Month: April 2025

Advertisement “Sodium-ion battery technology is no longer a research achievement in laboratories,” Gao Huan, chief technology officer for EV business at CATL, told reporters at a press conference in Shanghai on Monday. “We have achieved a breakthrough not only in terms of energy storage density and cost, but also found a new key to environmental protection.” The company’s latest product, which uses sodium as cheaper raw material, will provide EV assemblers and users an alternative to existing technologies that rely on cobalt and lithium. Gao said the new battery has…

Many people were taken aback by the ferocity of Xia Baolong’s speech on Hong Kong National Security Education Day. Beneath the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office’s calm and resolute delivery, there was anger and frustration. The message is clear: this is war – not war in the literal sense but war nevertheless. Advertisement Does his speech signal the start of a chain reaction that will lead to total decoupling between the United States and China? If so, could Hong Kong be affected? While Hong Kong government…

Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia rolled out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping during his weeklong trip to the neighbouring countries. Advertisement In Hanoi, hundreds of children waved flags as he appeared at the Presidential Palace. In Kuala Lumpur, an honour guard fired off a 21-gun salute. And in Phnom Penh, King Norodom Sihamoni broke protocol to greet the Chinese president at the airport. But beyond the pomp, the substance of the trip was a message of unity – of the need for countries to stand firm against protectionism…

China is poised to grow more soybeans and improve the crop’s yield over the coming decade amid an accelerated self-sufficiency drive, and the nation’s more abundant domestic harvests are expected to hit American exporters and farmers who have long relied on China’s business. Advertisement While the nation of 1.4 billion people will continue seeing a “tight balance” between the supply and demand of food, agricultural authorities say China’s reliance on imports is set to decrease as it prioritises domestic production of soybeans, which represent the bulk of its agricultural imports.…

The return of Boeing 737 Max jets destined for the Chinese market may speed up plane deliveries to Malaysia Airlines, but analysts warn about expanding too quickly, noting how wider costs are poised to spike as parts become more expensive and consumers prepare to take fewer flights. Advertisement Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the parent company of Malaysia Airlines, is flying high. It recorded a profit for the third year in a row in 2024 – its longest gaining streak since a major restructuring a decade ago. And having had to…

Advertisement The People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command said on Sunday night that the BRP Apolinario Mabini, a Jacinto-class patrol vessel in the Philippine Navy, was challenged near Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by Beijing and Manila, earlier that day. The shoal, which is known as Huangyan Island in China and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines, has been in Beijing’s actual control since 2012. Command spokesman Senior Colonel Zhao Zhiwei said the Philippine frigate “illegally entered China’s territorial waters of Huangyan Island” without the approval of the Chinese government. “[We]…