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Why China’s low-cost business model resists reform Even as the model outlives its usefulness, built-in incentives continue to stifle efforts to protect the rights and interests of workers China’s low-cost business model needs reform, but why has change been so difficult? The plan

China hit an oil and gas output record last year – why is Beijing warning of a squeeze? Beijing’s energy regulator has set more modest production targets this year after a record 2025 as mature fields deplete and extraction challenges mount China’s oil and gas sector is facing “e

Foreign carmakers lose more traction in China as luxury stronghold erodes Mercedes, Land Rover, BMW, Jaguar and Infiniti take further hit as consumers shun pricey, petrol-powered vehicles International luxury car brands from Mercedes-Benz to Land Rover took a further beating in C

How China is rolling out electric trucks at vast scale to boost net-zero push China wants at least 1.6 million electric heavy-goods vehicles on the road by 2030, as it pushes to decarbonise its vast road freight sector China is pushing to ensure that electric trucks account for a

Heat, hardware and high stakes at China’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference SCMP’s Ann Cao just finished covering her sixth WAIC in Shanghai, and is looking forward to the next one Traffic almost came to a standstill 2km (1.2 miles) from the Shanghai Expo Centre on Friday,

Advertisement Advertisement The state of China’s EV industry China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry sits at the centre of numerous economic and geopolitical trends: consumer spending, environmental protection, trade policy, high-end manufacturing, technology and more. In this sho

China’s policy playbook took its EV sector from zero to hero – can other countries follow? The global green shift is providing a way for emerging economies to catch up with global powerhouses, with help from China’s supply chain China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry sits at the

Why China is rapidly expanding its land trade routes to Central Asia Beijing is seeking to diversify its export channels as geopolitical tensions destabilise maritime trade hubs Last year, China became the largest trading partner of all the Central Asian countries for the first t

Another ‘DeepSeek moment’? What China’s Kimi K3 means for the global AI industry The new model from Moonshot AI has revived doubts over Silicon Valley’s cost-heavy strategy, but analysts expect demand for compute to keep rising Trillions of US dollars might rest on the answer, as

Zhipu shares surge 37% as firm builds giant data centre powered by Chinese chips The Chinese AI firm’s stock price has rebounded amid reports it has completed a 1-gigawatt computing centre using only domestic chips Meanwhile, the Beijing-based company had also completed the acqui

‘Clear signals’: Why China looks set to expand capital outflow channels As China’s trade surplus grows, signs point to Beijing broadening the opening-up of its capital account amid yuan internationalisation push “The bigger the surplus, the more outflows China can allow, leading

China, Russia plan fifth rail link to keep trade chugging along in harsh winter months Heilongjiang province is studying feasibility of connecting Heihe city with Blagoveshchensk in Russia by train, aiming to remove road and waterway bottlenecks Plans for a fifth cross-border rai

As Iran war drags on, China keeps tight grip on fuel exports despite eased curbs Tight mandates remain in place to protect domestic energy security amid a resurgence of war in the Middle East While Beijing has lifted refined fuel export restrictions this month amid elevated globa

China’s youth jobless rate edges down in June for third consecutive month The jobless rate for 16- to 24-year-olds fell for the third month, though China’s broader labour market faces headwinds The jobless rate for the 16-24 age bracket, excluding students, fell to 14.9 per cent

Fintech firm Ant International raises US$1.2b to fuel global growth Existing backers Ant Group and Alibaba Group Holding join the equity financing round alongside undisclosed institutional investors Ant International, the affiliate of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, has raised a

To prosper, China must become a magnet for international students China must seize the opportunity to become a global education hub. Reform of its universities should begin now The global fertility rate has fallen from 2.9 births per woman in 1994 to 2.2 in 2024, and more than ha

Shanghai beats GDP estimates with 5.6% growth – but two-speed recovery persists Official data points to a resilient tech-led rebound even as prominent economists warn household spending remains stubbornly cautious Shanghai’s economy expanded 5.6 per cent in the first half of the

‘Payback’: why China’s world-beating car industry faces plunging sales at home Chinese car brands have suffered a steep drop in domestic sales this year, with Beijing scaling back subsidies and buyers reluctant to spend China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry sits at the centre of

Advertisement Opinion China won’t waste its reserves to cushion oil price impact of Iran war On the contrary, conserving strategic reserves and letting prices spike in the short term may bring long-term benefits 3-MIN READ3-MIN 2 Listen Dr Andy Xie is a Shanghai-based independen

China moving up the industrial value chain with high-value exports Led by robots and EVs, the country’s move up the industrial value chain is gaining momentum, June’s industrial export figures show China’s push to move up the industrial value chain continues to gain momentum, wit

Why China’s open-weight AI model Kimi K3 is sparking anxiety in Silicon Valley Analysts say Beijing-based start-up Moonshot’s 2.8 trillion-parameter large language model could narrow the gap with the US within ‘weeks’ The Beijing-based unicorn released the Kimi K3, a massive 2.8

No longer token economy? SenseTime bets on ‘task economy’ as token prices set to drop AI’s true commercial value will shift towards a ‘task economy’ where users pay for completed, complex tasks, says Xu Li. The commercialisation of artificial intelligence is poised to transition

China’s crude purchases plunge in June amid Middle East supply drop, higher prices Chinese imports of liquefied natural gas rose 8.3 per cent year on year in June, while the country purchased nearly 30 per cent more coal in the month China’s crude imports continued to fall in Jun

Advertisement Opinion As the EU erects barriers, China’s trade tilts south and east Europe’s importance in China’s trade calculations is shrinking as Beijing prioritises the Global South, Southeast Asia and the Middle East 3-MIN READ3-MIN 6 Listen Bob Savic is head of internatio

As EU’s China trade deficit widens, Germany changes tack to join France’s Beijing pushback Both nations call on Brussels to strengthen its defences as EU adds US$1.14 billion a day to its China trade shortfall, while losing jobs The EU’s top two economies jointly called for swift

China’s EV industry rose with the aid of tax breaks. What happens when they end? Beijing is attempting to curb overcapacity and intense domestic price wars by ending a decade-long levy exemption on batteries China will levy a consumption tax on lithium-ion batteries and solar cel

EU test pilots find ‘no major hardware risks’ with China’s C919 jet: sources European pilots are now wrapping up their long flight testing process for the C919, but it is still unclear when the jet might be certified, sources say The news indicates that the C919 has taken a step

Kimi K3 developer suspends new subscriptions amid compute constraints Chinese start-up pauses Kimi K3 subscriptions due to surging demand and compute shortages, highlighting the country’s AI chip challenges Chinese start-up Moonshot AI has suspended new subscriptions for its grou

How Chinese tech giants from Ant to Tencent use AI agents to win over enterprise clients Top AI summit spotlights race to embed autonomous digital workers into everyday business operations Ant Digital Technologies, the digital technology arm of Alibaba’s fintech affiliate Ant Gro

Advertisement China’s C919 passenger jets to enter service on first international route Air China’s daily flights to and from Mongolia mark an important milestone for the country’s efforts to end reliance on Western-built planes 2-MIN READ2-MIN Listen The Chinese-made C919 passe

Why China must end the lucrative marriage between property and banks Authorities are rewiring financial architecture to address the systemic risk, breaking the deep structural ties between property and banking While Zhongbang Bank’s distress stems from its conglomerate founders b

China did not qualify for the World Cup. It may have won in economic terms While its men’s team has not competed since 2002, this year’s tournament has generated significant profit for many Chinese firms As Spain and Argentina prepare to go head to head in the World Cup final, Ch

China’s state agencies are hiring retirees as the workforce rapidly ages Universities, hospitals and government departments are actively recruiting retired former workers to cope with rapid demographic changes Lu, a former professor of electrical engineering, recently stepped dow

Alibaba targets Nvidia’s dominant software ecosystem with open-source AI stack The firm’s chip unit T-Head aims to lower migration barriers to Zhenwu AI computing architectures, following similar initiatives by Huawei and Moore Threads Alibaba Group Holding’s chip design unit, T-

How World Cup star Haaland helped put Norway on the map with China’s tourists The hulking striker has become a huge star in China during the World Cup, helping his homeland attract a growing wave of tourists As Norwegian World Cup footballer Erling Haaland’s herbal drink advertis

Advertisement Fierce competition and shifting tastes squeeze China’s yoga apparel market Growth has slowed in the market for yoga workout gear as Chinese consumers pivot to other brands and activities 2-MIN READ2-MIN Listen Zhu Wenqianin Beijing China’s yoga apparel market is gra

‘Made in EU’: How Europe plans to use China’s tech to pull level with its EV rival by 2028 New regulations will help EU produce electric vehicles at a price point to match China, but European job losses would be among trade-offs A crown jewel of Europe’s industrial output, the au

Chinese shipbuilders snap up more supertanker orders as Iran war turmoil drags on Industry data shows China’s shipyards secured 82 per cent of tanker orders placed this year, as measured by carrying capacity Chinese shipbuilders, already commanding a firm grip on the global marke

Airbus sells 55 aircraft – including 15 widebody A350s – to 2 Chinese airlines Air China says it will purchase 15 widebody A350-900 jets, while subsidiary Shenzhen Airlines will buy 40 narrowbody A320neo aircraft The new-generation A350-900 and A320neo aircraft can help the two a

Red Sea shutdown risk looms as US-Iran tensions threaten to send oil prices even higher Tehran puts Houthi militants on notice to close critical shipping lanes, threatening a fresh supply shock as Brent crude notches 21 per cent rally since early July As tit-for-tat strikes persi

China ramps up ethylene output, aka ‘industrial gold’, amid Iran war disruptions PetroChina’s Xinjiang hub shifts output to the western interior region to rebalance coastal-heavy sector and hit green goals as Middle East conflict flares China is increasing production of ethylene,

Agentic AI: the next battleground for Chinese brands To unlock further success in brand awareness, Chinese firms must appeal to the artificial intelligence agents that are increasingly shaping consumer experience These personal concierges are starting to determine the best choice

China and Kazakhstan agree to increase number of weekly round-trip flights Officials meeting in Beijing also expanded list of approved Chinese cities to 11, including Chongqing China and Kazakhstan have agreed to add 28 weekly round-trip flights between the two countries, the lat

LIVE Xi Jinping calls for ‘openness’, opposes ‘one country’ rule in AI – as it happened President’s personal attendance seen as a sign of China’s inclusion of artificial intelligence into broader geopolitical strategy 7 00:00 WATCH LIVE: Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at wor

From humanoids to Huawei: what to watch as Xi attends China’s WAIC amid US AI rivalry Gathering will showcase Beijing’s push to compete across the full AI stack, from models and chips to robots, consumer devices The World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai comes amid an intensifyin