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China is set to offer zero tariff treatment to 53 African countries. Its top economic planner rolls out a fresh set of policies aimed at boosting innovation in China's Silicon Valley, Shenzhen. And then we'll take a look at the rise of a homegrown Chinese IP that's taken the road by storm, Labubo.
Welcome to Road Today, a news program with a different perspective. I'm Ge'anna in Beijing. To listen to this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching Road Today. ♪
China is ready to begin zero tariff treatment for 53 African countries. In a congratulatory letter to a ministerial meeting on implementing decisions from the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping pledged to facilitate exports to China from least developed countries in Africa.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the opening ceremony and urged both sides to defend unity within the global south and promote international free trade. Official data shows that China trade with African countries had an average annual growth rate of 14% from 2000 until last year.
Here with us to discuss this topic is Mr. Liu Zhicheng, Senior Fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. Mr. Liu, at last year's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, announcements showed zero tariffs on 98% of taxable items. Compared to that, what kind of breakthrough does this 100% coverage represent? And what new signals is China sending through this upgrade?
You know, this meeting has sent already a very important message to the global market that shows that the close cooperation between African countries and China has come to a new era, to a new stage, because we announced already that 100% zero tariff for African countries export to China. That will have a
greater importance to stimulate the economic development in the African countries.
As we know that in recent years that we saw so many products from African countries that see in Chinese supermarket and we can get everything almost from African country including coffee cooker and also the other agricultural products, different fruits and also including some special wines and products from the African countries.
So in this way that we see that a lot of opportunities and the products came in from the African countries. So this is a very important signal that for the African countries to open the market and also to put all this production line in full swing that to meet the demands in Chinese market because China's market is so huge and
the purchase power is very strong demand for african products also very uh
very strong that increasing in the recent time. So in this way, we should see that more exports from African countries, including cultural products and also from the medical care, also we can see close cooperation from both sides. So we see a lot of opportunities and the products that came from the African countries. This is a good signal
for the future of both sides. To be more precise, how does this zero-target policy align with the 10 Partnership Action Plans announced last year? I think in a shorter than one year, we can see great achievements.
have already made it by both sides. For instance, as we know that especially in the agricultural field that we have sent more than 200 experts to every country in different areas to stimulate the local production. Also, especially
the peaceful application for nuclear energy. This is also very important subject from both sides because in more than 30 countries we have already started such cooperation. This is very important for green development in African countries. Of course, we can see other things that we have also set up 85 agriculture related
the zone, the special zone that we have trained more than almost 200 local pioneers or leading persons to how to get rich in this area. So in this way we can see some other
reality that both sides have already promoted for instance especially the e-commerce, Chinese medicine and also the other infrastructure projects have been really boosted in local level. So in this way we can find a lot of opportunities to be expanded for
in the future. This is a very concrete action taken according to the 10 partnership actions announced by both sides. This is really at the benefits of both sides, especially very important to promote the quality of life and also to improve the infrastructure level
of this local continent, especially to help to get close connection not only with China but also with Asian countries and other areas of the world. With the food tariff exemption now in place, how can this give a real boost to local processing industries
on the African continent and how can deeper China-Africa trade ties help strengthen African supply chains and improve their global competitiveness?
Actually, African countries have already a special advantage as we know the low labor costs and also very rich natural resources. That could help to reduce the processing cost and have more opportunities to train more talented people, especially young.
to train those more high-skilled persons in different areas, for instance, in the infrastructure, also in the high-speed railway, especially when we build the railway in local areas that many experts have been grown up from this field. So in this way, we can see all this perspective that people can learn a lot from each other. China also learned a lot from the African countries.
especially in different areas. So that's good. And the benefits of both sides, this is really a good sample for the rest of the world how to make the so-called this...
this inclusiveness and close cooperation between China and African countries. We are facing today a more complicated road. The United States has imposed new tariffs on the road, including African countries. So how are such protectionist policies affecting African economic development today? You see, the real feature of the U.S. policy toward African countries is that
As the African policy that taken to other countries, that means that America first, that they put also the American interest as the first point. So their principle is to take advantages of other countries.
Not as in China. China is share advantages with each other. This is a total difference. That's why the American policy that make African countries more uncertain and challenges with each other.
they make the local processing and production less competitive, especially with the American products export. So in this way that the African countries have suffered a lot from the so-called U.S. aid or U.S. production line. As we know that
the especially the american side always weaponize this trade and also cooperation in order to have some influence on its local foreign policy or state policy so that's why every country now grew up that they have to know more details and more things that about the background of the american
policy, what is really behind it, what they really want. This is what African countries have already learned a lot. Then again, the backdrop of rising global uncertainty. What a positive role has cooperation between China and Africa played in maintaining multilateralism and uniting the global South? I think
I think at least two points. Firstly, the cooperation between African countries and China set a good example to the rest of the world that the only way to solve the disputes is to have a peaceful and equal dialogue and mutual understanding and mutual benefits. This is the priority. That's why the African countries
and China has no real problems. We solved all the problems through negotiations. This is a
The first point we should know. The second is that we should always have concrete cooperation, not always remain on the slogans, on drawing pictures for the future. But we have to do something very concrete in reality that helps the local people, local government, especially every country, to feel that by their own power,
physically that the real benefits that they have got from the cooperation with China, for instance, the infrastructure and also transportation, healthcare, education system, they have already feel that what advantage and what progress they have already made from the cooperation with China. This is a very important thing.
Thanks, Mr. Liu, for your insightful opinions. That was Mr. Liu Zhijing, Senior Fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China. This is World Today. Stay with us. Hello, my name is Alessandro Golombievski Teixeira. I'm a professor of public policy management at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
I am a great listener of The World Today. In my opinion, The World Today is one of the best China radio programs. In The World Today we can get the best news and analysis in what is happening now in the world. So please, come to join us!
You've been listening to Road Today. Let's continue our discussion on China-Africa relations. The fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo opens in Changsha on Thursday. Nigeria is participating as one of the guest countries of honor. Last September, the country established a Strategic Partnership Office to deepen its trade and investment ties with China.
Brigitte Mtomburwa sat down with the head of the office, Joseph Takba, to explore the opportunities and challenges shaping Nigeria-China economic relations.
What is your mission at this year's China Africa Economic and Trade Expo, the CAETE, and what key goals are you pursuing for Nigeria? We know that Nigeria is one of the Guest of Honor countries at this event. What are your key goals? One of the critical things we want to achieve out of this Expo is to explore opportunities for partnership between Nigeria
as a country and China, and also Nigerian businesses and Chinese businesses. We'll see a lot of opportunities evolving over time. We've been focused largely in the past on what we'll call transactional relationship, trading relationship. Our target is to showcase Nigeria's potentials
as a possible manufacturing hub for China. And considering all the developments in the economy across the world today, Nigeria positions itself well as the entrance to African markets. And that is what we want to do.
There are a couple of products that we've been promoting in the past, but our emphasis going forward is going to shift from just transactional development to partnership, and we're going to look for opportunities for our businesses with Chinese businesses. And also in addition, I think one of the sectors that is important to us is that small and medium enterprises like Nigeria, you know, for developing countries and even other developed countries.
The power and the engine of industrialization is typically the SMEs. And we're trying to see how we can use the SMEs to leverage Chinese light manufacturing sector and do some sector mapping and create those opportunities. That's going to be our focus.
Identifying those strategic partnership opportunities for our businesses in Nigeria is going to be our major focus. Nigeria has gained access to the Chinese market for products like peanuts, sesame seeds, soybeans, cashew nuts. How are these exports performing?
They're doing well. You know, first of all, there's been increased relationship between NAQS in Nigeria, which is the agency responsible for quarantine, for ensuring that products are of the quality that destination countries like China actually require. And they've been working with GACC in China to ensure immunization of the protocols. That took a while and those products are doing extremely well. But we have potentials to do better than we're doing. And I think the tariff war
or the trade world globally is open our eyes, even in Nigeria, to see the kind of opportunities we have. One of the things we're also doing is to ensure that we have a structured platform to monitor exports out of Nigeria into places like China. So we have opportunities to galvanize some of the things that have been done on a transactional basis.
and see them being done at a very larger scale. What China needs is one high quality product to the specs they want in terms of yield per acreage, in terms of quality and also edibility. What Nigeria is trying to do is scaling up in terms of production.
ensuring compliance with those quality requirements. And I believe that we are making progress. So those products you mentioned actually are doing well, but still have opportunities to do better than what we're doing. More importantly, for me, I think one of the things we've identified is the trade war. It's an opportunity for us to fill in some of the gaps that are being created. This is an opportunity for us in Africa, opportunity for us in Nigeria to explore those partnerships better.
What export sectors and products in Nigeria are prioritising at this year's expo and are they value-added products you aim to introduce to the Chinese market? I know you did mention soybeans, you mentioned cashew nuts before. I think our focus is going to still be on one, on agriculture. There are a couple of products that we need to bring into this market.
I told you about soybeans. I can tell you we made a decision as a country to develop about 100,000 hectares of land targeted at soybeans for two purposes. The first is export to China. So we're going to engage Chinese government, JCC, to ensure that the quality of soybeans is what China wants.
The second thing is that we're building integrated poultry farms across Nigeria. Now, we're leveraging DQY Ecological Farms in Beijing. You know, DQY Ecological Farm is one of the largest poultry farms in the world. They produce 2.5 million eggs a day.
right in Beijing. So what we're trying to do is go into partnership with China to be able to develop our poultry farms across Nigeria, six specifically, that will produce one million eggs a day, cumulatively six million eggs for Nigeria. So those are the kind of things we want to explore in this Expo. The other things that we think we need to bring to the table, we're looking significantly at automobile.
uh when discussion i would believe this expo also grants us opportunity to identify strategic partners we've been talking to a couple of companies byd hyon gac who want to establish in nigeria so that in the nigerian investors and people like me who are interested in those kind of things but beyond that nigeria also wants
to demonstrate that we have other capabilities beyond peanuts, cashew nuts, soybeans you mentioned. There are other agri-products that we're looking at. Mining is top on our table. What we have in Nigeria today is a lot of artisanal mining. So we need to shift to commercial and that's what we're putting on the table. The kind of mineral resources we have in Nigeria, top on the list is lithium. We have a huge deposit of lithium in Nigeria, which is very attractive to the Chinese market.
The EV batteries and the rest of them are made out of lithium. It's one of the things we want to showcase. And those are the kind of things I'm going to emphasise. Make a nice family, opportunities for us. We're going to put mineral resources, EV, lithium, gold, cobalt, we're going to put that on the table. So our discussions are going to go beyond transactional agricultural exports to developmental relationship in some of the things I've just mentioned.
In light of recent global trade shifts, how do you see new opportunities emerging for Nigeria-China trade relations? Yeah, I think in the light of current trade and tariff war,
For me, like I said, it creates huge opportunity for Nigeria and Africa. We see this as an opportunity for us to turn Nigeria into a manufacturing and industrialization hub for China. And what I do mean with that is the kind of relationship that China has with Mexico, you have with Vietnam, where a lot of products are produced out of there using Chinese technology. That is what we want to explore.
Let's use Nigeria as a huge industrialization and manufacturing hub for China. Let's do products developed based on Chinese technology in Africa. And I think the opportunities are there. We believe that there are a couple of products that we're showcasing in this.
What we want to do, like manufacturing, CTGs is extremely important, cotton, textile, garment, industry sector. Textile is one that is very important. Footwear is one of the things we've tried to master in Nigeria, the particular part of Nigeria, the southeastern part of Nigeria, Anambra area.
We do produce a lot of footwear that are almost of international standard. But what we want to do is, how do you marry Nigeria with China, do a sector mapping, using these opportunities that this has created to use the technology coming from light manufacturing technology in China to our businesses in Nigeria so that we produce things that are of high quality. And also, we believe that, complementarily, China has a huge market. Not only the internal market, but by extension,
The SEM market is a big market that when we make ourselves available as a manufacturing hub, we can easily offload into the SEM market. That's what I see as a big opportunity for us. The Naira Yuan Currency Swap is a significant initiative. How do you expect it will enhance bilateral trade and investment?
The Naira Yuan swap is a very creative initiative. We've had it for a couple of years, about five, six years. It was just renewed this year with a $2 billion line. It's been a very effective means of improving liquidity in transactions across country. It also enhances cross-border transactions.
between Nigeria and China. And if you do understand it from an economics monetary policy point of view, you will see that what typically happens today for most transactions is that typical Nigerian business
man or woman takes Naira and buys dollars and then comes to China and change dollars to Yuan. Vice versa for the typical Chinese businessmen. What this does for us, it allows us to circumvent the dollar element. So it strengthens the economy for China and so for Nigeria. It improves liquidity between the two countries and businesses across the two countries. It also eases pressure on your FX rates, Yuan,
Nigerian dollar exchange rate. It's a big opportunity that we see. It's something we want to expand our line. Beyond that, there are new initiatives that we're putting on the table. We're in serious discussion with Chinese commercial banks to have presence in Nigeria and also some of the big Nigerian banks to have presence, rep office, presence in China. That complements, which is doing great for us now,
But by the time we complement with that, what it means is I can go into Bank of China and deposit in Nigeria, deposit 100 million naira and easily take my money in yuan. It protects the two countries' currencies and it gives liquidity. So that complements the swap line that we're looking at currently. But we're doing well with that.
and it's enhancing our business transactions. So what practical steps can both sides take to improve trade, logistics, infrastructure and resilience, especially in the face of global supply chain disruptions and external affairs? What do we need to get right in Africa?
I think one of the challenges we have, it's also been that we need to be deliberate about our logistics systems. We need to build resilience into them. Some of the things we do today, we don't have central platform that monitors some of the things we do. If you order something from Amazon today, Amazon will tell you, you can know where
your shipment is at what particular point in time. And when you have delay, you can easily ask Amazon to say, "Hey, where's my product?" And they can tell you, "Oh, your product is in between Ghana and Nigeria." We're trying to resolve the issue. The same thing with temu today, which has become very popular in Nigeria.
And I'll tell you the two reasons why Teemu is very popular in Nigeria. Because it also offers an alternative platform to Amazon. But the other thing is that people can actually, if you want to buy something on Amazon, today in Nigeria you have to use the dollar card or pay in dollars. But with Teemu we play in Naira.
So it makes convertibility and ease of transaction easy. Specifically, what do we need to do with our logistics is to enhance our free trade zones and as an industrial park, we're trying to build industrial park with the assistance of Chinese companies. How do we ensure those things are of high quality and sustainable so that it's easy
Storage is good and then creating that digital platform that can actually ensure that people have what I would call some comfort in tracking their items and goods. Later on in the year there's going to be also a seminar between Chinese companies and Nigerian companies in Beijing focused on marine and maritime activities.
So we're looking at talking to shipyards, talking to shipping companies and also logistics companies in China to see how we can do mapping and collaboration better, partnership better in Nigeria. I think if we get this right, it will make things a lot more better between the two countries. And our logistics resilience will be built over time.
That was Joseph Takba, head of Nigeria's Strategic Partnership Office on Nigeria-China Economic Relations. Coming up, in China's very own Silicon Valley, Shenzhen, the top economic planner is rolling out new policies to supercharge innovation. Pentagon launches review of U.S.-UK-Australia AUKUS security alliance.
From China to the road, how PopMart turned Labuhu into a $150,000 sensation. You're listening to Road Today. We'll be back after a short break.
You've been listening to Road Today with Mika Anna in Beijing. Shenzhen, known as the Silicon Valley of China, is once again stepping into the spotlight of the country's reform agenda. New policies aim to turn the city into a hub for artificial intelligence and aviation despite global trade tensions. Reforms encourage overseas investors to set up vocational training institutions and bring in advanced teaching resources.
Insurance funds are also being guided to support local venture capital targeting key sectors. Meanwhile, authorities are moving to enhance data security and pilot safe, efficient cross-border data flow mechanisms. So to unpack the key takeaways and their broader significance, we're joined by Chen Jiahe, Chief Investment Officer at Novenark Technologies.
Mr. Chen, the new reform guidelines emphasize removing industrial barriers in education, tech and talent. Compared to Shenzhen's initial positioning as a pilot demonstration zone in China, what's new in terms of strategic priorities this time? How does this reflect its role in exploring pathways for China's overall modernization?
But by reading through the whole document, what we can find is that this document actually deepens the reform in Shenzhen with a lot of emphasis on removing all these barriers in things like education, technology,
talent, especially the talent from overseas, all these kinds of things. Also, it emphasized the cooperation between Shenzhen and other cities surrounding it, such as Hong Kong. So it's actually quite a lot of things made in this document. Basically speaking, Shenzhen is
As you said, it's a pioneer for the economic reform and growth in China. So this document just gives even more support to the openness of Shenzhen's economy and the society, making sure that it leads the reform in China.
The guidelines call for building Shenzhen into a global-oriented innovation hub in the context of greater Bay Area development. What specific role will this ambition play in driving regional integration?
well when we look at the position of shenzhen in this greater bay area it's it's actually the key city i mean there are quite a few cities in the greater bay area like hong kong zhu hai guangzhou etc but shenzhen is the city that has both the most rapid economic growth rate
One of the largest cities regarding its population, I mean, Shenzhen actually has a population much larger than Hong Kong, where Hong Kong has only about 7 million people. And Shenzhen has a leading advantage regarding, especially when we talk about technologies, if you look at all these companies like Tencent and Huawei, who are
which are all the private companies grew out of the Shenzhen economy. I mean, it looks like 30 years ago, these companies were really small back then, but now they're global giants in just 20 to 30 years time. So Shenzhen is actually the key for China to develop the Greater Bay Area. So this document just gives more support to Shenzhen city and actually shows
there will be more support given to the Greater Bay Area, including other cities, especially Hong Kong. Now, what are some of the concrete reform measures outlined in the reform? For example, how might allowing Hong Kong and Macau listed companies to pursue dual listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange impact Shenzhen's deepened reform and opening up?
Yes, we see many measures such as encouraging the talents to go into Shenzhen, removing the barriers, especially it mentioned a lot about encouraging the global talents coming into Shenzhen, including those Chinese students who studied in overseas universities. And as you mentioned, this
pursuing of the dual listing for Hong Kong and Macau listed companies in Shenzhen Stock Exchange is also a very important sign because if you look at the size of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and compare that with Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange is at a very similar size. I think it's a bit larger than the Hong Kong market and it actually got much more capital compared with Hong Kong because Shenzhen is backed by the whole China's exchange.
economy. So there are so many investors in this market. So opening this market farther to companies from Hong Kong and Macau will provide these companies with more capital from mainland. Also, listing in Shenzhen Stock Exchange also helps these companies to make more business in mainland. So that brings more opportunities for these companies. Because if you look at Hong Kong and Macau, I mean, Hong Kong has about 7 million people and Macau has
I think it's a population less than one million. So they're actually pretty small cities. And if you compare that to a mainland economy where the mainland got like a 1.4 billion people, it's actually a key thing for any Hong Kong and Macau companies to gain the market share in mainland economy and getting themselves listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange would be a very useful way for doing such things.
When it comes to human resources and attracting talent, Shenzhen is also being granted more autonomy in talent management. Do you expect this leads to more effective measures in attracting top global talent?
especially in high-tech sectors like semiconductors and AI? Yes, definitely. If you look at Shenzhen's attractiveness to top global talents, especially those talents who, when we talk about in the high-tech sectors, it's actually a very attractive city for global talents. Because I personally spent five years for my university in the United Kingdom.
And I talked to many people who studied abroad or many foreigners and asked them, look at all the cities in China. If you come over and live here, which city would you choose? Usually there are three targets, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. So Shenzhen is one of the leading cities. And if you compare these three cities and you ask the people who work in high tech sectors, such as you mentioned, semiconductors and AI, and you say, which one?
which city would you pick? Usually they pick Shenzhen as the first place ahead of Shanghai and Hong Kong, basically because Shanghai is more like a concrete economy city. It's actually got economic...
economic and industries regarding every area. And if you look at Hong Kong, it's more concentrating with finance. But Shenzhen is a city where it's actually concentrating with technologies. I mean, if you look at the giant cities in Shenzhen, most of them are just working with technologies. So opening Shenzhen to the global talents is really attractive for the talents, especially in the high-tech sectors.
The document repeatedly highlights deeper cooperation within the Greater Bay Area. How can Shenzhen leverage its integration across the innovation, industrial, capital and talent chains to complement Hong Kong's strengths in, for example, scientific research, especially given the eight of its universities rank among the global top 100?
Well, when we look at the cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, basically speaking, Shenzhen has got a lot of support from its cooperation with Hong Kong. I mean, if you look at the past few decades, Hong Kong has been really effective with helping Shenzhen to become a very important economic city in China. And if...
If you look at the current status between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, these two cities, what you can find is that Shenzhen is actually leading the position in many high-tech industries. For example, if you look at the companies working in Shenzhen right now, I mean, Huawei is a global leading technology firm that Hong Kong doesn't have. But if you talk about Hong Kong's position, it's still got
many things that Shenzhen is lacking. For example, Hong Kong's universities are much better compared with the universities, you know, based in Shenzhen. So Hong Kong actually got a lot of advantages with the research, with the science and these kind of very basic science.
Also, Hong Kong has got a lot of advantages with the medical industry. Hong Kong's medical industry and hospitals are really leading the global industry. So this is really helpful to Shenzhen. Another thing is that Hong Kong is a pure
It's an economy where pure English can be working. So that means for cooperation with many international companies, Hong Kong has got the advantage of language, which it can also be supporting Shenzhen a lot with this advantage.
So there are really a lot of things that Shenzhen can get from this cooperation with Hong Kong. Thanks, Mr. Chen, for your insightful analysis. That was Chen Jiahe, Chief Investment Officer at Novark Technologies.
The U.S. is reviewing the multi-billion dollar submarine deal with the U.K. and Australia. The Pentagon says the review will ensure that the pact, known as AUKUS, fits the American First Agenda. The move comes as Australia and the U.K. face pressure from the White House to lift military spending.
For more on this, Zhao Ying spoke with Joseph Siracusa, professor of global futures with Curtin University. What was the original strategic goal of the AUKUS deal as envisioned by the Biden administration? Well, the original AUKUS deal, which was announced in 2021, it appeared on Australian television. This is where I am. And President Biden, Prime Minister Xi Jinping,
Boris Johnson and the Prime Minister of the day here, Scott Morrison, announced a so-called AUKUS security arrangement. Now, it's a play on words because the ANZUS Treaty from 1951 is usually referred shorthand as the Security Treaty. This was essentially a deal
an arrangement by which Australia would pay $368 billion over a 30-year period to acquire three Virginia-class submarines, that is to purchase them, and the other submarines would be built five more over a period of time. Now, these are not nuclear-armed. These are nuclear-powered submarines.
submarines. I mean, Australia kind of has it both ways. It's a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty where it's not supposed to acquire nuclear technology. At the same time, it would like more and more assurance from its great and powerful friend, the United States. So these three guys actually
concocted this thing overnight and the next Australian administration or government accepted it very quickly because they didn't want to upset the electorate or suggest there was a change in foreign policy. It was very breathtaking. There was no discussion in this country. It just simply appeared on the horizon and it was accepted fairly quickly.
Yeah. So from your perspective, does this deal genuinely serve Australia's national interest or does it risk locking the country into a strategic agenda shaped by others, namely the U.S.? I do not think this particular deal at the time it was announced added any more security to Australia. To have nuclear powered ships in a country with a coastline of 20, 24,000 miles doesn't make a lot of sense.
It's very hard to protect Australia's security line this way. But, you know, Australia saw itself as playing an integral part in Australian defense policy. Australian defense policy has been trying to pivot from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific to deal with Chinese competition in the years ahead. And Australia sees itself as tied to American security arrangements at the same time, as you well know, it's tied to its economic relationship with China.
So, you know, Australia has always tried to play an interesting game here. It's tried not to choose between Washington and Beijing. They arranged for this, I think, for a simple reason, is they wanted to participate in the American defense security. And the best way to do so is sort of joining it.
As your listeners may or may not know, Australian servicemen and defense personnel over the years have been part and parcel of American thinking and strategy. It's been called interoperational. With these actual submarines, in fact, the arrangement was going to go up a level and become interoperational instead of just interoperable. So it's going to be interchangeable. So, you know, people saw this and
of course now that the number of years have passed uh the commitment is less less i think uh important to politicians uh though there has been a lot of talk in australia about
building up this capacity to go down different tracks for AI, to use it for other things. And in a way, the AUKUS security arrangement in people's minds became interchangeable with the guarantees of the ANZUS Treaty in 1951, which was really designed against the revival of Imperial Japan.
It wasn't designed against anybody else. And so after the Cold War ended, sort of the reasons for the treaty ended as well. The Pentagon says it is reviewing whether AUKUS fits the America First agenda. What exactly does that mean? And what specific aspects of this deal might be seen as incompatible with the America First policy?
Well, this is the idea of reviewing AUKUS is entirely the idea of a guy named Elbridge Colby. He's a nuclear expert. In January 2015, I had a huge nuclear security conference here in Melbourne, which also had a number of Chinese attendees.
and people from MIT and around the world, we came to talk about the nuclear order of things. And I got to know Colby at that time. I mean, no one knew he was gonna become the Under Secretary of Defense. Though I tell you what, in the first Trump administration, he wrote the security document. Anyway, he claims to be a great friend of Australia. What he means by the review is, he's trying to say is that America can't afford to sell Australia
any virginia-class submarines which are seen as the crown jewel of america's nuclear defense policy i mean and of course these nuclear submarines would uh the the the missiles would be decommissioned they'd be selling the australians just the the nuclear power part of it and even then the americans would be in charge of disposing of the waste that's how sensitive a subject it is
But Kobe is not anti-Australian here. What he's trying to say is, and this is his MAGA ruling here, is that America can't afford to sell any Virginia-class submarines which are coming out of the boat yards very slowly. These submarines carry 210 pounds.
cruise missiles and other kinds of things. They're very deadly. They can destroy a country. And so they don't want to give these things to, they don't want to sell them to Australia because he doesn't have them. And so he keeps saying in the media, it's a crazy idea to offer something to a country when we can't afford to give them up. And so we're going to need these things. And of course, he sees in the years ahead that
these Virginia-class submarines as being essential to deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region. So we know that the Biden administration framed AUKUS as a key pillar encounter in China. So does Trump's review represent a policy shift, or is this simply a rhetorical rebranding of the same U.S. hegemonic agenda?
People like Albert Scobie and the Republicans are part of that foreign policy establishment in Washington. And they only speak for Washington, by the way.
which tends to see China as America's potential, the potential threat over the next 20 or 30 years. This is the end result of all the intelligence. I mean, Australia, China was always considered America's great competitor and challenge in the next 30 years. And then this foreign policy establishment has tried to suggest that China poses a military threat to the Indo-Pacific region. I don't believe that because China...
China doesn't have 750 bases or Marines on ships. They're not interested in taking over anything. But this is the scare that, I mean, the military, the political establishment in Washington must have a unifying principle. First, it was anti-Soviet.
And then it was the war on terrorism. And when the war on terrorism got lost in the shuffle, then the potential conflict with China down the road. So all this is about gearing up for deterring Chinese security interests in the Indo-Pacific area very, very quickly.
vaguely defined by the way and yes this does recognize a shift because australia is not going to be able to play this game and there are some uh cascading effects here that that your audience may not be familiar with australia america has forward basing here they got troops on the ground they got b-52s they have a listening post in australia uh
secret places like Pine Gap that send out very low frequency signals to American submarines. In fact, those would be the last signals to a submarine in the event of World War III. And so today I heard that there are some Australians who are saying, well, if Americans don't want to sell us these submarines, maybe we should kick them out of
pine gap in these places where they have privileged positions. So there are some Australians who want to fight back and say, well, you know, there's a trade-off here. If you don't want to do this for us, then we don't want to do that for you. And of course, it'd be members of the Labor Party
who don't want to spend this kind of money on nuclear-powered submarines. The Liberal Party sees it as part of, the Liberal National Party, the Conservatives, see it as part of a larger agenda of Australia paying its fair share of the international defense budget. Against whom and against what, I don't really know. But yes, it will roil the waters and force a rethink in this country.
That was Joseph Siracusa, professor of global futures with Curtin University. This is Road Today. Stay tuned.
Let's now turn to the rise of a homegrown Chinese IP that's taken the world by storm, Labubu. The human-sized doll has fetched over $150,000 at an auction in Beijing, setting a new record for the highly sought-after fluffy toothy toy from China. The doll was sold by PopMart, the Beijing-based toy maker known for its collectible blind box figures.
The monster's blind box series with Labubu at its center generated more than US$40 million in sales for PopMart last year, accounting for almost one-fourth of the company's revenue. So for more on this, let's have Li Lun, assistant professor of economics at Peking University. Thanks for joining us, Professor.
Thanks for having me. Let's start with the record-setting sale. What does a $150,000 US dollar hammer price tell us about Labubu's market value, and what drove collectors to pay such a premium?
Yeah, so we saw on June 10th a 131-centimeter labubu, which is a mint green color, was sold for 1.08 million yuan, or over 150,000 dollars.
So this is sold by, you know, first dedicated Le Boubou sale by Yongle International Auction. So the auctioneer used to only sell, you know, jewelries and, you know, art collections. So this is the first time that a, you know, a blind box IP is ever sold.
So there's also another brown labubu, which is not one of a kind. I think there are 15 of the brown labubus. It's also sold at a very high premium, which is around 820,000 yuan. So the reason that collectors are willing to pay such a premium, of course, it's related to the price.
you know, the trend of the booboo blind boxes around the globe. So people are trying very hard to get, you know, one of the blind boxes everywhere from, you know, South Africa to the United States to UK. We're seeing people, you know, rushing to the store, trying to get one, but oftentimes failing to get it. So this time for the auction, we also saw, you know, many international collectors call in, you know,
from abroad to try to get one of the bubos. So I think, of course, one of the reasons is the scarcity in terms of the philosophy, but also due to a lot of celebrities wear those and share them in their social media.
I think that eye-popping price tag wasn't a one-off stunt. It also reflects something much deeper. Over the past year, LaBubu's chatter on social platforms has clocked hundreds of millions of views. How have social media trends and, as you earlier mentioned, celebrity endorsements fueled this global explosion? Could you please elaborate more on this?
Yeah, so we saw, for example, singers like Rihanna or Dua Lipa or celebrities like Kim Kardashian all show in their social media, you know, about their La Bugu collections. So this creates a, you know,
a trend for fans of these celebrities, but as well as other general viewers of these social media posts, because people want to get something that's scarce, that they never saw before. And they also want to get it both as a consumer product, but also as a way of bonding to the celebrity they like or bonding to a social image they have in mind.
So we saw, for example, in the live streams of TikTok shop, you know, the labubus are sold out in under three minutes. So it's extremely popular in the US and globally.
I think viral buzz alone can't sustain a brand, right? LaBouBou's designer, Hong Kong artist Long Jia Sheng gave it a mischievous edge, you know, nigh sharp tooth, pointed ears and a playful backstory. In your opinion, how crucial this layered character design in cutting through, you know, the noise of countless collectible toys today?
Yeah, so we saw, for example, earlier in earlier years, you know, for example, like the bare bricks or calls. Those are some of the other collectibles that's similar. But this time, I think there are two things that's different. So first, as you mentioned, is this mischievous and
rebellious or you know mysterious smile that these the booboo figurines feature so you could interpret as you know being mischievous or you could interpret as being you know jokingly um or you know it's it's up to your interpretation so there's something definitely mesmerizing about the creature um than you know the other uh for example the the previous ones
And also, I think the textures of the toys, they're fluffy on the outside, but you could also put it on your back, put it on the table. So you could put it on the desk when you're working. So there's a certain bonding between the figurine and your daily life. So I think that's also part of the design, both from the designer, but also from PopMart that makes this IP pops out.
We've heard Labubu described as a social currency today, you know, an emotional outlet, even a healing companion. So what consumer needs is Labubu tapping into, especially among adult female fans who've turned these figures into a form of personal expression, right?
Well, I'd like to point out that not only female fans, but a lot of male fans, myself included, and also children are also fans of the IP. So as I said, it's not just a figurine because it's fluffy and you could cuddle it. So it's cute. You could put it on a handbag or backpack. So I,
uh more importantly i think it becomes part of the the cultural identity it kind of you you can resonate or echo with you know the uh the the the idea of you know the uh the ip for example uh a lot of office workers put their you know the boobus on their on their desk so whenever you look at it you
kind of get a break from the daily routine work. And sometimes also, as you mentioned, it's a social currency in the sense that you could gift it to a friend. So even though, you know, the common blind box only costs like 70 yuan or, um,
like less than $20, it's definitely worth much more in, you know, the recipient's mind. So it's also, you know, creates a bonding between, you know, if you see someone wearing a bubu, it kind of, you know, gives you this feeling of shared experience with that person. Mm-hmm.
On a broader level, what does Labubu's Rise review about the growing international clout of Chinese creative brands? Are we witnessing a paradigm shift in how the world discovers and embraces Chinese IPs?
- Yeah, so one thing I noticed about Labubu is that different from, for example, Disney toys and other Universal Studio IPs is that the backstory of Labubu are oftentimes very vague. So you don't really know the story about Labubu. So I think it's very flexible. It fits like all the cultures in many different countries. So I think this flexibility
is really part of the key why it succeed across so many different cultures and countries. Also, I think another reason behind this trend is that China's manufacturing power is able to produce so many toys in such a short amount of time and being able to ship them abroad.
So I think for future, you know, creative brands in China, I think maybe having a simpler storyline, maybe, you know, having a much simpler and also adaptive figure that you can sell to many different diverse cultural backgrounds is a, you know, maybe a secret for success. Thanks, Professor. That's very valuable insights. That was Li Lun, Assistant Professor of Economics.
at Peking University. That's all the time for this edition of Road Today. To listen to this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching Road Today. I'm Gua Anna in Beijing. Thank you so much for listening. Bye for now.