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News - South China Morning Post

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As UK PM Starmer leaves China, what did he achieve –...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

China and the United Kingdom are expected to sign more business deals as the British delegation, which comprises 54 companies, heads to Shanghai from Beijing as part of Keir Starmer’s visit, the first by a UK prime minister since 2018. The UK delegation will attend a reception in Shanghai on Friday evening, according to Peter Burnett, chief executive of the China-Britain Business Council. A business forum will be held, followed by lunch on Saturday before the group departs the country. “I

China tech giants ByteDance and Alibaba to ramp up AI...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

ByteDance and Alibaba Group Holding are poised to ratchet up their artificial intelligence infrastructure initiatives, as the global AI arms race continues to intensify. The two companies’ latest moves lend weight to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s recent remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the world was witnessing the biggest infrastructure buildout in history and that trillions of dollars of infrastructure still had to be built. Beijing-based ByteDance, operator of

US envoys to Israel blocked ‘apocalyptic’ Gaza...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

US Agency for International Development staffers in early 2024 drafted a warning to senior officials in Joe Biden’s administration: Northern Gaza had turned into an “Apocalyptic Wasteland” with dire shortages of food and medical aid. Three months after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel’s incursion into the Gaza Strip, the internal message laid out in gruesome detail scenes observed by United Nations staff who visited the area on a two-part humanitarian fact-finding mission in

Alibaba AI chip push hits 100,000 mark, beating local...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Alibaba Group Holding has delivered more than 100,000 units of its most advanced artificial intelligence chip, the Zhenwu 810E, whose performance is said to be comparable to Nvidia’s H20, according to people familiar with the matter – a milestone that highlights the company’s growing role in China’s race to build domestic alternatives to US processors. The shipments, handled by Alibaba’s semiconductor arm T-Head, have already surpassed those of domestic rival Cambricon Technologies, the

Hang Lung flags ‘tough slog’ for property, as it...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Hong Kong developer Hang Lung Properties is pinning its medium-term outlook on a recovery in mainland Chinese consumption, even as it warned that both the city’s and China’s property markets remain under strain. The commercial landlord, residential developer and hotel owner said it expected a “tough slog” for the broader sector despite signs of improvement in operating conditions, particularly in the second half of the year. Net profit attributable to shareholders fell 16 per cent to HK$1.8...

It is ‘flourishing’: China’s man-made forest in Gobi...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Chinese scientists are planting high-value alternative “rubber trees” in the Gobi Desert. China is the world’s largest consumer and importer of natural rubber, mainly to support its massive car sector. Consumption last year is expected to have exceeded 7 million tonnes, over 85 per cent of it imported. However, the unique Chinese medicinal plant Duzhong (scientific name Eucommia ulmoides) may help to resolve this dependency. While its bark is a valued material in traditional Chinese medicine...

Over 110,000 secure waivers since Hong Kong public...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

More than 110,000 patients have secured fee waivers since Hong Kong’s public medical fee reform took effect at the start of the year, a jump from a previous annual number of 14,000, the health minister has said while defending the overhaul. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau also said on Friday that among the more than 110,000 people with approved waivers, about 53,000 had already received certificates for fee reduction. The roughly 60,000 patients remaining who had failed to provide income

Shanghai residents offload their gold as prices surge...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Shanghai residents have been flocking to sell gold as the price of the precious metal surges to record highs. The latest jump in gold prices was fuelled by ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainties, but prices slumped by 4 per cent on Friday, January 30.

China gives Apple ‘best iPhone quarter in history’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

China has emerged as the brightest spot in Apple’s quarterly earnings, as the US tech giant achieved record iPhone revenue in the world’s largest smartphone market. Revenue in Apple’s Greater China region, which comprises mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, surged 38 per cent from a year earlier in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, which ended December 27, the Cupertino-based company said on Friday. That growth, more than double the company’s overall 16 per cent quarterly revenue increase,...

Jiangsu vs Guangdong: why the battle to be China’s No...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

The southern Guangdong province has been the largest engine powering China’s economic rise for decades. But the region is now in danger of losing its status as the country’s top regional economy, as a rival to the east outpaces its growth. Jiangsu, home to a wide range of multinationals and hi-tech enterprises, has long been Guangdong’s closest competitor: together, the two provinces account for over 20 per cent of China’s gross domestic product (GDP). And the region has shown greater

Why China Bulang ethnic group in Yunnan blackens...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

China’s Bulang people have an unusual rite of passage known as ranchi in which they dye their teeth black to mark adulthood and social rights. The ethnic group, with a history spanning more than a thousand years, is mainly found in Yunnan province, southwestern China. According to the China Statistical Yearbook 2021, there are around 127,000 Bulang people today. Living in the mountains and forests, they view the colour black as a symbol of beauty and power, believing it protects against evil...

Trump slams allies’ China ties, top generals fall,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

US President Donald Trump criticised UK and Canadian efforts to boost ties with China, as traditional American allies increasingly seek to diversify their global relations. “It’s ‌very dangerous ⁠for them to do that,” Trump said about a UK pledge of deeper business cooperation with China. “And, it’s even more dangerous, ‌I think, for Canada to get ‌into business ‌with China.” Trump spoke to reporters at the premiere of the movie Melania at ‍the Kennedy Centre in Washington. UK Prime Minister...

China, Israel continue to collaborate in science and...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Although the war in Gaza has clearly cooled diplomatic ties and sparked disputes between China and Israel, science and technology cooperation at a civil level between the two countries has continued. “I have a feeling that we have a lot of common ground and plenty of opportunities for cooperation in sectors such as energy and agriculture,” said Yaroslav Efimov, head of science and technology at PLANETech, an Israeli non-profit innovation community specialising in climate change-related...

Hong Kong economy grows 3.5% in 2025, beating earlier...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Hong Kong’s economy expanded by 3.5 per cent in 2025, marking the city’s third consecutive year of growth and surpassing an earlier forecast of 3.2 per cent, with “good momentum” expected to continue in 2026. Advance estimates released by the Census and Statistics Department on Friday also showed gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter increased by 3.8 per cent from a year earlier. Hong Kong’s GDP expanded by at least 3 per cent in each of the first three quarters of 2025, rising 3...

In his Singapore book launch, sinologist Wang Gungwu...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Wang Gungwu is widely regarded as a pre-eminent expert on the ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia and the history of China, but at 95, he writes in his latest memoir that he is no longer able to call himself a historian. In No Borders: Journeys Across Islands and Continents, launched in Singapore on Thursday, Wang writes that while a historian today has the objective of reconstructing the past as it actually happened, the Australian sinologist is no longer interested in this. Through his studies...

Hong Kong to repeal bus seat belt rules over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Hong Kong transport authorities will repeal a law that took effect on Sunday requiring bus passengers to wear seat belts, following strong public criticism and the revelation that the rule only covered new vehicles registered from late January. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan announced the U-turn on Friday, conceding that the legislation had “deficiencies” as it failed to reflect the policy’s intent of requiring all passengers on public or private buses – including franchised...

Before Trump’s Fed pick, a new clear favourite...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

Since returning to the White House a year ago, US President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on the Federal Reserve. With the term of the current Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, set to end in May, Trump said he would announce his pick to replace Powell on Friday. Speculation has intensified on prediction markets. On Polymarket and Kalshi, betting volumes on the question “Who will Trump nominate as Fed chair?” had respectively reached about US$294.24 million and US$81.61 million by...

The foreigners who fought for Russia, now stuck in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

“Assemble!” someone bellowed in the prison corridor, cutting through the silence. Murmurs began echoing off the white walls, and the stairwells filled with people from all over the world: Egyptians, Chinese, Cameroonians, Kenyans, an Italian - all soldiers captured fighting for Russia, now held in a Ukrainian jail. Some joined the Russian military in search of a better life or to escape their home countries, while others were persuaded by Russia’s war aims. Some say they were tricked or

Trump sues IRS, US Treasury for US$10 billion over...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

US President Donald Trump sued the US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for at least US$10 billion over an unauthorised disclosure of his tax returns to the press during his first term in office, potentially putting American taxpayers on the hook for a massive payout. The suit was filed on Thursday in Miami federal court by Trump, his sons Donald Jnr and Eric, and the Trump Organization, which manages the president’s real estate holdings. Trump had long criticised the IRS for

China’s presence at Scarborough Shoal in South China...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/01/30

China ramped up its South China Sea patrols in 2025, maintaining an “unprecedented” nearly year-round presence at contested sites like Scarborough Shoal to assert maritime claims, according to a new US-based think tank report. An analysis published on Thursday by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) – a research programme affiliated with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies – showed a substantial increase in China’s patrol presence as well as a broadening of its

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