China
China’s Xi uses SCO summit trip to further build Central Asia ties
Beijing has been expanding its influence in the region for years, securing access to raw materials and transport routes.
Global access to energy starts to fall for the first time in a decade, says IEA
Population growth means that for the first time in a decade access to global energy has begun to fall despite the massive investment going into clean energy to fight the climate crisis, the International Energy Agency said in a new report.
Over a billion people's food supplies threatened by the accelerating climate crisis by 2050
Extreme heat this summer has already killed 1,300 Muslims on the annual hajj to Mecca, but climate change threatens the lives of far more people if crops start failing due to rising heat and water stress, recent research has shown.
China’s Energy Singularity produces first net energy positive fusion reaction
The Shanghai-based commercial fusion energy company Energy Singularity announced on June 19 it has successfully built the world’s first fusion reactor that puts out more energy than it takes in to run it.
COMMENT: Why China sat out on the Ukraine's Swiss peace summit
China’s failure to show up for Ukraine’s Swiss peace summit in mid-June was a major setback in Kyiv’s attempts to set a new benchmark for the international support of its military struggle with Russia and an attempt to rally the Global South.
Fossil fuel use reaches global high
A new report finds that fossil fuel energy use rose to a record high in 2023, despite efforts to combat climate change.
Global green transition champion China is close to peak emissions
China is adding renewable energy capacity faster than any other country in the world, and is approaching peak emissions, even if it remains heavily dependent on coal-fired power stations to power its economy.
Iran's oil minister denies ‘massive discounts’ in oil sales
Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji denied claims that Tehran was “giving away” crude oil with “massive discounts,” after two presidential candidates criticized the outgoing government for “wasting” oil revenues with markdowns.
Rerouting of Russia trade to add more Caucasus, Central Asia growth in 2024-2025, says Oxford Economics
Relatively small component of expanded commerce comes from evading sanctions on particular goods, analysis argues.
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan & China: When is a done deal really done?
Railway construction agreement doesn’t answer all the questions, especially about financing.
Turkey hits Chinese cars with additional 40% tariff
Move made ahead of expected EU targeting of imported electric vehicle exports from China.
Who consumes the most power to mine bitcoins?
As the global Climate Crisis gathers pace, Bitcoin miners are increasing their consumption of power, adding to the problems. The team at BestBrokers has calculated the average yearly power consumption for Bitcoin mining in each country.
Ankara’s top diplomat holds out prospect of Turkey joining BRICS
On China visit, Hakan Fidan suggests grouping could be good economic alternative to EU. But Ankara has been some way down this road before.
_(1)_1717929979.jpg)
Russia overtakes Japan to become the fourth largest economy in the world in PPP terms
The Russian economy has overtaken Japan to become the fourth largest in the world in PPP terms (purchase power parity), according to revised data from the World Bank released at the start of June.
LONG READ: Russia’s despair index result is the best ever, while Ukraine’s crashes
The despair index adds unemployment, inflation and poverty to compare what life is like in the bottom third of emerging societies. Currently Russia is enjoying one of its lowest levels of despair, whereas Ukraine is suffering one of its worst.
China, Saudi Arabia to stay away from Ukraine peace summit
China and Saudi Arabia have both declined to attend a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland next month, citing the absence of Russia as a key reason, various sources confirmed on Friday.
_Cropped_1717141983.jpg)
Chinese consortium to build a deep-sea port in Anaklia, Georgia
Consortium led by China Communications Construction Company Limited and China Harbour Investment was the only bidder.
Russia dumping the dollar for the yuan is an imperfect sanctions fix
In 2023 the yuan became the most popular currency on the Moscow Exchange, beating even the dollar, as Russia has been forced to completely remake the way it pays for international trade.
PANNIER: Russia is pushing Turkmenistan out of the natural gas market
Moscow’s moves to take over Central Asian pipeline capacity for deliveries to China might explain unusual urgency in the Turkmen search for new customers.
_(1)_Cropped_1716538287.jpg)
China's COMAC eyes Saudi Arabia as launchpad for international expansion
Chinese state-owned aircraft manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) is setting its sights on Saudi Arabia as a strategic base for its international expansion efforts.