China News

"During the first three quarters of 2026, US dry bulk shipments to China have grown 104% y/y, driven by a 176% y/y increase in the shipment of grains. Volumes between the two countries weakened in 2025 amid rising trade tensions and higher tariffs. However, an agreement reached in November 2025 lowered tariffs on US grains and set import targets for US soya beans, allowing shipments to partly recover in 2026,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.US coal and petcoke shipments to China have also strengthened so far this year, with coal up 44% y/y and petcoke up 33% y/y.

China dipped into its massive crude oil stockpile in August for the third month in the past four as increased refinery processing exceeded a modest increase in oil imports.Refineries processed about 640,000 barrels per day (bpd) more than what was available to them from imports and domestic oil production, according to calculations based on official data.China, the world's biggest crude importer, slashed its purchases to the lowest in a decade in the wake of the higher oil prices caused by the disruption to supplies from the Middle East after the U.S.

China's Ministry of Natural Resources conducted a survey of waters east of Taiwan last month that it said would help it create "one map" for territorial planning and resource management, state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday.China has been stepping up its activities to the east of Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean to assert its claims of sovereignty and jurisdiction over the island and its waters, to the anger of the government in Taipei.Taiwan's coast guard said on August 21 that it had warned off and shadowed a Chinese research ship sailing in sensitive waters near the island…

China's state-owned shipping giant COSCO uses concealed equipment on board its ships to spy on military communications near the coastlines of target nations including the U.S., two senior Trump administration officials said.The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. assessment of the Chinese program, said COSCO has a decades-long intelligence-collection partnership with Beijing. The arrangement allows China to collect communication signals from vessels and aircraft operating across Europe…

An explosion at a shipyard in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian on Thursday killed one fire and rescue worker, local authorities said.A fire broke out at 1:09 p.m.

"In the first half of 2026, Chinese iron ore mining fell by 7% y/y due to a 6% y/y increase in iron ore net imports and weaker steel production. The country is increasingly sourcing its iron ore from abroad because it is often of higher grade and competitively priced. Iron ore net imports now account for 57% of China’s iron ore supply compared to 50% in the first half of 2022,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.While China’s iron ore supply slightly increased in the first half of 2026, demand from steel mills weakened.

Taiwan's government has condemned "dangerous" planned Chinese navy drills with an Indonesian warship off the island's east coast, saying Beijing was trying to create a false impression to the international community that it controls those waters.China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and in June began coast guard patrols off the island's east coast, causing anger in Taipei and concern in Washington and some other Western capitals.China's defense ministry said on Tuesday the drill…

Russia's state nuclear giant Rosatom, operator of the Northern Sea Route via the Arctic, said on Friday it had issued permits for seven Chinese transit vessels to sail to Europe via the NSR.Chinese container company Sea Legend Shipping plans to launch the first regular container service to Europe via the NSR, Alexei Likhachev, Rosatom's head, said."Unlike previous container shipments via the Northern Sea Route, which were largely experimental or one-off in nature, the 2026 programme provides for a fully-fledged regular service with vessels sailing every week throughout the navigation season."

China's foreign ministry on Friday said it firmly opposed and would never accept the Philippines' establishment of "baselines" around Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, calling the move "illegal and invalid" and a serious violation of China's territorial sovereignty.Scarborough Shoal, known in China as Huangyan Dao and in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc, is claimed by both countries.Manila earlier this week deposited its official nautical chart of Scarborough Shoal with the United Nations…

China's military and coast guard conducted patrols in the airspace and waters near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Thursday, separate statements showed.Tensions have recently flared between China and the Philippines amid repeated maritime disputes and confrontations in the South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely as its own despite overlapping claims by Southeast Asian nations.China's Coast Guard said in a statement it took necessary measures, including a verbal warning, blocking and water cannon shooting in accordance with the law and regulations to expel i

The foreign ministers of the Philippines and China met in Manila on Wednesday and both made "strong" protests over an encounter between the two countries' vessels this week in contested South China Sea waters.The Philippine foreign affairs secretary, Maria Theresa Lazaro, said in an X post that she reiterated the protest over what she called "unacceptable actions against Filipino personnel", while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was quoted by an official readout as lodging a…

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will summon China's ambassador in Manila, his office said on Tuesday, hours after Manila's envoy in Beijing was similarly summoned following accusations by both sides of provoking tensions in the contested South China Sea.Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro confirmed to reporters Marcos had summoned Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan at 5 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, China's foreign ministry said it summoned…

Taiwan's maritime sovereignty cannot be "violated" by Chinese efforts to create a false impression of jurisdiction, the island's coast guard said after China ended a patrol off its eastern shores.China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, was angered after Japan and the Philippines said last month they would begin formal talks on their maritime boundaries, viewing that as involving waters off Taiwan.Late on Saturday, Chinese state media reported that…

Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV) has announced the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey Guo as Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, and Maciej Lepicki as Vice President, Greater China, effective June 1, 2026.As Senior Vice President for Asia Pacific, Jeffrey succeeds Alex Gregg-Smith, who was appointed President of BV Marine & Offshore in January 2026. He will oversee the strategic development and operational management of BV's maritime business across the region, with responsibility for market growth…

Myanmar's new government aims to complete within roughly eight years a contentious $3.6 billion dam project at Myitsone in northern Kachin state, said two sources with knowledge of comments by Khet Htein Nan, who leads the state administration.The comments came after junta chief turned president Min Aung Hlaing returned from a visit last month to China, which has long sought to build the massive hydropower project in the northermost province of the war-torn country."It will begin shortly…

A vessel carrying U.S. liquefied natural gas has sailed directly from the U.S. to China for the first time since trade tensions between Washington and Beijing effectively halted direct shipments, vessel-tracking data showed.However, analysts say it may never enter China as the terminal's bonded storage facilities allow re-exports without import duties.Carrying a cargo loaded in early June from U.S. energy firm Venture Global LNG's VG.N Plaquemines export plant in Louisiana, the…

China's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the Taiwanese defence ministry said, the first such mission in the sensitive waterway since April.Taiwan, which Beijing views as its territory, reports almost daily Chinese military activity around the island in what Taipei views as an ongoing pressure campaign against the democratically elected government.In a brief statement, the ministry said the Fujian had passed through the strait.The military used "joint intelligence…

The United States, Britain, France and Germany raised the alarm on Wednesday over recent Chinese activities off the east coast of Taiwan, where China has mounted Coast Guard patrols, saying they threaten regional stability and freedom of navigation.China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, sent Coast Guard ships earlier in June into the waters off the island's east coast for what it called a "special maritime traffic law-enforcement operation," angering…

China's military test-fired a missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the Pacific on Monday, state media reported, drawing criticism and concern from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan.A People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy submarine launched the missile, carrying a dummy warhead, toward international waters in the Pacific at 12:01 p.m. (0401 GMT), the official Xinhua news agency said.Xinhua described the launch as a "routine arrangement" of China's annual military training and not directed against any specific country or target.

The Middle East crisis cast a shadow over a diplomatic gathering in Southeast Asia on Tuesday, where foreign ministers voiced serious concern over renewed hostilities that add to uncertainty in a region grappling to manage tensions and conflicts of its own.Foreign ministers from the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and major partners have meetings in Manila this week against a backdrop of instability since the U.S. and Iran resumed open conflict, raising fears about energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz…

Japan Engine Corporation (J-ENG) engine licensees in China, Guangzhou Diesel Engine Factory (GDF) and Zhejiang Yungpu Diesel Engine (YDE), are expanding their UE engine manufacturing capacity in response to the strong engine demand in China's rapidly growing shipbuilding market.GDF has completed its new Guangzhou factory (Guangdong Province, China) which has been fully operational since October 2025. Furthermore, GDF is planning to expand its facilities at its Jingjiang factory (Jiangsu Province…

“In June 2026, global coal shipments jumped 14% y/y, driven by a 41% y/y increase in coal shipments to China, as the country looked to offset weaker domestic supply and to meet higher demand from electricity generation. Since the start of the year, global coal shipments have risen 3% y/y, a reversal of last year’s trend, when they fell 4% y/y,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.So far this year, coal shipments to China have fallen 3% y/y, only accelerating from May 2026.

Saudi Arabia's crude oil sales to China are expected to stay at record lows in July as elevated prices in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continue to weigh on demand from the world's largest crude importer, sources familiar with the matter said.The allocations, closely watched by market participants as a gauge of Chinese demand, indicate that refiners remain reluctant to import high-priced barrels following run cuts and as they draw on domestic inventories.Saudi crude shipments also remain somewhat constrained by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz…