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China beats US, Japan in carbon-fibre arms race to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/13

China has become the first country to mass produce the strongest carbon fibre, which has wide applications for defence industries such as aerospace, drones and robots, state broadcaster CCTV’s military channel reported on Wednesday. The domestically developed T1200-grade fibre has a tensile strength 10 times greater than ordinary steel, yet it is less than one-tenth of a human hair in diameter, according to the state broadcaster. Mass production of the ultra-strength fibre at a projected

The fiscal family: adviser says China’s tax flows...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/13

The full implementation of taxation reforms pledged in China’s new five-year plan would substantially ease the fiscal strains on local governments, a leading tax policy expert said, while adding that it would not alter the central government’s dominant role in the country’s fiscal landscape. As a unitary state, China’s systematic advantage lay in strong central government finance that could coordinate fiscal resources in a unified manner and redistribute them through transfer payments, in...

Hong Kong job openings hit 6-year low in 69% of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/13

Hong Kong’s fresh graduates are facing increasingly challenging career prospects, with 69 per cent of job sectors recording their fewest vacancies in six years, a trend experts attribute to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and a sluggish economy. Figures from the Joint Institution Job Information System, a centralised online job information platform shared by the city’s eight publicly funded universities, also showed that the number of job vacancies fell to a five-year low of 30,798

How a 102-year-old ‘baby’ in China hasn’t been in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/13

A 102-year-old woman from eastern China has won hearts online with her optimistic attitude and unique lifestyle. Jin Baoling, a centenarian from a rural area in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, is frequently visited by her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Known for her longevity and cheerful personality, fellow villagers affectionately call her “Old Baby.” According to the Taizhou Evening News, Jin is mentally sharp and physically healthy, having not visited a hospital in the past 50...

Swire sells part of Cathay Pacific stake for HK$1.8...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/13

Conglomerate Swire Pacific has sold part of its stake in Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways for HK$1.8 billion (US$230 million) to raise working capital. In a rare move, the group revealed on Friday that it sold 153.05 million shares at HK$11.74 each the previous day. This was a 9.6 per cent discount to the last traded price on Thursday of HK$12.99 per share. Swire is the latest shareholder to reduce its stake in Cathay, following Air China’s sale in January for HK$1.32...

‘I can’t get a job and AI is to blame’: a young...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/13

Trina Lau spent nearly three months looking for work after she was laid off from an e-commerce firm in Hong Kong in December. It was the 23-year-old’s first job after graduating with a communications degree last year. The position only lasted for six months. She sent out more than 50 job applications but only received calls for interviews for six of them. Lau conceded that it was slow going because the economy was not picking up as quickly as she would have liked. But now, she said, she had

BMW sees smoother road ahead in China after sales...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/13

BMW could be approaching the end of the tunnel in China as signs of stabilisation raise hopes of a turnaround after the German carmaker reported that sales dropped by double digits in the key market in 2025. “Transaction prices in the market for our products have stabilised … and are actually improving slightly compared to [the third quarter],” said Walter Mertl, chief financial officer, during a press conference on Thursday. “If the run rate continues this way, we have the opportunity to go...

China’s rural pensions in focus as lawmakers fight...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/13

Some Chinese lawmakers and advisers are pushing to secure higher pensions for elderly farmers, underscoring the persistent income disparity between the country’s urban and rural residents. The latest government work report, approved on Thursday, confirmed a 20-yuan (US$2.91) monthly increase to basic pension payments for a third consecutive year, bringing the national minimum to 163 yuan. However, some deputies from China’s top legislature contend that this level is inadequate. “A pension of...

California’s Governor Newsom says no imminent threat...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

California Governor Gavin Newsom said there was no imminent threat to the state, despite a warning from the FBI that Iran could send drones to the west coast in retaliation for war. Newsom said drone issues “have always been top of mind”. “We’ve been aware of that information. … It’s all about a posture of preparedness for worst-case scenarios,” the governor said on Wednesday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently warned police departments about Iran and a possible California...

US military refuelling plane crashes in Iraq, rescue...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

An American military refuelling plane went down in Iraq and rescue efforts were under way, US Central Command said on Thursday. The KC-135 aircraft was part of the operation against Iran but the crash was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire, the military said in a statement. US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said two aircraft were involved and that one landed safely and the other went down in western Iraq. It described the latter as “a loss”. A US official, who spoke on...

Hong Kong insider-trading arrests send ‘very strong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

Arrests in a HK$315 million (US$40 million) insider dealing case underscore Hong Kong’s commitment to upholding the integrity of its stock market amid a surge in new listings and share placements, according to industry players. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Thursday said it had arrested eight people after joining forces with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) earlier this week to raid premises connected to a hedge fund and two securities firms. The joint...

Serbian president confirms his country owns Chinese...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

Serbia’s president confirmed late on Thursday that his country possesses Chinese supersonic surface-attack cruise missiles, after photos of the weapons attached to Serbian fighter jets leaked online. Photos, which began circulating on social media and defence blogs earlier this week, showed missiles believed to be Chinese-made CM-400AKG cruise missiles attached to Serbia’s Russian-made MiG-29 planes. “We have things we do not show,” President Aleksandar Vucic told Serbia’s national

Sanctioned Rubio to take part in Trump’s China trip...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to visit China with President Donald Trump later this month after appearing to show little interest in previous invitations from Beijing, the South China Morning Post has learned. According to sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly on the matter, Rubio had been invited to visit but had not been receptive until recently. Rubio’s attendance could smooth over some of the problems surrounding...

Netanyahu threatens Iran’s new supreme leader,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued ⁠a veiled threat to kill Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei even as he acknowledged that Israel’s joint air war with the US may not lead to a collapse of Tehran’s clerical government. Holding his first press conference since the start of the war, ‌the Israeli leader said that Iran was “no longer the same” after nearly two weeks of bombardment and that Tehran had suffered blows to its elite Revolutionary Guards Corps and

Iran war signals return to world of hierarchy without...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

The war in Iran is not just another Middle Eastern crisis. It is a window into what world politics looks like when rules are weakest and power is most concentrated. Washington has spoken in the language of surrender and coercion, European governments have called for restraint and respect for international law, and Asian powers have scrambled to keep energy flows moving through a Strait of Hormuz that has nearly ground to a halt. What this reveals is not a functioning rules-based order. It is

1 dead, 2 injured in shooting at Virginia’s Old...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) students in an Old Dominion University classroom subdued and killed the shooter who killed one person and wounded two others, the FBI announced on Thursday. Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Norfolk field office, said at a news conference that the suspect identified by authorities as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh shouted “Allahu akbar” before the shooting. Then the ROTC students stopped him, showing “extreme...

Assailant dead after ramming vehicle into Michigan...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

A 41-year-old man was killed Thursday after ramming his pickup truck into a synagogue on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, causing a blaze and triggering a huge police response. US media reported the assailant had recently lost family members in an Israeli strike in Lebanon, as part of the ongoing Middle East war. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security identified the assailant as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon, came to Detroit in 2011 on a visa granted to...

British mum who kept woman as ‘house slave’ for 25...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

A UK judge on Thursday jailed for 13 years a mother-of-10 who forced a vulnerable woman to work as a “house slave” for more than two decades. Amanda Wixon subjected the woman, who was a teenager when the ordeal began, to more than 25 years of abuse at her squalid home in Gloucestershire, western England. The 56-year-old forced the victim, who has a learning disability, to do manual labour, regularly assaulted her and deprived her of food and healthcare, it emerged during an earlier 13-day...

UK PM Starmer admits his ‘mistake’ in appointing...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken responsibility for his “mistake” in sending Peter Mandelson to Washington as ambassador, as Downing Street denied there was a “cover-up” in the release of files related to the appointment. The prime minister is facing fresh questions about his judgment in giving Mandelson the ambassadorship despite being warned of a “general reputational risk” because of his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In his first public appearance since the...

Anchors Academy Expands with Junior Secondary...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/03/12

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Anchors Academy, recognised as one of Hong Kong's leading private schools for kindergarten and primary education, is taking a significant leap forward. The school has announced the extension of its educational offering to include Junior Secondary (Years 7 to 9)*, alongside a strategic partnership with the UK's historic St Bees School (founded 1583) to establish St Bees (Anchors) Sixth Form College in Hong Kong*, all...

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