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China’s official national Buddhist association has established its first supervisory body less than six months after the high-profile downfall of the “CEO monk”, former Shaolin Temple abbot Shi Yongxin. The move to improve oversight of Chinese Buddhist monks’ conduct was announced on Tuesday, a day after the Buddhist Association of China’s (BAC) 11th national congress concluded in Beijing. Shi Zhengci, the abbot of Wuzu Temple in Huangmei county, Hubei province, was elected as the association’s...

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South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will make a state visit to China next week as the two countries try to find a way through their intense economic rivalry to improve ties. The trip will make Lee the first sitting South Korean president to travel to China since 2019, and will include a three-day stop in Beijing from Sunday, a presidential official in Seoul said on Tuesday. Lee will meet President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital before heading to Shanghai and then back to Seoul. The talks...

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Shenzhen, China’s top tech hub, plans to roll out what it calls “full-suite, full-time” adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across households and businesses over the next five years – a move analysts say could position the city at the forefront of the country’s intensifying tech race with the United States. The local government announced the goal on Monday in a new policy paper on Shenzhen’s 15th five-year plan, the socio-economic blueprint covering the years 2026 to 2030. The document...

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Bullets:

Nvidia faces severe challenges, as China's monopolies on gallium allow its telecom providers to build low-cost 5G telecom across the world.

That leads to global adoption of Chinese standards and equipment for Artificial Intelligence.

To survive, Nvidia needs to keep lower-cost AI chips out of the US market. Nvidia is also desperate to sell billions of dollars' worth of its own AI chips in the Chinese market, the world's largest.

But even in the US and Europe, Nvidia desperately needs power prices to fall, as new data center construction faces soaring public opposition.

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This is a transcript, for the YouTube video here:

Report:

Good morning.

Everything about this is supposed to be impossible. But all the experts were wrong-- spectacularly wrong—yet again.

Nvidia is the world’s most valuable public company, worth over $4 trillion, and its CEO is meeting in the White House, again, to figure out what to do, how to save his company, and how to save the Artificial Intelligence industry in the West.

Looking here at the first three paragraphs:

China will soon export its AI technologies across the world; think of the Belt and Road Initiative, but for Artificial Intelligence. That’s a given if Chinese companies like Huawei run away with the market. Huawei and other Chinese companies are building technologies that will mature and compete globally with the top American companies. China is a big important market – for chips and semiconductors – and it’s a mistake to concede the Chinese market to Chinese companies. Western companies need to compete for it.

That’s the introduction. But rewinding the tape, just a year or two, and what were our top experts saying? The entire objective of the sanctions against Huawei was to prevent China from developing artificial intelligences technologies at all. At the time, US companies were years ahead, and would remain so.

The Belt and Road Initiative was a failure, or so our top think tanks once believed, and said so to our top policymakers. It was a failure, and establishment Washington was celebrating the demise of the Belt and Road, just recently.

As to the semiconductors, the abandonment of the Chinese market was a deliberate strategy. Huang says here “we shouldn’t concede the entire market to them”—but that’s already happened, and it was by design. That was the point: Western tech was not allowed to go to China, and China would have to develop all these technologies for themselves. Zoom forward to today, and China did build them, and now China is exporting AI to other countries, and it is Huawei that is leading the way.

The Belt and Road Initiative. It has “helped Huawei export 5G technology to countries”, and that is a catalyst to those “countries adopting Chinese AI systems and standards.” Huawei has built the ecosystem, the platforms, the 5G telecom. The next logical step is for Huawei to supply everything else.

The reason why Huawei is able to supply the world with affordable 5G telecommunications, and why our companies cannot, is that China and Huawei enjoy monopolies on the key raw materials to build 5G. China’s gallium export bans mean that Chinese companies like Huawei have almost all the world’s gallium, and we need gallium to build 5G systems.

The White House, earlier, pointed this out, that Western countries and companies are vulnerable to any supply chain disruptions in gallium, and when China cut off exports of it, Ericsson and Nokia fell behind Huawei. Huawei can get it, so China’s monopoly in gallium leads right away to a monopoly for Huawei on 5G. Gallium just makes everything in telecom work better—faster data transfer speeds, more efficiency. It allows 5G base stations to be built lighter and smaller, and it’s used across the other hardware systems.

Huang and President Trump met in the White House, a follow-up to the previous meetings whereby Nvidia struck a deal: the Trump Administration will give Nvidia export licenses to sell to China—downgraded chips—and Nvidia in exchange will pay the US government 15% of sales. Sounds okay in theory, except for one big problem: China doesn’t want to buy Nvidia chips. And Nvidia’s market share in China went from 95% to zero.

Huawei and the other chipmakers here in China were supposed to be at least five to ten years behind our top companies. Huawei and the other Chinese telecom providers, like ZTE, were supposed to be out of business entirely. Instead we’ve got the head of Nvidia, the richest company on the planet, meeting with Donald Trump and saying that Huawei is the most innovative company in the world.

And underscoring the entire problem is electricity, which is the biggest long-term threat to Nvidia in the US and European markets. Nvidia obviously needs Chinese chips to be out of the US market, and Nvidia is desperate to be allowed to sell their chips in the Chinese market. But most of all, Nvidia needs US electricity prices to fall. Popular opinion is already mobilizing, fast, against the construction of US data centers, because electric bills are screaming higher every time another one gets built.

That isn’t a problem in China, where electricity just costs much less, and new power supplies are being added much faster than the growth in demand.

The data for Chinese electricity are hard to believe. Every year, Chinese new power demand is the same as the entire country of Germany. Add up all the power the is used by Germany, and that’s the NEW demand, from Chinese industry and households. But on the supply side, Chinese power companies are adding twice as much—two Germany’s worth of power supply.

So even with skyrocketing electricity demand in China, the supplies are going up twice as fast. That’s right now. US electricity supply hasn’t budged much for over a decade, and if everything goes perfectly well, the United States will quadruple nuclear energy production . . . in 25 years. That assumes construction goes smoothly, and that the Russians will supply us the uranium.

Be Good.

Resources and links:

Fortune, AI experts return from China stunned: The U.S. grid is so weak, the race may already be over

https://fortune.com/2025/08/14/data-centers-china-grid-us-infrastructure/

How much does the US depend on Russian uranium?

https://www.mining.com/web/how-much-does-the-us-depend-on-russian-uranium

Largest US companies by market capitalization

https://companiesmarketcap.com/usa/largest-companies-in-the-usa-by-market-cap/

Nikkei, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang warns of China’s AI ‘belt and road’ ambitions

https://asia.nikkei.com/business/technology/artificial-intelligence/nvidia-s-jensen-huang-warns-of-china-s-ai-belt-and-road-ambitions

Huawei has one 5G power that is hard for the US to hurt

https://www.lightreading.com/5g/huawei-has-one-5g-power-that-is-hard-for-the-us-to-hurt

Gallium Nitride Semiconductors in 5G Networks

https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=22494

Bloomberg, China Is ‘Rejecting’ Nvidia’s H200 Chips, Outfoxing US Strategy, Sacks Says

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-12/china-is-rejecting-h200s-outfoxing-us-strategy-sacks-says

Choking off China’s Access to the Future of AI

https://www.csis.org/analysis/choking-chinas-access-future-ai

The Rise and Fall of the BRI

https://www.cfr.org/blog/rise-and-fall-bri

Support for AI Data Center Bans Is Growing

https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/ai-data-center-energy-prices-november-2025

Inside China / Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Tuesday called for a new paradigm for engagement with the United States, emphasising the need for stable, cooperative ties while firmly defending what he described as China’s core interests, particularly regarding Taiwan. During a speech in Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang also accused Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of “openly challenging” Chinese territorial sovereignty after she suggested last month that a potential Taiwan conflict could threaten Japan’s...

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China has unveiled new legislation to promote ethnic unity and the use of standard Chinese, warning of legal penalties for those who obstruct the use of the national language and linking its approach with national security policy. A draft Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress underwent its second review by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislative body, last week and will be open for public consultation until January 25. Meanwhile, the...

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China cannot merely chase the technological frontier – it must seize ownership of it, a prominent economist has warned, urging Beijing to accelerate basic research and master core technologies to gain leverage against Washington’s targeted restrictions. “China can no longer play follower. The US won’t let it,” said Wang Yiming, vice-chairman of the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, a Beijing-based governmental think tank, noting that the United States’ “small yard, high fence”...

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A China-founded start-up that specialises in artificial intelligence agents was acquired by US tech giant Meta Platforms for billions of dollars, marking a landmark deal amid US-China competition in AI technology. The acquisition of Singapore-based Manus just nine months after its public launch in March underlines China’s AI competitiveness despite Washington’s efforts to deprive its rival of access to advanced US chips and funding. According to announcements from both sides, Manus would...

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US President Donald Trump is pushing to resurrect America’s coal sector by expanding mining and subsidising coal-fired power plants to meet the energy demands in a race against China on artificial intelligence. “Our nation’s beautiful clean coal resources will be critical to meeting the rise in electricity demand due to the resurgence of domestic manufacturing and the construction of artificial intelligence data processing centres,” Trump said in an executive order signed on April 8. But China...

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Washington is securing bilateral health deals with countries across Africa to ensure direct access to critical pathogen data and specimens following the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). Analysts say the US’ strategic retreat from multilateral organisations has created a vacuum that China is likely to exploit to deepen its influence within global health bodies and position itself as the main partner for the developing world. Under the “America First Global...

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A customs scheme covering the entirety of Hainan, China’s southern island province, appears to have triggered a surge in consumption since its inception last week, with the province’s tourism hub Sanya recording more than 500 million yuan (US$71.25 million) in duty-free sales over five days. Analysts cautioned, however, that the greater significance of the policy lies less in short-term spending boosts than in whether Hainan can diversify its economy beyond its previous reliance on real estate...

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Biotech firm Insilico Medicine, backed by the Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC), is building a “digital Einstein” to revolutionise how scientists discover new medicines, and plans to continue expanding its research base in China to stay ahead of global rivals after its Hong Kong listing on Tuesday. “Biotechnology is a high-risk field like a ‘molecular casino’,” said founder Alex Zhavoronkov. “Even with artificial intelligence, you can lose 90 per cent of the time.” The 11-year-old company...

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The open source approach championed by some Chinese tech companies is preventing monopoly platforms from taking hold in artificial intelligence (AI). The massive investment in AI is justified in the case of repeat monopoly winners from previous waves of tech development, such as Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Google and Meta. However, as China views proprietary systems and platforms as potential chokepoints, it is leveraging its market to develop open source substitutes. Users in the wider world...

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The People’s Liberation Army began a second day of drills around Taiwan on Tuesday. The PLA Eastern Theatre Command said troops would conduct exercises simulating attacks on maritime targets, as well as anti-air and anti-submarine operations to the north and south of the island. The command on Monday said the drills – dubbed Justice Mission 2025 – were a warning to the “independence forces” and against external interference. They come amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait after...

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US President Donald Trump on Monday described Beijing’s large-scale military exercises around Taiwan as routine activities that have occurred “for 20-25 years”, expressing no concern over the escalation and instead citing his personal rapport with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “I have a great relationship with President Xi, and he hasn’t told me anything about it,” Trump said in remarks to reporters during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate...

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Nearly two months after Japan’s new prime minister enraged Beijing with her remarks on Taiwan, the issue is not going away. Sanae Takaichi set off a diplomatic firestorm in November when she suggested that Japan could justify a military response if Beijing attacked Taiwan. Beijing hit back with diplomatic, economic and military pressure in a campaign analysts said reflected concerns about Japan’s assertiveness on regional security and closer ties with the US and other allies. Tensions are...

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Venezuela criticised the United States on Monday over its decision to approve a large-scale arms sale to Taiwan, aligning itself with Beijing as tensions escalated around the island. In a statement issued by the foreign ministry, the Venezuelan government said the sale interfered in China’s internal affairs and breached international commitments undertaken by Washington. It reiterated its support for the one-China principle and said Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China’s territory”. The...

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Researchers in China have developed a fully modular, intelligent electric-drive heavy-duty vehicle that could be used as a mobile launcher for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The researchers said the vehicle could “crab walk” through tight or obstructed terrain that would defeat conventional launchers and its near-silent operation improved its stealth abilities. A prototype was unveiled in Beijing on December 21, less than two years after the project was approved in January 2024 as...

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Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. PLA holds drills around Taiwan in warning to ‘separatists’ after US arms deal The People’s Liberation Army kicked off drills around Taiwan on Monday that it called “legitimate and necessary” to safeguard national unity, soon after Washington approved the largest-ever arms sale to Taiwan.
2. Cambodia and Thailand agree to resume exchanges after meeting with...

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Taiwan is seeking to fuse satellite, radar and drone data into a “connectivity” network as part of Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s multibillion-dollar bid to build a layered defence shield to counter Beijing’s possible missile attacks. The plan, which Lai calls the “Taiwan shield” and officials and analysts often refer to as the backbone of a broader “T-Dome” concept, is intended to overhaul how Taiwan detects, tracks and intercepts incoming threats. In a televised interview on Sunday,...

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Recent data on China’s external accounts presents a conundrum: while the country’s trade surplus has broken records, surpassing the US$1 trillion benchmark in the first 11 months of the year, growth in its official foreign exchange reserves has lagged. This seeming paradox prompts a question – where did the money go? Analysts said the gap reflects how much of the surplus has flowed back overseas through asset investment, largely made by private-sector players, leaving China’s external accounts...

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China has protested to Panama over the removal on the weekend of a monument to the Chinese community, calling on Panamanian authorities to investigate the incident. The Chinese-Panamanian Friendship Park has reportedly been in need of repair and the demolition was deemed by Beijing as “hurting the broad interests of China-Panama friendship”. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday that China was “seriously dissatisfied” with Arraijan authorities for the demolition of the park...

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Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to consolidate their ceasefire and restore exchanges after trilateral talks held in China. The three sides had “in-depth exchanges on working step by step through mutual efforts to resume normal exchanges, rebuild political mutual trust, improve Cambodia-Thailand relations and safeguard regional stability”, according to Beijing’s foreign ministry. The ministry issued the statement following a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Thai counterpart...

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China has criticised Israel’s decision to recognise Somaliland, a move that prompted strong criticism from neighbouring countries. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that no country should “incite or support separatist forces” for “selfish interests”, characterising the territory as an “inseparable part” of Somalia. “China firmly supports Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and opposes any act of splitting Somali territory,” the ministry’s spokesman Lin Jian told a...

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Chinese household appliances maker Dreame Technology will present gifts of gold and a trip to Antarctica to employees, on top of their year-end bonuses, as the company boosted its position as one of the world’s leading vendors of robot vacuum cleaners. The additional largesse was revealed over the weekend by Dreame founder and CEO Yu Hao in his WeChat Moments post. Yu said every employee will receive a one-gram gold bonus in addition to their standard year-end payout. The company also planned to...

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