china

The United States has approved limited exports of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to China, but under a newly tightened regulatory framework aimed at protecting U.S. national security and preserving America’s technological edge in artificial intelligence.
Under the new rules, the chips must undergo testing at an independent external laboratory before shipment to verify their AI performance. In addition, Chinese buyers may receive no more than 50% of the total number of H200 chips sold to U.S. customers.

New Requirements for Nvidia and Chinese Buyers
The regulations introduce conditions that did not previously exist. Nvidia must demonstrate that it has sufficient H200 supply within the United States, ensuring domestic demand is not affected. Chinese companies purchasing the chips must prove they have adequate security safeguards in place and formally commit that the chips will not be used for military purposes.
President Donald Trump said last month that he would allow chip sales provided the U.S. government received a 25% fee. The proposal drew criticism from both political parties, with opponents warning that the chips could strengthen China’s military capabilities and undermine U.S. leadership in AI technologies.

A “Compromise” That May Be Hard to Enforce
Jay Goldberg, an analyst at Seaport Research, described the export limits as a compromise solution. While they place some controls on Nvidia’s sales to China, he cautioned that effective monitoring and enforcement could prove difficult.
Goldberg noted that companies have repeatedly found ways to access restricted chips and said the U.S. government’s export strategy appears highly transactional—more like a temporary patch than a coherent long-term policy, masking deeper gaps in U.S. export controls.

Chinese Demand Far Exceeds Supply
According to reports last month, Chinese technology firms have already ordered more than 2 million H200 chips, priced at roughly $27,000 per unit. That figure far exceeds Nvidia’s current availability of about 700,000 chips.
At the CES trade show in Las Vegas last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company is ramping up production of the H200. He added that strong demand from China and other markets is driving up rental prices for H200 chips already operating in cloud data centers.

Warnings About Boosting China’s AI Capabilities
Saif Khan, who served as director for technology and national security at the White House National Security Council during President Joe Biden’s administration, warned that the new rule could significantly accelerate China’s AI programs.
According to Khan, the policy could allow China to acquire around two million advanced AI chips—roughly equivalent to the computing capacity currently held by a typical U.S. AI company. He also cautioned that the administration will face challenges enforcing “know your customer” requirements intended to prevent Chinese cloud providers from supporting illicit activities.

A Shift From the Biden-Era Policy
These concerns led the Biden administration to fully block exports of advanced AI chips to China. The Trump administration, however—guided by White House AI chief David Sacks—believes that controlled sales could actually discourage Chinese competitors, such as Huawei, from accelerating efforts to match cutting-edge chip designs from Nvidia and AMD.
When Trump announced the policy shift last month, he emphasized that exports would proceed “under conditions that preserve strong national security.”

Open Questions on Enforcement and Beijing’s Approval
Major uncertainties remain. It is unclear how strictly the restrictions will be enforced, or whether Beijing will ultimately approve the imports. Past smuggling operations worth $160 million highlight the significant enforcement challenges involved.
Recent reports suggest the U.S. has begun an internal review that could lead to the first shipments of H200 chips to China in the near future, marking an early test of Washington’s revised export strategy amid intensifying global competition over artificial intelligence.

#china , #AI , #NVIDIA , #worldnews , #TRUMP
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China closed 2025 with a trade surplus of $1.19 trillion, commonly rounded by markets to $1.2 trillion, setting a new global record that no other economy has ever reached.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China’s exports rose 6.6% year over year in December in U.S. dollar terms, far above market expectations of around 3% and faster than November’s 5.9% increase.
Imports also surprised to the upside. December imports climbed 5.7%, beating forecasts of just 0.9% and marking the strongest growth since September, when imports rose 7.4%, according to LSEG data. For the full year, exports increased 5.5%, imports were broadly flat, and China finished 2025 with a trade surplus about 20% larger than in 2024.

China–U.S. Trade Continues to Shrink
Trade with the United States continued to weaken. Chinese shipments to the U.S. fell 30% year over year in December, extending losses for a ninth consecutive month, while imports from the U.S. dropped 29% over the same period, customs data showed.
For all of 2025, China’s exports to the U.S. declined 20%, while imports from the U.S. fell 14.6%. Customs spokesperson Lv Daliang commented that trade relations should remain mutually beneficial, calling for dialogue and negotiations to resolve disputes and expand cooperation.

Europe and Southeast Asia Take a Larger Role
By contrast, trade with other regions remained strong. Exports to the European Union rose 12% in December, while shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) increased 11%. Imports from European countries jumped 18%, while purchases from Southeast Asia fell 5%, keeping the overall trade balance firmly tilted in China’s favor.

Global Concerns Over the Size of the Surplus
The scale of China’s surplus has raised alarms internationally. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva urged Beijing in December to rely less on exports and accelerate efforts to boost domestic consumption.
Chinese officials said they plan to increase imports and pursue more balanced trade, but challenges remain. The nearly $19 trillion economy continues to face deflationary pressure, driven by a deep downturn in the property market, weaker household spending, a soft labor market, and fragile consumer confidence. Consumer prices stagnated through 2025, falling short of the official 2% target.

Limited Easing of Tensions With Washington
Signs of easing tensions with Washington remain modest. In October, Chinese President met with Donald Trump, who became the 47th President of the United States after winning the 2024 election. Talks resulted in a one-year trade truce, partial rollbacks of export controls, and adjustments to tariffs. Beijing also pledged to purchase at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans within two months.
Official data showed soybean imports totaled 111.8 million tons in 2025, up 6.5% year over year. December soybean imports rose 1.3% to 8 million tons. Exports of rare earths jumped 32% in December to 4,392 tons, while full-year shipments of the strategic minerals increased 12.9%.

Outlook: GDP and Commodity Signals
China is set to release annual GDP figures and fourth-quarter data on Monday. Economists expect Q4 growth of 4.5%, below the 5% growth target set by President Xi.
Iron ore also posted record trade figures, with China’s imports rising 1.8% to a record 1.26 billion tons in 2025—the third consecutive year of growth. However, rising stockpiles at ports in recent months suggest steel mill demand is starting to lag, pointing to emerging imbalances in the economy despite the record trade surplus.

#china , #GlobalTrade , #economy , #TRUMP , #worldnews

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Tensions between China and Europe over control of semiconductor technology have exploded into open conflict. In a dramatic ruling, a Dutch court removed chipmaker Nexperia from the control of its Chinese parent company Wingtech, triggering a cascade of global consequences.

Netherlands Seizes Control, China Furious
The spark was lit in October 2025, when a Dutch court ruled that Wingtech Technology had secretly transferred technology from Europe to China. The court removed Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng as CEO and handed over Nexperia’s control to a Dutch supervisory team. The result? The company was split in two — a European division and a Chinese mega-factory in Guangdong, now cut off from its European counterpart.
The ruling led to immediate supply freezes. Nexperia’s Dutch team halted wafer shipments to China, and the Guangdong factory suspended cooperation. Panic followed: banks pulled out hundreds of millions of dollars, including an unused $800 million credit line. Despite this, Nexperia insists it remains debt-free and financially stable.

Europe Draws Red Lines, China Threatens Retaliation
European governments justified the move as a matter of national security, while China blasted the Netherlands for political interference. Wingtech Chairwoman Ruby Yang accused the Dutch government of “inappropriate interference” and said the company was now pursuing a “self-rescue production” strategy inside China.
The battle isn’t over. A new hearing is underway in Amsterdam, where the court is deciding whether to launch a full investigation into Nexperia’s management. If approved, the case could drag on for years. If not, Wingtech may regain its stake. Either way, both sides are gearing up for a legal war.

Carmakers Caught in the Crossfire
Global automakers are already feeling the shockwaves. Honda shut down factories, Volkswagen scrambled for chip supplies, ZF Friedrichshafen slashed production, and Bosch began flying wafers across continents just to keep assembly lines running. The process is expensive, slow, and unsustainable.
Meanwhile, the Dutch Nexperia team is seeking to expand chip production outside China, negotiating with clients on new factories in Southeast Asia. Wingtech, for its part, is trying to keep its Chinese division alive by sourcing wafers from alternate suppliers.

The Global Chip Crisis Reveals Fragile Geopolitics
As Europe moves to reduce its reliance on China, Beijing is pushing back hard. Some exports from Nexperia have resumed, but the trust is broken.
What started as a corporate dispute has now become a symbol of the new technological cold war, where semiconductors are no longer just hardware — they are strategic weapons in a geopolitical showdown.

#china , #Eu , #Geopolitics , #Regulation , #technews

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China has taken a bold step into the global satellite race, directly positioning itself against companies like SpaceX and its Starlink network. According to Shanghai Securities News, the Chinese government submitted a request to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) late last year, seeking radio frequencies and orbital slots for more than 200,000 satellites.
If realized in full, this would become the largest satellite network ever conceived. Although the request doesn’t guarantee all satellites will launch, space industry experts say one thing is clear: China is making satellite internet a national strategic priority.

New Innovation Institute Driving the Ambition
At the heart of this megaproject is the newly established Radio Innovation Institute, launched on December 30, 2025, in the Xiong’an New Area. This government-backed initiative aims to optimize frequency use and accelerate China’s satellite internet industry.
The institute brings together seven founding institutions:

🔹 State Radio Monitoring Center

🔹 China Satellite Network Group Co., Ltd. – the country’s main satellite internet operator

🔹 Xiong’an Administrative Committee and Hebei’s Department of Industry and IT

🔹 Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

🔹 Beijing Jiaotong University

🔹 China Electronics Technology Group Corporation
This “national team” model blends public, academic, and industrial expertise to build the future of space-based Chinese internet infrastructure.

Over a Dozen Satellite Constellations in the Works
The submitted applications cover more than a dozen different satellite groups. Some will consist of just a few dozen satellites, but others are massive.
The two largest networks — CTC-1 and CTC-2 — each include 96,714 satellites. Both filings came from the Radio Innovation Institute.
Other companies are contributing too:

🔹 China Mobile submitted plans for 2,520 satellites under the name CHINAMOBILE-L1

🔹 Yuanxin Satellite proposed 1,296 satellites for its SAILSPACE-1 system

🔹 Guodian Gaoke plans 1,132 satellites for its TIANQI-3G constellation
This mix of government-backed and commercial entities shows that China is embracing a hybrid public-private model for satellite development.

A Filing Isn’t a Launch: The Real Work Lies Ahead
Experts caution that filing with the ITU is just the beginning. China still faces significant technical, manufacturing, and financial hurdles. It currently lacks the full capacity — in rockets, production lines, and capital — to execute a project of this magnitude.
Still, the Radio Innovation Institute could play a key role in speeding up development. By combining national resources, leveraging China’s massive domestic market and strong industrial base, and coordinating state-level efforts, the institute might help China narrow the gap with SpaceX, which already has thousands of operational Starlink satellites providing global internet.

Can China Really Catch Up to Starlink?
The big question: Can China turn this vision into reality? Success will depend on multiple factors, including:

🔹 Long-term state funding

🔹 Engineering breakthroughs in satellite manufacturing and deployment

🔹 Effective cooperation with other nations through the ITU to resolve frequency and orbital slot conflicts
The space-based internet race is now fully underway. And with this filing for 200,000 satellites, China has made it clear: it wants to become a dominant player in the future of global connectivity.
Only time will tell whether this ambition becomes reality — or whether Western competitors will continue to lead the charge.

#china , #starlink , #technews , #SpaceX , #worldnews

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