China burning coal at record high levels in 2025 — report
"China burned more coal at power plants between January and July of 2025 than at any time since 2016, despite massive renewable capacity"
--- But for some reason the media still believe that China is an environmental champion.
"Paradoxically, this spike in coal use takes place as China massively expands its renewable capacity, which now covers growth in electricity demand. Solar capacity, for instance, jumped by 212 GW in the first six months of 2025."
--- Only if you trust Chinese propaganda.
"Beijing's push has led to a 1% drop in six-month emissions year-on-year"
--- Yeah, right. Burning coal is at an all-time high, but miraculously emissions drop.
Taiwan, China battle it out in competing World War Two narratives
"the party's official People's Daily wrote in an online commentary that vigilance was needed against efforts to "distort and falsify the Chinese Communist Party's role as the country's backbone" in fighting Japan."
--- So true. It's a distortion to claim that the CCP made any significant effort to fight the Japanese.
Chinese property giant Evergrande delisted after spectacular fall
"experts say Evergrande's collapse, along with the serious problems faced by other developers, has hit the country hardest. "The property slump has been the biggest drag on the economy, and the ultimate reason why consumption is suppressed," Ms Wang says. This is particularly problematic as the industry accounted for about a third of the Chinese economy and was a major source of income for local governments. "I don't think China has found a viable alternative to support its economy at a similar scale," Professor Qiao says. The property crisis has led to "massive layoffs" by heavily-indebted developers, Jackson Chan from financial markets research platform Bondsupermart says. And many real estate industry employees that kept their jobs have seen big pay cuts, he adds. The crisis is also having a major impact on many households as they tend to put their savings into property. With housing prices dropping by at least 30%, many Chinese families have seen their savings fall in value"
--- & that's one of the main reasons why China is in a recession. Although:
"Despite the hundreds of billions of dollars Beijing has poured into the economy, China's once-blistering growth has eased to "around 5%"."
--- Some people still believe the fairy tale of growth.
"We think the bottom [has been reached] and it should be in a slow recovery."
--- They have been saying this for more than a year now.
Remote testing for US law school exam fueled market for cheating in China
"Last week, the council, based in Newtown, Pennsylvania, announced it is suspending the remote LSAT in mainland China after the upcoming exam in October due to “increasingly aggressive” cheating operations. It said it would bolster security for the October test. A recent spike in apparent cheating rings in China forced the council to take action, a spokesperson said. But the decision comes after years of concerns about LSAT cheating in China, several LSAT test prep providers told Reuters.[...] Concerns about cheating on standardized tests in China predate the switch to online testing and extend beyond the LSAT. A 2016 Reuters investigation found evidence of organized cheating among Chinese students on the SAT, a certificate program for non-native English speakers owned by the ACT, and in U.S. college courses."
--- Cheating has been endemic in China for a long time. It's nothing new, but they ignored the problem because Chinese students bring in a lot of money.
The Guardian view on rural China: urbanites contemplate an escape to the country
"Now Beijing is promoting “rural revitalisation”. State media run a steady stream of articles lauding city dwellers who have returned to their home towns to set up cafes or run home-stays. The expansion of transport and telecommunications infrastructure has allowed rural inhabitants to expand their horizons. First came the “Taobao villages”, where at least a 10th of households were using Alibaba’s e-commerce platform. More recently, farmers have taken to livestreaming – selling fruit or flowers direct to urbanites. The push factors are equally potent. Disenchanted urbanites tired of the pressures of city life are seeking to take it easier in the countryside, just as hippies in the west rejected their parents’ materialistic dreams in the 1960s."
--- Bullshit. The Guardian falling for Chinese propaganda again. There are some influencers who make big bucks by showing off their alleged laid-back lifestyle, but there is no wider movement. & that the CCP is promoting some back to the village life is more a sign of the recession than anything else. If they are in rural areas, they are not counted as unemployed.
Chinese bridge collapse kills at least 12 construction workers
German Authorities Charge U.S. Citizen In Attempted Espionage Case
--- China Uncensored: "China's BRI is dead"
--- China Uncensored: "There is worse than unemployment in China"
China nimmt mehr Kohlekraft ans Stromnetz
" China hat im ersten Halbjahr 2025 so viel Kohlekraft neu ans Netz genommen wie zuletzt im Jahr 2016. Einer Analyse des Zentrums für Forschung zu Energie und sauberer Luft (Crea) zufolge schloss die Volksrepublik Kraftwerke mit einer Gesamtkapazität von 21 Gigawatt an. Das ist ein Spitzenwert für ein erstes Halbjahr seit 2016. 2025 dürften den Crea-Expertinnen zufolge insgesamt mehr als 80 Gigawatt ans Netz gehen. Die Entwicklung der Kohlekraft in China zeige keine Anzeichen einer Abschwächung und werde noch über Jahre Teil des Energie-Systems sein [...] Der Ausbau grüner Energie half laut einer Analyse im Online-Fachportal Carbon Brief, dass der Ausstoß des klimaschädlichen Treibhausgases Kohlenstoffdioxid im ersten Halbjahr 2025 in China verglichen mit demselben Vorjahreszeitraum um ein Prozent sank."
--- Aber sicher: Es wird mehr Kohle verbrannt als je zuvor, aber trotzdem sinken die Emissionen.
Chinas Evergrande-Konzern von der Börse genommen
"Der Fall Evergrande steht symbolisch für den Einbruch der chinesischen Immobilienbranche. Jahrzehntelang hatte die Baubranche in der Volksrepublik massiv zum Wachstum beigetragen und hat bis zu einem Drittel der Wirtschaftskraft ausgemacht. Heute sinken die Immobilienpreise. Zahlreiche Baukonzerne haben finanzielle Probleme. Die Krise im Bausektor belastet Chinas Wirtschaft stark. Die zweitgrößte Volkswirtschaft der Welt hat sich nach dem Ende der Corona-Pandemie nicht erholt wie erwartet."
--- Aber jetzt ist die Talsohle erreicht. Ganz bestimmt.
Anklage wegen mutmaßlicher Spionage für China
