Latest news with #Shanghai-based
The Star
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Star
Chinese lidar maker Hesai zeroes in on South-East Asia for first overseas plant
China's Hesai Group, the world's largest maker of automotive lidar sensors, plans to open its first plant outside the mainland in Southeast Asia next year. Chief financial officer Andrew Fan said on Wednesday the Shanghai-based company recently signed a land lease for the factory, with construction set to start later this year and production in late 2026. He did not give details. The factory will supply light detection and ranging sensors – which employ laser beams to measure distances to objects – to international marques that design and assemble smart vehicles, he added. 'From the end of 2026 or early 2027, Hesai will rely on the plant in Southeast Asia to serve some of our international clients,' Fan said. 'We are building overseas plants to implement our go-global strategy.' The company's announcement came after Hesai on Tuesday reported a 46.3 per cent jump in first-quarter revenue to 530 million yuan (US$73.6 million), while its net loss narrowed 84 per cent to 17.5 million yuan. Fan said the company would generate a profit of 200 million yuan to 350 million yuan for the full year on the back of surging demand for lidar sensors by smart-car and robot makers. Hesai – whose clients include Li Auto, China's largest maker of premium electric vehicles (EVs), and Geely, owner of Volvo Cars – would deliver 1.5 million units to customers this year, he added. Last month, CEO David Li Yifan said that the company would increase its manufacturing capacity fourfold this year to 2 million units, from about 502,000 units in 2024. Fan said an escalating EV price war on the mainland would have minimal impact on Hesai's revenue. 'We firmly believe people's rising awareness about safety and rapid technology advancement in making cars more autonomous will result in stronger demand for lidar sensors,' Fan said. 'Carmakers and consumers need reliable hardware and software to ensure driving safety. They will not try to save costs on driver assistance systems.' The company also plans to set up factories in Europe, where Hesai has formed partnerships with several top carmakers to develop advanced driver assistance systems, a preliminary technology for autonomous driving. In March, Hesai announced that its products would be used in the next-generation cars of a 'leading European' assembler over the next decade, which Reuters reported was Mercedes-Benz. It was the first time that a major European carmaker had picked a Chinese lidar supplier. Hesai's overseas expansion is the latest example of Chinese automotive supply-chain vendors showcasing their superiority in technology and manufacturing. Chinese car-component makers, from EV battery producers like Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) to automobile safety glassmaker Fuyao Glass, were being welcomed by developed markets like Europe to establish factories, according to analysts. 'Chinese technology is spreading rapidly in the global auto industry and that [trend] has become more visible,' said Paul Gong, head of China automotive research at UBS. 'The rise of the Chinese auto sector is not only reflected in Chinese-branded cars, but also in its influence on global carmakers amid their transition to EVs and smart mobility.' On May 20, CATL completed the world's largest stock sale this year, raising HK$41 billion (US$5.23 billion), with its Hong Kong shares climbing 16.4 per cent on their trading debut. The company said it would use the proceeds to construct plants overseas. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
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Business Standard
10 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Chinese students looking for new destinations amid Trump's visa crackdowns
In a shift from past trends, many Chinese students are now reconsidering the US as their top destination for higher education. This change follows the Trump administration's visa crackdown, casting uncertainty over their dreams of studying in the US. Anqi Dong, a 30-year-old lawyer from Shanghai, wanted to pursue a PhD programme from the University of Texas in Dallas. But now, he is thinking of pursuing it in countries other than the US. 'Everything is looking just too uncertain right now in America,' she said. 'I'm now considering programmes in Finland and Norway, which I never actually thought about before. These are rich and stable places,' Dong said, as quoted by Bloomberg. This is not just Dong's story. Many students, including those from India, are facing the similar challenges, as US President Donald Trump's tightened scrutiny on issuing international visas has made things uncertain in the US. Why is Trump cracking down on Chinese students? The US officials claimed the recent tightening of scrutiny on Chinese international students is primarily due to national security concerns and rising geopolitical tensions with China. US officials further alleged that some Chinese students — especially those in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields — could be involved in intellectual property theft or espionage on behalf of the Chinese government. US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both emphasised the risk posed by students with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Earlier this week, Rubio announced that student visas would be 'aggressively' revoked for individuals with links to the Chinese Communist Party or those studying in sensitive academic fields. New applicants from China and Hong Kong will also be subjected to intensified scrutiny. The Bloomberg report mentioned the sweeping nature of these actions — especially the broad definition of Communist Party ties — has sent shockwaves through Chinese academic circles. With around 100 million formal party members and far more indirectly connected, the net being cast is wide. Crackdown shakes Chinese academia in the US Zhou Huiying, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy Lideyouwei Education Technology, says the impact is already showing. 'At least 30 per cent of my clients have either cancelled plans to study in the US or are applying to schools in places like Australia, the UK and Singapore as backups,' she said, as quoted by Bloomberg. 'Some families, where the parents are Communist Party members working for the government, are pretty concerned and now abandoning the US as an option,' Huiying added. Confusion among Chinese students The confusion among students is exacerbated by a broader anti-China stance seen in Trump's second term, including a pledge to ban international students from top institutions, like Harvard. Interviews for student visas have also been abruptly halted at US embassies worldwide. Fangzhou Jiang, a student at Harvard Kennedy School and co-founder of college consulting firm Crimson Education, said, 'I'm still cautious because, number one, I tick both boxes at the moment, right? Both Chinese and Harvard,' he said. 'I've got some big targets on my back. So I don't want to be blindly optimistic.' According to news reports, education consultants across China have seen a spike in applications to countries like Canada, Australia, and European nations that offer high-quality programmes with fewer political hurdles. China is second largest international students source to US Even as the US remains home to hundreds of thousands of Chinese students — the second-largest international student population after India — enrollment has started to slip. In the 2023-2024 academic year, Chinese student numbers dropped by 4 per cent, with many citing political and visa-related concerns.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chinese nationals who infiltrated US universities
The Trump administration has intensified its scrutiny of Chinese nationals studying at U.S. universities after several instances in recent years of students from the communist country engaging in alleged surreptitious activity while in the United States. The incidents, which have involved allegations of espionage, conspiracy and accusations of misleading federal officials, occurred as a result of Chinese nationals or others with Chinese ties participating in joint education programs between the United States and China. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security plan to "aggressively revoke" student visas of Chinese nationals, "including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party." A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson blasted the new policy in a statement Thursday on X, saying the move was "fully unjustified" and damaging to the United States' reputation. State Department Says It Will 'Aggressively Revoke' Visas Of Chinese Students "Citing ideology and national security as a pretext, the move seriously hurts the lawful rights and interests of international students from China and disrupts people-to-people exchanges between the two countries," spokesperson Lin Jian said. Read On The Fox News App Nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals have student visas in the United States. It is unclear if the State Department plans to target all of them or only some. Fox News Digital reached out to the department for clarity. Below is a look at some recent incidents involving Chinese nationals at universities. The DOJ brought charges against five University of Michigan students last year after a sergeant major encountered them at Camp Grayling in 2023. The students had cameras with them and were discovered as the U.S. National Guard was conducting a massive training operation at the site with Taiwanese military members, according to a complaint. They were all Chinese nationals attending the University of Michigan as part of the school's joint program with a Shanghai-based university, an FBI official wrote in the complaint, noting some of them had taken photos of Camp Grayling's military installations and operations. The FBI asked the court to issue arrest warrants for the students for making false statements and destroying records. Two Chinese nationals who were graduate students at the University of Michigan pleaded guilty in 2020 after they were caught illegally entering and photographing defense infrastructure at a naval air station in Key West, Florida. Fengyun Shi, a Chinese national studying at the University of Minnesota, was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia last year of unlawfully using a drone to take photos of naval bases in Norfolk, Virginia. Shi was sentenced to six months in prison and a year of supervised release, and the Biden administration revoked his visa in response to the charges. ICE announced in May that it deported him to China. Trump Administration Begins New Wave Of International Student Visa Revocations: 'No One Has A Right To A Visa' While not a Chinese national, Charles Lieber, former chair of Harvard's chemistry department, was convicted in 2021 of making false statements to authorities and failing to report income from his work with China's Wuhan University of Technology and a contract he had with China's Thousand Talents Program. Ji Chaoqun, a Chinese national and one-time student at the Illinois Institute of Technology, was sentenced to eight years in prison after he was convicted by a jury in 2022 of attempting to commit espionage and theft of trade secrets. Ji was found to have gathered information on defense contractors, engineers and others as part of a broader effort by high-level Chinese intelligence officials to obtain inside access to U.S. technology advancements. Rubio's announcement also comes after Harvard filed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration improperly banned all foreign nationals from the Ivy League school by revoking its student visa certification. A judge temporarily blocked the administration from carrying out the ban as the case plays out in the courts. State Department Now Scrutinizing All Visa Holders Associated With Harvard ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told Harvard in a letter made public through court filings that the revocation was a result of the alleged prevalence of antisemitism on campus but also a result of the administration's "serious concerns" that the university has "coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party." Lyons cited several examples, including Harvard accepting $151 million from foreign donors since 2020, working with "China-based academics" on projects funded by an "Iranian government agent," partnering with Chinese universities and using public funds to do so and collaborating with people "linked to China's defense-industrial base." "This coordination is a valid and substantive reason for withdrawing Harvard University's [Student Exchange Visitor Program] certification to enroll foreign students," Lyons wrote. Harvard attorneys argued during a court hearing Thursday that the Trump administration did not give the university a chance to rebut the claims about antisemitism and CCP ties before the foreign student ban was enacted. The administration agreed to give Harvard one month to respond to those claims while the ban remains on article source: Chinese nationals who infiltrated US universities
Mint
15 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Chinese Students Ditch US Plans as Trump Vows Crackdown on Visas
The Trump administration's move to revoke visas for Chinese students is upending Anqi Dong's dream of a US education even before it starts. The 30-year-old Shanghai lawyer, who applied to a PhD program at the University of Texas at Dallas in January, is abandoning her plans, saying bad news for foreign students seems to be piling up by the day. 'Everything is looking just too uncertain right now in America,' she said. 'I'm now considering programs in Finland and Norway, which I never actually thought about before. These are rich and stable places.' Chinese students have found themselves at the sharp end of the Trump administration's push for greater scrutiny of foreigners at American universities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday their visas would be 'aggressively' revoked, including for students with connections to the Communist Party or studying in critical fields. Future applications from China and Hong Kong will also face heightened scrutiny, he said. Taking action against people with links to the Communist Party casts a wide net, given the role it plays in the lives of Chinese people and institutions, including universities. While just under 100 million people are party members, its reach is so pervasive that the number of those who can be said to have ties with it runs into multiples of that figure. The moves are forcing Chinese students to seek alternatives, even as some education consultants urge patience in case the US policy shifts. Zhou Huiying, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy Lideyouwei Education Technology, said at least 30% of her clients have either canceled plans to study in the US or are applying to schools in places like Australia, the UK and Singapore as back ups. She believes that ratio may increase to about 50% if the Trump administration announces new restrictions on Chinese students. Typically, families that target America for higher education would only focus on US colleges and rarely look at universities in other nations, Zhou said, but now many are having second thoughts. 'The policies have been very capricious and really got on clients' nerves,' Zhou said. 'Some families, where the parents are Communist Party members working for the government, are pretty concerned and now abandoning the US as an option.' The visa restrictions extend a broader crackdown underway since President Trump returned to the White House. He's pledged to ban international students at Harvard University, escalating his campaign to force changes at the elite institution. Earlier this week, Rubio ordered US embassies worldwide to stop scheduling interviews for foreign student visas. For now, the situation is chaotic for students. While some education advisers suggest looking to other countries, others say ride out the bluster, others still have differing views on just how broad the crackdown will be. But just about all agree that there's a greater threat than before as tensions mount between the two nations in Trump's second term. Fangzhou Jiang, a Chinese student at Harvard Kennedy School and co-founder of college consulting company Crimson Education, said he is trying his best to remain optimistic. He said that after receiving the Harvard news last week, he has been mentally preparing for the worst. With one more semester left in his program, he has decided to keep his lease and not make any rash decisions. At Harvard, Jiang has been a model student — serving as a the Vice President of the Kennedy School Student Government. Still, he knows he has to be cautious. 'I'm still cautious because number one, I tick both boxes at the moment, right? Both Chinese and Harvard,' he said. 'I've got some big targets on my back. So I don't want to be blindly optimistic.' Trump has been throwing up successive roadblocks for Chinese students since he was elected the first time. His administration announced in 2020 that the Confucius Institute US Center, a program funded by the Chinese government that's dedicated to teaching Chinese language and culture in the US, had to register as a 'foreign mission.' That made it subject to administrative requirements similar to those for embassies and consulates. Later that year, the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese students and researchers were revoked. Some students are sticking with their US study plans, betting that Trump will eventually change course, said Dennis Huang, co-founder of Dream Education, which provides high-end overseas education services. 'Most of my clients are growing increasingly insusceptible toward the ever-changing policies and people are mentally prepared for the potential hiccups,' Huang said. 'It's not Trump's first presidential tenure and people have grown used to his fickle style.' Brian Wang, founder and chief executive officer of Blueprint, a global admissions consulting firm in Shanghai, thinks the restrictions will be limited to a subset of students who are targeted based on 'perceived political leanings,' or due to their links to sensitive academic subjects. Students already in the US should be 'vigilant about their behavior, including posts on social media,' he said. The number of Chinese students in the US declined 4% last year to about 277,000 amid increased tension between the two nations. Yet Chinese students are still the second-largest international group, trailing only India. In the 2023-2024 year, India and China accounted for about half of the 1.1 million global students in the country, according to the Institute of International Education. Dong, the Shanghai lawyer, doesn't expect to be joining those ranks anytime soon. The visa woes 'impact not only school life, but also plans for after graduation,' she said. 'It is highly likely that new rules would also negatively affect potential jobs.' With assistance from Allen Wan, Diana Li and Gabrielle Ng. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Malaysian Reserve
a day ago
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
"Made-in-Shanghai" Takes China-chic Brands and Shanghai's Fashion Ecosystem to Osaka
OSAKA, Japan, May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — More than a fascinating array of creative exhibits, pop-up stores and twin-city forums, 'Made-in-Shanghai' is an international showcase of Shanghai's fashion ecosystem. On May 21st to 25th, the sixth edition of 'Made-in-Shanghai' was held in Grand Green Osaka, its first overseas leg, themed under 'Lifestyle Trends of Shanghai & Osaka'. More than 1000 exhibits from 90 Shanghai-based brands, covering fashion and accessories, cosmetics, snacks, sportswear, tech-savvy products, handicrafts and more, welcomes consumers and businesses in Osaka with a panorama of Shanghai's fashion industry. The high-profile opening ceremony was addressed by Mr. FANG Wei, China's deputy consul general in Osaka. Hundreds of officials, brand representatives, designers, journalists and KOLs attended the opening ceremony, and tens of thousands of Japanese consumers visited it in the five days. While the most popular area for consumers was 'Shanghai Lab', a presentation of Shanghai's fashion and beauty industry blocks was attractive to businesses. Yuyuan Road brought 23 brands from its creative community to Osaka with the narrative of 'City-Block Renewal'. It garnered interest from Japanese fashion brands and professionals, who expressed interests in visiting this community. Oriental Beauty Valley presented its 9-brand matrix, demonstrating its beauty industry chain, public services and innovation power. The organizers — Oriental Beauty Valley and Shanghai Comprehensive Industrial Development Zone visited the Japan Office of Shanghai Foreign Investment Promotion Center and famous Japanese enterprises such as Exedy, to deepen cooperation. At Hankyu Department Store, Chinese designers presented 'WINDow of EAST' pop-up stores, attracting officials from Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau and luxury buyer store owners, along with celebrities, designers, KOLs and consumers. Adding to the brick-and-mortar stores is the e-commerce solution from Confis. This Japanese company provides local packing, product design, warehousing and channel marketing solutions to the brands participating in this event. Indeed, 'Made-in-Shanghai' champions a two-way service for companies looking to expand overseas and investing in Shanghai, be it creative consultation, assistance in overseas promotion, or cross-border marketing. Curated by Shanghai Design Week, one of the organizers of the event, more than 20 brand managers came to Osaka to explore business opportunities and gain consumer feedback. 'Made-in-Shanghai' is continuing to send shockwaves across the globe, reaching 400 million people. The coverage from The Paper, another organizer of the event, received 3.76 million clicks. 795 media outlets, including AP News, NBC News, Asahi Shimbun and more have covered the event.
