China's Week: August 28
300 mph. One MW 'windmill' airship. First Decline in National Carbon Emissions. REE rules tighten. Offshore RMB stablecoins!
Technology
Flight test begins of world’s first megawatt-level 'windmill' airship, the S1500, with 1MW energy generation, equivalent to a traditional 328-foot (100-meter) wind turbine.
DeepSeek becomes China’s AI model of choice overnight. HarmonyOS update of its AI assistant, Xiaoyi, is bringing deep integration of Deepseek-R1 to all Huawei phones. Lenovo's Xiaotian platform has gone full Deepseek.
Economy & Finance
BYD’s Yangwang U9, above, with four electric motors and 1,300 horsepower, reached 300 mph, a new global EV speed record.
US companies stay put in China, none plan to move manufacturing to US.
Power consumption soared to an all-time high of 1,023 TWh in July, 2x residential of July 2019, more power than Japan, the 5th-largest power user in the world, used in all of 2024. Japan is the 5th-largest power user in the world.
Over the last 30 years, China has built a national expressway network twice the length of the American interstate system, a high-speed train network with more miles of track than the rest of the world combined, and a formidable network of ports like Shanghai, which moves more cargo than all U.S. ports combined.
Society & Environment
China Records First Decline in National Carbon Emissions: China’s renewable energy push is paying off with a 1% YoY drop in carbon emissions in H1 2025.
In a landmark ruling, a woman wins work injury claim over boss's sexual assault on a business trip was recognized as suffering a work-related injury and granted 1.13 million yuan in compensation.
Five Key Aspects of China’s poverty alleviation: Strong Leadership, People-Centered, Concerted Efforts, Self-Reliance Gradual Progress.
Governance
China Tightens Rare Earth Management. Producers must maintain detailed records and upload them to a traceability system to prevent illegal mining and smuggling.
16 Financial Measures to Boost Fujian-Taiwan Integration, including allowing Taiwanese banks to set up legal entities, subsidiaries and branches in Fujian, while also encouraging them to invest in local banks, trust companies and financial institutions.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, will discuss the use of offshore RMB stablecoins for trade settlement, part of broader discussions about expanding the use of the renminbi internationally.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
China Concord Resources Corp signs rare 20-year pact to develop two Venezuelan oilfields, investing $1B+ to pump 60,000 bpd by 2026.
‘US soybean farmers cannot survive a prolonged trade war with China’ warns the American Soybean Association.
De-dollarization in Australia. Fortescue Mining gets a $2 billion RMB loan.
Defense
The new main battle tank is the most revolutionary design to reach prototype stage this century.
The US Navy is Building a Drone Fleet to Take on China (it’s not going well).
The Marines’ Pacific island strategy uses small units deployed across the Pacific island chain armed with missiles and sensors to strike Chinese shipping and contest maritime access.
Prediction: The September 3 parade will be the greatest display of new military technology in history.