China's Week, November 26
Global Yttrium shortage; China beats US in medical research, remote sensing, AI patents; ASML spies on China for US; S. Korea joining BRICS?
Science & Technology
Semi-submersible, floating, 80,000-ton nuclear blast-resistant island with a crew of 238 relies on metamaterials, operates for 4 months without resupply.
At 5x Starlink’s speed, China pushed 1GBps across the planet with a candle-strength, 2-watt laser beam through atmospheric turbulence. .
China’s first lunar soil bricks return to Earth as prepares to build infrastructure on the Moon during the 2035 crewed lunar landing.
‘Nobel Prize level’ chemists’ alternative to expensive, complex, dangerous drug production method.
Laser weapon and EV part production time cut from 1 hour to 1 second using high-intensity heating and cooling.
Super-efficient catalyst turns coal into plastics, detergents, adhesives, solvents and synthetic rubbers–without petroleum–with higher efficiency and sustainability.
China overtakes US in medical research, ‘now global leader in scientific publishing and output’.
China’s rise in remote sensing research, US declines from 88% to 9%. American dominance in Earth observation science shifts to China.
Tsinghua University’s AI team receives more AI patents each year than MIT, Stanford, Princeton and Harvard combined.
Economy & Trade
Xiaomi has delivered 350,000 vehicles this year. It took 230 days to build the first 100,000 units but only 232 days for the next 200,000. 2025 shipments could be 400,000.
China Smashes Bond Sale Records: $234 Billion bid for $4 billion in bonds, 25 times the issuance size.
Yttrium shortage after China restricts REE exports. Yttrium oxide, for heat-shield coatings, up 4,400% to $270/kg. vs Chinese price of $7/kg.
China hits third 1,000-tonne gold deposit this year in Kunlun Mountains.
China-Russia E-Commerce Postal Train Service Launched; Eurasian Railway Gateway Terminal Links Belarus To China.
China-Laos Railway carried 4.5 million tonnes of cross-border goods YTD worth $3.1 billion, up 12.8% and 45.1% from a year ago, both record highs.
China-Europe Railway Express gets $4.22 billion for corridor development, port construction, hub infrastructure, supporting facilities and operations.
Imports of Russian LNG up 77% to 1.3 million tonnes, 23% of China’s total LNG imports. Much of the LNG was shipped via the Northern (Polar) Route.
AI tells humans how to build a high-speed rail tunnel. Complex data navigates fault lines, fractures, caves and sinkholes to choose the best excavation method.
“The first pilot Digital Dirham transaction, through mBridge, was conducted in 2 minutes with the Central Bank’s systems,” said DOF’s Ahmed Ali Meftah.
Society & Environment
Total power use rose 5.1% to 8.6 TKWh, led by the residential sector’s 24% YoY jump.
Independence constrains Western central banks while non-independence forces the PBoC to act: how the climate era requires revisiting central bank independence.
Renewables are 60% China’s energy capacity vs. coal’s 34%. In June, coal’s share of generation hit 51%, down from 73% in 2016.
CATL’s sodium cells improves by an order of magnitude the global energy system’s energy/KWh of installed storage, reshapes economics of digital infrastructure .
SeaPal, an AI interactive fish tank for 3-6 year olds: ergonomics, behavioral habits, natural learning develop empathy, observational skills, basic scientific understanding.
Diplomacy & Geopolitics
ASML offered the US information about its Chinese customers after it was caught selling EUV and DUV lithography machines to China.
The Netherlands suspended the rule that let them seize Nexperia, but not the judicial orders that replaced the CEO and expropriated Wingtech’s share ownership.
The US is the world’s biggest recipient of Chinese loans, study shows.
China slammed the US move to change patent application invalidation rules as violating its international obligations.
A quiet debate in Seoul about South Korea joining BRICS.
China says US undermining its relations with Greece after US ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle urged Athens to sell the Chinese-operated port of Piraeus.
Defense
Mach 6 scramjet engine powers 4,000-mile range, high precision CJ-1000 hypersonic cruise missile, maneuverable hypersonic flight within the atmosphere.
5,000-mile JL-1 nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile puts China ahead of the US and Russia in this emerging weapons category. The USAF cancelled its AGM-183A and Russia’s Kinzhal’s range is 2,000km.
United Aircraft’s civilian large tiltrotor drone, the R6000, in flight testing, a year after the initial prototype rolled off the assembly line.
Chinese researchers simulate large-scale electronic warfare against Starlink across area matching Taiwan is feasible, but at huge scale needing 1,000 drones or more.
Godfrey, your indefatigable work is remarkable and essential to serious players in the China arena. You’re a critical stop in the world of information.
Chinese science and technology achievements read like a fairy tale