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In FocusWill new batteries give China’s EVs the jolt they need to charge past their rivals? Amid a fiercely competitive domestic market, China’s battery tech leads in global innovation and cost reduction, promising safer, faster EVs On a cloudy evening in late April, a tech event

How likely is Beijing to walk the talk on boosting consumption? As long as external demand holds up, policymakers appear relatively untroubled by weakening domestic demand, despite rhetoric to the contrary Chinese officials tend to report only good news and bury bad news for prop

Advertisement The international hotel chains targeting China’s value-driven travellers Global hotel groups are expanding into China’s midscale segment as price-sensitive travellers seek value without sacrificing brand trust 3-MIN READ3-MIN Listen As a fresh graduate who recently

China’s forex regulator pledges to open up market, tighten capital oversight SAFE will expand forex market access and monitor cross-border capital flows while PBOC will push panda bonds and offshore yuan market “[We will] steadily expand the institutional opening-up in the foreig

China sees flurry of commercial property deals as investors sniff out bargains Commercial properties are changing hands at a much faster rate in Shanghai and other major cities, as investors bet on a market rebound Major Chinese cities including Shanghai are witnessing a signific

First impressions count as Chinese buyers open their homes to UBTech’s consumer humanoids Companion robots start arriving in September, offering emotional interaction and novelty, but chores remain off the table – at least for now “The happiest part is often the waiting,” Song sa

Stronger social security? Proposed law sparks a pushback by gig workers With China’s flexible workforce estimated at nearly 300 million, Beijing pledges to strengthen their safety, wages and basic social security Guangzhou delivery vehicle driver Zhang Liang watches on warily as

Advertisement Opinion China’s next export is the world’s factory itself The next phase is building factories and Chinese brands abroad as well as embedding its tech, industrial standards in global supply chains 3-MIN READ3-MIN 6 Listen Howard Yu is professor of strategy and inno

Grape expectations: California winemakers optimistic for China export resurgence Despite trade tensions and tariffs, California wineries are hopeful that US wine exports to China will recover as trade relations stabilise It’s a midsummer day and the sun is high in the sky, but th

Advertisement The upside of downsizing: Chinese youth leave the rat race for more affordable small towns Fast-paced corporate jobs leave Millennials, Gen Z burnt-out and seeking simpler lives with fewer luxuries outside China’s megacities 3-MIN READ3-MIN 2 Listen He Huifengin Gu

Could Filipinos benefit as China opens door wider for foreign domestic work schools? Move designed to boost supply and quality of home services as Beijing seeks to create more jobs in a rapidly ageing society As China drafts policy to open the door wider to foreign schools that p

China sets 95% transport goal for 2030, focusing on efficiency and shielding supply chains Beijing aims to expand nation’s world-leading network coverage, raising questions over need for more infrastructure projects as authorities flag ‘weak links’ China aims to make its transpor

China’s debt ratio dips as households cut borrowing and firms slash investment: report Debt-level gains mask private-sector contraction, with government lone growth lever as households deleverage, firms shun borrowing: report The ratio slipped 1.1 percentage points to 308.2 per c

Advertisement Outside In China’s export success is a by-product of self-reliance But while the export surge is an accidental consequence of self-sufficiency and competitive manufacturers, the solution is not protectionism 3-MIN READ3-MIN 7 Listen David Dodwell is CEO of the trad

ExclusiveRedNote eyes US$2.2 billion data centre as China ramps up AI infrastructure, source says China’s DeepSeek is also recruiting for jobs in Inner Mongolia, the location of the buildout, as it emerges as an AI hub due to low power costs Shanghai-based RedNote is planning the

China’s offshore yuan hits 3-year high as Beijing signals policy support Politburo’s pledge to stabilise growth and boost capital markets helps drive rally, reinforced by days of relatively strong reference rates by the central bank China’s offshore yuan rose to a fresh three-yea

China’s manufacturing sector falters in July as growth momentum cools Beijing faces renewed pressure to ramp up support as PMI falls to 49.2, a day after leadership signalled it would accelerate fiscal spending China’s factory activity has slipped into contraction in July, ending

Tim Cook warns of slow Siri AI roll-out in China, worsening memory crisis In earnings call, Cook says Apple to launch AI software in China, an effort to retain competitive edge in world’s largest smartphone market Mainland Chinese consumers would first get a targeted suite of ori

China sets record with high-speed rail breakthrough under Yangtze River The engineering feat marks the longest continuous underwater excavation achieved by a drilling machine of its kind, state media reports China’s largest shield tunnelling machine built for high-speed rail has

China’s exports feed the Global South’s industrial engines Far from stifling development, China’s export portfolio indicates a positive-sum diffusion of industrial growth A scaremongering narrative has taken root in Western corridors and financial press columns: China, having sat

ExclusiveUS scientist Elsa Reichmanis defends global collaboration amid scrutiny of science exchange Elsa Reichmanis spent decades collaborating with Chinese science teams and says research should remain distinct from tech rivalry American materials scientist Elsa Reichmanis, who

Can the West really decouple from China? Instead of trying to ‘catch up’, Western economies should focus on boosting resilience in key sectors without disrupting global supply chains The objective is understandable. The difficulty lies in its execution. Recent analysis by consult

Ant Group spin-offs pursue independent growth with strategic capital moves The Chinese fintech giant’s three spin-off units are accelerating their capital-raising efforts after gaining operational autonomy in 2024 Ant Digital Technologies is preparing a financing round ahead of i

As China’s metro costs rise, Shanghai considers first fare increase since 2005 Surging operational costs and strained municipal budgets are forcing mainland transit authorities to review long-suppressed fares Facing a sprawling railway network and mounting fiscal pressures, Shang

Chinese shipbuilders secure new vessel orders as Beijing pushes for high-margin shift Buyers in both domestic and international markets submit requests for vessels as the industry’s momentum continues Hengli Heavy Industry, a Liaoning-based shipbuilder, has secured construction c

Advertisement Macroscope Upper arm of China’s K-shaped economy both a blessing and a curse China’s two-speed economy stems from the shift to new growth engines but the export boom it has created is doing little for jobs or consumption 3-MIN READ3-MIN 1 Listen Nicholas Spiro is a

DevelopingChina’s Politburo pledges policy support, spending to counteract sluggish growth The high-level decision-making body also set October for the fifth Central Committee plenum, which will set the stage for next year’s party congress Beijing has pledged to step up macro pol

How ByteDance’s Seedance model empowers China’s nascent AI comic drama industry China’s studios are using ByteDance’s model to cut production times from months to weeks, drive down video creation costs At a video production base in Shenzhen, creators are generating so-called comi

China’s solar surge nears historic milestone – even as Beijing slams brakes on sheer scale Coal capacity is projected to lose its long-held crown this year, despite a pivot from raw solar panel expansion to quality Solar is poised to overtake coal as China’s largest source of ins

Why US-led alliance might struggle to rein in Beijing’s growing 6G influence 24-country alliance aims to coordinate next-generation telecoms strategies, but analysts say China’s tech prowess provides clearer road map The alliance, involving 24 countries including the United Kingd

US foreign robot ban to benefit Tesla, other American developers, analysts say Leading Chinese robot makers have ambitious overseas expansion plans, but Washington’s ban may force them to recalibrate The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added foreign-produced “advanced rob

China’s drone-farming boom eyes emerging markets as agriculture automation spreads Ageing rural populations are driving up demand for intelligent aerial devices, and the ‘irresistible trend” is expected to sweep through Southeast Asia To offset an ageing agricultural workforce an

China’s hi-tech boom pushes firms to boost pay in 2027 as keeping talent a priority The modest rise still lags regional averages and comes as firms try to retain staff amid aggressive recruitment, according to a new report Employers in China anticipate a slightly higher median sa

Advanced technologies now account for 1 in 6 valid invention patents in China Hi-tech manufacturing and digital industries such as AI have emerged as key drivers of economic growth Advanced technologies now account for around one in every six valid invention patents in China, acc

Chinese AI chip giant Cambricon sets US$14.8b revenue goal tied to staff incentive plan Initiative reflects push to retain core talent amid intensifying competition to develop and commercialise domestic AI chips The goal marked a nearly 20-fold increase from its previous plan set

Can China and Indonesia’s strong financial ties withstand ‘resource nationalism’? Beijing and Jakarta enjoy unprecedented economic interdependence – but shifting priorities in Indonesia threaten to strain the partnership Back in 2009, when China’s economy was expanding at about t

Advertisement From CXMT to Zhipu: How Alibaba’s investment pays off with a growing AI and chip portfolio The company’s strategic shift to AI and chip investments is not only yielding significant returns, but also boosting its tech portfolio 2-MIN READ2-MIN Listen Wency Chenin Sh

All went wrong: A380 flight to China becomes 10-hour ordeal The rare sight of an Emirates Airbus at Hangzhou became chaotic as 373 passengers were left stranded on board amid a logistical nightmare For Chinese airports jostling to open more intercontinental routes, the sight of w

China pushes back against Western overcapacity claims in new document Beijing says it ‘never deliberately pursued a trade surplus’ and that its strong exports are driven by innovation, not subsidies or overcapacity China’s Ministry of Commerce has released a document rebutting cl

Anthropic CEO urges Washington to tighten China chip export bans Dario Amodei wants the US to retain its AI advantage over China, highlighting distillation risks and advocating mandatory model safety tests In a blog post on Monday, Amodei called a chip ban “the most efficient and

China-made vessel carries record number of EVs in shipment from Shanghai to Europe A new China-made roll-on, roll-off carrier set a new domestic record for number of vehicles shipped in one voyage The Malta-flagged Glovis Nova, a newly delivered vehicle carrier built in China, lo

China to waive panda bond fees through 2028 to bolster global yuan debt market Analysts say removing some expenses for foreign borrowers will help funnel more yuan overseas and create a large offshore liquidity pool of China’s currency China has unveiled plans to waive issuance a

China’s robotics industry is quietly cornering a new niche – and shipyards stand to gain As shipyards face rising safety demands and an ageing workforce, specialised climbing robots could be set to transform dangerous maintenance work After conquering the sky and land, China’s ro

ExclusiveChinese AI developers may shift to ‘paid weights’ commercial licensing: Goldman Sachs As use of Chinese artificial intelligence soars, companies will look to boost revenue capture, says bank’s head of Asia internet research However, because Chinese developers typically r

Advertisement From Moonshot to Enflame: how Tencent is betting big on China’s AI champions A look at some of the key companies in Tencent’s growing AI portfolio, from model makers to chip designers 2-MIN READ2-MIN Listen Iris Dengin Shenzhen Tencent Holdings is quietly reallocat

China’s localised data centre push drives AI ambitions amid overbuilding concerns In China there is a nationwide scramble for data centres, with some major cities losing out to towns and counties for new investments Despite their strikingly different approaches to developing and