Latest news with #LiPing
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
CATL Battery Billionaire And Wife Donate $137 Million To Fudan
Chinese EV battery billionaire Li Ping and his wife Liao Mei have decided to make a one-time donation of one billion yuan, or about $137 million, to Fudan University to support a new institute of advanced studies, the school said in an announcement on Tuesday. Li is a 1985 graduate from the elite Shanghai-headquartered school's department of materials who went on to become vice chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL, one of the world's largest makers of EV batteries. Liao graduated from Fudan's history department in 1986. The new institute, to be called the Xue Min Institute of Advanced Studies, aims to attract world-class scholars and focus on natural science and basic research, Fudan said. Greater China, including mainland China and Hong Kong, accounted for nine of the top 20 billionaires in the world automotive industry on the 2025 Forbes Billionaires List released earlier this month. Among them, Li, a Hong Kong citizen, had an estimated fortune worth $7.3 billion. Tesla's Elon Musk was the world's richest automotive industry billionaire with an estimated fortune worth $342 billion. CATL Chairman and CEO Robin Zeng came in second among the auto industry's richest with a fortune worth $37.9 billion. Wang Chuanfu, chairman of China's BYD – the world's biggest EV maker, ranked third at $26.4 billion. (See related report by Forbes China here.) Apple Supplier's Chairman Leads New List Of China's Top Businesswomen Look Out McDonald's And KFC: Here Comes China's Alan Song Derek Li And Squirrel Ai Aim To Lead The Future Of AI-Driven Education
South China Morning Post
25-03-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
China in bid to challenge giant SpaceX by deploying maglev rocket launch pad by 2028
In a bid to disrupt the United States' long-held dominance in space exploration, China is quietly advancing a radical new rocket launch system – powered not by roaring engines but by electromagnetic force – that could propel satellites into orbit with unprecedented speed and efficiency. Advertisement At the heart of the ambitious project is Galactic Energy , a private aerospace company that plans to debut the world's first electromagnetic rocket launch pad by 2028, a project that could redraw the competitive lines of the global space industry. Developed in partnership with state-backed research institutes in Sichuan province in southwestern China, the system uses superconducting magnets to silently accelerate rockets to supersonic speeds before ignition, a process often compared to launching a maglev train vertically. 11:05 Space race elevates Asia in new world order Space race elevates Asia in new world order The Ziyang government in Sichuan and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) is testing China's first electromagnetic launch verification platform with the ambitious goal of launching in three years, according to a report by Sichuan Radio and Television last week. The platform would accelerate rockets to speeds above Mach 1 as rockets burn most fuel at the beginning of a flight, and offers a future in which launches could become as routine as high-speed rail departures. The technology could double payload capacity and lower the launch cost, said Li Ping, president of the Ziyang Commercial Space Launch Technology Research Institute. Li said the launch track would not require the maintenance needed for traditional launch pads, enabling more frequent launches. Advertisement If successful, it could offer China the critical edge it seeks to challenge American giants such as SpaceX.
