bastil

Cities, Geopolitics, China, Latin America, and ASEAN.

[bastil @bastil]

While people in Europe are debating the regulatory barriers of air-con installation, Chinese companies are innovating products to slip through the walls.

EU-China trade tensions collide with air-conditioner boom https://t.co/HGoVA1fuyw

[bastil @bastil]

It is obvious that the return of this infrastructure investment is not measured by the direct return, instead, by Accessibility and Affordability it provides to the people.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

I found this absolutely hilarious.

So China has this nationwide policy called "Green Channel" (“绿通”): if you transport fresh produce like fruits or veggies, you don't need to pay highway tolls.

It's real, I checked, here is a government website describing the policy: https://t.co/1ktAm1lL1c

This is meant to reduce food costs and reduce friction in food logistics. If you're a small farmer producing - say - watermelons in Xinjiang, thousands of kms from Eastern cities, highway tolls alone could cost more than the watermelons themselves are worth.

There is, however, a loophole that's going viral on Chinese social media these days 👇 It applies to pickup trucks! So if you have a pickup truck, you just need to pack the back with cheap cabbage and - voilà - free highway for you 😂

So in China these days, if you go on the highway, you're increasingly seeing more and more pickup trucks packed with fruits and veggies in the back 😅

It actually doesn't go wasted and may even work in favor of the policy. When they arrive at destination, the drivers do sell the produce so, on top of waiving highway fees, they even make a profit - basically becoming the small-scale food distributors the policy was designed to support.

The video describes a driver from Zhengzhou, Henan who reportedly bought 500 yuan of cabbage, drove toll-free to Xinjiang, sold it for 1,500, then loaded up watermelons for the return trip and sold those back in Henan. He saved 2,000 RMB in highway fees and probably got his gas paid by the food profit!

I'm myself planning to drive the whole summer touring Western China with my family in an RV: I wonder if it applies, I might try it! If you're in China and see a French guy driving a RV packed with cabbage, don't get surprised 😂

[bastil @bastil]

Very enlightening thread.

[Paul Triolo @pstAsiatech]

An important signal from Beijing today. Premier Li Qiang chaired a State Council Executive Meeting devoted first to AI development, before discussing trade, climate, and health policy.
The language is worth reading carefully—not because it announces a dramatic new policy, but because it reinforces where China's AI strategy is heading. a short thread.🧵

[bastil @bastil]

It'll be interesting to see for how long.

[Kyle Chan @kyleichan]

The US is the only major country to shut out Chinese EVs.

The rest of the world not only allows Chinese EVs to be sold but has sought to partner with Chinese EV makers or integrate into their supply chains, including:
- Japan
- Germany
- Spain
- Canada
- Mexico
- India
- Brazil
- Thailand
- Indonesia
- Turkey
- Hungary
- Britain
- Morocco
- Malaysia
- Pakistan
- South Africa

[bastil @bastil]

hunian-hunian yang selama ini kosong.
​Menurut Anda, apakah skema seperti ini cocok dan bisa diterapkan di kota-kota besar kita?
https://t.co/kjMQqV8g81
@BeijingReview

[bastil @bastil]

Bayangkan: baru lulus kuliah, sudah bisa punya apartemen sendiri di tengah Kota Jakarta.

Menarik, bukan?

Ini bukan sekadar mimpi, tapi sebuah simbiosis menarik antara kota dan generasi mudanya yang akan diluncurkan di China.

[bastil @bastil]

kreativitas, dan kemajuan bagi kotanya. Lebih dari itu, kebijakan ini membangun rasa kepemilikan (sense of belonging) yang kuat pada generasi muda terhadap kota tempat mereka tinggal.
​Bonusnya? Kebijakan ini juga bisa menjadi obat bagi krisis properti di China dengan mengisi

[bastil @bastil]

@kev_kag Mungkin karena selalu ada mengaburkan dengan embel2 identitas, agama, suku, dll., sebagai pengalihan.

[bastil @bastil]

https://t.co/lFcbYFgiMn

[bastil @bastil]

@ardisatriawan Emperor with no clothes

[bastil @bastil]

@menuembegejelek 08.10. Medan - Tj Mulia/Percut belum nyala

[bastil @bastil]

This pic is of China's previous PM @jakpost

[The Jakarta Post @jakpost]

Chinese Premier lands in Seoul for trilateral summit with South Korea, Japan - Asia & Pacific - The Jakarta Post #jakpost https://t.co/vxLa75AlqM

[bastil @bastil]

11. Meskipun kelayakan penerapan dan penegakan regulasi ini masih perlu dibuktikan, upaya CHN dalam draf regulasi ini dapat menjadi pertimbangan para pembuat kebijakan AI generatif di negara lain, termasuk dalam masyarakat
demokrasi liberal

[bastil @bastil]

China (CHN), Pelopor Regulasi Intelegensi Artifisial (AI) Generatif.
1. ChatGPT hanyalah salah 1 wujud teknologi AI generatif yg dgn cepat menjamur di seluruh dunia. AS memimpin pengembangan teknologi tsb, namun CHN memelopori
penerapan regulasinya.

[The Diplomat @Diplomat_APAC]

Although the U.S. leads in developing generative artificial intelligence technology, China is in the forefront of enacting regulations – for better and for worse. https://t.co/LfgMn1tIhi

[bastil @bastil]

10. Upaya pengaturan AI CHN berfokus pada dampak sosial pengguna AI generatif. Perlu
dilihat seberapa jauh pertumbuhan AI di sana dgn obsesi kontrol informasi oleh Partai Komunis China (PKC).