Latest news with #Baotou
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China's campaign to ease local government debt scores first big win in Inner Mongolia
China's debt relief campaign for local governments, launched last year, has delivered its first major success story after Inner Mongolia exited the central government's high-risk list. Advertisement The autonomous region was among 12 province-level jurisdictions flagged by Beijing for risky debt levels, with its exit revealed in a local budget review discussed internally in late July but only released to the public earlier this week. '[We must] consolidate the progress made in exiting the list of key high-debt regions and guide local authorities to continue debt resolution efforts based on local conditions,' according to a statement released by the finance and economic committee of the northern region's People's Congress. Inner Mongolia, the country's top coal miner and a major supplier of renewable energy and dairy products, had previously been forced to shelve a subway project in Baotou – the region's second-largest city – because of financial risks. Local government debt, which accumulated after the 2008 global financial crisis , is widely seen as a ticking time bomb. It reached 51.95 trillion yuan (US$7.23 trillion) by the end of June, government data showed, driven by years of aggressive borrowing, especially through local government financing vehicles. Advertisement The model has become increasingly unsustainable, particularly as fiscal revenue from land sales has declined. In September 2023, the State Council issued a directive targeting 12 high-risk province-level areas and called for debt control and restructuring over the following two years, along with support measures.
Newsweek
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
China and Russia Challenge US Military Supremacy With Major Joint Exercise
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. China and Russia will carry out joint naval exercises in the Pacific next week, the Chinese defense ministry said Wednesday, as the quasi-alliance continues to mature. Why It Matters The neighbors have moved to strengthen security ties in recent years through bilateral and multilateral exercises spanning naval and air patrols and computer simulations. Over half of their 113 combined drills since 2003 have taken place in the past six years, according to analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies' China Power Project. This cooperation is especially concentrated in the Pacific. While Beijing and Moscow lack a formal treaty, they are aligned on challenging long-standing U.S. military dominance and seek to establish their own spheres of influence, analysts say. Newsweek reached out to the Russian defense ministry by email with a request for comment outside of office hours. What to Know The People's Liberation Army Navy will join Russia's Pacific Fleet for drills in the Sea of Japan, in the waters and airspace near the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, China's defense ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said during Wednesday's regular news conference. This handout photo made available by the Iranian Army Office on March 11 shows the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyer Baotou during joint military drills between Iran, Russia and China in the Gulf... This handout photo made available by the Iranian Army Office on March 11 shows the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyer Baotou during joint military drills between Iran, Russia and China in the Gulf of Oman. More Iranian Army via Getty Images The exercises, which will also include land-based training and collectively dubbed Maritime Interaction 2025, begin August 1, according to a Pacific Fleet statement shared by Russian state media. Both sides stressed that the drills are not directed at any third party. Naval forces will train in anti-submarine warfare, air defense and search-and-rescue operations, and will conduct "joint gun" exercises, according to a Russian statement. Participating Russian ships will be led by the large anti-submarine warfare ship Admiral Tributs, with the Type 052 guided-missile destroyer Shaoxing leading the Chinese contingent. Diesel-electric submarines and naval aircraft from both countries will also take part. Following the exercises, the two sides will deploy to an unspecified part of the Pacific Ocean for their sixth joint maritime patrol, Zhang told reporters. What People Have Said Zhang Xiaogang, Chinese defense ministry spokesperson: "This is an arrangement within the annual cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian militaries. It is not targeted at any third party, nor is it related to the current international and regional situation." Garrett Campbell, retired U.S. Navy captain and adviser to NATO on Russian military strategy, wrote for the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute in June: "It has become resoundingly clear that the increase in bilateral military activities is directly linked to a shared strategic vision held by both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin. "[...] Putin, incorrectly perceived by many in the U.S. national security community as a mere tactical opportunist, has committed Russia to a long-term strategic confrontation with the West." What's Next The last two days of the drills will overlap with a joint exercise between the Indian and Philippine navies in the South China Sea, in what observers have billed as a show of New Delhi's support for the U.S. treaty ally in its ongoing territorial dispute with China.
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
China's rare earth export controls are good for Beijing, bad for business
China's export restrictions on rare earths brought parts of the global auto supply chain to a halt and U.S. President Donald Trump to the negotiating table. But at home, they're a big headache for companies already struggling with a slow economy. Beijing curbed rare earth and magnet exports in April in retaliation against U.S. tariffs, driving down magnet makers' offshore sales at the same time as they face pressure from a weak economy and tough times in one of their key markets - EVs. The pain for magnet makers is unlikely to ease soon, even after the U.S. announced a deal with China on June 27 to get rare earths flowing again. Any agreement would take time to implement, said Baotou Rare Earth Products Exchange, a state-backed trading platform, noting that inventory was piling up in warehouses, in a post on WeChat 12 hours after the deal was announced. The export curbs led to a 75% drop in magnet exports in the two months after the restrictions were imposed and forced several global auto makers to pause some production. Live Events The restrictions caused a "crisis" for some local magnet makers, the Baotou exchange, based in Inner Mongolia, one of China's rare earths hubs, said in May. While China produces 90% of the rare earth magnets used worldwide and consumes most of them, exports ranged from 18% to 50% of total revenue in 2024 among the 11 largest publicly listed magnet producers by capacity, public filings show. "Their sales are now being squeezed from both ends - disrupted exports and flagging domestic demand," said Ellie Saklatvala, head of metal pricing at commodities information provider Argus. "They have temporarily lost an important part of their customer base, with no certainty about when they will regain it." Rare earths are politically sensitive in China and few major listed rare earth companies have commented directly about how the controls will affect their business. However, two rare earth magnet producers told Reuters revenue is expected to fall this year, speaking on condition of anonymity given the issue's sensitivity. "It will have a huge impact on the export business, although it's hard to tell exactly how much of a loss we will suffer for now," said one of the rare earth magnet producers, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. Small- and medium-sized producers cut production by around 15% in April and May, according to another source with knowledge of the matter, who also declined to be named. EXPORT CURBS' IMPACT UNDERESTIMATED Much like U.S. chipmaker Nvidia, China's rare earth magnet makers are victims of their own importance. Caught in the geopolitical crossfire of Washington's tariffs and China's retaliation, share prices of the listed magnet makers slumped in April after the export curbs were announced. However, they have climbed off their lows over the past three months. The rebound does not appear to be based on any reasonable forecast of the industry's future, said Cory Combs, head of critical mineral research at consultancy Trivium China. "I can see various market outlooks, more or less negative depending on the assumptions, but none of them yield a sustainable rise in share price like we're seeing," he said. Many magnet makers are also private, so share prices only tell a limited story, he said. Many producers already faced weaker conditions at home, including a price war among electric vehicle makers, a key customer segment, that has seen manufacturers demand discounts from suppliers. In addition, the highly customised nature of many magnet products makes it hard to resell cargoes domestically, forcing magnet makers to store them during the wait for licenses, four sources said, also speaking anonymously. CHALLENGES MAY SPUR CONSOLIDATION Listed magnet maker Baotou Tianhe Magnetics Technology Co noted the export curbs in its annual report released in late April, and said its export revenue could decline if the international situation deteriorated. Yantai Zhenghai Magnetics said last week it had received export licenses and production was normal. It referred investors to its upcoming financial filings for specific operating results. However, a quick return to the previous status quo is unlikely if the rare earth controls are implemented in a manner similar to those on other critical minerals including germanium and antimony, according to Argus' Saklatvala. China imposed export controls on germanium and antimony over the course of 2023 and 2024. Despite being used mostly by civilian industries, which in theory should face few issues getting licenses, exports have still not recovered fully, customs data shows. Europe is receiving only a tiny fraction of the antimony it imported from China before export controls were imposed last September. The shortages are already causing major problems for lead-acid battery makers, commonly found in gasoline engines. "Looking at China's recent export controls on other critical minerals - such as antimony - it is clear that it can sometimes take longer than expected for exports to resume and normalise," Saklatvala added. The large amounts of information required by export license authorities are a permanent change for the industry that will add delays and costs for producers, said David Abraham, affiliate professor at Boise State University, in Idaho. "In some sense, there's no going back," he said. In an industry that has hundreds of manufacturers, the pressures could lead to consolidation, he said. "I do not know if Beijing sees that as a bad thing, because further consolidation is helpful for controlling and understanding where materials go."
New York Times
05-07-2025
- Science
- New York Times
China Has Paid a High Price for Its Dominance in Rare Earths
Chinese mines and refineries produce most of the world's rare earth metals and practically all of a few crucial kinds of rare earths. This has given China's government near complete control over a critical choke point in global trade. But for decades in northern China, toxic sludge from rare earth processing has been dumped into a four-square-mile artificial lake. In south-central China, rare earth mines have poisoned dozens of once-green valleys and left hillsides stripped to barren red clay. Achieving dominance in rare earths came with a heavy cost for China, which largely tolerated severe environmental damage for many years. The industrialized world, by contrast, had tighter regulations and stopped accepting even limited environmental harm from the industry as far back as the 1990s, when rare earth mines and processing centers closed elsewhere. In China, the worst damage occurred in and around Baotou, a flat, industrial city of two million people in China's Inner Mongolia, on the southern edge of the Gobi Desert. Baotou calls itself the world capital of the rare earth industry, but the city and its people bear the scars from decades of poorly regulated rare earths production. An artificial lake of sludge known as the Weikuang Dam, four square miles in size, holds the waste left over after metals are extracted from mined ore. During the winter and spring, the sludge dries out. The dust that then blows off the lake is contaminated with lead, cadmium and other heavy metals, including traces of radioactive thorium, according to technical papers by Chinese scholars. During the summer rainy season, the sludge becomes coated with a layer of water that mixes with poisons and thorium. This dangerous mix seeps into the groundwater underneath the lake. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
2025 Energy Review: Why Global Carbon Emissions Are Still Climbing
The Bao Steel mill in the morning, in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China. Baotou is an excellent example ... More of a one-industry town, and that industry is steel. Baotou is also notorious as a big polluter, mostly from the large Bao Steel factory. With Baotou sitting directly west of Beijing, much of Beijing's notorious smog and haze comes from cities such as Baotou, which lay directly west. (Photo by Ryan Pyle/Corbis via Getty Images) In late June the Energy Institute (EI) released the 2025 Statistical Review of World Energy, which was published previously for more than 70 years by BP. Here is the link to the full 2025 Statistical Review of World Energy. The Review confirmed that a troubling trend continues. Despite historic investments in renewables and net-zero pledges from nearly every major economy, global carbon emissions hit a record high in 2024. This article is the first in a series breaking down the key findings—and what they mean for the global energy sector. Defining Carbon Emissions: What's Included and Why It Matters The Review breaks down carbon emissions into several categories, but the most comprehensive metric is total carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂-equivalent emissions). This includes emissions from energy use, flaring, industrial processes, and methane associated with fossil fuel production, transportation, and distribution. As defined in the Review, CO₂-equivalent emissions represent the sum of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, flaring, and industrial processes—plus methane emissions converted into their carbon dioxide equivalent. This approach provides a fuller picture of each country's contribution to atmospheric carbon levels. While land use changes like deforestation are not included, the inclusion of methane—a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO₂—makes this a more accurate measure of atmospheric impact. Global Emissions Rise Again Despite Renewable Growth Global carbon emissions hit a new all-time high in 2024, reaching 40.8 billion metric tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions. That's up from 40.3 billion metric tons in 2023—an increase of 0.5 billion tons from the previous year, despite record investments in renewables and aggressive net-zero pledges from countries and corporations alike. The growth trend has continued at a relatively consistent rate since 2021. Global CO2-Equivalent Emissions 1990-2024. Over the past decade, global emissions have increased by nearly 1% per year on average, despite a growing list of international climate pledges. Although 2024 saw numerous headlines highlighting record growth in wind and solar—topics I'll explore in upcoming articles—the emissions data tells a clear story: clean energy is expanding, but not fast enough to keep up with rising global energy demand. Breaking Down the Big Three The three largest carbon emitters in the world are China, the U.S., and India. Together, they account for over half of all global emissions. However, they have taken very different paths over the past few decades. The Top Three CO2-Equivalent Emitters in 2024. Despite a 37% increase in population over the period, U.S. carbon emissions in 2024 were lower than they were in 1990. Over the past decade, they've declined at an average annual rate of 1.0%. No country has reduced its carbon output more this century. Since 2000, U.S. emissions have fallen by 913 million metric tons—far surpassing second-place Germany, which saw a 292 million metric ton decline. While it's true that the U.S. started from a higher emissions baseline, the scale of the reduction remains a significant achievement. The most significant reduction in U.S. carbon emissions began around 2007, driven by two key shifts: the shale gas boom, which made natural gas cheaper and led utilities to switch away from coal; and the rapid growth of renewable energy, which chipped away further at coal's dominance in the power sector. In contrast, China's carbon emissions have quintupled since 1990, rising by a staggering 8.8 billion metric tons since 2000 alone. In 2024, China emitted approximately 12.5 billion metric tons of CO₂—nearly 31% of the global total—more than the combined emissions of North America and Europe. Despite being the global leader in solar and wind deployment, China is also the world's largest consumer of coal. That contradiction—leading the clean energy buildout while still relying heavily on fossil fuels—helps explain why global carbon emissions continue to rise, even as renewables grow at record rates. India's emissions have also quintupled since 1990, with an increase of 2.2 billion metric tons since 2000—second only to China in absolute growth. In 2024, India emitted 3.3 billion metric tons, up 24% over the past decade. India's rising emissions are closely tied to economic development. As millions move out of poverty and into the middle class, energy demand increases. Much of that demand is still met by fossil fuels. India's situation reflects the biggest challenge of the global energy transition: how to decarbonize while still expanding access to affordable energy. Global Disparities A regional view of the data reveals deeper structural imbalances. Over the past decade: In addition to North America, Europe showed a clear decline in emissions, which fell an average of 1.4% per year over the decade. The European Union's emissions fell to 3.7 billion metric tons in 2024, down 15% from a decade earlier. Countries like Germany and the UK continue to make strong progress through a combination of policy, electrification, and energy efficiency. But that success is uneven. In Eastern and Southern Europe, emissions are flat or even rising, and economic pressures have delayed some planned coal phase-outs. While Europe is often heralded as a climate leader, its internal divisions show how difficult it is to maintain momentum across a diverse bloc of nations. These trends reflect varying levels of policy ambition, but also where population and economic growth are occurring. Much of the world's energy demand growth is from countries that are still building basic infrastructure, expanding transportation networks, increasing industrial output, and expanding the middle class. Final Thoughts: More Clean Energy, But Not Enough Subtraction The data suggest that the much-hyped energy transition is still happening too slowly to halt emissions growth. Wind and solar are scaling, but they're not yet replacing fossil fuels at the level needed to reduce total emissions. We're adding clean energy to the mix, but we're not yet subtracting fossil energy. That's why global emissions continue to rise, even as headlines trumpet climate breakthroughs. Until global demand growth levels off—or renewables begin displacing fossil fuels at scale—emissions are likely to keep climbing. Next in this series: A closer look at the carbon productivity of top emitters and what per capita data reveals about global differences in emissions and energy use.
