ChinaFile Recommends
11.20.17China on pace for Record Solar-Power Installations
Bloomberg
China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, is poised to install a record amount of solar-power capacity this year, prompting researchers to boost forecasts as much as 80 percent.
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11.15.17Why China Wants to Lead on Climate, but Clings to Coal (for Now)
New York Times
Barely a month ago, in a landmark speech to the Communist Party Congress, President Xi Jinping of China promised that his country would take a “driving seat in international cooperation to respond to climate change.”
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11.13.17China Recovery Pushes Greenhouse Emissions to Global Record
Financial Times
Stronger Chinese economic growth will push global greenhouse gas emissions to a record high in 2017 after remaining flat for three years, dashing tentative hopes of a turning point in the world’s efforts to curb climate change.
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10.27.17Chinese Scientists Warn North Korea about Disaster Threat at Nuclear Test Site
South China Morning Post
Chinese geologists have warned their North Korean counterparts of a potential catastrophic collapse of a North Korean underground nuclear test site on China’s doorstep.
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10.25.17China Shuts Down Tens of Thousands of Factories in Unprecedented Pollution Crackdown
NPR
In the gritty industrial town of Yiwu, workers prepare jeans to be dyed in a vivid range of colors.Two months ago, this factory — and this entire city, located in China's eastern province of Zhejiang — was a much quieter place. Inspection crews...
The China Africa Project
10.23.17
China’s Appetite for Abalone Spurs Organized Crime in South Africa
Cape Town-based journalist Kimon de Greef joins Eric and Cobus to discuss the lucrative illegal abalone trade between South Africa and China that threatens the survival of this prized shellfish. The abalone trade, according to recent reporting by de...
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10.23.17China’s New Antipollution Push Could Cool Its Growth Engine
New York Times
China’s minister for environmental protection said Monday that even tougher measures will be coming.
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10.16.17China's Pollution Crackdown Is Gaining Momentum
Bloomberg
That political will overlaps with an economic need to rein in surplus production of steel, aluminum and other basic materials after years of over-investment. How and when that capacity gets replaced will be a key factor in the economy’s performance...
Conversation
10.16.17
What to Watch at China’s Party Congress
The Chinese Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress, a hugely important political meeting usually held once every five years, will begin on October 18 in Beijing. Like many events involving China’s ruling party, the most important decisions and...
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10.12.17China Targets Pollution on Eve of Xi Jinping’s Second Term
Financial Times
A wave of environmental inspections in China has led to the closure of tens of thousands of businesses producing commodities from industrial chemicals to cement and rubber, pushing up prices and disrupting some global supply chains.
Video
10.11.17
The Town at the Heart of China’s Black Market in Ivory
from Environmental Investigation Agency
Last year, in response to mounting criticism for its key role in the steep decline in the world’s elephant population, China announced that it would ban ivory trading and shutter all of the country’s 177 licensed ivory processing companies and...
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10.10.17China Hastens the World toward an Electric-Car Future
New York Times
There is a powerful reason that automakers worldwide are speeding up their efforts to develop electric vehicles — and that reason is China.
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10.10.17While U.S. Moves toward Coal, China Bets Big on Solar
CBS News
In southern China, the country flipped the switch on the world's largest floating solar installation - built on top of a lake created by an abandoned coal mine. Projects like these helped China double its solar capacity last year. It is now...
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10.09.17Breakingviews - China's Oil Giants Brace for Electric Car Crash
Reuters
China’s push into new energy vehicles (NEVs) – including battery-powered and hybrid cars – could curb demand for black gold. Sinopec and PetroChina will be hardest hit. The policy will also add to downward pressure on global crude prices.
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10.05.17China Sees Difficulty Meeting 2017 Air Quality Targets: Minister
China faces difficulties in meeting its smog-fighting target for 2017, its environmental protection minister said during a visit to four heavily industrialized provinces in northern China, where the country’s air pollution problem is especially...
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10.04.17China’s Putting the Brakes on Coal for Heating Millions of Homes This Winter
Quartz
China might start to see better air this winter as it prepares to heat heat millions of houses for the first time by gas, and continues a clampdown on coal to battle its deadly pollution.
The China Africa Project
10.04.17
North Korea’s Diplomats in Africa Are Making Big Money Selling Ivory to Chinese Consumers
The tightening of international sanctions against North Korea is helping to fuel the illicit ivory trade in Africa as the increasingly isolated country searches for new ways to generate revenue, according to a new report from the Global Initiative...
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10.03.17Exclusive: One Ford, Two Systems - U.S. Carmaker Revamps China Strategy amid EV Push
Reuters
U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co (F.N) is overhauling its China plans as its global “One Ford” strategy is holding it back in the world’s biggest auto market, two high-ranking company insiders told Reuters.
Media
09.29.17
Trump on China
In the run-up to and during his race toward the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump made frequent statements about China, its people, and the government in Beijing, in remarks that ranged from effusive praise to outright attack, and which...
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09.28.17China Gives Carmakers More Time in Biggest Electric-Vehicle Plan
Bloomberg
China unveiled a comprehensive set of emission rules and delayed a credit-score program tied to the production of electric cars, giving automakers more time to prepare for the phasing out of fossil-fuel powered vehicles.
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09.27.17Chinese Cities Order Steel Output Cuts Earlier Than Expected to Fend off Smog
South China Morning Post
The city of Handan in the top steelmaking province of Hebei has ordered steel mills to halve output a month earlier than expected, according to media reports, the latest city to ramp up efforts to reduce the smog that blankets northern China during...
Conversation
09.27.17
How are NGOs in China Faring under the New Law?
In September 2016, Beijing implemented a new law governing charities, which changed the ways domestic charitable organizations can register and fundraise. Then in January 2017, Beijing began implementation of a new law on the management of foreign...
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09.26.17China's Cricket Catchers Cashing in on Insects That Can Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee
South China Morning Post
An annual cricket craze is sweeping a rural area of east China as demand for the leaping insects soars among “trainers” who use them for fighting and gambling, online media reported.
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09.25.17China Considers Rule Change That Could Aid Tesla
Wall Street Journal
The move could pave the way for Tesla Inc. to manufacture vehicles in China.
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09.21.17BYD Predicts Ambitious China Shift to Electric Cars by 2030
Reuters
All vehicles in the country will be “electrified” by 2030, which could range from full electric cars to mild hybrids, Chinese automaker BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu said on Thursday. BYD, backed by Warren Buffett, has already invested heavily in the...
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09.20.17China's Pollution Crackdown Shakes up Iron Ore Traders
Financial Times
Over the summer, price differentials between high and low grade iron ore have intensified amid a government-led crackdown on pollution and outdated steelmaking capacity. That has caught many traders on the hop and left some nursing nasty losses from...
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09.18.17China and India Water ‘Dispute’ after Border Stand-Off
BBC
China and India may have defused a potential border conflict but the stand-off seems to have led to dispute over another contentious issue: water.
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09.18.17China's 'Sponge Cities' Aim to Re-Use 70% of Rainwater
CNN
Asian cities are struggling to accommodate rapid urban migration, and development is encroaching on flood-prone areas.
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09.15.17G.M. Chief, in China, Challenges Planned Bans of Gasoline Cars
New York Times
Speaking in Shanghai on Friday, Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors said her company was making a big push to develop electric cars but that consumers, not government dictates, should decide how cars are powered.
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09.14.17World's Oldest Captive Panda Basi Dies in China
BBC
At 37, Basi had outlived all her panda peers, reaching the equivalent of more than a hundred in human years.
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09.12.17China Fossil Fuel Deadline Shifts Focus to Electric Car Race
Bloomberg
China will set a deadline for automakers to end sales of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, becoming the biggest market to do so in a move that will accelerate the push into the electric car market led by companies including BYD Co. and BAIC Motor Corp.
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09.12.17300 Tonnes of Diseased Pig Carcasses – the Latest Example of China's Pollution Crisis
Guardian
Stomach-churning symbols of the environmental calamity facing China have never been in short supply: exploding watermelons, toxic running tracks, rivers that flow the colour of blood.
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09.08.17High Cost of China's Push for Unesco Heritage Sites
Financial Times
China is ranked second only to Italy in terms of number of world heritage sites. But it's come at a cost.
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09.07.17China Brings Mars a Little Closer with Replica on Tibet Plateau
Guardian
The “simulated Mars station” – a 95,000 square-kilometre tribute to the solar system’s second-smallest planet – will be built in Qinghai province’s Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan autonomous prefecture, not far from the westernmost tip of the Great Wall.
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08.30.17Green Gold: How China Quietly Grew into a Cannabis Superpower
South China Morning Post
Every year in April, Jiang Xingquan sets aside part of his farm in northern China to grow cannabis. The size of the plot varies with market demand but over the last few years it has been about 600 hectares.
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08.30.17China’s War on Smog Shakes up Ports; Tianjin Loses, Rivals Benefit
Reuters
China’s war on smog is shaking up the country’s busiest ports, which handle billions of tonnes of cargo a year, forcing Tianjin to overhaul its business as northern rivals snare a greater share of vast coal and iron ore shipments, results show.
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08.29.17Under Pressure: The Story behind China’s Ivory Ban
Guardian
For years Chinese government officials were followed around the world, at every meeting, by a single issue: the scores of dead elephants across Africa, and the international community that blamed China for this “ivory “holocaust”.
Environment
08.24.17
Testing the Limits of China’s Environmental Law
from chinadialogue
Friends of Nature, a Beijing-based non-governmental organization (NGO), filed two landmark cases against a local Environmental Protection Bureau in Yunnan this year that have revealed the current limits of one of the most hopeful provisions in China...
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08.22.17China Says Economy Unaffected by Environmental Inspections
South China Morning Post
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection said that recent environmental inspections did not hurt the country’s economy and blamed some ”inappropriate methods” conducted by local authorities for causing short–term market dislocation.
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08.22.17Ford in Talks to Launch Fully Electric Cars in China
Financial Times
Ford is in talks to launch fully electric cars for the Chinese market as the US carmaker plays catch up to international rivals in the race to develop battery vehicles.
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08.15.17China’s Energy Exports To North Korea Plummet–But It’s Not Because of Sanctions
South China Morning Post
China’s energy exports to North Korea — including electricity and oil and gas products — have fallen sharply.Experts said the drop may partly be due to Pyongyang becoming more self—sufficient in producing energy rather than the impact of sanctions...
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08.15.17South China Sea: Vietnam Takes Up Fight Against China
CNN
When it comes to the disputed waters of the South China Sea, Vietnam’s leaders must feel very lonely these days.Their fellow Southeast Asian claimants have either reversed course after years of escalating tensions with Beijing, or are...
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08.09.17Quake in China’s Sichuan Kills 19, Including Tourists; Injures 247
Reuters
A 7.0—magnitude earthquake struck a remote, mountainous part of China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, killing 19 people, including eight tourists, and injuring 247, the provincial government and official media said on Wednesday.
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08.09.17Hong Kong Cleans Up 93 Tons of Palm Oil; Beaches Smothered By Spill
Reuters
Hong Kong stepped up efforts on Wednesday to clean up a massive palm oil spill, with authorities scooping up more than 90 tonnes of foul—smelling, styrofoam—like clumps in one of the worst environmental disasters to blight the territory’s waters.
Depth of Field
08.03.17
Inspirational Vandalism, Theme Parks, and the Man Who Swam to Hong Kong
from Yuanjin Photo
This month, five photo galleries explore different aspects of public and private space in contemporary China. Wu Yue meets a couple who swam to Hong Kong from Guangzhou during the Cultural Revolution and still find solace in the waters of Hong Kong’...
Environment
08.02.17
Crowded Beijing Revives Old Plan for New Overflow City
from chinadialogue
On April 1, 2017—April Fool’s Day—the government made a surprise announcement that a satellite city bigger than New York would be built from scratch on the outskirts of Beijing. Official news site Xinhua described Xiong’an New District as the “plan...
Environment
07.25.17
China Enters the Garden of Eden
from chinadialogue
Built on the site of an abandoned clay pit, the Eden Project has never been short of grand vision.Its iconic biomes house the world’s largest captive rainforest and have become a landmark of the local Cornish countryside. Since opening 16 years ago...
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07.18.17China Is Crushing the U.S. in Renewable Energy
CNN
China may be the planet's biggest polluter but it's also powering ahead of other countries on renewable energy.
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07.18.17Despite Ban, Rhino Horn Flooding Black Markets across China
National Geographic
The country is pledged to end the trade in elephant ivory this year, but will it take steps to help save rhinos?
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07.13.17Trump in Paris to Improve Ties despite Divergence on Climate, Trade
Xinhua
U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Paris on Thursday morning in a diplomatic move to soften divergence with France over climate change and trade liberalization by seeking common ground on security and fight against terrorism.
Environment
07.06.17
Industrial Energy Efficiency Can Improve Air Quality
from chinadialogue
Despite extensive efforts by the Chinese government to improve air quality, including the introduction of the State Council’s “Ten Measures” Action Plan and implementation of regional air quality control measures, air pollution recently worsened in...
Features
07.05.17
China is Driving a Boom in Brazilian Mining, but at What Cost?
In the middle of northern Brazil’s Amazon jungle, Chinese-made digging equipment rasps at the bottom of a giant iron ore mine. Here in the municipality of Canaã dos Carajás in the Serra dos Carajás in Brazil’s Pará state, some 1,600 miles northwest...
Environment
06.30.17
Can the AIIB Support Asia’s Energy Revolution?
from chinadialogue
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), headquartered in Beijing, held its second annual meeting on the Korean island of Jeju last week. Korea is currently positioning Jeju as a zero-carbon tourist destination, so the choice of location...
Sinica Podcast
06.28.17
Top U.S. Diplomat David Rank on Why He Resigned to Protest Trump
from Sinica Podcast
David Rank became the leading diplomat for one of America’s most important embassies during the transition when Iowa governor Terry Branstad formally succeeded former Montana senator Max Baucus as U.S. Ambassador to China on May 24, 2017. He soon...
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06.27.17Second Landslide Hits Stricken Site in Southwest China
Associated Press
A second landslide struck a village in southwestern China where rescue workers have been looking for nearly 100 people buried over the weekend by a massive wave of rocks and debris.
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06.26.17Coal on the Rise in China, US, India after Major 2016 Drop
ABC
The world’s biggest coal users — China, the United States and India — have boosted coal mining in 2017, in an abrupt departure from last year’s record global decline for the heavily polluting fuel and a setback to efforts to rein in climate change...
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06.26.17In China, Xi Jinping’s New Mega City Xiongan Is Expanding Underground
South China Morning Post
Chinese geologists are examining subterranean conditions of Xiong, Rongcheng and Anxin counties, which will become a new district to rival special economic zones such as Shenzhen and Pudong in Shanghai, in the hope of building structures under the...
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06.26.17China Landslide: Families' Frustration Grows as More Than 100 Feared Dead
Guardian
Families affected by huge slip that buried Xinmo village say they are concerned by a lack of information and the fate of orphaned children
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06.23.17Unless China Changes Tack, India Won’t Be the Only Country Opposing One Belt, One Road
Quartz
India said about OBOR that “no country can accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
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06.23.17China's Government Tightens Its Grip On Golf, Shuts Down Courses
NPR
By 2004, many of China's hundreds of golf courses were found to be built on valuable farmland through corrupt land deals.