96 m. ago China and Japan must beat mutual hostility while also handling tariffs: envoy

China and Japan must work hard to improve public opinion towards each other, Japan’s top envoy in Beijing said, as the Asian neighbours move to stabilise ties amid shared concerns about tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. “The most difficult aspect of current Japan-China relations is the sentiment between the two peoples and, very unfortunately, there are still some negative perceptions that linger in Japan regarding China, and vice versa in the Chinese society regarding Japan,” said...

Politics

1 hour ago How Indonesian fintech firm is bridging funding gaps for women entrepreneurs

Across Indonesia’s vast archipelago, millions of women running small businesses in rural areas remain locked out of traditional banking – a gap increasingly filled by fintech firms offering microloans as economic pressures mount. One of the most prominent players in this space is Amartha, a Jakarta-based lending platform that connects borrowers in remote communities with financial institutions. Founded in 2010, it now counts about 3 million active borrowers – 99 per cent of them women operating...

Economics

2 h. ago Chinese man, 35, refuses to work or get married, lives in a cave for 4 years

A 35-year-old man in China who believes work and marriage are redundant notions has been living in a cave for four years. Min Hengcai from southwestern China’s Sichuan province calls home the adapted cavern in the town where he was raised. At the end of 2021, he gave up a ride-hailing driving job, which earned him 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) a month in the city, and returned home to live a life of seclusion. Min said he found work meaningless. He had previously worked for 10 hours a day to repay a...

Politics

3 h. ago Chinese aircraft carriers in Pacific show country's 'expansionist' aims, Taiwan says

Chinese aircraft carriers in Pacific show country's 'expansionist' aims, Taiwan says  Reuters

Transport

3 h. ago GoPro rival Insta360 eyes global expansion after strong Shanghai IPO

Insta360, the Chinese action camera maker challenging GoPro, surged 285 per cent in its trading debut on Shanghai’s Star Market after raising 1.9 billion yuan (US$264.5 million) in the city’s largest initial public offering (IPO) in 17 months. Max Richter, who co-founded the company with 34-year-old Chinese entrepreneur Liu Jingkang in 2015, said Insta360 is “committed to expanding [its] global presence and elevating brand influence to boost [its] market share worldwide”. He identified China,...

Politics

4 h. ago Chinese carmakers vow to make supplier payments within 60 days as backlash grows

Chinese carmakers vow to make supplier payments within 60 days as backlash grows  Reuters

Politics

9 h. ago Chinese EV battery maker Eve Energy jumps on Hong Kong IPO bandwagon

Eve Energy, China’s fifth-largest producer of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, plans to raise fresh capital on the Hong Kong stock exchange, following the lead of its bigger rival Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) as international investors show a growing appetite for the country’s industrial gems. The Shenzhen-listed company said on Tuesday that its board had endorsed a fundraising plan aimed at bolstering its international expansion, but details about the share offering were still in the...

Science

9 h. ago Chinese surrender! Beijing bigwigs chowed on US fast food at London trade talks: ‘total cultural victory’

Chinese surrender! Beijing bigwigs chowed on US fast food at London trade talks: ‘total cultural victory’  New York Post

Politics

9 h. ago Hong Kong must ‘seize opportunities’ to attract talent amid US student visa woes

Hong Kong should capitalise on the opportunities arising from US-China tensions to attract more talent to its academic and tech sectors, heads of the city’s top medical schools have said, ahead of a visit to the world’s largest biotechnology event in Boston. Representatives from the medical faculties of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will join the delegation of the government-funded Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP)...

Politics

10 h. ago As the PLA adopts civilian technology, Chinese bureaucracy could hinder progress

For decades, China’s talk of letting the private sector bid for defence orders had mostly been just that: talk. State-owned conglomerates had dominated the sector for decades, but in the middle of 2016, Beijing started to step up its military-civilian fusion strategy, publishing an official list of the sectors where private firms were being encouraged to contribute, such as swarming drone technologies. The plan is a central pillar of China’s ambition to develop a modernised military by 2035 and...

Politics

13 h. ago China, US officials agree to ‘framework’ that will need approvals by Xi, Trump

China and the United States wrapped up two days of high-level trade talks in London with an agreement “in principle to a framework” that each side will bring home for review by their top leaders. “The two sides agreed in principle a framework for implementing the consensus” that Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump reached in their phone call last week, and the consensus of high-level bilateral negotiations in Geneva last month, China’s top trade negotiator Li Chenggang...

Politics

13 h. ago Commentary: How Chinese imports are skirting Trump's tariffs

Commentary: How Chinese imports are skirting Trump's tariffs  Yahoo Finance

Politics

14 h. ago Two Chinese Aircraft Carriers Are Operating Beyond The First Island Chain For The First Time

Two Chinese Aircraft Carriers Are Operating Beyond The First Island Chain For The First Time  The War Zone

Transport

16 h. ago What the discovery of Chinese warships in the Pacific signals about Beijing’s intentions

What the discovery of Chinese warships in the Pacific signals about Beijing’s intentions  MSN

Events

18 h. ago Chinese children under 14 become latest targets of tougher US visa policies

The United States embassy in China has tightened its visa policy for children under the age of 14 years by removing an interview-free application process. The decision follows Washington’s recent threats to “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students studying in the country and increase scrutiny of future applications. In a notice posted on its official visa application website USTravelDocs on Monday, the embassy said that applicants under 14 who submit a non-immigrant visa application...

Events

18 h. ago Chinese academy launches automated system to speed up chip design

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the nation’s premier science institution, has unveiled a chip design system driven by artificial intelligence (AI) that has the potential to significantly accelerate semiconductor development and replace human programmers. Developed by the State Key Laboratory of Processor and the Intelligent Software Research Centre, both under CAS, and the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the fully automated integrated circuit design system is called QiMeng,...

Politics

19 h. ago Video Shows Chinese 'Militia' Ship Near US Ally's Disputed Territory

Video Shows Chinese 'Militia' Ship Near US Ally's Disputed Territory  Newsweek

Politics

19 h. ago Eye on the prize: bags of rice, daily essentials up for grabs at Japanese arcade

An amusement centre in Japan is drawing crowds by offering bags of rice as claw machine prizes – a quirky marketing move that has struck a chord with consumers grappling with rising food costs. Since late May, the arcade in Kawagoe city, Saitama prefecture, has stocked its machines with 900-gram bags of rice to entice players with a shot at winning an increasingly expensive daily staple. The rice bags are the latest additions to the prizes customers can win at the machines. Over the past six...

Politics

19 h. ago Apple’s most sweeping software redesign disappoints mainland Chinese consumers

Mainland Chinese consumers were left unimpressed by Apple’s most sweeping software redesign in its history, according to domestic social media posts on Tuesday, at a time when the US technology giant faces growing headwinds in the world’s largest smartphone market. Apple on Monday previewed a new software interface design, called Liquid Glass, during the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference held at its US headquarters in Cupertino, California. For the very first time, the new design...

Events

19 h. ago Tencent Music to buy Chinese audio platform Ximalaya for $2.4 billion

Tencent Music to buy Chinese audio platform Ximalaya for $2.4 billion  Reuters

Economics