A Chinese prison helped fuel the deadly fentanyl crisis in the US – Asia Times

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This article was originally published by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.

Reporting Highlights

  • Pipeline: A Chinese prison is part of the pipeline that delivers fentanyl to the US, ProPublica found in a review of US and Chinese documents and interviews with investigators.
  • Fallout: Opioid overdoses have killed more Americans than the number of US deaths in several wars combined.
  • Permissive: Veteran federal agents told ProPublica that China has failed to cooperate and even interfered with drug investigations; China insists it has cracked down.

China’s vast security apparatus shrouds itself in shadows, but the outside world has caught periodic glimpses of it behind the faded gray walls of Shijiazhuang prison in the northern province of Hebei.

Chinese media reports have shown inmates hunched over sewing machines in a garment workshop in the sprawling facility. Business leaders and Chinese Communist Party dignitaries have praised the penitentiary for exemplifying President Xi Jinping’s views on the rule of law.

But the prison has an alarming secret, US congressional investigators disclosed last year. They revealed evidence showing that it is a Chinese government outpost in the trafficking pipeline that inundates the United States with fentanyl.

For at least eight years, the prison owned a chemical company called Yafeng, the hub of a group of Chinese firms and websites that sold fentanyl products to Americans, according to the US congressional investigation, as well as Chinese government and corporate records obtained by ProPublica.

The company’s English-language websites brazenly offered US customers dangerous drugs that are illegal in both nations. Promising to smuggle illicit chemicals past US and Mexican border defenses, Yafeng boasted to American clients that “100% of our shipments will clear customs.”

Although China tightly restricts the domestic manufacturing, sale and use of fentanyl products, the nation has been the world’s leading producer of fentanyl that enters the United States and remains the leading producer of chemical precursors with which Mexican cartels make the drug.

Overdoses on synthetic opioid drugs, most of them fentanyl related, have killed over 450,000 Americans during the past decade — more than the US deaths in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.

The involvement of a state-run prison is just one sign of the Chinese government’s role in fomenting the US fentanyl crisis, US investigators say. Chinese leaders have insistently denied such allegations. But US national security officials said the Yafeng case shows how China allows its chemical industry to engage openly in sales to overseas customers while blocking online domestic access and enforcing stern laws against drug dealing inside the country.

Beijing also encourages the manufacture and export of fentanyl products, including drugs outlawed in China, with generous financial incentives, according to a bipartisan inquiry last year by the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

“So the Chinese government pays you to send drugs to America but executes you for selling them in China,” Matt Cronin, a former federal prosecutor who led the House inquiry, said in an interview. “It’s impossible that the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t know what’s going on and can’t do anything about it.”

China’s antidrug cooperation has been persistently poor, US officials said. In 2019, Xi imposed controls that cut the export of fentanyl, but Chinese sellers shifted to shipping precursors to Mexico, where the cartels expanded their production.

“We couldn’t get the Chinese on the phone to talk about fighting child pornography, let alone fentanyl,” said Jacob Braun, who served as a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration. “There was zero cooperation.”

China also remains the base of global organized crime groups that launder billions for fentanyl traffickers in the US, Mexico and Canada. ProPublica has previously reported that this underground banking system depends on Chinese elite who move fortunes abroad by acquiring drug cash from Chinese criminal brokers for Mexican cartels. Chinese banks and businesses also help hide the origin of illicit proceeds.

The regime in Beijing therefore has considerable control over key nodes in the fentanyl chain: raw materials, production, sales and money laundering.

US leaders, Democrats and Republicans alike, have accused China of using fentanyl to weaken the United States. Some veteran agents agree.

Ray Donovan, who retired in 2023 as the Drug Enforcement Administration’s chief of operations, said he believes that a “deliberate strategy” by the Chinese state has caused the trafficking onslaught “to grow in size and scope.”

“They have said for years that they are cracking down,” Donovan said in an interview. “But we haven’t seen meaningful action.”

Still, current and former US officials told ProPublica that the national security community has not found conclusive evidence of a planned, high-level campaign against Americans by the Chinese government. That is partly because for years the US treated fentanyl as a law enforcement matter rather than a national security threat, making it hard to gather intelligence about the extent and nature of the regime’s role.

“If this was Chinese intelligence doing something, we have a focus on that as counterintelligence,” said Alan Kohler, who retired from the FBI in 2023 after serving as director of the counterintelligence division. “If it was drug cartels, we have a criminal focus on that. But this area of crime and state converging falls between the seams in and among agencies.”

Nonetheless, the current and former officials said rampant fentanyl trafficking could not continue without at least the passive complicity of the world’s most powerful police state.

“I haven’t seen smoking-gun evidence that it’s a policy or strategy of the government at a high level,” Kohler said. “You could argue that their decision not to do anything about it, even after the results are clear, is tacit support.”

In a written statement, the spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington described as “totally groundless” any allegation that the regime has fomented the crisis.

“The fentanyl issue is the US’s own problem,” said the spokesperson, Liu Pengyu. “China has given support to the US’s response to the fentanyl issue in the spirit of humanity.” At the United States’ request, he said, China in 2019 restricted “fentanyl-related substances as a class,” becoming the first country to do so, and has cooperated with the US on counternarcotics.

“The remarkable progress is there for all to see.”

The Trump administration has made the fight against fentanyl a priority and in February imposed a 25% tariff on Chinese imports to pressure Beijing for results. The approach could put a dent in the drug trade, but it’s too early to tell, officials said.

“The Chinese system responds to a negative incentive,” said former FBI agent Holden Triplett, who served as legal attache in Beijing and director of counterintelligence on the National Security Council. “China may be willing to endure more pain than we can give. But it is our only chance.”

To respond effectively, the US needs a clearer picture of the Chinese fentanyl underworld, Triplett and others say. The activities of the Shijiazhuang prison are a compelling case study, but not the only one.

To examine the role of the Chinese state in the drug trade, ProPublica interviewed more than three dozen current and former national security officials for the US and other countries, some of whom provided exclusive inside accounts. The reporting also drew on last year’s House investigation, digging into significant findings that have received little public attention, plus court files, government documents, academic studies, private inquiries and public records in the US, China and Mexico.

Prison business

In 2010, the Hebei Prison Administration Bureau combined three detention facilities to create a high-security prison in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province. The region is a base of China’s chemical industry, which is the largest in the world. It is also weakly regulated and freewheeling, according to US national security officials, private studies and other sources. Companies peddle everything from innocuous fertilizers to deadly opioids.

Liu Jianhua, a veteran Chinese Communist Party official with a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Illinois Chicago, became director of the prison in 2014. By then, fentanyl was cutting a swath across America. Overdose deaths soared due to the ease with which US users and dealers could acquire fentanyl products by mail from China.

China’s high-tech surveillance apparatus aggressively polices the online activities of its citizens. Yet sales of fentanyl to foreigners have thrived on popular, easily accessible websites, said Frank Montoya Jr., a former FBI agent with years of China-related experience who served as a top U.S. counterintelligence official.

“You don’t have to go on the dark web,” Montoya said. “It is out in the open.”

Yafeng Biological Technology Co. Ltd., also known as Hebei Shijiazhuang Yafeng Chemical Plant, became a typical player on this frontier, the congressional inquiry found. (As part of its reporting, ProPublica mapped links between the prison, the company and the US drug market with the help of two entities that specialize in China open-source research: Sayari, a company that provides risk management and supply-chain analysis and that supported the House inquiry, and C4ADS, a nonprofit that investigates illicit global networks.)

Yafeng’s websites and Chinese corporate records describe the firm as a chemical manufacturer. It has ties through other websites, phone numbers and email addresses to at least nine companies that advertised illicit drugs, causing investigators to conclude that Yafeng was a network hub, according to the report and interviews. It’s common for interconnected Chinese fentanyl producers and brokers to obscure details about their enterprises and change names and platforms to elude detection, US officials said.

In some ways, Yafeng presented itself to foreign buyers as a respectable company. The English-language websites featured peppy phrases like “team spirit” and “promoting the well-being of community.” The China-based sales representatives gave themselves Western names: Diana, Monica, Jessica. A map of markets showed shipping routes from China to the United States, Mexico, Canada and other countries.

Yet the sales pitches left little doubt that the firm knew its activities were illegal. Yafeng websites utilized familiar terms assuring US and Mexican drug users and traffickers of the company’s skill at smuggling illegal narcotics overseas, according to the House report and US investigators.

The company touted its use of “hidden food bags,” a method in which drugs are concealed in shipments labeled as food products. Ads promised “strong safety delivery to Mexico, USA” with “packaging made to measure” to “guarantee” that illicit chemicals would elude border inspections, documents show.

Chinese traffickers often discuss lawbreaking in such brazen terms with foreign customers, seemingly unconcerned about China’s omnipresent surveillance system, court files and interviews show.

Another firm, Hubei Amarvel Biotech, explicitly explained to US and Mexican clients online — complete with photos — its methods for “100% stealth shipping” of drugs disguised as nuts, dog food and motor oil, court documents say. After undercover DEA agents lured two Amarvel executives to Fiji and arrested them, a New York jury convicted them in February on charges of importation of fentanyl precursors and money laundering. (One defendant, Yiyi Chen, has filed a motion requesting an acquittal or retrial.)

At the time of the arrests, the Chinese government issued a statement condemning the US prosecution as “a typical example of arbitrary detention and unilateral sanctions.”

Similarly, Yafeng websites displayed photos of narcotics in plastic baggies to peddle a long list of chemicals, including fentanyl precursors and U-47700, a powerful fentanyl analogue outlawed in both the US and China that has no medical use, the House report says.

One victim of U-47700 was Garrett Holman of Lynchburg, Virginia. Holman had fallen in with youths who discovered how easy it was to buy synthetic drugs online. In late 2016, Holman overdosed on U-47700, street name “pinky,” that arrived by mail from southern China. His father, Don, performed CPR before paramedics rushed Holman to the hospital. Although he survived, another overdose killed him just days before his 21st birthday in February 2017.

“My son’s opioid exposure was less than two months,” Don Holman told a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee the next year. “At 20 years old, I do not believe my son deserved to die for his initial bad choices.”

The father handed over evidence, including the envelope in which the drugs arrived, to federal agents, who traced about 20 shipments back to the same sender in China, he said in an interview. Don Holman blames the fentanyl crisis on the American appetite for opioids as well as the Chinese government. He has spent eight years telling anyone he can, from drug czars to fellow parents, about the experience that shattered his family.

“I’ve had to hit parents right between the eyes, like: ‘Hey, your child is not going to be here if you don’t do something,” he said. “You need to wake up.’”

No link to Yafeng surfaced in that case. The firm’s sales of U-47700 and other illicit drugs occurred during a period when its sole owner and controlling shareholder was the Shijiazhuang prison, according to the House inquiry, Sayari and C4ADS.

One of Yafeng’s street addresses was that of the prison, ProPublica determined through satellite photos and public records. Another Yafeng address next door also houses the offices of a clothing firm owned by the provincial prison administration. A third Yafeng address a few blocks away is a former municipal police station, records and photos show.

The director of the prison, Liu Jianhua, left his post after becoming the target of a corruption inquiry in 2021, according to Chinese media reports. It’s unknown how that investigation was resolved or if his fall had anything to do with the drug activity. Liu could not be reached for comment. The prison administration did not respond to requests for comment.

Yafeng stopped doing business under that name at some point between 2018 and 2022, records show. Yet the Yafeng group continued to function through at least one of its affiliated websites, protonitazene.com, the congressional report said. As of last year, the site was still advertising “hot sale to Mexico” of drugs including nitazenes, which are 25 times more powerful than fentanyl.

Government incentives

Yafeng is not the only company with connections to the Chinese state and fentanyl.

Gaosheng Biotechnology in Shanghai is “wholly state-owned,” congressional investigators found. The company sold fentanyl precursors and other narcotics — some illegal in China — on 98 websites to US, Mexican and European customers, the report says. Senior provincial development officials visited Gaosheng and praised its benefits for the regional economy. Gaosheng did not respond to requests for comment.

The Chinese government owned a stake in Zhejiang Netsun, a private firm that had a Chinese Communist Party member serving on its board of directors as a deputy general manager, the congressional report says. Netsun carried out over 400 sales of illegal narcotics, the report says, and served as a billing or technical contact for over 100 similar companies — including Yafeng. Netsun did not respond to requests for comment.

And the Shanghai government gave monetary awards and export credits to Shanghai Ruizheng Chemical Technology Co., a “notorious seller of fentanyl products, which it advertises widely and openly on Chinese websites like Alibaba,” the report says. Chinese officials invited company reps to roundtable discussions about technology and business. Shanghai Ruizheng did not respond to requests for comment.

Chinese government officials who interact with the trafficking underworld are often prominent in provincial governments, where corruption is widespread, said a former senior DEA official, Donald Im, who led investigations focused on China. Not only can they make money through kickbacks or investments, but they benefit politically, rising in the Communist Party hierarchy if their local chemical industries prosper.

“Key government officials know about the fentanyl trade and they let it happen,” Im said.

China’s central government also plays a vital role by providing systemic financial incentives that fuel fentanyl trafficking to the Americas, US officials say. The House inquiry discovered a national Value-Added Tax rebate program that has spurred exports of at least 17 illegal narcotics with no legitimate purpose. They include a fentanyl product that is “up to 6,000 times stronger than morphine,” the House report says.

This state subsidy program has pumped billions of dollars into the export of fentanyl products, including ones outlawed in China, according to the report and US officials. The tax rebate is 13%, the highest available rate. To qualify, companies have to document the names and quantities of chemicals and other details of transactions, the report says.

The existence of this paper trail refutes a frequent claim by Chinese leaders: that weak regulation of the chemical sector makes it impossible to identify and punish suspects.

Chinese officials did not respond to specific questions about the government financial incentives or the state-connected companies involved in drug trafficking. But the embassy spokesperson said China has targeted online sellers with a “national internet cleanup campaign.”

During that crackdown, Liu Pengyu said, Chinese authorities have cleaned “14 online platforms, canceled over 330 company accounts, shut down over 1,000 online shops, removed over 152,000 online advertisements, and closed 10 botnet websites.” He said Chinese law enforcement has determined that many illegal ads appear on foreign online platforms.

Wall of resistance

In May 2018, Cronin — then a federal prosecutor based in Cleveland — went to Beijing in pursuit of one of the biggest targets in the grim history of the fentanyl crisis: the Zheng drug trafficking organization, an international empire accused of trafficking in 37 US states.

Cronin and his team of agents hoped to persuade Chinese authorities to prosecute Guanghua and Fujing Zheng, a father and son who were the top suspects. They ran into a wall of resistance.

In an interview, Cronin recalled walking into a cavernous room in China’s Ministry of Public Security where a row of senior officials and uniformed police waited at a long table. A curtain-sized Chinese flag covered a wall.

Cronin took a breath, opened a stack of binders he had lugged from Cleveland and presented his case. The prosecutor laid out evidence connecting the Zhengs, who were chemical company executives based in Shanghai, to two overdoses in Ohio. The US distribution hub was a warehouse near Boston run by a Chinese chemist, Bin Wang. Later, Wang said he simultaneously worked for the Chinese government “tracking chemicals produced in China” and traveled home monthly from Boston “to consult with Chinese officials,” a memo by his lawyer said.

The response of the Chinese counterdrug chiefs was a brush-off, Cronin recalled in the interview. Essentially, he said, they told him: “You are right that the Zhengs are exporting these drugs that are killing Americans. But unfortunately, technically what they are doing is not a violation of Chinese law.”

Cronin pulled out another binder. He went over evidence and an expert analysis showing that the Zhengs had committed Chinese felonies, including money laundering, manufacturing of counterfeit drugs and mislabeling of packages.

Tensions rose when the Chinese officials responded that, unfortunately, the police unit that handled such offenses was not available; they rebuffed Cronin’s offer to delay his return flight in order to meet with that unit, he said.

After the US Justice Department charged the Zhengs that August with a drug trafficking conspiracy resulting in death, a Chinese newspaper reported that a Chinese senior counterdrug official criticized the case. The US “failed to provide China any evidence to prove Zheng violated Chinese law,” the official said.

Later, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the Zhengs and designated the son as a drug kingpin. US investigators told ProPublica they concluded that the Zhengs operated with the blessing of the Chinese government, citing the defendants’ sheer volume of business, high-profile online activity and open communications on WeChat, the Chinese messaging platform that authorities heavily monitor.

Ohio courts granted millions of dollars in civil damages to the family of Thomas Rauh, a 37-year-old who died of an overdose in Akron in 2015. The family never received any money, however.

Rauh’s father, James, who traveled and did business in China in his youth, has become an antidrug activist. He said the US government must do more to crack down on China’s role and counter public stigma that still blames addicts.

“I don’t think the US government wants to take the responsibility for confronting this,” he said.

A decade of frustration has compelled James Rauh to call for a drastic solution. He wants the US to designate fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction in response to what he sees as an intentional Chinese campaign.

“It’s asymmetric warfare,” he said.

Wang pleaded guilty and served prison time. The Zhengs, however, remain free in China and have never responded to the allegations in court. During a brief encounter with a “60 Minutes” journalist in Shanghai in 2019, Guanghua Zheng denied he was still selling fentanyl in the United States and said the Chinese government “has nothing to do with it.”

The Zheng case is typical, said Im, the former senior DEA official. Thousands of DEA leads relayed to Chinese counterparts over the years have been “met with silence,” he said. In other cases, Chinese officials have asked for more details about the targets of US investigations — and then warned suspects linked to the Communist Party, Im said.

Most US national security officials interviewed for this story described similar experiences, citing a few exceptions, such as a joint US-Chinese operation in Hebei province in 2019.

A former DEA agent, William Kinghorn, recalled the dispiriting aftermath of an investigation he oversaw centered on Chuen Fat Yip, whose firms allegedly distributed more than $280 million worth of drugs. Yip has denied wrongdoing and denounced US criminal charges and sanctions. He is on the DEA’s 10 most wanted fugitives list and remains free in China, US officials said.

“We obtained information that the Chinese authorities did ban or shut down the companies” the DEA targeted in the case, Kinghorn said in an interview. “We learned that afterward these same people [linked to Yip] were now owning or managing similar companies. Even though they had been banned, they basically just changed the name of the company.”

A sense of impunity persists in the chemical industry, according to a 2023 inquiry by Elliptic, a UK analytics firm. It reported that many of the 90 Chinese companies contacted by its undercover researchers were “willing to supply fentanyl itself, despite this being banned in China since 2019.”

The final year of the Biden administration brought signs of modest progress in China, including new regulations, shutdowns of firms, and arrests of a suspected money launderer and four senior chemical company employees charged by US prosecutors.

Citing those cases from 2024, spokesperson Liu Pengyu said China has “collaborated closely” with the US, adding, “Multiple major cases are making great progress.”

Meanwhile, US overdose deaths fell by 33% compared with the previous year, according to the annual threat assessment by the US intelligence community released March 25. The drop may be tied to the increased availability of naloxone, a drug for treating overdoses, the report said.

The threat assessment report warned that “China likely will struggle to sufficiently constrain” companies and criminal groups involved in the US fentanyl trade, “absent greater law enforcement actions.”

Cronin, the former federal prosecutor, went on to become chief investigative counsel for the House Select Committee. He led last year’s inquiry into China’s role in the fentanyl crisis. The committee’s review of seven Chinese company websites found over 31,000 instances of firms offering illegal chemicals during a period of about three months in early 2024.

Undercover communications with the firms “revealed an eagerness to engage in clearly illicit drug sales,” the report says, “with no fear of reprisal.”

Kirsten Berg contributed research. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

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India hunts militants in Kashmir as tensions with Pakistan soar

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The nuclear-armed countries have unleashed a slew of measures andnbsp against one another, including Pakistan, India, which has abeyed the crucial Indus Waters Treaty, and Pakistan, which has closed its airspace to Indian carriers. The Indus River and its tributaries were divided between the two nations and their water revealingContinue Reading

Thailand, Australia target global crime

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Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, CIB Commissioner, exchanges mementoes with AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw. (Photo: Wassayos Ngamkham)
Pol Lt. Gen. Jirabhop Bhuridej, CIB Commissioner, and AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw exchange memories. Wassayos Ngamkham is the photographer.

Thai and Asian authorities have launched a joint operation to demolish transnational criminal systems in a significant step toward preventing international murder. The collaboration aims to address complex crimes that transcend borders, from cocaine to child abuse and cryptocurrency-based money fraud.

Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police’s Central Investigation Bureau ( CIB ), led a delegation to Australia earlier this month for discussions with its law enforcement counterpart, the Australian Federal Police ( AFP).

According to Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop,” the nature of international crime nowadays demands real-time cleverness, cross-border cooperation, and scientific integration.” ” We are no longer focusing on isolated businesses. Our goal is to create a co-operative system that is flawless.

Both sides came to terms with the necessity of creating shared task forces and information-sharing procedures during the visit. Thailand’s officers displayed their skills in industry operations and local knowledge, especially in the Greater Mekong Subregion, while the AFP introduced tools and systems developed for international crime surveillance.

He claimed that the Australians liked how quickly we operated. Our officers are trained to manage challenging terrain and access challenging locations, which are frequently the hub of these legal networks.

Digital Trails, Drug Routes

One of the main points of discussion was drug smuggling. Thailand, a long-standing transport nation, is a key player in the transition from Myanmar’s Shan State’s manufacturing hubs to Australia’s high-value markets.

” Crystal meth, or “ya glacier,” continues to be the main drug coming into Australia from Southeast Asia,” remarked Pol Lt. Gen. Jirabhop. It’s inexpensive to produce, high-quality, and low, which makes it very beneficial for organized crime organizations.

Another medications, such as cocaine and MDMA, are still popular among those who are younger and in the heart of entertainment. Despite the knowledge shared by the AFP, medications are frequently kept hidden inside reasonable shipping pots filled with gadgets, household items, or car parts, a tactic used to obstruct border inspections.

Thailand and Australia are looking into preventing actions in response, including sharing information on known traffickers and trafficking routes and improved goods screening. The possible development of a joint databases that both countries can use to track supplies and suspects in real-time is a key growth.

The conflict goes way beyond traditional contraband, though. Today’s criminal organizations are becoming more tech-savvy, frequently laundering profits using electronic money and online wallets. He claimed that” criptocurrency is the new frontier for criminals.” They” industry anonymously, move money immediately, and escape conventional financial oversight,” they claim.

Thailand also faces legitimate and structural restrictions, despite the AFP’s advanced crypto-tracking technology. Digital property lack a clear position as admissible evidence in Thai law, putting a strain on efforts to freeze or acquire funds.

” Despite the difficulties, we are moving forward,” he said. To tighten controls on illicit money flows, we are working with partners like Interpol ( International Criminal Police Organization ), Aseanapol ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations Chiefs of Police ), and financial intelligence organizations like Amlo ( Anti-Money Laundering Office ) and Austrac ( Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre ).

Both nations are investing in the future of law enforcement through engineering, management training, and inter-agency cooperation, in addition to their functional work. Data management is a promising area of cooperation. The AFP, which has developed related methods for predicted surveillance and case integration, is of particular attention to the CIB’s Big Data Centre.

We had in-depth debate about Thailand’s Big Data Center and how it could work with the AFP’s Investigation Management System, according to Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop. There are many things that we can understand from one another, particularly in terms of system infrastructure and software in real-world situations.

The American Criminal Intelligence Commission, which manages the nation’s potent database that connects crime data from across Australia, received similar industrial synergies during discussions with them.

” We think this is a concept that is for replicating,” said Pol Lt. Gen. Jirabhop. ” Centralizing crime data prevents effort duplication because it allows companies to answer more quickly, identify patterns sooner, and prevent duplication.”

Leadership growth was also high on the plan. To discuss leadership training programs, Thai officials met with the Australian Institute of Police Management ( AIPM). Programs are being made to take Thai officers to AIPM for superior training, and to invite American trainers to Thailand to share their experience. He claimed that “effective policing depends on good leadership.” It’s about creating institutions that can adapt, innovate, and lead in a fast-changing world, not just about catching criminals.

The Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre ( JPC3 ), an Australian multi-agency hub that brings together police, cybercrime experts, banks, and tech companies in one location with shared databases and real-time coordination, is a standout example of innovation.

He claimed that it provides the kind of integrated approach we require. We want to use this model in Thailand to combat cybercrime and financial crime more effectively.

Security Partnership

Thailand and Australia’s shared commitment to public safety is emerging as a cornerstone of regional stability as transnational criminal threats become more sophisticated.

Both of our countries are clearly facing common threats, according to Pol Lt. Gen. Jirabhop. By uniting through joint operations, intelligence sharing, and institutional development, we convey to criminal networks that we are prepared, connected, and resolute.

Both parties are optimistic about the plans to formalize this cooperation through more structured frameworks and regular exchanges. As crime continues to become more global, so must the response. ” This is only the beginning,” Pol Lt. Gen. Jirabhop declared. A partnership for peace, safety, and justice across our nations is something we’re building that will endure.

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China, Japan, Korea sense Trump trade war weakness – Asia Times

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TOKYO – Asia is breathing somewhat easier as Donald Trump confronts the limits of his ability to self-immolate the US economy.

Amid historically free-falling markets and an Oval Office intervention by the CEOs of Walmart, Target and Home Depot, the US president is watering down a tariff policy, including a 145% levy on China, that’s already rocked the global economy.

It’s unclear whether the climbdown, where Trump said this week he would “substantially” pare back tariffs on China in a trade deal, is real or lasting. On Thursday, he blasted China anew on social media for canceling delivery of Boeing-made jets and its role in the continued flow of fentanyl into the US.

But as Trump flinches, it’s clear his inner circle is distressed by how catastrophically the tariff policy is going down with markets. Many are coming to the conclusion that the Trump White House’s standing will never be the same on Wall Street.

Asian leaders are right to smell blood in the water. In the short run, Japan and South Korea can take a beat as Trump World tries to rally fleeing global investors back around the dollar and US Treasuries.

For one thing, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo now understand just how badly Trump needs a win, any win, on the trade front. This gives two of North Asia’s biggest economies greater leverage in talks than they had just a week ago.

For another, Xi Jinping now knows that China’s decision to push back instead of bowing to Trump’s threats and demands is paying off spectacularly. So is President Xi’s free-trade charm offensive from East to West as Trump torches friend and foe alike with arbitrary tariffs and bullying rhetoric.

Asian leaders now have scope to take a breath and regroup as Trump’s tariffs — particularly his 145% tax on China — trigger what Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives calls an “Armageddon scenario” for the US.

Recent reports of dissension in Trump’s top ranks shed light on his apparent pivot on “Liberation Day” tariffs. They include clashes between anti-China trade advisor Peter Navarro and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spilling out into the open on a near-daily basis.

Yet Trump “blinked” first in his trade war, says economist David Rosenberg, founder of Rosenberg Research. The same goes for Trump backing away from earlier threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering rates as recession risks flash red.

“The blinking that the president is busily doing on trade and Powell has unleashed a follow-through on the short-covering rally,” Rosenberg says.

Trump pivoting first contrasts markedly with what China is saying. As Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun puts it: “China’s attitude towards the tariff war launched by the US is quite clear: We don’t want to fight, but we are not afraid of it. If we fight, we will fight to the end; if we talk, the door is wide open.”

To be sure, Beijing is reportedly considering suspending its 125% tariff on some US imports to limit economic fallout. Bloomberg reported today (April 25) that Beijing may remove additional levies on US-made medical equipment and some industrial chemicals like ethane, as well as waive tariffs on plane leases.

But the last month has shown what it looks like when an unstoppable force like Trump meets an immovable object like Xi’s China. But Trump just demonstrated that his pain threshold for tariffs is Wall Street-dependent.

It was headlines about the many trillions of dollars in stock losses, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon being unhappy and Goldman Sachs talking recession that had the self-proclaimed “Tariff Man” changing his tune.

The only thing falling faster than the US dollar is Trump’s economic approval rating at home. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll puts it at 37% while roughly 75% of American adults worry recession is imminent.

Confidence is likely to fall even more precipitously as American households see their retirement account statements and feel tariffs boosting prices across the board. Market volatility also forced Trump to throttle back on plans to fire Powell, at least for now.

If you’re happy “just because Trump said he isn’t going to fire Powell in an era in which the independence of central banks is going to be called into question by the demands of realpolitik, or because he said something nice about China and tariffs for the nth time as the world starts to divide along geopolitical lines, well clearly you enjoy fairy tales,” says Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank.

At a business forum this week, veteran investment strategist Jim Paulsen said that “almost every corporate CEO is revising down their outlook. The commentary warnings of the corporate sector have escalated.”

Some titans of finance think many peers are being too dramatic about what damage Trump 2.0 might do in the long run. As C S Venkatakrishnan, CEO of Barclays, tells Bloomberg: “It’s 100 years of dollar strength, so much so that important commodities — gold, oil — are denominated in dollars. I think undoing that will take a long, long time.”

Yet Wedbush’s Ives speaks for many when he says Trump’s tariffs, and the chaos surrounding their implementation, “will go down as the worst US policy mistake” since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which amplified the Great Depression.

China’s Commerce Ministry has been making a similar point, calling the US tariff moves “a mistake on top of a mistake.”

Then, after the US president vowed to ratchet up tariffs again this week, Beijing once again vowed to hold the line.

It has since clashed with Trump by insisting no trade talks are underway, which the US leader has insisted are happening behind the scenes without naming who was involved.

At a forum in Washington sponsored by Semafor this week, Citadel CEO and founder Ken Griffin warned that a Trump reversal might be too little, too late. Before the tariffs, “no brand compared” to US Treasurys, the dollar or the creditworthiness of the biggest economy. That’s now been “eroded” in short order.

“We put that brand at risk,” the billionaire hedge fund manager said. “It can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.”

The financial dust cloud Trump leaves behind could play into Asia’s hands as trade negotiations are expected to heat up in coming weeks amid a 90-day pause on the imposition of his reciprocal tariffs on all global nations.  

China now knows, for example, that the bond market can rattle Trump. The recent surge in yields clearly unnerved Trump’s inner circle.

And it put on display the extent to which the US is just as vulnerable as it’s perceived to be strong. Beijing holds some US$760 billion of US Treasuries.

Chinese state media regularly discusses the idea of selling, or scaling back purchases, as a retaliation tool some market watchers believe Beijing quietly did soon after Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement.

It’s all making Trump desperate to change the narrative with a big trade deal win. The first opportunity on that front is Japan.

Of course, Team Trump is trying to put on a brave face. Asked on Wednesday whether Trump had unilaterally offered to de-escalate trade tensions with China, Treasury head Bessent claimed “not at all.”

“As I’ve said many times, I don’t think either side believes that the current tariff levels are sustainable, so I would not be surprised if they went down in a mutual way,” Bessent said.

One possible takeaway from Bessent’s comments is that they “underscored that the United States is not aiming to decouple from China,” says Thomas Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors.

Lee points to Trump’s press secretary claiming there are “ongoing trade discussions with 34 countries and referencing President Trump’s optimistic outlook regarding a potential deal with China.”

Yet the lack of progress with Japan could be a warning sign for the White House.

Last week, Navarro tried to suggest a bilateral Japan deal was imminent. It was his Exhibit A for the argument that Trump’s “90 deals in 90 days” pledge remains operational.

Yet Navarro was left holding only his ego when Tokyo reported that Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa Ryosei was already back home with no deal in sight.

Seeing Trump caving this week, why wouldn’t Ishiba slow things down even further? This strategy worked well for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2019. Back then, the late Abe signed a bilateral deal that Trump touted as “phenomenal.”  

But, in reality, Japan gave up less on agriculture than it had as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral free trade pact that Trump scrapped. Autos were excluded and everything from pharmaceuticals to financial services was left to a future date.

The end result was negligible in altering US-Japan trade dynamics and “was a poignant reminder of how much President Trump gave away when he turned his back on the TPP,” observed economist Matthew Goodman, who at the time was at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It’s also a timely reminder of how far Ishiba can get with some flattery and moving slowly. Presumably, Trump’s inner circle is aware that Japan outmaneuvered Trump 1.0, just as China is so far getting the better of Trump 2.0.

But Trump World also knows the illusion of pulling off the “art of the deal” with Japan could be packaged as a badly needed trade war win.

Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), after all, faces a tough national election in July. And with approval ratings around 26%, Ishiba can hardly appear to be getting fleeced by a Trump White House with no allies among major economies.

Any perception that Ishiba gave away too much to Trump could usher his LDP out of power a few months from now. Tokyo knows, too, that if they lather Trump with concessions, he’ll likely be back for more in short order.

South Korea’s negotiations could go a similar way. At the moment, Bessent is suggesting that US-Korea talks “may be moving faster than I thought, and we will be talking technical terms as early as next week.”

Perhaps. But just like China and Japan, South Korea has good reason to think its negotiating position is improving as Trump’s global standing and trade war credibility falls by the day.

Follow William Pesek on X at @WilliamPesek

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China has halted rare earth exports, can Australia step up?

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six days before
James Chater

BBC News

Reporting fromSydney
Getty Images A wide shot of a Pilbara Minerals lithium facility in Port Hedland, Western Australia.Getty Images

In the midst of rising trade tensions, Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has pledged to invest A$ 1.2 billion ( £580 million ) in a strategic reserve for crucial minerals.

The news came after China imposed trade restrictions on seven rare earth elements, which are essential to the development of cutting-edge solutions like computers, fighter jets, and electric cars.

China’s restrictions apply to all nations, but they were commonly accepted as retribution for US President Donald Trump’s taxes.

Albanese stated that Australia had give priority to vitamins that are essential to both its safety and that of its companions, including rare earths. But had his strategy concern China’s dominance?

What are unique universe minerals and why are they significant?

A group of 17 components is known as “rare” when they are extremely challenging to harvest and enhance.

Rare earths, such as samarium and terbium, are crucial to the development of cutting-edge technology that will shape the world in the upcoming years, such as electric vehicles and highly developed weapons systems.

Rare planets as well as other crucial minerals, of which Australia is a leading producer, like potassium and chrome, are included in Albanese’s proposed stockpile.

Rare universe resources exist in both China and Australia. However, China has a significant amount of control over source, making 90 % of rare earth processing, which makes them useful in technology.

And European institutions have been spooked by this.

Why is China limiting the import of unusual world materials?

Beijing asserted that its restrictions on unique earths were in response to Trump’s extensive taxes, which are currently 14 % on Chinese exports to the US.

However, according to analysts, Washington’s inability to stable the supply of rare earths has grown to be one of the Trump administration’s main worries, especially as Beijing’s political tensions have gotten worse.

According to the US Geological Survey, between 2019 and 2022, about 75 % of US imports of rare earths came from China.

The US and EU “dropped the game,” according to Philip Kirchlechner, chairman of Iron Ore Research in Perth, Western Australia, as China quickly gained a monopoly over elegance.

He continued,” China has its base on the body vein of the US and European defense methods.”

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, claimed this week that China’s decision to stop exporting rare earths used in innovative magnets was having an impact on the company’s ability to create humanoid robots, an early example of the problems Beijing has the power to impose on US businesses.

Getty Images People look at a human-like Tesla robot at a technology fair in Shanghai, China.Getty Images

Was Australia’s plan alter the game?

According to Albanese’s proposal, minerals in the reserve may be accessible to both “domestic business and international partners,” with a good research to allies like the US and EU.

However, Kirchlechner continued, saying that the proposal is” never going to solve the problem,” despite praising the move as “long overdue.”

The basic problem is that China will continue to be generally in charge of the refining process of rare earths, yet if Australia stocks more crucial materials.

An excellent example of sodium is certainly a rare world, but it is a crucial metal in the production of solar panels and batteries for electric vehicles. Only a small portion of the country’s sodium is refined and exported, accounting for 33 % of it. The International Energy Agency claims that China refines 57 % of the world’s lithium while mining only 23 % of it.

As part of its Potential Made in Australia initiative, Australia has been making an investment in rare earths to use the nation’s vast mineral deposits to promote the development of a green economy.

The second mixed plant and plant for rare planets in the world was founded last year by Arafura Rare Earths, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, with funding from A$ 840 million coming in last year. Australia’s second rare earths processing facility, owned by Lynas Rare Earths, opened in Western Australia in November.

However, the nation is anticipated to rely on China for refining until at least 2026, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which has its headquarters in Washington.

Getty Images Trucks work in a vast rare-earth mine in Inner Mongolia, China.Getty Images

What did China and the US do?

China has been attempting to capitalize on Trump’s uncertainty.

China’s adviser to Canberra criticized Washington’s strategy to global trade in a number of articles in American newspapers, which Albanese swiftly rejected.

In its discussions with Trump, Australia has praised its reference sector. He imposed a 10 % tax on the importation of the majority of Australia’s items on some crucial vitamins.

However, according to analysts, Albanese’s proposal is primarily intended to shield Australia and its companions from corporate adversaries like China.

Natixis ‘ chief economist for Asia-Pacific, Alicia Garca-Herrero, told the BBC that Albanese’s plan was “more advanced” than previous ideas because it allowed for the sale of Australia’s resources in times of economic pressure.

She added that Australia might start selling more of its nutrient reserves to support lower prices on world markets and release China’s influence over setting prices.

She did point out that Australia is still unable to fully remove China.

There are areas where China could have a strong foothold, and refining is the most crucial step if Australia’s goal is to serve the West, becoming more critical to the West, particularly the US.

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Asia stocks rise in wake of Wall Street rally

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Hong Kong and Shanghai both increased by one percent, while Tokyo increased by one percent. Nissan, a struggling Japanese vehicle company, issued a stark income warning on Thursday, which predicted a significant reduction of up to US$ 5.3 billion in the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year. As Nissan stock roseContinue Reading

Trump knows exactly what his China trade war means – Asia Times

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The official start of massive global tariffs was announced on Donald Trump’s” Liberation Day” on April 2, 2025, cappiling the start of escalating disclosures since his election as president. Amplifying the financial patriotism of his first term, it marks the climax of Trump’s decades-old campaigning for raising taxes and reviving British market.

His most recent press builds on more than 20 years of earlier political attempts to reform trade in a much more aggressive way. Influenced by Project 2025’s section on fair business by longtime adviser Peter Navarro, it calls for quick, uncompromising business action to reduce deficits, lower bill and reshore production.

Similar to how Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has framed taxes as part of a larger financial rebalancing to recover US industrial and economic supremacy.

Though often stated explicitly, Trump aims to crack the supremacy of China’s export-led financial model, with the understanding that there will be some effects for the US economy.

Although his strategy builds on previous attempts to restructure industry, the public’s understanding of Trump’s agenda and perception of how it is carried out are only moderately supported domestically. The bargain carries the dangers of global financial instability, backlash from allies and handing China even more energy on the international stage.

Protectionism, free industry, and renewed skepticism are all at odds with one another.

From 1798 to 1913, tariffs covered 50 % to 90 % of income and shielded American industry from foreign competitors. Nevertheless, the US sought to restore allied markets and ward off communism by opening its buyer, professional, and capital markets following World War II. Trade imbalances emerged by the 1970s, but abandoning the gold standard in 1971 let the US printing money more quickly and support the imbalance.

The US was convinced that it could continue to control worldwide industry on its own terms after the Cold War’s close in the first 1990s. It pushed for global tariff cuts and free trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ), while US corporations helped build up foreign manufacturing, particularly in China, which benefited from preferential trade terms under its most-favored-nation trade status. While corporate profits rose and global overproduction was absorbed by American consumers, many American workers were becoming significantly indebted.

These policies added to the anti-globalization movements of the late 1990s, most visibly at the 1999 World Trade Organization ( WTO ) summit in Seattle, prompting a rethink of trade policy. Domesticated companies like steel were crashing out as a result of cheap imports, and former US President George W. Bush reintroduced steel tariffs quickly in 2002 before the WTO ratified them.

The 2008 global financial crisis brought republican calling for economic reform, with the Obama administration pledging to reshore manufacturing work. Obama later distanced himself from the Trans-Pacific Partnership ( TPP ), a free trade agreement, in a move that Hillary Clinton repeated in her 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump’s first-term business plan broke from the previous prudence. He withdrew from the TPP in 2017 and fought with the WTO, favoring punitive motion, and renegotiated NAFTA. He therefore imposed tariffs on important business partners, especially China. The cost of outsourcing had already gotten clear by that time.

With US multinational support, China had gained investment and technology skills to become the “world’s factory”. Beijing became the world’s top exporter and creditor in 2024 thanks to low-tariff access to the US market, which resulted in a$ 300 billion surplus over America in 2024.

President Biden struck a less aggressive develop upon assuming office in January 2021, but he also raised taxes on China. He aimed to address the issue of his trade deficits with the US, which the EU and Japan did, but the US’s commitment to global unity and its role in global affairs attenuated condemnation. Despite lowering tariffs on Europe, Biden yet passed the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act, both criticized by the EU as mercantilist.

Trump’s second-term target has once more targeted allies, but the focus is still on China, with increased tariffs on Beijing and personal tariffs halted on April 9.

Apart from direct exports, Washington also seeks to target China’s role in global business. The limitations of decoupling were exposed by Biden’s force to “nearshore” manufacturing in nations like Mexico, where Chinese companies immediately established themselves in brand-new Latino industrial parks.

Many goods shipped to the US from different countries also contain Chinese elements, meaning Trump’s 10 cent “baseline” tax hike on all imports is meant to counter additional countries serving as conduits for Chinese goods.

In Project 2025, Peter Navarro emphasized the impact of non-tariff barriers like stringent safety standards, customs delays, and local content requirements on US exports. The US uses these, too, and in early February 2025, Trump cited fentanyl smuggling as justification for raising tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada.

Trump’s tariff increases and the resulting supply chain rerouting may prove challenging to reverse even if a more conventional president comes along. Critics question whether this transition can be fast, affordable or effective, but the Covid-19 pandemic proved supply chains can reorient under pressure relatively quickly, just as China showed its agility by setting up operations in Mexico during the 2020s.

Internal dangers

A tariff war will nonetheless raise prices for consumers and businesses, ending the era of cheap global goods that the US economy has depended on for decades.

Countries kept close ties to protect consumer access to the market and invested US dollars in American stocks, bonds, and real estate. Uncertainty over Trump’s policies saw a fake tweet about tariffs on April 7 trigger multi-trillion-dollar swings. Pensions, household wealth, and corporate valuations would be impacted by continued stock volatility or declines.

Some argue that if the stock markets crash, money could flow into and lower the price of US treasuries, reducing their prices and allowing the government to refinance long-term bonds with cheaper debt.

However, many traditional US debt holders may want concessions before continuing to finance it. Treasury yields have already risen, making new debt more expensive, and China, the second-largest holder of US debt, is suspected of shedding bonds to help do so.

China has also retaliated by enforcing its own tariffs and recently halting exports of some rare earths and essential minerals that are essential to modern technologies. Its state-backed firms can flood global markets with cheap goods and advanced tech, squeezing out competitors.

Beijing, which is increasingly present in international organizations and trade blocs, could become a more influential force in shaping global economic norms if these organizations and agreements become more fluid and the US steps back.

Trump also wants to devalue the dollar to make US exports more competitive, but insists on keeping the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, which eases access to cheap debt. Even if no obvious alternative has been found yet, his strategy is undermining global confidence in the dollar.

Trump’s pressure on a resistant Federal Reserve to cut interest rates further reflects limited borrowing options and coordination in US financial policy as he embarks on major economic upheaval.

Democrats have largely avoided serious opposition to Trump’s policies because they believe it may be a losing political strategy. Still, some top members like Chuck Schumer and Gavin Newsom have marked early opposition, along with seven GOP senators who recently voted against Trump’s Trade Review Act.

The US business class, which once viewed China as a promising market but now views it as a rival, has some backing for Trump’s policies. No longer limited to cheap goods, Chinese companies like Temu, Shein, and BYD increasingly threaten giants like Amazon and Tesla.

Any success in restoring manufacturing will largely come from automation rather than high-paying positions, which will benefit major US corporations. Still, decades of cooperation with China means that these businesses remain exposed, with major corporate figures expressing public concern and Elon Musk publicly criticizing Peter Navarro’s role in the tariff push.

Trump has since framed tariffs as a source of revenue to offset other taxes in addition to serving as leverage over trading partners. His 2024 campaign called for cutting the corporate tax rate to 15 %, down from 21 %, already lowered from 35 % during his first term.

However, the anticipated economic boom did not materialize before Covid-19 arrived, and his suggestion that personal income tax be replaced with tariff income is unlikely to produce enough money, even in the most optimistic scenario.

And while the US needs to expand production for both domestic use and exports, current capacity falls far short. While tariffs may encourage new habits in businesses and consumers, blanket protection without government initiatives in infrastructure development, skills training, and research and development risks doing more harm than good, leaving the private sector with little guidance.

Compared to Trump’s unpredictable approach, China and the EU have positioned themselves as stable anchors of the global economy. Due to tariffs and strained ties, US demands to coordinate with major economic allies like the EU and Japan to stifle trade with China, including limiting Chinese imports and preventing its companies from establishing themselves risk falling on deaf ears.

Global risks

A major pillar of global economic stability is also at risk as a result of restricting access to US consumers. The US accounted for roughly 13 % of global import consumption in 2023, acting as a safety valve for global overproduction by absorbing excess goods.

China has pledged to “vigorously boost domestic consumption,” as per the People’s Daily, to help replace American consumers, as it is facing a property crisis, high youth unemployment, and mounting local government debt.

However, its$ 300 billion trade surplus with the US demonstrates how dependent it is and has less room for retaliation. The EU has signaled it will not tolerate a flood of Chinese goods, as it, like the US, increasingly finds itself competing with China in high-end products.

The US has also experienced tariff increases from the EU and Canada. The Trump administration has tested EU unity by courting globalization-skeptic allies like Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, though tensions are likely to deepen before they ease.

The dangers of deindustrialization are being highlighted by Europe’s struggle to maintain support for Ukraine and Russia, a trend that the US is now trying to reverse systematically. And, by targeting allies with tariffs too, the US ensures that any self-inflicted economic pain is matched abroad, making the cost of reshaping trade a shared burden.

A escalating tariff conflict between Canada and China in 2025 is a surefire sign that China’s export-focused model will likely become even more vulnerable. As the US signals a reduced role in safeguarding global maritime trade, already strained by disruptions like Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and rising piracy, geopolitical tensions could disrupt other key routes. Free trade will have to increase shipping and insurance costs without US assistance.

Trump frequently changed tactics in his first term, mixing threats with negotiations. Voices like Kent Lassman’s in Project 2025, calling for a return to free trade, may gain traction if his tariff strategy falters.

But Trump has been warning of trade imbalances since the 1980s, when Japan and West Germany were his main targets. He seems determined to make China the centerpiece of his legacy by focusing on it this time.

Scrapping the old, in his view, unreformable system and embracing whatever follows is based on the belief that the US is best positioned to shape the new system. Which nations will support or be forced to do so at this point?

Whether a complete globalization teardown occurs or not, he appears ready to push as hard as possible within constraints. Dismantling Beijing’s advantages in global trade will not be simple, as evidenced by the fact that a large portion of MAGA’s products still are produced in China.

John P Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, DC and a world affairs correspondent for the Independent Media Institute.

He contributes to a number of foreign affairs publications, and his book,” Budget Superpower: How Russia Challenges the West With an Economy Smaller Than Texas,” was published in December of 2022.

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute, and is republished with kind permission.

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China considers exempting some goods from US tariffs: Source

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Beijing is particularly concerned about the economic pain that is roiling as the nation’s two largest economy separate, just like Washington does the exclusions suggest. China has frequently stated it will fight for the conclusion unless the US lifts its taxes, even though Washington has already declared the current statusContinue Reading

Advanced digital cockpits give Chinese EVs ‘overwhelming advantage’ in Russia, vendors say

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Vendors said this week at the world’s largest auto show that China’s bright vehicles with powerful in-car entertainment, from great video screens to superior stereo, are sure-fire hits in Russia. Drivers and passengers are increasingly adopting online technology, according to vendors.

After American companies stopped selling and marketing their cars in Russia as a result of Russia’s three-year defense invasion of Ukraine, big Chinese carmakers like Chery Automobile, Great Wall Motor, and Geely Auto are the scions and biggest winners. The country of 145 million individuals, which accounts for the majority of China’s exports, is playing catch-up with other Chinese brands by providing them with modern cockpits that are their liking.

At the 2025 Car Shanghai trade show on Thursday, Zhou Tian, a mature business development manager with Moscow-based Google Car, stated that “digital characteristics give Chinese cars an enormous benefits in markets like Russia and Southeast Asia.” Russian car buyers want to purchase vehicles that can integrate [online ] services that their smartphones use daily.

Russia, which was founded in 2016, is looking to work with Taiwanese automakers. Foreign car manufacturers with their places on Russia, Zhou said, received favorable responses from Yandex during the event.

Geely Automobile’s booth during the 2025 Auto Shanghai show on 23 April 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

According to him, vehicles that use Google software can offer a wide range of online services in Russia, including mapping, entertainment, meals delivery, and e-commerce.

The majority of Taiwanese vehicles, whether electric or petroleum-powered, are available because their equipment, from the speakers to the screens, are sufficient for the inclusion of our software, Zhou said. They are well-liked by Russian shoppers, they claim.

A man dressed as the character from Black Myth: Wukong promotes a special-edition Han L model from BYD during the 2025 Auto Shanghai show on April 23, 2025. Photo: AP

According to a survey conducted by the Russian polling company Romir last year, about 47 % of car buyers were thinking about including Chinese in their next purchase. More than two-thirds of Russian users said they wanted to learn more about Chinese automobiles, especially their technical features and service features, according to the study.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, exports of Taiwanese vehicles to Russia increased by 27 % to 1.16 million products in the last year from 2023. Mexico came in second place next year, with Chinese companies shipping 445, 000 vehicles.

Russian passenger vehicle sales in 2024 increased by 48 % year over year to 1.57 million units, thanks to the Mainland Chinese carmakers ‘ dominance.

Mercedes-Benz‘s all-electric CLA on display during the 2025 Auto Shanghai show on April 23, 2025. Photo: Xinhua

Foreign plug-in hybrid vehicles that combine a diesel engine and an electric motors are particularly welcomed in Russia because they give drivers the opportunity to generate a green vehicle without having to deal with range anxiety, Zhou said.

Russia, which reported that 97 % of Russian Internet users have used its video services, can also help, he said, increase the charm of Chinese cars in additional Russian-speaking regions of central Asia.

China-made vehicles could cost 50 % more in Russia, according to a sales manager at Voyah, a state-owned company that manufactures electric vehicles for Dongfeng Motor. This puts them in the premium category that encourages more Chinese manufacturers to set up stores and sales networks there.

Despite the global price war sweeping the automotive industry, international firm AlixPartners predicted in a research report this week that Russia may continue to be a stabilizing supply of desire for Chinese-made vehicles this time.

Complementary intelligent-driving capabilities are emerging as a crucial competitive tool, further separating China-brand products from those from globally, according to Yvette Zhang, partner of the consultancy. South China Morning Post

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