China's Week: December 10
Dozens of lupus patients cured; 32 Paralysis Patients with Brain-Controlled Grasping; Satellite on-orbit refueling success; $1 Trillion Trade Surplus; Mini-Sub: has nuclear batteries.
Science & Technology
Agibot A2 robot’s 65-mile nonstop trek without powering off sets Guinness Record.
CAR-NK cell therapy has cured dozens of lupus patients. It equips immune cells with a “navigation system” that lets them precisely destroy pathogenic cells or viruses.
China’s First Brain Implant Procedure now billed through the new state pricing system.
Pan Jianwei built a device so sensitive it registers the push of a single photon and faithfully recreated a thought experiment proposed by Albert Einstein.
China is the first nation to perform on-orbit refueling, a key goal of SpaceX’s Starship program.
Reusable Zhuque-3 reaches orbit on test flight, loses first stage during landing attempt.
Super-long super-high pressure steel pipe after 13 years’ R&D. For transporting high-temperature, high pressure, flammable/explosive oil, gas and chemicals.
The BYD Yangwang U8L features ‘World-first’ one-piece aluminum frame, produced using advanced low-pressure casting.
AI agents and the 90% problem: Useful AI agents are still limited by their reliability on real-world tasks. But Chinese AI agents are pushing the limit.
DeepSeek’s self-correcting AI model aces tough maths proofs, performs as well as humans at prestigious international mathematics competitions.
Instead of a thesis, an engineering student got his PhD based solely on vacuum laser welding equipment he designed.
Desalinated water in California costs $2.21 per cubic meter; UAE costs $0.50; China’s revolutionary facility makes it for $0.28 per cubic meter.
Nobelist Sir Paul Nurse: “China’s science cities are incredibly impressive. Our universities look increasingly third-worldish in comparison.”
Economy & Trade
China’s trade surplus record $1 trillion. Exports up 6.2% YoY, but exports to U.S. drop 29% in November, despite trade truce.
France’s Carbios, Wankai build enzyme-based PET degradation technology to process 50,000 tons of waste polyester, produce high-quality recycled polyester.
Not All Proteins Are Created Equal. Biosynthesis Aims at the Best. Scientists use microbe fermentation to produce a protein to fill a nutritional gap in the Chinese diet.
Chinese firms confirmed projects worth $4.18 billion in Brazil this year, up 113%
YoY, making it the third-largest recipient of Chinese investment worldwide.
The number of workers in “new forms of employment” surpassed 84 million in 2024, 21% of the total workforce. Nearly half worked fewer than 30 days.
36 robots clean Shenzhen streets : “Sanitation robots must see, understand and and adjust to the relationship between trash and ground material, moisture and adhesion”.
Medical equipment price drops: Digital X-ray from $140,000 to $28,000; CT scanner: from $280,000 to $83,000; Ultrasound: $28,000 to $6,000; MRI: $550,000 to $280,000.
Society & Environment
14-year-old Miles Wu has folded origami that can hold 10,000 times its weight, using Miura-ori fold, which is known for collapsing and expanding with precision.
Weibo hashtag #Qianwen Corrects Students’ Cursive Handwriting Homework# has gone viral over an AI-powered homework correction tool that saves teachers’ time.
China warns internet platforms not to shift tax burden onto gig workers. Celebrities, influencers, under scrutiny, regulators pursue hundreds of cases.
e-commerce, short-video and social-media platforms must report income earned by all their users. 7,000 domestic and overseas companies have complied so far.
Archaeologists found 573 stone fortresses dating to 2800 BC in Shaanxi Province, one of the most exciting findings in recent times for Chinese archaeology.
Move to seal records of minor offenses like drug use sparks public backlash.
Ancient DNA reveals China’s first domesticated cat was the leopard cat: 4,000 years ago, and wild leopard cats still roam Beijing suburbs .
A Tang dynasty (618-907) governor was the first person in Chinese history to name cats and provides the earliest written record of cats in China.
CO₂ emissions remain flat for second year, driven by record additions of solar, wind, accelerating electrification, and declining construction-material demand.
Governance
The anti-corruption campaign has changed the direction, intensity and focus on the kind of violations the Party has chosen to investigate in the past ten years.
After Exposé, China Probes Sale of Sex Dolls Resembling Children.
During famines, imperial governments published several editions of Jiuhuang Bencao, survival guides and dietary manuals on wild plants edible in emergencies.
Shanghai launches state-owned commodities trading firm to rival corrupt US global trader, Trafigura.
Diplomacy & Geopolitics
Violence intensifies across the Horn of Africa. US, allies use increasing violence to counter Chinese economic clout with which the US cannot compete.
“In all of the areas, there has been greatest uncertainty about China’s deliveries of rare earths, and that needs to be eliminated,” German FM Johann Wadephul in China.
China-Laos Railway carries 63 million passengers, 723 Mt of cargo since 2022. Daily trains on the Chinese section rose from 8 to 86.
China’s state-owned firms evolve from mere builders of foreign projects into long-term financiers and operators under public-private partnerships (PPP).
Moscow gives Chinese thirty days of unrestricted access. Bookings surge of 400% within 48 hours. Russian hotels up 50%.
The CIA engineered 1962 war which ruined China-India relations for decades. The month-long 1962 border conflict killed 6,000 and poisoned ties between them.
Defense
The mysterious vessel above may be the rumored semi-submersible missile carrier below:
China’s Type 041 Mini Nuclear Sub: reactor charges its batteries, effectively becoming a “nuclear battery,” so the submarine can navigate continuously underwater.
First high-altitude unmanned combat helicopter completes live-fire missile test above 4,000 meters. Will attempt satellite-based beyond-line-of-sight control at 6,000 meters.