China Insights Weekly - Economic and Technology News from China: China continues its rapid pace of innovation and expansion of its technological and economic influence.
Key points of the week:
- China has introduced about 500 % faster oscilloscope and imaging chip with sub-angstrom resolution, overcoming technological barriers
- 99.6% Battery recycling rate from electric vehicles set a new global standard for clean manufacturing
- China Eastern offers free in-flight Wi-Fi to win back passengers from high-speed trains
- Chinese team implants the world's smallest and lightest artificial heart in pediatric patients
- Plush Toys „Rat-Dried“ have become a viral hit, reflecting Generation Z's ironic view of beauty and creativity
Swedish truck manufacturer Scania marks historic milestone with new €2 billion global industrial hub in China
Sweden's Scania has inaugurated a €2 billion sustainable truck production centre in Rugao, Jiangsu province. The 800,000 square metre plant, one of Scania's largest global investments, has a licensed production capacity of 50,000 vehicles per year and is expected to create approximately 3,000 local jobs. The plant will run almost exclusively on renewable energy, including biogas and certified green electricity, contributing to Scania's Scope 1 and 2 emission reduction targets. Production is scheduled to start at the end of 2025, with the first trucks for the Chinese market arriving in the first half of 2026. It will serve both the Chinese market and selected markets in Asia. Scania is the first Western OEM to be granted a full production license for the 100%-owned truck plant in China. The centre includes research and development centres and is part of the Traton modular system, which enables the development of trucks for global standards and the specific needs of the Chinese market.
Xpeng Aeroht secures 600 orders for its „Land Aircraft Carrier“ flying car in the Middle East
Xpeng Aeroht has secured 600 orders for its „land-based aircraft carrier“ in the Middle East, bringing its total global order book to 7,000 units. The company signed purchase agreements with Ali & Sons Group of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar's Almana Group, Kuwait's AlSayer Group and China's UAE Business Council. Xpeng Aeroht launched its international brand „ARIDGE“ and announced that its Guangzhou flying car manufacturing plant was completed by the end of September. The company plans to start mass production and delivery of the „land aircraft carrier“ by 2026, making it the first mass-produced flying car in China and the world. The vehicle is priced under 2 million yuan ($280,000), has a 3-axis, 6-wheel design and has a CLTC range of over 1,000 kilometers.
China's NEV exports rise by 89 % as BYD drives global expansion, China leads global EV market in 2025
China's new energy vehicle (NEV) exports rose 89.4 % year-on-year to 1.76 million units in the first nine months of 2025, with BYD accounting for nearly 40 % of total outbound shipments. BYD, which produces only NEVs, has rapidly expanded its global footprint. The company's overseas sales for the same period rose by 130 % to 705,000 units, moving it from the sixth to the second largest Chinese automobile exporter. Chery led total vehicle exports with 936,000 units, an increase of 12.9 %. Total vehicle exports from China reached 4.95 million units during the period, up 14.8 % year-on-year. New export license rules for electric vehicles will take effect in January 2026. BYD is establishing overseas production facilities in many countries, including Thailand, Uzbekistan and Brazil.
Global EV sales reach a record 2.1 million units in September 2025, bringing year-to-date registrations to 14.7 million - a 26% increase over the same period in 2024. China accounted for the majority with 9 million EV registrations, a 24% year-on-year increase. Europe contributed 3 million registrations, an increase of 32 %. The U.S. saw a 66 % year-over-year increase in September, driven by expiring federal tax credits. September sales in China totaled 1.3 million units, with BEV volumes up 28 % year-on-year to 0.8 million units, while PHEV volumes fell slightly to 0.47 million units.
Global monthly sales of Rho Motion electric vehicles
Chinese airline offers free Wi-Fi to attract passengers from high-speed trains
China Eastern Airlines launched free „basic“ Wi-Fi on all its wide-body aircraft operating domestic routes on 11 October, covering 37 routes to major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Kunming and Wuhan. The move is aimed at winning back business travellers who increasingly prefer high-speed trains for inter-city travel. Rival Air China and China Southern Airlines already offer free Wi-Fi on some domestic flights. The initiative reflects growing competition from China's high-speed rail network, which has impacted the airline industry, particularly in the lucrative business travel market.
China debuts ultrafast oscilloscope in bid to break technological barriers, Tsinghua breaks imaging limits
China has unveiled its first indigenously developed ultrafast oscilloscope, representing a major breakthrough in high-speed signal acquisition technology. The new oscilloscope boosts the performance of home instruments by 500 %, integrating intelligent automatic optimization and server-based computing power. It achieves a sampling rate of 200 billion samples per second and a memory depth of 4 billion sample points, enabling precise analysis of transient on-chip signals at the nanoscale. Shenzhen-based Wanliyan, a subsidiary of state-owned semiconductor equipment firm Shenzhen SiCarrier Technologies, unveiled the device at the WESEMiBAY Semiconductor Ecosystem Expo. The achievement aims to reduce China's dependence on foreign technology in critical areas such as 5G communications, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Beijing Tsinghua University has developed Rafael, the first spectral imaging chip sub-ångström, achieving 2× total throughput and 100× increase in spectral resolution performance. In a single image, Rafael captured 5 600 stellar spectra, reducing the observing time by 100-10 000× compared to high-end spectrometers. It will debut at Spain's 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias, where it will study dark matter, black holes and star/planet formation, and is designed for satellite mapping, machine intelligence and airborne remote sensing.
Chinese team implants world's smallest and lightest artificial heart in pediatric patients
A Chinese medical team has developed the world's smallest and lightest maglev-powered paediatric biventricular assist device, which has been successfully implanted in three children with heart failure. Weighing 45 grams and measuring 29 millimetres in diameter, the artificial heart is significantly smaller and lighter than existing models, making it suitable for children weighing between 10 and 30 kilograms. This device, developed by Dong Nianguo and Shenzhen Core Medical Technology, targets the critical need for pediatric cardiac support, as up to 40 % children with advanced heart failure die while waiting for a transplant due to a lack of donors. This innovation represents a significant advance in pediatric cardiac care.
China's new EV battery recycling rules ensure 99.6% material recovery, plan to double EV charging service capacity
China has achieved a 99.6% recovery rate of key materials from end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries thanks to new national standards for dismantling and recycling. The General Administration of Market Supervision approved five new standards, bringing the total number to 15. These regulations define how discarded EV batteries should be managed, dismantled and tested for residual value. The pilot programs report recovery rates of around 99.6 % for nickel, cobalt and manganese and 96.5 % for lithium. The new standards aim to improve sustainability and economic circulation in the EV battery recycling industry.
China aims to double its electric vehicle (EV) charging capacity by building 28 million charging facilities across the country by the end of 2027. The country's charging network will provide over 300 million kilowatts of capacity, enough for more than 80 million EVs. As of August, China had 17.3 million charging facilities, including 4.3 million public charging points. By 2027, China plans to add 1.6 million direct-current (DC) charging stations in cities, including 100,000 high-efficiency ones, and upgrade highway charging facilities by adding and refurbishing 40,000 fast chargers. The plan also aims to fully cover rural areas by installing at least 14,000 DC chargers in cities that lack public charging facilities.
China's “Rat-Dried” plush toys have gone viral and become a cultural mirror of Gen Z
A new trend called „laoshugan“ (literally „dried rat“) plush toys has gone viral in China, reflecting Gen Z's redefinition of beauty through irony. These misshapen, loosely stuffed dolls, often resembling dried snacks, began as a meme among anime fans and became a symbol of humor and rebellion against conventional beauty standards. Priced at RMB 10-20 (USD 1-3), these handmade dolls offer a mix of absurdity and creativity. Monthly sales on platforms such as Taobao and Pinduoduo exceed 5,000 units. Users on Xiaohongshu and Weibo share photos of their dolls in various humorous scenarios and turn them into „companions“. This trend is part of a broader wave of „ugly but fun“ consumerism in China, where imperfection is embraced as a form of art and self-expression.
China abolishes visa requirement for Swedes, all but two EU citizens now have visa-free access to China (link)
China has announced that it will abolish visa requirements for Swedish citizens from 1 November 2025. This new policy allows Swedish passport holders to enter China without a visa for stays of up to 15 days. This decision is expected to boost tourism and business travel between the two countries. With this change, it is only citizens of the Czech Republic and Lithuania who still need a visa to enter China.
Top biomedical scientist Hu Ye leaves US for China after giving up millions in funding (link)
After studying and working in the U.S. for 22 years, Hu „Tony“ Ye, who held the prestigious position of professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, left to take on the role of founding dean of the new School of Biomedical Engineering at his alma mater, . Hu has long focused on rapid virus detection, publishing numerous articles in top journals and serving as an associate editor of ACS Nano. Hu has applied for more than 30 patents in the field of nanomedicine, 14 of which have been authorized by U.S. or international companies, and is a co-founder of four biotechnology start-up companies in the United States.
Tomáš Kučera & Yereth Jansen
China-insights.com/gnews.cz - GH
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