China News

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. China’s Hurricane 3000 microwave weapon can ‘sweep and kill’ drone swarms at 3km The truck-mounted Hurricane 3000 was showcased during China’s huge military parade in September. This week its developer – state-owned defence contractor...

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Led by only the second civilian the country has sent into space, China had started a series of experiments on board its Tiangong space station that could lead to the development of safer and more powerful space batteries, state media reported on Wednesday. The tests on lithium-ion batteries run by Zhang Hongzhang, a professor at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, could help scientists better understand how gravity affects the workings of the batteries. Zhang, 39, is one of the three...

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A senior Trump administration official has defended exports of advanced chips to China, arguing that the US was building its own “digital silk road” to counteract concerns that Washington was eroding the competitiveness of top US models. The comments, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday, came amid questions from Chinese observers over why the US government would make certain advanced integrated circuits, such as Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips, available to the...

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China’s consumer prices stayed unchanged from the previous year in 2025 while factory-gate prices fell by 2.6 per cent, suggesting lingering deflationary pressures and underscoring the need for further efforts to boost prices in 2026. The flat annual reading of the consumer price index (CPI), a major inflation indicator, missed the official 2 per cent growth target for the metric unveiled in March and slowed from the 0.2 per cent increase in 2024, according to data released by the National...

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US President Donald Trump has said the Taiwan issue was “up to” Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as he sought to draw a sharp distinction between the self-ruled island and Washington’s recent military action in Venezuela. In an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, Trump rejected suggestions that his audacious operation targeting the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro could set a precedent that Beijing might apply to Taiwan. Maduro’s government posed a direct threat to the United...

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I attended a memorial service last month for victims of the Nanking massacre, held at the Hong Kong government offices in Admiralty. Such occasions are solemn reminders of history’s darkest moments, forcing us to pause and reflect on the scale of the tragedy that unfolded after the city was seized on December 13, 1937, and the broader suffering inflicted on China during World War II. Government figures estimate that military and civilian casualties exceeded 35 million, with 21 million lives...

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Chinese household appliances maker Dreame Technology unveiled more than 20 new artificial intelligence-embedded products at this year’s CES trade show in Las Vegas, showing a glimpse of the future when smart devices would run almost all chores in a house. Those formed part of more than 150 products that Dreame, one of the world’s top five vendors of robot vacuum cleaners, exhibited at the four-day trade show that concludes this Friday. Dreame’s new “AI-powered whole-home smart ecosystem”...

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Washington’s further retreat from multilateral institutions has dealt “a heavy blow” to an already fractured global governance system, presenting both opportunities and challenges for Beijing, according to analysts. Observers said US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from 66 international organisations would have lasting consequences for American leadership around the world, accentuating power gaps in critical areas such as climate and security. On Thursday, Chinese foreign...

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US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said there was room ‌to balance roles for both the United States ‍and China in Venezuela to allow for commerce but that Washington would not allow Beijing to have major control over the Latin ⁠American country. In an interview on Fox Business Network, Wright also said he expected to see Chevron quickly grow its activities in Venezuela, with ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil also looking to play ‍a constructive role. “I think you will probably see some ‍long-term...

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US President Donald Trump’s proposal to boost next year’s military budget to US$1.5 trillion aims to blunt China’s global influence, a move analysts said could push Beijing to speed up its own military build-up with “greater urgency”. On Wednesday, Trump wrote on social media that the US military budget for the 2027 financial year should be raised in the face of “very troubled and dangerous times”. “This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more...

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The People’s Liberation Army has released footage of exercises countering swarms of suicide drones, a key element of Taiwan’s asymmetric defence strategy. Mainland state broadcaster CCTV showed a video on Sunday of a naval unit conducting anti-drone and uncrewed target drills as the PLA launched its 2026 training cycle. During the drills, the “blue force”, acting as the adversary, deployed multiple suicide drones to simulate ultra-low-altitude penetration strikes against maritime targets. In...

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Trade, particularly in energy, is expected to dominate Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s talks in China next week as his country looks to reduce its economic reliance on the United States. Carney’s five-day trip starts on Tuesday and will be the first by a Canadian leader to China since 2017. Carney said on Wednesday that his trip was part of a broader effort to bolster Canada’s economic resilience. “We’re forging new partnerships around the world to transform our economy from one that has...

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China has criticised the US seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker on the high seas, describing it as a serious breach of international law. US European Command announced via social media that it had seized the tanker in the North Atlantic on Wednesday due to “violations of US sanctions” on Venezuela. It was swiftly followed by the seizure of a second vessel in the Caribbean. The first ship, formerly the Bella 1, was followed across the Atlantic for two weeks after it tried to evade a US...

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Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) manufacturers are gearing up to go public in Hong Kong, aiming to tap the market for international expansion. TCM firms have joined the queue for initial public offerings (IPOs) in the city to test foreign investors’ appetite for their shares. The latest to join the queue are Sichuan Neautus Traditional Chinese Medicine and Hong Kong-based Herb Standard. “Hong Kong will serve as our hub for capital, research and development, as well as international...

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Influential Chinese semiconductor expert Wei Shaojun urged caution for mainland companies that place orders for Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips, as it remained a puzzle why the US government would make these advanced integrated circuits available to the country. “The US’ inconsistent stance on advanced chips – alternating between limited easing and renewed pressure – has left users struggling to discern its true strategic intent,” Wei, vice-president at the China Semiconductor...

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China has launched a fresh food supply service for residents of Woody Island, part of the hotly contested Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. A flight carrying fresh fruit, vegetables and meat landed on Woody Island – known as Yongxing Island in Chinese – on Tuesday, according to local state broadcaster Sansha TV. Woody Island is the largest outcrop in the Paracels, which are called the Xisha Islands in China. The island hosts the government of Sansha, which was established to administer...

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Chinese scientists have unlocked a method to harvest gold from electronic waste at a cost less than a third of the present market price. This gold-mining method can extract precious metals from discarded central processing units (CPUs) in old mobile phones and computers and printed circuit boards (PCBs) removed from home appliances through chemical washing in less than 20 minutes. It achieves over 98.2 per cent gold leaching efficiency from waste CPUs and PCBs at room temperature, along with a...

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China’s economy has successfully weathered mounting shocks, including US tariffs and technology curbs, and continues to innovate despite a challenging environment, according to the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party. “Practice has fully demonstrated that China’s economic fundamentals are solid and its resilience strong, and that it is fully capable of withstanding rough waters and even stormy waves,” the People’s Daily said in an editorial on Thursday, published at the start of the first...

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China’s Ministry of Commerce says it will conduct a review and investigation into Meta’s acquisition of Manus regarding export controls and technology exports, confirming an earlier report by the Post. The Post reported that Chinese authorities were considering whether to step in over Meta Platforms’ acquisition of Manus – an artificial intelligence agent developer with Chinese roots – amid concerns the deal could breach technology export controls and encourage more start-ups to relocate...

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The US takeover of Venezuela has placed billions of dollars in Chinese oil-for-loan debts at risk, analysts say, though they expect Venezuelan crude to continue flowing to China as the new government seeks immediate revenue. The abduction of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by US forces has left Beijing’s outstanding exposure in the South American nation – estimated at about US$10 billion, according to the research lab AidData – in a state of limbo. An optimistic scenario would involve a...

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The United States’ decapitation operation against Venezuela will reinforce North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, an aspiration that will continue to draw China’s “tacit tolerance”, according to analysts. After the US military abducted Nicolas Maduro during an attack on Venezuela on Saturday, Pyongyang criticised Washington’s actions as “wildly” violating the sovereignty of Caracas. It was one of a slew of countries that issued swift criticism of the US move. In a statement on Sunday, the North Korean...

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China has vowed to achieve “safe and reliable supply” in key artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2027 as the global race for frontier technologies and applications heats up. A plan published on Wednesday by eight government agencies, led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, listed the main areas of work to reach the goal, including promoting the deep application of three to five general-purpose large AI models in the manufacturing sector. “By 2027, China’s key core...

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China has developed smart power grid technology that cuts blackout recovery time to a 10th of a second, according to state media, which said the innovation was expected to play a bigger role in ensuring the safe and stable distribution of electricity worldwide. The grid protection technology enables power grid faults to be isolated and restored within a hundred-millisecond window, compared with the hours otherwise required, according to a Science and Technology Daily report on Tuesday. It also...

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Cambodia has extradited to China a billionaire businessman accused of operating a transnational crime network, engaging in cryptocurrency fraud, human trafficking and money laundering. At the request of Chinese authorities, Cambodia arrested three Chinese nationals – including Chen Zhi, the founder of Prince Group – and transferred them to China on Tuesday, Cambodia China Times reported on Wednesday night. The Cambodian Ministry of Interior said in a statement that law enforcement from both...

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China’s access to Japan’s coveted industrial-use goods – especially a critical chipmaking ingredient – may face hurdles if Tokyo imposes export restrictions in the event of a prolonged political dispute, though trade is holding steady for now, analysts and a trade organisation said. Beijing’s response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s November 7 remarks about Taiwan has prompted some analysts to ask what cards Tokyo might play should the relationship deteriorate further. Beijing’s...

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