Trump picks Perdue, global firms go local in China: SCMP daily catch-up

From international companies adopting a new strategy in China to a huge cave for testing space habitation, here’s a round-up from today’s China and economy coverage

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The Dutch firm NXP is a major supplier of semiconductors that counts China as one of its key revenue sources. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:00pm, 6 Dec 2024Updated: 9:09pm, 6 Dec 2024

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China and economy stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Donald Trump names David Perdue as pick for US ambassador to China

US president-elect Donald Trump has picked former senator David Perdue as his ambassador to China, he announced on social media. Perdue, 74, served as Republican senator of Georgia between 2015 and 2021. He did not win re-election for the Senate in 2021.

2. ‘In China for China’: global firms go local as trade, tech tensions ramp up

Despite escalating efforts from the United States and its allies to clamp down on trade, international companies with an interest in the still-sizeable Chinese market are adopting a new plan of action to stay engaged while keeping themselves insulated from unexpected geopolitical shocks, analysts said.

3. Is this huge cave China’s new testing ground for living on the moon and Mars?

A conceptual image of the proposed lunar base inside a lava tube cave that could one day provide suitable living conditions for humans. Photo: Handout

Attendees at China’s first international conference on space habitation and exploitation were given a tour of a vast underground cave system that Chinese researchers are hoping to use as a testing ground for living on the moon and Mars.