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During past flare-ups in diplomatic tensions between China and Japan, Chinese consumers spontaneously boycotted Japanese goods. But the latest row, sparked by controversial remarks on Taiwan by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, has met with a markedly different response, with almost no one in China calling for a boycott of Japanese products. Part of the reason for the turnaround is a seismic shift in China’s consumer market, with the Japanese home appliances, digital gadgets and cars once...

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China’s factory activity contracted for an eighth consecutive month in November, according to official data, as external headwinds and weak domestic demand continued to drag on the world’s second-largest economy. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stood at 49.2 in November, up from 49 a month earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday. The reading was in line with a forecast of 49.2 based on economists polled by financial data provider Wind. The monthly index...

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China pledged to “actively consider” helping Syria with post-war reconstruction when its new foreign minister visited Beijing earlier this month. But analysts said the two sides needed to first overcome the major hurdle of militant groups linked to China’s Xinjiang region integrated into the Syrian armed forces. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani on November 17 that the two sides should gradually resume exchanges, adding that Beijing would consider helping...

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Recent weeks have seen a sharp decline in Sino-Japanese people-to-people exchanges. All flights on 12 routes from mainland Chinese cities to Japan had been cancelled as of November 24, reportedly due to low demand. According to the Civil Aviation Data Analysis System, some 12 per cent of flights between China and Japan scheduled between November 24 and January 18 have been cancelled. On some routes, more than half have been cancelled. Chinese tourists, Japan’s largest inbound group, had...

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Taiwan’s plan to acquire Israeli “takeover” technology as part of a counter-drone network has set off a debate over its use and the island’s security strategy as it tries to keep pace with rapidly evolving unmanned threats. At a briefing for suppliers on the procurement requirements earlier this month, Taiwan’s homeland security office outlined specifications for a new system to protect the island’s airports, power plants and other critical infrastructure from incursions by small commercial...

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Spain’s Agriculture Ministry said it has halted all pork exports to China after two wild boar found dead near Barcelona tested positive for African swine flu, the first cases in three decades. The outbreak, the first since 1994, coincides with Spanish efforts to court Beijing and gain market share in the pork sector and after China imposed tariffs on EU pork during an anti-dumping investigation. Spain is the European Union’s leading pork producer, accounting for roughly a quarter of the bloc’s...

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China’s second fifth-generation fighter jet, the J-35, could find buyers in the Middle East as demand grows for advanced stealth aircraft in the region – though its capabilities remain unknown, according to analysts. China, the United States and Russia are the only countries making fifth-generation fighter jets, and all three showcased their aircraft at last week’s Dubai Air Show. A model of the J-35 – made by China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (Catic) and with a design...

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The People’s Liberation Army’s long-range rocket launchers can hit moving targets at sea during island seizure operations, according to mainland Chinese state media. In a report on Thursday, state broadcaster CCTV gave the first official confirmation that the PLA’s PHL-03 land-based rocket launchers could be a threat to moving surface vessels more than 100km (62 miles) away, indicating potential use against ships. Previously, the launchers were thought to only pose a threat to land...

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On November 14, Chinese robotics firm UBtech released footage showing hundreds of Walker S2 humanoid robots standing in precise formation inside a warehouse. The machines turned their heads in unison, waved their arms and marched into shipping containers – a scene so visually arresting it evoked sci-fi blockbusters like I, Robot. Brett Adcock, founder and CEO of leading US robotics company Figure, responded with disbelief. He immediately took to social media to suggest the footage was...

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Authorities in mainland China have launched a nationwide campaign to eliminate fire hazards in high-rise buildings, days after Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades tore through a residential complex – claiming at least 128 lives. The Work Safety Committee of the State Council, China’s cabinet, announced the sweeping drive in a notice on Saturday, according to state media. The notice pledged to “identify and rectify” fire risks across high-rise residential and public-use buildings, from tower...

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South Africa is looking to new export markets in Asia – particularly China – and Europe to diversify away from the United States, as its relations with Washington rapidly deteriorate. America boycotted last weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg after Washington accused Pretoria of persecuting Afrikaner farmers, labelling the situation “white genocide” – a claim the South African government strongly denies. On Wednesday the situation escalated, with US President Donald Trump saying...

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Coral reefs at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea are healthy and resilient to climate change, but growing thermal stress poses a potential bleaching risk, according to a Chinese environmental assessment. The report rated the atoll’s maritime environment as excellent, with no signs of cyanide in seawater, sediment or fish samples. Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island in China and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines, is claimed by both countries, and Manila has accused...

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This article was first published on November 30, 2015. By Sijia Jiang After 13 years, China’s own passenger jet enters service China’s ambition of an indigenous plane took wings on Sunday (November 29, 2015) as its first home-grown passenger jet, the Comac ARJ21 (later rebranded as the C909), entered commercial service after 13 years in the making. Configured with 90 economy-class seats, the jet was delivered to its launch customer, Chengdu Airlines, from Comac’s Shanghai factory and flown to...

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Female sacrifice in China dates back thousands of years earlier than previously believed, a study of ancient DNA has revealed. Evidence from elite burials at a large Stone Age settlement in northwestern China also suggests the existence of an early hierarchical society, with gender preference relating to the type of sacrificial ritual, according to the Chinese archaeologists and anthropologists behind the study. Shimao, located in the Yellow River valley in Shaanxi province, is one of the...

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Shanghai, mainland China’s top finance and trade hub, is set to double down on efforts to prevent the “hollowing out” of its manufacturing sector even as it pursues global financial centre status. The city’s next five-year plan, which will cover the period from 2026 to 2030, is expected to contain measures designed to lift manufacturing’s share of gross domestic product to no less than 25 per cent, in line with a national imperative to bolster the real economy and promote cutting-edge...

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China is betting on bio-manufacturing to boost technological self-reliance and drive economic growth as part of the next five-year plan, elevating the sector on par with electric vehicles and semiconductors. Beijing is upgrading and expanding a nationwide bio-ecosystem, with 43 companies and research institutes selected in the first batch of pilot-scale manufacturing platforms for products ranging from biopharmaceuticals to food additives and enzymes to cosmetics, according to a statement from...

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Japan’s recent deployment of missiles on Yonaguni, an island only 110km (70 miles) away from Taiwan, comes amid rising tensions with Beijing and follows a steady build-up of supplies and equipment in the region by its main ally, the United States, in the past three months. Yonaguni is the westernmost island in the Ryukyu chain, which would be a key strategic location in the event of a conflict over Taiwan. The Japanese military has already spent years planning operations based on this precise...

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China has halted imports of soybeans from five Brazilian exporters after inspectors found pesticide-treated wheat mixed into a cargo bound for Beijing, officials from both countries said on Thursday. The suspension by China’s General Administration of Customs was communicated to Brazil’s agriculture ministry on Wednesday and made public on Thursday. The ban covers two Cargill facilities and one plant each run by Louis Dreyfus Co., CHS Agronegocios and 3Tentos Agroindustrial. Four of the plants...

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China has expressed “serious concerns” regarding a trade agreement signed last month between Malaysia and the United States, and some analysts suggest it might be related to how the pact could force the Southeast Asian nation to align with Washington’s sanctions regime. The official reaction on Thursday followed a meeting between Chinese and Malaysian commerce officials earlier in the week. While Beijing did not publicly specify the offending clauses, critics point to provisions that ostensibly...

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Chinese physicist Pan Jianwei and his team have created a “quantum Lego block” that refuses to fall apart – even when shaken. Using a programmable quantum processor named Zuchongzhi 2, Pan’s team has simulated an exotic new state of matter where quantum effects are locked into the corners of a material, according to a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Friday. These corner states are protected by the deep laws of topology – a kind of quantum armour against errors and...

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The Cop30 UN climate change conference in Belem, Brazil, concluded with a package of decisions that champions implementation and finance, yet its success is nuanced, marked by both institutional progress and political compromises over the core issue of fossil fuels. The conference, framed as the “implementation Cop” by the Brazilian presidency, turned attention away from purely text negotiations to implementing action. The world is grappling with the complex realities of executing a systemic...

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Popular Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki has cancelled a concert in Shanghai scheduled for Saturday evening, following a request to call off the performance. In a notice posted on Chinese social media on Friday afternoon, the organiser of the concert said that the event had been cancelled due to “force majeure”. The organiser gave no details but Hamasaki, Japan’s most prolific singer-songwriter, posted on social media that “key staff members were hastily gathered in the morning, and we received a...

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Li Minyong, a prominent medicinal chemist and a fellow of multiple international research societies, died on November 16 at the age of 49. His sudden death marks China’s latest loss of a leading scientist at the height of their research career. Li, a professor and deputy dean of the school of pharmaceutical sciences at Hainan University, dedicated himself to pioneering drug discovery through light-controlled and bioactive visualisation technologies. He was elected a Fellow of Britain’s Royal...

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France hopes to establish a framework for ties between Brussels and Beijing “that serves mutual interests” when President Emmanuel Macron visits China next week, an Elysee Palace source said. “The purpose of [Macron’s] strategic conversation with President Xi Jinping is for Europe to be respected as a major partner of China and not as a variable in tensions,” the source – who chose to remain anonymous, citing professional norms in France – said during a briefing on Thursday. Macron will visit...

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Investors in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) stocks, who had been hoping for a strong earnings season to provide fresh tailwinds, instead face disappointing results that have stoked anxiety about what lies ahead. The sector was riding high – with Xpeng’s year-to-date gain exceeding 130 per cent earlier this month – buoyed by a surge in global risk appetite and an improved outlook for Chinese assets. But signs of pressure at even established firms like BYD have raised new questions over the...

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