China News

The world’s two largest brewers faced starkly diverging realities in China in 2025 and rather than it being about taste or popularity, the contrast appears to largely boil down to a shift in the nation’s drinking habits, sparked – in part – by the economic downturn. During the year, Budweiser Brewing APAC, the Asian subsidiary of the Belgian beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, posted its biggest decline in profit growth since 2020, with the company’s CEO Yanjun Chen stating last week, “Our...

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A senior state department official said that the US would resume nuclear tests to match “opaque” Chinese activity, flagging new details about a 2020 test the US recently accused China of secretly conducting, as US President Donald Trump seeks a new trilateral nuclear control deal with China and Russia. “As the president has said, the United States will return to testing on an ‘equal basis’,” Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation Christopher Yeaw said on...

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A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers and national security experts in Washington is calling on the administration of US President Donald Trump to convene a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue leaders’ summit ahead of Trump’s expected meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in April. The push aims to project a unified front among Indo-Pacific democracies and prevent potential misunderstandings during high-stakes negotiations with Beijing. The Quad, an informal grouping that also includes Japan and...

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The People’s Liberation Army has been urged to overhaul English language teaching at its military schools and recruit professionals to improve soldiers’ communication skills on the international stage. Three senior lecturers from the PLA Air Force Early Warning Academy made the call in an article published in the February edition of official Military-to-Civilian in China magazine, which is administered by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence. Li Yan,...

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A few weeks ago, while travelling in Buenos Aires, I learned a new word: chino. I already knew its literal meaning – even a poor linguist like me could manage that – but in Argentina the word has taken on a second life. A chino is the neighbourhood mini-market run by Chinese migrants, most of whom are from Fujian or Guangdong province. Known for staying open late, these shops have become a fixture of urban life. One afternoon, as an Argentine friend showed me around his neighbourhood in Palermo,...

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Peru’s Congress voted on Tuesday to remove President Jose Jeri from office following a series of undisclosed late-night meetings at a Chinese restaurant with a Chinese state contractor, setting off a political scandal dubbed “Chifagate”, a reference to the country’s Chinese-Peruvian fusion cuisine. Lawmakers voted 75-24, with three abstentions, to censure Jeri over the unregistered encounters with businessman Zhihua Yang, whose companies have supplied the state and who owns the restaurant and a...

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Brazil is on course to exhaust its annual beef export quota to China by September, industry researchers said on Tuesday, as the government warns that uncontrolled shipments could trigger a collapse in domestic prices and jobs in the cattle sector. If the pace of exports recorded in January is maintained, Brazil will fill its 2026 quota of 1.106 million tonnes well before year end, according to the Centre for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics at the University of Sao Paulo, known as Cepea. In...

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February 17 this year marks the Chinese New Year of the Horse and is the most important traditional holiday in China as well as for Chinese communities around the world and for some other countries in East Asia. With the approach of the holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who … Continue reading China welcomes the Year of the Horse

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Hasan Piker knew his first trip to China would provoke backlash. What he did not expect was how quickly the debate would collapse into a binary: propaganda or patriotism. The live-streamer, and one of the most influential political commentators on the left among young Americans, travelled to China last year and live-streamed his experiences to over 3 million followers across platforms, including Twitch and YouTube. Clips of his visit circulated widely, some carried by Chinese state-linked...

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China’s Nantianmen Project – translated as Southern Celestial Gate – has captured widespread attention as a blend of science fiction storytelling and hi-tech military speculation. Launched in 2017 by a subsidiary of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic), the project originated as an aviation-themed sci-fi intellectual property (IP) rather than an active weapons development programme. At its core, the project serves as a creative vehicle to showcase more than 100...

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Chinese researchers have announced a new technique to mass produce 2D material wafers, paving the way for high-performance electronics using a successor to silicon. As semiconductor chips continue to evolve, transistor sizes are approaching the physical limits of silicon-based technology. The search for next-generation semiconductor materials that can deliver superior performance has become a global priority. Among the candidates, two-dimensional (2D) materials such as molybdenum disulfide...

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In 1994, Richard Leiter, a South African entrepreneur, took a gamble on the then unknown Chinese commercial truck maker FAW with the introduction of the first Jiefang CA141 truck into the South African market. Two decades later, he had transitioned from importer to industrialist, with a sprawling assembly plant in the Coega special economic zone in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. FAW now outsells major brands like Toyota, Daimler and Isuzu in the heavy truck sector in South Africa, driven by...

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If there is one big threat to maritime security in Southeast Asia, it is the growing wariness between the big players in the region. That was the assessment from Kao Kim Hourn, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), at the just-concluded Munich Security Conference. “Overall the main threat would be the increasing strategic mistrust between and among the major powers,” he said during a panel on maritime security on Friday. Kao did not refer to any country...

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In the run-up to Lunar New Year, Chinese consumers were busy choosing gold jewellery, a traditional gift with deep cultural connotations, as strong market sentiment overshadowed sharp fluctuations in gold prices and assessments of the sector’s outlook by investment banks remained upbeat. Jewellers offered small discounts to boost holiday sales. For example, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, China’s largest retailer by store count, launched an 80 yuan (US$12) discount per gram on gold items in its...

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US warehouse retailer Sam’s Club has gained traction among Chinese shoppers by strengthening localisation and launching more China-tailored products, continuing to expand even as many foreign retailers have scaled back their mainland operations or exited the market. Instead of replicating its US model, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club has introduced products catering to local tastes, including copper gourd ornaments, ginseng and some traditional food items in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year...

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Not far from the fringe of the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, in a remote valley to the north of the Karakoram mountain range, China’s road building programme has encountered another tough diplomatic posture from New Delhi. In January, India’s external affairs ministry said the stretch was “Indian territory” and that it had “consistently protested with the Chinese side against attempts to alter the ground reality”. Beijing responded that the area “belongs to China”, adding...

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As China’s workforce heads into another year-end bonus season ahead of the Lunar New Year, the mood is colder than in previous cycles. Unlike a few years ago, when social media was flooded with posts flaunting outsized payouts, public talk of bonuses has largely faded from view. Long viewed by Chinese employees as a barometer of corporate prospects, industry momentum and even the broader economy, the year-end bonus packages for 2025 have become smaller, rarer and far more unevenly distributed,...

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China has been urged to build dual-use satellite application systems to increase the military use of commercial technology. The appeal by researchers from a university affiliated with the Central Military Commission – China’s highest command body – comes as space technology developed by private firms is increasingly being used for military purposes. For example, the US military has stepped up its use of technology from Elon Musk’s Starlink network and other commercial satellite companies,...

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Liu Haixing, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee (IDCPC), held a video meeting with Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) of Sri Lanka on February 13. The JVP, or People’s Liberation Front, is Sri Lanka’s largest Marxist party and is currently the main … Continue reading CPC holds video talks with Sri Lanka’s JVP

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In the following analysis for the Morning Star, British economist John Ross argues that the second presidency of Donald Trump represents not a retreat from US global ambitions – as has been posited in parts of the left – but a tactical recalibration aimed at preserving US hegemony and furthering the longstanding campaign to contain … Continue reading Trump 2.0 is not retreating – it is recalibrating for global confrontation

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America’s increasing use of MQ-9 drones near China poses a challenge to Beijing and makes it more urgent for the People’s Liberation Army to improve counter-reconnaissance, according to military experts. The MQ-9 Reaper can carry out both reconnaissance and strike missions. It has been used for numerous high-profile operations, including the 2020 assassination of Iranian major general Qassem Soleimani. And it has been deployed as part of the US military’s surveillance network in the...

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We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Trump faces rare pushback within his party over tariffs as polls slide President Donald Trump faced noteworthy pushback in February over his signature tariff policy in the US Congress while his popularity slipped and more lawmakers in his party appeared willing to risk his wrath. Read the...

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Steve Durst, a US space entrepreneur who spent decades building rare bridges with China’s space sector despite restrictions on official cooperation, has died aged 82. Durst, who founded the non-profit International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA), was publishing on China’s astronaut training as early as 1980, when the country’s human space flight ambitions were still little known to the outside world. He died at his home in California last month, shortly after attending a workshop in Chiang...

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Two Chinese investigative journalists detained in Sichuan province earlier this month after accusing a local Communist Party official of corruption have been released on bail pending a trial. Liu Hu, 50, a veteran Chinese investigative reporter, and his colleague, Wu Yingjiao, 34, were taken into custody on suspicion of “making false accusations” and conducting “illegal business operations”, police in Chengdu’s Jinjiang district said on February 2. In an article posted last month that has since...

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China’s first man in space, Yang Liwei, has officially retired from active duty, but he has not stopped training and remains ready to don a spacesuit again if needed. He said in a CCTV interview on Saturday that the country’s first group of astronauts had been grounded in October according to regulations, but “if our motherland needs us, we can resume flights”. Yang, now a deputy chief designer for China’s crewed space programme, was the first Chinese national to reach Earth’s orbit in 2003. On...

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