China News

TikTok may have dodged a US ban but unresolved questions about its algorithm could remain a source of tension in the broader US-China relationship, according to analysts. ByteDance, the parent company of the social media site, signed a binding agreement this week to divest its US entity into a joint venture controlled by a consortium of American investors, ending years of legal and political uncertainties. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in an internal memo on Thursday that the deal effectively...

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China has issued a penalty to a foreign vessel for illegally using Starlink – SpaceX’s satellite-based internet service – within Chinese waters in the first case of its kind, according to local media. The vessel, which was not identified, was found with a “micro rectangular antenna” installed on its top deck during a routine inspection by maritime law enforcement officers at Ningbo port in Zhejiang province, state-run Ningbo Daily reported on Wednesday. The Ningbo Maritime Safety Administration...

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Beijing on Friday accused the new US defence policy act of hyping up the so-called China threat and interfering in its internal affairs. It also urged Washington to view their relationship “rationally” and refrain from enforcing negative China-related provisions. The latest National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), signed into law by President Donald Trump on Thursday, restricts US outbound investment in Chinese technology and curbs federal contracts with Chinese biotechnology companies. It...

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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. TikTok reaches deal on new US venture with American investor group In a landmark move that ends years of legal and political uncertainty, TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi informed employees that the company has signed a binding agreement to divest its US entity into a joint venture controlled by a consortium of American investors.
2. Chinese team builds optical chip...

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Northwestern Polytechnical University has conducted what could be China’s first openly reported autonomous aerial refuelling flight test, according to scientists involved in the project. Two unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) were used in the refuelling tests. One served as the tanker with a refuelling pod and the other as the receiver. In high-speed formation flights, the receiver autonomously located, tracked and docked with the tanker under extreme conditions using a highly robust...

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The Arctic shipping route is essential to safeguard China’s development over the next decade, a senior Chinese official said in Beijing, calling for greater efforts to expand its practical use. With proposals for the next five-year plan incorporating security and development, China must ensure its international transport channels remain unimpeded, Ma Jiantang, deputy director of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s economic committee, said. China’s traditional trade lanes...

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China has discovered its first undersea gold deposit – the largest in Asia – marking a breakthrough as Beijing steps up nationwide exploration for the precious metal. The discovery, off the coast of Laizhou, in Yantai, Shandong province, lifted Laizhou’s total proven gold reserves to more than 3,900 tonnes (137.57 million ounces) – about 26 per cent of the national total – ranking it top in both gold reserves and output in China, Yantai’s city government disclosed this week at a conference on...

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Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) announced on Friday they would try to impeach the island’s leader, William Lai Ching-te, according to reports from Taiwanese media. Fu Kun-chi, the convenor of the KMT caucus in Taiwan’s parliament, accused Lai of undermining constitutional norms and behaving in an authoritarian manner. “Lai must step down and Taiwan must not allow the emergence of figures like Yuan Shikai or Cao Kun,” Fu said, according to...

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BeOne Medicines, a global drug company that originated as a research and development (R&D) firm in Beijing, promoted Wang Lai to the newly created role of co-president, marking a leadership expansion as the company advances its late-stage pipeline and globalisation efforts. The 48-year-old has served as the company’s global head of R&D since April 2021. Effective January, Wang would take the helm of an expanded portfolio, retaining his R&D responsibilities while also overseeing business...

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The Chinese military is pushing for stricter rules on equipment purchases, including its pricing system, to stem corruption. According to a set of “professional ethics” released on Friday, the Central Military Commission’s (CMC) Equipment Development Department should foster “professional values in the new era”, with quality the top priority in equipment procurement. The department should serve the People’s Liberation Army with “integrity and clean practice”, the official PLA Daily quoted the...

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China’s military build-up “could have a serious impact” on Japan’s security, Tokyo’s defence ministry has warned as tensions with Beijing spiral. Japan has closely monitored People’s Liberation Army (PLA) activities stretching across the first island chain, the ministry said in a report released on Thursday. “[China] is broadly and rapidly strengthening its military capabilities, centred on its maritime and air forces as well as its nuclear and missile forces ... Its active military activities...

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More Chinese artificial intelligence firms and chipmakers are turning to Hong Kong for fundraising, testing the appetite of global investors following stellar onshore debuts of graphics processing unit (GPU) developers Moore Threads Technology and MetaX Integrated Circuits. GigaDevice Semiconductor is a step closer to its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) after passing a listing hearing, according to bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX). The company is expected to...

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This week, exactly six years ago, as we were gliding cheerfully into the 2019 festive Christmas season, the Covid-19 virus was spreading in Wuhan, China. I was preparing for an important meeting in Australia in February (the last overseas trip I would make for three years), oblivious to the looming pandemic. The world in general had no inkling of the terrible three years that would follow, with death estimates ranging from 7 million to 36 million, over 700 million infections reported, an...

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China is still trying to recruit US-based researchers despite years of heightened scrutiny, members of Congress were told on Thursday at a hearing where multiple science agencies warned that tighter security measures must go hand in hand with efforts to retain foreign talent. “Just in the past week, I have received three emails that were forwarded to me from researchers in the community who had been approached for recruitment by Chinese malign foreign talent recruitment programmes,” said Rebecca...

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China is no longer using American software to run its power grid. The Southern Regional Electricity Market (SREM) – the largest unified power market on Earth – has switched fully to Tianquan, a home-grown solver developed by Chinese engineers with speeds 14 per cent faster than American products, according to a recent report by official newspaper Science and Technology Daily. This follows recent reports that the State Grid, Huawei and many other leading Chinese companies have abandoned US...

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China reduced its US Treasury holdings in October to its lowest level in 17 years, as mounting concerns over US debt sustainability and the Federal Reserve’s independence further eroded confidence in dollar-backed assets. The country’s stockpile fell to US$688.7 billion in October, down from US$700.5 billion in September, according to US Treasury Department data released on Thursday. October’s figure was the lowest level reported since November 2008, and marked a plunge of more than 47 per cent...

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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 ultra-hot heat pump breakthrough paves way for melting ore with sunlight For over a century, the dream of efficiently concentrating low-grade heat into high-temperature industrial energy has been constrained by a stubborn...

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As the United States undergoes a strategic shift in its global priorities, experts in China are pushing Beijing’s vision for a new world order – but they say the country must improve its messaging. Leading political scientist and government adviser Zheng Yongnian said China had two guiding principles: maintaining its agency while engaging with the world; and extending the ladder it climbed to help other nations ascend. Zheng made the remarks on Tuesday at the International Forum on Mutual...

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US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a sweeping defence bill that would restrict US outbound investment in Chinese technology and curb federal contracts with Chinese biotechnology companies, amid an uneasy trade truce between Washington and Beijing. The bill, known as the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), cleared both the House of Representatives and Senate earlier this month after months of negotiation. The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday in a 77-20 vote, following its...

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Chinese scientists have unveiled an optical computing chip that outperformed Nvidia’s leading AI hardware by over a hundredfold in speed and energy efficiency – particularly for generative tasks such as video production and image synthesis. The LightGen chip was developed by a team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Tsinghua University, harnessing the speed of light to execute complex artificial intelligence workloads. With more than 2 million photonic neurons integrated into a compact chip,...

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China is gaining a solid reputation as a pharmaceutical innovation hub, shifting from a copycat drug maker to one whose infrastructure and research and development capabilities rival global pharmaceutical behemoths, according to a global consultancy. US-based SAI MedPartners and its unit Idea Pharma recently launched a new index with the aim of highlighting Chinese drug makers and recognising their shift from generics to “true” innovation. The consultancy released the China Pharmaceutical...

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In a landmark move that ends years of legal and political uncertainty, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew informed employees on Thursday that the company has signed a binding agreement to sell its US operations to a consortium of American investors. The deal, which has received the backing of President Donald Trump, effectively averts a looming nationwide ban and secures the platform’s future for its 170 million American users. The new entity, a TikTok US joint venture, is set to officially close on...

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China is estimated to have secured more than half of the 12 million tonnes of soybeans that Washington says Beijing committed to purchase by early 2026, based on US government data and market conventions that analysts say usually indicate China, though little has been shipped so far, heightening concerns over potential cancellations. While the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has officially documented nearly four million tonnes in sales explicitly to China, three million tonnes currently sit...

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The US State Department’s approval this week of a US$11.1 billion weapons package for Taiwan – reportedly the largest in the island’s history – dovetails with Taipei’s effort to show US President Donald Trump it is doing more to defend itself, even as it shifts towards a less conventional “porcupine” strategy, analysts said. “These are asymmetric weapons that are focused on bolstering the capability of Taiwan’s military to prevent a PLA invasion,” said Bonnie Glaser, vice-president of the German...

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The United States on Thursday underscored its maritime security partnership with Panama, as a high-stakes dispute involving China, US investors and a Hong Kong conglomerate continues to cloud the future ownership of key ports at the Panama Canal. US Ambassador Kevin Cabrera boarded the US Coast Guard cutter Alert during a port visit in Panama City, praising joint operations ranging from counter-narcotics missions to search-and-rescue efforts carried out with Panama’s Ministry of Public...

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