Xi Questions Local Officials on EV, AI Plans in Rare Rebuke
The Dutch Intersection Is Coming to Save Your Life
Advocates Fear US Agents Are Using 'Wellness Checks' on Children as a Prelude to Arrests
LA Homelessness Drops for Second Year
Manhattan, Chicago Murder Rates Drop in 2025, Officials Say
Mumbai Facelift Is Inspired by 200-Year-Old New York Blueprint
'When it comes to launching new projects, it's always the same few things: artificial intelligence, computing power, new-energy vehicles,' Xi said in a meeting in Beijing this week on urban development, according to a Thursday article on the front page of the People's Daily.
'Should every province in the country be developing industries in these areas?' he was quoted as asking by the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party.
The blunt, colloquial criticism was unusual as state media typically publish his more formal comments or policy guidance. The comments reflect a growing concern of policymakers that officials across the country are pursuing investment in a select few industries favored by Beijing, exacerbating excess capacity and delaying consolidation.
Xi's remarks add to a recent chorus from top officials calling for an end to price wars among industries, which are worsening a downward spiral in company profits and wages.
A State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday pledged to rein in 'irrational competition' in the EV sector, more signs that authorities are getting serious about curbing overcapacity. A meeting of the top Communist Party body in charge of economic policy earlier this month vowed to regulate how local governments try to attract investment.
As domestic demands remain sluggish, growing supplies across industries are fueling a worrying deflation trend despite the economy's recent resilience. Nominal growth rate, which accounts for price changes, was only 3.9% in the second quarter, the least outside the pandemic since the quarterly data began in 1993.
Competition among local governments for faster expansion, coupled with an investment-led model, has driven China's growth miracle in recent decades. But it also created surging public debt and wasteful investment, leading to chronic overcapacity that has flooded foreign markets and raised geopolitical tensions.
Qiushi, an official magazine of the Communist Party, in an article this month offered a harsh criticism of local behaviors that fostered 'disorderly competition.' It called out practices of illicit subsidies, 'blind' investment in key industries and market barriers that disadvantage companies from other places.
In a similar vein, Xi in March 2024 called on local governments to develop 'new productive forces' — commonly understood as emerging industries — based on their unique conditions and avoid creating 'industry bubbles.'
The imbalance of supply and demand is evident across many sectors, from traditional heavy industries like steel to new ones like EV and solar. Even after the number of EV makers started shrinking for the first time last year, the industry is still using less than half its production capacity.
The combined targets of new energy storage by 2025 from 26 of the 31 provinces that published such a goal are more than double the national target, according to an industry group.
In the gathering this week, Xi made clear that some local authorities have gone too far, saying that 'promoting urbanization should be a gradual process that unfolds naturally.'
'It must align with the laws of economic and social development and should not be divorced from reality or driven by a rush for quick success,' he said.
(Updates with additional details throughout.)
What the Tough Job Market for New College Grads Says About the Economy
How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All
Godzilla Conquered Japan. Now Its Owner Plots a Global Takeover
Forget DOGE. Musk Is Suddenly All In on AI
The Quest for a Hangover-Free Buzz
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says Japan will invest $550 billion in US at his direction. It may not be a sure thing
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is bragging that Japan has given him, as part of a new trade framework, $550 billion to invest in the United States. It's an astonishing figure, but still subject to negotiation and perhaps not the sure thing he's portraying. "Japan is putting up $550 billion in order to lower their tariffs a little bit," Trump said Thursday. 'They put up, as you could call it, seed money. Let's call it seed money.' He said 90% of any profits from the money invested would go to the U.S. even if Japan had put up the funds. 'It's not a loan or anything, it's a signing bonus,' the Republican president said, on the trade framework that lowered his threatened tariff from 25% to 15%, including on autos. A White House official said the terms are being negotiated and nothing has been formalized in writing. The official, who insisted on anonymity to detail the terms of the talks, suggested the goal was for the $550 billion fund to make investments at Trump's direction. The sum is significant: It would represent more than 10% of Japan's entire gross domestic product. The Japan External Trade Organization estimates that direct investment into the U.S. economy topped $780 billion in 2023. It is unclear the degree to which the $550 billion could represent new investment or flow into existing investment plans. What the trade framework announced Tuesday has achieved is a major talking point for the Trump administration. The president has claimed to have brought trillions of dollars in new investment into the U.S., though the impact of those commitments have yet to appear in the economic data for jobs, construction spending or manufacturing output. The framework also enabled Trump to say other countries are agreeing to have their goods taxed, even if some of the cost of those taxes are ultimately passed along to U.S. consumers. On the $550 billion, Japan's Cabinet Office said it involves the credit facility of state-affiliated financial institutions, such as Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Further details would be decided based on the progress of the investment deals. Japanese trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, upon returning to Japan, did not discuss the terms of the $550 billion investment. Akazawa said he believes a written joint statement is necessary, at least on working levels, to avoid differences. He is not thinking about a legally binding trade pact. The U.S. apparently released its version of the deal while Japanese officials were on their return flight home. 'If we find differences of understanding, we may have to point them out and say 'that's not what we discussed,'' Akazawa said. The U.S. administration said the fund would be invested in critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, computer chips and shipbuilding, among other industries. It has said Japan will also buy 100 airplanes from Boeing and rice from U.S. farmers as part of the framework, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said would be evaluated every three months. 'And if the president is unhappy, then they will boomerang back to the 25% tariff rates, both on cars and the rest of their products. And I can tell you that I think at 25, especially in cars, the Japanese economy doesn't work,' Bessent told Fox News' 'The Ingraham Angle.' Akazawa denied that Bessent's quarterly review was part of the negotiations. 'In my past eight trips to the United States during which I held talks with the president and the ministers," Akazawa said. 'I have no recollection of discussing how we ensure the implementation of the latest agreement between Japan and the United States.' He said it would cause major disruptions to the economy and administrative processes if the rates first rise to 25% as scheduled on Aug. 1 and then drop to 15%. 'We definitely want to avoid that and I believe that is the understanding shared by the U.S. side,' he said. On buying U.S. rice, Japanese officials have said they have no plans to raise the current 770,000-ton 'minimum access' cap to import more from America. Agricultural Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Japan will decide whether to increase U.S. rice imports and that Japan is not committed to a fixed quota. Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, has suggested that the Japanese agreement is putting pressure on other countries such as South Korea to strike deals with the U.S. Trump, who is traveling in Scotland, plans to meet on Sundayv with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss trade. 'Whatever Donald Trump wants to build, the Japanese will finance it for him,' Lutnick said Thursday on CNBC. 'Pretty amazing.' ___ Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Josh Boak And Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
WeRide Wins Permit for Autonomous Robotaxi Service in Shanghai, Partnering with Chery to Revolutionize Urban Mobility
SHANGHAI, China, July 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WeRide (NASDAQ: WRD), a global leader of autonomous driving technology, has been granted a permit from the Shanghai municipal government to operate regulation-compliant, Level 4 (L4) autonomous Robotaxi ride-hailing services. Issued during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC 2025) in Shanghai, the permit enables WeRide, in partnership with Chery Group and Jinjiang Taxi, to deploy Robotaxis on public roads in Pudong New Area. This milestone also marks the WeRide Robotaxi's official entry into its tenth city globally. As part of WAIC's Level 4 Intelligent Vehicle Experience Showcase, the three partners jointly launched the event's only fully mass-produced, pre-installed L4 Robotaxi shuttle service. The service connects key Shanghai transport hubs and cultural-tourism landmarks, including the Shanghai World Expo Center, Jinqiao, Huamu, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and Shanghai Disney Resort. Residents, tourists, and conference attendees are able to book rides through the 'Jinjiang Smart Mobility' WeChat Chery Group, and Jinjiang Taxi jointly launched a Robotaxi shuttle service at WAIC 2025 WeRide, a pioneer and leader in the Robotaxi industry, and Chery Group, China's first independent brand to exceed one million vehicle sales, have joined forces to develop a new generation of mass-produced Robotaxis. Chery's premium new energy vehicle brand, EXEED, is advancing rapidly in smart, connected, and electric mobility, with significant progress in EV platform architecture. Together, they unveiled their jointly developed Robotaxi model — the CER — at Auto Shanghai 2025. The CER is built on WeRide's universal autonomous driving platform, WeRide One, and EXEED's STERRA ET vehicle architecture. At WAIC 2025, WeRide and Chery showcased the CER in active operation. Equipped with WeRide's High-Performance Computing platform and Sensor Suite 5.6, the CER features over 20 sensors — including cost-efficient LiDARs, HD cameras, and RTK-precision navigation modules — and incorporates five layers of redundant safety systems (steering, braking, parking, communication, and power supply redundancy). The CER's spacious interior and extended range on the EXEED STERRA ET platform enable it to support long-distance, all-scenario, high-frequency driverless shuttle services. Founded in 2017, WeRide has been at the forefront of Robotaxi R&D and commercial deployment. It has launched Robotaxi testing or operations across nine cities in three countries, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Ordos, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, and Zurich, accumulating over 2,000 days of safe operation. The approval of the permit in Shanghai marks WeRide's entry into its tenth city globally, showcasing the company's robust autonomous driving technology and efficient global deployment capabilities. Looking ahead, WeRide will deepen collaborations with global partners to accelerate Robotaxi technological advancements, scale commercial deployments, and elevate service standards — driving cities worldwide toward a smarter, safer, and more connected transportation future. About WeRide WeRide is a global leader and a first mover in the autonomous driving industry, as well as the first publicly traded Robotaxi company. Our autonomous vehicles have been tested or operated in over 30 cities across 10 countries. We are also the first and only technology company whose products have received autonomous driving permits in five markets: China, the UAE, Singapore, France, and the US. Empowered by the smart, versatile, cost-effective, and highly adaptable WeRide One platform, WeRide provides autonomous driving products and services from L2 to L4, addressing transportation needs in the mobility, logistics, and sanitation industries. WeRide was named in Fortune Magazine's 2024 'The Future 50' list. Media Contact pr@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at lors de la récupération des données Connectez-vous pour accéder à votre portefeuille Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données
Bloomberg
13 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
KKR Said in Talks to Buy Data-Center Firm STT GDC in $5b Deal
KKR & Co. is in talks to buy ST Telemedia Global Data Centres in a deal that could value the Asian digital infrastructure provider at more than $5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The US investment firm and ST Telemedia Pte could reach a deal in the coming weeks, the people said. KKR is already a backer in the closely held data center company known as STT GDC with a 14.1% stake. At a more than $5 billion valuation, the deal could be among the largest for KKR this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
