In December of 2023, China’s technology scene captured news, reports, commentary and more across items and developments including: China’s fast-accelerating satellites launch schedule; the Southeast Asia – and Russia – growth of China’s digital yuan; growing funding for, and issues surrounding, China’s bid for domestic semiconductor self-sufficiency; legal foundations for artificial intelligence in intellectual property, China’s bid for IP ownership; and many more.
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Critical technologies in December 2023
Lithium mining in Tibet: Impact on Tibet and Tibetans
- 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’
CSIS: China’s progress towards space resilience and responsive launch
- 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 chipmaker 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
EY 2024 Geostrategic Outlook: Thrive in ongoing geopolitical complexity
- 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
NBR: China’s Emerging Capabilities – cyber, space, autonomous systems
- 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
CSIS: NATO’s role in protecting critical undersea infrastructure
- 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.”
MERICS: Fragmenting Cyberspace – The future of the internet in China
- 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.”
MERICS: China’s data management – Putting the Party-State in charge
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