China’s tech news, quarterly
December 2023 | November 2023 | October 2023
In Q4 2023, China’s tech news of course covered a huge range of developments and issues, including: the China-Singapore cross-border digital yuan pilot for, initially, tourist payments; China’s fast growth in space technologies across launch systems and schedules, and satellites; immense growth in state funding for China’s semiconductor-related industries; China’s moves to control the RISC-V open standard chips architecture; and many more.
Other editions: Asia’s tech news, daily (via LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter/X); and Indo-Pacific technology newsletters, weekly.
Also available:
Critical technologies news across Q4 2023
December 2023
- UK’s Standard Chartered becomes first foreign bank to join China’s CBDC pilot, aiming to explore e-CNY use in cross-border merchant payments, trade financing and supply chain finance
- China: Hexin Technology CPU developer announces processor based on RISC-V architecture, featuring 110 billion transistors and built on the IBM Power ISA open standard
- China: Biren AI chip firm gains $282M Guangzhou government-backed investment, in part a bid to develop domestic supply chain
“Asia Research Engagement found that to align with a climate-safe future and decarbonize, alternative proteins would need to make up 50% of China’s protein consumption by 2060“
- China: DeepSeek AI launches conversational AI, DeepSeek Chat, trained on a dataset of 2 trillion tokens in English and Chinese and claiming equal to or better performance than Meta’s Llama
- Stellantis, parent to brands including Jeep and Chrysler, acquired a 20% stake in China’s Leapmotor to gain a presence in the growing global EVs market
- China: Landspace to launch its 3rd methane-oxygen Zhuque 2 rocket in January 2024, with satellites as payload
India, China & Foxconn:
“Manufacturing an entire iPhone 15 within India — that is going to be projected as a big moment not just for Apple, but [also] for India.”
- An at-a-glance look at how, in China, artificial intelligence-powered virtual hosts are having an impact on the country’s livestreaming e-commerce activities
- China: Fudan University has established approximately $141M technology innovation fund-of-funds, looking at ‘commercialisation of on- and off-campus scientific findings’
- China: CERES-1 Y9 commercial rocket launch delivered 2 satellites into orbit, one featuring remote sensing and laser comm’s, the other a part of 100-sat StarPool Plan constellations
- China: Shanghai Gesi Aerospace Tech secures $84.8M Series A with R&D, design and ‘smart manufacturing’ for mass-production of satellites and components
- Singapore and China to work on cross-border ‘digital yuan’ pilot project, building on 2020 digital finance MOU, allowing travelers from both to use e-CNY locally
- China: Jiangnan Shipyards unveils design for nuclear-powered ultra-large container ship, likely based on use of thorium, with capacity of 24000 containers
- China: Jielong-3 solid rocket successfully launches from mobile sea platform in Guangdong, with payload likely related to 13000-satellite Guowang mega-constellation
- ‘Putting China’s top LLMs to the test’, a look at artificial intelligence model performance – and issues – in the country
“With [China] accounting for as much as 23% of transnational data flows…Beijing’s stringent data localization requirements have sweeping implications for global trade, investment, and innovation.”
- Download: ‘Fragmenting Cyberspace – The future of the internet in China’ from MERICS Research
- “For China, one way around technology transfer restrictions is advanced packaging, because so far it’s a safe space that everyone invests in…”
- China: Selected cities prep to distribute up to $2.8M in digital yuan-tied coins and vouchers, requiring citizens to open or hold digital yuan wallets with commercial banks or Alipay to be eligible
- Leading United Arab Emirates AI firm, G42, reportedly to phase out Chinese hardware, chips and processors in realignment move
“Temu makes a loss of around 30-35% on each US order, and an average of 40% on orders globally… budgeted $2.76BN in net loss for 2023, now it has increased that to $3.17BN…”
- China commences installation of 1300-tonne watertight data centre on seafloor off Hainan, the first of 100 planned, spanning 13 football fields and using seawater to cool, thereby cutting electricity costs
- China: Changxin Memory Technologies semiconductor chip-maker delays IPO, instead looking at a fundraising round built around $19.5BN valuation
- China: 01AI, founded by former Google China head, reportedly mulling raising up to $200M, building on $1BN valuation
- China’s Space Program in 2023: ‘From heavy-lift reusable rockets to satellite internet, a look at China’s progress on top space priorities’ via The Diplomat
“…10900 chip-related companies have lost their registration in 2023… That means an average of 30 Chinese chip-related companies closed their doors each day in 2023.”
- China: Temu e-commerce giant sues rival platform, Shein, alleging the fast fashion firm ‘bullied, intimidated, and even detained’ suppliers in campaign of ‘mafia-style intimidation’
- China’s Ministry of Public Security rolls out RealDID blockchain-based ID verification, claiming decentralized anonymity but raising new social credit surveillance concerns
- China: ChangXin Memory Technologies DRAM firm presented research on gate-all-around transistors, signaling developments towards ability to produce 3-nanometre chips
- China: Taicang College Student Entrepreneurship Park in Jiangsu, north of Shanghai, launches impressive range of startup support initiatives, subsidies and incentives for participation
- China: UK’s Arm Holdings chip-maker has laid off more than 70 software engineers in China, relocating some roles outside of the country, ‘to focus on direct support for local developers’
- Some Chinese semiconductor firms are reportedly turning to Malaysian chip packaging firms for aspects of high-end chip assembly, hedging against US sanctions risks
- China: Former central bank governor says China needs to lead the world in CBDC adoption as the way to globalize the currency and transform the yuan into ‘the most stable currency’
- China’s Nio electric vehicle maker gains $2.2BN from Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings in midst of price war competition; mulls spinning off its battery production unit
- China: Galactic Energy launch firm secures $154M for development of reusable Pallas-1 rocket, capable of delivering 5000kg to low Earth orbit or 3000kg to 700km sun-synchronous orbit
- China: Regulator further limits social media, banning ‘incorrect values’ including ‘the wrong career values’ and ‘promoting pessimism’
- ‘Examining China’s Grand Strategy For RISC-V’, an analysis from The Jamestown Foundation looking at the open-standard chips architecture as a hedge against US-led tech sanctions
- China: Gov’t bans export of technologies used to create rare earth magnets, adding to export restrictions on minerals graphite and germanium
- ‘How 2023 marked the death of anonymity online in China’ via MIT Technology Review
- China to boost rules limiting money and time that can be spent on gaming, citing ‘game content that endangers national unity’ and ‘endangers national security or harms national reputation and interests’
“Tencent lost about $43.5 billion in market value… after China surprised financial markets with a fresh set of rules aimed at curbing excessive gaming…”
- China successfully adds 2 satellites to Beidou positioning system – but fails with staging rocket re-entry landing in inhabited area
- World-first cross-border CBDC-backed precious metal deal by Shanghai and HK Bank of China branches and Shanghai Gold Exchange completes gold transaction worth $14.1M
- China: Cities of Nanning and Fangchenggang unveil plans to ‘build a digital [yuan] application pilot demonstration zone for the ASEAN’, looking for region-wide cross-border de-dollarization
- China: Phase II of Guangdong Semiconductor & Integrated Circuit Industry Equity Investment Fund initiated, a $1.5BN local gov’t version of national Big Fund
- China, AI & intellectual property: “It could give creators an incentive to use Chinese-made systems… There’s a trillion-dollar AI industry behind that 500-yuan ruling.” >>>
The ruling — which can be appealed and may not apply to every AI case — differs from a decision by the U.S. Copyright Office earlier this year, which found that AI-generated images “are not the product of human authorship” and therefore can’t be copyrighted. In the Chinese case, though, the court found that the plaintiff — who was awarded just 500 yuan, or $70 — made original decisions and choices to write a prompt and choose other inputs.
“The ruling, being the first decision on AIGC copyright infringement by a Chinese court, is very significant,” Zhang said. “Its issuance by the Beijing Internet Court, despite being a relatively low-tier court, signals a substantial policy endorsement for the AI industry.”
- China: Nine more banks join digital yuan pilot project, taking number offering CBDC wallets to 60 with institutions including megabanks, credit providers and beyond
- China: Bank of China Dongguan launches country’s first ATM allowing the opening of digital yuan wallets for overseas passport holders, handling cash-to-CBDC exchange across 18 currencies
- China: SigmaStar chip maker sets sights on $780M IPO via Shanghai Star Market, building on the country’s bid for semiconductor and high-tech independence
“The 12,000-sat G60 Starlink project, along with the 13,000-sat Guo Wang national network which is currently under construction, is widely seen as China’s answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink”
“The G60 megaconstellation is also a vital link in the aerospace information industry, which has an industrial chain including satellites, data application services, artificial intelligence and deep learning to support the processing of huge amounts of data captured by satellites.”
- China Nat’l Space Admin and Egyptian Space Agency ink cooperation agreements for Egypt participation in China’s International Lunar Research Station project, China-led BRICS satellite constellation and more
- China’s Luxshare, a key Apple production partner, to acquire major stake in iPhone assembly plant currently operated by Taiwan’s Pegatron in $300M deal, becoming serious competitor to Foxconn
- China: A very brief outline of the Deep Underground and Ultra-low Radiation Background Facility for Frontier Physics Experiments, exploring fields including particle physics, nuclear astrophysics and life sciences
- “Geopolitical developments are shaping India’s view that it cannot be agnostic about technology and that it does have to make choices. And technology in turn is driving and shaping competitive geopolitics.”
- China’s WeRide gains Singapore licenses allowing self-driving ‘robobuses’ to test on public roads in areas including the One North tech cluster and the National University of Singapore
- ‘Binance’s settlement requires it to offer years of transaction data to US regulators and cops, exposing the company—and its customers—to a “24/7, 365-days-a-year financial colonoscopy.’
- China’s CICC Capital enter South Korea with launch of a private equity fund, targeting investments in promising firms in fields including semiconductors, biotech and new materials
- Indonesia: TikTok to pay $840M to acquire majority stake in Tokopedia, GoTo’s e-commerce unit, in $1.5BN bid for TikTok to re-open in the country following gov’t ban over competition worries
- Head of Russian State Duma Committee on the Financial Markets says Moscow and Beijing may begin using CBDCs – digital ruble and digital yuan – for payments as soon as 2024
“Tether is banned in Cambodia but is frequently used to move money in and out of China… for gambling, and laundering money… also appeals to crime groups running online gaming and cyber scams in Southeast Asia…”
- “TikTok has given special status to certain high-profile accounts, with moderators in Europe encouraged to be more lenient with content posted by people including Russell Brand…”
- Malaysia: China’s BEST Inc logistics services firm to open its largest sorting center in Selangor, alongside 220,000-square-meter facility linking Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia to its network
- Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority inks MoU with China’s Tianjin Municipal Transportation Commission to develop Tianjin Green and Digital Shipping Corridor, involving multiple stakeholders and institutions
- Critical minerals: “The existing rare earths refining process is a nightmare… That’s why there are so many companies promising new methods, because we need new ones.”
November 2023
- China’s Tsingshan preps for $233M investment in Chilean mining firm SQM, gaining access to 11,244 tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate at a preferential price until 2030
- China: Tencent implements Hunyuan AI model in over 180 services as Baidu and Alibaba competition heats up, with likely goal of making AI a core feature across all its products
- China: Didi Chuxing ride-share giant unveils service allowing citizens in 250 areas to use ‘digital yuan’ CBDC to rent motorcycles via app-run sharing service
“Users in the pilot zone will now be able to choose the e-CNY as a payment option in the Didi Chuxing app, as well as launching quick CBDC payment options on mobile widgets when hiring motorbikes.”
- ICYMI: Canadian state officials banned from use of China’s WeChat and Russian Kaspersky antivirus on gov’t-issued mobile devices due to ‘unacceptable’ privacy and security risks
- China: WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Baidu, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili and other tech majors now display real names and info for accounts with over 500K followers under gov’t mandate to curb anonymity
- China: CATL, world’s largest battery maker, unveils new base with assembly lines claiming production of 1 battery cell per second, and entire EV battery pack in under 3 mins
- China’s space-tech moves: “By offering the chance to win missions from the space agency, China is pursuing a strategy used by NASA with Mr Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp…”
- “Yangtze Memory Technologies Co, China’s largest memory chip maker, has had to appeal for new funding after burning through cash reserves in its efforts to adapt to sanctions…”
“Qatar’s state-owned energy firm has entered into a 27-year sales and purchase agreement with China Petrochemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, to supply 3 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually.”
- China: Xiaomi launches its own cross-device HyperOS, aiming for a single, unified platform for all products; Huawei continues detaching HarmonyOS from Android
- A look at China’s initial roaring successes, and more recent mounting challenges, in bitcoin mining
- China: 01AI unveils Yi-34B large language AI model, founded by Kai-Fu Lee, former head of Google in China and co-chair of World Economic Forum AI Council
- China: “…firms such as Huawei and Tencent accounted for 6 of the top 10 global patent holdings in the cybersecurity technology sector… registered across 95 countries and regions.”
- China: iSpace completes the country’s first reusable rocket test, performing a 50-second ‘hop’, with the first stage of the launch vehicle running on methane and liquid oxygen mix
- China: Space Pioneer commercial launch firm announces new funding round for development of Tianlong-3 rocket, broadly comparable to SpaceX Falcon 9
- China to place Queqiao-2 sat in lunar orbit using Long March 8 rocket in early 2024, a 1200kg satellite with a lifespan of 8+ years, to facilitate communications for future moon missions
- China: Huawei unveils 5.5G router, LampSite X, claiming data transfer speeds up to 10Gbps and with sights on consumer, industrial and business district settings
- China: Importers & exporters must now report transactions, orders and shipments of rare earths, oxide products, crude oil, iron ore, copper ore concentrates, potash fertilisers and more
- ICYMI: Thunes, Singapore B2B payments major serving Uber, Deliveroo and others, inks cross-border digital yuan cooperation deal with China Construction Bank
- ICYMI: PetroChina became first company to complete international crude oil trade using China’s CBDC, acquiring 1M barrels with digital yuan, although transaction value and seller were not disclosed
- China: SMIC, the country’s largest chipmaker, posted a 80% profit drop in Q3 profits, tho income still reached $94M
“The 44 fabs currently operated by Chinese companies exclude seven sites where construction is temporarily suspended. The 44 comprise 25 fabs at 300mm, 4 fabs in 6-inch wafers, and 15 fabs for 200mm wafers. The 22 under construction are 14 for 300mm wafers and 8 for 200mm wafers. The 10 wafer fabs in planning are all for 300mm wafers except one.”
“…by the end of 2024, China is aiming to establish 32 large fabs, and all of them are about to focus on relatively mature processes.”
- “China claims to have launched the world’s first ultra-high-speed next-generation Internet backbone with a bandwidth of 1,200 GB per second (1.2 Terrabytes)…”
- China: First of a new series of Haiyang ocean monitoring satellites entered orbit, adding to capabilities in observation across environmental factors, and also marine navigation
- China Unicom, State Grid Shandong and Huawei unveil 5G RedCap project built on network slicing, allowing end-to-end use of ‘slices’ of the network by particular applications
- China: SophGo chip-maker developes high-performance RISC-V chips based on designs from US firm, SiFive, with Shandong University successfully deploying a Sophgo RISC-V server
- China’s Boyaa Interactive gaming firm, listed on HK Stock Exchange, looking to buy $100M in cryptocurrencies, constituting near 38% of firm’s total assets, to deepen Web3 activities
- China: Gov’t declares that theft of digital collections including NFTs will now be subject to theft sentences, marking policy shift towards legally aligning digital assets with tangible property
- China: Huawei and Chery automaker unveil Luxeed S7 electric vehicle, setting the stage for competition with Tesla
- China: Alibaba walks back IPO plans to spin off and list $11BN cloud business, in the process dropping an estimated $22BN in share value
- ‘Bolstering and Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains’, a study from the National Bureau of Asian Research, focusing on Japan, the United States and China
- China: Rokid augmented reality firm raised $112M at a $1BN valuation with AR hardware and software, and plans for gaming, education and metaverse-focused growth
- “China’s broadcasting regulator is looking to tighten control over the growing short web drama market – including a sweeping review of each series’ cast, production, marketing and social values…”
- China Mobile to debut commercial 5G messaging in December, based on RCS and capable of video, image and voice in step up from SMS and MMS services
- State-run China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund invested $1.99BN in Changxin Xinqiao chip-maker with stated focus on DRAM and 12-inch wafer design and manufacture
“Shanghai is aiming to foster a complete industrial chain for commercial rocket production, with an annual production capacity of 50 commercial rockets and 600 commercial satellites by 2025…”
- China: PonyAI gains first license in Guangzhou for on-road formation testing of groups of PonyTron autonomous trucks
- China: 3-year plan unveiled to develop Guangdong into ‘Digital Bay Area’, pooling manufacturing, trade and tech within the Greater Bay Area in bid to boost self-sufficiency
- China’s Gotion and Slovakia’s InoBat ink MOU to build Slovakia EV battery plant
- China: Landspace announces plans for reusable stainless steel launch vehicle, Zhuque-3, using methane-liquid oxygen propellant rocket engines
Huawei’s 5G chip:
“He explained that the designing of 5G chips is not necessarily difficult for Chinese researchers and companies, so it wouldn’t have been that hard for Huawei to create a 5G chip in the lab. What is much harder is mass-producing a 5G chip at great quality and reasonable costs so it can be used in a consumer product.”
“…industry was surprised by how quickly it had been able to turn around a design, shift to a Chinese fab, manufacture the new chip, and get it to production rate…”
- China: Recent launches found to contain multiple satellite payloads, with no details beyond ‘experiment satellite for satellite internet technologies’
- China: Africa-based Wicrypt, enabling users to share and monetise Wi-Fi using blockchain tech and NFTs, to enter China market via partnership with Singapore’s Onega Ventures
- NVIDIA has delayed China launch of new sanctions-safe AI chip until Q1 2024, citing integration challenges
- Crypto: Bridge mechanism connecting China’s HTX exchange, formerly Huobi, and Ethereum was breached, leading to the loss of $87M in crypto assets
- China: Huawei partners Changan carmaker to establish R&D company in design and sales of intelligent auto systems and component solutions
- Chinese-owned Nexperia chip-maker to acquire Dutch semiconductor firm following Netherlands gov’t approval, gaining chips using ambient electricity sources such as light as a power source
- China: Alibaba cuts quantum computing laboratory and team from research arm, donating lab and experimental equipment to Zhejiang University
- Cambodia: “Two prominent Chinese government hacking groups are targeting at least 24 Cambodian government organizations through cloud backup services, according to a new report.”
“Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim said that [China’s] Geely will invest around $10BN in…Tanjung Malim, in the state of Perak… will transform Tanjung Malim into an ‘automotive high-tech valley.'”
- Digital yuan enters Taiwan with locally-based firm issuing ‘ultra-short-term financing bonds’, launched by Xiamen Xiangyu Group and underwritten by China’s state-owned Industrial Bank
- “Meta Platforms struck a deal with Tencent Holdings to sell a new, low-cost virtual-reality (VR) headset in China in a return to a market where Facebook and Instagram are blocked…”
- Singapore: dtcpay to launch system using fiat and crypto for in-store and online payments, partnering China’s PlatON and Allinpay Int’l for blockchain, terminals and interfacing
- Available now: “Relying on old enemies – The challenge of Taiwan’s economic ties to China”, a report from the Atlantic Council
- Cambodia: National Bank inks MOU with China’s Alipay+ enabling KHWR payments via the Bakong CBDC system to merchants using the global Alipay network
October 2023
- China: Central bank Shenzhen Branch joins Shanghai Gold Exchange to explore CBDC-tied gold recycling; recycled gold amounted to 20% of domestic supply in 2018
- China: ‘Super SIM’ cards moves add digital yuan wallets, smartcards, ID cards, NFC tech and more, alongside option to manually fit on to existing ID cards
- China: Alibaba logistics arm, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, heads for Hong Kong IPO, reportedly aiming to raise $1BN-$2BN
- ICYMI: Telegram moves towards WeChat-style super app and mini-app ecosystem with cloud infrastructure provided by WeChat’s owner, Tencent
- China to expand Tiāngōng space station from 3 to 6 modules whilst expanding operational lifetime from 10 years to beyond 15, with sights on ISS retirement in 2030
- Spain plans $527M to grow 5G networks in rural areas with suppliers considered ‘high risk’ to be excluded; Huawei objects, claiming the move is politically motivated
- European Union to open anti-subsidy investigations on Chinese steelmakers, building on EV investigations announced last month, with both actions citing China’s gov’t-subsidized competitive practices
- China: Huawei digs into open-source via KubeCon China 2023 with sights on Linux-based CAMARA and ONAP open source projects in telecoms, APIs, network mgmt and more
- “With advancements in AI, several Chinese companies are now venturing into the world of ‘griefbots’ and digital avatars, which help reconnect with lost loved ones. But experts warn of…”
- Self-driving truck firm, Plus, splits China and US arms in bid to insulate operations from US-PRC tensions and tightening regulatory oversight in China
- China: HaomoAI, autonomous drive-tech firm backed by Great Wall Motor, unveils low-cost Advanced Driver Assistance System kits to enable autonomous driving on highways
- China: Public-facing generative AI model training data regulation proposed, with data sources containing ‘more than 5% of illegal and harmful information’ to be blacklisted
- China: Ofilm camera modules firm, previously an Apple supplier but dropped due to tech blacklisting, takes tech skills to Huawei Mate 60 as a contractor
- China: Baichuan AI firm from Sogou search engine founder raised $300M from backers including Alibaba and Tencent
- ICYMI: Five Eyes network officials – US, UK, Canada, Australia & NZ – raise range of tech threats, attacks and manipulations arising from China during Silicon Valley visit
- China: CGST satellite firm claims 10GB per second data transfer from space to ground station via laser; now with sights on 40-100Gbps and multiple ground stations
- China: Jianghui Automobile Group, key contract automaker supplier for major Nio EV firm, to sell 2 factories
- China’s BeyonCa electric vehicle battery firm, backed by Renault and state-owned Dongfeng, inks stake sale agreement with Saudi Al Faisaliah Group, with sights on Middle East EV market
- China: Geely and Baidu launch AI-powered 01 ROBOCAR EV, featuring Baidu’s full Apollo suite of Level 4 autonomous driving solutions
- China’s PonyAI autonomous driving firm gains $100M from Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, adding to JV plans around advanced vehicles and infrastructure in NEOM and MENA markets
- South Korea: Gov’t forms task force on online manipulation of public opinion following Asian Games soccer match support mimicking Korean users in support of opposing team
- Malaysia: Automotive High-Technology Valley project formalised with agreement inked between Malaysia’s DRB-Hicom conglomerate and China’s Geely automaker
- Kazakhstan: TikTok CEO makes inroads with Kazakh President at Digital Bridge Forum, aiming to build company presence on foundation of TikTok StartUp Academy project
- Bangladesh: Huawei adds to country presence with second edition of Huawei ICT Competition for undergrad students, further growing the competition’s global footprint
- HK Science & Tech Park inks MOU with China’s J2 Semiconductor, aiming for R&D hub for 3rd-gen semiconductors and silicon carbide 8-inch advanced wafer production
- Myanmar: Coup leaders seek China input for biometric ID system, building on collection of fingerprints, iris, face biometrics and other personal info from citizens 10 years and older
- Taiwan’s Foxconn hit with economic coercion via tax audits and land use probes in China, likely in response to Foxconn founder standing for election in Taiwan
- Philippines’ National Coast Watch Center inks agreement with Canada’s satellite-based Dark Vessel Detection System to monitor China’s maritime militia activities in PH waters
- “Rever Automotive’s exclusive distribution rights for BYD represent a formidable challenge for Japanese and South Korean automakers in the Thai electric vehicle market…”
- ICYMI: Nicosia, capital of Cyprus, rolls out Huawei and PROBOTEK solution for early fire detection using 5G, AI and drones
- Kazakhstan’s Science Fund partners Singapore/China Quest Ventures to boost research commercialization and startup growth
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