The CHN/ China thread

[Jimbuna]

China tightens trade rules as Canadian tariffs spark price volatility

BEIJING, March 11 (Reuters) - Zhengzhou Exchange on Tuesday raised the trading margin requirements for some rapeseed meal futures contracts to 9% from 7% after Beijing's 100% tariff on Canadian imports triggered a two-day rally that pushed prices to a five-month high.
The most active rapeseed meal futures contract surged 7.23% to close at 2,684 yuan per metric ton, building on a 6% gain in the previous session, to its highest since September 2024.

The new trading margin requirements will be effective from settlement on March 12.
China on Saturday shocked markets with a 100% tariff to just over $1 billion of Canadian rapeseed oil, oil cakes and pea imports, and a 25% duty on $1.6 billion worth of Canadian aquatic products and pork.
The tariff announcement has sparked heightened market volatility, prompting the exchange to implement stricter margin rules to manage risk.
Earlier on Monday, the exchange increased the minimum order size for rapeseed meal futures contracts to curb small investor participation and stabilise prices.

According to Chinese customs data, China imported 2.02 million tons of rapeseed meal from Canada in 2024, accounting for 73% of its total imports. Other major suppliers include the UAE, Russia and Ukraine.
"After tariffs, importers may face losses and contract defaults. Spot supply is sufficient now, but reduced imports could tighten future supply. For rapeseed meal, demand may need to be curbed while monitoring shifts in the global trade chain," a China-based trader said.
"In the short term, this is expected to have minimal impact on the domestic supply of edible vegetable oils. However, the long-term effects of the trade policy implementation will require further attention," the Agriculture Ministry said in a monthly report.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/...ty-2025-03-11/

[Jimbuna]

China, Russia back Iran as Trump presses Tehran for nuclear talks

BEIJING, March 14 (Reuters) - China and Russia stood by Iran on Friday after the United States demanded nuclear talks with Tehran, with senior Chinese and Russian diplomats saying dialogue should only resume based on "mutual respect" and all sanctions ought to be lifted.
In a joint statement issued after talks with Iran in Beijing, China and Russia also said they welcomed Iran's reiteration that its nuclear programme was exclusively for peaceful purposes, and that Tehran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy should be "fully" respected.

In 2015, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions in a deal with the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. But in 2018, Donald Trump, a year into his first term as U.S. president, pulled out of the pact.
"(China, Russia and Iran) emphasised that the relevant parties should be committed to addressing the root cause of the current situation and abandoning sanction, pressure or threat of force," China's Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told reporters after the meeting.

China, Russia and Iran also emphasised the necessity of terminating all "unlawful" unilateral sanctions, Ma said.
Ma's meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi came days after Tehran spurned U.S. "orders" to resume dialogue over the nuclear programme.
Last week, Trump said he had sent a letter to Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing nuclear talks, adding that "there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal".
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that he would not negotiate with the U.S. while being "threatened", and Iran would not bow to U.S. "orders" to talk.

Iran was further enraged after six of the United Nations Security Council's 15 members - the U.S., France, Greece, Panama, South Korea and Britain - held a closed-door meeting this week to discuss its nuclear programme. Tehran said the meeting was a "misuse" of the U.N. Security Council.
That meeting was also criticised by China, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying on Friday that the "hasty" intervention by the Council was not helpful in building trust.
Despite Tehran's defiant rhetoric, engaging with the U.S. to hammer out a nuclear deal may be the more pragmatic option, with crippling sanctions weighing on the Iranian economy and stoking public unrest, according to Iranian officials.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...es-2025-03-14/

[Jimbuna]

When all else fails, send in the clown

Britain's energy minister visits China to discuss climate and energy cooperation
Britain's energy minister is visiting Beijing on Friday to discuss climate and energy issues, hoping that re-engaging with China - both the world's largest carbon emitter and supplier of renewable energy infrastructure - will bring economic benefits.
Ed Miliband will meet Chinese energy and environment ministers during his March 14-17 visit and launch a framework for climate talks that would see his counterparts from Beijing visit London later this year, the government said in a statement.

Miliband will seek to update a decade-old clean energy partnership with China, outlining areas where Britain wants to collaborate, including carbon capture and storage technology and hydrogen power generation.
Britain is hoping its target to shift almost entirely to clean energy sources by the end of the decade will benefit from closer ties with China, which is the largest global supplier of, and investor in, renewable energy infrastructure.
At the same time, Miliband wants his ambitious decarbonisation target to rub off on Chinese policy, with the government promising to share its expertise on phasing out the use of coal, which China still heavily relies upon.

"We can only keep future generations safe from climate change if all major emitters act," Miliband said.
"It is simply an act of negligence to today’s and future generations not to engage China on how it can play its part in taking action on climate."
The visit is the latest by a senior British minister - following in the footsteps of foreign and finance ministers in recent months - as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to reset relations with Beijing after a fractious decline under the previous British government.
The Starmer government's approach to China is based around the mantra often repeated by ministers: "cooperating where we can, competing where we need to, and challenging where we must."
https://www.reuters.com/sustainabili...on-2025-03-14/

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

China hopes Europe will make 'rational choice' as transatlantic alliance shifts

BEIJING (Reuters) - The European Union should safeguard its interests and make the "rational choice" of turning further towards China given the uncertainty generated by the new administration in the United States, China's state-run Global Times said in an editorial.

The EU's trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, is due to land in China this week after visiting the United States on Tuesday to soothe ties strained this month when both sides threatened retaliatory counter tariffs on goods worth billions of dollars.

On Wednesday, a day after Sefcovic's visit, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose new tariffs on imported vehicles in a move that would batter European automakers, particularly German car producers, which count on the United States for almost 25% of their auto exports.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the U.S. decision was "bad for businesses, worse for consumers," and that the EU would continue to seek negotiated solutions while safeguarding its economic interests.

"As the uncertainty of U.S. policy increases, China, as a major global power, is becoming increasingly prominent for its stability and reliability," the Global Times, a nationalist tabloid, wrote in the editorial published late on Wednesday.

Sefcovic is expected to raise concerns on the EU-China trade imbalance, as well as longstanding challenges faced by European companies operating in China, including a lack of reciprocal access to procurement opportunities, market access barriers and issues related to cross-border data transfer, according to European Union Chamber of Commerce in China President Jens Eskelund.

But Sefcovic is also likely to stress "the growing importance of strengthening EU-China relations, particularly in the context of the EU Single Market being a major export destination for Chinese goods," Eskelund said.

Sefcovic is one of several senior European officials to visit China this week, including the foreign ministers of France and Portugal.

Meeting Portugal's top diplomat on Tuesday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing supported Europe in "maintaining its strategic autonomy" and would work with Portugal to improve China-Europe ties.

China has also been hit with sweeping U.S. sanctions and has announced its own countermeasures.

"Facing a rapidly changing international landscape, Europe should adopt a pragmatic approach and develop its relations with China in a more balanced way, making a rational choice to turn further towards China," the Global Times said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...2e551fd5&ei=40

[Otto Harkaman]

[Jimbuna]

Satellite images show fresh Chinese bomber deployment in South China Sea

China deployed two long-range H-6 bombers around the Scarborough Shoal this week, in Beijing's latest move to assert sovereignty over the hotly disputed atoll in the South China Sea, satellite images obtained by Reuters showed.
The deployment, which was not publicised by China, came ahead of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit to the Philippines, which also claims the shoal that lies within its exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles.

China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters on the scale of the deployment or whether it was timed to coincide with Hegseth's trip.
Officials from the Philippines National Security Council and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
During a visit to Manila on Friday, Hegseth reaffirmed the United States' "ironclad commitment" to its mutual defence treaty with the Philippines, saying China's actions made deterrence necessary in the South China Sea.

Monday's images taken by Maxar Technologies show two aircraft east of Scarborough Shoal, which China calls "Huangyan Dao".
In recent years, Chinese coast guard vessels have clashed frequently with Philippine fishermen near the mouth of atoll, which China has at times attempted to block since it seized de facto control of the shoal in 2012.
Last month, the Philippines coast guard accused the Chinese navy of performing dangerous flight manoeuvres nearby.
An international arbitration tribunal in the Hague ruled in 2016 that China's claims had no legal basis, but Beijing rejected that decision.
In an email to Reuters, Maxar said the aircraft in the images were H-6 bombers, adding that "rainbow colours" close to them resulted when satellite images of fast-moving objects were processed.

The timing of the flights was unlikely to be accidental, however, regional security analysts said.
Beijing was sending "a signal that China has a sophisticated military," said Peter Layton of Australia's Griffith Asia Institute.
"The bombers' second message could be you (the United States) have the potential for long range strike; so do we, and in larger numbers. Clearly not serendipity," he added.
Regional military attaches say China has gradually stepped up deployments of H-6 bombers into the South China Sea as its military presence has grown, starting with landings on improved runways in the disputed Paracel islands in 2018.
The jet-powered H-6 is based on a Soviet-era design but has been modernised to carry an array of anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles, and some are capable of launching nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

Similar to the U.S. B-52, the basic H-6 design dates back to the 1950s but with improved engines, modern strike weapons and on-board flight systems, it is China's key long-range bomber.
The Pentagon's annual report on China's military in December said a more stealthy aircraft was probably in development.
The bombers were deployed in war game drills in October around Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, and in late December at Scarborough, as part of broader air and sea operations by the Chinese military's Southern Theatre Command.
The command, which covers the South China Sea, operates two regiments of the bombers, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies says.
The December drills were publicised, with the defence ministry saying at the time they were meant to "resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty and security, and maintain peace in the South China Sea".
The ministry posted images of aircraft above the shoal but satellite images capturing patrols in operation are rare.
The altitude at which the H-6s were flying near the shoal is not known.
Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claim, saying only the island's people can decide their future.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...ea-2025-03-28/

[Jimbuna]

[Otto Harkaman]

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

China files complaint with WTO over new US tariffs

GENEVA, April 4 (Reuters) - China said it had opened a formal complaint against the new U.S. tariffs with the World Trade Organization on Friday, saying the measures violate WTO rules and requesting consultations.
Earlier, China announced retaliatory additional tariffs of 34% on U.S. goods, the most serious escalation in a trade war with President Donald Trump that has fed fears of a recession and touched off a global stock market rout.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/...fs-2025-04-04/

[mapuc]

Markus

[Jimbuna]

Taiwan’s military simulates worst-case scenario: PLA drill turns into attack

Taiwan’s military has kicked off an unprecedented 14-day tabletop exercise simulating its worst-case scenario: the People’s Liberation Army turning a drill into a full-scale assault on the island.
The computer-assisted war game started on the weekend and will run until April 18. It comes amid fears that one of Beijing’s increasingly frequent and large-scale military operations around Taiwan could escalate into a real attack that would be too sudden for the island’s forces to counter.
US military personnel are expected to arrive in Taiwan this week to observe the exercise, according to Taiwanese media reports. The drill is part of Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang series of military exercises that put the island’s defence capabilities to the test.

This year’s tabletop exercise is the longest ever – it will be six days longer than in 2024. It began with the main command setting up a joint operations centre to simulate a swift transition from peacetime to wartime.

“The scenarios are based on possible PLA actions, including a transition from drills to an actual assault on Taiwan,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

It will also test Taiwan’s ability to respond to so-called grey-zone threats – coercive tactics that stop short of open conflict, including cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and harassment by militia fishing fleets and drones.

“The drill is conducted using the Joint Theatre Level Simulation (JTLS) platform,” the ministry said. “The simulation runs 24/7 to test the military’s capacity to coordinate and respond under pressure.”

American military observers are expected to attend the exercise, Taipei-based United Daily News reported, citing unnamed sources. It did not say who would attend.

In February, Taiwanese media reports said Major General Jay Bargeron, director of strategic planning and policy at the US Indo-Pacific Command, had taken part in an earlier phase of the Han Kuang tabletop drills – drawing criticism from Beijing.
Beijing views Taiwan as part of China to be reunited, by force if necessary. Since William Lai Ching-te of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party took office as the island’s leader in May, tensions across the Taiwan Strait have worsened, with Beijing – which sees Lai as a “separatist” – stepping up military and political pressure on the island.
While most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, Washington opposes unilateral changes to the cross-strait status quo by force and is committed to supplying arms for the island’s defence.

Major General Tung Chi-hsing, who heads the defence ministry’s joint operations planning division, said Taiwan’s armed forces had in recent years integrated new asymmetric warfare assets into their plans. These include drones, US-made M1A2T tanks, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), TOW 2B anti-tank missiles, and shore-based Harpoon missile batteries.

“The capabilities of these systems have been factored into the simulation parameters for validation,” Tung told reporters last week. “Their operational value will be further tested during the live-fire phase of the Han Kuang exercise in July.”

The live-fire phase of Han Kuang – which has also been extended – is scheduled for July 9 to 18 and will simulate round-the-clock joint operations across Taiwan’s main and offshore territories, airspace and maritime zones. Scenarios will be designed from a real-combat perspective by commanders at all levels and integrated with “urban resilience” civil defence drills, according to the ministry.

Focus areas of this year’s live-fire drills include: grey-zone warfare response, rapid readiness and reaction, military action authorisation mechanisms, operational security and risk assessments, civil-military coordination and integration, logistics and the combat effectiveness of newly introduced systems.

Analysts have long warned of Beijing’s “salami slicing” strategy, referring to incremental encroachment by the PLA that deliberately blurs the line between military exercise and aggression. The PLA has been gradually expanding its operational footprint around Taiwan with its regular drills, eroding long-standing conventions including by crossing the median line – the unofficial boundary that splits the 180km (110-mile) waterway that separates the self-ruled island from mainland China.

Some experts have said that a sudden strike from across the strait would leave Taiwan with little time to react, given that it would take just minutes for PLA jets to reach Taipei once they crossed the median line.

That is why the island’s military has expanded the Han Kuang exercises, according to Chou Yu-ping, a former planning director of Taiwan’s missile command.

“All branches of the military need to coordinate and rehearse extensively, making it necessary to expand the scope and number of scenarios in this year’s exercises,” Chou said.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/poli...pgtype=section

[Jimbuna]

China announces 84% tariffs on all US goods in response to Trump’s 104%

https://www.theguardian.com/business...ountries-china

[Jimbuna]

EU votes for retaliatory tariffs on US goods while China imposes fresh 84% levy

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...-b2729924.html