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Industry

China’s rare earth cerium drug can kill gout pains once and for all: scientists

Nanoparticle ‘sweeper’ drug eases joint inflammation and cartilage damage from the painful form of inflammatory arthritis in rat trials One of the world’s most abundant rare earth elements could offer a comprehensive, long-lasting treatment for gout, a Chinese team has found. More than 55 million people worldwide had gout in 2020, according to US health data, with the number expected to rise by 70 per cent by 2050. The disease begins with raised uric acid levels in the blood, or hyperuricemia. Consistently high uric acid causes the formation of joint crystals that trigger severe, sudden pain attacks. If left untreated, this monosodium urate (MSU) crystal build-up can lead to joint deformities, kidney damage and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Researchers with the school of pharmaceutical sciences at Shanghai Jiao Tong University are now holding out hope, with a medication based on rare earth oxide nanoparticles that could target the cause of gout and relieve its severe pain.

September 3, 2026

Industry

US looks to warship designs from Japan, South Korea and Turkey, reports say

It comes after Trump signed a memorandum calling for foreign shipbuilding capacity and investment as US industry struggles to meet demand However, the plan is likely to face strong opposition in Congress. “The president has directed the navy to aggressively increase domestic shipbuilding capacity, including leveraging the proven shipbuilding skills and industrial expertise of our allies,” US Navy spokesman Ron Flanders was quoted as saying. According to the report, the cooperation could follow the “Finland model”. That would see foreign shipbuilders constructing the first two hulls and investing in US facilities, workforce, technologies and supply chains before production is transferred to American shipyards.

September 3, 2026

Industry

EU, China talk trade as Europe’s deadline for action looms

European Union and Chinese officials have been holding talks in Beijing ahead of the bloc’s October deadline for seeing “tangible results” in efforts to curb a trade deficit running at €1 billion-plus (US$1.2 billion) per day. Denis Redonnet, the EU’s top trade enforcer, has led the European delegation, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday. The official has recently become the bloc’s point person for China trade, reflecting growing trade tensions and the possibility of a trade...

September 3, 2026

Industry

Chinese central bank chief’s remarks at G20

People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng rejected criticism of China over global trade imbalances at the G20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. Below is the statement released by the Chinese central bank summarising the speech.

September 3, 2026

Industry

Xi Jinping’s call for Mideast to build own security framework is a message to US: expert

Beijing gives weight to Cairo’s water security but China’s president does not criticise Ethiopia or its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged Middle Eastern nations to build a self-led security model, nudging them to cut reliance on Washington following further US-Iran military clashes. He made the proposal during talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi at Cairo’s Ittihadiya Palace on Wednesday. Beijing and Cairo also aligned on Gaza, Red Sea security and Sudan, while China gave greater weight than it had previously to Egypt’s concerns over an Ethiopian megadam on the Nile. Analysts said the meeting reflected Egypt’s efforts to strengthen relations with China while maintaining its ties with the United States. The meeting came days after the US launched fresh strikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard targets following attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. The fighting raised fears of further disruption to oil shipments and pushed crude prices higher.

September 3, 2026

Industry

Beijing ramps up coastguard patrols and scientific surveys near Taiwan

There has been weeks of increased activity to the east of the island following maritime boundary talks between Japan and the Philippines He said the formation had strengthened control over the waters since last month, safeguarding the rights and interests of Chinese citizens. “The China Coast Guard will continue to strengthen law enforcement patrols in waters under Chinese jurisdiction, resolutely safeguarding national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights,” Jiang said. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve reunification. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is legally committed to supplying it with weapons.

September 3, 2026

Industry

Unstable Tibetan Plateau risks cascading disasters as glacier losses mount in Nepal, China

Experts find downstream erosion is critical to scale of destruction as death toll continues to rise from China-Nepal landslide and floods “Over the past 60 years, the glacier area on the Tibetan Plateau has shrunk by around 24 per cent, with around 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely,” Gao Rong, deputy director of China’s National Climate Centre, said on Wednesday. “Looking ahead, the structural stability of glaciers across the Tibetan Plateau will decline further. Glacial disasters are likely to become more frequent and could amplify in destruction and reach through cascading effects.” Beijing has stepped up cross-border support to its neighbour. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that China’s second batch of emergency supplies arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by five DNA identification experts. A third shipment and a second expert team were being prepared. After working for seven days, Beijing on Wednesday cleared the road to Gyirong Port, which was hit hardest on the Chinese side by the mudslide. Heavy machinery has reached the checkpoint area to aid a deeper search.

September 3, 2026

Industry

US lawmakers target China, birth tourism as citizenship fight intensifies

Congressional hearings put Chinese birth tourism in the spotlight as the Trump administration presses its challenge to automatic citizenship Wednesday’s Judiciary hearing was called to review June’s Supreme Court birthright decision in Trump vs Barbara and explore potential legislative responses. This followed Tuesday’s House Oversight session on birth tourism. Brandon Gill, a Republican from Texas, said on Tuesday that the concept of birthright citizenship is being exploited by foreign nationals, including those from adversarial nations such as China and Russia. “China is definitely an adversary to this nation [that] has worked in many ways to undermine us,” added Michael Cloud, another Texas Republican, responding to expert testimony. “We could spend a whole half an hour or hours actually on that.” Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said allegations surrounding birth tourism and “anchor babies” amounted to hallucinations.

September 2, 2026

Industry

SCO takes landmark stand on nuclear security as Iran comes under renewed attack

The bloc underscores members’ rights to peaceful nuclear development in broader pushback at Western powers, analyst says It called for stronger cooperation on regulation, emergency response and the fight against illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, while reaffirming that nuclear security responsibility rested entirely with each state. It also underscored members’ rights to the peaceful use of nuclear energy under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Centre for Afghanistan Studies at Lanzhou University, pointed to several converging factors behind its adoption: China and Russia’s long-standing interest in deeper cooperation; growing demand for safety frameworks as civilian nuclear programmes expand in Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan; and Iran’s full membership since 2023.

September 2, 2026

Industry

Iran wins SCO backing against US strikes. Will it be enough?

Despite strong rhetoric out of Bishkek, support from groupings like the SCO and Brics may be more symbolic than substantial, analysts say At the SCO summit in Bishkek on Tuesday, world leaders made veiled references to the instability in the Middle East without naming the United States directly, in apparent tacit backing for Iran. The Bishkek Declaration closing the summit, meanwhile, explicitly condemned the military strikes on Iranian territory as violations of international law. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s trip to the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan this week was only his second visit abroad since the joint US and Israeli strikes began in late February. He held bilateral talks on the summit sidelines with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

September 2, 2026

Industry

EU trade enforcers descend on Beijing demanding China fix ‘untenable’ imbalances

Brussels officials hold talks in the Chinese capital as they seek a commitment to reduce surging exports to the bloc Later this month, the European Union’s top trade official, Ditte Juul Jorgensen, will follow Redonnet to the Chinese capital, she confirmed on Wednesday, as Brussels assesses whether Beijing is willing to make the sort of concessions that could see them avoid sliding into a damaging tit-for-tat exchange in the autumn. “We see an engaged China in these talks, but of course the challenges are very, very significant,” Jorgensen told a hearing at the European Parliament on Wednesday. “What we see in relation to China is … increasing concentration dependencies, including in strategic sectors – that is a risk to the EU,” Jorgensen said.

September 2, 2026

Industry

Xi makes world tour ahead of White House summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping touched down in Egypt on Tuesday, the second stop in a potentially busy month of travel that will probably conclude with a White House meeting. “Once you drink from the Nile, you are destined to return,” the Chinese leader said on arrival at Cairo International Airport. Xi is likely to sign economic agreements with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Wednesday as part of his first trip in a decade to the most-populous Arab nation and his first Middle East stop...

September 2, 2026