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NEWS IN CHINA

• China and South Korea Commit to Deeper Strategic Partnership: Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung held a phone conversation reaffirming the importance of their bilateral relationship. President Xi congratulated Lee on his election and emphasized that a stable and strengthening China–South Korea relationship serves the interests of both peoples and contributes to regional and global peace and prosperity. Xi underscored the importance of upholding the core principles of their diplomatic foundation, good-neighborly friendship, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation, as a means to deepen their strategic cooperative partnership. He called for increased engagement across sectors to build mutual trust, strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and safeguard multilateralism, free trade, and the resilience of regional and global supply chains. Xi also advocated for deeper cultural exchanges to enhance mutual understanding and reinforce the long-standing friendship between the two countries. He stressed the importance of respecting each other’s core interests to maintain a healthy and stable relationship. President Lee echoed these views, citing the historical, geographical, and cultural ties that bind South Korea and China. He praised China’s development under Xi’s leadership and reaffirmed his commitment to advancing good-neighborly relations, improving public sentiment, and achieving greater results through enhanced cooperation.
  
  
• Premier Li Qiang Urges Accelerated Sci-Tech Transformation: Chinese Premier Li Qiang has stressed the urgent need to accelerate the conversion of scientific and technological breakthroughs into practical applications, calling it essential for innovation-driven development. Speaking at a State Council study session, Li described this transformation as the “last mile” linking innovation with industry, key to generating new products, industries, and growth drivers behind emerging quality productive forces. He called for better coordination of innovation resources, deeper institutional reforms, and stronger alignment between supply and demand to boost the integration of technological and industrial innovation. Emphasizing real-world economic and social impact, Li urged greater support for enterprises leading innovation, including their participation in national science and technology projects and the large-scale deployment of homegrown technologies. To enable this shift, Li also underlined the need for a more supportive ecosystem, with improved policies and market services.
  
  
• China Advocates for Inter-Civilizational Dialogue: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized China's commitment to advancing human progress through equitable dialogue, cultural exchange, and the rejection of civilizational superiority during the first International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations. Global events, including exhibitions and youth symposiums—marked the occasion, underscoring the importance of intercultural understanding. UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted dialogue as essential for mutual understanding and global solidarity, urging efforts to bridge divisions. Experts noted that in a time of global uncertainty, the day offers a platform to move "beyond conflict" and embrace civilizational diversity as a collective human asset. The day is rooted in China’s Global Civilization Initiative, which advocates mutual respect among civilizations, shared human values, and enhanced people-to-people ties, standing in direct contrast to the "clash of civilizations" narrative.
  
  
• Huawei CEO Acknowledges Chip Gap, Emphasizes Long-Term Strategy: Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei has admitted that the company’s advanced chips remain “one generation behind” their U.S. counterparts. However, in a recent interview, he voiced strong confidence in Huawei’s long-term strategy to overcome these challenges through innovation and sustained investment in fundamental research. Ren explained that Huawei is exploring alternative approaches beyond Moore’s Law, applying advanced mathematics and novel computing architectures to close the gap. One key strategy is cluster computing, which links multiple chips to boost overall performance. This is exemplified by Huawei’s new AI CloudMatrix 384 system, which integrates 384 Ascend 910C chips and reportedly matches or exceeds Nvidia’s performance in certain benchmarks. He also revealed that about one-third of Huawei’s annual R&D budget, 180 billion yuan ($25 billion), is allocated to foundational theoretical research, deliberately insulated from short-term performance pressures.
  
  
• Beijing Prosecutors Ramp Up Environmental Protection with High-Tech Solutions: Beijing’s prosecuting authority is significantly intensifying its efforts to protect the environment, harnessing advanced technologies to enhance efficiency and impact. Since 2023, prosecutors in the capital have handled nearly 3,000 public interest environmental cases, with a strong emphasis on promoting green development, safeguarding farmland, and regulating pollution-heavy sectors such as the car-washing industry. To address persistent challenges in evidence collection and field investigations, prosecutors are turning to data-driven and intelligent strategies. Over the past year, they have developed more than 40 big data models, which have helped identify over 3,000 environmental violation leads, accounting for 80% of all such clues discovered. These initiatives have delivered tangible results: over 600 acres of degraded land have been restored, 35,000 tons of waste have been cleared, and more than 20 polluting enterprises have been shut down or cleaned up. 

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Apple’s “Liquid Glass” Redesign Draws Backlash in China: Apple’s newly unveiled “Liquid Glass” software redesign has encountered a chilly reception among mainland Chinese consumers. Despite the unified branding across its operating systems, Chinese users have taken to social media to express dissatisfaction, with hashtags like “iOS26 Ugly” trending on Weibo. This negative sentiment is having real consequences: some users are now reconsidering plans to upgrade their iPhones. The backlash comes at a difficult time for Apple in China, where the brand faces mounting pressure from several fronts. Intensifying competition from domestic tech giants like Huawei, coupled with a slowing economy and reduced government subsidies, is weighing heavily on iPhone sales, which analysts expect to decline further. Adding to consumer frustration is Apple’s lag in delivering artificial intelligence features. While Apple has announced a high-profile partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT, most of these AI capabilities are either restricted or unavailable in China due to regulatory hurdles. In stark contrast, local brands have swiftly rolled out AI-powered services tailored to the Chinese market.

INDIA WATCH

India's Growth Forecast Remains High Despite Challenges, SCMP Reports: An article in South China Morning Post has reported that India is set to maintain its position as the world's fastest-growing major economy this year, largely thanks to a significant interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The article noted that this unexpected 50-basis-point cut and a one-percentage-point reduction in the cash reserve ratio are projected to inject around US$ 29.15 billion into the banking system, boosting consumption and investment. Despite challenges like military tensions with Pakistan and global trade uncertainties, analysts anticipated that India will achieve 6.5-7% growth in the current financial year (ending March 2026), following a robust 7.4% GDP expansion in the January-March quarter. This growth trajectory is expected to help India surpass Japan as the world's fourth-largest economy by the end of this calendar year, the article highlighted. The RBI's proactive easing comes as retail inflation cooled to a near six-year low of 3.16% in April, below the central bank's 4% target. Experts believe India's economy is less vulnerable to global trade tensions due to its strong domestic focus. Furthermore, improvements in infrastructure, a robust financial sector, increased domestic savings, and a burgeoning digital public infrastructure are cited as key drivers for sustained growth and investment.

Prepared By

Maheshwar S Chhaunkar

Maheshwar S Chhaunkar has completed his Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History from Sri Aurobindo College, University of Delhi. He is currently working as an IT Assistant at CENJOWS. His areas of interest include India-China relations, Indo-Pacific affairs and Asian politics.