China News

In a world first, Chinese researchers have flight-tested new streamlined thrust technology in a high-speed drone, capping nearly two decades of research in the area for the lead scientist. The lighter and simpler aerodynamic thrust vectoring system abandons the complex mechanical parts of elite fighter jets like the F-35B and Su-37 to redirect engine exhaust to make the aircraft more manoeuverable. Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics announced last month that a team led by...

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If American users of TikTok think its transition to majority US ownership would make it more secure and freer, they are sorely mistaken. Rather, they should expect the opposite. Some 170 million TikTokkers received a pop-up message telling them that if they wanted to continue with the service, they had to agree to new terms of service and privacy policy under new US majority ownership. Users almost immediately sensed a difference in the online environment. There were news reports that the social...

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently concluded his four-day visit to China, during which he met President Xi Jinping. He was accompanied by a sizeable delegation of prominent British business leaders across finance, pharmaceuticals, clean energy and aviation. Starmer met Chery chairman Yin Tongyue, who announced his intention to open the carmaker’s European headquarters in Liverpool. Separately, AstraZeneca also announced a US$15 billion investment in China over the next five years. The...

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Drinking hot water, eating warm congee and dressing in red to pray for good luck are daily rituals shared by social media users across the globe who have embraced a new lifestyle trend, declaring: “You met me at a very Chinese time in my life.” The phrase has been popularised over the past year by influencers on TikTok and Instagram who post themselves performing stereotypically Chinese activities. The trend reflects a positive shift in how China, or “Chineseness”, is perceived globally. This...

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A war of words between Chinese diplomats and Philippine politicians over the disputed South China Sea has prompted calls in Manila to declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata – the second such call in three years. While Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has rejected the idea, the latest spike in tensions led to officials of the two countries breaking a year-long hiatus and sitting down for talks in Cebu. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the talks on January 29 were...

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Over 10 million students graduate from Chinese universities every year, straining an already crowded labour market. Yet the “micro drama” industry is emerging as a crucial lifeline for hundreds of thousands of young jobseekers: offering the chance to turn creativity into a stable pay cheque. The sector was estimated to directly generate about 690,000 jobs in 2025 – mostly for young people – and over 2 million positions when counting upstream and downstream roles, according to a recent report by...

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Western media and policymakers enjoy wagging their fingers at China’s industrial “overcapacity”, which in reality is simply the ability to produce solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, steel and other goods more cheaply and efficiently than others can. Yes, some industries are subsidised, but they also benefit immensely from rapid growth in technical know-how and economies of scale. China hasn’t really built too much; it’s just built too efficiently for the comfort of its competitors. The...

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China’s long-term growth trajectory will depend on the introduction of market reforms, and the country’s potential growth rate could fall to about 2.5 per cent in the coming years unless action is taken, a prominent Chinese economist has warned. “Without a strong turnaround in total factor productivity and a meaningful expansion in household consumption, it will be difficult for China’s economic growth to reach 4 per cent or higher,” said Zhou Tianyong, former deputy head of the Central Party...

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Eight people have been confirmed dead in a blast at a biotechnology factory in central China early on Saturday. The explosion ripped through a workshop in Shanyin county, Shanxi province, operated by Jiapeng Biotechnology, a company involved in bio-feed, coal and related products, building materials, and paint manufacturing. The county government said the rescue operation had concluded and the company’s legal representative had been taken into police custody. Officials from Shuozhou, the city...

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Chinese aviation start-up AutoFlight, backed by electric vehicle (EV) battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), is emblematic of mainland China’s ambitions in the flying car market, part of the country’s broader push to dominate the low-altitude economy. The Shanghai-based company on Thursday unveiled Matrix, a five-tonne (11,000lbs) class electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which it described as the largest of its kind in the world after completing a flight...

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In less than a week, China conducted a series of executions on a scale rarely seen in recent decades. In all, 16 core members of mafia-like crime syndicates were put to death for a range of crimes, from murder to fraud and human trafficking. While all of the victims in the cases were Chinese nationals, many of the condemned were citizens of Myanmar, a largely Buddhist country not known for executing crime bosses. Yet, China was able to convince authorities in Myanmar to hand over...

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As the Year of the Horse approaches, Chinese consumers are hunting online for mascots, dolls and charms themed after the zodiac animal – a pursuit industry observers say favours soft, round and playful designs over formal styles and places more weight on emotional fulfilment than material possessions or brand prestige. This craze is boosting retail sales for plush toys and gold accessories, as is evident in toymaker Pop Mart’s sold-out Have a Good Run series of plush pendants, as well as brisk...

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A protein secreted by deadly tumour cells could be a powerful weapon against Alzheimer’s disease, Chinese researchers have found. While Alzheimer’s disease and cancer are common in ageing populations and are among the leading causes of death worldwide, it is unusual for them to occur in the same person. A Chinese research team said late last month they had identified a protein from cancer cells that could explain why patients with a history of cancer were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s...

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For those in China’s cross-border trade business, a sweeping tax crackdown is beginning to be felt. Heightened scrutiny of unreported overseas income is reshaping cost structures, squeezing margins and forcing exporters to rethink how they operate across borders. “It has taken a real bite out of profits,” said Henry Huang, a Zhejiang-based exporter who now faces higher taxes yet little room to pass on costs to price-sensitive customers in the United States and Europe. “It’s hitting everyone in...

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At this time of year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s top priority is finalising the Hong Kong government’s budget for 2026-27, balancing requests for incentives and welfare against calls for a return to fiscal prudence. For decades, budget speeches have followed a familiar structure: a review of past performance, near- and medium-term forecasts, support measures for industries and social services, a report on the government’s fiscal position and financial estimates for the coming year....

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A noted archaeologist is challenging conventional wisdom on one of the world’s oldest cultures, arguing that Chinese civilisation has a recorded history stretching back 8,000 years – three millennia beyond the widely accepted benchmark. An article published late last year on the official portal Chinese Social Sciences Net made the bold new claim that the emergence of astronomy should be seen as the starting point of Chinese civilisation. The author was Feng Shi, a member of the Chinese Academy...

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The US is converting Cold War-era helicopters into drones, a move defence experts say could play a “critical role” in any conflict with Beijing over the Taiwan Strait. The PLA has also been retrofitting outdated aircraft to act as uncrewed drones, with both militaries unveiling similar systems within a month of each other last year. The S-70UAS U-Hawk, a fully autonomous helicopter based on the UH-60 Black Hawk, was first showcased last October at an annual American military event, where it was...

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Beijing has denounced Norway’s latest security assessment labelling China as a threat, dismissing the report as “sheer speculation and imagination” while accusing Oslo of holding a “misguided” view that risked damage to ties. In an online statement posted on Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Norway said the reports “once again fabricate the so-called ‘China threat’ narrative out of sheer speculation and imagination, replete with cliches and not worthy of refutation”. “The China-related content is...

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The world’s fastest air-launched anti-ship cruise missile appears to be in service in the Chinese navy. A photo of a carrier-based J-15T fighter equipped with two YJ-15 missiles has surfaced online in what seems to be a highly operational configuration. The South China Morning Post cannot verify the authenticity of the widely circulated image but, if genuine, the photo would confirm that the missile was designed for the People’s Liberation Army’s naval and air force tactical aircraft, such as...

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China on Saturday launched the latest mission of its reusable experimental spacecraft – a potential rival to the US Space Force’s X-37B. It was China’s fourth launch of such a prototype spacecraft since 2020, all of them conducted at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre using the Long March-2F carrier rocket. The official name and technical specifications of the spacecraft have yet to be announced, but Chinese space fans have dubbed it the Shenlong, or “Divine Dragon”. State news agency Xinhua...

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Israel and China should avoid letting political disagreement hijack cooperation, an Israeli senior diplomat has said, amid growing signs that the two strategic partners are moving to repair ties following the Gaza war rift. “We do not let [ties] be hijacked by the political sphere and we continue our ongoing activities on the bilateral,” said Aviv Ezra, the Israeli foreign ministry’s deputy director general for Asia and the Pacific. Ezra was in China last week for a working visit, the...

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China’s top military command body has moved to tighten Communist Party control over the armed forces with updates to disciplinary rules for party members in the People’s Liberation Army. The PLA Daily, the military’s official newspaper, reported on Saturday that the revisions were to “actively respond to key concerns” in disciplinary enforcement practice. It did not specify the changes, but the report came just two weeks after the announcement that top general Zhang Youxia, first vice-chairman...

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Chinese scientists have developed a plant-inspired method to convert carbon dioxide and water into valuable chemicals, such as the building blocks for petrol, by using solar energy. The process – inspired by photosynthesis, where plants harness sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to generate energy – could help produce a sustainable source of fuel, the researchers said. The team, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said they had developed a...

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With the Winter Olympics now under way in Milan and Cortina, Chinese brands involved in the Games are mounting an ambitious marketing push across Italy and Europe, with sportswear and sports equipment naturally taking centre stage. At the forefront is Li Ning, the company supplying the national team with clothing and gear for the competition after returning as the official partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) – a role that had previously ended in 2004. The partnership coincides with Li...

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Taiwan is moving to plug one-year conscripts directly into frontline combined-arms operations, mandating joint live-fire training with troops across all services to bolster resilience against a potential attack from Beijing. But the push is facing challenges, with experts saying that the inexperienced recruits could become a battlefield burden while the military also deals with training capacity issues and weakening public resolve on defending the island. The Taiwanese cabinet’s latest policy...

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