Why is Gaza ceasefire becoming increasingly fragile?
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Hello and welcome to World Today, I'm Zhao Ying. Coming up, China has unveiled new measures to boost consumer spending and foreign investment. How effective are they in driving economic growth? Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Britain and co-chair a strategic dialogue between the two countries. What can we expect?

Hamas is suspending the upcoming hostage release, citing Israel's violation of the ceasefire agreement. We take a closer look at the volatile situation.

China has unveiled measures to boost domestic consumption during a State Council executive meeting hosted by Premier Li Qian. The meeting called for strong support to increase household incomes, promote reasonable wage growth, broaden property-related income channels, and enhance consumption capacities. It also highlighted the importance of expanding consumption in the culture, sport, and tourism sectors.

The meeting also urged more practical measures to stabilize and expand foreign investment. For more, we are joined by Professor Liu Baocheng, Director of the Center for International Business Ethics at University of International Business and Economics. So first of all, how does boosting domestic consumption fit into China's broader economic vision? Well, among the

typical three pillars to drive the GDP growth, export, investment, and conception, in which the conception is taking a leadership role in boosting the Chinese economy. It seems that our government has also shifted the gear from the investment-driven economy now into a conception-driven economy.

This is because Chinese economy is

going through a rapid transformation into a high quality growth model. And in the meanwhile, we also face some of the geopolitical uncertainties. So therefore, shifting and also encouraging domestic consumption is now being prioritized to enhance the Chinese, the

resilience, and also the level of entitlement for people's livelihood, which is the core mission of the Communist Party leadership. While the meeting called for increasing household incomes and promoting wage growth, what specific measures do you think will be the most effective in achieving this?

I think there are short-term strategy and the fact is that by giving more of the fiscal stimulus package for the households conception, for example, simply by providing coupons and also the test cuts for the individuals and also the small and medium-sized enterprises. So definitely they are going to spend more.

And then the wage growth, particularly by increasing the threshold of minimum wage, can also help. And then the labor market, by the protection of what is today popularly known as the gig economy workers,

and also the subscription, the conception, and this can really help. But ultimately, I could see that they, again, to encourage more of the private sector because they are the main provider of job opportunities.

so that they will create more job, more of the prospect for the increase of people's wage. So these are really the

automated solution. While the meeting emphasized expanding consumption in culture, sports and tourism, what opportunities do you see in these sectors and how can they contribute to overall economic growth? In terms of the cultural consumption, there's increasing digital entertainment and also the online streaming. Now the film is also getting more of the rapid growth.

the sports industries, you know,

a creative one like esports, fitness, and some of the outdoor recreations, they are also getting popularity. Tourism, over the spring festival, we see that many of those cultural relics do not only attract the domestic tourists, but also foreign tourists has also very much surged.

So, the local governments and also the smaller businesses are also coming up to build the niche sectors like the cultural heritage experience and driving experience.

These sectors really support the service sector expansion. They create the job opportunity and also they gave people a lot more fun and even with delight. Yeah, and also the snow and ice industry and inbound tourism were specifically mentioned during the meeting. So how do you think China can leverage its natural and cultural resources to attract both domestic and international tourists?

I think one is to expand the infrastructure and completely upgrade some of the resources. They need to also be more creative in the level of service, in the type of events, and also they need to engage in the

promotion and also sports education because this is accessible very easily with online service. And then, you know, to attract foreign tourists, the easing visa does really create a huge positive impact to attract the foreign tourism into China. And then the

There can be a lot more of the promotion programs to showcase some of the unique regional traditions, like Harbin's Ice Festival. And then, you know, to leverage on AI, on the virtual reality and some smart services that can also give people confidence.

quite delight and inspiration to be able to boost their tourist enthusiasm. Well, the government is strengthening support for the Consumer Goods Trade-In Program. How effective do you think this program is in stimulating demand for new products?

The trading program for cars, the household appliances, and even mobile phones and other electronics, they can boost the consumption by giving people a fresh experience of buying more.

it can quickly expedite their change of different versions, different generations of the products. Chinese government also aims to align with the boosting of the such sort of conceptions or trading by offering more of the

green products so that they are able to reduce those the environmentally unfriendly products and less efficient products. So this in turn will give the supply side a quite a boost because it is after all the conception that is there to drive further innovation and also to test how competitive different the providers will be.

So I think another very important thing is really to build the consumer trust. So the consumer protection agencies can also be

more readily available to give the consumers protection over their consumption rights and also to get some of the recourse for shorted products. Well, the meeting emphasized the need to accelerate the development of new consumption models. So with advancements in technology and also with people's shifting mindsets,

What new consumption models do you believe are emerging in China and how might these reshape consumer behavior in the coming years? Well, I think the trendsetter would be in two lines. One is the green transformation. The other is the digital transformation. So this is there to converge.

the many of those new operational models like the real-time interactive shopping through the live streaming e-commerce

artificial intelligence and personalized shopping so that the machines can really offer more of the recommendations to customize to people's individual needs and also to enhance the retail efficiency.

And popularly now, there's also a subscription economy. It grows in the digital content, the mobility services, and also some of the smart home subscriptions.

After all, it is really the conception experience that's there to have the final say with regard to what products are more popular and what type of loyalty the particular brands can really shape among the market.

Premier Li also emphasized the importance of stabilizing foreign investment. What steps do you think China can take to reassure foreign investors? This is really a crucial time to stress on this because there has been some negative voices against the foreign companies in China. They feel that Chinese companies are able to make similar products. So therefore, why do we have so many

the multinational companies in China. So therefore, I think Premier Li pointed out a very important fact that to attract foreign investment, to be able to contribute to the Chinese high quality growth and new productivity force is still a very important policy pillar. And what is needed is that we need to provide more of the policy

transparency, and also cohesiveness, predictability. And then the other is to provide a better market access for existing companies and also the companies who are ready to penetrate into the Chinese market.

by lowering the restrictions in some of the key industries, from the manufacturing sector to the finance sector to technology sector to some of the formerly defined as sensitive areas, because now we have more confidence with our capability to be able to compete and also to be able to regulate.

And then legal protection for intellectual property rights, and also to provide a more efficient and fair dispute resolution mechanism is also to give the investors more of the certainties, and then to continue to strengthen Chinese unique

competitiveness in a manufacturing hub and to entrench the Chinese supply resilience, also there to be important to provide a better synergy with foreign companies investing in China. So therefore, in the end, you know, to encourage with the tangible incentives

for modern nationals to work with China to establish more of the IT centers to upgrade the technology together with China to benefit the consumer. And these are also very important measures to attract the foreign investors. That is Professor Liu Baocheng, Director of the Center for International Business Ethics at University of International Business and Economics. This is World Today. Stay with us.

You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will embark on an overseas trip that will bring him to Europe, North America and Africa.

Wang will visit the UK and co-chair the 10th China-UK Strategic Dialogue. He will also visit Ireland and attend the 61st Munich Security Conference in Germany. The Chinese foreign minister will later chair a UN Security Council high-level event on multilateralism and global governance in New York. After that, he will attend the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. The whole trip will run from February 12 to 21st.

For more, we are joined by Dr. Cui Hongjian, professor with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Thanks for joining us, Dr. Cui. Hi. So we know that during his visit to the UK, Wang Yi will co-chair a China-UK strategic dialogue, which hasn't been held since 2018. So how significant is the resumption of this dialogue?

Also, in a normal situation between China and the UK, they do have a lot of high-level exchange, including in their financial and the economy and also strategic and the people-to-people. Also, in the past several years, because of the, especially there's some negative influence from the British side,

So not yet. I mean, there is a continuing and healthy exchange between two countries. So I think at this time, Minister Wang and his counterpart will have this high-level strategic dialogue between China and the UK. It could be a very, very positive message to both two countries that both two governments try to help China

the relations between two countries go back to a healthy normal situation. Also, you know, this function of the high level strategic dialogue could be, you know, to deal with some, you know, foreign policy and security and international relations, some other. I think it could be a very, very important

symbol for both the countries to find out the high level position between the two major countries

I'll see a permanent member of the Security Council in the United Nations. Hopefully, once there is a successful exchange on a strategic level, it will give some more variable environment and also a guideline for some other exchanges between two countries.

Yeah, so what issues do you think will on top of their agenda? Like what areas of cooperation do you think will be prioritized in their discussions?

As usual, during the strategic dialogue, those countries will focus on some bilateral relations and foreign policy and also some regional and global issues. And especially as we know, there are a lot of issues that could be touched by both two countries, including the Ukrainian crisis and

and also Middle East crisis and even some Asia and Pacific issue. Once the British side tried to raise some questions, I think it could get some more positive response from Chinese side. And also, yes, this dialogue will

We will also try to find out some more positive points, especially from previous dialogue between two countries and the financial economy. I think the financial cooperation and also industry cooperation and even this people-to-people contact

How could it go back to a normal situation? All of these fundamental issues could be on the table. But of course, I think that many of the current issues like regional and global security could be a very important issue in this regard.

Well, back in November, Chinese President Xi Jinping met British Prime Minister Erich Stammer on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil, where Stammer pledged to be a predictable and pragmatic partner. How do we understand this?

Indeed, as we understand for the past several years, especially on the administration of a conservative party from the UK, indeed there are a lot of unpredictable situations in relations between China and the UK, especially when we know that these relations

has had a lot of change from a kind of golden era promise from both two countries and to a very difficult situation. So yes, I think that

the Star Mail government tried to change the previous policy by conservative party governments. Indeed, I think that to have some more predictable and positive and programmatic relations could be a very, very important point for these relations. But of course, I think that programmatic would be very, very important now for both the countries. As you know, in recent years,

there are some negative you know influence from media from somewhere for example the law house in the UK they criticize China more and more from a logic you know angle I think it will keep up very very negative impact on this about relations so how could those two governments get you know consensus to go back to it more

more pragmatic relations could be a very, very big test for the British government. And Wang Yi is also expected to attend the Munich Security Conference in Germany and share China's position on major international issues. And according to a report by the conference, today's world is shifting from US-led unipolarity toward multipolarity. What do you think is driving this shift?

Even as we know, recent years, the multipolar world become a very, very hot issue for most of the countries, especially some non-Western countries. But indeed, I think this time, the Munich Security Conference realized that now multipolar world could be not only a tendency and also the fact.

So I think it could be a kind of progress for this mindset for some of the best countries. But of course, as we know, if we look back to the history, indeed, I would like to say this multi-polarity is one of the products of economic globalization. Once there is globalization in economic and trade, certainly there

there will be some more balancing, you know, wealthy distribution and then certainly there are some more actors that could play a more positive role with more capability. But of course, at the same time, I think that the current or the previous international order could not already out of the date.

because it's not so reasonable. Just a few countries will control most of the resources, most of the power in the world. So I think the other side of the multi-polarity is a democratization of international relations. It's just one of the principles or goals for Chinese foreign policy.

Well, the report also found that while BRICS countries see multipolarity as a path to a fairer, more just and peaceful world, G7 nations are more pessimistic about this shift, and they fear it could increase disorder and conflict. I mean, what do you make of the contrasting perceptions of multipolarity between Western nations and the global South?

To some degree is natural as we know there are different attitudes from those G7 member states because most of them are at the better economy, better countries and also they do have a different understanding and views from these developing countries represented by the BRICS or some other, you know,

you know, our global South. Also, you know, this kind of democratization of international relations means that perhaps the G7 or some other Western countries, they have to, you know, get some more equal, you know, position with some other long Western countries. And indeed, BRICS and some other global South countries, they regarded themselves

themselves as reformers for this current international order, which means that this change or this reform should start from unequal to equal and also to exclusive to inclusive. So I think certainly it's one of the facts. But on the other side, to some degree, I think this

This pessimistic or optimistic difference could not be a reason that there will be some game. Yeah, thank you, Dr. Chui Hongjian, professor with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University. You're listening to World Today. We'll be back.

You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Hamas is suspending the next release of Israeli hostages, citing Israel's violation of the ceasefire agreement.

Three hostages in Gaza were due to be freed on Saturday in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Israel's defense minister said Hamas's move to halt the hostage release violates the ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump said if Hamas does not release all remaining hostages from Gaza by Saturday, Israel should cancel the ceasefire.

For more on this, we are joined by Dr. Zhang Chuchu, Deputy Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Fudan University. Dr. Zhang, thanks for joining us. So Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement. What specific violations are being referred to and how credible are these allegations?

Well, as we can see, Hamas said Israel had violated the terms of the ceasefire by, for instance, not allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, carrying out strikes across the Gaza Strip and failing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid.

I think now one big challenge regarding this issue is that the two sides have very different interpretations of the agreement. And in fact, it is not uncommon to see Hamas and Israel blaming each other to violate agreements. They did a lot of this. They had a lot of this kind of actions before. And right now, I think this can further worsen the security situation in Gaza.

Well, I mean, Israel, on the other hand, has called Hamas's announcement a complete violation of the ceasefire. What are we to make of Israel's position here?

Right. As you said, Israeli defense ministers said the postmortem was a complete violation of the ceasefire agreement and instructed the Israeli military to be on the highest level of alert. So this shows that Israel adopts a hotline position and it tries to attribute the suspension of the ceasefire to Hamas also.

sends the signal that it is prepared for escalation of conflicts. So I think what is concerning here is that the two sides are busy blaming each other instead of focusing on negotiations. And this can lead to further escalation of tension. Yeah, but actually in the meantime, Hamas has said the door remains open for the next round of releases if Israel meets its obligations.

How would you interpret this? And also, what immediate risk do you think the suspension poses to the ceasefire that is already very fragile?

Well, there are a lot of risks and also it is indeed the ceasefire is very fragile. Personally, I'm not very surprised by this outcome because a closer look at the ceasefire agreement reveals that Hamas and Israel only agreed on some of the content in the first phase with very significant differences regarding the second and third phases. So as a result, when the ceasefire moves to the later stages, the contradictions between the two sides

are very likely to become more pronounced. So currently, by claiming that the door remains open for the next round of releases, if Israel meets its obligations, I think Hamas aims to show that it doesn't want people to think it is the one who broke the deal. But in any case, the suspension has brought more uncertainties at the moment. Yeah. And also, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to cancel the ceasefire if all hostages are not returned by Saturday. And he warned that all hell will break out.

How might his rhetoric influence Hamas's calculations or further escalate tensions in the region?

Well, I would say that this kind of rhetoric does have an impact. And actually, this is why Hamas does not want to create an impression that itself violates the ceasefire agreement first, because that will give Israel an excuse to further enhance its military actions against Hamas. And we should not forget that Netanyahu had this kind of intention in order to maintain his status.

and also prolong his political career. So currently Hamas is worried that after the hostages are released, it will have fewer and fewer bargaining chips. So I think it is now trying to maximize the use of the last remaining hostages to gain more negotiating conditions.

Well, actually, we know that Trump has proposed this idea of the U.S. taking control of Gaza and resettling its population outside of the territory. And he also suggested that he may withhold aid to Jordan and Egypt if they do not cooperate with this plan to resettle the population in these two countries. Do you think those statements have played a key role in complicating the ceasefire negotiations?

Absolutely. So I think the situation will become more and more complicated. Currently, I think you know, there are more than two million residents in the Gaza Strip. And Trump knows clearly that it is impossible to resettle all of these people out of the territory.

So I think by saying so, actually, Trump aims to express his rejection of the two-state solution. And also he's trying to put pressure on a lot of neighboring Arab states, including Jordan, Egypt, and also Saudi Arabia, etc., to force them to make a lot of compromise.

But I think one outcome will be the expansion of the spillover effects of the Gaza war. And also we can see an escalation of tensions between maybe more on Arab states and Israel, particularly if we take into consideration the context where Egypt and Jordan are

already encountering very hard economic times. So it means that if there are new people from Gaza coming in, then it can even further deteriorate the internal problems. So I think this means that the Gaza's post-war political arrangements will definitely cause more contentions.

Well, actually, in the past, Trump has been a vocal critic of U.S. involvement in such kind of nation building and military intervention in the Middle East. Then why do you think he's now proposing a U.S. intervention of this scale? What might be his motivations behind this shift?

Well, I think Donald Trump is known for his fickleness. So actually, he changes his ideas from time to time. Interestingly, shortly after he proposed a U.S. intervention, the White House press secretary claimed that the United States will not send ground troops to Gaza, nor will American taxpayers fund it.

And we should bear in mind that the guideline of Trump's policy is always American first. So I don't think he's prepared to enormously increase his military and financial investment on this issue. I think through this kind of declarations, one intention is to express his unconditional support for Netanyahu in order to strategically deter Iran and also the so-called Middle East resistance

access, at least, and reduce their willingness to confront Israel at the moment. Yeah, but we know that this plan has been widely rejected by regional leaders. So what do you think this would mean for US foreign policy moving forward?

So right now, I think, you know, Trump has a tactic that is he always proposes something which seems to be out. So he always proposes some some some very big ideas. But in the end, he makes change.

And right now, I think he's trying to gain more bargaining chips during his negotiations with different parties in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and Jordan, for instance. And that is why I think this is a very important context. So I think it remains to see how the different parties are going to compromise and negotiate with each other.

Thank you, Dr. Zhang Chuchu, Deputy Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University. You're listening to World Today. Stay with us.

This is World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Foreign investment institutions are increasingly bullish on Chinese assets, with several investment banks predicting strong growth for the Chinese stock market in 2025. Deutsche Bank believes this is the year investors recognize the competitive advantages of China's manufacturing and service sectors. The bank said that Chinese companies are offering better value and often better quality.

Goldman Sachs echoed this sentiment, citing DeepSeek's rise as a significant catalyst for Chinese technology stocks. Analysts say that the global tension on DeepSeek can spur investors to reassess China's innovation capacity. Bank of America also favors Chinese equities, recommending investors go long on Chinese stocks while expressing caution about the U.S. stock market.

For more on this, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Professor Qu Qiang, fellow of the Belt and Road Research Center at Minzu University of China. So, Professor Qu Qiang, thank you very much for joining us. As Chinese company DeepSea continues to capture the attention worldwide, many foreign institutions are bullish on Chinese tech stocks, including the Deutsche Bank, the Goldman Sachs. How do you see this phenomenon?

Well, I think this phenomenon shows that we change people's expectation and a prospect about China. Well, a lot of people are thinking China actually under the trade conflict with America for a very long time. Probably China are losing its edge in technology, innovation and development.

But right now, it shows that Chinese people actually are making a breakthrough and forming a new trend and a new tides of innovation. And also, it shows the whole world that Chinese people can really make it. Just like 60 years ago, like exactly in 1965, we have launched...

our own nuclear bomb. So here is again, after 60 years, we have made a breakthrough in AI, not only as a shoulder by shoulder runner, but also in some areas. We have already been surpassing American AI products and many other breakthroughs in technology like green energy, like autopilot vehicles and the robot technology are also doing the same performances.

So I think that changed people's expectations and made people, make the whole world, especially the investors, rethink and re-evaluate Chinese assets, especially starting from the stock market. What are the main advantages of DeepSeek, do you think? And to what extent does it reflect China's competitiveness in the AI technology?

Well, that's going to be a very long story. Well, number one, I think, is architecture and efficiency. I think DeepSeq has been used in a different large-length model with the MOE and dynamically optimized its computational resources. For example, it can support the

2.56k, the tokens, long transcript processing. And for the chat GBT is only 1.28k. And also, I think the responding speed has been much faster. For example, if you want to

do coding with the chat GBT, you probably were going to spend about 420 microseconds with the chat GBT. But with the deep seek, you only will spend like 350 microseconds. And also about the cost. This is another very, very important benchmark

to distinguish the ChatGBT and DeepSeek because DeepSeek's training to achieve the same level of performance only required 5.5 million US dollars. On the contrary, ChatGBT will spend 500

million US dollars for just one training. And also talking about using the API, the price for the ChatGPT is like 20 to 40 times higher than the DeepSeq. And also, if you're talking about the vertical areas and using a Chinese transcript, everybody knows ChatGPT has been using an English transcript to train their model. So in Chinese performances actually is much less than the DeepSeq.

because DeepSeq has been trained with Chinese transcript. And also in many vertical areas, for example, like financial analyze in the healthcare diagnosis in this area, I think DeepSeq actually outperformed ChatGPT. But also I think these two model have some differences. For example, ChatGPT still have a lot of advantage in open dialogue, in multilingual scenario. But I think DeepSeq has

being more like an expert using its expertise to work for a special scenario for special you know expertise required regions and missions and i think uh for the chat gpt also they used the closed end model but uh the uh deep seek actually used the open source strategy to attract more of the developers community and also support the private deployment

So I think that will make DeepSeek with more of the vitality and a more continuous development in the future. And DeepSeek's low-cost, high-function model boosts the hope for China's AI revolution. So what do you think the AI revolution means for China's economy and also the stock market?

Well, actually, the success of the deep sea means China has become very important to players in the area. We used to be the number two runner after the champion, which is the United States, like the OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. Right now, China has become partially leading runners in many sectors. So actually, we've been running shoulder by shoulder with the United States in multiple fronts already.

And I think with this innovation, the algorithm, actually we can have, you know, we can actually achieve a different way of developing AI in China. So it break down the superstition in the past, which means

you can only by piling up the tons of the GPUs just so that you can make breakthrough in a better model in AI. But China and DeepSeq actually are telling the whole world, you do not have to use this, you use what we call the barbaric or very brutal force to make a breakthrough in AI. You can do it in a very smart and efficient way. And also secondly, I think DeepSeq actually shows the whole world the Chinese AI can actually

be very down to the earth, which means very practical, not only for theoretical use, but right now can be directly used in many scenarios and generate a benefit for many sectors or walks of life. And also, as I just mentioned, they're open source, which means they are more sustainable and also more confident in the future.

That will show the whole world that Chinese high technology industry has been actually showing multiple different advantages. And also, I think, just as I mentioned, it becomes a good example and changes people's expectations not only in AI of China, but also like in EV, in green energy,

in a robot technologies and also in the aerospace and aviation technologies. And all of these are representing a new phase for Chinese technology and manufacturing. And do you think the foreign investors are continuously going to put their money into the Chinese market?

Of course, we have already seen that the Deutsche Bank's prospect and analyzed report has been spreading wildly in many countries, in many markets. And I think right now for the whole Wall Street and also for the European investors and many other emerging markets investors, they've been trying to re-evaluate Chinese assets because

because they used to think Chinese technology has been blocked, sanctioned, has been running in a closed source scenario, in a closed door garden. But now they think, okay, Chinese economy and Chinese technology is actually more opener than we actually thought. So Chinese economy and Chinese technology actually will have a better future, more of the potential than everybody can think. But on the contrary, maybe United States technology is overrated.

For example, do we really need that much of the GPU? Do we really need that much of the NVIDIA product? Or is the CEOs, the so-called tech gurus in America, in Silicon Valley companies, are overpaid? For example, just one CEO salary in OpenAI works the whole development of the full lifecycle cost of the DeepSeq, just one product.

So I think, is that totally worth it? Or are we talking about the wrong evaluation or pricing in American assets? So I think all these are, you know, triggering people's thinking. And not only for China, but also for the whole world, different performances. That is Professor Qu Qian, fellow of the Belt and Road Research Center at Minzhu University of China, speaking with my colleague Zhao Yang. This is World Today. Stay with us.

You're listening to World Today, I'm Zhaoying. Tesla has launched operation of its battery mega factory in Shanghai to manufacture its mega pack batteries. The factory is the first of its kind built by Tesla outside the US and the company's second plant in Shanghai. Construction of the mega factory began in May 2024.

Tesla says the launch of the plan is expected to help the company's energy storage installation capacity grow 50% in 2025. Megapack is a utility-scale battery produced by Tesla. It provides energy storage with an aim to help stabilize the grid and prevent outages. Joining us now in the studio is my colleague Ding Heng. Thanks for being here. Hey, Zhang Yin.

So the construction of this mega factory took just seven months, and that surpasses its 2019 record in building its EV factory in Shanghai. What do you make of this new Tesla speed in China? Well, I would say in terms of efficiency of doing something, there is actually a great level of convergence between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the Chinese government.

Elon Musk very much cares about efficiency, which is why he has been tasked by Donald Trump to increase the US government efficiency. But in the meantime, the Chinese government is also very efficient in terms of pushing through those beneficial programs or projects by mobilizing the right kind of resources.

Back in 2019, Tesla gained various policies of support from Shanghai local authorities ranging from approvals to preferential loans and building its EV factory at the time.

It quickly came online after breaking ground at the start of 2019. And by comparison, for your information, back in the year 2015 and 2016, it actually took twice as long for Tesla's Gigafactory in the US state of Nevada to begin production. This time, we have also seen some staunch support from the Shanghai municipal government.

From Shanghai officials, we have heard comments that vow to help Tesla create a new glory in the energy storage industry and create better conditions to help Tesla's mega-pack batteries to develop domestic and overseas markets. In fact,

One thing I would like to say here is that when Chinese government officials are making promises, usually there will be concrete follow-up actions, that's for sure. Okay, well, according to Tesla, this factory has an annual production capacity of up to 10,000 units and an energy storage scale of nearly 40 gigawatt hours, and that is enough to power 50,000 homes in Shanghai for a year.

What will this factory's capacity bring to Tesla and beyond? Well, I guess we can start from why Tesla decided to develop this mega pack batteries in the first place. They are designed to be deployed by electric utilities to stabilize the grid power.

The electricity stored in these mega-pack batteries can be used, for example, during periods of peak electricity demand or when grid power is disrupted by some natural or man-made factors. So a more flexible power grid is one benefit.

In the meantime, because some renewable green power sources like wind in particular can be very unstable, can be uncertain.

So deploying mega pack batteries can also be positive for transition to renewable energy system while at the same time ensuring the stability of the overall power supply. This is the bigger picture. And when you go on to check on Tesla's earnings numbers in last year's third quarter, Tesla

The company's energy storage business saw a 52% year-on-year increase in revenues with a profit margin of 30%. Tesla had previously said that the supply of the MegaPack batteries continues to be limited by its capacity because as new markets are opened up and demand for electric storage products continues to grow.

Given the capacity that you have cited earlier, this macro factory in Shanghai will definitely, in a very significant manner, improve this supply constraint situation. And also, let's not forget that

Just like the Tesla EV factory in Shanghai, this new plant is not just a factory for China. Its products will be shipped to other Asian Pacific markets like Australia as well.

The results will be mutually beneficial, will be multiple win for multiple players. It will, on one hand, mean new business growth for Tesla, for sure. But on the other hand, it will also mean additional momentum in terms of, you know, green transition, not only in China, but also other Asia-Pacific countries. What do you think this Tesla megafactory tells us about the momentum of foreign investment in China?

Of course, it tells a lot.

The overwhelming trend, I guess, among foreign investors is that they don't want to see decoupling from China. They want to continue to benefit from China's market potentials on one hand and on the other hand, to benefit, to gain from China's world-class infrastructure, quality labor, and many other factors that will be key for manufacturing competitiveness.

Numbers don't lie. Last year, we saw a surge of close to 10%, 9.9%.

In terms of the number of newly registered foreign-invested enterprises here in China, and most recently earlier this week, we also saw this Chinese State Council executive meeting which adopted an action plan to stabilize foreign investment for the year of 2025. Of course, Tesla has been

treated by China as an icon when we talk about foreign investment in China, that's for sure. I believe going forward, Chinese authorities will surely do more to create a level playing field for everybody. Well, do you expect Elon Musk and Tesla to play a constructive role in the China-US economic relations during Trump 2.0?

Well, from China's perspective, we of course wish he will do so because no one needs a reminder that Tesla has been a hugely successful model when we talk about China-US economic collaboration. This has been made clear when Chinese Premier Li Qian met sometime last year with Elon Musk when Musk paid a visit to China. Last year, Chinese consumers said

contributed more than a third of Tesla's global EV sales. That's the bigger picture. But

Having said that, I think we also need to wait and see with regard to how big of a role that Musk will eventually play in the Trump administration's economic or trade policy. Some people in America are already attacking Elon Musk as a so-called problem for the Trump administration because of his business ties with China.

And on some specific issues like green transition and electric vehicles,

I don't think Musk and Trump can see eye to eye with each other. So there is a question with regard to how long they can be bound with each other in this new administration. So going forward, let's be cautiously optimistic. Okay, thank you, Ding Heng. And that's all the time we have for this edition of World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Thank you so much for listening. See you next time.

So