china

That CATL is going to employ 2,000 people in Zaragoza is good news. The problem is that they are going to be brought from China

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“There are Chinese manufacturers in Europe that assemble cars with Chinese components and Chinese personnel. It happens in Spain and Hungary, and it is not right.” This is the statement of Stéphane SéjournéVice President of Prosperity and Industrial Strategy of the European Commission, in light of the way some Chinese manufacturers proceed to avoid tariffs on electric car that comes from China. Evidence that Europe is not happy with the “removable” kits from Chinese manufacturers. There are companies that have a magnifying glass on their projects in Spain. CATL, with its 4.1 billion euro plant, is one of them. Now, his vice president has justified why its 2,000 employees will be Chinese. Removable kits. The tariffs came into effect at the end of last year for those electric cars not only from Chinese manufacturers, but that are manufactured in China. The Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai either Europeans would also be included. What Europe seeks with these tariffs is to persuade manufacturers to establish themselves in the EU and create value in the points where they install themselves. Well: shortly after the tariffs began to be applied, the news broke that there were Chinese companies that were assembling their cars in Europe, yes, but they were not manufacturing them here. How did they do it? With removable kits. All work on key parts of the vehicle is done in China, where practically the entire car is assembled and then disassembled and the parts sent to the destination countries. They do it without wheels or steering wheel, but with all the critical parts, which are reassembled in factories in other countries. Europe did not look favorably on this measure and already raised an eyebrow, but more recently, both Séjourné and other European manufacturers –Josep María Recasens, president of Renault Spain– they raised the hare. Recasens directly stated that Chinese manufacturers are making “four plates with wheels.” Figueruelas Plant. There are plants that plan to change their way of acting in the short term, but what some point out is that this harms the area in which these companies are located. SEAT, for example, gives work to 15,000 people in Martorell, generating thousands of indirect jobs around it. And it is common: the manufacturer employs directly, but also generates work in the surrounding areas because logistics, auxiliary industries and local suppliers come into play. Another key point in this controversy is the factory that CATL wants to build in Zaragoza. It will be the result of a joint venture between CATL and Stellantis, with a investment of 4.1 billion euros which will be used to create LFP batteries. It is scheduled to begin production in 2026 and is expected to generate 3,000 direct jobs. The problem is that 2,000 of those workers They will come directly from China. CATL’s position. That would not meet the European Union’s desire to create wealth directly on the land on which they are established, but Meng Xiangfeng, vice president of CATL, has spoken out on the matter. It was during the COP30 climate summit held in Brazil where the manager was forceful: “it is not that we are not willing to hire local workers, it is that we need experienced technicians to build and perfect the production lines and start up the equipment.” According to Meng, they are not seeking to replace local employment, but rather to start the plant in the best possible way by requiring specialized knowledge. “During this process, we will train local workers so that they can gradually take over the operation,” assured. “You can’t come to Europe and build four plates with wheels and seats with little added value. We didn’t do it like that when we went to China, they shouldn’t do it when they come to Europe” – Josep María Recasens Local wealth. It’s no small feat: CATL is one of the leading companies when it comes to powering new energy vehicles and was one of those on the table during the debacle of the European Northvolt. In addition to Figueruelas, the company has another plant on European soil, in Erfurt, Germany. It was CATL’s first outside of China and the executive assured that the procedure at the Spanish plant will be the same as that already applied on German soil and will be applied at the other European plant in Hungary. Like BYD. and technology transfer. Once the plant is at full capacity, it will be possible to assess the extent to which the local wealth sought by the European Commission is created, but in addition to that issue, the issue of technology transfer is up in the air. Companies are jealous of their creations, and it is logical, but the president of Renault has a reason for Europe to force Chinese manufacturers to “teach us.” When Western manufacturers entered China, the country forced them to partner with local companies to produce on its soil. As a result of that knowledge we have cars like the MG4 Electricbut also the new Renault Twingo made in Shanghai and Japanese Mazda 6e developed by Changan in China. And what is sought is for that knowledge to be shared. As we say, we will see what happens, but Figuerelas will be a complicated case because those 2,000 employees who will come from China will practically double the current census of inhabitants of the municipality. Images | Stellantis In Xataka | “It is playing free trade with a totalitarian State”: three experts give their opinion on tariffs on Chinese electric cars

How China has managed to rescue its astronauts in record time when it took the US months

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Last year, Boeing starred in a space drama that kept the world in suspense: the Starliner crisis. After discovering leaks and failures in its propellers, NASA took months between deliberations, tests and safety meetings to finally decide that the astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams They would not return in their ship, but would wait for SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission to return. Now, China has faced a similar scenario that it has resolved in a few days. The haste has its explanation. A cracked window. The news broke on November 5. The Shenzhou-20 mission, crewed by Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, was preparing to return to Earth after six months at the Chinese Tiangong space station. However, during inspections prior to undocking, the astronauts detected an anomaly that so it was not made publicbut that we now know: “small cracks” in the external glass of one of the capsule windows. After analyzing photographs and running simulations in wind tunnels, CMSA (China Manned Space Agency) engineers determined that the damage had possibly been caused by the impact of micrometeoroids or small fragments of space junkcompromising the structural integrity of the ship. The conclusion put Chinese astronauts in a bind: the capsule “did not meet the conditions for a safe manned return.” The game of chairs in orbit. Unlike the International Space Station, the Tiangong space station cannot accommodate six astronauts for a long time, so the Shenzhou-20 crew had to be brought in as soon as possible. China always maintains a Shenzhou ship and a CZ-2F rocket ready to take off in case of emergency. However, on this occasion, the CMSA ruled out launching the new Shenzhou-22 spacecraft to bring back the three stranded astronauts because it “included instrument upgrades for which the outgoing crew had not been trained.” The solution chosen to bring the crew back was, therefore, to do so aboard the Shenzhou-21 ship that had arrived with three other astronauts two weeks earlier. A literal change of chairs (they had to move the adapted seats from one ship to another) and with a single sacrifice: leaving the three crew members of the Shenzhou-21 at the mercy of a compromised ship (the Shenzhou-20) in the event of an emergency. In summary. The three outgoing astronauts They landed safely on November 14 aboard the ship of his three incoming companions. The reason why this exchange of ships was faster than in the case of the Starliner or, a year earlier, the Russian Soyuz MS-22, was, on the one hand, that the Tiangong station is not yet large enough for six people to live in, and on the other, that the replacement ship was already there. What cost NASA months of risk analysis and public relations management with Boeing, China solved in a matter of days thanks to the availability of spacecraft. The logistical sacrifice is that the crew of the Shenzhou-21 (which will stay in space for six months) has had to give up their “lifeboat” until the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft is launched without a crew as a new return vehicle. The Shenzhou-20 will return empty to analyze its damage on the ground, if it ultimately survives re-entry. Image | CGTN In Xataka | The only photo you need to understand the scale of what Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company, has just done

Japan has warned China about Taiwan. And China has taken it so seriously that they have surrounded some islands in Japan

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It started a few days ago, when the Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, declared before parliament that Chinese aggression against Taiwan could constitute a “survival threat situation”, the legal formula that would allow Tokyo to use force in support of its allies. With his words, he not only broke the “strategic ambiguity” maintained by Japan for decades, he thus opened a Pandora’s box that at this time hangs on a very thin line. The explosion. As we said, the Takaichi gesturewhich broke with decades of caution and “strategic ambiguity” around the Taiwanese issue, was interpreted by Beijing as a direct provocation and a sign that the new Japanese government was willing to align itself more openly with Washington and Taipei in the most sensitive scenario in the Asia-Pacific. The Chinese reaction It was immediate: summoned the Japanese ambassador with unusually harsh language, issued official editorials calling Takaichi’s words “fundamentally evil” and warned that any Japanese intervention would be a failure destined to turn “the entire country into a battlefield.” That aggressive turnmore typical of moments of maximum tension than of routine diplomacy, announced that Beijing was not willing to leave a change of position that affects one of its vital interests unanswered. The military front is activated. While charging politically against Tokyo, China opened a second front in the military terrain. The most “showy”: the arrival of its coast guard ships on a patrol mission within the waters of the Senkaku Islands (administered by Japan but claimed by China like Diaoyu), one more step in a theater where both countries have been competing for years, but whose meaning is different in the midst of a diplomatic clash. Simultaneously, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense detected thirty aircraftseven ships and one official Chinese vessel operating around the island in just 24 hours, with maps showing drones approaching dangerously close to Yonaguni, the Japanese island located just 110 kilometers from the Taiwanese coast. Chinese patrol with the Senkaku in the background The red line. China it takes months combining these “joint patrols” with intrusive flights in the Taiwanese ADIZ as part of a pressure strategy persistent, but do it right after Takaichi’s statements He turned these maneuvers into a message addressed to Tokyo as well as Taipei. For Japan, see military drones Chinese bordering its southernmost islands is a warning that any clash in the Taiwan Strait would have direct repercussions on its territory, a reminder that its security is inexorably linked to the future of the self-governed island. After using water cannon to turn back a flotilla of Taiwanese fishing and coast guard vessels in 2012, the Japanese Coast Guard has shown increasing vigilance in defending the waters surrounding the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. In its territorial claim, Japan’s maritime border covers about 27 kilometers around the archipelago. The economic front. The second line of Chinese response came through economic waya tool that Beijing has perfected in previous disputes with Australia, South Korea or the United States. First issued a travel notice to its citizens warning of the “increased risks” in Japan, then urged reconsider studies in the country, directly affecting more than 123,000 Chinese students registered in Japanese centers, and then allowed the main Chinese airlines will refund free of charge tickets to Japan. This sequence, apparently dispersed, has a crystal clear logic: in a country where Chinese visitors represent nearly a quarter of total tourism, a diplomatic warning is enough to shake an entire sector. The Japanese stock market showed it: Shiseido, Uniqlo, Isetan-Mitsukoshi, Takashimaya and the airlines JAL and ANA suffered drops of between 5 and 12%, while Oriental Land, operator of Tokyo Disney Resort, fell almost 6%. Extra ball. It does not seem, therefore, that we are facing a simple stock market fluctuation, but rather the sign that a giant economic actor can, with a phrase on an official website, compromise vital income for a neighboring country and remind it of the asymmetry of economic power between the two. As I remembered French geopolitical analyst Arnaud Bertrand to put the situation in perspective, from China’s point of view, it is as if Macron officially announced that the French army would militarily defend Catalonia from Spain, just after the anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat and the end of the French occupation of Spain. In other words, a kind of disproportionate provocation if, in addition, we take into account that it occurs shortly after the 80th anniversary of the end of the japanese colonial occupation from Taiwan and Second World War. Sanae Takaichi The political dimension. Beyond tourism and education, Bloomberg told A few hours ago, Beijing allowed accounts affiliated with its media apparatus to announce that it was “fully prepared for substantive retaliation.” The insinuations range from targeted sanctions even trade restrictionssuspension of diplomatic contacts or symbolic military measures, a repertoire that China already applied harshly against South Korea after the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in 2017. That historical reference did not go unnoticed: then, the tourist boycott and the pressure on South Korean companies took away 0.4 points to GDP of the country, a figure strong enough to serve as a warning. For Tokyo, the threat does not come in a vacuum: China is its main business partner and supplier of critical materialsan Achilles heel that Beijing knows and exploits when you need mark limits. However, the Chinese offensive aims beyond Japanese punishment: it also seeks to deter other governments (particularly European) to speak out on Taiwan, after the recent gesture of the EU by welcoming a Taiwanese vice president for the first time in decades. And Taiwan in the center. we have been counting during the year. The element that gives coherence to this crisis is the Taiwanese issue. For Beijing, unification is an imperative political and militaryand any mention of the possibility of Japan intervening constitutes a red line. For Tokyo, geographical proximity turns any Chinese invasion into an existential threat: The fall of Taiwan could place the Chinese navy one step away from the sea … Read more

The US vetoed NVIDIA’s most powerful chips in China. I didn’t count on an unexpected problem: Indonesia

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NVIDIA is at the center of the technological war between China and the United States. After the blockadethe US allowed the company sell a version of its H20 chips specific for the Chinese market, but the most powerful chips, The Blackwells are still banned in China. Or so we believed. What is happening. Donald Trump made it clear that he does not want China to have access to Blackwell chips, but despite the blockade, an investigation by the Wall Street Journal shows how there are Chinese companies benefiting from the computing power of these chips using legal shortcuts. The process. The investigation details the process that NVIDIA’s Blackwell chips go through until INF Tech, a Shanghai-based startup, uses the computing power. NVIDIA sells its chips to Aivres: Aivres is a Silicon Valley company partially owned by Inspur, a Chinese company that is on the US blacklist. NVIDIA could not do business with Inspur or its partners, but the blockade does not affect partners based in the US, as is the case with Aivres. Aivres sells the chips to Indonesia: specifically to an Indonesian communications provider called Indosat Ooredo Hutchison. The agreement includes the sale of 32 NVIDIA GB200 racks with 72 Blackwell chips each; more than 2,300 chips worth $100 million. Indonesia sells computing power to China: The end customer for this cloud computing power is INF Tech, which will use it to train AI in financial and medical research applications. This point is key as we will see later. Why it is important. The investigation calls into question the true effectiveness of US blockades and regulations. Using intermediaries in other countries, Chinese companies can manage to circumvent the restrictions and access the most powerful chips, all without violating the restrictions. Cracks. According to the Trump administration’s controls, the deal is legal as long as INF Tech does not use the chips to help the government with military intelligence applications or to develop weapons. However, it is difficult to know what it is actually being used for and in fact in the US there are suspicions that The Chinese government is leaning on the private sector to improve its military technology. Disagreement. If there is a crack, the logical thing would be to cover it. The Biden administration tried to tighten these rules to prevent chips from being sold to countries that are not close allies of the United States. This would have prevented the sale to the Indonesian company, but when Trump returned to power he decided not to go ahead with these new rules. Instead of the government controlling it, it should be the companies themselves. Interests. The US blockades seek to take advantage of China in the AI ​​technological race, all for reasons of “national security.” It is contradictory that they leave these cracks open through which these chips end up sneaking in legally. The one who thinks it’s great is NVIDIA. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, a company spokesperson came out in favor of Trump’s decision, saying that “Biden’s controls cost taxpayers tens of billions, paralyzed innovation and ceded ground to foreign rivals.” Image | NVIDIA, Pexels In Xataka | The Chinese government has taken a definitive step to break NVIDIA’s dominance in China: prioritize “national” chips

China needs garbage to burn and it needs it so badly that people are digging it up to sell it to incinerators.

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Until a few years, China was the dumping ground of the world. Voluntarily. Since the 1980s, garbage imports have helped China supply raw materials for its industry. Today, the situation has changed and China continues to have a very intense relationship with waste management. But a very different one. What they have left over now is not garbage, but incinerators to burn it. And that has caused old landfills to begin to be unearthed. Many plants of the country They are burning garbage from 20 years ago today. The great Chinese love affair with garbage. In 2016, China imported 7,350,000 tons of plastic and Hong Kong another 2,850,000. In total, they imported almost 70% of all the plastic waste moved around the world that year. That’s not counting paper, scrap or textiles. China was, for more than two decades, the world’s dumping ground. And it wasn’t an accident. In the 1980s, faced with the shortage of certain raw materials, the Chinese Government decided to start importing certain especially useful waste (plastic, paper, mineral slag or textile waste). “The most notorious case was probably the importation of electronic waste that was dismantled and reprocessed in terrible environmental conditions,” Erik Baark explained to us. Everything has an end. However, by the late 2010s, the Chinese situation had changed. In those years alone, the total volume of urban solid waste generated in the Asian giant increased from 158 million tons to more than 249 million. Suddenly, the Government understood that it was running out of space. So he took several measures. And what did he do? On the one hand, got serious about environmental regulations. In the summer of 2017, more than 800 companies were prosecuted for not complying with recycling standards. And, a few months later, authorities arrested more than 259 people for the illegal importation of 303,000 tons of garbage. But it wasn’t enough. And they prohibited imports. That was what affected us the most: the 2017-2018 decision plunged to the international garbage market (and especially to Western recycling systems) in a crisis from which we have not yet emerged. However, it was not the only thing they did. As Baark explains“the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) explicitly supported the incineration of municipal solid waste, with the aim of increasing the proportion of waste treated by incineration from 20% to 35% at the national level.” However, China does not know how to do anything by halves. In less than five years, incineration power plants experienced a real boom (from 428 in 2019 to 1010 in 2023). The goal for 2025 — a daily incineration capacity of 800,000 tons — had already been exceeded in 2022. And shortly after, this energy production system came to “process” 80% of the country’s waste. Today they have literally run out of trash. As I said, in recent months, Chinese and international media have reported on waste incinerators for energy recovery in large cities that operate at low capacity due to a lack of raw materials. It is the story of how the impressive operational capacity of the Beijing government goes too far, yes. But the consequences are very curious: because the plants continue looking for waste to burn. In fact, to the extent that plants compete with each other: the price of garbage is rising. And that seems to be causing in many areas of the country “old” garbage is being dug up. A present that is ending. But no one is aware that this is something temporary. If Chinese waste continues to grow so little by little (10% in recent years), the incineration model is going to enter a crisis. First, for the most obvious thing, of course: it is not sustainable. but also because It is still an emergency resource and not a rational waste management policy. The most interesting thing for us is that this more than predictable crisis It will also change our world. Image | 烧不酥在上海 老的 In Xataka | The European waste industry has been lying to us for years: in 2018 everything blew up and we still haven’t recovered

Having China manufacture its cars in Europe seemed like a perfect plan. Until they were filled with Chinese workers

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Manufacture their electric cars in Europe so that they can sell them without tariffs. That was the promise of the European Union to Chinese manufacturers. The objective was to consolidate the electric car industry for Europe in Europe, closing the door to proposals from China at a much more attractive price. And the result is not what was expected. Manufacture in Europe. In October 2024, the European Union confirmed the tariffs to all the companies that bring their electric cars from China. Including European ones. With this measure that applies individually to each company (ensuring that not all have received the same benefits from the Chinese State) it was intended to attract factories to Europe. Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? The strategy has gone well. First, because the Chinese State ordered to stop all investments in Europe that were in the negotiation phase, initially turning off the tap. Secondly, because it is not clear that the installed factories are giving great results in terms of employment. From China for Chinese. “There are currently manufacturers in Europe that assemble Chinese cars with Chinese components and Chinese personnel: this happens in Spain and Hungary. This is not right.” The words are from Stéphane Séjourné Vice President of Prosperity and Industrial Strategy of the European Commission, in an interview for the Italian newspaper La Stampa. In it he pointed out Spain and Hungary as the two hot spots. In this second country, BYD is building its first plant in Europe to produce electric cars. In Spain we have the Chery plant in Barcelona and, under construction, the CATL battery plant in Aragon. In all previous cases, criticism has multiplied because they are not impacting the area as expected. The Hungarian case. Séjourné refers to the plant that BYD has planned in Hungary. There, the Chinese company is building a factory that should produce 150,000 cars a year (with potential for 300,000 units) and employ 10,000 workers. However, the European Union is studying if the Chinese giant is receiving covert subsidies to carry it out, paralyzing its construction. In the early phases of the project, BYD has employed about 1,000 workers Chinese which has raised the suspicions of the European Commission as to whether there is really an intention to produce wealth on European soil. some of them They staged protests last summer by claiming that they had been fired just six months after joining despite receiving promises of large salaries upon arrival in Europe. BYD is at the center of controversy because the European Commission suspects that in the future Chinese workers may be the majority at the plant, since they would aspire to lower salaries. The company, yes, He already promised that he would employ local workers to advance vehicle production. The question is whether this first hiring of Chinese personnel responds to the start-up of the factory or the advancement of a way of acting that extends over time. The Spanish case. In Spain, two factories have concentrated China’s interest. The first to arrive was the one from Chery to Barcelona. There, the Chinese company has found that it already had the necessary machinery to remove cars from it since it responds to the occupation of the old Nissan plant. However, the plans are not meeting the expected deadlines. Chery is assembling kits of cars in Barcelona. That is, the car arrives in large pieces to Spain and is finished being assembled here, so the local impact is reduced. In this case we are not talking about employment but we are talking about the fact that the network of suppliers generated is minimal. The European Commission did not like this and, in fact, the electric Omoda 5 has been delayed in Barcelona because the regulators threaten to impose tariffs on them when they understand that the added value is zero. The other point of friction is that of CATL in Aragón. The Chinese battery producer announced an agreement with Stellantis to produce there the components that the automotive giant will use in its small cars. For now, we know that 2,000 Chinese employees will arrive and, again, the shadow of what impact the new factory will have on the local labor market is looming. According to T&Eit is not guaranteed that the CATL plant will guarantee long-term knowledge transfer. More pressures. In addition to the statements by European regulators, other voices have also raised their voices. France is one of the countries that is most under pressure to create a new category of cars to make electric vehicles cheaper. Their proposal is that they meet certain size requirements… but also that production be entirely European. These days, Josep María Recasens, president of Renault Spain, returned to the charge ensuring that “we cannot allow China to come to Europe to make four plates with wheels without added value.” In his statements he asked that Europe force Chinese companies to associate with European ones so that there is a transfer of knowledge as China itself demanded from Europe when its manufacturers began to produce on Asian soil. Photo | Official Lula on Wikimedia and BYD In Xataka | China is manufacturing many more cars than the world wants to buy. And that is a foretaste of serious problems.

China is already experiencing it

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Is it worth ordering three family pizzas to take advantage of a 3 for 2 promotion? The answer is: it depends. It depends on if you are ordering just for yourself or if you are going to share them with four or five friends, although my friends would say that three pizzas for five is not enough, but that is another story. Be that as it may, the logic is overwhelming: better price, more people among whom to divide the expense and payment for a single shipment. It makes sense. Now let’s raise this, but with all the neighbors on the block or colleagues in the office. The savings would be considerable, especially if everyone orders the same thing from the same site. Well, in China this is an increasingly popular trend. Context. He increased cost of living It is not something that affects only us. He house pricehe rising prices of consumer goodsthe stagnant wages and other factors that make your hair stand on end mean that you have to tighten your belt and take action. In China, where eating out is practically a religion, it is acceptable A menu costs between 20 and 30 yuan (two-four euros, more or less). Meituan delivery driver | Image: Meituan Inequality. The problem is that salary inequality is absolutely brutal, to the point that the average really tells us little. What they tell us the data is that the top 1% of China’s earners have a larger share of the country’s wealth than the top 50%. Or what is the same, if 100 people lived in China, only one person would have half of the wealth of the entire country. Therefore, it will not surprise anyone that with the average salary of 353,000 yuan per year, about 45,000 euros at the exchange rate, it is difficult to live in many places. Eat out. It is, as we said, something common in China. The question is: how can we make menus cheaper? Indeed, asking for a lot of the same thing from the same place. That idea is the one that applied Meituana Chinese shopping platform for consumer products and local retail services, to the delivery industry. 拼好饭. Or translated into the language of Cervantes, “group food delivery.” It is more or less the same premise that we proposed when eating this text: recommendations of popular dishes, group orders and a single delivery. This system It allows certain authorized establishments to prepare food in batches and for delivery people to make several deliveries in a single trip, since everyone is nearby and has ordered the same thing. Image | Meituan Coordinating. It requires more coordination and the food may take a little longer, but it allows you to save up to 50% on certain menus, as explained from Sinica Podcasts. “In central Guangzhou, a roast duck leg with rice usually costs 28.8 yuan if ordered individually, but drops to only 11.2 yuan with the group takeaway option,” they say. The cost of shipping represents up to 80% of the cost of the order, so adding dishes to the order dilutes the price for more people. and it works. It is clear that users are willing to wait a little longer for food if it is much cheaper. Meituan began testing this system in 2020 in poorer markets and by April 2023 had already established a department dedicated only to group orders focused on first-tier cities. Only in 2023, Meituan processed 1.16 billion group orders, which represented 6% of all orders. And in Spain? It is not a very widespread or popular thing, at least at the user level. Yes, it is possible to take advantage of promotions and share food to dilute the shipping and make the price per head better, but there is no proposal similar to the Chinese one. Companies like Uber do allow something similar, but it is focused on small groups of people or companies, not so much on large volumes. But perhaps it is a matter of time, especially in large capitals. Cover image | zhang kaiyv In Xataka | China has found a huge health problem in its kitchens: record per capita salt consumption

If with the Fujian it sat at the US table, the images of the next aircraft carrier place China in another dimension: the nuclear one

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Last week China announced its first 100% national aircraft carrier hitting the table and making it very clear what its naval aspirations are. Now the appearance of new images from the Dalian shipyard has revived one of the most significant naval movements of the 21st century: China’s advance towards an aircraft carrier that places it at an unknown level. The strategic leap. We are referring to what aims to be the first nuclear-powered one, provisionally known as Type 004. He visible discovery of a structure reminiscent of a reactor compartment (similar to those found on US supercarriers) suggests that Beijing is taking the definitive step towards a capability that until now only the United States and France have. The transition is not symbolic, but structural: A nuclear aircraft carrier offers virtually unlimited autonomy, massive electrical power for advanced sensors, and sustained ability to operate further from shore, an essential element for a China that aims to project power beyond its immediate periphery. The Fujian catapult. The recent entry into service from Fujianits first aircraft carrier with electromagnetic catapults had already marked a break with the It was STOBAR.but Type 004 represents a technological leap even greater by integrating nuclear propulsion with the most advanced launch ecosystem that the Chinese navy has. Even so, Chinese naval planning appears to bifurcate: as it builds this ambitious vessel, reports indicate who also works in another conventional aircraft carrier improved, a sign that Beijing wants a combination of mass and elite to accelerate its naval transformation. On new aircraft carrier under construction Comparative architecture. The reason why Type 004 arouses so much attention is that, in its designconcentrates the synthesis of global trends: a helmet inspired by the lines of the American Ford, EMALS catapults similar to the North American and French ones, and a deck capable of operating from J-35 stealth fighters even naval drones GJ-11 or airplanes AEW&C KJ-600. The satellite images reveal a deck under construction that will include two catapults in the port area (in addition to two in the bow), matching the layout of American ships and surpassing the capacity of Fujian itselfwhich only has a catapult in the oblique section. Extra ball. The vision of the program is clear: provide the Type 004 with a heaviest air wingvaried and technologically complex, optimized for sustained operations and for air and maritime space control roles beyond the Chinese coastline. The parallel development of a possible “Type 003A” conventional (cheaper, faster to produce and based on an already dominated architecture) demonstrates how China combines disruptive innovation with industrial iterationensuring sufficient volume to saturate any attempt at regional containment. If nuclearization provides range and resilience, the simultaneous construction of conventional ships ensures pace and fleet density. Unlimited energy. Plus: its function is not only to move aircraft further, but to serve as an energy platform for a set of emerging weapons that would transform naval warfare. Official voices, such as Professor Liang Fang of the National Defense University, they claim that the future Chinese nuclear class could carry directed energy weapons (including high-power laser weapons and the long-awaited electromagnetic cannon or rail gun). These weapons are not mere futuristic add-ons: they require colossal amounts of energy and an electrical stability that only a naval nuclear reactor can offer. He rail gunbased on the acceleration of metal projectiles to hypersonic speeds using electromagnetic fields, is a system that the United States abandoned due to costs and technological maturity, but that China continues to develop as part of its strategic disruption. And more. Its appeal lies in exit speedthe lack of explosive and the possibility of devastating kinetic impact at low cost per shot, although its electrical consumption is gigantic. The convergence between nuclear aircraft carriers and electromagnetic weapons aligns with the plans already outlined by figures such as Admiral Ma Weimingresponsible for the PLA’s electromagnetic program, and represents a clear attempt to turn a flagship into a technological node capable of challenging US naval dominance in emerging domains. The operational dimension. TWZ analysts recalled that the future Type 004 air wing combines aviation advanced manned and drones large in size, creating a hybrid system Designed for offensive projection and situational awareness over an extended range. The integration of stealth drones like the GJ-11, heavy AEW&C aircraft like the KJ-600, and fifth-generation J-35 fighters would allow China to adopt an operating model closer to the American one: extended air-to-air combat, persistent surveillance, distributed electronic warfare, and deep strike capability. Added to this are the new amphibious ships Type 076 (also equipped with electromagnetic catapults to launch drones) that would complement the aircraft carriers with saturation functions, regional air control and operations support directed towards Taiwan or the South China Sea. The result is, a priori, a navy that, although still inferior in number to the eleven American supercarriers, closes the gap with a unprecedented speed. China and the new balance. In summary, Type 004 symbolizes a decisive strategic shift: China is no longer just modernizing its fleet, but aspires to equal the autonomy, technological capability and global reach of US aircraft carriers by combining nuclear poweredelectromagnetic weapons, high energy lasers and a new generation embarked aviation. The visible integration of the reactor module in Dalian confirm that Beijing seeks to operate a type of super aircraft carrier capable of sustaining prolonged ocean missions and powering futuristic systems that could redefine naval warfare. At the same time, the parallel development of another conventional model demonstrates a dual strategy that seeks volume and sophistication at the same time, quickly reducing the gap with the US Navy. In other words, China is moving towards a maritime architecture based on abundant energy and dominion of the electromagnetic spectrum, a change that forces us to completely rethink the global competition for control of the seas. Image | x, x In Xataka | The Fujian is officially China’s largest power catapult: Beijing already has a button to challenge the US Navy In Xataka | China has just tested the … Read more

China is quietly winning the AI ​​race thanks to something very simple: cheap energy

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“China is going to win the artificial intelligence race,” warned Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Many thought he was exaggerating, interested in fueling demand for his chips. But, as analyst June Yoon explained in her column for the Financial TimesHuang’s argument contains an uncomfortable truth: the availability of electricity—not chips—is becoming the critical factor for the development of AI. A model like GPT-4 can consume more than 460,000 megawatt-hours per year, the equivalent of the energy consumption of 35,000 American homes, according to a study. The world’s data centers—already colossal—could double their electricity consumption before 2030. And that changes the rules of the game. When there are plenty of chips, but there are no plugs. The race for AI It started with a GPU fever. Big tech companies rushed to buy every Nvidia chip available, but they soon discovered something more worrying: there weren’t enough sockets to connect them. Satya Nadella himself, CEO of Microsoft, he said it bluntly: “The biggest problem we have now is not excess chips, but energy.” Electricity demand has skyrocketed so much that Google, Microsoft and Amazon are already contemplating build nuclear reactors to keep your servers on. The paradox sums up the moment well: the digital leadership of the West encounters a physical limit, that of cheap energy. Energy as a new geopolitics. Analyst June Yoon throw a question that reorders the technological map: what if the AI ​​race had nothing to do with chips, but with electricity? If the last century was defined by oil, this one will be defined by the current China no longer lives off oil: generates it. It has gone from being a petrostate dependent on crude oil to becoming the first electrostate on the planet. More than one quarter of your electricity It comes from renewable sources and its network is growing at a speed that no other country can match. Now that energy sovereignty fuels a new front: artificial intelligence. How did you find the formula? Since September, the Chinese Government Subsidizes up to 50% of energy costs of data centers that use national chips. The inland provinces—Guizhou, Gansu, Inner Mongolia—have become “electric hearts” of Chinese AI: there energy is abundant and cheapand local governments offer historically low rates of just 0.4 yuan per kilowatt-hour. The measure has a dual purpose: Compensate for the lower efficiency of domestic chips compared to Nvidia’s. Promote technological independence in the midst of a trade war. As Bloomberg has detailedthese regions are connected by ultra-high voltage (UHV) lines that transport renewable energy from the interior to the coastal areas where big technology companies, such as Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance, are concentrated. The goal is clear: ensure abundant, low-cost energy for AI training clusters. According to Rystad Energythe electricity consumption of data centers could more than double before 2030, reaching 1,800 terawatt-hours in 2040. Beijing is preparing to absorb it. The result is a planned, centralized energy ecosystem designed to scale AI. An example is the Talatan Solar Parkwhich extends like a sea of ​​metal mirrors: more than 600 square kilometers of panels that are combined with wind and hydroelectric parks. From there, the power travels along high-voltage lines to data centers on the coast. It is a postcard of the new Chinese power: sun, wind and silicon. China’s electrical advantage. The strategy is also working in the markets. According to Bloombergshares of Chinese power companies have risen up to 40% in a week, driven by demand for AI data centers. UBS forecasts that electricity demand in China will grow 8% annually until 2028. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Trump administration has launched an AI Action Plan to accelerate the construction of data centers and remove obstacles to energy projects. But, as FT analysts point outchip improvements are stuck in single digits, while Chinese renewable energy grows by double digits every year. The power is in the socket. In the race for artificial intelligence, chips are the brain. But the heart beats with electricity. The United States retains leadership and has the best semiconductors (for now); China, the network that keeps them on. As June Yoon wroteall the technological superpowers in history—from coal England to oil America—were built on a source of cheap energy. Today, artificial intelligence needs electricity as it once needed steam. And on that new board, China seems to have found the key: plug in the future before anyone else. Image | Pixabay and Hanwha Xataka | SoftBank abandons the king of chips in its prime. And he bets everything on OpenAI

The world keeps asking for more F-35 fighters, but China has turned off the tap to build them

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He F-35 Lightning IIthe fighter more expensive and complex never built, is going through a critical point in its history. In September 2025, a report of the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that all deliveries in 2024 arrived late, accumulating an average of 238 days late. Now, a leak has revealed that delays can multiply, and China plays a fundamental role. The problem of the largest military program. They remembered a few months ago on Insider that the 2024 delays had one main cause: the stagnation of the Technology Refresh 3 technology package (TR-3), an essential hardware and software update on which the block 4 modernizationalready with an extra cost of 6,000 million dollars and five years behind schedule. The paradox was that, despite maintenance failures, deficiencies in availability and costs that already exceed 2 trillion dollars Throughout its service life, the F-35 remains the cornerstone of American and allied air defense. More than 2,500 units remain in the Pentagon’s planning, while the current fleet is barely “operational” half of the time. More money. Lockheed Martin, its prime contractor, continues to receive incentives even for late deliveriesin a program that no longer only faces technical delays, but a much more structural threat: global dependence on its supply chain. A global network. The F-35 is, by definition, a multinational aircraft. Of the more than 1,200 devices manufactured to date, about 42% of its components are produced outside the United States, in an industrial network that involves more than twenty countries. The United Kingdom, the only Tier 1 partner, manufactures in Lancashire the rear fuselages of all the F-35s in the world, as well as their tails, ejection seats and part of the electronic warfare system code. Italy and the Netherlands assemble structures and optical systems, while Australia, Canada, Norway or Denmark provide fuselage sections, wings or specialized electronics. Germany, Japan and Israel also contribute critical parts: from fuel tanks to helmet-mounted visors. This ecosystem, which combines thousands of suppliers under a single oversight, has made the F-35 the largest industrial cooperation project of defense of the planet. The small print. But, despite the geographical dispersion, total control The United States preserves it: the Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin jealously guard it the source codemaintenance keys, stealth algorithms and the ALIS logistics system, without which no country can operate the aircraft independently. Each export includes clauses that maneuvers are prohibited joint with Russian or Chinese systems and allow Washington to supervise every flight, every review and every software update. You hunt like hotcakes. By 2025, Lockheed Martin has opted to reverse the narrative of delays with a figure that reflects both ambition and vulnerability: manufacturing 200 fighters in a single yearone for each working day. In its third quarter earnings call, CEO Jim Taiclet announced that 143 units had already been delivered, with an order book valued at 179 billion dollars, the largest in the company’s history. The boom responds to the global increase in defense spending, with European countries accelerating its rearmament and new buyers (such as Finland or Japan) incorporating the F-35 as the central axis of their fleets. The plane has become a tool deterrence and cohesion between allies, a symbol of interoperability under the umbrella of Washington. But industrial success hides a strategic fragility: the complex network of components of the F-35 depends, directly or indirectly, on materials that almost entirely come from Chinafrom rare earth magnets to elements for critical sensors, servomotors and actuators. Beijing’s silent weapon. Through a Wall Street Journal exclusive We have learned that, while Lockheed Martin celebrated its best year for deliveries, China moved its own parts with surgical precision. Beijing announced the creation of a system of “validated end users” (VEU) to regulate the export of magnets and rare earth metals: essential materials for both F-35 fighters and submarines, drones or electric vehicles. The plan, presented as a measure of trade opening after the tariff truce between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, in reality aims to exclude any company from the flow of exports. linked to the military complex United States. In other words, the companies that supply the F-35 (from engine manufacturers to aerospace subcontractors) will be blocked, while supplies to civilian industries are prioritized. Strategic deterrence. With this system, Beijing can formally fulfill its promise of liberalize tradewhile suffocating the critical chains of the North American defense sector. The VEU architecture, inspired by the United States’ own export control mechanisms, turns industrial policy into a deterrent instrument strategic. The bottleneck. Chinese control over rare earths (70% of the extraction and more than 90% of the world’s processing) places Washington before a structural dilemma: Your most advanced hunting depends on a monopolized resource by its main geopolitical rival. Although the White House seeks to diversify sources through agreements with countries such as Kazakhstan, Greenland or Ukraine, replacing Chinese capacity will take years. In recent months, Chinese magnet exports to the United States fell 29%which has already begun to affect engine and guidance system manufacturers. If Beijing strictly implements its new system, it would not only slow down F-35 production, but could temporarily interrupt the logistics chain for maintaining fleets already deployed. In that scenario, the program that symbolizes Western technological supremacy would be conditioned by dependence on a strategic enemy. The paradox of a fighter. The F-35 was born as an emblem of interoperability and technological masterybut its evolution shows that military superiority is no longer measured only in radars or missiles, but also in access to mineralschips and advanced materials. As the world’s most expensive plane is assembled from parts manufactured on three continents and with magnets processed in China, its story becomes a metaphor for the 21st century: a war of interdependencies where each fighter that takes off carries within it a dose of global vulnerability. Thus, while Lockheed Martin tries to maintain its record pace of production and the Pentagon reinforces its leadership narrative, the real battlefield is being fought in the mines, laboratories … Read more

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