China News

Asia's crude oil imports are off to a weak start in 2025, as top importer China continues to buy less and new sanctions put the brakes on cargoes from the continent's top supplier Russia.Asia's imports for the first two months of the year are on track to be 26.17 million barrels per day (bpd), down 780,000 bpd from the 26.96 million bpd for the same period last year, according to data compiled by LSEG Oil Research.The drop of about 3% in crude imports by Asia in the first two…

The U.S. Trade Representative's office has proposed charging up to $1.5 million for Chinese-built vessels entering U.S. ports as part of its investigation into China's growing domination of the global shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors.USTR said in a January 16 report on a probe launched during the administration of former President Joe Biden that China increased its share of global shipbuilding tonnage from 5% in 1999 to over 50% in 2023 because of massive state subsidies…

Two U.S. Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks.The U.S. Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it.The U.S. Navy said the vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Pathfinder-class survey ship, USNS Bowditch.

“In January, grain shipments to China are estimated to fall 51% y/y, partly due to a decline in import demand for soya beans caused by low crusher margins. Although Chinese soya bean production decreased 1% y/y in 2024, inventories are high after a surge in imports in the first half of the year. Import demand for maize and wheat has also declined due to record high harvests in China in 2024,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.As the world’s largest grain importer, China has for a long time strived to reduce its import dependence.

Two Iranian cargo vessels carrying an ingredient for missile propellant will sail from China to Iran in the next few weeks, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing intelligence from security officials in two Western countries.The reported transactions could make the Chinese entities involved subject to U.S. sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's weapons programs, as the two Iranian vessels are already under U.S. sanctions.The FT said the Iranian-flagged ships, the Golbon and the Jairan…

COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers has taken delivery of the Green Rizhao, a 77,000dwt general cargo ship which was certified as being built with zero carbon emissions by China Classification Society (CCS).The vessel’s maiden voyage will involve transporting machinery and containers from Chinese Ports to Brazil.The news comes as China's shipbuilding boom saw the nation account for 55.7% of deliveries and 74.1% of orders in 2024. Its shipbuilding capabilities have advanced to include 24,000 TEU container ships, LNG carriers and cruise ships such as the Adora Magic City.

The U.S. probe targeting China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors is a "serious violation" of World Trade Organization rules and an outright protectionist act, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

The Philippine navy said on Friday its ships were holding drills near a contested shoal in the South China Sea, a day after Manila and Beijing agreed to seek common ground and find ways to cooperate despite ongoing disputes.The exercise around the Scarborough shoal, one of Asia's most hotly contested areas, was aimed at enhancing the navy's capability to secure what it said were Philippine waters and the country's territorial integrity, the navy said in a statement.It described…

A tanker subject to the new U.S. sanctions is discharging Russian oil at a port operated by Shandong Port Group in east China, shipping data on LSEG Eikon showed on Thursday.The tanker is the first since last week's sanctions announcement to discharge in Shandong province where many of China's independent refineries that have been big importers of Russian crude are based.It will be monitored closely by those in the industry anxious to know how strictly the measures will be implemented.The sanctions include a grace period exempting cargoes loaded before Jan.

The U.S. Trade Representative's office on Thursday said it has found China's targeted dominance of the global shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors is "unreasonable" and is "actionable" under U.S. trade law.The findings of a USTR probe, first reported by Reuters on Tuesday, did not include a specific recommendation of penalties against Beijing, leaving next steps up to President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday.USTR said its report "supports a determination that China's targeting of the maritime…

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has concluded that China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, three sources familiar with the results of a months-long trade investigation told Reuters.U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai launched the probe in April 2024 at the request of the United Steelworkers and four other U.S. unions under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the U.S. to penalize foreign countries that engage in acts that are "unjustifiable" or "unreasonable," or burden U.S.

On January 10, a group of over 240 shipping executives attended seminar in Shanghai on "Contributing to the China Solution to Cross the Carbon Threshold."The aim was to further build consensus on industry development needed to respond to the challenges brought by the new EU shipping carbon tax fuel regulations.Zhang Yong, deputy general manager of COSCO Shipping Group, shared four suggestions: first, focus on responsible investment and strive to increase low-carbon increments…

Shandong Port Group has banned U.S.-sanctioned tankers from calling into its ports in the eastern Chinese province, home to many independent refiners that are the biggest importers of oil from countries under U.S. embargo, three traders said.The province imported about 1.74 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran, Russia and Venezuela last year, accounting for about 17% of China's imports, ship tracking data from Kpler showed.If enforced, the ban would drive up shipping costs for independent refiners in Shandong…

Taiwan's Presidential Office held its first "tabletop" exercise involving government agencies beyond the armed forces on Thursday, simulating a military escalation with China amid renewed threats from Beijing, officials said.Dozens of central and local government agencies as well as civil groups participated in the three-hour exercise, the sources said, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.China has in recent years stepped up military threats, including the large massing of naval forces this month and daily military activities close to democratically governed Taiwan, wh

Cambodia's former Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday that Japan would be granted visitation rights to the country's Ream Naval Base, a facility the United States is concerned could become a military outpost for China.Chinese military vessels have been rotating through Ream since a Beijing-funded upgrade started in June 2022. Cambodia has denied reports of a secret deal with China to station its forces at the base. The upgrade came after Cambodia demolished a U.S.-built facility at the base in Sihanoukville in 2020…

The Philippines held maritime drills with the United States and Japan inside its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, its military said on Friday, two days after a maritime confrontation with Beijing around a disputed shoal.The drills, which brought together a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft, Philippine Navy ship BRP Andres Bonifacio and a C-90 small plane, and Japan's Murasame-class destroyer JS Samidare, are the Philippines' latest round of exercises with allies…

Japan and the Philippines signed a 1.6 billion yen ($10.65 million) security assistance deal on Thursday to boost the Southeast Asian nation's maritime security and surveillance abilities amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea.Both the Philippines and Japan, two of the United States' closest Asian allies, have taken a strong line against what they see as aggressive behavior by Chinese vessels amid decades-old disputes over maritime sovereignty.Japan will provide the Philippine…

Sallaum Lines has ordered six additional Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) vessels from China, two with Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Co Ltd. (2 x 7,500 RT SDARI design) and four with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) Co. Ltd. (4 x 7,400 RT Deltamarin design). Each vessel has a capacity ranging from 7,400 to 7,500 Car Equivalent Unit (CEU) Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) design. By incorporating dual-fuel LNG technology, the newbuilds deliver a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by at least 25%In addition…

Chinese President Xi Jinping signed multiple cooperation deals with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto on Saturday, Chinese state TV CCTV reported, as the two countries seek increased partnerships in key areas.The deals covered issues including water conservation, maritime resources and mining, the report said, and come ahead of a meeting Prabowo is scheduled to attend on Sunday between Indonesian officials and a number of top Chinese companies, where the Indonesia presidential…

Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential Election is has importers on edge, fearing another spike in ocean container shipping freight rates premised on President Trump's vow on blanket tariffs of up to 20% on all imports into the US and additional tariffs of 60% to 100% on goods from China.Data from Xeneta shows the last time that President Trump ramped up tariffs on Chinese imports during the trade war in 2018, ocean container shipping freight rates spiked more than 70%.

China has granted visa-free entry for Danish citizens.The move was announced earlier this year when Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen met with his Chinese colleague Wang Yi during the UN General Assembly in New York.From November 8, 2024 to December 31, 2025, Danish passport holders can travel visa-free to China for up to 15 days for business trips, tourist visits, family visits or transit.China is Danish shipping's largest market, so visa freedom is a great help, making trade and travel easier for the Danish shipping companies…

The United States is watching growing cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic closely and some of their recent military collaboration in the region sends "concerning signals", the U.S. Arctic ambassador said.Russia and China have stepped up military cooperation in the Arctic while deepening overall ties in recent years that include China supplying Moscow with dual-use goods despite Western sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.Russia and the United States are among eight countries with territory in the resource-rich Arctic.

Vietnam has protested against China's alleged detention of Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels in the contested Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.Vietnam urged China to "immediately release the fishermen and fishing vessels that were illegally detained", the spokesperson told reporters in a regular press conference, without specifying how many people had been detained or when they had been detained.There was no immediate response from the Chinese foreign ministry to Reuters' questions about the incident.(Reuters)