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Paul Chan’s new budget sets aside HK$30 billion to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Hong Kong’s finance chief has set aside HK$30 billion (US$3.8 billion) to kick-start the Northern Metropolis in his latest budget, aiming to accelerate the megaproject through the government’s partnership with developers and tech enterprises. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced on Wednesday that three companies overseeing the Hetao Hong Kong Park, the San Tin Technopole and the Hung Shui Kiu Industrial Park, all part of the megaproject, would each receive HK$10 billion, using...

China’s MiniMax, Moonshot top AI token use ranking,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Chinese open-source artificial intelligence models, led by those from MiniMax AI and Moonshot AI, have topped global token usage, ending a year of market dominance for US developers, according to data from OpenRouter.Online AI hosting platform OpenRouter’s latest ranking reflected the increased international demand for Chinese open-source models on its site following a series of new releases. Launched around two weeks ago, the M2.5 from Shanghai-based MiniMax emerged as the most popular AI...

Can China and Philippines replace ‘disputes with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

China and the Philippines may soon start joint coastguard patrols in the South China Sea after years of tensions over the disputed waters, according to a Philippine senator. Erwin Tulfo, chairman of the Senate’s foreign relations committee, met Chinese ambassador Jing Quan on Monday, and said afterwards that the two countries’ coastguards were expected to sign a memorandum of agreement by the end of March. He added that rather than “having disputes there … there will be cooperation”, such as...

Hong Kong’s home prices reach 19-month high as rise...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices opened the year with a 0.53 per cent month-on-month gain in January, according to official data, sustaining a recovery that began in the second quarter of 2025. Rents in the city, meanwhile, continued to rise, surging by 0.3 per cent from a month earlier to set another peak, according to data released on Wednesday by the Rating and Valuation Department. With the latest increment, the city’s second-hand home prices officially stood at 301.4, its highest since...

In meeting with Merz, Xi urges efforts to advance...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for strengthening communication and trust amid global uncertainties in a meeting with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday. During the meeting in Beijing, Xi said the international landscape this year was marked by turbulence, saying the world was experiencing “changes unseen in a century”. “The more turbulent and complex the world becomes, the more China and Germany need to strengthen strategic communication and enhance strategic mutual...

A boat in every dock? Chinese billionaire unveils...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Richard Liu, founder of China’s retail giant JD.com, has launched a nautical brand to build out the country’s yacht industry, riding a wave of policy support to tap a fast-growing domestic market and make the vessels – traditionally associated with affluence and luxury – accessible to “everyday consumers”. Liu’s brand, Sea Expandary, signed a strategic framework agreement on Tuesday with the coastal city of Zhuhai in Guangdong, China’s southern powerhouse province, for a high-end yacht...

Iranians on edge as Trump’s US ‘armada’ closes in: ‘a...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

As the United States assembles its greatest military firepower in decades in the Middle East, Iranians are warily awaiting the next round of talks with the US in Geneva this week – negotiations that many see as a last chance for their ruling theocracy to strike a deal with US President Donald Trump. Some say the situation feels hopeless. Battered by decades of sanctions, heightened by Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, Iranians also just suffered...

Here is how you and businesses will benefit from Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Hong Kong authorities will offer sweeteners of about HK$22 billion (US$2.8 billion) to residents and businesses, up from HK$7.8 billion last year, as public coffers are set to pivot from a deficit to a surplus. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Wednesday announced a raft of tax concessions and allowances in his annual budget, almost three times what was offered last year. “Hong Kong’s economy shows steady and stable progress, but there are still imbalances and insufficiencies during...

Donald Trump touts US ‘golden age’, avoids direct...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

US President Donald Trump pushed a message of economic strength and global leadership in the first State of the Union address of his second term on Tuesday night, seeking to rally voters ahead of the November midterm elections. In the nearly two-hour speech – the longest of its kind – the American leader made no direct mention of China, a move analysts said could be aimed at avoiding fresh friction with Beijing ahead of his visit. Trump’s administration is grappling with a range of...

‘Steady as she goes’ as Hong Kong bids farewell to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Hong Kong raised its economic growth forecast to between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent this year, as Financial Secretary Paul Chan delivered a budget speech focused on diversifying growth and boosting innovation. The city also will end deficits ahead of schedule, aided by economic growth and stronger stock trading, with an expected consolidated surplus of HK$2.9 billion for the financial year ending next month, Chan said on Wednesday. The government initially predicted expansion of 2 per cent

IMF urges China to prioritise consumption-led...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on China to make the shift to a consumption-led growth model an “overarching priority”, while urging the country to curb what it called “unwarranted industrial policy” amid mounting external imbalances. The IMF staff’s recommendations, issued ahead of Beijing’s annual parliamentary meetings, joined increasingly loud calls for economic rebalancing, particularly after China recorded a trade surplus last year. “China needs to move decisively

Surpluses, investments, tax breaks: what’s in it for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has announced an array of industry spending and relief measures in Hong Kong’s budget, in response to the city’s quicker-than-expected return to a surplus of HK$2.9 billion (US$370.8 million) in its consolidated account. In a two-hour address to the Legislative Council on Wednesday, Chan pledged substantial government support and investment in major development projects and key industries, such as the artificial intelligence (AI), intellectual property (IP)...

How ‘little giants’ help China defend its...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Against the news of China’s record trade surplus of US$1.19 trillion last year, some have warned it is making trade impossible, arguing that the rest of the world has fewer goods they can sell, or are willing to sell, to China. Critics point to China’s competitive edge in producing better and cheaper goods. For Beijing, this feels less like criticism and more like a subtle compliment. In many ways, it affirms China’s long-term strategy to bolster its global manufacturing. Supporting...

China’s yuan strengthens to near 3-year high as US...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

China’s yuan has strengthened to its highest level against the US dollar in nearly three years, with its official fixing rate also firming amid growing uncertainty over the American currency. On Wednesday afternoon, the offshore yuan traded at 6.867 per US dollar, its strongest level since April 2023. The same day, the People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s midpoint rate – also known as the daily fixing – at 6.9321 per US dollar, also the strongest since May 2023. The currency has appreciated...

Why China ancient custom requires children to ‘sell...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

While many people in today’s China watch the state media CCTV’s gala show on the Lunar New Year Eve, about 1,000 years ago children took part in a special and playful routine to celebrate a festival called “selling ignorance”. Known in Chinese as mai meng dong or mai chi dai, the practice began during the North Song dynasty (960-1127), a period of advancing culture and economy. It involved groups of mischievous children running through streets after eating the New Year Eve dinner and shouting...

EU’s tech ban, China’s mysterious Nantianmen project:...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. EU bans Chinese organisations from critical tech programmes, including AI, chips Researchers in China have been excluded from the European Union’s most advanced collaborative technology programmes. However, specialists in the sectors affected say the impact of the ban may be limited because some areas of...

Xiaomi deepens push into chips and AI as peers race...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Xiaomi is doubling down on its five-year plan for core technologies including chips, artificial intelligence and operating systems, aiming to position itself as a deep-tech player amid China’s self-reliance push, while peers such as Li Auto and Xpeng accelerate moves into humanoid robotics. Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of the Beijing-based smartphone and electric vehicle giant, on Tuesday said private technology firms must deepen investment in core technologies and speed up the...

Iran dismisses ‘big lies’ after Trump lays out case...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

US President Donald Trump briefly laid out ⁠his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech to Congress on Tuesday, saying he would not allow the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism to have a nuclear weapon. Even while assembling a massive military force in the Middle East, Trump has done little to explain to the American public why he might be leading the US into its most aggressive action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. In his speech, Trump...

AI bubble overtakes geopolitics as top concern for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

The risk of an artificial intelligence bubble has, for the first time, become the top concern among credit investors, overshadowing geopolitical worries, according to a Bank of America (BofA) survey. In a February survey of investment-grade clients who buy and sell debt, 23 per cent said the threat of an AI bubble was now their top concern, up from 9 per cent in December, according to BofA strategists Barnaby Martin and Ioannis Angelakis and analyst Mohit Agarwalla. “[An] AI bubble is now

China’s Xi Jinping declares defeat of extreme poverty...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

This article was first published on February 26, 2021. By Mimi Lau Xi claims victory in eliminating extreme poverty China has declared complete success in eliminating extreme poverty, with President Xi Jinping hailing the lifting of 850 million people out of destitution as an “unprecedented accomplishment” unmatched by any nation in modern history. In a speech at a ceremony in Beijing yesterday (February 25, 2021) to commend poverty fighters, broadcast live by state...

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