarly, other measures such as digging thousands of new wells and encouraging farmers to switch crops to boost yields have limited impact. Options include not tilling soil to reduce erosion, and planting off-season cover crops to prevent erosion and nutrient loss.

☆ One of China's inflation gauges drops for the first time since 2020
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

China's producer price index fell year-on-year in October 2022 for the first time since December 2020. BEIJING — China's producer price index fell in October for the first time since December 2020, dragged down by drops in iron and steel prices, according to official data released Wednesday. The producer price index, which tracks the price of raw materials and other input costs, fell by 1.3% in October from a year ago. Changes in China's producer price index tend to precede similar changes in that of the U.S. by about one or two months, Francoise Huang, senior economist at Allianz Trade, said in October. While inflation has surged in the U.S. and Europe, China's consumer price index has remained subdued due to lackluster domestic demand.

☆ China says it's running on a new version of democracy that doesn't rely on elections. Experts say it's just another mind game.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

He first introduced the term "whole-process democracy" to China in a 2019 speech. However, by November that year, "whole-process democracy" was mentioned in 128 People's Daily articles, per CMP. "China's whole-process people's democracy integrates process-oriented democracy with results-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy and people's democracy with the will of the state," says China's white paper on the subject, per CGTN. Semantics aside, a key point to note is that "whole-process democracy" plays down the need for elections. Even so, Chong said, whole-process democracy might still help the CCP give the impression that it cares about the average citizen.

☆ China's biggest lake declares 'red alert' as long drought lingers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An aerial view shows a tributary stream running through the dried-up flats of Poyang Lake that stands at record-low water levels as the region experiences a drought, outside Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China, August 28, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/FilesSHANGHAI, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The central Chinese province of Jiangxi has declared a water supply "red alert" for the first time after the Poyang freshwater lake, the country's biggest, dwindled to a record low, the Jiangxi government said on Friday. The Poyang Lake, normally a vital flood outlet for the Yangtze, China's longest river, has been suffering from drought since June, with water levels at a key monitoring spot falling from 19.43 metres to 7.1 metres over the last three months. The Jiangxi Water Monitoring Centre said Poyang's water levels would fall even further in coming days, with rainfall still minimal. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by David Stanway; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da CostaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China's August coal imports from Russia, Indonesia soar as heatwave spurs power use
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Employees work on a freight train loaded with coal at Jiangxi Coal Reserve Center on August 19, 2022 in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province of China. China's coal imports from Russia rose in August, exceeding last month's level and hitting the highest in at least five years, as power utilities in the world's biggest coal consumer sought overseas supplies to meet soaring demand in extreme hot weather. Arrivals of Russian coal last month reached 8.54 million tonnes, up from the previous peak of 7.42 million tonnes in July and 57% higher than in the same period last year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday. Imports from Russia have surged in recent months as Europe suspended purchasing from the country after it sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, forcing Russian coal to be traded at a steep discount. Prices for Russian coal have climbed as both China and India stepped up buying, traders said, but were still cheaper than the domestic coal of same quality.

Supply & Demand — free market On the Y-axis (the vertical one on the left) we have price. The demand line slopes from the upper left to the bottom right, and the supply line goes from the bottom left to the upper right. To illustrate this tight supply, we shift our supply line to the left as moving left on the X-axis indicates a lower quantity of supply. Supply & Demand — supply constrained market As we can see above, this small shift in supply — with no change in demand — creates a new equilibrium point at which we see a higher price level (P2). Supply & Demand — supply constrained with demand destruction By lowering demand, we can reach a new equilibrium level (marked in red).

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