U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly dialing down his rhetoric in order to secure direct talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and a possible trade deal. Bloomberg quoted unnamed White House sources saying Trump is increasingly pursuing purchase agreements that resemble deals he made in his first term and pushing for quick wins, rather than addressing the root causes of the trade imbalance. Meanwhile, Trump said on Wednesday that he expects China to impose the death penalty on producers of precursor chemicals to make fentanyl. “I believe that’s going to happen soon,” he said. (BLOOMBERG)
Mike Waltz, the Trump administration’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, called for U.S. aid to countries to be contingent on their UN votes aligning with the U.S. “By the figures I’ve seen, over $100 billion has gone through UN entities into Africa, and we’re looking at a 29 to 32 percent voting coincidence rate,” Waltz complained. Speaking at his confirmation hearing, Waltz also said the U.S. would review its contributions to the body and that he will focus on the need “to block and tackle Chinese influence” in the UN. (PASSBLUE)
Chinese utilities have reduced emissions related to electricity generation to record lows. Emissions of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of electricity in June dipped below 500 grams for the first time ever. It contrasts with 514g/kWh in 2024 and 539g/kWh in 2023. The main reason for this fall in pollution was the surge in clean energy production in China. The country recorded a 23% rise in renewable electricity production from January to June 2024 alone. (REUTERS)
A Philippine Coast Guard cutter and two Chinese patrol ships came dangerously close to collision in contested South China Sea waters on Tuesday in what Beijing called “a malicious act of provocation” near Huangyang Dao, also known as the Scarborough Shoal. [DEFENSE MIRROR]
As the Asia-Pacific’s power dynamics continue to evolve and shift, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to China promises to be a test of his country’s ability to walk the fine line between economic self-interest and strategic resolve. [SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST]
The Philippine government has provided legal assistance to three Filipinos who are being detained by Chinese authorities for their alleged involvement in spying activities. [INQUIRER]
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the Trump administration’s reversal of its ban on the sale of certain semiconductors to China is part of larger negotiations about rare earth mineral supply chains. “We put that in the trade deal with the [rare earth] magnets,” he said to Reuters. He also said the administration’s decision to allow Nvidia H20 chips to be sold in China is aimed at dissuading investment in domestic technology: “You want to sell the Chinese enough that their developers get addicted to the American technology stack,” Lutnick said. “That’s the thinking.” (REUTERS)
China on Tuesday placed export restrictions on technologies used to produce materials used in the production of electric vehicle batteries. They include battery-cathode production systems and technology to process non-ferrous metals. Official approval is now needed to export these technologies. The move is seen as a way to maintain China’s leadership across the EV process. (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
The Chinese cobalt mining giant CMOC Group forecast a 13% increase in production year-on-year for the first half of 2025. This increase is despite the Democratic Republic of Congo’s recent decision to extend a ban on the export of cobalt announced in February to September, in order to drive up global prices. IXM, a commodities trader owned by CMOC recently declared force majeure on some of its cobalt deliveries due to the ban. (BLOOMBERG)
The Chinese oil and gas contracting firm Jereh Oil & Gas Engineering secured a contract with the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach to build facilities at the Rhourde Nouss gas field in the southeast of the country. The work will include a gas compression facility and pipeline upgrades. (UPSTREAM)
A consortium including PowerChina was awarded a contract to build a large water desalination plant in Iraq’s Basra region. The project also includes an electricity generation plant and a water pipeline network. When operational, the system will provide more than 1 million cubic meters of fresh water per day. (ZAWYA)
China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) signed a deal with Libyan Railroads this weekend to revive rail projects in the country. Three projects are reportedly being restarted: Tripoli – Ras Ajdir, Tripoli – Sirte, and Al-Haysha – Sabha. The implementation of the projects was interrupted by the revolution and subsequent NATO incursion in 2011. (LIBYA HERALD)
The Iranian authorities announced they are switching to the Chinese satellite geolocation service BeiDou. This follows widespread disruption of U.S.-led Global Positioning System (GPS) services in the country. Deputy Minister of Communications, Ehsan Chitsaz, blamed U.S. intervention for widespread GPS outages seen in the country since the Israel-Iran war. (IRAN NEWS UPDATE)
Democrats from the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report on Monday arguing that the Trump administration’s rollback of U.S. aid and diplomacy has strengthened China’s position in the Global South. The report lists numerous cases where Chinese funding replaced support from the U.S. in fields like vaccine funding and infrastructure development. “Within days of the Trump administration taking office and starting to roll back our commitments around the world, China was already labeling the United States an unreliable partner,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the lead Democrat on the committee. (REUTERS)
Chinese scientists discovered a 490-million-ton hard rock lithium deposit in central Hunan province. The deposit, found in the Jijiaoshan mining area of Linwu County, will be the centerpiece of a new regional battery mineral sector. This is the latest of several large lithium finds in China, including a large deposit in Sichuan province and a 2,800-kilometer spodumene belt in Tibet. China now has the world’s second-largest known lithium reserves after Chile, and controls 70% of global lithium refining capacity. (ELECTRIVE)
Chinese regulators gave a conditional green light to the U.S. chip design software provider Synopsys to acquire the engineering design firm Ansys. The $35 billion deal drew antitrust attention in numerous countries, and many expected China to block it. The approval is conditional on the new company continuing to serve Chinese customers, honoring existing contracts, and advancing interoperability. Earlier this month, the U.S. lifted curbs against the export of chip design software to China. (REUTERS)
Kazakh authorities launched four upgraded border crossing facilities aimed at streamlining cross-Eurasian trade. Two of the crossings are on Kazakhstan’s border with China, while the other two are on the Uzbek border. The crossings aim to speed up shipments through increased traffic lanes and a raft of new technologies aimed at speeding up product inspection. The facilities form part of a China-Central Asia-Europe cargo corridor. (THE ASTANA TIMES)
An Uzbek delegation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China to deepen cooperation on electrical engineering, electronic component production, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, industrial automation, and green technologies. Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry, Bakyt Torobaev, signed a deal to develop a food safety lab in Bishkek, aimed at boosting agricultural imports to China. (TREND)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Sunday in Beijing to discuss the war in Ukraine and both countries’ ties with the United States. Lavrov is in China for Shanghai Cooperation Organization foreign ministers meeting that begins on Tuesday in Tianjin. (REUTERS)
Chinese purchases of Saudi crude oil are set to reach their highest level in two years. Chinese refiners will receive 51 million barrels in August, an 8% increase over July, and the highest level since April 2023. The surge is due in part to a number of refineries coming back online after being shuttered for maintenance. (REUTERS)
China is offering to mediate an increasingly bitter border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand that has led to a near collapse in relations between the two SE Asian neighbors. Tensions surged in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed by Thai forces during a brief exchange of fire along the border. (REUTERS)
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to submit a pact upgrading their free trade areas to their leaders for approval in October, according to China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday. (REUTERS)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged his Sri Lankan counterpart Vijitha Herath last week to speed up free talks that have been underway since 2014. (SRI LANKA MIRROR)
China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt’s share prices surged to a near four-month high, after the company projected record half-year earnings, driven by the ramp-up of its nickel projects in Indonesia and a boost from rising cobalt prices. (BLOOMBERG)
SAIC Motor Corp., one of China’s largest carmakers, is scaling back its ambitions in India, handing over more control of its operations to its local partner as political and regulatory pressures mount. (CAIXIN)
