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The prolonged US federal government shutdown has been affecting the release of key data that policymakers need to assess the trade war’s effects and gauge price and labour market trends, further complicating ongoing rate decision disputes between US President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve. Speaking at the Brookings Institution on Monday, US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook joined other colleagues to warn how the lack of government data has challenged their decision-making at the US...

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Cuts to federal research would weaken America’s scientific edge against Beijing, warned Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the US House committee focused on China, who is pressing budget chief Russ Vought on whether his office has assessed their impact. “While the United States is dismantling the very foundations that have sustained our STEM and innovation leadership for generations, Beijing has announced its plans to continue accelerating its investments in science, technology, and...

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The European Commission says a “worst case scenario” has been averted, after China’s commerce ministry engaged with European companies in recent days to restart the flow of semiconductors that had been disrupted by a crisis surrounding the company Nexperia. The saga, which saw the Dutch-headquartered company cut off from its Chinese processing facilities following a dispute between The Hague and Beijing, threatened to throw Europe’s automotive industry into disarray. Dutch authorities ousted the...

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Chinese scientists have made a “historic leap” in developing a chip that can cope with extreme levels of radiation. The Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip has a wide range of potential uses, including satellite command and control systems, spaceborne computers and weapons systems. Its hardware can be reconfigured after manufacturing to perform a wide variety of specific tasks. This flexibility makes FPGAs useful for custom computing applications and electronic systems that may need to be...

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1. China, US must take action after Xi-Trump summit, avoid ‘new disruptions’: envoy China’s top envoy to the US said the top priority for both countries is to translate recent outcomes from meetings in Busan and Kuala Lumpur into concrete actions without “causing new disruptions”.
2. Lead scientist of China’s thorium reactor project died working on the...

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Xu Hongjie, a nuclear physicist and pioneer of China’s thorium reactor programme, who has died at the age of 70, remained engaged and involved in his field until his last moments, and just weeks before a breakthrough in a project he had led. The former director of the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) died in Shanghai on September 14, according to an obituary posted by the institute a day after his death; however, the details of his death were not known until the Science and...

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Amap, the mapping and local services business under Alibaba Group Holding, is expanding its global footprint in tandem with the overseas drive of Chinese carmakers, potentially challenging the dominance of Google Maps. Amap on Monday unveiled an international version of its AutoSDK, a software toolkit designed to support carmakers in developing in-car navigation and cockpit systems for foreign markets. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Chinese car brands had long struggled to adapt...

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Another high-stakes face-off between the United States and China has come and gone. The much-anticipated summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea, resulted in agreement on several points. The US agreed to reduce its so-called fentanyl tariffs on China by 10 per cent, suspend recently tightened technology restrictions for a year and suspend an investigation into Chinese shipbuilding practices. China, according to a White House fact sheet,...

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Hong Kong continues to ratchet up its cryptocurrency development efforts, as the city’s securities regulator fine-tunes rules to boost the liquidity of local digital-asset trading platforms. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said it would allow locally licensed digital-asset exchanges to integrate their order books with those of their affiliated platforms globally. “What we noticed is that through the creation of this close-loop environment, we are creating a pocket of liquidity only...

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A notorious Myanmar crime syndicate boss was sentenced to death on Tuesday by a Chinese court for his group’s industrial-scale operations that led to the death of six Chinese citizens, according to state news agency Xinhua. The Kokang crime boss Bai Suocheng, his son Bai Yingcang and three close associates were sentenced to death by Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong province, Xinhua reported. Another 16 defendants working for the Bai family received criminal sentences of varying...

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A Chinese Chinook-style unmanned helicopter capable of operating in extreme conditions – from the Himalayas to the South China Sea – has successfully completed its maiden flight, according to its maker. The Boying T1400 heavy-lift tandem-rotor drone, developed by the privately owned United Aircraft Technology, is expected to significantly boost resupply capabilities to areas such as high-altitude regions and seas. The aircraft, which superficially resembles the US Army’s Boeing Chinook CH-47...

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China is elevating its digital competitiveness on the world’s stage, according to the latest rankings from a Swiss academic institute, while those behind the findings caution that trade fragmentation is weighing on economies’ digital prowess globally. The world’s second-largest economy has reached an all-time high of 12th place among 69 economies in terms of overall performance, improving by two places from 2024, according to this year’s edition of the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking,...

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President Xi Jinping reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to Moscow, saying it was a “strategic choice” to strengthen ties, during a meeting with visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Tuesday. Xi told Mishustin that China-Russia ties were advancing with steady determination “despite the turbulent and challenging external environment”, according to state news agency Xinhua. “Safeguarding, consolidating and advancing the relationship is a strategic choice for both sides,” Xi...

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French luxury giant LVMH has expressed full confidence in the Chinese market despite sluggish consumption in the world’s second-largest economy, promising continued investment in what it calls “the beating heart of global luxury”. “The future of luxury is being shaped here, in China, with China and with our Chinese clients,” said Marc-Antoine Jamet, LVMH’s secretary general, in Paris before heading to the annual China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. China is a top market for the...

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China’s top envoy to the US said the top priority for both countries is to translate recent outcomes from meetings in Busan and Kuala Lumpur into concrete actions without “causing new disruptions”. Speaking via video link to the US-China Business Council’s annual conference in Shanghai, Xie Feng also reiterated Beijing’s four red lines, including the Taiwan issue, according to a transcript of his speech released by the Chinese embassy on Tuesday. Xie’s speech, delivered on Monday, came after...

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Starbucks agreed to sell a 60 per cent stake in its Chinese operations to a private-equity firm, ending months of speculation about whether the US coffee chain would divest itself of its mainland operations amid dimmer business prospects and the ascent of local rivals. The Seattle-based company said on Monday that it signed an agreement with Boyu Capital to set up a joint venture for its mainland business. Starbucks would hold a 40 per cent interest in the unit and remain the owner and licenser...

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged his German counterpart Johann Wadephul to refrain from “megaphone diplomacy” or making what he described as unfounded accusations that contradict the facts, but welcomed him to visit China. “China and Germany have different histories, cultures and social systems, so differences are unavoidable,” Wang Yi said in a phone conversation on Monday, according to a Chinese foreign ministry account. “Both sides should adhere to communication and dialogue … but...

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To bolster Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre, Vice-Premier He Lifeng has pledged continued support for the city, emphasising its role in global financial governance and stability. Speaking at the 2025 Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit on Tuesday, He also expressed confidence in Hong Kong’s prosperity, stating that its status as a financial hub is “set to be further consolidated and elevated”. “The Party Central Committee’s proposal for the 15th five-year plan...

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Over 20 Chinese companies have earned a place on Time magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2025” list, with innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) recognised for the first time alongside advances in robotics and consumer electronics. Products from DeepSeek, Unitree Robotics and Huawei Technologies were among those featured on the annual list selected by the magazine’s editors. This year’s edition – covering 300 innovations across 36 categories, the most ever – marks the first time Chinese...

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China should more actively pursue the global lead in quantum governance to secure a strategic edge, an influential mainland think tank has urged, as dual-use quantum tech emerges as an increasingly important front in the country’s wide-ranging rivalry with the United States. China could also diversify its technological partnerships by deepening cooperation with EU countries and the United Arab Emirates, according to Grandview Institution, as the country prepares for its next five-year...

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As Beijing continues advocating for deeper regional economic cooperation in East Asia amid ongoing tensions with Washington – including by working towards a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Japan and South Korea – analysts say that making substantial progress remains challenging, given the existing trade framework and conflicting interests. In a meeting with South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan on Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation...

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Brazilian fintech unicorn Ebanx sees Hong Kong emerging as a stablecoin payment hub for mainland Chinese companies engaged in international trade, as its CEO visited the city’s largest-ever Fintech Week to explore expansion opportunities. Hong Kong could serve as “a kind of initial validation, initial test” for Chinese companies exploring stablecoin use in cross-border commerce, said Joao Del Valle, CEO and co-founder of global digital payment services provider Ebanx, in a recent interview with...

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Uspace Technology Group will set up an artificial intelligence application technology centre in Shenzhen, as the satellite manufacturer realigns its space business after moving its headquarters from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province. A unit of Uspace, Gang Hang Ke, will spearhead the centre’s establishment, the company said in a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday evening. It said the new facility will focus on intelligent decision-making for satellite...

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Despite repeated pledges of support, China has yet to commit a specific financial contribution to the tropical forest-protection investment fund that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is banking on, as COP30 opens this week in Belem, northern Brazil. The Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) is a Brazil-led multilateral mechanism designed to reward tropical nations for keeping forests standing rather than clearing them. Operating as a permanent endowment, it will blend sovereign...

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South Korea has moved to calm speculation that China will lift an unofficial ban on the country’s entertainment industry in the wake of President Xi Jinping’s visit to the country. Lawmaker Kim Young-bae said Xi had responded positively to a proposed South Korean performance in Beijing, prompting a rise in entertainment companies’ share prices. “I hope that this will be the moment when the door opens to full-fledged K-culture advancement beyond the lifting of the THAAD ban,” Kim wrote on social...

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