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Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as leaders gather for a family photo during the Belt and Road Forum on Yanqi Lake, outside Beijing, China, May 15, 2017.

Damir Sagolj | Reuters

China and Russia are taking center stage this week as both countries look to deepen ties just as a chasm with the West, on a geopolitical and economic as well as military front, appears to be getting deeper, according to analysts.

A three-day state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow this week, which began Monday, was hailed by China and Russia’s presidents as the result of solid and cooperative relations between the two leaders and their respective nations, and comes after a determined drive over the last decade to strengthen diplomatic, defense and trade ties.

Ahead of the visit, President Vladimir Putin said in an article that “unlike some countries claiming hegemony and bringing discord to the global harmony, Russia and China are literally and figuratively building bridges” while his Chinese counterpart returned the favor, telling AFP he is “confident the visit will be fruitful and give new momentum to the healthy and stable development of Chinese-Russian relations.”

Xi’s visit to Moscow is something of a political coup for Russia given that it comes at a time when Russia has few high-powered friends left on the international stage, and little to show for its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces have made little tangible progress despite a year of fighting, and a largely isolated Moscow continues to labor under the weight of international sanctions. To add insult to injury, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin on Friday, alleging that he is responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine during the war.

Nonetheless, China and Russia have long shared similar geopolitical aims, such as a desire to see what they call a “multi-polar world” and the curbing of NATO’s military might, that unite them. And perhaps the most significant shared viewpoint of all is their mutual, long-standing distrust of the West.

A confluence of recent events — from the war in Ukraine to Western restrictions on semiconductor tech exports to China and, lately, a nuclear submarines deal between the U.S., U.K. and Australia that irked Beijing — has only served to bring the countries even closer together, according to analysts.

“If you look at the trajectory of China-Russia relations within the last decade, bilateral ties between the two countries have really developed tremendously,” Alicja Bachulska, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) told CNBC, saying that the process of developing ties had begun back in the 1990s.

“It’s basically about certain strategic interests, that are very close to both Beijing and Moscow at this point,” she added. “For both Russia and China, the main interest is to weaken the U.S.-led international order, that’s their primary goal, long term and short term.”

The Ukraine factor

For both China and Russia, the war in Ukraine is both a challenge to that U.S.-led world order and a way to undermine it, analysts note.

China has held back from openly supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine but it has also refused to condemn the invasion. Instead, it has echoed Moscow in criticizing the U.S. and NATO for what it sees as “fueling the fire” over Ukraine. It has also sought to carve out a niche for itself as peacemaker, calling on both sides to agree a cease-fire and come to the negotiating table for talks.

Behind the scenes, the West is concerned that Beijing could provide lethal weaponry to Russia to enable it to gain the upper hand in Ukraine, as U.S. intelligence suggested last month. Ukraine’s Western allies have signaled that any move to do so would be a red line and that, should Beijing cross it, there would be “consequences” in the form of sanctions placed on China.

Beijing has vehemently denied it is planning on supplying Russia with any military hardware. China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday, reiterating previous comments, that the West was supplying weapons to Ukraine, not China, telling reporters that “the U.S. side should stop fueling the fires and fanning the flames … and play a constructive role for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine, not the other way around.”

China’s President Xi Jinping waves as he disembarks off his aircraft upon arrival at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on March 20, 2023.

Anatoliy Zhdanov | Afp | Getty Images

China has denied it is planning to help Moscow militarily but analysts say Beijing is concerned over the war in Ukraine, noting that China views a Russian failure in Ukraine as a threat, given that it carries the risk of a potentially seismic political fallout back in Russia that in turn could harm Beijing.

“The worst case scenario for Beijing now is Russia’s complete failure in this war,” the ECFR’s Bachulska said.

“If they begin to think that Russia might fail — and that in the really worst-case nightmare scenario that there [could be then] a pro-democratic government in Moscow — for China, this would be a very threatening scenario,” she noted, seen as both a “direct threat to Beijing, and the stability of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party].”

This fear, she said, could sway China when it considers whether to offer Putin help in Ukraine. “They will probably be able to provide more support if they realize that the balance of power on the battlefield is against Russia,” Bachulska noted.

China has 'doubled down' on its support for Russia, says research organization

It’s highly likely that, should China help Russia in terms of weaponry or military technology, however, it will look to do it in a very covert way, analysts including Bachulska and those at the Institute for the Study of War have noted, such as using Belarus or other countries.

“Xi likely plans to discuss sanctions evasion schemes with Putin and Russian officials to support the sale and provision of Chinese equipment to Russia,” the ISW said in analysis ahead of the Xi-Putin summit, noting that it had previously assessed that during a recent meeting between the presidents of Belarus and China, agreements may have been signed that “facilitate Russian sanctions evasion by channeling Chinese products through Belarus.”

The ISW said Xi and Putin are “likely to discuss sanctions evasion schemes and Chinese interest in mediating a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine.”  CNBC contacted China’s Foreign Ministry for a response to the comments and is yet to receive a response.

Tech and trade wars

While possible military aid for China is something the West needs to watch closely, the depth and breadth of China’s loyalty toward Moscow is seen to be finite, with Beijing likely reluctant to risk major sanctions on its own economy just to help Russia.

On the other hand, analysts note that China, like Russia, has a vested interested in seeing the U.S. and wider West weakened, both geopolitically and diplomatically — for instance, if China can step in as a mediator in the conflict in Ukraine — and on an economic level, if the two nations can forge closer trade ties. This would come as the U.S. and Europe challenge China’s economic power, most recently with the introduction of sweeping export control rules aimed at restricting China’s ability to access advanced computing chips.

“Export controls on Chinese high tech — which reflect a policy of targeted containment — brings Xi closer to Putin in worldview and orientation,” Ian Bremmer,  founder and president of the Eurasia Group, told CNBC, adding: “I think that’s likely to be reflected in Xi’s statements when he … visits Putin in Moscow, and that’s going to be a big deal geopolitically,” Bremmer noted.

How Biden’s chip export restrictions hit chip stocks

While Russia might offer China a convenient trading and diplomatic partnership as other routes to Western markets look increasingly vulnerable, analysts note that the relationship between China and Russia is an imbalanced one.

“China doesn’t really need Russia,” Christopher Granville, managing director of global political research at TS Lombard, told CNBC. “Russia is a very tiny economy compared to China’s with the exception of some very specific things, such as its hydrocarbon exports and some aspects of its military industries,” he noted.

“What I would say though is that the U.S. pressing on China, especially in these trade wars and now tech wars, is a clear zero-sum project by the U.S. government to prevent China from reaching the frontier of key technologies, notably semiconductors,” he noted.

“It seems to me that as a result of the U.S. government’s zero-sum campaign to pull back China, to stop it getting ahead and keep it behind, is that suddenly the relationship with Russia becomes more valuable to China.”

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Anker SOLIX clearance sale drops 535 PowerHouse station to $299 low + 60,000mAh PowerCore Reserve at $80, more

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September 15, 2025

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Anker SOLIX clearance sale drops 535 PowerHouse station to 9 low + 60,000mAh PowerCore Reserve at , more

Starting off this week’s Green Deals is another spotlight on Anker’s ongoing SOLIX Fan Fest Sale, focusing on the up to $700 clearance discounts on legacy power stations, like the 535 PowerHouse that has fallen back to its $299 low, among others. We also have a new low price hitting the ECOVACS Goat O1000 RTK Robot Lawn Mower at $841 (plus its upgraded and discounted variants), and Anker’s PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Station dropping back to $80. From there, we have new and returning lows on Govee’s Smart Electric Composter, Worx’s Nitro Hydroshot pressure washer, and more waiting for you below. Plus, there are all the hangover deals from last week collected at the bottom of the page in our latest Electrified Weekly edition.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Anker’s SOLIX Fan Fest clearance deals drop the 535 PowerHouse LiFePO4 station back to $299 low, more

As part of its ongoing Fan Fest Sale through September 21, Anker is offering up to $700 in clearance sale discounts on a lineup of legacy power stations for your personal device/appliance backup. Among the bunch, we spotted the tried-and-true Anker SOLIX 535 PowerHouse Portable Power Station at $299 shipped, which beats out Amazon’s pricing by $50. While it may carry a $550 MSRP, it keeps down at $500 when in full at Amazon, with discounts over 2025 mostly keeping the costs between $350 and $330, with one previous fall to $299 at the top of the month. You’re looking at another chance to pick it up at its lowest tracked price, giving you $251 in savings off its MSRP. Head below to learn more about this model and the others currently seeing these clearance discounts.

When you don’t want to lug around a larger power station or any expanded setup that you’d prefer to keep at the ready at home, Anker’s 535 PowerHouse station is a great alternative that provides a compact but ample 512Wh LiFePO4 battery capacity. Coming with a 5-year warranty (and rated to last a minimum of 10 years), this model delivers up to 500W of output power through its 9 port options: four AC outlets, three USB-A ports, a USB-C port, and a car port. You have plenty of recharging options for the station itself, including 120W speeds via the USB-C port, the included adapter, the car port, or when utilizing its maximum solar input.

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Anker’s SOLIX Fan Fest clearance deals:

ECOVACS Goat O1000 RTK Robot Lawn Mower mowing grass between blocks and rocky pathway

Save up to $500 on ECOVACS’ three Goat RTK and LiDAR robot mowers starting from a new $841 low

Amazon has been rolling out plenty of new low prices this morning, and the trend is continuing with the ECOVACS Goat O1000 RTK Robot Lawn Mower at $841.20 shipped, which beats out the brand’s direct website pricing by $59. It usually goes for $1,000 at full price since hitting the market back in spring, which we’ve seen mostly dropped down to $900 with discounts, though recently things have gone as low as $850 a few times over the summer months. Today’s deal takes the costs lower than ever as $159 is cut from the tag for the best new price we have tracked.

If you want to learn more about this model, as well as the discounts on its two upgraded variants, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here.

Anker PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh power station charging laptop and phone in back of SUV

Through the official Amazon storefront, Anker is giving folks another chance at its PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Station for $79.99 shipped in both of its colorways, which beats out the brand’s direct website pricing by $67. Without discounts, you’d be shelling out $150 in total for this popular model, with the discounts we have seen often dropping the price between $110 and $90, with a few falls lower to $80, and a one-time drop to its $75 low back during July’s Prime Day event. Outside of that short-lived Prime Day pricing, you’re looking at the best price we have seen repeat over the year, giving you $70 in savings and landing it back at its second-lowest overall price a month after its last appearance.

If you want to learn more about this power station’s capabilities, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

woman using Govee's Smart Electric Kitchen Composter for soil to put into garden box

Get low-cost soil from food waste without the odors using Govee’s Smart Electric Composter at a new $217 low

By way of its official Amazon storefront, Govee is offering the best price yet on its Smart Electric Kitchen Composter at $216.59 shipped, after clipping the on-page 20% off coupon. While it carries a $500 MSRP, we usually see it at Amazon between $427 and $455 when at full price, which has mostly been dropped between $350 and $300 with discounts. Since July’s Prime Day event the price has come down further, with a short-lived fall to $255 during that 4-day sale, before keeping at $285 and then $271 since. Today’s deal is bringing things lower than ever, as the 52% markdown cuts up to $238 off the tag for the best price we have tracked – which even beats out the $245 rate back from when it launched in October 2024.

If you want to learn more about this smarter composting alternative, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

man using Worx Nitro Hydroshot pressure washer to clean deck

Worx’s Nitro Hydroshot 710 PSI portable pressure washer with a draw hose hits $130 low for second time

Over at Amazon you can find the Worx Nitro Hydroshot  20V 710 PSI Light-Duty Electric Pressure Washer down at $129.99 shipped, which matches the price we’re seeing at Best Buy while this tool is a part of its Deals of the Day promotions. This portable cleaning option carries a $210 MSRP, though we usually see it keep down near $170 at Amazon, with prices having gone as far as a one-time drop to $137 in April and a one-time $130 low last month, while otherwise keeping the costs above $140 until today. Now, you can pick it up with $40 cut from the going rate (and $80 off the MSRP) for a second chance at the best price we have tracked.

If you want to learn more about this pressure washer, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.


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Cadillac’s new electric SUVs crush real-world EV range tests

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September 15, 2025

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Cadillac's new electric SUVs crush real-world EV range tests

Cadillac-electric-SUV-range

Cadillac’s new luxury electric SUVs may offer even more driving range than the official numbers suggest. Although they boast an EPA-estimated driving range of over 300 miles, the latest models drove well over that.

Cadillac’s Optiq, Vistiq electric SUVs top range estimates

Cadillac is making a comeback thanks to its new EV lineup. The luxury brand had its best first-half sales this year since 2008.

After launching a series of new electric SUVs earlier this year, Cadillac claims to be the leading luxury EV brand in the US this year. But that doesn’t include Tesla due to its “pricing structure,” the company said.

Cadillac now offers an electric option for nearly every segment, including the entry-level Optiq, midsize Lyriq, three-row Vistiq, and even bigger Escalade IQ and IQL. It also offers the high-performance Optiq V and Lyriq V, plus the ultra-luxury Celestiq.

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Much of the brand’s success is thanks to GM’s Ultium platform, which underpins all Chevy, GMC, and Cadillac electric vehicles.

The platform provides most models with an EPA-estimated driving range of at least 300 miles. According to Edmunds’ latest EV range test, Cadillac’s newest electric SUVs may offer more range than the numbers say.

Cadillac-electric-SUVs-EV-range
Cadillac Optiq EV (Source: Cadillac)

Powered by an 85 kWh battery, the Cadillac Optiq Sport 2 trim has an EPA-estimated driving range of 302 miles, but Edmunds drove it an impressive 339 miles, or about 12% more. It also had a better overall efficiency rating at 29.8 kWh of energy used per 100 miles, compared to the EPA rating of 33 kWh per 100 miles.

The Cadillac Vistiq 900 E4 also beat its official rating. Drawing power from a massive 102 kWh battery, the Vistiq has an EPA range of 305 miles, but the three-row electric SUV drove 334 miles during the test, or 9% more. It used 36.6 kWh of energy per 100 miles.

Cadillac-Vistiq-EV-range
2026 Cadillac Vistiq electric SUV (Source: GM)

With both electric SUVs driving over 330 miles during real-world range tests, the Optiq and Vistiq are both great options for buyers looking for an efficient luxury electric SUV.

Measuring 19″″ in length, 75″ in width, and 65″ in height, the Cadillac Optiq is about the same size as the Tesla Model Y (187″ in length x 76″ in width x 64″ in height). It starts at just $54,390.

Cadillac-Optiq-EV-range
2026 Cadillac Optiq EV (Source: Cadillac)

The three-row Vistiq, slotted in between the Lyriq and Escalade EQ, is equipped with dual motor AWD as standard and starts at $79,090.

With the $7,500 federal EV tax credit set to expire at the end of September, Cadillac is offering a few deals that may be worth checking out. Most Cadillac models are currently eligible for a credit of at least $10,000. The 2025 Optiq is listed for lease as low as $449, while the larger 2026 Vistiq is promoted at $749 per month.

Ready to try one out for yourself? We can help you get started. You can use our links below to find Cadillac’s electric SUVs in your area.


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Tesla board links ‘the future of Tesla’ to Elon Musk’s ridiculous compensation

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September 15, 2025

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Tesla board links 'the future of Tesla' to Elon Musk's ridiculous compensation

Tesla’s Chairwoman of the Board, Robyn Denholm, says that voting for Elon Musk’s compensation package of up to $1 trillion is essentially voting for Tesla’s future.

She insists only Elon Musk can make this future come true without ever explaining why.

Tesla’s board is virtually always silent. They rarely, if ever, comment about anything unless it’s time to get Elon Musk paid.

Then, they, especially chairwoman Robyn Denholm, come out of their cave to sell to shareholders that Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world and already the biggest Tesla shareholder, should receive the biggest compensation package ever – beating the next biggest by a factor of 10.

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They recently gave Musk a $29 billion package without obtaining shareholder approval, and now they are proposing a new one that could be worth around $1 trillion in stock options for Musk if all the milestones are met.

Denholm, who rarely, if ever, gives interviews, is now making the rounds to try to sell the package to shareholders.

Tesla’s board is even buying Google ads to sell the package for shareholders, despite the automaker rarely using advertising to sell its own products.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Denholm claimed that Musk is the only one who can execute Tesla’s mission, and they believe that even though he is the single person who benefits the most from Tesla’s stock right now, he still needs to be motivated with more stock options:

AI and autonomous is at the front and center of that, both in the vehicles but also in our Optimus lineup and what we’re doing from a robotics perspective as well. And so, having the Board’s responsibility is to look at who the CEO is for the next period of time, and we believe that Elon is the right CEO for Tesla over this transformative period of time. And our view is he’s a generational leader – there aren’t any other people out there like Elon who can actually lead the Company over this next decade or so. And so, once you decide who the leader should be, you need to put in place the compensation package to incent and motivate him to actually deliver against the ambitious goals.

When asked about Musk’s political activities, Denhom basically said that it is not the board’s business and they only judge him on the company’s performance:

Yeah, I mean, what he does from a personal perspective in terms of his political motivations, et cetera, is up to him. Clearly, from our perspective as a Board, we’re measuring him on results and measuring him on what he does as the CEO of Tesla. Our view is he’s delivered big time in the past, and we look forward to him doing that in the next era.

However, she didn’t explain what he has delivered lately.

Tesla’s vehicle sales have been in decline for two years now. Earnings have been dropping for three years. Tesla’s autonomous driving effort is years behind where Musk claimed it would be since 2018.

The only thing that is up is Tesla’s stock, and it appears to be up on people believing what Musk is claiming, despite a long history of being consistently wrong.

Yet, Denhom insists that voting for Musk’s compensation package is a vote on Tesla’s future:

I think the really key thing is that shareholders get to vote on the future of the Company, not just on a compensation package. The compensation package is the instantiation of the goals and ambition – the super ambitious goals that we have as a company. So, I think with this proposal, it’s really up to shareholders what the future of Tesla looks like.

Tesla shareholders will vote on November 6 at the annual shareholders meeting.

Electrek’s Take

The board has been selling hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Tesla stock over the last year.

They want to give Elon Musk ridiculous compensation because he also allowed them to give themselves excessive compensation, to the point where they had to settle with shareholders and return almost $1 billion worth of excessive board compensation. It’s pathetic.

It’s all about greed. It’s no longer about the mission.

Forget about the clear fact that Tesla’s CEO is losing his mind and using his platform to stoke political violence almost as a full-time job for the last 2 weeks, the compensation also doesn’t make sense on a purely sensible basis.

Musk is being greedy compared to the average human, but he is also being greedy on a billionaire scale.

In comparison, Jeff Bezos never took stock options during his tenure as CEO of Amazon because he was already fully motivated to perform at the company, as he stood to benefit the most from the stock:

Musk is in the same situation, but he apparently needs another trillion-dollar worth of stock to be motivated.

If the problem is the control of the company through his stake, which is obviously nonsense as he has complete control over Tesla with just 15% of the share, Tesla could do the same as Ellison with Oracle:

Ellison managed to increase his ownership of Oracle through share buybacks that helped shareholders instead of diluting the stock like Musk’s compensation package.

In short, there are numerous ways to achieve what Musk claims to accomplish while benefiting all shareholders equally, and him more proportionally as the biggest shareholder, but he chose to push for the option that results in him getting a disproportional benefit.

That’s called greed. Pure and simple.


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