China’s technology news headlines in June 2024 of course covered a huge range of subjects, areas, issues and opportunities, including: China’s lunar dark-side sample collecting mission; the build-out of China’s 12000-satellite mega-constellation; a blockchain-based electric vehicle battery record from Volvo-Geely; DJI Drones’ testing of drones in Mount Everest’s demanding conditions; and many more.
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Truth and reality with Chinese characteristics: CCP propaganda
- ICYMI: Amazon reportedly to add discount section to compete with Temu and Shein featuring low-cost goods for shipping from China to overseas consumers / full item
- Japan’s Toyota, partnering with China’s state-owned Guangzhou Automobile Group, looks to launch autonomous driving-enabled EV in China, hoping to recover from sales slump / full item
- ‘China’s subsea strategy and a new data center for Singapore’ from Nikkei Asia and the Financial Times / full item
- China’s Chang’e-6 reentry capsule returned to Earth on June 25th, completing 53-day mission and returning with near 2kg of samples from the moon’s far side / full item
- Download: ‘How China’s Human Capital Impacts Its National Competitiveness’, a brief from CSIS, the Center for Strategic and International Studies / full item
- OnTime AKA Ruqi Mobility, a ride-hailing firm backed by Tencent, looks to raise $179MM in IPO, with trading set for Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July / full item
KPMG Venture Pulse Q1 2024 – Asia findings
- China: First 18 satellites commencing build-out of China’s G60 Starlink mega-constellation of over 12,000 satellites is set for August 5th / full item
- China’s ByteDance, parent firm of TikTok, is now working with chips firm, Broadcom, on a restrictions-compliant 5 nanometer AI-focused processor design / full item
- China: OpenAI has warned developers in China it will begin blocking access to its tools and software from July, with reasoning not yet provided / full item
- China: Huawei and Tencent deal underway to allow WeChat super-app to run on Huawei’s HarmonyOS platform without revenue-sharing, looking to boost lead over Apple in China / full item
“[Huawei’s] HarmonyOS had 17% market share during the first quarter… ahead of Apple’s iOS with 16%. Google’s Android is still by far the most popular mobile OS, with a 68% share…” / full item
- China Manned Space Engineering Office selected 10 astronauts for 4th astronaut cohort, with Hong Kong and Macao astronauts participating for the first time / full item
- ICYMI: Russia’s central bank adopts China’s yuan as its official benchmark currency, ends trading in USD and euros following expansion of Ukraine war sanctions / full item
Critical technologies, globally, in Q2 2024
- China In 2035: ‘China’s youthful urbanization changed the world. What will happen as the country ages and slows down?’ / full item
- “Recent insolvencies, such as that of Shanghai Wusheng Semiconductor, have raised concerns about widespread closures…. 23 semiconductor companies withdraw their IPO applications…” / full item
“…speculation has hit the internet in China, suggesting that… Huawei has become China’s largest beef importer due to payments it received from Argentinian clients made in beef…” / full item
- China: DJI drones firm completes Mt Everest tests of FlyCart 30, flying supplies from Base Camp to 6K meters above sea level, with sights now on capacity tests with successively heavier payloads / full item
- NVIDIA cuts price of China-focused AI chip, developed to accommodate US-led advanced tech restrictions, in bid to compete with Huawei chip locally / full item
Stormwall Q1 2024 DDoS cyber attacks
- Amsterdam to phase out over 1000 China-made surveillance cameras in traffic and public spaces, citing spying and human rights concerns / full item
- China’s foldable phone pioneer, Royole, forced into bankruptcy, finding domestic and international competition too fierce / full item
- China: Beijing rolls out low-altitude economy action plan in bid to develop and commercialize the flying cars industry / full item
China: “…Beijing even released an open-source [OS] called OpenKylin with the express purpose of lowering reliance on Windows. But the new system doesn’t seem to be any more popular than Linux…” / full item
- Microsoft China division unveils partnership with Tencent, looking to publish Tencent’s vast Android catalog on Windows, focusing on desktop environments / full item
- Volvo, owned by China’s Geely, to launch world-first EV battery ‘passport’ recording origins of materials, components and more for EX90 SUV using blockchain / full item
- China: World’s largest wind turbine for energy production enters testing with 260m rotor diameter, and a swept area of 53,000 square meters / full item
The State of Crypto: The Fortune 500 Moving Onchain
- ‘Autocratic Connectivity In China And India’: “The ruling parties of the world’s two largest nations are fusing high-tech tools with old-fashioned patronage and local wardens.” / full item
- China: Space Pioneer rocket developer completes $207 million funding round focusing on development of reusable rockets, building on kerosene-oxygen work / full item
- China: Some AI chip firms are now reportedly designing less-powerful processors to maintain access to TSMC in bid to side-step US-led sanctions / full item
- China’s Baidu internet giant to provide Baidu Map services for Tesla EVs in approach to mainland launch of Tesla’s fully self-driving system / full item
- TikTok & EU elections: ‘TikTok performed worst in new test of social media platforms’ ability to detect election disinformation’ / full item
- China: Police arrested 193 across 26 provinces in money laundering bust of gang using Tether cryptocurrency to evade for-ex regulations, transacting over $1.9BN illegally / full item
ORF: China’s digital silk road in the Indo-Pacific
- China’s Lenovo Group to sell $2BN convertible bonds to Saudi sovereign wealth fund in discounted deal, R&D centre set for Riyadh alongside boosted Saudi production plans / full item
- China’s Gotion battery maker partners Spain’s Phi4Tech Technology Group and UAE’s Unicorn RE for energy storage and new materials in Spain, seeking growth in EU markets / full item
China: “But the new terminology also breaks fresh ground in three areas. First, ‘new quality productive forces’ is a specifically Marxist term…” / full item
- China: Alibaba invests $27M in Zhejiang Jingzhunxue AI-driven education startup and Bong device, a personalized learning tool powered by large language models / full item
TikTok’s latest US move: “The code-splitting initiative, reportedly underway for several months, involves hundreds of engineers sifting through millions of lines of code.” / full item
- China: PonyAI preps for self-driving taxi trial between Beijing South Railway Station and suburb of Yizhuang, with approvals and permits expected within weeks / full item
- China: Ant Group, Mastercard, 12 overseas Alipay+ partners and major international card organizations partner to launch International Consumer Friendly Zones program in Shanghai / full item
IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024
- China Railway Rolling Stock Corp partners France’s OPmobility for JV on hydrogen systems for use in ‘smart trams’ in Malaysia, and rail applications in China / full item
- Saudi Arabia’s Prosperity7 fund injects $400M into China’s Zhipu AI, reportedly as the only foreign investor, suggesting a Saudi desire for a competitive AI marketplace / full item
- China: Chang’e-6 lunar vehicle successfully landed on the moon’s far side, with preparation underway to collect material samples / full item
- Proposed US legislation may create structure for national security audit of connected vehicles manufactured in China, and other adversarial nations, effectively blocking imports / full item
- Chinese satnav industry hits $74BN output, has 20,000 entities and employs near 1 million; Beijing and Moscow to boost cooperation on BeiDou and GLONASS GPS alternatives / full item
- China launched Pakistan’s PAKSAT MM1 from Sichuan, ostensibly to provide better and widespread internet access, and building on early-May iCube-Qamar launch / full item
KPMG Venture Pulse Q1 2024
- China: Landspace commercial rocket firm partner files documents for Honghu-3, a constellation of 10,000 satellites spanning 160 orbital planes, China’s third of this size / full item
- China’s Chang’e-6 to make lunar landing attempt in bid to collect the first samples from Apollo crater on the far side of the moon / full item
- China: Industrial Bank launches CBDC-driven carbon credits, delivering ‘personal carbon account points’ when purchases are made using China’s ‘digital yuan’ / full item
- Renault-Volkswagen low-cost EV manufacturing deal collapses, resulting in Renault-China deal / full item
- China: Tencent launches Yuanbao AI chatbot app in bid to compete with domestic tech companies and with OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the wider world / full item
- Nexperia, semiconductor maker owned by China’s WingTech, to invest $200M in expanding capacity at main production site in Germany, despite growing scrutiny around subsidies / full item
- India: China’s Vivo smartphone giant reportedly to sell factory stake to Tata Group, responding to tightening scrutiny of foreign businesses operating in India / full item
Interpol Global Financial Fraud Assessment 2024 (direct pdf link)
- ‘Indonesia’s $5 billion deal with Tesla is only part of its all-in strategy on nickel mining’ / full item
- HSBC China rolls out e-CNY services to corporate clients, the first foreign bank to offer services around central bank digital currency to both retail and corporate sectors / full item
- Thailand: “…data showed that from January 2022 to March 2023, a total of 1,704 factories ceased operations… domestic manufacturers faced fierce competition from low-priced imported goods…” / full item
- Thailand: China’s GalaxySpace satellite maker establishes first overseas ground test station for low Earth orbit services at Mahanakorn University / full item
- Malaysia: China’s ByteDance to expand footprint in Malaysia with $2.13 billion AI tech hub, and $317 million data center spend / full item
- Gov’t-owned Hong Kong Investment Corp to ink agreement with as-yet unnamed local ‘unicorn’ for industrial AI and smart manufacturing across Greater Bay Area / full item
- Australia: Gov’t orders 5 China-linked firms to divest shares in Northern Minerals rare earths project, citing national interest concerns / full item
- Thailand’s GMM Music, publishing unit of Thailand’s biggest media/entertainment entity, partners China’s Tencent Music in $70M share purchase deal, with Tencent taking 10% ownership / full item
- Singapore’s Infocomm Media Dev Authority and Hong Kong’s Office of Comm’s Authority ink MOU to collaborate on combatting cross-border scams / full item
Critical technologies, globally, in Q2 2024
Indo-Pacific tech news editions
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