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First One Down: The Shenyang J-8 Fighter’s Career Comes to an End

23 June 2026 at 19:15

In June of this year, the J-8 was officially phased out of service – the first jet fighter designed in China and accepted into operational use. Its path toward full maturity was long, but ultimately remained unfinished. How It All Began By the early 1960s, China had established licensed production of Soviet-designed jet fighters, including […]

The post First One Down: The Shenyang J-8 Fighter’s Career Comes to an End appeared first on AERONAUT.media.

China appears to be developing 7-meter-diameter reusable rockets

23 June 2026 at 11:07

A state-funded tender for tank tooling, a delivered stainless steel forging and launch pad planning suggest that China is developing 7-meter-diameter reusable rockets.

The post China appears to be developing 7-meter-diameter reusable rockets appeared first on SpaceNews.

5G dominates China mobile landscape

23 June 2026 at 05:50

LIVE FROM MWC SHANGHAI 2026: The world’s largest mobile market now boasts the majority of its connections running over 5G, with the technology powering 55% of all connections since the end of last year.

The GSMA’s Mobile Economy China 2026 report – released on the eve of the show this week – predicts 5G will account for 61% of connections in the country by the end of this year and 88% by 2030.

The performance of 5G in China so far means the nation already accounts for over 40% of global 5G connections.

China surpassed 1 billion 5G connections in 2024, highlighting the rapid adoption of the technology since its launch five years ago.

“The influence of national policy should help sustain 5G’s momentum in China,” notes the report. “The Chinese government has made 5G a national priority as part of broader goals targeting digital transformation and making the economy internationally competitive. Such goals are directly integrated into the agendas and corporate strategies of operators and network vendors, boosting the supply side of the 5G market.”

The report adds that with 5G services now firmly established, the focus of Chinese operators and vendors is shifting to 5G-Advanced.

It claims 5G-Advanced is now commercialised across more than 330 mainland cities, surpassing 30 million users.

“China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have all conducted early trials and deployments of the technology, focusing on unlocking new applications in areas such as autonomous vehicles, drones and extended reality (XR).”

Economic impact
As always, the latest GSMA report was keen to talk up mobile’s boost to China’s economy, driving growth across industries, creating jobs and boosting gross domestic product (GDP).

Mobile technologies and services now generate around 6.2% of China’s GDP – a contribution that amounts to $1.2 trillion of economic value added. By 2030, the report states this will rise to approximately $2 trillion, equivalent to 8.3% of GDP.

“Much of this will be driven by the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the continued expansion of mobile services and the growing adoption of digital technologies, including 5G, IoT and AI.”

Usage gap
Surprisingly, there remains work to be done on ensuring everyone that lives within reach of a mobile network can access services. In fact, despite 91% internet connectivity across the country, a usage gap of 18% remains, representing millions of people yet to benefit fully from China’s digital economy. This approximate 250 million people not using mobile internet is mostly from the youngest and oldest age groups.

The post 5G dominates China mobile landscape appeared first on Mobile World Live.

America is about to cede Africa’s space industry to China, and nobody’s talking about it.

22 June 2026 at 14:00
A July 6, 2015 image of Africa and Europe taken by NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite. Credit: NASA

If the Trump administration is serious about executing its “America First in Africa” policy and transforming American engagement on the continent, it needs to focus on sectors where it still […]

The post America is about to cede Africa’s space industry to China, and nobody’s talking about it. appeared first on SpaceNews.

This zinc mine needed a truck no one made, so they made it themselves

21 June 2026 at 22:57

Zijin Mining couldn’t find an ultra-class electric haul truck that could get the job done at its Wulagen mine in Wuqia County, Xinjiang, so they designed their own: a 140-ton BEV haul truck with a huge, 770 kWh swappable battery pack.

Then they built 290 of them. (!)

From labs to logistics: China tests sodium batteries in HD trucks

21 June 2026 at 14:27

Made from more affordable and more abundant materials than li-ion, sodium batteries promise more abundant and more affordable electric vehicles – but will sodium batteries be practical for commercial trucks? Chinese truck brand FAW Jiefang is working to find out.

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