[MENA to add 50GW of utility-scale solar by 2030]The MENA country plans to add 49.5GW of installed utility-scale solar capacity by 2030. With more than 30GW of development or construction projects announced between Oman, Morocco and Kuwait, these jurisdictions will lead the region in utility-scale solar PV this decade. All announced solar and wind projects will add more than five times the current renewable energy capacity in the MENA region, with utility-scale solar capacity currently standing at 7.4GW. In addition, Oman also plans to build a 12.5GW solar photovoltaic project, which will be operational by 2038. Editor/Xing Wentao
On April 3, 2026, the domestically developed maximum diameter 13.2-meter hard rock TBM by CCCC Tianhe started construction in Changshu. The machine is equipped with 7600 domestically produced rare earth special steel main bearings developed by the Institute of Metals, Chinese Academy of Sciences, with a rated life of over 15000 hours and performance exceeding imports. This move marks China Communications Construction Corporation's first achievement of 100% localization of core components for ultra large diameter tunneling machines, completely bridging the last mile of national production of major underground engineering equipment in China.Editor/Cheng Liting
At the Export to China SCO Choice Forum, Kazakh companies signed a $125 million agricultural export agreement with Chinese partners. Changsha Kaliev, the Minister of Trade of Kazakhstan, led a delegation to visit Shandong to deepen industrial and logistics cooperation. As the largest trading partner, the bilateral trade volume between China and Kazakhstan is expected to increase from 41 billion US dollars in 2023 to 48.7 billion US dollars in 2025, with Shandong's trade volume reaching 2.2 billion US dollars. Both sides are shifting from scale expansion to quality and efficiency improvement, with a focus on promoting the export of high value-added, non resource, and green technology products to ensure supply chain stability.Editor/Cheng Liting