China News

Chinese scientists have developed a catalyst that can turn biomass and coal-derived syngas directly into building blocks for plastic and synthetic rubber with higher efficiency and sustainability than existing methods. The iron-based nanoparticle catalyst converts syngas, or synthesis gas, into hydrogen and carbon-based compounds called olefins by coupling two reactions that separately have limitations but together have synergistic effects. This process produces olefins with a large variety of...

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Japan has urged its citizens in mainland China to take safety precautions as diplomatic tensions sparked by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan continue to escalate. In a message on its website, the Japanese embassy in China said it reiterated “safety measures in light of recent local media coverage concerning Japan-China relations”. “When going out, please remain vigilant of your surroundings, such as the approach of suspicious individuals, and endeavour to ensure your safety as...

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A leading advisory panel on China policy urged Congress on Tuesday to establish a “consolidated economic statecraft entity” to handle technological and other national security challenges posed by China’s “systematic and persistent evasion” of American export controls and sanctions. “This recommendation addresses the critical gap between export controls and sanctions as written and their actual enforcement, recognising that China and Russia continue to successfully circumvent existing safeguards...

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We have put together stories from our coverage of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan, the reaction and articles on Beijing-Tokyo relations for context. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Beijing slams Japanese PM for ‘seriously damaging’ ties over Taiwan comment This article was published on November 10, 2025.
2. Has Takaichi planted a Taiwan ‘time bomb’ in Tokyo’s ties with Beijing This article was published on November 13,...

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China is offering a glimpse of some of its latest drones and fighter jets at the Middle East’s biggest air show this week, seizing an opportunity to promote the country’s aviation products in the region. Among those displaying their advanced aircraft at the Dubai Air Show is China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (Catic), a major state-owned Chinese defence company. Its offerings include a full-scale model of the Wing Loong-X unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an export variant...

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Beijing has not achieved all of its “Made in China 2025” (MIC2025) goals – particularly in aviation and integrated circuits – but has still made “significant gains” and cemented its status as a global manufacturing powerhouse, according to a new US government report. The assessment, released by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, evaluated China's progress on the 10-year strategy, which was launched in 2015 to achieve self-reliance, innovation and technological prowess across...

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Pundits the world over are pointing to a new cold war – the defending champion United States versus a rising China. Deglobalisation and great power rivalry dominate headlines while world leaders prepare for chaos. Fortunately, a different picture emerges when we look at the data. A century of globalised trade has levelled the economic playing field. Countries are now closer in relative strength, far more interdependent and far less willing to pick sides. The “great powers” of the 21st century...

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US video game developer Riot Games, creator of League of Legends, retains bragging rights to the most popular PC game in China nearly a decade and a half after its launch. First introduced in 2009 and brought to the mainland in 2011, the multiplayer online battle game has been around longer than many of those who play it – a remarkable feat in an industry known for its rapid shifts. The secret to the game’s longevity may lie in the sustained appeal of the League of Legends esports scene, as...

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A series of electric vehicle fires in China has pushed the issue of battery safety into the public spotlight, triggering a wider public debate about the potential risks. Last month saw a number of high-profile incidents, including one on October 13 in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, where a Xiaomi EV burst into flames after a high-speed crash, killing the driver. On October 23 in Shanghai, a Li Auto car suddenly burst into flames on a bumpy road, becoming fully engulfed within 10...

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Soybean futures jumped on signals that China is stepping up its buying of oilseed, offering hope for US farmers after purchases appeared to have stalled. Prices in Chicago rose as much as 3.2 per cent on Monday, hitting a fresh 17-month high, after US President Donald Trump said China is in the process of buying soybeans. “They’ll be doing a lot of soybean purchases,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, adding that those purchases could start before spring. Brokerage AgResource Co...

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American political commentator and live-streamer Hasan Piker has stirred controversy during his ongoing trip to China, with a viral encounter in Tiananmen Square and remarks that critics say amount to promoting Chinese propaganda. On Monday, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, shared on X (formerly Twitter) an interview Piker did with state-run China Global Television Network last week, writing: “Real reason why mega #US influencer Hasan Piker is in #China.” In the...

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As a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Moscow has lost much of its influence in Central Asia. In the coming months and years, the United States is expected to expand its presence in this strategically important region. But given that China has developed close economic ties with regional actors, how does Beijing view Washington’s ambitions? Coincidentally or not, on November 6, the US and China both held important meetings with Central Asia. In Washington, US President Donald Trump hosted the...

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The year was 2015, and New York University professor Debra Laefer sat at her desk in Brooklyn reviewing yet another stack of research papers on remote sensing. As she scanned the authors’ affiliations, she paused – the same journals that once overflowed with names from American universities and Nasa labs had begun to publish discoveries from Beijing, Wuhan and Shanghai. Over the next few years, the drips became a wave – and then a tsunami. Back in the 1990s, the United States dominated remote...

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Brazil’s top military court has closed a dictatorship-era case against nine Chinese citizens who were arrested and tortured in 1964, ending a process that stayed open for more than six decades despite the lack of evidence behind the original charges. In a decision released on Sunday, Brazil’s Superior Military Court ruled that the case should legally have expired in 1981 but was never closed. As a result, a 50-volume case file remained on the docket. The closure lifts a lingering point of...

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Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for a high-level security meeting with the United States, China and regional partners, arguing that recent US military deployments and strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific are escalating tensions in the region. Joining other regional voices condemning the operations, he stressed that Latin America and the Caribbean should be treated with respect and repeated his proposal for talks in Pearl Harbour, noting that he...

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The EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Australian government said in a joint statement on Monday they would deepen cooperation on critical raw materials, as Western powers scramble to cut their reliance on China. With the exception of Japan, Group of Seven (G7) countries and the EU are heavily or exclusively reliant on China for a range of materials from rare earth magnets to battery metals. European officials and industry sources say financing remains a key hurdle in the bloc’s efforts...

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A US missile system that could strike Beijing has been withdrawn from Japan, Japanese media reported on Monday, amid sharply escalated tensions triggered by the Japanese prime minister’s recent remarks on Taiwan. The Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile launcher system of the US Army, deployed to the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi prefecture since September for the US-Japan “Resolute Dragon 2025” joint exercise, was already removed, the Japanese Defence Ministry confirmed on Monday. The news...

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When Nobel laureate James Watson died at 97 in November, obituaries around the world painted a divided portrait: a scientific visionary who co-discovered the double helix of DNA – and a controversial figure long condemned for making racially charged statements about intelligence and genetics. In the West, the American molecular biologist’s legacy was increasingly overshadowed by the fallout from those remarks, culminating in New York’s Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory (CSHL) severing ties with him...

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China will “actively consider” helping Syria’s post-war reconstruction, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, as he called for the two countries to get relations back on track. Wang made the comments in a meeting on Monday with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani, who was making his first trip to Beijing since the downfall of Bashar al-Assad last year. Wang also urged the new government to act against Uygur militant groups that have been linked to the fight against Assad. At Beijing’s request,...

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The most important outcome of the Communist Party of China’s fourth plenum, held last month in Beijing, was the review and adoption of the “Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development”. Leading the drafting team in person, Communist Party General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping played a decisive role in formulating the recommendations by setting the overall vision and providing guidance throughout the...

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Taiwan is watching anxiously as it finds itself at the centre of a verbal clash between Beijing and Tokyo, fuelling fears that Taipei could be drawn into a major international conflict. Though the island’s government has openly embraced Tokyo’s stance and condemned Beijing’s response as “hegemonic”, critics and political analysts have cautioned that Taiwan is now at risk of becoming a flashpoint in a confrontation between two major world powers. The row erupted after Japanese Prime Minister...

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China’s market regulator has moved to tackle the hidden risks of algorithm-driven price manipulation with newly proposed anti-monopoly guidelines for online shopping, food delivery and travel platforms. A draft of the “Anti-Monopoly Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms”, published over the weekend by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), focused heavily on the sophisticated, often opaque ways in which online platforms with significant market power can exploit...

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The administration of US President Donald Trump hopes to confirm a deal to secure rare earth supplies from China by Thanksgiving, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview, framing the agreement as vital to shoring up America’s supply chains. The remarks came as the Council on Foreign Relations, a US-based think tank, warned in a new report that the US’ reliance on Chinese critical minerals remained a major strategic vulnerability that Washington needed to address. A rare earths deal...

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Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Beijing rejects G20 Japan meeting with Premier Li amid deepening Taiwan row China continued a diplomatic chill with Japan over the weekend by ruling out a leaders’ meeting at the coming G20 summit in South Africa amid heightened tensions.
2. Chinese student numbers in US fall as gap with Indian scholars widens: report Chinese student numbers in the United...

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A renowned mathematician who is also part of China’s Qian clan – a surname linked in the annals of Chinese scientific history to national pioneers in science and engineering – has become the latest US-based scientist to return to China. After more than 40 years in the United States, Qian Hong has left his endowed professorship at the University of Washington to join the prestigious and private Westlake University in eastern China. Qian’s appointment last month as a full-time chair professor with...

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