Power use hits record high on economic recovery

CHINA’S power use surged to a historic high this week as economic activity picked up further after coronovirus-related lockdowns and a heat wave drove up demand for cooling appliances.

Power load at State Grid Corp. of China, the country’s dominant power grid operator, reached 875 gigawatts Monday, an all-time high, the Technology Daily reported Wednesday. Jiangsu in eastern China, the largest power-consuming province under the State Grid Corp., recorded a power load of 108.5 gigawatts Monday, it said. China Southern Power Grid Corp., which operates grids in southern provinces, also reported record power load at 199.8 gigawatts in late July, 7 percent higher than last year’s peak.

Japanese carmakers post strong sales growth

JAPANESE carmakers’ China sales grew by more than 10 percent from a year earlier in July as the world’s biggest auto market sustained its recovery.

Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday its sales in China rose 11.6 percent last month from a year earlier to 120,945 vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp. sold around 165,600 cars last month in China, up 19.1 percent year on year. Of the total, 22,300 came from its premium Lexus brand, which showed a 38.6 percent sales jump from a year earlier. Honda Motor Co. sold 136,646 vehicles in China in July, up 17.8 percent.

US sells 192,000 tons of soybeans to China

PRIVATE exporters in the United States sold 192,000 tons of soybeans to China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Wednesday, the first confirmed sales of U.S. oilseeds to the world’s top soy consumer since July 27.

China has stepped up its purchases of U.S. grains and oilseeds in recent weeks. Since July 10, the USDA has reported that China bought nearly 5.2 million tons of U.S. corn, along with nearly 2.5 million tons of soybeans and 320,000 tons of hard wheat.

BioNTech, Fosun launch COVID-19 vaccine trial

GERMANY’S BioNTech and China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical on Wednesday announced the start of another COVID-19 vaccine trial in China with a total of 144 participants.

“The study is designed to support the regulatory approval process for the Chinese market and intends to confirm that the safety and immunogenicity profile observed in participants from the German and U.S. trials is comparable to that of Chinese participants,” BioNTech said.