Tech Roundup: China Pursues Next-Gen Nuclear Power
U.S. blacklists Chinese firms for acquiring military AI chips for Russia, Huawei relaunches S7 electric sedan
Researchers install tiles in the vacuum chamber of the Tokamak Nuclear Fusion Experimental Facility in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, on April 28, 2021. Photo: VCG
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Fusion sector heats up as China pursues next-gen nuclear power
China is experiencing a different kind of nuclear race as everyone from government labs to private sector giants and startups seek to develop next-generation fusion energy.
It comes as the nation’s broader nuclear sector grows. The country’s 55 operating nuclear reactors — which use conventional fission technology — contributed 4.86% of total power generation last year, according to the China Nuclear Energy Association, and that figure is expected to rise to 10% by 2035.
Fusion is a different beast. Unlike mature fission approaches, which echo an atom bomb, the process of fusing atomic particles to provide energy promises to be safer and less polluting. But its development is still in its infancy.
Chinese engineers and businesspeople working in the fusion space are now tapping private capital in China and the U.S. as they buckle down for the years — or decades — of research it could take to turn it into a viable electricity source.
U.S. blacklists six more Chinese firms for acquiring AI chips for military and drones for Russia
The United States has added six Chinese companies to an export blacklist accusing them of seeking to acquire AI chips for China’s military or helping to procure drones for use by Russia.
The companies were among 11 additions from China and Russia to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List. Inclusion on the list requires American exporters to obtain a license before shipping goods or technology to the companies and such licenses are likely to be denied.
The companies cited for acquiring U.S.-made chips to aid China’s military modernization methods were Linkzol (Beijing) Technology Co, Xi’an Like Innovative Information Technology Co, Beijing Anwise Technology Co. and Sitonholy (Tianjin) Co., according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
Huawei relaunches S7 with cheaper prices, upgraded specifications
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Thursday launched the new version of its Luxeed S7 electric sedan, co-developed with Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., after fixing supply and delivery issues.
The new S7 vehicles debuted with a 20,000 yuan ($2,762) reduction on the price tag for three advanced models equipped with lidar remote sensing technology and an upgraded battery pack for the entry level model. A top-tier model was added with a maximum driving range of 751 kilometers (466 miles), taking on Xiaomi’s newly released electric sedan SU7.
GAC Aion joins race for Level 3 automatic driving road test
GAC Aion is applying to obtain Level 3 automatic driving access and initiate on-road test driving, placing it at the forefront of China’s autonomous driving race, General Manager Gu Huinan told Caixin Thursday.
Part of GAC Group, the company is expected to join several automakers in becoming the first to conduct road tests on vehicles equipped with advanced Level 3 autonomous driving technology, a step towards introducing driverless cars to China’s roads.
Smart service provider Terminus raises $276 million to fund large language model applications
Terminus Group, a Beijing-based artificial intelligence services provider, has completed a funding round of 2 billion yuan from investors led by Australian investment firm AL Capital and Chinese private equity fund Yuyao Yangming Equity Investment Fund.
Investors in Terminus’ series D funding round include Futian Capital Holdings Co. Ltd., Gemdale Corp., China Everbright Ltd. and SenseTime Group Ltd., said the company.
The funds raised will be used to enhance the research and development of “artificial intelligence of things” (AIoT) technologies, expand its business to the broader global market, and accelerate the large-scaled industrial application of AIoT-based multimodal large language models, it said.
Jack Ma cheers Alibaba’s tough overhaul plan in latest missive
Jack Ma took to an internal Alibaba forum to voice his support for a company undergoing a turbulent restructuring, emerging from seclusion for the second time in months to try and shore up sagging morale at the Chinese e-commerce pioneer he co-created.
The billionaire, who has retreated from the public spotlight in recent years, penned a lengthy memo in which he blessed efforts by new leaders Joseph Tsai and Eddie Wu to revive a stalled company. He said Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is now on the right track and urged staff to stay the course.
Ma, who’s still revered by many of the company’s 200,000-plus employees, struck a markedly more upbeat tone than just four months ago, when he spoke up for the first time in years only to criticize its direction and laud a rival. This time, he reiterated calls to think outside the box and escape the “big company trap.”
XPeng takes its EVs on a sales drive into Hong Kong and Macao
Chinese electric-vehicle maker XPeng Inc. is venturing into the Hong Kong and Macao markets by launching its latest electric sport utility vehicle and other models in the markets.
XPeng President Brian Gu told Caixin that Hong Kong is known as the super connector between international investors and the Chinese mainland. “We are very much looking forward to introducing our products and technology to a broader global market through Hong Kong,” he said.
The Guangzhou-based company will make its Hong Kong debut in mid-May with its latest electric sport utility vehicle, the G6, and its flagship seven-seater, the X9 multipurpose vehicle, via a dealer partnership with Malaysia’s Sime Darby Motors. Delivery of both models is due to start from the third quarter.
Job cuts might be behind outage at Tencent Cloud, source says
Recent service failures at Tencent Cloud and its rivals might be the result of job cuts, an industry insider said, raising concerns about the consequences of the wave of layoffs at Chinese internet giants over the last two years.
On Monday, complaints began to surface online that the cloud computing unit of Tencent Holdings Ltd. suffered an outage that disrupted access to Tencent Cloud’s console, which customers use to manage servers and buy different services on the platform.
Tencent Cloud spent more than 90 minutes fixing the problem, which it blamed on “abnormalities detected in its console” without elaborating, according to a message the company posted on its website.
Battery giant CATL unveils more efficient energy storage system
Chinese battery-maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) has launched what it claims is the first mass-produced energy storage system with zero degradation in the first five years of its lifespan.
The Tianheng is embedded in a standard 20-foot shipping container and equipped with long-life lithium iron phosphate cells with an energy density of 430 watt-hours per liter, giving it a total capacity of 6.25 megawatt-hours, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The new storage system is capable of 15,000 charge cycles, which CATL said can help energy storage power plants increase their return on investment.
Chinese gadget-maker drops Motorola lawsuit in China after fined for defying U.S. court
A Chinese walkie-talkie-maker said Monday it has withdrawn a lawsuit against Motorola in Shenzhen after a U.S. court slapped it with a $1 million daily fine for violating its order against pursuing the case in China.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled on April 2 that Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd. had breached its injunction by continuing with a lawsuit in Shenzhen that sought to relieve it from paying Motorola a portion of royalties under a previous order by the federal court.
Hong Kong regulator gets first applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs, sources say
Investors may soon be able to trade Bitcoin in Hong Kong through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the cryptocurrency after the city’s top securities regulator set out requirements for such products in December.
Harvest Global Investments Ltd. and CSOP Asset Management Ltd., Hong Kong subsidiaries of major mutual fund firms on the Chinese mainland, have applied to list their spot Bitcoin ETFs with the Securities and Futures Commission, sources close to the regulator told Caixin.
The commission laid out the requirements for approving “investment funds with exposure to virtual assets” in a Dec. 22 circular as part of Hong Kong’s push to build itself into a global cryptocurrency hub amid growing competition with financial centers including Singapore.
TSMC gets $11.6 billion in U.S. grants, loans for chip plants
The U.S. plans to award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) $6.6 billion in grants and as much as $5 billion in loans to help the world’s top chipmaker build factories in Arizona, expanding President Joe Biden’s effort to boost domestic production of critical technology.
Under the preliminary agreement announced by the U.S. on Monday, TSMC will construct a third factory in Phoenix, adding to two facilities in the state that are expected to begin production in 2025 and 2028. In total, the package will support more than $65 billion in investments at the three plants by TSMC, the go-to chipmaker for companies such as Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp.
Beijing joins other cities in rolling out support for biopharma firms
Some local governments across China, now including Beijing, have issued policies aimed at boosting the biopharmaceutical industry, including more financing support for innovative drugmakers, as the industry endures a prolonged capital winter.
On Sunday, the capital’s authorities announced measures to support the development of innovative drugs, including efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of clinical studies on such drugs and accelerate their approval.
EU ramps up pressure on China’s green tech with wind probe
The European Union ramped up pressure on Chinese clean-tech investments, potentially squeezing out its local suppliers amid EU efforts to transform the bloc into a green economy.
The EU’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager announced an early stage investigation into Chinese involvement in wind parks in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria, in a speech in the U.S.
While a preliminary measure, the investigation could result in fines, the suspension of tenders or even the blocking of state takeovers of companies if evidence of unfair subsidies given by the Chinese state is eventually unearthed.