Welcome back to China Insights Weekly. Here are the highlights of the past week:
- Chinese universities occupy 8 places in the global top 10, research output continues to grow
- China's trade surplus hits record, exports are moving away from the U.S.
- Huawei increased the proportion of domestic parts to nearly 60 %, supply chains are rapidly localizing
- Construction of coal-to-plastics projects accelerates and reduces dependence on oil imports
Main News
Chinese institutions dominate global rankings of academic performance, while Harvard University has fallen to third place. Zhejiang University is ranked first for the second year in a row, a significant shift from a decade ago when it was not even in the top 25. Shanghai Jiaotong University is in second place, up from third last year.
Leiden Rankings, compiled by Leiden University in the Netherlands, now ranks an additional seven Chinese schools in the top 10 and a total of 13 in the top 15. This shift reflects a broader trend of China's growing investment in education and ability to attract top talent, while US universities face declining research funding and stricter immigration policies. The rise of Chinese universities is part of a broader pattern in which Asian schools are increasingly outperforming Western institutions in global academic rankings.
Canada has reached a major trade agreement with China, marking a significant shift in their economic relationship. The agreement includes an increase in the import limit for Chinese electric vehicles into Canada, with up to 49,000 units able to be imported at a „most-favoured nation“ rate of 6.1 %, eliminating the existing 100% duty. By 2030, the import limit will increase to 70,000 vehicles, and half of those must cost less than $35,000 to make EVs more affordable. In return, China is to reduce the tariff on rapeseed from 84 % to 15 % by March. Canadian canola meal, lobster, crab and peas will no longer face Chinese „anti-discrimination“ tariffs, starting in March and lasting until the end of the year. China has also committed to visa-free travel for Canadians. The agreement follows a trade dispute that began in 2024 and escalated with reciprocal tariffs in 2025.
EU and China agree to introduce minimum prices for Chinese electric cars instead of high tariffs
China and the European Union have reached an agreement on the introduction of a minimum pricing mechanism for Chinese electric vehicles imported into the EU to replace high tariffs. The agreement comes after more than a year of negotiations and is designed to address EU concerns about subsidies for Chinese electric vehicles. In October 2024, the European Commission imposed additional import duties of up to 35.3 % on Chinese EVs for five years, on top of the current standard 10% duty on car imports. The new guidelines will fairly assess Chinese exporters' pricing proposals in accordance with WTO rules. This solution is expected to stabilise the access of Chinese EVs to the EU market and foster deeper cooperation between China and the EU on market expansion and technological innovation in the EV sector. China exported approximately 580,000 pure electric vehicles, 250,000 plug-in hybrids and 170,000 conventional hybrids to the EU in the first 11 months of last year, making the EU the largest market in each of these categories.
Qwen AI app surpasses 100 million monthly active users, integrates direct shopping and travel
Alibaba Group's Qwen AI app crossed the 100 million monthly active users mark as of January 2026, a significant milestone for the company. The app, which launched in mid-November, has become deeply integrated into Alibaba's ecosystem, enabling voice-controlled shopping, travel booking and digital tasks. Qwen became the fastest growing AI app in the world in November, with a month-on-month increase of 149 % active users globally. Users can now perform a wide range of activities using simple voice commands - from e-commerce and food delivery to ordering transport, booking travel and buying cinema tickets. Alibaba expects AI to take over up to 70 % digital tasks within two years, with Qwen handling more than 400 digital activities, from programming to office collaboration to data analytics.
Huawei Technologies has increased the proportion of domestic components in its new smartphones to nearly 60 % by value, reflecting China's progress in manufacturing CPUs and memory chips despite US export restrictions. An analysis of two Huawei models - the Mate 70 Pro (2024) and Pura 80 Pro (2025) - by the Nikkei showed an increase in the share of domestic parts from 19 % in 2020 to 57 % for the Pura 80 Pro, with an estimated total component cost of $380. The share of components from Japan, the U.S. and South Korea decreased by more than 20 percentage points between 2023 and 2024. The system-on-chip used in Huawei's Pura 80 Pro uses a Kirin 9020 chipset designed by HiSilicon, representing an advance in the domestic production of costly components.
Tomáš Kučera & Yereth Jansen
China-insights.com/gnews.cz - GH
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