China news roundup / Nachrichten 2026-06-19/20

about 1 month ago

China's bad consumer debt at $300 billion signals danger to economy

"Analysis from Zhejiang University's Institute of Financial Research said Chinese financial institutions may possess nonperforming personal debt agggregatung to 2 trillion yuan to 3 trillion yuan to dispose of annually.
The estimates suggest that as much as 10.6% of China's 1.1 billion adult population were behind on debt payments at the end of 2025."

--- How is that possible, you wonder? Well...

"On Meituan's delivery platform, some users are instantly preapproved for credit lines up to 300,000 yuan, while ByteDance's Douyin carries ads offering “funds in 30 seconds.” On bike-sharing apps, low-interest loan offers scroll across the bottom of phone screens."

--- Modern technology makes it easy and to the simpler minds among the people this may be some kind of temptation.

"Hu Jing, a 23-year-old waitress in Shanghai, saw her debt troubles begin three years ago with a cosmetic procedure. Spurred by peers and online promotions that framed the borrowing cost as “just 50 yuan a day,” she took out a 30,000-yuan installment loan arranged by Meituan.
Hu, who was earning 8,000 yuan a month at the time, assumed the debt would be easily manageable so she borrowed more to fund subsequent Botox and skin treatments, eventually missing payments. As her financial strain grew, lending engines offered a risky lifeline: her mobile apps began popping up with fresh credit offers, encouraging her to take out new loans simply to service her existing monthly debt.
When Hu subsequently lost her job, the financial math fell apart. Her current position pays half of her previous salary. She now owes more than 100,000 yuan ($14,800) in overdue debt, and regrets not recognizing the pitfalls sooner."

--- And that's how it goes. Mind you, lots of people have lost their job in the current economic climate.
Or have to live with a salary much lower than what they were used to, or what they expected after university.

"Those with stronger repayment ability are unwilling to borrow amid economic uncertainty and declining household wealth, while more vulnerable groups are taking on excessive debt"

--- Extremely good news for the economy.

EU leaders demand von der Leyen tools up against China

""Everyone believes we need measures to reduce our dependence," Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told POLITICO after the summit concluded. "And the subsidies provided in China—that’s not fair. We need a response to that. The Commission intends to propose measures, and we’ll continue to discuss this.”
He said it was an "urgent matter.""

--- Or what the EU calls an urgent matter.

"There will be a “short term analysis of existing tools and how to be used in a more efficient way,” a second official said, stressing that developing new tools would take time to deliver and then get through the legislative process."

--- Which will only take a couple of years, I'm sure.

EU to propose diversification law to drive de-risking from China

"Von der Leyen said the Commission will propose a measure to promote diversification because businesses had de-risked at far too slow a pace."

--- Not a fan of new laws. But in this case it's probably necessary. Because European companies just don't care. As long as it's cheap, they buy from China.
And why is that bad, you ask?

China’s key minerals exports to Japan stay at low levels in May

"Exports of some key types of tungsten, as well as rare-earths dysprosium and terbium, stayed at zero in May, according to Chinese customs data. Some other rare-earth categories were also at unusually low levels."

--- There is your answer!

China says to impose 55% levy on Australian beef after quota hit

"The Commerce Ministry said on Friday that “imports of beef from Australia under the beef safeguard measure reached 100 percent of the prescribed volume for that country” a day earlier.
The additional 55 percent tariff would be levied on Australian beef imports from Saturday, it said."

--- Which is totally okay when China does it to others. But if other countries do it to China, it's completely evil and unfair.

The US says ASML’s top chip tool may be in China, but how?

"It’s a serious claim. Senior administration officials told Bloomberg they have evidence that ASML shipped EUV-related components and transport equipment to China, though they’ve declined, repeatedly, to show it — to Bloomberg or, apparently, to ASML itself. The company says no such machine exists in China and has never existed there. The Commerce Department didn’t respond to Bloomberg’s questions about whether it has evidence of an actual EUV system on Chinese soil."

--- Evidence. Who needs evidence. This is the Trump administration.

"The government hasn’t yet made its evidence public, and it’s worth withholding judgment until it does."

--- Yep. Atlhough:

"Does that have anything to do with why Lutnick is suddenly pressing ASML on EUV? Nothing public connects the two. It could be entirely unrelated. But a federal official scrutinizing a monopoly while his own agency has money riding on a startup angling to improve that monopoly’s core technology is worth examining."

--- With Trump and his cronies, this is not improbable.

China says it will take countermeasures to new Taiwan intelligence gathering site

Germany blurs defence lines with bet on Philippines’ old US base

--- China Uncensored featured the usual weekend news variety again:

--- Firstpost: "How China Stole Russian Technology to Become the Second-Biggest Air Force"

Schutz vor China, aber nur keine Provokation

"Schützen ja, aber der wichtige Handelspartner soll auch nicht verprellt werden. Mit wie viel Vorsicht die EU agiert, zeigt sich auch daran, dass das Wort China auf der Tagesordnung der EU-Beratungen gar nicht auftauchte"

--- Scheint sich um einen Haufen von Weicheiern zu handeln in Brüssel.

"Als Ergebnis der Beratungen wurde die EU-Kommission aufgefordert, zunächst zu prüfen, wie weitere Abwehrmechanismen überhaupt aussehen könnten, wie ARD-Korrespondent Feld weiter berichtet. Danach solle entschieden werden, ob und wie zusätzliche Schutzmaßnahmen angewendet werden sollen."

--- Wir diskutieren erst einmal. Dann prüfen wir. Dann diskutieren wir noch einmal. Und dann müssen wir natürlich noch einmal prüfen, ob wir weiter diskutieren sollen.

"Eine Mehrheit der EU-Staaten pocht zudem darauf, den Gesprächsfaden mit China nicht abreißen zu lassen. Der "konstruktive Dialog mit unseren wichtigsten Wirtschaftspartnern" solle fortgesetzt werden, "um unsere wirtschaftlichen und sicherheitspolitischen Interessen zu verteidigen". Wieder ohne explizite Nennung Chinas."

--- Die Angst regiert.

Bremst Deutschland beim Schutz vor Chinas Übermacht?

"Kanzler Friedrich Merz (CDU) deutete bei seiner Regierungserklärung vergangenen Woche eine härtere Gangart nur an - ohne China beim Namen zu nennen."

--- Wo wir gerade bei Weicheiern waren...

EU-Gipfel in Brüssel: Sorry, das reicht wirklich noch nicht!

"Vor allem hat die Regierung, auf die viele schauen, endlich mal eine Meinung: Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz erklärte nach dem Treffen, dass Europa schon selbst Hausaufgaben zu erledigen habe: »Wenn andere besser sind als wir, dann müssen wir uns anstrengen, wieder gut zu werden.« Aber er sprach auch von Wettbewerbsverzerrungen im globalen Handel, »die wir nicht einfach hinnehmen wollen«: etwa künstlich niedrig gehaltene Währungen oder hohe Subventionen in ganzen Branchen, »die damit Märkte überfluten«. Und schließlich unterzeichnete er mit zehn anderen EU-Mitgliedsstaaten noch eine Erklärung, in der es gelte »die Naivität gegenüber den langfristigen Ambitionen Chinas zu beenden«."

--- Dass der sich das traut...