PODCAST

News - South China Morning Post

All the latest breaking news from Hong Kong, China and around the world

All Episodes

China’s energy storage tech exports: a buffer against...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

China’s exports of energy storage equipment are expected to keep rising as the US-Israeli war in Iran renews global calls for energy independence, industry insiders and analysts said. The total export value of Chinese inverters – key components in energy storage systems – jumped 57 per cent year on year to US$1.66 billion for the first two months of 2026, Chinese customs data showed. Inverters convert electricity generated from batteries and solar panels into usable power for homes,

Citic tops Asia-Pacific banking fees as mainland...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

Investment banking fees across Asia-Pacific excluding Japan reached US$5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026, with China’s Citic Securities ranking as the region’s top earner. The total in the first three months fell 5 per cent from a year earlier, as growth in equity capital markets underwriting was offset by weaker debt capital market and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, according to an LSEG Data and Analytics report on Thursday. Helped by strong fees from its bond underwriting...

China strengthens oversight of state-owned assets...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

China’s state assets watchdog has established a new department to oversee foreign investments, as firms continue to expand their global footprint amid an increasingly turbulent geopolitical outlook. The new bureau, launched by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) on Wednesday, will guide state-owned enterprises in their international operations, according to its website. It will also be responsible for helping firms optimise and...

China team introduced plant-based photosynthesis in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

A team of Chinese scientists has found a way to introduce plant-based, light-activated nanoparticles into animal cells to improve their health and lifespan. When the team’s photosynthetic nanoparticles were transplanted into rats and rabbits with degenerative disease conditions, they helped boost energy production and restore disrupted cell interactions. By integrating their plant-based system with implantable, wirelessly powered lights, the team also proposed an approach for deep tissue...

Israeli military says it has killed nephew of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

Israel’s military said Thursday it had struck and killed a close adviser to Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem in Beirut a day earlier, when Israeli strikes pummelled Lebanon. “Yesterday, the IDF struck in the Beirut area and eliminated Ali Yusuf Harshi, the personal secretary and nephew of Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem,” a military statement said. Harshi was “a close associate and personal adviser to... Qassem and played a central role in managing and securing his office”, it added. The...

Bus driver killed, 16 injured in 2 separate crashes...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

A bus driver has been killed and 16 others have been injured in two separate crashes involving eight vehicles within two hours on Hong Kong’s San Tin Highway. Police said on Thursday that an accident involving two cars and a taxi occurred on the side of the highway headed to Sheung Shui at 9.51pm the previous day. Eight people suffered minor injuries and were sent to North District Hospital in Sheung Shui. In another accident on the same highway, a 49-year-old public light bus driver was

Gingle Wang’s rise to the top, apps that help fight...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

We have selected five Trending in China stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. How Gingle Wang went from clueless novice to one of Taiwan’s top young actresses For an actress often hailed by the Taiwanese press as the “box office guarantee” of her generation, Gingle Wang Ching began her career with a startling lack of vocabulary: she had no idea what the word “action” meant on a film...

China’s Unitree to debut cheapest humanoid robot...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

Unitree Robotics, one of China’s largest robot makers, will debut the R1, its cheapest humanoid model, on the international market via Alibaba Group Holding’s AliExpress marketplace next week, according to two sources familiar with the matter on Thursday. The launch would cover major overseas markets including North America, Europe, Japan and Singapore, one of the sources said. The product would later be available on other channels, the second person said. The R1, launched in mainland China

Why North Korea’s Kim may shake hands with Trump...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

North Korea’s recent string of weapons tests, including cluster munitions, marks its renewed show of military strength ahead of the US-China summit next month, even as Beijing may become a go-between to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula. Analysts say the summit could be an opportunity for China to arrange for subsequent talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. On Thursday, Pyongyang said tests conducted over the previous two days involved a

More Chinese banks claw back bonuses, cut salaries...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

Several major Chinese banks have clawed back staff bonuses or cut salaries amid a sluggish economic recovery and Beijing’s ongoing scrutiny of the financial sector. In their annual reports, an increasing number of lenders, ranging from state-owned institutions to commercial banks, are disclosing the amount of performance-based compensation reclaimed from their employees last year. State-owned Bank of China recovered 47.18 million yuan (US$6.9 million) from 4,630 individuals in 2025, according

Cook jailed for 11 months over selling account used...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

A Hong Kong man has been jailed for 11 months and fined HK$4,500 (US$574) for selling his digital wallet so it could be used by a crime syndicate to receive HK$25,500 defrauded from donors who believed the money would be used to help victims of the Tai Po fire. West Kowloon Court heard on Thursday that Cham Shu-shing, a 32-year-old cook, had sold his Alipay account to an unknown group of scammers last year for HK$3,800, knowing it would be used for illegal purposes. A police investigation...

10,000 suspected fake football jerseys seized in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

Hong Kong customs has seized about 10,000 suspected counterfeit football jerseys and other unlicensed goods worth an estimated HK$64 million (US$8 million) ahead of the World Cup finals in June. During the 19-day operation code-named “Dawnbreaker”, conducted by the Customs and Excise Department, three people aged 25 to 56 were also arrested on suspicion of violating the Trade Descriptions Ordinance. Officers established 37 cases between March 9 and 27 involved cross-boundary transshipment and...

Philippines expands South China Sea footprint with...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

The Philippine Coast Guard unveiled on Thursday its first dedicated command centre in the Spratly island chain, a flashpoint in the disputed South China Sea that has been the site of repeated confrontations with Chinese vessels. The headquarters of a newly established coastguard district, formerly overseen from neighbouring Palawan, will cover an area of about 68,000 sq km (26,000 sq miles). A journalist travelling to the new command centre on Thitu Island, known as Pagasa in the Philippines,...

Quirky China: haunted house auctioned 3 times, lift...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

China never fails to deliver strange, funny and almost unbelievable viral stories. Today, the SCMP offers a glimpse into some recent quirky moments, from a “haunted” flat that keeps getting resold, to a lift that stops at only one floor and a sushi conveyor belt hijacked by a “Mickey” mouse. Ghostly dwelling On April 1, a flat in Chengdu, Sichuan province in southwestern China, where there had been an unnatural death, was listed for auction for the third time, with bidding set to begin on

Trump warns ‘shooting’ could start again as fragile...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

⁠US President ⁠Donald Trump said on Wednesday ⁠its military ships and aircraft will remain around Iran and threatened that the US will start “shooting” again unless Tehran fully complies with the deal reached ‌with Washington. “All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry … will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “If ⁠for any reason it is...

Xi: senior officers must ‘stay pure’ to meet Chinese...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

With the countdown on in earnest to the PLA’s centenary next year, President Xi Jinping has urged the corruption-battered top ranks of the military to refine their ideological purity to give the armed forces a “brand new look”. Xi told senior People’s Liberation Army officers on Wednesday to maintain resolute political loyalty to the Communist Party and said that any thought or action driven by self-interest or corruption was “fundamentally against the party’s nature and purpose”, state media...

Government rejects proposal by residents to rebuild...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

Hong Kong authorities have ruled out on-site partial redevelopment of the Tai Po housing complex destroyed in a deadly blaze, turning down a detailed proposal submitted by 400 displaced residents to build new flats on the land. The Housing Bureau said on Wednesday evening that rebuilding the fire-hit blocks of Wang Fuk Court on its original site would take too long and was fraught with uncertainties. “In situ redevelopment is not the most suitable option,” a bureau spokesman told the South

Hong Kong receives 90 reports of people stuck in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

A technical fault in the interconnection between Hong Kong’s two power providers caused a brief voltage dip on Thursday, disrupting operations in hospitals where some equipment had to be reset and resulting in about 90 reports of people trapped in lifts within a 30-minute window. The Hospital Authority said on Thursday that the voltage dip had affected some hospitals on Hong Kong Island, requiring system resets for several medical devices. “Each hospital immediately inspected its electrical...

Is one of America’s top AI-robot scholars about to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

China looks set to claim another coup in its mission to build AI talent, with one of the world’s top scholars in artificial intelligence for robots listed among PhD supervisors at a Shanghai university. Su Hao, who holds two doctorates – one in mathematics and one in computer science – has appeared on Fudan University’s faculty list as a professor in electronic information specialising in AI. The list, published on March 31, names 322 PhD supervisors appointed this year. Previously, Su was a...

Volkswagen tests China’s appetite for locally...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/09

German automotive giant Volkswagen will launch three new electric vehicle (EV) models in mainland China over the next two weeks, developed using technology from Chinese firms. The move comes at a time when international marques are struggling on the mainland amid fierce competition in the world’s largest car market. As the largest foreign carmaker in China, Volkswagen previously said that it would integrate Germany’s high manufacturing standards with technology developed by Chinese firms. “We...

23,390 results