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Shenzhen dethrones Shanghai, Beijing as China’s top...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

The southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen has handed in a glowing report card of technological and economic development, surpassing Shanghai and Beijing as the nation’s largest manufacturing and exporting city while solidifying a lead in artificial intelligence and start-up cultivation, its mayor has revealed. Shenzhen’s economy grew from 2.83 trillion yuan in 2020 to 3.87 trillion yuan (US$560 billion) in 2025. The city’s annualised growth rate of 5.5 per cent over that period also...

5 top takeaways from US President Donald Trump’s 2026...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

US President Donald Trump delivered his first official State of Union address of his second term on Tuesday night, defending his policies and touting his administration’s biggest achievements since his return to the White House. In the longest speech of its kind, Trump spoke of a “golden age of America”, saying “America is respected again, perhaps like never before”. The American leader is grappling with a series of challenges, including rising economic woes, mounting foreign policy tensions

HSBC lifts investment plan in Hong Kong, other...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

HSBC Holdings unveiled a range of new growth targets and strategies on Wednesday, including plans to boost investment in Hong Kong and other high-growth markets to US$1.8 billion in the coming years. CEO Georges Elhedery said the bank would raise its return target to 17 per cent or higher from 2026 to 2028, while maintaining a sustainable dividend policy. The forward-looking commitments helped lift HSBC’s share price despite a 7 per cent decline in annual profit. Among the expansion plans,

Budget 2026-27: Hong Kong bets big on AI, chips,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po unveiled his latest budget on Wednesday, revealing an earlier-than-expected operating surplus after three years of deficits. While the improved fiscal position – driven by a stock market boom – had sparked calls for more sweeteners in this year’s financial blueprint, Chan had sought to manage public expectations by...

Norway’s former prime minister in hospital following...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Norway’s former prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland has been admitted to hospital due to the stress caused by the Epstein scandal, the NTB news agency and others cited his lawyer as saying on Tuesday. Jagland is one of the most prominent figures to have been implicated by the release of files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Norwegian authorities are investigating allegations of serious corruption. The former top politician is said to have stayed at Epstein’s apartments in Paris and

Hong Kong investment company HKIC to get expanded...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

All eyes on Wednesday will be on how the government plans to give a big push to its latest investment darling, the Hong Kong Investment Corporation, its three-year-old vehicle that has yielded impressive early gains. Sources told the South China Morning Post that HKIC would come up as a key highlight in Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget statement to be delivered on Wednesday. It will be tasked to work closely with regional and international long-term capital to “guide investment...

Hong Kong inspector dies after shooting herself...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Hong Kong police have launched an investigation into the death of a 23-year-old inspector who shot herself with a pistol inside the Kwun Tong police station. The force said the inspector, who was attached to the Patrol Sub-unit of the Kwun Tong District, shot herself in the loading and unloading area of the police station at about 7.45am on Wednesday. A source said the inspector had finished her training last September. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming visited the station after the...

Trump makes fun of Chinese military tech in State of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

This live blog has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. US President Donald Trump delivered the traditional State of the Union address to a divided Congress, reviewing his first year in office and outlining priorities ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. In the longest speech of its kind, Trump spoke of a “golden age of America”, saying...

Chomsky’s legacy should be understood beyond the...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

It has been a sad time for the legions of fans of Noam Chomsky, having to see their hero in a photo hobnobbing with the late paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein inside the latter’s private jet. The picture and their email exchanges were part of millions of pages released by the US Justice Department from its so-called Epstein files. So far, the most high-profile fallouts have been, understandably, the arrest of the former Prince Andrew, the public disgrace of British Labour Party...

China boss offers US$26 million bonus; staff can take...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

A Chinese company and its boss have gone viral on mainland social media for distributing 180 million yuan (US$26 million) in year-end bonuses out of 270 million yuan in profits, sparking widespread envy among netizens. On February 13, Henan Kuangshan Crane Co., Ltd. held its annual company gala, during which more than 60 million yuan (US$8.7 million) in cash bonuses were distributed on site. At the event, 800 banquet tables were set up to accommodate around 7,000 people. Employees were

US warns of deep distrust even as officials seek...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Just hours apart on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, two congressional hearings laid bare the United States’ calibrated yet deeply sceptical approach to China, with senior officials stressing the pursuit of stable ties without trust and highlighting alleged Chinese efforts to steal or circumvent US technology restrictions. The officials’ appearances before Congress reflected bipartisan concern and underscored persistent tensions over trade and advanced technologies such as semiconductors, ahead of US...

‘Huge funds’ for tech hub, incentives for aerospace...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/25

Hong Kong’s finance chief will earmark substantial funds for a new innovation hub near the border with mainland China and include incentives to attract more aerospace players to the city in his budget, government sources have said. Highlighting innovation as a key theme of Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget speech to be delivered on Wednesday, the insiders told the South China Morning Post that the blueprint would provide significant impetus to the new San Tin Technopole. The...

SFC moves to freeze assets of 3 insider traders who...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/24

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has secured for the first time separate court orders in Hong Kong and the UK to freeze HK$4.3 million (US$552,948) in assets belonging to three alleged insider traders – including a former Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) staffer – who have left the city. The city’s Court of First Instance granted a worldwide interim injunction order against the trio – former HKEX listing division staffer Chan Ching-wa and his relatives Lam Cho-man and Chau...

IPs, superyachts and more: can budget spark Hong...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/24

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po will deliver his annual budget on Wednesday, unveiling measures to accelerate the city’s economic recovery after balancing the books, amid mounting expectations for more “sweeteners” in the blueprint. The 2026-27 budget also marks the government’s first major test in aligning the city with mainland China’s 15th five-year plan and unveiling long-term growth initiatives. The South China Morning Post examines how political and economic factors will...

Smaller, faster, smarter: Chinese transistor ready...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/24

A team of Chinese scientists has unveiled the world’s smallest and most energy-efficient transistor in a breakthrough poised to anchor the next generation of high-performance AI hardware. The researchers achieved the feat in ferroelectric transistors (FeFETs), which function similarly to neurons in the human brain as they integrate memory and processing in a single unit, thereby reducing the time lost in data transfer. In conventional semiconductor chips, data storage and computation occur in...

Wang Fuk Court buyback plan disappoints some...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/21

Some homeowners displaced by the deadly Tai Po blaze were disappointed by Hong Kong authorities’ decision to buy back their flats instead of resettling them at the original site, even as the acquisition offer was described by surveyors as “generous”.Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun unveiled the long-term resettlement plan on Saturday, offering options to buy back the flats at HK$8,000 or HK$10,500 (US$1,023 or US$1,343) per square foot. Homeowners could also opt for...

Germany’s ruling party seeks social media ban for...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/21

Germany’s ruling conservatives on Saturday passed ⁠a motion to ban social media use for under 14s and introduce more stringent digital verification checks for teenagers, building momentum for such limits in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. At a party conference in the city of Stuttgart, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union also called for fines for online platforms that failed to enforce such limits and European ‌Union-wide harmonisation of age standards. A growing number of...

Calls for better supervision of Hong Kong’s campsites...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/21

Campers and hikers have urged Hong Kong authorities to step up public education, law enforcement and impose foot traffic limits at campsites after some areas were flooded with visitors during the Lunar New Year holiday. A visit by the South China Morning Post on Saturday to Ham Tin Wan, a beach in Sai Kung, found about 50 visitors and 30 tents. Empty plastic bottles, used tissue paper and chocolate wrappers were seen lying on the sand and in bushes and shrubs. Officers from the Agricultural,...

Can China find a market for its fifth-generation J-35...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/21

China’s push to sell its J-35 fifth generation fighter jet in the Asia-Pacific was likely to face stiff competition from US rival the F-35 as well as cheaper alternatives, military analysts said after the plane featured at this year’s Singapore Airshow. They said political and economic considerations apart from performance would weigh on potential buyers, and questioned how many countries would want to buy the Chinese plane. In Singapore this month, the booth operated by China National...

Hong Kong police probe death of man, 60, in fall from...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/02/21

A man has died after falling from bamboo scaffolding outside a building in Hong Kong, sparking a criminal investigation. Police said the man, aged 60, was found unconscious on a platform at 3 Nelson Street in Mong Kok at 2.38pm on Saturday. He was rushed to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei but was subsequently declared dead. The force said detectives from its Mong Kok district criminal investigation team had taken over the case and were looking into the circumstances behind the fall.

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