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Departments must communicate better, fire chief tells...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Hong Kong’s fire services chief has acknowledged that better communication with building authorities is needed after an independent committee earlier revealed that his officers had taken no action against possible safety breaches during renovations at Wang Fuk Court, where 168 people were killed in last year’s inferno. But Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung Yan-kin insisted on Friday that authorities had clear divisions of work when it came to the supervision of renovation projects, even as...

Chinese EV makers target global expansion at Auto...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers at the Beijing auto show are shifting their focus to overseas markets, banking on opportunities from the Middle East crisis to boost profitability amid weak sales at home. “Going global has become a top choice for Chinese EV builders as they struggle to break even,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based data provider CnEVPost. “The Middle East crisis is acting as a strong catalyst to bolster their overseas deliveries.” Nearly all major EV assemblers...

Cathay raises HK$2.08 billion after tapping public...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Cathay Pacific Airways has raised HK$2.08 billion (US$265.4 million) by selling Hong Kong dollar-denominated bonds to boost its working capital, tapping the public bond market for the first time. Hong Kong’s flag carrier said on Friday that the bond issuance was the biggest of its kind by a locally based, non-public sector company. The three-year bonds, which carry a fixed interest rate of 3.78 per cent, were sold mainly to professional investors such as asset managers, banks and private...

Iran’s foreign minister heading to Pakistan, plays...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he will travel to Pakistan on Friday, though the Iranian official described the visit as an Iran-Pakistan bilateral, amid earlier speculation that it could signal momentum towards a second round of direct US–Iran talks. This will be followed by other bilateral sit downs that do not, at this point, involve Washington, he added. “Embarking on timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow”, he announced on social media, to “closely coordinate with our...

China stages navy drill as US and Philippines embark...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Beijing has held naval exercises in waters east of a Philippine island near Taiwan in an apparent response to nearby annual military drills hosted by Manila and Washington. The People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command said on Friday that a naval fleet had “recently” held drills in waters east of Luzon, the northernmost major island of the Philippines. The drills were “a necessary action taken in response to the current regional situation”, said the command, which oversees the South...

German man accused of live streaming child abuse in...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

German prosecutors have charged a 46-year-old man on suspicion of serious sexual abuse of children via live streaming. The man, from the district of Heidenheim in southwestern Germany, is alleged to have paid female accomplices in the Philippines to carry out sexual abuse against girls aged between four and 13 in six instances, the Cybercrime Centre of the Karlsruhe Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Friday. Videos of the sexual abuse were reportedly streamed live to the man, while he

Over 50 Central restaurants, shops join drive to...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

More than 50 restaurants and shops have joined a “tourism everywhere” initiative to promote Hong Kong’s bustling Central district among residents and tourists and boost local spending. The Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association on Friday revealed the programme to promote hidden delicacies and goods in Central, aligning with the government’s objective to turn everywhere into a tourist destination. The initiative runs from May 1 until the end of June, with the first five days...

Why China’s optical communications sector is the...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Amid the artificial intelligence boom, the world has been laser-focused on technologies like graphics processing units and memory chips. However, a quieter miracle has been unfolding in the mainland stock market. Optical modules, which allow ultra-fast communications in data centres, have minted a new class of industrial upstarts. In the past year, shares in Shenzhen-listed Zhongji Innolight, the world’s largest optical module producer, jumped tenfold. Smaller peers Eoptolink Technology and...

China plans to invest billions on a robot army to run...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

China’s industrial giants are rapidly scaling up the use of AI-powered robots to operate vital infrastructure, with the country’s main grid operator unveiling a blockbuster plan to deploy thousands of bots to handle a range of roles – from inspecting remote substations to performing maintenance on ultra-high-voltage power lines. The State Grid Corporation of China has earmarked 6.8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) for the procurement of embodied intelligence – or artificial intelligence-enabled...

Michigan community ‘seeks answers’ to death of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Community members and activists have gathered on the University of Michigan campus to pay tribute to Wang Danhao, a semiconductor researcher from China who took his own life after being questioned by US federal agents. About 30 people attended the vigil, organised by peace advocacy group Code Pink to mark one month since Wang died. They formed a circle around an altar set with candles, flowers, incense and his portrait, sharing memories of his life and research, as well as their reactions to

‘It’s a tightrope’: why Europe faces a China dilemma...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

The wind industry smells opportunity in Europe. At an expo in Madrid this week, the convention floor was abuzz as hundreds of European, American, Japanese and Korean exhibitors vied to pitch their products, knowing the continent urgently needs to shore up its energy security amid the US-Israel war on Iran. But there was one glaring absence: not a single company operating a booth was Chinese, with China’s participants only networking from the sidelines. At a time when many in Europe seek a

Iran war shows ‘strategic value’ of AI for China’s...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

China’s military mouthpiece has urged the People’s Liberation Army to speed up integration of artificial intelligence and said AI-driven warfare was at a “turning point” – as seen in the US-Israeli campaign against Iran. In a commentary on Thursday, PLA Daily pointed to the use of AI in the Middle East war and said it was the first time the technology had been integrated into the entire cycle of operations – from analysis of intelligence to target identification, planning and

Chinese girl insists on remaining by grandparents’...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

A young girl in southwest China firmly refused to leave the tombs of her grandparents, who had died within six months of each other, and would sometimes sleep there. A touching video that melted millions of hearts on social media shows the girl, whose age was not disclosed in the report, lying in front of a tomb in Liupanshui, Guizhou province, in mid-April, as reported by Dafeng News. In the viral video, she occasionally sat up and casually ate from a box of cake. When her parents urged her

Life insurance sales in Hong Kong hit record amid...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Life insurance sales in Hong Kong rose 50.6 per cent to another record last year as affluent customers continued to buy policies in the city for wealth transfer, protection and medical needs. The industry wrote HK$330.9 billion (US$42.2 billion) in new life policies in 2025, compared with HK$219 billion a year earlier, which was also a record, according to data from the Insurance Authority released on Friday. The continuous growth of the business in recent years was due to more wealthy people...

Hong Kong CityU chief Freddy Boey quits post 2 years...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

The head of Hong Kong’s City University, Professor Freddy Boey Yin Chiang, has resigned with immediate effect for personal reasons, leaving his post two years earlier than expected. The university expressed its gratitude to Boey, a Singaporean, for his contributions to CityU during his three years as president. “The executive committee of the [university’s] council has appointed provost and deputy president Professor Lee Chun-sing as acting president with immediate effect to ensure continued...

HK Electric to cut May fuel charges but warns of...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

HK Electric will cut fuel surcharges for customers in May but has warned that costs could rise significantly later in the year due to the impact of the conflict in the Middle East. The company said on Friday that its fuel clause charge for May would fall by 4.4 HK cents per kilowatt-hour to 26 HK cents per kWh, citing a deferred effect under the monthly adjustment mechanism based on January’s average fuel costs. The decline marks the second consecutive monthly drop. “Although international

Trump ally visits China, DeepSeek releases V4, EV...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Senator Steve Daines will lead a bipartisan US Congressional delegation to China next week, just ahead of a visit by President Donald Trump. The five-member group will arrive on May 1 and visit Beijing and Shanghai, the South China Morning Post reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The delegation will include first-time visitors to China, the report said, without elaboration. Daines, a Trump ally, said last month that he planned to take a group to China to explore the...

Henderson’s winning bid to run harbour event space...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

A winning bid involving Henderson Land Development to operate a major Hong Kong harbourfront event space has expanded the developer’s footprint in Central to three prime locations, which experts say may result in greater accessibility and more visitors from surrounding commercial properties. Central Grand, a 50:50 joint venture formed by Henderson and concert organiser YW Company – commonly known as “Yiu Wing” – won the tender to operate the 3.7-hectare (9.1 acres) Central Harbourfront Event...

In lead-up to Trump’s Beijing visit, China announces...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

Just weeks before US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to Beijing next month, China is sending two giant pandas to Atlanta in what observers describe as a “goodwill gesture” amid persistent tensions that range from trade to broader security issues. The China Wildlife Conservation Association said on Friday that male panda Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang would travel to the US under a 10-year conservation agreement signed with Zoo Atlanta last year. Chinese state media, including the

Trump kill order highlights threat of Iran’s small,...

News - South China Morning Post ·

2026/04/24

US President Donald Trump’s order for the US to attack Iranian gunboats is the latest sign that an asymmetrical war-fighting strategy is stymieing the world’s mightiest navy, with US aircraft and destroyers forced to track swarming speedboats in a vital energy waterway. “I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be,” Trump said Thursday in a social media post, claiming that those vessels are laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The target –...

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