china

The SOC Kirin 9020 of Huawei demonstrates how much China has advanced with the chips. And also how much you have to do

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Huawei and SMIC (Semiconductor manufacturing international corp) They go hand in hand in their adventure to sustain the Chinese semiconductor industry. The sanctions that The US government has deployed During the last two and a half years they seek to stop the development of Chinese companies that are dedicated to the design and manufacture of integrated circuits. The country’s semiconductor industry led by Xi Jinping brings together hundreds of companies, but these two are its spearhead. And they are because presumably are the ones that have the most resources at their disposal to innovate. And they are doing it. In fact, SMIC currently has the ability to manufacture Integrated 6 and 7 nm circuits. In addition, you are about to start 5 Nm chip production and plan to start Its first 3 nod nodes equipped with gaa transistors (Gate-alall-around) in 2026. It is not but that we are bad if we keep in mind that Chinese manufacturers do not have access to equipment extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) of ASML, which are the ideal to produce these semiconductors. The Soc Kirin 9020 is a half success The launch of the new smartphones family Huawei pure 80 It invites us to take a look at your SOC to identify what it proposes and what integration technology is involved in its manufacture. This chip has been produced by SMIC in its 7 Nm node and class N+2. This terminology indicates that it is a 7 Nm and second generation lithograph Mate 60 Pro of Huawei. SMIC already has the ability to manufacture integrated circuits of 6 nm. And soon you can also produce 5 nm chips We have not yet had the opportunity to try any of the pure family 80 smartphones equipped with this SOC, but it is reasonable to anticipate that it will give users a satisfactory experience. Even so, it is evident that your performance by watt will not be comparable to that of The soc that manufactures TSMC in its nodes of 3 and 5 nm. As I mentioned a few lines above, SMIC already has the ability to manufacture integrated 6 NM circuits, and soon it can also produce 5 Nm semiconductors, but it is limited by the performance of the deep ultraviolet lithography equipment (UVP) you have in your possession. It is meritorious that SMIC and Huawei engineers have managed to refine their integrated circuit manufacturing processes what is necessary to produce chips of 5, 6 and 7 nm with the ASML UVP equipment, but a priori it is very unlikely that with these machines they will be able to go beyond the 3 Nm. And it is because the technique of Multiple patterningwhich is what they are using, imposes important limitations. A note: This strategy in broad strokes consists in transferring the pattern to the wafer in several passes with the purpose of increasing the resolution of the lithographic process. His problem is that he usually has an upward impact on the cost of chips and the decline in production capacity. For China it is a big problem not to have the necessary technology to produce avant -garde semiconductors comparable to those who manufacture Intel, AMD or Qualcomm, among other western alignment companies. The great hope of the country led by Xi Jinping is having as soon as possible Your own UVE photolithography teamsand it seems that they are close. In fact, A filtration has revealed that Huawei is already testing a prototype of one of these machines. If this information is finally confirmed and China has its commercial UVE machines in 2026 will have taken a crucial step in its pulse with the US. Image | Hiilicon In Xataka | Nvidia has to deal with the absolute distrust of several US legislators. His plan in China is in danger In Xataka | The US wants to end the chips for the Chinese that are sold abroad. And China knows how to defend oneself

The US had launched a pulse to China with tariff

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United States and China reached last Wednesday a preliminary agreement to reactivate the commercial truce for a period of six months. The two -day trade negotiations in London They culminated in a temporary frame to implement the consensus of Geneva, through which the United States establishes new tariffs and China more flexible the export licenses of their rare earths. The context: May 10, the United States and China They gathered in Geneva For your first meeting aimed at negotiating the reciprocal tariffs. Two days later, they reached an agreement for the de -escalated: United States reduced Chinese export tariffs from 145% to 30%while China established 10% tariffs on US imports. There were no changes to the most sensitive measure: the restriction of rare earth export imposed by China after meeting The first tariff fees of the US government. Since then, the dancing of measures and counterweights has not ceased. The novelty. After new rounds of conversation in Landinense Lancaster A new agreement To reduce commercial tensions. On the part of the United States, a 55% tariff is proposed to the importation of Chinese products, the admission of Chinese students in their universities, and export controls to products such as reaction engines and gases such as ethane, a key raw material for the petrochemical industry are flexible. China maintains a 10% tariff to imports from the United States and relaxes license concessions for six months to exports from the key to move or paralyze a good part of the world industry: Rare earths. It is not a victory for the United States. That China temporarily flexible the export of rare earths is not a symptom of commercial weakness, It is a symptom of power. The country led by Xi Jinping has control over the extraction and processing of rare earths (and all the necessary elements to work with them). The agreement is proof that, each time China wants to negotiate, it has only to open or close the tap. These materials are and will be critical as ammunition for future negotiations. If the United States squeezes, China will drown with the export of licenses. Rare earths are the center of the Chinese defensive strategy, and key to stabilize the trade of key components for strategic sectors such as the electric, defense, computing or chemical industry. Nor will it go free. Financial Times sources They ensure that the granting of rare earth licenses will be subject to strict export controls. Among them, the demand for commercial information as a currency to the supply. The Ministry of Commerce would be requesting details about the production process as part of its approval process. Concrete data about its operations, personnel, final use applications, production information, product images or facilities, are some of the data that China would be demanding from its customers, according to Frank Eckard (Executive Director of Magnosphere, German manufacturer of magnets). The consequences. Licenous restriction measures for rare earth export was beginning to drown certain industries. In the United States, companies like Ford They had to stop part of their productionand they have not been the only ones. Is A measure with global impactsince the supply chain is interconnected. Suzuki in Japan had to stop Swift productionand The tensions about the future of the data centers were in the air. On the United States side, it is especially relevant that their currency is the admission of Chinese students in their universities. China is the first worldwide “factory” of students Stem: 38% of the experts in Americans come from there. The tariff, raised to 55%, remains a sign of the tension and commercial pulse. A constant dance figure with which Trump tries to mark his dominant position. Image | Lio voo In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

China has just uploaded one of the keys to the future of its chips. It is a very elegant response to the US

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At the end of May, the US administration took a new step in its strategy to stop the Chinese semiconductor industry. After verifying that preventing access to its technology had not been enough to stop the country’s progress led by Xi Jinping, he decided Block EDA software exports. This software is essential to automate the design and key processes that allow progress in the manufacture of semiconductors and in the development of new lithographic technologies. China has taken less than two weeks to move and make your progress public. The context. On May 29, the United States notified the three giants of the EDA software industry (Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens) that They had to cease their services to Chinese groups. These three companies control more than 74% of the global market of these tools. In an attempt to isolate China from a fundamental element to advance in the semiconductor career, the Trump administration attacked one of the few flanks that remained to torpedo. The first answer. The reaction of Chinese software manufacturers EDA was immediate. Yang Lianfeng, president of one of the three main national companies in the sector, described the US decision as “The best development opportunity in history”. The Trump administration maneuver, which sought to close a door to China, ended up promoting the actions of national companies and accelerating processes that had been developing for years. Processes that, inevitably, they would culminate in a self -sufficient industry. The next step, upload to github. One of the particularities of EDA software is its closed nature. China has been keeping its advances in this field with zeal but, after the United States movement, it has not taken long to respond. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the main scientific institutions of the country, has published in GitHub A document in which he explains his advances with Qimeng. This software uses Chinese language models to automate processes in semiconductor manufacturing. The development team states that it can do in days what a human team would have been for weeks. It is important to emphasize that Qimeng is an academic Open-Source project, without industrial purposes. However, Timming has been perfect. The small mouth. Modesty is a characteristic feature of Chinese philosophy. This was shown by Ren Zhengfei, leader of Huawei, publicly recognizing that His chips are a year behind those of the United States. The Academy itself has adopted a similar position, ensuring that (for the moment) its performance is comparable to the Intel proposals in the 1990s and Arm architectures of the 2010. The documentation also highlights the current challenges in the current design of semiconductors, including limited resources, ecosystem diversity and restrictions on the manufacture of this technology. China has a lot to show. It is quite naive to think that China’s current point in EDA software is just comparable to solutions ten years ago. If an academic and open source project is at this point, that of the Chinese EDA giants will have enough to demonstrate. The country is working in silence to Achieve self -sufficiency In an essential field to lead in semiconductors, and make part of their advances public is a clear message that they are working patiently. The country, comparing its product with the American, shows a deep respect for rival knowledge and wisdom (China has even a character to reflect this, and it is the Zhì 智), while making clear its pragmatism: if they cannot access the tool, they will create it themselves. In Xataka | China is moving whole buildings at the same time to build underneath. Because? Because it can

Energy and space. China has solved them by sinking them into the sea

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China has opened in Shanghai The first commercial submarine database fed entirely by marine wind energy. It is an important evolutionary leap after two years of experience with its pilot installation in Hainan. Why is it important. The digital infrastructure is facing Two crisis worldwide: The excessive energy consumption of data centers. The shortage of urban land to expand them. This underwater installation solves both problems of a stroke, because it reduces energy expenditure to 40% while releasing space on the mainland. The context. China already tested the commercial viability of Submarine centers in Hainan Since December 2022, where an installation operates 30 meters deep without registering a single server breakdown in these two and a half years. Microsoft experienced with PROJECT NATICK In Scotland in 2015, but it was Hainan who marked the first real commercial deployment of the world. Shanghai now represents the “version 2.0” of this technology. In figures: Investment reaches 1.6 billion yuan (222.7 million dollars) to create an underwater cluster of 24 megawatts. The natural water cooling system reduces cooling consumption of 40-50% to less than 10% of total consumption. More than 90% of energy will come from marine wind farms. What has happened. Yesterday, Tuesday, June 10, The tripartite agreement was signed Among the authorities of Shanghai and the company Hicloud Technology. The first phase, 2.3 MW, will begin operating in September as a national model project. The second phase will scale up to 24 MW with an energy efficiency (PU) of less than 1.15. And now what. The installation anchors an industrial ecosystem that will support AI, 5G, Internet of industrial things and electronic commerce platforms outside China. The country thus consolidates its leadership in submarine digital infrastructure while other countries remain focused on expanding land centers to use. Outstanding image | Hicloud In Xataka | Saudi Arabia wants to become a new power in data centers. Nothing is clear that I can do it

The United States has lost almost all its advantage in the face of China. And in just over a year

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American leadership in AI wobbles. The data of the AI Index 2025 Stanford reveals that China has trimmed the technical advantage of the United States to levels that seemed difficult to reach. Above all, because it has taken a little over a year to close most of the gap. Why is it important. The United States maintains the volume –40 notable models against 15 Chinese at the end of the year in the Epoch list-but China has shown that quality is no longer American monopoly, and that almost-convergence rewrites the rules of geopolitics in the most promising and strategic technology of the 21st century. The figures. In January 2024, the best American model exceeded Chinese in 9.26% in Benchmarks of chatbots. Just over a year later, that advantage has collapsed to 1.7%. Convergence is repeated in reasoning, mathematics and programming. The case Deepseek It is a perfect example. While Google spent 192 million dollars on the specific training of Gemini 1.0 Ultrathe Chinese startup said they have achieved competitive results with just 6 million. That caused A media and stock market earthquake At the beginning of the year. The contrast. They are two different approaches: The United States dominates for quantity and resources: it leads private investment (150,000 million dollars in 2024) and concentrates the most valued companies in the sector. China is responding efficiently: less models, much lower costs, equivalent results. The narrative of “Chinese technological backwardness” falls apart. Yolanda Gil, co -director of AI Index, He explained Thus his surprise: “I hoped that a more efficient version of the LLMS appeared at some point. We simply did not know who would build it or how.” Yes, but. American hegemony persists on other fronts. American companies continue to create the most influential models and monopolize global investment. And Europe is relegated: only three notable models in 2024. All French. The shadow of Mistral. The background. This race reflects a broader battle for the future of the digital economy. China demonstrates that efficiency can compensate for huge spending, challenging the “brute force” model that has characterized US development of AI. In Xataka | Openai is going better than expected thanks to payment users. And that marks an evident direction Outstanding image | Aerps.com in Unspash

Whole China is of exams. So AI companies are laying their chatbots so that students do not cheat

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In Spain the students recently passed By the Pau test (Before EBAU, EVAU or Selectivity), and now something similar is happening in China, where Chinese students face Gaokao (高考), the National Access to University Exam. And they do it with an almost obligatory novelty. Nothing to cheat with chatbots from AI. The most popular chatbots in China Like Qwenfrom Alibaba, have temporarily deactivated functions such as image recognition. They have done it precisely to prevent such characteristic from being used as a modern “chop” To help them during these tests. Impartiality in the tests. The same has happened with Yuanbao (Tencent) and Kimi (MoNshot), two other popular chatbots in China, which have also deactivated that image recognition characteristic. When trying to use this function, they indicate In Bloombergthe text “appears” to guarantee the impartiality of the university access tests, this function cannot be used during the test period. “ An exam in which the future is played. The Gaokao was held for the first time in 1952 as part of the reform of the then newly created People’s Republic of China. The access processes to universities changed during Mao Zedong’s mandate, but in 1977 Deng Xiaoping recovered them and have continued to be used until today. There are 16 provinces with personalized exams, but in all cases the conclusion is the same: these tests determine the immediate future of students In the academic aspect. Designed and printed in jail. Gaoako access tests are so important that they are designed under strict security by a small team of teachers. These professionals are sent to isolated site of Beijing as military facilities or prisonswhere they make the questions. They cannot leave those locations until the tests are performed, but it is also that most exams are printed within prisons and each “printing” is protected 24 hours a day by cameras and guards. Even its transport to the centers is done with security measures that one would expect in money transports from banking entities, for example. Everything to prevent the questions from leaking. Scratch note. Chatbots are presented as a spectacular help for these students, and students – and their parents – know it. The note of these exams determines whether the student may or may not access the best careers and university institutions, and that also depends on their future positions, salaries and even their social mobility. Competitiveness is also huge: More than 13 million students They are presented to these tests this year. To achieve better notes, all kinds of solutions are used, from particular teachers to these attempts to cheat. Of photo recognition, nothing. The tests have taken place from 7 to today, June 10. The Alibaba chatbots (Qwen) and bytedance (Doubao) offered the Image recognition for AI until last Monday. However, according to Bloomberg if a user asked for the solutions to a problem in a paper that was taken a photo, Qwen replied that the service was temporarily disabled. In Doubao the message indicated is that this request “did not meet the rules.” AI is fine to learn, but not for exams. In Beijing they launched recently A plan to integrate the teaching of AI at school. Although this type of discipline in classrooms is being tried, one thing is that they learn to use it and another very different that students take it to cheat in these tests. In fact a new set of standards Published by the Ministry of Education of China last month established that students should not use the content generated by the response in their duties or in the aforementioned exams. The objective: that they do not depend too much on artificial intelligence. Image | 绵 绵 In Xataka | The 100 best universities in the world excluding those of the US, exposed this graphic revealing

China conquered us with its cheap drones. Now the price of its pieces is shooting for a reason that is not accidental

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The Chinese market has been the most attractive option to buy drones for years, both for price and variety. From Ultraeconomic models of 30 euros even professional drones such as DJI MAVIC 4 PROfor more than 2,000 euros. The fan is really wide. Now, that successful formula begins to face a new context. Such as collect Financial Timesthe prices of the components from China are rising, in some cases duplicating. Let’s analyze the reasons and scope of this phenomenon. The scenario has changed. More and more suppliers operating in China are raising their prices for international clients. They do, according to the aforementioned British newspaper, in response to the reinforcement of the export controls that Beijing is applying on “sensitive components.” The aforementioned changes occur in a global context where the United States and China are immersed in a commercial war marked by ups and downs. Although in recent months Some offensives have softeneduncertainty still persists how the next steps will be. Key components in the spotlight. Among the elements most affected by these restrictions are Thermographic cameras. These cameras allow to detect temperature differences and generate images in low visibility conditions, such as night, fog or smoke. Image captured by a drone with thermographic chamber They are used both in civil applications (such as rescue work or industrial inspection), but also in military environments. This last use could be behind the increase in controls and increase in exports, since these cameras allow surveillance tasks in adverse conditions. A strategy that reminds the US. Although the hardening of controls from Beijing may seem a sudden response, it is not an isolated or new movement in the global context. USA It has been restricted for years China’s access to certain products for “national security.” Here we find The well -known case of Huawei. In 2019, Donald Trump’s administration imposed a prohibition that forced US companies to request licenses to offer some technology to the Asian manufacturer, a measure that would be maintained during Joe Biden’s mandate. Drones in front of war. One of the reasons behind Chinese controls is precisely the military use of these devices. Certainly, in recent years we have seen how consumer drones have become an essential part of the military arsenal in conflicts such as Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainian attack with Hundreds of drone drones on Russian basesor the massive production of low -cost explosive drones, they have made it clear that there is no border between the civil and the military. Possibly this also explains why China wants to control who sells what. Europe and the US try to react. Both Europe and the United States are reacting to Chinese domain. In the American case, associations like Auvsi They have claimed Fiscal incentives and loans to facilitate the transition to local drones, especially in security forces and public services. There have also been more forceful movements, such as the decision of the United States Department of Defense to include DJI in its list of “Chinese military companies.” This classification led to the manufacturer To start a legal battle with the aim of revoking said label. In the European case, the answer is taking shape through initiatives such as the program Eurodronea joint development between France, Germany, Spain and Italy that seeks to reduce the dependence of non -European manufacturers. There are also other programs, such as European Defense Fund. And what does this affect us? For now, what seems clear is that access to pieces from China is no longer as easy or as cheap as before. Restrictions and controls are making key components more expensive, something that some buyers already notice throughout the planet. We will have to wait to see if this trend ends also affecting the price of the drones that we use on a day -to -day basis (those we buy online or in stores), but everything indicates that the market, as we knew it, is starting to change. Images | DJI | J. Weisner | ABODI VESAKARAN | Guillaume Issaly In Xataka | Huawei was the first great victim of the commercial war initiated by the US. Today is at the head of mobiles

After mobiles, cars and chips, China is launching its biotechnological offensive. And the West will not be able to block it with tariffs

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China has just achieved something historical: that an American pharmacist pay 5,000 million dollars for a Chinese drug against cancer. It is the highest figure ever paid by a Chinese medical innovation. Why is it important. This news It is the perfect example of how, in the middle of a war for semiconductors, chips and rare earths, China is beginning to lead an even more strategic industry: biotechnological. Medicines do not know borders or tariffs. The context. In 2011, China approved the first oncological drug developed at home: an improved copy of a western medication. Fourteen years later, a Chinese biespecific antibody threatens best -selling medication in the world, Keytruda, of Merck, which invoice 29.5 billion dollars annually. What has happened. Chinese transformation into biotechnology follows a recognizable pattern. First arrived Betta Pharmaceuticals Pume: A “I” version of Western therapies. It worked equally well, it cost less, but never left China. Then came Beigene Brukinsa: The jump to “I better.” It became the first Chinese oncological drug approved by the US FDA. Today it is sold in 65 countries and generates 2.6 billion dollars a year. The third step was Carvykti by Legend Biotech: A cell therapy that genetically modifies patient cells to attack cancer. Johnson & Johnson associated to take her worldwide. In the foreground. The fourth act is underway with ‘Ivonescimab’ by Akeso Biopharma. This biespecific antibody simultaneously attacks two targets of cancer. Summit Therapeutics He opted 5,000 million dollars for himmaking it the greatest operation of Chinese pharmaceutical license in history. The bet is huge: Ivonescimab intends to dethrone Keytruda as world oncological standard. Global clinical trials will decide if China can create next Blockbuster medicinal. In figures. The numbers show the speed of Chinese advance: 2011: First approved Chinese oncological drug. 2019: First FDA approval for a Chinese drug. 2024: Chinese pharmaceutical licenses grew from 35,000 to 46,000 million dollars. Only five Chinese drugs have achieved FDA approval. Between the lines. Biotechnology implies unique geopolitical advantages against semiconductors. The medications are not blocked with sanctions: they save lives regardless of their origin. Western governments cannot prohibit Chinese oncological drugs without enraging patients, doctors and society in general. China understands and is attracting global pharmaceutical talent with mass financing and flexible regulations. The result: Chinese laboratories developing therapies that Western multinationals buy for a lot of money. Yes, but. Success is not guaranteed. 90% experimental drugs fail in clinical trials. Ivonescimab must demonstrate superiority against Keytruda In non -Chinese patients, something we should not give for granted. In addition, geopolitics can complicate things. Legend Biotech broke links with its matrix for American pressures. And the weather does not help. What is happening now. China has replicated in biotechnology its classic manual in technology: Attract expatriate talent. Generously finance startups. Create national champions Climb globally. The difference: medicines generate less political resistance than chips. It is possible that a striking scenario may occur: Western patients depending on Chinese medical innovations. Irony is perfect: China dominates an industry where its success directly benefits Western citizens. But of course, who captures the economic value is her. Deepen. Akeso’s case is especially emblematic. Its founder, Michelle XiaI felt frustration seeing how the best treatments took decades to reach Chinese patients. And decided to invest the equation: create in China therapies that the rest of the world would need. In Xataka | China is already a power greater than Europe in one of its key industries: the development of medicines Outstanding image | Akeso

All their missiles, fighters and bombs need a mineral that China has vetoed them

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The news took place in April. So, the Chinese government He formalized his answer To tariffs approved by the United States adding to its list of export restrictions a series of metals that went unnoticed for the general public. However, when the United States and Europe have been made numbers To replenish their arsenal sent to Ukraine and the East, they have encountered a problem of difficult solution. Them A component is missing essential. And only China has it. The mastery of the samario. Yes, China has exposed a critical vulnerability in the Western Military Supply chain by imposing severe controls to export Samarioa strange metal for the manufacture of heat -resistant magnets used exclusively in military applications. These magnets, fundamental in components As missile engines, smart bombs and combat fighters, they are irreplaceable due to their ability to withstand extreme temperatures without losing magnetic strength. Since China produces the entire samarium of the world, and has stopped its export under a new licensing system claiming national security motifs, the United States and its European allies now face the real possibility of Not being able to replenish Its advanced armament reserves, especially and as we said, after its intensive deployment in Ukraine and East. Announced dependence. Had the New York Times That the agency of China is not new: since the 70s, the Western Armed Forces trusted a French plant that closed in 1994, unable to compete with the cheap and environmentally lax production of the Chinese city of Baotou, in the interior Mongolia. Despite decades of dispersed warnings and efforts, such as Mine reopening From Mountain Pass in California after the Chinese embargo on Japan in 2010, the United States never developed a viable production of samarium. Leaf, reactivated in 2014broke the following year for Chinese competition. MP Materials, its new owner, relaunched operations in 2018 and received pentagon funds to process samarium, but never installed The necessary equipment for lack of customers willing to cover high costs of the reduced market. Meanwhile, another project backed with federal funds (a Lynas plant in Texas) was never built after regulatory problems In Malaysia. The lost link. And here comes one of the keys to understanding the “problem” of these nations. The largest samarium user in the United States is … Lockheed Martinwhich uses around 23 kg for each F-35 plane. The new Chinese regulations not only stop the direct flow of samarium, but also requires based licenses In the final consumerwhich blocks indirect exports to military contractors. Although China has granted permits for certain magnets destined for the automotive industry (such as those used by disposses or terbio in brakes and addresses) has not given signs of releasing Samario’s supply, given its limited civil application. This hardening coincides with Chinese sanctions to US contractors linked to Weapons sales to Taiwanwhich reinforces the use of samario as a geopolitical pressure tool. An X-35A JSF performing flight tests at the Edwards Air Base in California Other critical applications. A few weeks ago Japan Times summed up Very well what rare metals consisted of and how they influenced the different industries. The seven metals restricted by China (Terbio, Itrio, Disposio, Gadolinio, Luthacio, Samario and Scandio) fulfill crucial functions in both civil and military industries, from the generation of clean energy to the advanced defense. The Terbiofor example, it provides thermal resistance to the magnets used in submarines and aircraft, but it is one of the most scarce elements even within the rare earth deposits themselves. The ititriumvital in treatments against cancer and superconductors, it has historically been extracted in the United States but must still be processed abroad. Disposioresistant to heat and key in the energy transition, is essential for magazine turbine and electric cars magnets, and also for nuclear reactor control bars. The majority of the supply of these three metals goes to Japan, South Korea and, to a lesser extent, to the United States. The nuclear spectrum. For its part, The gadolinio It is widely used in magnetic resonances due to its magnetic properties, but also appears in nuclear reactors and electronic components. The Luthaciodenser than other elements of this list, acts as a catalyst in oil refineries, while the samario, as we said, protagonist in recent blockages, forms magnets that resist extreme temperatures and that are essential in combat planes, turbines and advanced guide systems. Finally, The Scandioof marginal production for half a century, it has applications in military aviation, bicycles and tracers to detect leaks in pipelines, thanks to its resistance and radioactive properties. As We have counted other times, the lack of infrastructure to separate and process these materials in the United States or Europe aggravates their structural dependence on China, which already supplies More than 90% of American imports. Asterisk. Interestingly, China has not included in this round to the neodymium and the praseodimiumtwo of the rare metals most used in the manufacture of permanent magnet motors, essential for electric vehicles and wind turbines. These two elements are still produced in the Mountain Pass mine, in California. Even so, American production barely reaches a fraction of global demand, and China’s dependence is still critical. A strategic urgency. In short, in a context in which the United States and its allies try to accelerate the replacement of reduced arsenals and ensure deterrence, The bottleneck From the samario he highlights the risks of having subcontracted for decades the strategic inputs to China. The commercial conversations In London they seek to reactivate the flow of these metals, but the expectations that Beijing reversed their new licensing system are rather scarce. Meanwhile, the United States and Pentagon face the dilemma of how to reconstitute a national supply chain for an essential resource whose production, for its cost and limited scale, has proven to be commercially unfeasible No sustained subsidies and long -term political commitment. The samario, invisible to the general public, thus becomes a symbol of a new era of technological and military rivalry, where industrial sovereignty is again a … Read more

China is stopping money and is starting to charge it. They are not good news for Spain

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The golden age of Chinese financing is over. Beijing no longer gives money to build ports and railroads, now it is demanding payment of what it lent at the time. Why is it important. China has lent more than 800,000 million dollars to 150 countries since 2013 With its initiative of the ‘Silk route‘. Today, 60% of that portfolio is in the hands of technical bankruptcy or on the edge of the financial collapse. The facts. The money that countries must return to China every year already exceed the “new” money that China lends. It is the end of the expansive model of the last decade: the country is going from being a generous lender to becoming a relentless creditor. The strategy. China has divided its debtors into two categories, and each group applies a radically different treatment: Large countries with huge debts (80% of the portfolio): They receive bailouts, bridge loans and special facilities. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Argentina, Angola … Small countries with minor debts (Remaining 20%): Only payment extensions. Zero money new. Zambia, Ghana, Mongolia, Tayikistan, Republic of Congo … Of course, the treatment that the first group receives has nothing to do with generosity but with self -preservation. China is rescuing those who, to break, could make their state banks sink. The rest are abandoned to their fate. The context. The crisis began soon. Specifically in 2015, two years after starting this strategy, when the prices of some raw materials collapsed. Covid accelerated the problems, as well as the war in Ukraine. The rise in interest rates at a global level It was the lace. The money trail. China is replicating the Western Banks Manual of the 1980s and nineties, when Wall Street and the City massively lent petrodollars after the oil crises of the seventies. When the eighties debt crisis arrived, they went from financing development to demand structural adjustment programs. The same banks that had pushed indebtedness became the toughest creditors. China is in that transition: of “Strategic Development Partner” to creditor which prioritizes their banking balances on the stability of debtor countries. It is the market, friend. Deepen. For Spain, the change has three impact vectors: The big construction and Spanish engineering (ACS, Actiona, Sacyr) lose access to megaprojects financed by Chinese banks, especially in Infrastructure in Africa and Asia. Direct Chinese investment in Spain will be more selective: less strategic purchases and more demand for immediate profitability in sectors such as energy and technology. Financial instability in African and Latin American countries where Spanish companies (Telefónica, Iberdrola, Repsol) operate increases political and exchange risk, complicating its operations in markets that depended on Chinese financial oxygen. In summary. China has completed its emerging power metamorphosis to established power, and its financial policy reflects it. The Silk Route was the last great expansive project of a country that sought global influence buying loyalty with cheap money. Now that it has that influence, it acts like any mature creditor: charging. It is the end of an era and the beginning of a more predictable global financial order, but also more ruthless. In Xataka | China wants to dominate world trade and has a plan in progress: bring the sea to its interior cities Outstanding image | F Erickin in Unspash

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