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Industry

US targets China’s telecoms grip in Venezuela with new sanctions carve-out

The United States is opening Venezuela’s telecommunications sector to new investment and technology while explicitly excluding Chinese companies, a move that could reshape a market where Huawei and ZTE have become deeply embedded and give Western suppliers an opening as the country expands its 5G networks. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday issued two general licences easing some sanctions restrictions on Venezuela’s telecommunications sector,...

August 24, 2026

Industry

US sanctions Chinese entities, issues global warning on ‘Economic D-Day’ against Iran

Washington warns Iran-linked entities face removal from US dollar system as Trump presses world leaders to cut financial ties The United States on Monday announced fresh sanctions against 60 entities, individuals and vessels around the world, including some in mainland China and Hong Kong, and issued a warning demanding “immediate action” from nations maintaining economic and commercial ties with Iran. The measures are part of the Trump administration’s latest efforts to choke off Tehran economically after military strikes and diplomatic negotiations failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the six-month-long conflict. Dubbed “Economic D-Day” by the Trump administration, the new actions aim to expand Washington’s secondary sanctions, putting entities in multiple jurisdictions on notice. “Let me be clear: any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the US dollar system. The clock just started ticking,” said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at a press conference. Bessent added that US President Donald Trump is “making phone calls to world leaders with specific requests” to halt their engagement with the Iranian regime, but did not identify the countries he had contacted.

August 24, 2026

Industry

Shein’s acquisition of Everlane faces US national security review

The review is focused on potential issues linked to the China-founded retailer’s purchase of a firm that handles Americans’ personal data US authorities are conducting a national security review of Shein Global Holdings’ purchase of American clothing retailer Everlane after Shein sought approval for the deal, people familiar with the matter said, adding to a growing list of regulatory hurdles for the China-founded fast-fashion giant in one of its most important markets. The review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (Cfius), an inter-agency panel led by the Treasury Department, began after the US$80 million transaction was completed in May, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Shein voluntarily initiated the review at that time, which is unusual as companies typically seek Cfius approval before a transaction closes, the people said. Clearance by Cfius usually prevents future challenges, but the body also has the power to block, unwind or impose conditions on transactions it determines threaten US national security. A Shein spokesperson said the company is “committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations in the markets where we operate”.

August 24, 2026

Industry

Mainland China’s ship activity near Taiwan hits record for third month in a row

Beijing has ramped up its law-enforcement and survey operations around island since Tokyo and Manila announced boundary talks Taiwan’s defence ministry said that in the first 24 days of August it detected mainland coastguard, survey and other official vessels a total of 118 times, surpassing the 117 reported in July and 111 in June. Those numbers were far higher than in any previous month on record since Taiwan began releasing detection data in July 2024. Before June, the highest count of mainland government ships in a single month was 50 in April 2025, according to a tally by the SCMP. That record-breaking intensity of activity aligns with findings from an August 19 report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), which noted a “more sustained and assertive presence” by mainland Chinese law-enforcement and survey vessels in waters east of Taiwan.

August 24, 2026

Industry

China boosts coal’s economic value 700% after turning it to liquids: report

The technology has taken years to develop domestically and is transforming the country’s long-defined energy structure The world’s largest coal-to-liquids plant is turning coal into oil products that can power rockets and serve as machine lubricants while boosting its value sevenfold, according to a Chinese newspaper. The production line, built by China Energy Group Ningxia Coal Industry Co Ltd, began full operations in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region last month and processed 24 million tonnes of coal in 2025 – a quarter of the region’s total annual output, according to a report published by Science and Technology Daily on Wednesday. The technology has been a boon this year for China, which sourced more than 40 per cent of its crude oil from the Middle East before the Strait of Hormuz was blocked by the US-Israel war on Iran. At one point, international oil prices rose above US$100 per barrel, making turning coal into oil a very profitable business. According to the report, the project has not only generated substantial economic returns, it has also helped to reduce reliance on imported oil. China’s energy structure has long been defined by its abundant coal, limited oil and scarce natural gas reserves.

August 24, 2026

Industry

Banking veteran Li Yun fills senior Shenzhen posts in countdown to Apec

Li takes over from Qin Weizhong as China prepares to showcase the city to the world in November summit The positions have been filled by Li Yun, who spent more than two decades working in financial institutions and has been the vice-governor of Guangdong province since March last year. Meeting members of the standing committee of the municipal people’s congress, Li vowed to always “implement the decisions of the Central Committee, provincial and municipal party committees”, as well as push for progress and achievements in Shenzhen’s high-quality development and modernisation drive, the report said. Li, 52, has a doctorate in world economy from Wuhan University and worked for 21 years at Agricultural Bank of China. In 2021, he became vice-president of China Construction Bank and in 2025 he became the vice-governor of Guangdong. Shenzhen is due to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, an event that the Chinese leadership sees as a great opportunity to showcase China’s technological innovation, build high-level diplomatic engagement and drive regional integration. Qin, Li’s predecessor, was appointed deputy party secretary and mayor of Shenzhen in May 2021.

August 24, 2026

Industry

Brazil presidential debate zeroes in on Chinese investment and US tariffs

‘What matters to Lulism is that we keep buying the finished product from China while we sell ore or sell our grain’: candidate Renan Santos The exchange comes in an election cycle already shaped by American tariffs, a visa dispute over election monitoring and the Lula government’s warming ties with China. Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro, who are leading in every published poll, refused to take part, with the Brazilian president telling a podcast in July he would skip debates if the exercise meant listening to nonsense. Flavio Bolsonaro has tied his attendance to Lula’s, and Zema withdrew hours beforehand, saying the event had “lost its purpose”. A senator for Rio de Janeiro and the eldest son of Jair Bolsonaro, Flavio became a candidate in December after being named by his father as his heir. Jair was sentenced to 27 years in jail for plotting a coup and masterminding a plan to assassinate Lula after losing his re-election bid in 2022. The Band network has opened the televised campaign in every presidential race since 1989, the first direct vote after two decades of military rule. Broadcasters treat the event as the moment that sets the tone for the season.

August 24, 2026

Industry

Why Indian intelligence-gathering against China could lead to miscalculation

New Delhi is more likely to take ‘unilateral countermeasures’ as routine activities are increasingly framed as threats, researcher says Routine Chinese activities are increasingly being framed as threats by Indian intelligence agencies, raising the risk of New Delhi miscalculating and taking “unilateral countermeasures” against Beijing, a Chinese academic has warned. Zhao made the remarks in a paper analysing India’s intelligence operations focused on China from 2020 to 2026. It was published on July 31 in the Chinese-language Journal of Intelligence, run by the Shaanxi Institute of Science and Technology Information. That confrontation in the Galwan Valley killed 20 Indian and four Chinese troops, plunging relations between the two nations to a historic low. Zhao said India had broadened its intelligence-gathering toolkit in recent years, using space-based reconnaissance, drone surveillance and cyber intelligence to build a multi-agency network against China.

August 24, 2026

Industry

China team brings X-ray vision to life with a compact high-speed ghost video cam

Tabletop imaging camera can capture ‘see-through’ medical videos of beating hearts using a lower radiation dose than traditional methods The team’s system could be used to capture dynamic objects such as rotating aircraft engines or biological movements like a beating heart. Importantly, this could all be accomplished with a lower radiation dose and simpler set-up than traditional X-ray methods. “In contrast to other available X-ray imaging techniques for moving objects, our method can be implemented with a conventional tabletop X-ray source,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Communications Physics on August 15. “The set-up is simple, relatively inexpensive and easy to operate.”

August 24, 2026

Industry

Chinese archaeologists heading to Peru for first joint project to explore ancient sites

The partnership – part of a wider effort to expand cultural ties – will explore sites associated with the 5,000-year-old Caral civilisation Chinese archaeologists will carry out their first joint field project in South America by exploring sites dating back thousands of years in Peru as Beijing steps up its efforts to deepen cultural ties with the region. The Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said it had signed a cooperation agreement with the Caral Archaeological Zone of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and the Professional School of Archaeology at the National University of San Marcos to explore sites related to the Caral civilisation. The collaboration will include training, field surveys, joint excavations and projects to preserve cultural heritage. The partnership will later expand to examine sites dating back to the much later Inca period in the Andean highlands to support studies comparing ancient Chinese and South American civilisations. The joint project will start with field surveys of key sites associated with the civilisation, including major population centres such as Caral and Aspero, to develop excavation plans.

August 23, 2026

Industry

Washington pushes ‘America First’ agenda in Apec talks ahead of Chinese leader’s visit

Washington says it wants to ‘break down barriers’ for its companies in talks being held in the run-up to Xi Jinping’s visit next month The US State Department said: “US leadership in Apec is a key dimension to pursuing America First policies that foster prosperity and advance economic growth in the United States and across the region by breaking down barriers for US business, boosting fair and reciprocal trade and supporting American job growth.” It added that the delegates, led by Casey Mace, the senior official for Apec affairs, would seek to create more opportunities for American businesses in fields such as agriculture and fisheries, energy, transport, health and food security. The US also pledged to boost services exports and supply-chain innovation, as well as lead discussions on trade and labour-related matters. Xi hosted his US counterpart Donald Trump in Beijing in May, a trip that resulted in plans for US-China boards of trade and investment, although the latter has yet to get off the ground. The meeting of Apec senior officials is the third of its kind this year and the largest yet, according to China’s foreign ministry.

August 23, 2026

Industry

Gaokao reforms could leave Chinese public vulnerable to pseudo-history, top academic warns

University dean’s cautionary words come as Beijing is increasingly on guard about historical views at odds with the official line China’s secondary school students are dropping history as an exam subject, a trend that could leave the public more vulnerable to distorted narratives in the future, an academic at a top university has warned. “History education in secondary schools is an important means of preserving historical, cultural, ethnic and national identity,” said Liu Linhai, dean of the school of history at Beijing Normal University, in a commentary in the state-backed China Teacher Paper. “Its current weakening and even marginalisation should be a matter of urgent concern for policymakers, who should take coordinated and effective measures to address the structural problems affecting the subject,” Liu wrote. Authorities in China have become increasingly alert to challenges to the orthodox view of the country’s history. On Thursday, a newspaper published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ran two front-page pieces framing pseudo-history as a “new variant” of historical nihilism.

August 23, 2026