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Chinese President Xi Jinping held a video call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, telling him that relations are on the “right trajectory” and that the two countries need a “grand plan” to develop ties. Putin told Xi that China-Russia ties were a stabilising factor at a time of global turbulence, according to media reports, citing a Russian state television broadcast. It was the first talks between the two leaders this year as both sides seek to ramp up strategic alignment...

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China said Panama risks paying a “hefty political and economic price” following the cancellation of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings’ contract to operate two major ports serving the Panama Canal. “The Panamanian authorities’ insistence on this despite widespread concerns is tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot,” China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said in a commentary posted on its WeChat account on Tuesday. The decision by the Panama Supreme Court “is legally unfounded and...

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to visit China later this year, as tensions with the United States prompt more European countries to rethink ties with Beijing. A source familiar with the talks said the two sides were discussing details of the trip. If it goes ahead, it will be Sanchez’s fourth to China in four years. Miguel Otero-Iglesias, a senior analyst at the Madrid-based Elcano Royal Institute, said the prime minister had suggested in the past that visits to China should be an...

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China is seizing its role as the chair and host of Apec 2026 to position itself as a staunch defender of multilateralism, according to analysts, and they see the platform being used to elevate the nation’s economic governance initiatives to a global level. The strategic push was on display at the two-day Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting that began on Wednesday in Shanghai, where Vice-Minister of Finance Liao Min called on members to uphold multilateralism. “Closer cooperation is...

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Tibet’s exploitable solar, wind and hydropower resources alone could theoretically meet all of China’s energy needs, government survey data suggests. According to researchers from the China Society for Hydropower Engineering and the state-owned Power Construction Corporation of China, the technically exploitable capacity of hydropower in Tibet could reach 178 gigawatts, and more than 100GW for wind power. They said the development potential of solar power could reach 10,000GW, which is...

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Beijing has recently targeted tax incentives in telecoms and other select industries after fiscal revenue dropped sharply in late 2025, fuelling market speculation of similar, larger-scale moves and triggering volatility. The South China Morning Post examines the latest developments and outlines how economists view the changes. What has the Chinese government announced? Beijing has moved to boost government finances by tightening tax incentives and raising preferential rates across several...

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Lockheed Martin expects to have around 300 of its fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets operating in the Asia-Pacific by 2035, one of the US aerospace giant’s senior executives said at the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday. Steve Sheehy, aeronautics vice-president of international business development, made the prediction during a media briefing in which he cited the “emergence of threat” in the region and the “game-changing” interoperability achieved by US allies. Lockheed Martin’s appearance at the...

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Tencent Holdings’ aggressive red-packet blitz to promote its artificial intelligence chatbot Yuanbao ran into a roadblock on Wednesday from the company’s own super app WeChat, dealing a blow to a US$144 million effort to acquire users for the emerging AI app. WeChat, known as Weixin on the mainland, announced on Wednesday that it would restrict Yuanbao links from opening directly within WeChat, effective immediately, in response to “user feedback and complaints”, according to a...

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Chinese companies are mitigating the risks of artificial intelligence in their own way and should not be judged through a Western lens, according to Chinese industry insiders. The comments come ahead of what is expected to be a busy month for Chinese AI developers, with new major models set to be released ahead of the Lunar New Year. Last year, concerns about the risks of Chinese models held back some global users from adopting them, with high-profile DeepSeek in particular banned or restricted...

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The White House’s top trade official has accused Beijing of “weaponising” its dominance in critical minerals, pledging that the US will use pricing, tariffs, and industrial policy to ensure its entire critical minerals supply chain is in the hands of America and its allies. Speaking at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Tuesday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the US needed to mine, process and refine critical minerals, and called on its allies to do...

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An advanced stealth attack drone may have been photographed on the Chinese navy’s amphibious assault ship Sichuan, possibly marking another step towards the commissioning of the Type 076 naval vessel that is expected to play a key role in the Taiwan Strait. Photos circulating on Chinese social media since Saturday purportedly show the Sichuan leaving its home port in Shanghai. In one of the images, a carrier-based aircraft draped in green cloth can be seen resting on the deck. It is unknown when...

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A profound energy transformation is reshaping Shanxi, China’s traditional coal heartland, where renewable power capacity has officially surpassed coal-fired generation, marking a historic turning point for one of the nation’s most carbon-intensive economies. The central province’s installed capacity for new energy surged to 90.48 million kilowatts in 2025 – a year-on-year increase of 18.29 million kW – vaulting renewables past the halfway point to claim 55.1 per cent of Shanxi’s total...

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2026 marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and African nations as well as being the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. In  the history of relations between China and Africa, Zimbabwe in the south of the continent and Algeria in the north may both be considered to hold a special place, in that … Continue reading From Zimbabwe to Algeria: China-Africa solidarity, a living tradition

The post From Zimbabwe to Algeria: China-Africa solidarity, a living tradition appeared first on Friends of Socialist China.

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February is celebrated as Black History Month in a number of countries, including the United States and Canada, and February 1st 2026 was the 125th anniversary of the birth of Langston Hughes, the great African-American jazz poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist, who is widely considered to have been the key leader of the … Continue reading Roar, China! Langston Hughes in Shanghai

The post Roar, China! Langston Hughes in Shanghai appeared first on Friends of Socialist China.

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Beijing’s bold move to remove top generals accused of corruption reflects its strategic assessment that overhauling the armed forces is more urgent, and that the issue of Taiwan can wait, according to military analysts. The investigation into China’s top commanders, Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, has left the Central Military Commission (CMC), the country’s highest military command body, with just two members at present – President Xi Jinping, who is chairman of the CMC, and vice-chairman Zhang...

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China on Tuesday urged the United States to “respond positively” to Russia’s offer to maintain nuclear warhead limits ahead of Thursday’s expected collapse of a major US-Russia agreement to control nuclear build-up. Beijing also reiterated its refusal to join trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations with Washington and Moscow, despite repeated calls for such talks by US President Donald Trump. China cited the disparity in nuclear stockpile sizes as the reason for its refusal. Absent a...

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Venezuela will ensure China’s energy, trade and investment interests in the country are secure, Caracas’ envoy to Beijing said, amid growing concern in Beijing that the US’ unprecedented assault on Venezuela may complicate its ties with the resource-rich country and the wider region. “China and Venezuela are trusted partners who share mutual trust. Both nations are sovereign states, and their bilateral relationship shall remain unaffected by the interference of other countries,” Remigio...

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At this turbulent crossroads of 2026, the global order is undergoing a major paradigm shift. This is signalled most vividly by a wave of Western leaders visiting Beijing. From British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s historic mission last week – the first visit by a UK prime minister in eight years – to the high-profile arrivals of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo last month, a clear pattern of strategic recalibration has emerged. These moves represent a...

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Following the sudden demise of a major gold trading platform in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, another retail-focused operator has suffered a run, stoking fears of contagion in China’s private market for the precious metal. The platform, Ydd007, is the latest to face trouble. On Sunday, it told investors that it had experienced three “severe runs” in recent days amid mounting industry panic. It also acknowledged a significant funding shortfall, according to Chengdu.cn, part of the...

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China’s 4.5-generation fighter the J-10C appeared at the Singapore Airshow this week amid a drive by Beijing to boost arms sales to Southeast Asia. The model has gained increasing global prominence following reports last May that it had been used by the Pakistan Air Force to shoot down at least one French-made Rafale fighter operated by India during a brief border conflict. The seven J-10C jets taking part in the Singapore Airshow arrived last Wednesday, accompanied by a Y-20A refuelling...

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Chinese robotics firms continue to secure fresh financing, including from state-backed funds, as investors shift focus from hardware to the “brains” of humanoids – the software and operating systems that underpin their intelligence. Alongside hardware-centric companies like Unitree Robotics, a new wave of firms is emerging with capital directed towards robotic software and operating systems. Shenzhen-based humanoid robot maker LimX Dynamics announced on Monday the completion of its US$200...

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A Chinese research vessel has been operating in Middle Eastern waters close to a US aircraft carrier, according to ship-tracking data, at a time of heightened American military presence near Iran. China’s Dayang Yihao (or “Ocean No 1”) has been surveying the Arabian Sea west of India since December 19, according to SeaLight, a maritime analysis group affiliated with Stanford University. The ship is China’s first modern comprehensive ocean-going scientific research vessel, and is equipped with...

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The European Commission has launched an in-depth investigation into Chinese wind turbine maker Goldwind Science & Technology under the foreign subsidies regulation, a tool that has previously irked Beijing. The investigation will assess whether subsidies from the Chinese state illegally boosted the company’s position in the European market. The commission said a preliminary investigation found “indications” that Goldwind “may have been granted foreign subsidies that distort the internal...

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China’s civil aviation authority has floated a regulatory change that would allow its home-grown passenger jet, the C919, to use narrow runways typically found in smaller airports, a move that could help the plane expand its presence at home and break into the Southeast Asian market. The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced on Friday that it had set “special conditions” for the C919 to use narrow runways based on the jet’s design features, releasing a draft proposal for a...

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Chinese artificial intelligence start-up StepFun has unveiled a lightweight AI model that it says punches above its weight, rivalling larger systems from domestic competitors including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI as competition intensifies in the country’s AI sector. The Shanghai-based AI lab said on Monday its latest Step 3.5 Flash model was designed to deliver advanced reasoning and agentic capabilities while maintaining efficiency. Despite its relatively modest size of about 196 billion...

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