China News

China’s new high-power microwave system to counter drones has a longer range than its US military equivalent, according to its developer. The truck-mounted Hurricane 3000 was showcased during China’s huge military parade in September. This week its developer – state-owned defence contractor Norinco – disclosed some details of the weapon system for the first time. “Its effective interception range exceeds 3km [1.86 miles] against light and small [unmanned aerial vehicles] and drone swarms,...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Irina Zhou’s five-year-old cat has gained about a kilogram every year for the past three years. She knows the extra weight puts her pet at risk of obesity-related diseases and could even shorten his life. “My parents just can’t bear to see the cat go hungry,” the 29-year-old Zhou said. “If the weight starts to affect his health, I might consider trying weight-loss medicines for him.” The idea of using obesity drugs for pets drew public attention after Fosun Pharma’s unit Yao Pharma signed a...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Shanghai has announced a slew of new investments in hi-tech industries ranging from chips to artificial intelligence (AI) and aviation, becoming the latest Chinese city to unveil ambitious plans to boost local innovation amid an intensifying US-China tech race. The city’s Pudong district unveiled 50 big-ticket projects worth more than 70 billion yuan (US$10 billion) combined on Monday, with most of the investment earmarked to flow into key industries including microchips, AI, biopharmaceuticals,...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Singapore and Beijing have emerged among the world’s most liveable cities for tech workers, according to Savills’ inaugural Matcha Index, which ranks locations by buzz and by the spaces where these employees can work, connect and spark ideas over a hot – or cold – matcha drink. The index, released on Tuesday, pointed out how cafe culture has become a vital part of the social infrastructure that supports the tech ecosystem, and that matcha lattes have taken over as the “go-to” drink for young...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Just like every dark cloud has a silver lining, insurers are proficient at managing risks and turning them into opportunities. As an ageing population has become a pressing issue around the globe, the booming demand for insurance and annuities presents considerable potential.  China, one of the fastest-ageing countries, is expected to see its personal insurance market expand from four trillion Chinese yuan (US$553...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] When someone says, “I drive an electric vehicle or EV because it protects the environment,” it could be music to the ears of climate advocates. Regardless, EVs have reshaped the global transportation landscape, with major traditional global carmakers now joining the race in battery-powered vehicles. In this new wave of the automotive evolution, no country has achieved what China has done.   The Chinese Mainland market...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] In the time of geopolitical tensions, economic volatility and technological upheaval, individuals and businesses face a pressing question: How to thrive amid these constant disruptions? The insights may lie in a Chinese text with a history spanning more than five millennia: I-Ching, also known as the Book of Changes.  The I-Ching serves as a tool for divination in traditional Chinese knowledge and has become a profound...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

The US operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro serves as a reminder for China to bolster its air defences and counter-intelligence protections, observers say. Analysts in China described Venezuela’s air defences – which rely largely on Russian technology – as “full of flaws and slow to react” amid the modern surveillance, cyber, and electronic warfare displayed by US forces in Saturday’s operation in Caracas. The operation could serve as a further case study for China, which has...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Eight years after leaving Venezuela, David Hou, a native of southern China’s Guangdong province, returned last year, pleased to find what he described as an improved economic environment. That optimism is now shrouded in uncertainty after the United States abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on allegations of narcoterrorism and possessing “destructive devices” – charges he has firmly rejected. While the full impact has yet to be felt, the situation is “making people anxious and very...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

A controversial plan to change Taiwan’s law governing relations with mainland China, which critics said could edge the island towards “de jure independence”, appears to have collapsed within days. The failure of the draft legislation to even reach the legislature’s agenda committee underscored the sensitivity of the issue amid mounting pressure from Beijing, which warned on Sunday that a declaration of independence would mean war. The initiative to amend the Act Governing Relations Between the...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Amap, the mapping and navigation arm of Alibaba Group Holding, is stepping up research into “world models” – systems designed to simulate real-world environments – as the tech giant pushes deeper into embedding artificial intelligence across its services. The unit planned to launch a new product based on its FantasyWorld model, which was developed by the Alibaba Amap Computer Vision Lab and released in September, according to Shanghai Securities News. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Premier Li Qiang called for multilateralism and free trade in his meeting with visiting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday and said China would promote cooperation in emerging fields such as high-end manufacturing, new energy and artificial intelligence (AI). Li said China aimed to expand “the breadth and depth of cooperation” to achieve more practical outcomes and was willing to expand market access and integration, according to Beijing’s account of the meeting. “We stand ready to...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

The recent US strike against Venezuela is likely to deepen the Iranian leadership’s concerns about further intervention from Washington but analysts do not expect the leadership will be targeted directly in the same way as Nicolas Maduro. They pointed to the higher geopolitical stakes in the Middle East compared with Latin America and the greater role played by China, Russia and other countries. Before the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the leadership in Iran had already been...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

BBC journalists have reportedly been instructed not to describe America’s abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as a “kidnapping”, according to a British newspaper columnist. The editorial instruction was unveiled by Owen Jones on Monday, a commentator with more than a million followers on a social media platform. Jones said a memo from BBC management had been passed to him. According to an image Jones uploaded with his post, the guidelines told BBC’s journalists to use “captured” when...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

China’s car industry is expected to stagnate this year as it tries to catch its breath after years of growth. New energy vehicles (NEVs) are likely to continue increasing their market share but growth will be much lower than in recent years, with the penetration rate reaching around 60 per cent. “Involution” was the major theme last year, and despite efforts by the government and manufacturers, the situation is unlikely to improve until the second half of the year, due to a tepid economy and a...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

China has banned the export of goods with both commercial and military applications to end users linked to the Japanese military amid a protracted diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo. Effective immediately, the export of these items – known as “dual-use” goods – to Japanese military end users, for military purposes, or to any other end users that would “contribute to enhancing Japan’s military capabilities” is prohibited, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Tuesday. While “dual-use”...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

China’s top real estate developers continue to shrink, according to industry data. The number of mainland property developers achieving annual contracted sales of at least 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) dropped to just 10 in 2025 from a peak of 43 in 2020, research firm China Real Estate Information Corporation (CRIC) said in a report on Sunday. Among the top 10 developers, only one, China Jinmao Holdings, reported year-on-year growth in sales, according to CRIC. The ranks of developers in the...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Chinese investment bank Citic Securities took the top position for overall investment banking fees in Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, in 2025, driven by its strong business performance in bond and initial public offering (IPO) underwriting, according to a report released on Wednesday by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). The Beijing-based brokerage generated US$1.45 billion in investment banking fees during the last year, accounting for 5.8 per cent of the total Asia-Pacific investment...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

China’s ideology chief has again called on propaganda officials to focus on the economy, as the country grapples with a slowdown, high unemployment and weak consumer demand. Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, told a national meeting of publicity department heads in Beijing on Monday that “a good start should be set” for the next five-year plan, state news agency Xinhua reported. The country’s new blueprint for social and economic development has officially begun and runs until...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

During a visit to Guangdong, China’s largest provincial-level contributor to gross domestic product, Premier Li Qiang emphasised the need for the province to continue leading the national economy, while Guangdong’s senior officials vowed “extraordinary” measures to drive growth. Li urged Guangdong to “strengthen advantages in innovative development and take the lead in reform and opening up” during his three-day visit from Saturday to Monday, according to Xinhua. His appeal comes as the Chinese...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

China risks losing access to satellite tracking stations and other sensitive technology infrastructure in Venezuela after the United States seized control of the country’s leadership and transferred its president Nicolas Maduro to New York for trial. Beijing’s embedded assets – from satellite ground stations to oilfield systems and telecommunications networks – could be compromised after US President Donald Trump said Washington would “run” Venezuela and “fix oil infrastructure” in the country...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has updated the user interface of its flagship chatbot by adding an advanced “thinking” feature, as its app recorded a massive 90 per cent jump in monthly active users (MAU) in December. The upgrades, including a deep research mode similar to OpenAI’s namesake product, marked a rare improvement on the consumer side for the Hangzhou-based firm at a time when anticipation was building over its next-generation models, analysts said. DeepSeek’s...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

As the new year unfolds, China finds itself grappling with strategic pressures fuelled by two US treaty allies at its doorstep – Japan and South Korea. In the first of a two-part series, Seong Hyeon Choi looks at how historically fraught China-Japan ties might fare as Tokyo bolsters its military posture with record budgets and advanced weaponry. China and Japan have never fully resolved the decades-old grudges of their wartime history and territorial disputes, but it was near the end of 2025 –...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth delivered a stark warning to China and Russia on Monday, declaring that the United States is rebuilding military dominance to a level so absolute that its enemies would “not dare” test it. Addressing shipyard workers and naval personnel at Newport News Shipbuilding, the nation’s largest military shipyard, Hegseth pointed to the recent US military operation in Venezuela as evidence of renewed American military readiness and the limits of non-American defence...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings apologised after its artificial intelligence chatbot Yuanbao was accused of “verbally insulting” a user, fuelling online debate about the risks posed by fast-evolving generative AI tools. Yuanbao is among China’s most popular AI chatbots. Embedded in Tencent’s WeChat and used by tens of millions of people each day, there have been no previous reports of the assistant generating insulting replies in user conversations. The complaint surfaced...

From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.