Lula’s Special Adviser Celso Amorim Visits China as Beijing Highlights “High Level of Political Trust”
On 16 September, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Brazilian President Lula’s Special Adviser Celso Amorim in Beijing, where Amorim delivered a letter from Lula to Xi Jinping. Wang called for stronger strategic coordination between China and Brazil and closer cooperation within the Global South. The two sides discussed bilateral ties and cooperation in artificial intelligence, supercomputing, space and critical minerals. Beijing reiterated its principle of non-interference in Brazil’s internal affairs and expressed hope that the country’s elections will proceed in a stable and peaceful manner.
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US$10.8 Billion Pinglu Canal Opens, Cutting 560 Kilometres from Southwest China’s Sea Route
Thirty general cargo ships made the first transits on 16 September, sailing from ports in Nanning and Qinzhou, Guangxi. The 134.2-kilometre waterway cost 72.7 billion yuan (US$10.8 billion) and can accommodate vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes. As part of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the canal connects China’s inland river network with the Beibu Gulf, shortening routes to the sea by more than 560 kilometres. Guangxi authorities expect logistics costs to fall by 18 to 30 percent. China and ASEAN have been each other’s largest trading partners for six consecutive years, with trade rising 18.2 percent in the first half of 2026.
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Hong Kong Unveils First Five-Year Plan, Targeting 3% of GDP for Innovation After 2030
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee presented the city’s first five-year plan to the Legislative Council on 16 September. Priorities include accelerating the Northern Metropolis, a technology-focused development near Shenzhen planned for 2.5 million residents and 650,000 jobs. The plan also targets an increase in domestic expenditure on innovation activities from 1.63 percent of GDP in 2024 to 3 percent after 2030. Lee said the plan sets out a strategic direction rather than a planned economy.
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State Council Orders Hazard Checks in Key Industries After Qingdao Shipyard Fire Kills 25
Premier Li Qiang chaired the cabinet meeting in Beijing on Friday 11 September. Accidents had ‘occurred frequently in recent times, with profound lessons to be learned’, the meeting said. It ordered an in-depth investigation into the causes and resolute action against violations of laws and regulations. The session also reviewed computing networks and the upgrading of ageing reservoirs, and approved a draft revision to the Regulation on the Administration of Foundations.
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QatarEnergy Pays US$4 Billion for Bul Hanine Project, China’s Largest Offshore Contract Abroad
Fabrication began on 15 September at a Qingdao base in Shandong province, where a CNOOC subsidiary cut the first steel. COOEC is prime contractor for more than 60 offshore facilities and 40 subsea pipelines and cables, plus over 130,000 tonnes of steel. QatarEnergy is paying for the entire chain, from design and procurement to offshore installation and commissioning, with completion scheduled for mid-2031.
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Cost-Accounting Rules Make Below-Cost Selling Measurable, Pushing Firms from Price to Quality
The National Development and Reform Commission and the market regulator released the notice on 10 September. Whether a producer has sold below cost is judged in principle against its individual cost for the specific product. Where that cannot be calculated, industry associations work out an industry average, and a certain downward margin is allowed. Existing law barred low-price dumping without saying how to calculate it, and the aim is competition on quality and innovation.
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Carbon Market Expands Beyond Power to Steel, Cement and Aluminium, Reaching 3,680 Emitters
Heavy industry entered the national scheme for the first time in 2025, ending a single-sector design in place since July 2021. Around 8.3 billion tonnes of CO2 now fall under the market, more than 65 percent of the national total. Annual trading volume hit a record 235 million tonnes in 2025, up 24.36 percent year on year. All major industrial sectors are due to join by 2027.
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Digital Village Plan Sets Eight 2030 Targets Spanning Farm Technology and Rural Livelihoods
The Cyberspace Administration of China and two ministries released the five-year roadmap on 11 September. Its 24 tasks across five areas run from smart breeding and seed production zones to village delivery stations. Digital education, digital healthcare and digital finance carry equal weight in the text. Rural internet penetration is set to reach 75 percent by 2030, and county cultural centres to run 170,000 online activities, up from 151,600.
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AI Security Governance Framework 3.0 Released as Beijing Police Warn of Voice-Cloning Fraud
The 2026 Cybersecurity Week opened on 14 September in Jinan, east China’s Shandong province, themed on safeguarding cybersecurity in the intelligent era. Version 3.0 of the AI security governance framework was released at the opening ceremony. Beijing police warned in the same week that fraudsters keep silent on calls to capture a few seconds of speech, then clone the answerer’s voiceprint with AI to ask relatives for money. Officers advise saying nothing, counting to three and hanging up.
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China Presents First Far-Side Lunar Sample to UN in Vienna for Permanent Public Display
Chang’e-6 collected 1,935.3 grams from the South Pole-Aitken Basin in 2024, material no earlier mission had reached. A piece of that return was presented to the United Nations in Vienna on 14 September 2026. The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs director, Aarti Holla-Maini, said the rare far-side material now ‘belongs to everyone’. Permanent display puts it before thousands of students, delegates and visitors each year.
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Embodied Intelligence Robot Technician Gains Official Status as China Drafts Skill Standards
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released the latest batch of new roles on 9 September, adding 11 occupations and 23 job specialties. Five of the 11 are classified as digital occupations and three as green, lifting national totals to 113 and 142. National standards will follow, guiding vocational education, skills training and talent assessment. The ministry expects a sizable shortage of digitally skilled workers, and says recognition will spur training.
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World’s First Pterosaur Museum Opens on Xinjiang’s Gobi with 3D Eggs and Embryos
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) researchers spent more than two decades on rescue excavations in the fossil-rich Hami region. Their finds went on display on 13 September in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, including the world’s first three-dimensionally preserved pterosaur eggs and embryos. Six oval halls cover 4,600 square metres and, seen from above, resemble a clutch of eggs in the desert. The exhibits recreate life roughly 130 million years ago, now open to the public.
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Sirens and 14 Bell Strikes Mark 95 Years Since the September 18 Incident
The commemoration opened on Friday morning at the torn calendar-page monument in Shenyang. Japanese forces caused an explosion nearby in 1931, blamed Chinese troops and attacked them. The warning bell was struck once for each of the 14 years of resistance that followed. Cities across Liaoning province then sounded three-minute air-raid sirens at 9:18 a.m., and drivers stopped and pressed their horns.
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