china

China has just completed the world’s tallest dam. And what stands out the least is that it is as tall as a skyscraper

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China has a beastly capacity to create pharaonic structures. Impossible roadshighways with infernal ‘knots’, very complex tunnels and one ridiculous amount of bridges so functional and essential to connect areas like ostentatious. But among all his civil engineering works, the ones that are most striking to me are the dams. And, after the largest in the world, now They have one that is as tall as a skyscraper. It is the Zhenjiang pumping stationand is key to adding even more renewable energy to your accountant. Figures. The name is “Zhenjiang/Jurong Pumping Station” and, located in Jiangsu province, it has become the latest milestone in Chinese energy engineering. The project began in 2017 and, as is customary in almost all of these infrastructures in the Asian giant, both its dimensions and construction times are surprising. In these eight years, they have built the highest pumping dam in the world, 182 meters high, equivalent to a 60-story building. Apart from the height, its volcano shape is striking, with a reservoir at the top capable of storing up to 17.07 million cubic meters of water. Context? What 6,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools have (okay, it’s equally difficult to imagine the number). Bowels. It’s not just imposing on the outside. Its engine room is 800 meters deep and has dimensions of 250 meters long, 60 meters high and another 25 meters wide. In this room are the six mixed turbines and, in total, the project has established a dozen records in the sector. Its role in renewables. It is estimated that the investment has been about 9.6 billion yuan, about 1.3 billion euros, and all to feed more than 360,000 homes. Each of the turbines generates 225 MW for a total of 1.3 GW of installed power. Thanks to both the dimensions of the turbines and the difference in level and force of the water, it is estimated that it will consume 1,800 million kWh annually during pumping and will generate 1,350 million kWh during discharge. It is a consumption/generation difference of 25% and, although it is not a figure that attracts attention, it is a milestone, since current pumping (or reversible) installations require hydraulic jumps of about 400 meters to operate under the same conditions. The turbines at the Zhenjiang plant do so with a head of less than 200 meters. That is, it is optimized for low gradient conditions, but maintaining a high volumetric flow. In summary, It’s like a giant battery, but with water. During low demand hours, the plant moves water to the upper reservoir and, during peak consumption, releases it, passing it through the turbines at high speed and generating electricity in the process. According to estimates, it will save 140,000 tons of coal per year, which represents 349,000 tons of CO₂. One more in the Yangtze. Despite everything the plant represents in terms of civil engineering and its role in renewablesthe greatest achievement of this plant is that it has been shown that it is possible to build massive storage systems if artificial elevations are created. In flat areas with unfavorable orography, Zhenjiang demonstrates that pumping structures can be created to help achieve decarbonization objectives without depending so much on wind and solar power. Wang Chenhui, director of the Development Department of State Grid Zhenjiang Power Supply Company -responsible for the dam-, assures that “at full operation it will provide approximately 2.7 million kilowatts of bidirectional power regulation capacity, relieving pressure on the electrical grid during peak load periods.” It will be more help for Jiangsu province than this summer consumed 6% more electricity than in 2024, reaching 156 million kilowatts. And also in the Yangtze are the mammoth dam of the Three Gorges and the next largest dam in the world. The one in Zhenjiang is not so huge nor does it generate as much electricity, but it is the highest in the world and, as we said, a demonstration that, if the terrain is not good, you can always build a huge pool at 190 meters high. Image | Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China In Xataka | China has built the highest bridge in the world and has done what it must: turn it into a show

Portable batteries are part of urban infrastructure in China. I have tried them and I need them to arrive in Europe

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After a decade of writing about gadgets and tens of thousands of miles of travel under my belt, a few weeks ago a destination managed to make me nervous. I was traveling, for the first time, to China. A few days before leaving, I realized that I did not have any batteries with the necessary certification and buying them in Spain is complicated. My idea was to get one there, but to my surprise I came across reality: hives of external batteries on every corner. Below I will tell you about my experience renting one and testing its loading speed. Powerbanks as urban infrastructure. A few months ago, my colleague Javier He already commented on his fascination with this ecosystem of external batteries that anyone can rent. It is really not something so new, since it has running since 2017 and its concept is very interesting. In China we need the cell phone for everything (AliPay and Wechat They are two apps that are your bank, your transportation card, your payment card, your way of ordering in restaurants and much more) and it is something that drains the battery. Therefore, the idea arose to locate stations with several external rental batteries at strategic points in the city. The market is dominated by four companies, they are in the main cities and the process is as simple as: Scan the station’s QR code. Take one of the removable batteries. Use them while we eat or move. Return them to any other point on the network (it does not have to be at the station where we took it). Photo: Xataka Photo: Xataka Photo: Xataka Photo: Xataka Photo: Xataka Photo: Xataka renting one. For me, who went with a iPhone 16 in your pocket (whose battery is no wonder), having something like this available was a lifesaver. And, since science doesn’t do itself, during breakfast I rented one available at my hotel with the intention of using it while I ate and returning it just before leaving. The process is indicated just above these lines and, in my case, I used AliPay. Photo: Xataka You have to go with the application previously configured and, in my case, I loaded a Revolut prepaid card. I didn’t have any problems during the week I was in Beijing. I scanned the QR code of the charging station with AliPay itself and… blessed translation system. It works when it wants and it translates some things regularly, but enough to understand it. The price is 0.12 yuan per minute (about 0.014 euros), but since I don’t have a bank account in China, I had to pay a deposit of 99 yuan (about 12 euros). As soon as I paid, the app told me what power bank I had to remove it and the station itself made the corresponding battery LED flash. To load. Charging experience. The first thing I liked is that you don’t need absolutely anything other than the battery. This includes a USB-C, Lightning and even micro-USB cable. They are short cables, but they are appreciated so you don’t have to carry yours in your pocket. It has LEDs that indicate the charge level and there really isn’t much more to say about the design. Regarding their characteristics, it depends, but they usually have 5,000 mAh and the big asterisk is in the power. 5V/2.4A It is about 12 W and that implies that it will charge at a slow speed. But hey, it is designed so that you can carry it for a while or while you eat and spend at least half an hour/an hour with it. Photo: Xataka On my iPhone 16, the charging times were as follows: I started with 26% battery and in 30 minutes I reached 45%. At 60 minutes it had reached 64%. After 90 minutes it was charged up to 82%. As I say, a slow experience, but I see it as feasible to spend an hour eating or walking between stores, and recovering 38% allows you to survive the rest of the day. When you return it, you have a map where you see all the available stations. I simply went to a different one, clicked on the finalize the transaction button, scanned the QR again and inserted it into the indicated slot. The final price was 14 yuan after almost two hours in my possession, about 1.73 euros to my account. And, the next day, I already had the 99 yuan deposit back in my Revolut. Reviews. Discussing the move with our teammates, we agreed that the price is not high for us, that we use the euro and for those 1.7 euros, well… it allowed me to continue the rest of the day. But we also wonder how the Chinese would view those 14 yuan. And it seems not very well. One of the complaints It is precisely that the price has been increasing in some points. If at the beginning it cost one yuan per hour, now it ranges between two and six. The reason is that it depends a lot on the location (more or less tourist areas, hospitals, hotels, bars, etc.). Coupled with the fact that it is a very fair power and cell phones have more and more battery life, it is almost better to buy an external battery if you know that every now and then you have to rent at one of these stations (which, in addition, can be full at times and you have to go around looking for another one to return the battery. The businesses themselves have also been dissatisfied at times, since it is a market monopolized by a few companies that, evidently, control both the rental price and the profits. Future. Despite this, for tourists, it is an extremely attractive option due to its convenience and because, let’s not fool ourselves, the exchange rate to our currency is favorable to us. And for the industry, it represents an important benefit. In 2020, … Read more

When we thought we had seen all kinds of rehearsals for an invasion, China makes science fiction: robots taking over an island

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At the end of 2024, several military studies from Beijing were published outlining six different scenarios if future unification with Taiwan goes awry. So we tell that the Second World War I advised against all them because, in essence, there was talk of an invasion of the island. From then until now so much China as Taiwan have carried out all kinds of drills under the war scenario background. What you haven’t seen until now is that China has a plan B: robotic wolves. Mechanized herds. This week and through images and videosChina has shown to the world a new generation of autonomous combat systems in an exercise that simulated an invasion of Taiwan. On the landing beach, the traditional “human waves” of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were replaced by swarms of machines: suicide drones and well-known robotic quadrupeds like mechanized wolves. These units, developed by the state-owned China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC), represent the first attempt to convert amphibious operations into a scenario dominated byor artificial intelligence. The broadcast images State television CCTV showed these metal “wolves” running across the sand ahead of human troops, detecting obstacles with LiDAR sensors, thermal cameras and autonomous navigation algorithms. Wolf specification. Of 70 kilos of weight and capable of carrying 20 more, these robots were divided into attack, transport and reconnaissance variants, managing to reduce the time between detection and destruction of the target to less than ten seconds. In fact, in one symbolic sequencea single human operator simultaneously directed nine robots and six drones from a 3D interface, while the devices cleared barbed wire and trenches for infantry. @elsa50356 “Breaking from China! The PLA’s latest amphibious landing drills—drones take the lead, and robotic ‘wolf packs’ rush the beach! The future of warfare is here!” 🚀🪖 #PLADrills #ChinaMilitary #Drones #RobotArmy #MilitaryTech ♬ 原创音乐 – Elsa Swarm intelligence. The training, called “Landing Operation in Taiwan” was part of an assault test coastal exercise carried out by the PLA 72nd Division, under the Eastern Theater Command, the unit operating in front of the Taiwan Strait. For the first time, quadruped robots performed as a spearheadfollowed by waves of FPV drones bombing simulated enemy fortifications. In total, the attack cycle was cfour times faster than that of a conventional square. This deployment is part of the EPL’s strategic shift from mass doctrine (the so-called human wave tactics) towards what Beijing calls “smart sea and land tactics,” a doctrine that prioritizes automation, cooperation between unmanned systems and data-driven decision making. The buts. However, the exercise itself revealed vulnerabilities: these wolf robots They lack armor, are easily detectable in open fields and one of them was destroyed by light fire. Chinese analysts they recognized limitations, but they stressed that the goal was not perfection, but rather to demonstrate that the army is willing to progressively replace human soldiers with swarms of coordinated machines. Ukraine in the shadows. The Chinese Army has incorporated direct lessons from the Ukrainian war into its maneuvers, where drones have redefined tactical and logistical effectiveness. According to Chinese military media like Daiwanthe PLA is applying the knowledge extracted from that conflict in its ground training, anticipating a future where hundreds of robots advance at 30 or 40 km/h in coordinated waves. The parallel is clear: if Ukraine demonstrated that a cheap drone can destroy a tankChina wants to prove that a network of smart machines can break coastal defenses in a matter of minutes. The current exercises, which until recently were limited to traditional landings, are already a general rehearsal of algorithmic warfare, where the human decision is reduced to an initial order and autonomous systems execute the rest. Strategic competition. Plus: The accelerated development of these systems occurs while the United States reinforces your deterrence strategy in the Indo-Pacific. According to the CIAan eventual Chinese invasion of Taiwan could occur before 2027, and the Pentagon has designed the so-called hellscape strategy: Saturate the strait with thousands of drones, submarines and unmanned vehicles to slow down Chinese forces and buy time for reinforcements to arrive. Beijing, aware of this, is creating units specialized in war against swarms, equipped with software capable of detecting, tracking and attacking targets without human intervention. Companies like Norincoanother state giant, have presented vehicles like the P60powered by the DeepSeek AI model, which can recognize targets, avoid obstacles and operate in logistics support or combat missions. A future of machines. He China’s advance towards an AI-powered war demonstrates both its technological ambition and its practical limitations. The images of robots breaching simulated beaches are as revealing as their failures in the face of enemy fire. However, beyond immediate effectiveness, Beijing’s message is unequivocal: the future of the war in the strait of Taiwan will be decided by the speed of the algorithms, not the number of soldiers. In that race, China seeks to transform mechanized warfare in smart warreplacing brute force with computational precision. The question is no longer whether robots will be present in the next invasion, but how many will be able to think, coordinate and eliminate before the first human makes landfall. Image | CCTV/China In Xataka | Less than 150 kilometers from Taiwan, the US does not stop accumulating missiles. It’s the closest thing to preparing for war. In Xataka | China has asked Russia for an airborne battalion and training. That can only mean one thing: they are preparing a landing

Volkswagen has no choice but to look for beans in China

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Volkswagen just announced an investment of more than 200 million dollars to develop its own advanced chips in China. According to the firm, it will have a processing power of between 500 and 700 TOPS (operations per second), and will be specifically designed to power semi-autonomous driving systems in vehicles that the brand manufactures for the Chinese market. Technological claudication. What Volkswagen presents as part of its strategy “In China, for China” It is, in fact, an implicit recognition of its inability to compete on its own in the field of artificial intelligence and automotive software. The German manufacturer has lost ground dramatically in the largest car market in the world: its sales fell from more than 4 million units in 2018 to 2.75 million in 2024, and in 2023 it lost its throne as the best-selling brand in China at the hands of BYD. Chinese technology as life jacket. The development of the chip will be carried out via Carizona joint venture between Cariad (Volkswagen’s software division) and Horizon Robotics, a Chinese firm specializing in integrated circuits with artificial intelligence. According to declared Frank Han, CEO of Cariad China, the chip will be manufactured with 3-4 nanometer technology and will have a power comparable to Nvidia’s Thor processor, which reaches 700 TOPS. By 2030, 80% of Volkswagen Group vehicles sold in China will be developed with the Chinese electronic architecture (CEA). Delivery of the chip is planned within three to five years. Production separation. Volkswagen is, de facto, dividing its production. In China, customers They demand cars full of technologywith advanced assisted driving systems and permanent connectivity. Local manufacturers such as BYD and Xiaomi have taken the lead in this regard, forcing the Western giants to adapt their strategy or die trying. Besides, chinese regulations They expressly prohibit driving data collected in the country from leaving its borders, making it inevitable that the manufacturer will choose to produce its vehicles in a radically different way than it does in the West. TOhook up with someone who can do what you don’t know. Volkswagen adapting its production to China goes beyond semiconductors. According to mention CNBC, the German brand will be the first customer to use Xpeng’s new semi-autonomous driving system, which the Chinese company presented as superior to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving. Volkswagen has also expanded its collaboration with Xpeng to jointly develop electronic architectures for more models in China. Survival in a fierce market. Volkswagen, like the rest of the manufacturers, is at a point where geopolitical tensions between China and the United States are disrupting semiconductor supply chains. According to account Bloomberg, manufacturers such as Volkswagen, BMW and Honda have recently faced a supply crisis after Beijing will block Nexperia exports in retaliation for the control that the Dutch Government exercised over the Chinese-owned company. Developing your own chips in China is, in part, a strategy to reduce dependence on external suppliers, something essential to survive in a context of growing global technological fragmentation. Two companies in one. Volkswagen now faces the challenge of managing two parallel technological ecosystems: one for China and another for the rest of the world. This also comes with a cost, with more investment, separate teams and the risk of losing synergies. But the alternative is worse. As declared Ralf Brandstätter, president and CEO of VW China, “we are accelerating and deepening the implementation of our ‘In China, for China’ strategy, going beyond localized production to master the core technologies that will shape the mobility of tomorrow.” Volkswagen has understood that it can no longer export its technological model to China, but rather import Chinese technology to survive there. Cover image | Volkswagen In Xataka | 55 years ago, an engineer locked himself in his basement to create a motorcycle with a dog nickname: it was the rebirth of Moto Guzzi

If you really want to understand China (and how it sees the future), it’s easy: read its five-year plans

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Today’s China bears little resemblance to that of the mid-20th century, when in the time of Mao Zedong the People’s Republic decided to promote its first five year plan. ran the year 1953 and the country was preparing for the Great Leap Forwardan attempt at industrial modernization that ended with a famine with tragic consequences. Since then China has chained almost uninterrupted five-year plans, documents that help understand its evolution. Its reading is interesting now that the Central Committee of the Communist Party has launched the machinery to provide a plan for 2026-2030. Playing short or long term? On Monday Isaac Stone Fish, founder of Strategy Risk, opened a debate interesting in X: What horizon does China use when drawing up strategies? Do you focus on the long term or do you think only a few years ahead? It is not a minor issue. Stone himself brought up the subject a video released by the White House, the fragment of an interview granted by Trump to CBS in which it was pointed out that the Chinese “are playing the long game.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. “A recommended read”. “Let’s stop saying that the Chinese are playing the long game. This is orientalist nonsense that we must eradicate from our discourse with China. Read the Five Year Plan from five years ago and you will see how different China has become from what its leaders predicted. The Chinese think, like the rest of the people, mainly about the challenges they will face today and in the years to come,” claims the analyst, who assures that long-term speeches have other purposes, such as the party’s self-reaffirmation. He is not the only one who believes it. “If you are interested in reality, read the Chinese five-year plans. They are instructive,” slid another user in X. “Read a plan from five years ago. It is recommended.” But what are five-year plans? Economic and social guides, five-year guidelines that the Chinese authorities set for themselves and that basically set objectives in terms of development, industry, innovation or well-being. Also the paths to reach them. The first dates back to 1953 and since then they have been happening (with almost no pauses) with greater or lesser success, but exerting a key influence on the national evolution of the last 70 years. In fact it is not strange to hear that the turning point in China’s modern development came in 1978, with the economic reform promoted by Deng Xiaoping, which was followed shortly after by a five-year plan for the period 1981-1985. “A macro guideline”. “The five-year plan serves as a way for leaders to take stock, examine challenges and tasks, set directions and move forward. It must be followed closely, as strategic thinking and planning have become a rarity among governments,” They explain to EFE Nomura analysts. “It is a macro-level instruction or guideline for the market to know, including investors, state-owned enterprises and the public, to have the correct expectation of what government policy will be in the future,” comment in AP Li Lun, professor at Peking University. Its role is important because, as remember Neil Thomasresearcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute, marks a key difference with Europe or the US “Western politics operates through electoral cycles, but Chinese policymaking operates through planning cycles.” In the focus. That the Chinese five-year plans are being talked about right now is no coincidence. The country is immersed in the preparation of the new roadmap that will mark its steps until 2030, a complex scenario marked by the real estate crisishe weakening of domestic consumptionthe trade tensionshe youth unemployment or the aging of the population, among other challenges. A few days ago the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party met behind closed doors to talk about the new five-year plan, a document that will not be approved until March 2026but the one that Beijing wanted advance some keys. Among other goals, the technological self-sufficiencymaintain at a level “reasonable” of manufacturing and raise life expectancy up to the 80 years. Why is it important? Because although there is still a long way to go for the approval of the new five-year plan, in the past this roadmap has been key to understanding the priorities of the Chinese Government. Also in its development. At the end of October Nick Mash published an analysis on the BBC in which he details three occasions in which the plans have influenced the world economy: the reformist and opening trend of 1981-1984, the commitment to “strategic emerging industries” during 2011-2015 and “high-quality development” (2021-2025). Images | Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra (Unsplash) and Chinese Communist Party In Xataka | Xi Jinping wants two things: first, to create a global center that regulates AI. The second, that it is in Shanghai

China has presented its X-36 aircraft to dominate the air. And then he took him to a secret base where the real surprise was.

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The public appearance of the J-36 and later a “twin”, marks a turning point in Chinese military aviation, placing Beijing in a direct race for air supremacy in the 21st century. Until just a few years ago, the US lead in stealth fighter development seemed assured. However, the new Chinese platforms, first shown on flights captured without censorship and now visible in satellite images in a secret base near Lop Nur, indicate that China has not only advanced in technology: it has decided to demonstrate it. The sixth generation. It became official on October 31, 2025, when several videos shared on chinese social networks and internationals showed what was identified as the new J-36 stealth plane 6th generation Peking flying in formation with a J-20probably the two-seat J-20S, near the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation facilities. The disclosure deliberate imagesoperational integration with J-20S fighters already in service and the parallel deployment of two different sixth-generation designs suggest that China is not simply testing isolated prototypes, but rather building a deeply interconnected aerial ecosystem, conceived to coordinate manned fighters, heavy stealth platforms and swarms of advanced drones in penetration, supremacy and airspace control missions in highly defended theaters. Design break. The J-36the most visible and talked about aircraft, stands out for its queueless configurationa trait extremely difficult to stabilize without advanced algorithmic and computational assistance. Its wide fuselage, long chord wings and air intakes positioned both on the top and on the sides indicate an absolute priority: minimize the radar signal from any angle and operate for long periods within denied zones. This type of design, compared by analysts to a crossover between stealth fighters and bombersis not only aimed at air-to-air combat, but rather at acting as a tactical node in the air: monitoring distributed sensors, coordinating unmanned platforms and providing range and persistence in deep missions. The evolution between the prototype seen in December 2024 and the one shown in 2025 (with modifications to nozzles, landing gear and control surfaces) aims for rapid iteration and a high testing rate, characteristic features of aeronautical industries with mature design cycles. The J-20S bridge cone. He use of the J-20Sthe two-seat variant of the Chinese fifth-generation stealth fighter, as an escort and supervision platform in mixed flights with the J-36it is not a minor detail. The additional cockpit of the J-20S is optimized to manage sensors, data links and control of autonomous systems, making it the “human piece” that oversees what will, in the future, become increasingly automated. This pairing reflects the American operating concept for your NGAD programin which a very high-level fighter does not replace existing models, but rather coordinates and amplifies them. China, similarly, appears to be preparing mixed attack packages: the J-36 opens the way and establishes an information bubble, the J-20S protects and directs, and unmanned platforms execute saturation, deception or attack. Installation near Lop Nur Satellite image providing an overview of the entire facility near Lop Nur, as seen on November 3 Chinese Area 51. And after the show, the J-36 was stored in an unknown location until a few hours ago. The appearance of another prototype alongside the J-36 (the smaller but still heavy one called like J-XDS) at a remote base near the historic Lop Nur nuclear site revealed something crucial: China is transferring the testing phase from manufacturer facilities to an advanced experimentation center, similar in purpose to the US Area 51. The track of more than 5 kilometersnew hangar installations, expansions and projects under construction suggest an environment designed for intensive testing of sensitive systems, stealth operations and doctrine validation. That both models were parked outdoors, knowing that they would be captured by commercial satellites, reinforces the interpretation that Beijing seeks to show capacity and leave it to Western intelligence to fill gaps and debate roles, sizes, engines, automation levels and actual missions. Put another way, ambiguity is part of the strategy: forcing the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia to prepare for several simultaneous scenarios, which disperses resources, planning and budgets. A future combat ecosystem. The key does not lie only in manned aircraft. China is expanding rapidly parallel programs from autonomous and collaborative stealth drones, from naval UCAVs like GJ-11/21 to operate from aircraft carriers to “loyal wingman” type CCAs of similar size to that of a light fighter, planned for accompany the J-36 such as range multipliers, sensors and ammunition. The goal is to create a spectrum of interdependent systemswhere the sixth-generation fighter acts as the aerial brain, while swarms of drones execute risky tasks, absorb fire, open access corridors and saturate long-range defenses. This, in theory, fits directly into Western Pacific scenarios, where any operation requires penetrating dense and deeply integrated networks of surveillance, over-the-horizon radars, satellites and naval missiles. A challenge for Washington. The presentation and the transfer of evidence to one top secret base They underline a reality: China is not building a single aircraft, but rather preparing a complete doctrinal architecture to contest (not just balance) American air superiority. For the United States, Japan and allies, the concern arises not only from technical progress, but from the calendar. Washington plans to deploy its first NGAD fighters towards 2030, but Beijing is already flying prototypes in experimental operational configuration accompanied by mature fighters. Yeah the J-36 or that twin pragmatic J-XDS reach levels of availability and credible doctrine sooner, the aerial map of the Pacific could undergo a profound transformation. What for decades was a question of “whether China would reach the fifth generation” has now become a different and much more pressing question: what the hell will air combat look like in the next decade. Image | Planet Labs, Chinese Social Media In Xataka | China appears to be molding a huge stealth aircraft called the J-36. This image is emerging as proof of his ambition In Xataka | We have been tying ribbons to suitcases for years to identify them at the airport. Your employees warn that it is a bad idea

There is a new chapter in the Nexperia soap opera, one in which China wins the game

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There are new developments in the chip war between the Netherlands and China, which has the company Nexperia at the center. After a tense escalation and the blockade that threatened to paralyze factoriesthe situation has improved after the meeting between Trump and Xi Jinpingbut there is something else. Almost at the same time, Nexperia China made a decision that changes everything: they will take care of the manufacturing of all the chips without depending on Holland, which would mean the definitive divorce from what was their headquarters. A divided company. Since last October 13 The Dutch government decided to take control of the companyNexperia split in two and was caught between two pieces of legislation. On the one hand, the headquarters in Holland controlled by the Dutch government and on the other its subsidiary in China, which The Chinese government banned the export of components. What followed was an increasingly tense exchange: the Chinese subsidiary broke ranks with the parent company and began to act independently and then from Holland They stopped supplying wafers for their chips as “a direct consequence of the recent failure by local management to comply with contractually agreed payment terms.” The automobile sector was shaking in the face of supply cuts and warned that factories could be paralyzed. Nexperia China. In a statement published by Beijing Dailydescribe the accusation as completely false and affirm that, not only have they not breached the contract, but that the Dutch parent company owes them 1,000 million yuan (about 122 million euros). They continue: “The unilateral suspension of supply by Nexperia completely ignores the interests of customers, seriously violates contractual agreements and the principles of business cooperation, seriously damages customer trust and constitutes an extremely irresponsible act.” Full China. Nexperia China will continue to operate independently and they assure that they have enough stock to supply their international customers “until the end of the year and beyond.” Furthermore, before the controversy Nexperia was already responsible for 70% of production; What Europe supplied them was mainly the wafers or wafers. Nexperia China says in its statement that they are “accelerating verification of new wafer capacity,” the key component to its full independence. The meeting. In it statement issued by the White House Following the meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping, it is said that “China will take appropriate measures to ensure the resumption of trade from Nexperia’s facilities in China, allowing production of critical legacy chips to reach the rest of the world.” That is to say, the blockade is coming to an end, the curious thing is that at no time does it mention anything about Holland or Europe. Nexperia Netherlands. The Dutch headquarters welcomed the agreement between the presidents of both nations, but did not comment on the Chinese subsidiary’s intention to accelerate its industrial independence. If Nexperia China finally completes its total spin-off, the European subsidiary could end up being a kind of ghost company empty. Images | Nexperia In Xataka | In its race to make advanced chips, China has tried to copy ASML. It’s going wrong

These are just two examples of how China is buying Europe

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For more than a decade, Chinese capital has been buying hundreds of European companies, one after another. Centenary brands, technological leaders, industrial jewels. A map of acquisitions that has changed the ownership of some historic companies. This is the x-ray of the main European companies that are in Chinese hands, sector by sector. Automotive The Swedish and Italian assault. The automobile sector has been one of the main objectives from the beginning. Technology and robotics The German jewel. China has targeted strategic technology companies, especially in robotics and engineering. Agribusiness The Swiss giant. One of the largest Chinese acquisitions in Europe, and in the world. Energy and infrastructure Ports and nuclear. China has invested in strategic energy and port infrastructure assets. In some cases it remained an attempt that did not bear fruit. Tourism and hospitality The European tourism and hospitality sector has also attracted Chinese capital: Luxury goods and fashion European luxury brands have been another strategic target. Lanvin (France): Fosun acquired the French fashion house, one of the oldest haute couture brands in the world, in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. Time after adapted the name of its fashion division. Telecommunications A sensitive sector where operations have encountered more resistance. Also in Spain. Missing? Sectors such as banking, where Chinese acquisitions have been more limited by regulation, and defense, practically shielded. Also the pharmaceutical sector, where they have barely achieved important operations. The context. This shopping list is a good reflection of the Chinese strategy of the last 15 years: Access to technology. Global brands. And strategic positions in Europe. But the panorama has changed. Large acquisitions have given way to ground-up investment, especially in electric vehicles, concentrated in countries like Hungary that offer tax advantages and somewhat more regulatory laxity. BYD is a great example. Just like CATL. turning point. Europe is tightening its surveillance now that China changes tactics. Spectacular purchases have been reducing. Now is the time for new factories, electric cars and a subtler battle for the continent’s industrial future. In Xataka | Alibaba’s strategy with AI is very simple: achieve the same thing that Google achieved with Android Featured image | Luca Massimilian

China has a gigantic desert in Tibet with countless hours of daylight. And he’s filling it with solar panels

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A year ago we had in Xataka how a huge solar park in the Chinese province of Qinghai, in the heart of the Tibetan plateau, served as an ecological experiment: under the panels, the shade retained moisture and made vegetation sprout in the middle of the desert. Today, that same place – the Talatan Solar Park – has become something much greater. It is the largest clean energy facility on the planet, a “blue sea” of silicon that already covers more than 600 square kilometers at three thousand meters above sea level. Where before there was nothing, China is lifting an energy ecosystem without comparison in the rest of the world. The scale has multiplied. Where last year there was talk of a 1 gigawatt solar park, today a complex extends that reaches 15,600 and 16,900 megawatts and continues to expand. Its area – between 420 and 610 square kilometers – is seven times that of Manhattan. Furthermore, it is not alone since 4,700 megawatts of wind energy and 7,380 megawatts of hydroelectric dams are deployed around it, completing an unprecedented hybrid system. The result: enough renewable energy to supply almost all of the plateau’s needs, including the data centers that power China’s artificial intelligence. According to CleanTechnicaevery three weeks China installs as many solar panels as the entire capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric project in its history. A global clean energy laboratory. The Tibetan plateau, with its pure, cold air, has become the most ambitious energy laboratory in the world. There, China is experimenting with an electricity production model based exclusively on renewables. Electricity generated in Qinghai—40% cheaper than coal, according to the NYT— powers high-speed trains, factories, electric cars and data centers. In fact, the region is home to new computing centers dedicated to artificial intelligence, which consume less energy thanks to the altitude and low temperatures. “Hot air from servers is used to heat other buildings, replacing coal-fired boilers,” explained Zhang Jingang, vice provincial governor. In the words of Professor Ningrong Liu, in his column for the South China Morning Post: “China is not only leading the transition to green energy; it is building the 21st century energy scaffolding that sustains its industrial leadership in electric vehicles, batteries and solar technology.” Three sources that beat in unison. The magnitude of the project is only possible thanks to centralized planning that combines three main sources: solar, wind and hydroelectric energy. During the day, Talatan panels capture more intense solar radiation than at sea level; At night, thousands of wind turbines collect the cold breezes that sweep across the plains. When both systems fluctuate, hydroelectric dams balance the grid. Also, from the New York Times They described a system reversible pumping: excess solar energy during the day is used to raise water to reservoirs located in nearby mountains, which release that water at night to generate electricity. And under the panels, life returns. The shade of the plates reduces evaporation and soil erosion. According to China Dailythis year the vegetation has recovered up to 80% and 173 villages have benefited from the associated livestock farming. A local shepherd, Zhao Guofu, said: “My flock has grown to 800 sheep and my income has doubled since I grazed between the panels.” The perfect geography for the sun. No other country has taken solar generation to similar altitudes. The altitude plays in favor of physics, at 3,000 meters the air contains fewer particles that block light and the low temperatures reduce the thermal loss of the panels. This efficiency is multiplied in Qinghai, one of the few areas of the Tibetan plateau with large plains, where it is possible to build without the limits of the mountainous relief. The Talatan Desert, once an arid and worthless land, has become an energetic jewel. local authorities offer symbolic leases and have developed roads and high-voltage lines connecting the plateau with the industrial centers to the east. That energy travels more than 1,600 kilometers to factories and cities. According to CleanTechnicaChina already operates 41 ultra-high voltage transmission lines, some longer than 2,000 miles and up to 1.1 million volts. The global scale: no one comes close. Other countries have tried to generate clean energy at altitude, but with modest results. Switzerland, for example, inaugurated a small solar park in the Alps, at 1,800 meters, with barely 0.5 MW. For its part, in the Chilean Atacama Desert, a 480 MW project operates at 1,200 meters. By way of comparison, the Talatan complex multiplies the capacity of the Bhadla Solar Park in India, and for more than seven that of the Al Dhafra Solar Park in the United Arab Emirates, which until recently held records. The superpower of clean energy. China produces and consumes more renewable energy than any other country on the planet. In 2024, was responsible of 61% of new solar installations and 70% of global wind power. That same year, it achieved the capacity targets it had set for 2030. In the first six months of 2025added 212 GW solar and 51 GW wind, and the country’s carbon emissions fell for the first time. In this context, Talatan Park is both a symbol and an infrastructure. China is exporting its renewable technology around the world, from Asia to Africa, following the logic of Belt and Road Initiative. For the academic Ningrong Liu: “China wants to stop being the world’s factory to become the engine of the world’s factory.” It is not just about manufacturing panels, but about selling the complete model: engineering, financing and know-how to build green networks in other countries. The less visible side of the miracle. It’s not all clean energy and pastoral harmony. In its report, The New York Times recalled that access to Tibet remains strictly controlled by the Communist Party, and that Western media were only allowed to visit Qinghai on a government-organized tour. There are also human and environmental costs. CleanTechnica documents how the giant power lines that transport energy from west … Read more

The Japanese Shinkansen was the fastest train in the world until China defeated it. The reason: the “piston effect”

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In a very summary way, the piston in a four stroke engine It is responsible for moving the air inside to compress it and facilitate the burning or explosion of the fuel or to push it out of the combustion chamber. That is, it is dedicated to pushing the air up or down. Now imagine a train arriving in a tunnel at more than 300 km/h. Suddenly, the train goes from being outside to moving the air inside the tunnel. To push it to the bottom. Your movement It would be very similar to that of a piston. The train moves in a straight line and around it the tunnel would behave like a combustion chamber. That doesn’t seem like a problem. It doesn’t seem like it if we think that the air is simply pushed to the outlet where it is released without further problem. It’s also not a problem if your high-speed lines run over a bridge more than 100 kilometers long. But if you are a mountainous country and you have made the railway your star medium to move millions of people hundreds of kilometers an hour. Yes, you have a problem. Because the piston effect is pure physics and solving it to gain speed is not being easy. When they were the best In 1964, while Spain began to open up to the world, Abebe Bikila won his second Olympic Marathon in the streets of Tokyo. He did it wearing Puma Osaka shoes.nothing to do with the famous 42,195 meters that he covered barefoot in Rome to win four years before. We do not know if Bikila took that first Shinkansen that linked the cities Tokyo and, precisely, Osaka. The bullet train had begun to operate in Japan that same year, promoted by the Olympic Games in the Japanese capital. Then, the two cities were linked by a train that reached peaks of 210km/hbecoming the first high-speed line in the world. More than 60 years later, Japan is no longer the country with the highest number of high-speed kilometers of the world. Today it is China. It makes sense, taking into account that the country is huge, so if this means of transportation were promoted, sooner or later they would surpass their neighbors. Spain, by the way, also surpassed Japan in this area years ago. But it is very likely that something else has hurt Japan more. China is making the bullet train its flag. Its latest advances with the maglev, which levitates thanks to very powerful magnets to avoid friction with the track, has reached a combined speed of 896 km/h at the intersection of two CR450 trains. The problem for Japan is that China has a lot of money. And if it is necessary to build eight of the 10 longest bridges in the world to solve geographical accidents, they get to work. Japan has to deal with a lot of mountains and a more traditional system: tunnels. And that when you want to make a train pass at very high speed is quite a problem. When a train fully crosses the threshold of a tunnel, what is known as piston effecta problem that prevents increasing the walking speed further. The consequences are as simple as they are serious: loud explosions, breakage of equipment… and the eardrums of passengers. Upon entering the tunnel, the air is compressed and the movement of the train moves it towards the exit. However, some of that air rebounds and generates pressure changes that can be especially painful for passengers, even affecting their middle ear. When moving outside, a pressure wave is created that moves at the speed of sound and when the train leaves the tunnel, a shock wave and a sound explosion are created that, it is calculated, can be heard 400 meters away. It is known as tunnel boom. Japan is now experiencing a problem carried over from the past. Their trains are wider than the European ones but their tunnels are narrower. This was to reduce infrastructure costs but also to run less risk of landslides in the event of an earthquake. At first this was not a problem but when the speed of the trains increased they realized that they could not continue moving. In China, trains also use wide tracks like their neighbors but since they do not preserve inherited structuresthe new tunnels built are wider. This reduces the void effect produced with the entry of the train into the tunnel and, therefore, mitigates the problems for passengers. Furthermore, as less resistance is generated when the train passes, energy expenditure is also reduced. The solution for the Japanese is not simple. On the Tokaido Shinkansen, the first high-speed line (the one that connects Tokyo with Osaka), 13% of total kilometers They run inside tunnels. But the Sanyo Shinkansen line runs through tunnels half of the time. and he Hokkaido Shinkansen which is under construction (this line is only partially open) contemplates the roofing of 80% of the layout. The most effective solution that has been found to the problem is to produce trains with a very long and sharp nose. The aerodynamics tries to imitate the beak of the Kingfisher that can dive into the water generating minimal splashes. Following the same concept, the longer and sharper the nose of the train, the less resistance the train encounters at the entrance and the more gradually the pressure wave is generated. The other solution has been expand the section of the tunnel at its entrance. The “door” is wider and also has side openings that allow part of the air to escape. air moved by the train. This escape route generates a lower pressure wave, allowing the train not to cause unwanted discomfort to passengers and to travel faster. It has even been thought of hermetic trains with controlled pressure. During its tests, Japan continues to search for trains that can reach a top speed of 400 km/h. However, the structures inherited from … Read more

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