China's Week, November 9
Thorium-to-uranium conversion; Dutch fold on Nexperia; Marriages up 8.5%; Huge submarine drones; Morphing Mach 5 hypersonic missile..
Science & Technology
T1400 dronecopter carries 200kg/450 lb for 900km. 8 hours cruising at 120km/h and a service ceiling of 6,500 m/20,000 ft.
China’s first atomic quantum computer, the $2.8 million Hanyuan-1, was delivered to its first customer, China Mobile.
First-ever thorium-to-uranium fuel conversion paves way for 100MW molten-salt reactor, global development of next-generation nuclear energy.
Chinese authored more ultra-high-citation science papers than the rest of the world combined: 53% in the top 0.1%. China had 2,342 papers, the US had 1,511.
Lab-grown insulin-producing cells have been treating a woman for a year and her blood sugar remains normal, without medication.
Downloads of Chinese open AI models overtake US models, open a widening lead.
Chinese AI companies find survival means choosing what you can defend. The consolidation is brutal.
A refrigerator-size AI supercomputer cuts power use 90% using an intuitive neural network and a brain-like artificial intelligence algorithm.
China’s 43 manned submersible Arctic dives make it the only country capable of conducting manned deep-diving operations in thick ice-covered Arctic waters.
Western AI startups, built on Chinese foundations, pretend otherwise. Windsurf runs on GLM. Composer, Cursor’s first ‘proprietary’ model, matches Qwen Code.
Economy, Finance & Trade
How China turned manufacturing into mastery and why the next decade belongs to those who learn from it.
China’s labor productivity is far higher than traditional estimates. Chinese workers
produces 2-3x Americans’ physical output.
Is Chinese overcapacity just Western underinvestment?
China produced 370,000 industrial robots YTD, up 36% YoY.
Entertaining humanoid robot performances are a cash-generating business. Believe it or not, there are over 80 humanoid robot brands.
The Dutch will reverse the 30 September Nexperia seizure order next week if the Chinese office resumes global chip and component export supplies.
China’s trade in services rises 7.6% YoY to $838 billion.
3.32 billion domestic digital RMB transactions surpassed $2 trillion, with 225 million digital wallets in use.
$10 billion supply gap in AI chip demand due to export restrictions, so chipmaker Cambricon’s revenue rose 43x YoY to $404 million.
MiniMax-M2 tops open source LLMs, beating Qwen and DeepSeek. From startup MiniMax, it’s the top open-source LLM, particularly for agentic tool use.
Hydrogen is a strategic sector in the new 5 Year Plan and EVs are not. So hydrogen will become part of the country’s industrial strategy.
99% of Chinese EV owners would purchase another electric car in the future, vs. global average of 88%.
e-commerce giants dominate SW Asia’s online shopping. Alibaba, Temu, Shein, and TikTok Shop handle 50% in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Chinese audiences boost online engagement for Western luxury brands: New York Fashion Week generated $408 million in global Media Impact Value (MIV).
Society & Environment
A species extinct in the wild since 1900 now represents 60% of the global population and changed how we understand conservation.
China generated 10 trillion KWh, one-third of the world’s total (and 2.5x America’s) installed wind and solar power, at 1.45 billion KW, surpassed that of coal.
Ningbo Zhoushan Port, Spanish and German ports develop green shipping corridors, spur maritime decarbonization.
No China holiday surge for oil exporters as EVs dominate roads because half of all new cars sold in China are electric or hybrid.
“There are cameras in the classrooms; every class is recorded and uploaded to the cloud. I learned that over 20 supervisors had once audited my online class.”
Marriage registrations rise 8.5% to 5.15 million YTD, compared with 4.75 million last year. Divorces rose from 1.97 million to 2.08 million.
“Winnowed by ages of grim elimination in a land populated to the uttermost limits of subsistence, the Chinese race is selected as no other for survival under the fiercest conditions of economic stress. At home the average Chinese lives his whole life literally within a hand’s breadth of starvation. Accordingly, when removed to the easier environment of other lands, the Chinaman brings with him a working capacity which simply appalls his competitors”. Lothrop Stoddard, The Rising Tide of Color, 1920.
Diplomacy & Propaganda
Video: The Chinese firm gets a 30-year concession under this “refurbish-operate-transfer” business model. There are no loans involved—the company builds the rail line and operates it until it gets its investment back, then turns it over to local authorities.
Has a China-Argentina radio telescope been delayed by US political pressure? CART parts held up at Argentine customs.
“Taiwan, democracy and human rights, path and system, and development rights are China’s four red lines. China hopes the US will avoid crossing these and creating trouble”.
US court says Florida can ban Chinese citizens from buying property, rejects claims of racism against Chinese and Asians.
Russia and China integrate healthcare and medical standards.
The universal value of the Five-Year Plan system as a model for economic development.
Washington and Oregon governors have visited China in recent weeks, aiming to preserve local jobs by maintaining ties now, hedging against future fallout.
The US increased its investment in BRI countries, with strategic competition a major reason.
Busan showed that China dominates mid-stream manufacturing, upon which the US remains heavily dependent, and Beijing can modulate global markets without open confrontation.
The 1868 Burlingame Treaty guaranteed free immigration to Chinese. When the Transcontinental Railroad was completed the Treaty Regulating Immigration from China suspended all Chinese immigration and Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Defense
The PLAN deploys the world’s largest uncrewed submarines, marking a pivotal shift in undersea warfare.
Morphing Mach 5 hypersonic vehicle’s retractable wings adapt its aerodynamic profile mid-flight. Most hypersonic craft must choose speed or control, but not both..
China has a flexible, 0.1 mm aircraft coating that handles 1,000º C., absorbs radar and features tunable impedance suitable for electromagnetic wave absorption.