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In 2021, when most of his peers were settling into retirement, 64-year-old Li Ming chose a different path. The law professor – already retired from a leading Beijing university – boarded a six-hour flight from the bustling capital to Tumxuk, a small city deep in western Xinjiang. Li has remained there since, teaching multiple courses to hundreds of students at a local university as part of China’s Silver Age Teaching Programme – a sweeping state policy that mobilises a growing pool of retired...

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Details of the first joint Russian-Chinese submarine exercise have been published in a military magazine, which said the two countries had shared sonar data and carried out rescue exercises. The exercise in early August involved two Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines, the Russian Volkhov and Chinese Great Wall 210, with two Russian surface ships providing support throughout the exercise. The 15-day exercise took place after the Joint Sea 2025 exercise involving the two navies in the...

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Chinese President Xi Jinping said conflicts and disagreements should not define bilateral ties with Tokyo, while calling for “a correct understanding of China” in his first sit-down meeting with the new Japanese prime minister. The 30-minute discussion with Sanae Takaichi, who was formally sworn into office last week, took place on the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit that started on Friday in Gyeongju, South Korea. “The two countries should properly...

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With smiles, firm handshakes and warm gestures, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump set a cordial, friendly tone before their historic summit. More than an hour and a half later, they emerged from their first face-to-face encounter in six years with the same genial manner. In front of reporters, ahead of the meeting in Busan, South Korea, a grinning Trump predicted the summit would be “very successful”. “He’s a tough negotiator – that’s not good,” he said, before...

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China will host next year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in its southern city of Shenzhen. The announcement was made on Saturday by Chinese President Xi Jinping as world leaders wrapped up this year’s Apec meeting, held in the South Korean city of Gyeongju. Shenzhen is one of nine cities in China’s Guangdong province that make up the Greater Bay Area, which also includes the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Beijing has in recent years sought to transform...

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“Hydraulic or magnets?” US President Donald Trump asked some baffled American troops stationed in Japan during his visit this week, and demanded to know which was better. That was during a speech aboard the USS George Washington, before hundreds of American servicemen and women who appeared to have no idea what their commander-in-chief was talking about. “You know, the new thing is magnets. So instead of using hydraulic that you can be hit by lightning and it’s fine, you take a little glass of...

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Chinese police are working with UK law enforcement authorities to track down fugitives and illicit funds involved in a massive cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering case, but experts see little likelihood for victims to recoup their losses. According to a statement, police in the northern city of Tianjin were “doing everything possible” to help more than 128,000 Chinese investors recoup funds caught in a web of fraudulent wealth schemes perpetrated between 2014 and 2017 by a syndicate, which...

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China’s supply chain upgrades have strengthened its hand in negotiations with the United States and are expected to bolster its competitive edge over the next five years – though the country must prioritise domestic demand to sustain innovation and avoid worsening deflation, according to an influential economist. “China is probably the only country that is negotiating in a tough way, almost on an equal foot[ing] versus [the] US,” said Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley, in an...

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Deloitte China plans to hire about 1,000 people in Hong Kong and invest HK$500 million (US$64 million) over the next four years, as part of a new initiative that is expected to strengthen the city’s role as a regional talent and innovation hub. Called the “Hong Kong LEAP” strategy, the initiative is focused on expanding the company’s capabilities in fintech, capital markets operations and artificial intelligence – areas that would be key to driving the city’s next phase of economic...

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Chinese observers downplayed Beijing’s reference to Okinawans as “indigenous”, saying the comments were primarily a critique of the militarisation of Japan’s southernmost prefecture – home to dozens of US military bases – rather than a challenge to Tokyo’s sovereignty over Okinawa. On October 9, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Sun Lei, urged Japan to “stop prejudice and discrimination against Okinawans and other indigenous peoples”. Sun made the remarks during a...

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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun in person for the first time on Friday, with both sides saying they are pushing for peace a day after a summit between their presidents brought tensions down. The discussion on the sidelines of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Malaysia was the first face-to-face meeting between the defence ministers of China and the US since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, although Dong and Hegseth had held a video call...

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Chinese military scientists have unveiled a rare glimpse into one of the most advanced frontiers of aerospace technology: a prototype of a morphing hypersonic vehicle capable of flying at speeds exceeding Mach 5. The missile, revealed in a published peer-reviewed paper, features a pair of retractable wings – a groundbreaking design that allows it to dynamically adapt its aerodynamic profile mid-flight. When stowed inside the fuselage, the wings minimise drag for high-speed cruising. When...

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Just back from his whirlwind Asia tour, US President Donald Trump on Friday hailed a newly negotiated trade deal with China as a “long-lasting” victory even as he teased the possibility of more tariff concessions. Aboard Air Force One en route to his Palm Beach, Florida, resort, Trump painted the Busan, South Korea, summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday as a blockbuster for US agriculture, especially soybeans, and dangled the prospect of stronger trade ties. “The deal with China...

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With the US cutting its tariffs on Chinese imports by 10 per cent – halving a duty initially imposed by Washington over allegations of complicity in the fentanyl trade – analysts said the reduction may further strengthen the competitiveness of Chinese exporters, particularly in mass-produced goods. Following a meeting on Thursday between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in South Korea, the world’s two largest economies reached a consensus on the issue, with the US agreeing to...

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About 3.7 million candidates have been approved to take China’s coming national public service exam, according to official figures – a record-breaking applicant pool, and the first since Beijing expanded the age limit for entry into the country's civil sector, where jobs are known as “iron rice bowls” for their comparatively high level of security. With 38,100 vacancies available at central government agencies and their affiliated institutions nationwide, the competition is fierce, translating...

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China’s resumption of US soybean purchases tells American farmers that their key Chinese customers are returning, but analysts still expect the trade of agricultural products to become a regular part of ongoing negotiations between the countries in the coming years. US President Donald Trump said aboard Air Force One that “tremendous amounts of the soybeans and other farm products are going to be purchased immediately”, after a meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday...

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The leaders of China and Canada held their first formal talks since 2017 on Friday, with both sides agreeing to revive exchanges and cooperation in an effort to repair strained ties. Chinese President Xi Jinping met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, telling him that relations showed a “trend of recovery and positive development” following their nations’ mutual efforts. “[China] is willing to work...

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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. US does not seek conflict, Hegseth says in meeting with Chinese defence minister US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun in person for the first time on Friday, with both sides saying they are pushing for peace a day after a summit between their presidents brought tensions down.
2. In an international win for China’s C919,...

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Japan – with China, North Korea and Russia in mind – plans to test its hypersonic missile-tracking technology in space, after its new HTV-X cargo spacecraft completes a resupply mission at the International Space Station. The spacecraft was launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre on Sunday, carried by an H3 rocket. It arrived at the ISS on Thursday, where it was captured by the station’s robotic arm and docked in. On board is 4.4 tonnes of food and supplies as well as scientific research...

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US software company SAS Institute has withdrawn from mainland China and dismissed its local staff, according to a Beijing-based employee affected by the move, as the analytics specialist ended more than two decades of operations amid intense domestic competition and geopolitical tensions. The company on Thursday announced the lay-offs via an email and hosted a short video call, in which executives thanked local employees for their contribution and cited “organisational optimisation” for the...

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The world’s two largest powers signalled at least 14 months of likely stability in US-China relations following a pivotal summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump – and hinted they would meet “regularly”, setting the stage for more encounters next year. With a trade deal expected to be signed as soon as next week, Beijing and Washington reached a truce on thorny issues ranging from soybeans and rare earths to fentanyl during talks that highlighted the personal...

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Brazil’s soybean producers are downplaying concerns over a freshly minted US-China trade agreement that will see Beijing resume large-scale purchases of American soybeans, insisting the 12 million tonnes (13.23 million tons) pledged represents routine seasonal trade rather than a market upheaval. Mauricio Buffon, president of Brazil’s Soybean Producers Association (Aprosoja), said the volume announced by Washington and Beijing on Wednesday should not alarm Brazilian exporters, framing it as part...

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Robot dogs might not be able to survive a potential assault on Taiwan, based on the results of an amphibious landing exercise carried out by the People’s Liberation Army and broadcast in a documentary aired by state broadcaster CCTV. The four-legged robots, loaded with explosives, were released by the first wave of landing forces in the exercise. They ran across ditches, blocks and barricades on the beachhead in an attempt to clear a passage for the penetration of the enemy defensive line. At...

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Pang Zhibo, a leading expert on industrial chips and robots with high-end manufacturing giant ABB in Sweden, has returned to China and joined Peking University as a fully tenured professor. As ABB’s senior principal scientist, Pang was second only to the company’s chief technology officer – who personally appointed him – and oversaw more than 800 developers and 80 technical products globally across all business areas. The Swiss-Swedish multinational, best known for robotics, motors, energy and...

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Ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families are putting greater focus on legacy planning to create sustainable impact for future generations amid growing uncertainty and vast fortunes shifting to younger heirs, according to participants in a Standard Chartered event in Dubai focused on family offices. The emphasis among such families was changing from wealth preservation towards a strategic repositioning of family-office locations, governance structures, succession planning and decision-making,...

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