Latest news with #hydropower
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China's US$167 billion dam, anti-involution campaign to sustain stock rally, investor says
China's 1.2 trillion yuan (US$167.4 billion) hydropower project in Tibet and efforts to curb capacity in some industries could sustain a market rally – which has driven shares to three-year highs – and pave the way for bolder policy moves to support growth, according to a veteran investor. The massive investment combined with a so-called anti-involution campaign to eliminate excessive output in the solar and electric vehicle (EV) sectors would probably boost commodity prices by restricting supply, said Hong Hao, chief investment officer at Lotus Asset Management, which has US$500 million of assets under management. Rising commodity prices could alleviate deflation in producer prices and foreshadow an improvement in household spending, he added. 'Historically, rising commodities have led China's producer-price index cycle by about six months,' said Hong. 'We expect such a correlation to persist. The producers will hire more [employees], consumers will earn more and spend more. Eventually, if everything falls into place, a virtuous price and growth cycle should rejuvenate [the economy].' Hong, who previously worked for China International Capital Corp and Grow Investment Group, correctly predicted a stock bubble would burst in 2015. 01:19 China breaks ground on world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet China breaks ground on world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet Beijing's investment in the Yarlung Tsangpo River project, as well as the anti-involution drive, might convince investors that these two events could further bolster the prospects of Chinese stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index and the Hang Seng Index both reached their highest levels in three and a half years this month, buoyed by easing US-China trade tensions and better-than-expected first-half gross domestic product growth. The Yarlung Tsangpo project – reminiscent of the Hoover Dam, built on the Colorado River during the Great Depression – sends a signal to investors that further policy support for the economy was imminent, as a boost from trade-in programmes subsidising household appliances and EVs was quickly fading, Hong said.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Automotive
- New York Times
The Country Where 76% of Cars Sold Are Electric
The narrow streets of Kathmandu — sized for pedestrians and rickshaws — are choked with engines. Buses, motorbikes, small trucks and taxis fill the sprawling valley with horns and exhaust. For its more than three million residents, just getting around is a dangerous, eye-stinging ordeal. But recently, a new kind of motor has started to ease the crush. Sleek electric vehicles glide by with a quiet hum. Gleaming showrooms do a brisk business in the latest models, and charging stations on the highways have turned into rest stops with cafes for drivers to pass the time. The transition is moving quickly. Over the past year, electric vehicles accounted for 76 percent of all passenger vehicles and half of the light commercial vehicles sold in Nepal. Five years ago, that number was essentially zero. The E.V. market share in Nepal is now behind only those of a few countries, including Norway, Singapore and Ethiopia. The average for all countries was 20 percent in 2024. The swift turnover is the result of government policies aimed at leveraging Nepal's wealth of hydropower, easing dependence on imported fossil fuels and clearing the smog. It has been fed by an intense push from Nepal's biggest neighbor, China, the world's dominant manufacturer of battery-powered vehicles. 'For us, using electric vehicles is a comparative advantage,' said Mahesh Bhattarai, the director general of Nepal's Department of Customs. 'It's good for us. In the global market, the Chinese E.V.s are expanding. The same is happening in Nepal.' China's Neighbors Are Quickly Adopting Electric Vehicles Cheap, imported battery-powered cars are taking over some markets in East Asia, while others lag behind. Nepal data represents imports, and is delineated by years starting and ending in July. Source: Segment Y By The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Dancers and a Dam: World Bank Hones New Strategy in Mozambique
World Bank chief Ajay Banga's visit to Mozambique this month at the invitation of President Daniel Chapo to discuss a $6.4 billion hydropower project the lender is helping fund had all the hallmarks of a political rally. Dancing women and gyrating men wearing traditional masks were among the hundreds of people who gathered to meet the dignitaries in the central town of Tete, many of them clad in the red garb of the ruling Frelimo party. The six-foot-eight Chapo towered above the crowd as he walked down a red carpet, shaking hands, pumping his fist and shouting chants, with Banga following close behind him. The scene was repeated in Songo, a short helicopter ride away.
Russia Today
6 days ago
- Business
- Russia Today
African nation hits out at Trump over mega-dam claim
Ethiopia has rejected US President Donald Trump's claims that Washington funded a multibillion-dollar hydropower dam that the East African country has built on the Blue Nile, calling the statement false and 'destructive.' Trump repeatedly said at a White House dinner with Republican senators last Friday that Ethiopia constructed the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) 'largely' with US money. 'It doesn't allow much water going into the Nile River. So you can imagine Egypt's not thrilled because, they live off the Nile River,' he said. The president also claimed in a post on his Truth Social online platform last month that the 'massive' dam, 'stupidly financed' by the US, 'substantially reduces the water flowing' into the Nile River. However, on Tuesday, Fikrte Tamir, deputy director of the GERD Coordination Office, told reporters that the project had been completed 'without any foreign aid.' She said that over its 14-year construction period, it was financed entirely through government resources and public contributions, including salary deductions and donations from the diaspora. 'Regarding the remarks made by US President Donald Trump, the Ethiopian government should respond diplomatically and wisely,' Fikrte added. The landlocked country's government announced the completion of the GERD earlier this month. The facility has been under construction since 2011 and is designed to generate up to 5.15 gigawatts of electricity, making it the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa. The project was initially scheduled for completion within six years on a $4 billion budget. On Tuesday, the GERD Coordination Office announced that 1.7 billion birr (about $12.3 million) has been raised from the public alone during the 2024/25 Ethiopian fiscal year. The project, which Addis Ababa sees as a transformative energy source for the region and a symbol of 'regional cooperation and mutual benefit,' has long been a source of dispute. Egypt and Sudan have repeatedly voiced concerns over its impact on downstream water flows. The Nile reportedly provides approximately 97% of Egypt's supply of fresh water. Both Cairo and Khartoum fear that upstream water retention could severely affect agriculture and water security in their countries.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
China breaks ground on world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet
China began constructing a new mega dam in western Tibet that, upon completion, will be the world's largest hydropower dam. Beijing officials called it the 'project of a century', saying it will have three times the capacity of its Three Gorges Dam.
