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China's energy storage sector is experiencing rapid growth but also facing some serious challenges. (iStock)

Five factors powering China’s energy storage boom

China's energy storage sector is experiencing rapid growth due to an accelerated uptake of renewables in the country’s energy mix and other factors. But the booming industry also faces some serious challenges. Here are five things to know about China’s energy storage industry.
A smartphone with a displayed Micron logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken on 6 March 2023. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/Reuters)

China’s ban on Micron roils domestic memory chip market

US giant Micron Technology Inc. is facing a series of setbacks in China. With Chinese companies unlikely to take the risk of purchasing Micron products, who will fill the gap?
A labourer piles up steel pipes at a steel and iron factory in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, 23 April 2010. (Sheng Li/File Photo/Reuters)

Metal magnate’s fall from China’s rich list to bankruptcy

Zhongwang Group founder Liu Zhongtian was once on the Forbes list of China's richest billionaires. But he has now come under legal restraint and his company has filed for bankruptcy. What went wrong?
A labourer pushes a handcart at the Mercato open-air marketplace in Ketema, district of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 21 July 2022. (Tiksa Negeri/File Photo/Reuters)

China joins effort to avert sovereign debt crisis

China, India, Saudi Arabia and the Paris Club of mostly Western traditional creditor nations are collaborating on debt resolution cases in multiple countries for the first time. Lengthy negotiations on debt reduction have been underway among creditors to determine who should bear potential losses and how restructuring plans should be arranged. Whether and how China will provide debt relief is a key element of these discussions.
Beijing has put in place new measures to tighten its grip over domestic data to protect national security. (Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo/Reuters)

How China is tightening controls over cross-border data transfers

In an effort to tighten its grip over domestic data to protect national security, Beijing has implemented the Measures on the Standard Contract for the Cross-Border Transfer of Personal Information, requiring certain personal data processors to sign contracts with overseas recipients before sending data abroad.
Robotic arms assemble cars in the production line for Leapmotor's electric vehicles at a factory in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China, 26 April 2023. (China Daily via Reuters)

Homegrown robots are marching into Chinese factories

China is the world’s largest industrial robot market, accounting for 51.9% of the global industry with 268,200 robots newly installed in 2021. The greatest use of industrial robots is in the electronics and electrical industry, with demand growing since the pandemic. International manufacturers have long dominated the sector, but Chinese manufacturers of industrial robots are catching up. What obstacles would they need to tackle?
Pedestrians along an elevated walkway as an electronic ticker displays stock figures in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai, China, on 26 May 2023. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

China’s consumers flush with cash, but recovery is still lagging

A swathe of negative economic data for April, which included the manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracting and retail sales missing forecasts, indicate that China's recovery remains lopsided. It’s not a question of whether there is enough money being pumped into the economy to fuel the recovery, but instead where that money is going and why people aren’t availing themselves of more credit?
Two men riding an electric scooter smoke cigarette as they wait to cross a street in Beijing, China, on 12 May 2023. (Wang Zhao/AFP)

China’s tobacco monopoly is swept up in corruption probes

Nearly 20 senior executives and officials from the government-controlled China National Tobacco Corporation (China Tobacco) and the regulator, State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, have been caught up in the anti-graft investigation since 2021. Huge profits and the vertical management structure have made the tobacco industry a breeding ground for corruption.
Clothes are displayed on hangers at a Chinese fashion brand Shein pop-up store in Paris, France, on 4 May 2023. (Christophe Archambault/AFP)

Chinese fast fashion platforms could be next US target

Although Chinese fast fashion platforms such as Shein and Temu are gaining pace in the US, they could be the target of stringent US regulations over a variety of concerns such as personal data risks and trade loopholes.