China News

When US President Donald Trump fired the opening salvoes of his country’s trade war with China in his first term, Beijing’s currency was on the front lines. By 2019, the yuan had tumbled past the benchmark value of seven per US dollar for the first time in over a decade, rattling investors and fuelling speculation that Beijing was allowing depreciation to mitigate the effects of tariffs. As Washington and Beijing began to lock horns once again, with Trump’s second White House foray bringing with...

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

Starbucks agreed to sell a 60 per cent stake in its Chinese operations to a private-equity firm, ending months of speculation about whether the US coffee chain would divest itself of its mainland operations amid dimmer business prospects and the ascent of local rivals. The Seattle-based company said on Monday that it signed an agreement with Boyu Capital to set up a joint venture for its mainland business. Starbucks would hold a 40 per cent interest in the unit and remain the owner and licenser...

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

Chinese scientists have made a “historic leap” in developing a chip that can cope with extreme levels of radiation. The Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip has a wide range of potential uses, including satellite command and control systems, spaceborne computers and weapons systems. Its hardware can be reconfigured after manufacturing to perform a wide variety of specific tasks. This flexibility makes FPGAs useful for custom computing applications and electronic systems that may need to be...

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

Nexperia’s China unit is expected to be capable of making deliveries to clients on the back of the domestic semiconductor supply chain – even though locking in that support could take roughly six months, experts said – as the European fabrication facilities under the Dutch chipmaker’s head office continue to suspend the supply of wafers. A number of Chinese fabs – including Wuxi NCE Power, Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics and Yangjie Technology – would be able to supply wafers to Dongguan-based...

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

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. China, US must take action after Xi-Trump summit, avoid ‘new disruptions’: envoy China’s top envoy to the US said the top priority for both countries is to translate recent outcomes from meetings in Busan and Kuala Lumpur into concrete actions without “causing new disruptions”.
2. Lead scientist of China’s thorium reactor project died working on the...

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

Amap, the mapping and local services business under Alibaba Group Holding, is expanding its global footprint in tandem with the overseas drive of Chinese carmakers, potentially challenging the dominance of Google Maps. Amap on Monday unveiled an international version of its AutoSDK, a software toolkit designed to support carmakers in developing in-car navigation and cockpit systems for foreign markets. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Chinese car brands had long struggled to adapt...

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

Another high-stakes face-off between the United States and China has come and gone. The much-anticipated summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea, resulted in agreement on several points. The US agreed to reduce its so-called fentanyl tariffs on China by 10 per cent, suspend recently tightened technology restrictions for a year and suspend an investigation into Chinese shipbuilding practices. China, according to a White House fact sheet,...

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

Hong Kong continues to ratchet up its cryptocurrency development efforts, as the city’s securities regulator fine-tunes rules to boost the liquidity of local digital-asset trading platforms. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said it would allow locally licensed digital-asset exchanges to integrate their order books with those of their affiliated platforms globally. “What we noticed is that through the creation of this close-loop environment, we are creating a pocket of liquidity only...

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

A notorious Myanmar crime syndicate boss was sentenced to death on Tuesday by a Chinese court for his group’s industrial-scale operations that led to the death of six Chinese citizens, according to state news agency Xinhua. The Kokang crime boss Bai Suocheng, his son Bai Yingcang and three close associates were sentenced to death by Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong province, Xinhua reported. Another 16 defendants working for the Bai family received criminal sentences of varying...

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

Students, white-collar workers and families filled the tables during a recent dinner rush at a branch of Saizeriya – a Japanese-owned chain of Italian restaurants – in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. In the same shopping district, a queue stretched outside a Sushiro conveyor belt sushi restaurant at 8pm. “We waited two hours for a seat, but it was worth it,” said one diner. Such scenes present a contrast to China’s generally sluggish catering market, with analysts saying that budget...

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

A Chinese Chinook-style unmanned helicopter capable of operating in extreme conditions – from the Himalayas to the South China Sea – has successfully completed its maiden flight, according to its maker. The Boying T1400 heavy-lift tandem-rotor drone, developed by the privately owned United Aircraft Technology, is expected to significantly boost resupply capabilities to areas such as high-altitude regions and seas. The aircraft, which superficially resembles the US Army’s Boeing Chinook CH-47...

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

Despite repeated pledges of support, China has yet to commit a specific financial contribution to the tropical forest-protection investment fund that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is banking on, as COP30 opens this week in Belem, northern Brazil. The Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) is a Brazil-led multilateral mechanism designed to reward tropical nations for keeping forests standing rather than clearing them. Operating as a permanent endowment, it will blend sovereign...

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

China is elevating its digital competitiveness on the world’s stage, according to the latest rankings from a Swiss academic institute, while those behind the findings caution that trade fragmentation is weighing on economies’ digital prowess globally. The world’s second-largest economy has reached an all-time high of 12th place among 69 economies in terms of overall performance, improving by two places from 2024, according to this year’s edition of the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking,...

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

President Xi Jinping reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to Moscow, saying it was a “strategic choice” to strengthen ties, during a meeting with visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Tuesday. Xi told Mishustin that China-Russia ties were advancing with steady determination “despite the turbulent and challenging external environment”, according to state news agency Xinhua. “Safeguarding, consolidating and advancing the relationship is a strategic choice for both sides,” Xi...

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

French luxury giant LVMH has expressed full confidence in the Chinese market despite sluggish consumption in the world’s second-largest economy, promising continued investment in what it calls “the beating heart of global luxury”. “The future of luxury is being shaped here, in China, with China and with our Chinese clients,” said Marc-Antoine Jamet, LVMH’s secretary general, in Paris before heading to the annual China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. China is a top market for the...

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

China’s top envoy to the US said the top priority for both countries is to translate recent outcomes from meetings in Busan and Kuala Lumpur into concrete actions without “causing new disruptions”. Speaking via video link to the US-China Business Council’s annual conference in Shanghai, Xie Feng also reiterated Beijing’s four red lines, including the Taiwan issue, according to a transcript of his speech released by the Chinese embassy on Tuesday. Xie’s speech, delivered on Monday, came after...

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

The European Union does not believe its industries are covered by a “de facto removal” of China’s historical restrictions on the export of rare earths and other critical minerals announced by the White House on Saturday. In a fact sheet detailing the outcomes of US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last Thursday, the White House said that China “will issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony, and graphite for the benefit...

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

World-renowned neurologist and consciousness research pioneer Steven Laureys has taken up a full-time university position in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. The 56-year-old Belgian scientist joined Hangzhou Normal University earlier this year as a professor at its School of Basic Medical Sciences, according to a university news release. Before moving to China, Laureys spent decades in Europe and had a brief stint in North America. He is widely recognised as one of the first researchers to use...

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

Notable changes have been observed in both of China’s sixth-generation fighter programmes, with updated prototypes seen flying just 10 months after their first public appearance, indicating rapid progress as the country vies with the US for air supremacy. Photos circulating on Chinese social media since Tuesday showed what appeared to be Chengdu Aircraft Corporation’s sixth-generation fighter, bearing a tailless and three-engine design, conducting a test flight. Unofficially referred to as the...

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

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged his German counterpart Johann Wadephul to refrain from “megaphone diplomacy” or making what he described as unfounded accusations that contradict the facts, but welcomed him to visit China. “China and Germany have different histories, cultures and social systems, so differences are unavoidable,” Wang Yi said in a phone conversation on Monday, according to a Chinese foreign ministry account. “Both sides should adhere to communication and dialogue … but...

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

An experimental reactor developed in the Gobi Desert by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics has achieved thorium-to-uranium fuel conversion, paving the way for an almost endless supply of nuclear energy. The achievement makes the 2 megawatt liquid-fuelled thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR) the only operating example of the technology in the world to have successfully loaded and used thorium fuel. According to the academy, the experiment has provided...

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

To bolster Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre, Vice-Premier He Lifeng has pledged continued support for the city, emphasising its role in global financial governance and stability. Speaking at the 2025 Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit on Tuesday, He also expressed confidence in Hong Kong’s prosperity, stating that its status as a financial hub is “set to be further consolidated and elevated”. “The Party Central Committee’s proposal for the 15th five-year plan...

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

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. Xi-Trump meeting ‘a historic moment’ that will help avoid missteps: Wang Yi China’s top diplomat has called the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump “a historic moment” that would help reduce misunderstanding and prevent major fluctuations in their countries’ bilateral ties.
2. Trump says he has assurances from Beijing...

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

Over 20 Chinese companies have earned a place on Time magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2025” list, with innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) recognised for the first time alongside advances in robotics and consumer electronics. Products from DeepSeek, Unitree Robotics and Huawei Technologies were among those featured on the annual list selected by the magazine’s editors. This year’s edition – covering 300 innovations across 36 categories, the most ever – marks the first time Chinese...

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

Beijing has officially resumed group tours to Canada, just days after the first meeting between their top leaders in eight years, signalling a further thaw in bilateral ties after years of tensions. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning made the announcement on Monday, ending a prolonged Covid-19-era freeze that left Canada off China’s outbound tour lists, even as group travel resumed to more than 130 other destinations. Mao said the decision was taken after “comprehensive” consideration...

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