8 h. ago Study shows how robots replaced master workers in Chinese military drone factory

In a Beijing defence drone facility, a black carbon-fibre body frame sits on a workstation ready for drilling. The material is light and strong, but a fractional error in angle or positioning could affect stealth performance and lead to the scrapping of the entire part. Master technicians once performed this task – breath held, hands steady – relying on years of muscle memory. Despite their skill, human limitations capped the speed of production and kept costs high. That changed with a...

Events

9 h. ago US and China begin crunch trade talks in London amid simmering tensions

Top economic officials from China and the United States have kick-started a crucial round of trade talks in London, as the world watches closely to see if the two sides can agree to roll back their “chokehold” controls over critical minerals and advanced technologies. The Chinese and American delegations – led by China’s vice-premier, He Lifeng, alongside US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer – met Monday afternoon, local...

Events

9 h. ago US vows reprieve on some tech export restrictions as talks with China begin in London

Top economic officials from Washington and Beijing have launched a high-stakes round of trade talks in London, with a senior White House official signaling soon after the start that the US will ease some tech export restrictions on China, adding that he expected the Chinese government to ramp up rare earth mineral exports to American markets. The Chinese and American delegations – led by China’s vice-premier, He Lifeng, alongside US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard...

Politics

9 h. ago US hints at reprieve on some tech export restrictions as talks with China begin

Top economic officials from Washington and Beijing launched a high-stakes round of trade talks in London, with a senior White House official signalling soon after the start that the US would ease some tech export restrictions on China, adding that he expected the Chinese government to ramp up rare earth mineral exports to American markets. The Chinese and American delegations – led by Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, alongside US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick...

Politics

9 h. ago Chinese teen’s suicide puts crushing academic pressure in the spotlight

A heart-wrenching suicide note left by an 18-year-old girl who killed herself in April has reignited discussion online about the heavy academic burden placed on children in China. In the letter, the girl – who was in her final year at a top high school in Bengbu, a city in the central province of Anhui – wrote about the pressure she felt to do well and said she had been broken by relentless exams, particularly maths and physics. “I cannot bear how you meticulously checked the scores of all the...

Events

15 h. ago Egypt is replacing Cairo – and China is helping build the new capital

Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, located in the heart of the desert just 45km (28 miles) east of the capital Cairo, is taking shape, with China at the centre of its construction, operation and maintenance. Chinese state-owned construction giant, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), is not only the primary contractor for the central business district of the new city but will now operate and maintain it in a deal between China and Egypt. The new 700 sq km (270 square mile)...

Politics

23 h. ago How BYD and Chinese peers are transforming Europe’s small EV market

Some of the world’s biggest carmakers are squaring off for a titanic battle over small cars in Europe, as native stalwarts like Volkswagen and Renault fight to maintain their hold on the market against an influx of cheap electric vehicles (EVs) from BYD and its Chinese peers. Last month, BYD, which surpassed Tesla last year as the world’s largest EV maker, launched its Dolphin Surf compact hatchback in Europe. The company’s most affordable model, known in China as the Seagull, is priced from...

Politics

33 h. ago ‘It’s too much’: Chinese students reconsider UK degrees as policies harden

After she graduated last summer, Aroma Wu quickly realised that if she wanted a career in China’s tech industry, she would need to go back to school: her bachelor’s degree simply was not enough. “I saw how competitive it was – most people had a master’s,” the 24-year-old said. To boost her credentials, Wu decided to apply for a graduate programme in the United Kingdom, and she soon received an offer. But within weeks, she was growing worried by news coming out of Britain – and starting to...

Events

35 h. ago Tech hub Shenzhen launches plan to support consumption, exporters amid trade war

China’s top export city and tech hub, Shenzhen, is stepping up efforts to boost domestic consumption and support exporters amid a turbulent trade war between Beijing and Washington. “Consumption is the fundamental driving force behind economic growth and development,” according to a 39-point plan released by the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission on Friday. Shenzhen will leverage its strategic strengths in four key categories: artificial intelligence (AI) terminals, smart home...

Events

35 h. ago 8 million Chinese viewers moved by boy, 6, who operates crane for acrobat parents

Massive numbers of people across China have watched in amazement as a thoughtful six-year-old boy operates a crane that is integral to an acrobatic show his parents perform. Xie Yule expertly worked the machine that held his parents in the air to perform in a town in eastern China’s Anhui province on a rainy evening ahead of Children’s Day. As rain fell heavily, the diminutive Xie stood on a stool as his hand never left the crane’s control panel, his eyes locked on his parents. His father, Xie...

Politics

40 h. ago How China’s diaspora became both an asset and a source of anxiety

Wang Gungwu – one of Asia’s most respected historians and a pioneering scholar of the Chinese diaspora – explores in Roads to Chinese Modernity: Civilisation and National Culture how China evolved into a modern nation navigating reform and globalisation. In this excerpt, Wang traces how, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reformers and revolutionaries such as Kang You-wei, Liang Qichao and Sun Yat-sen began rallying support from overseas Chinese communities. Once dismissed as disloyal...

Politics

47 h. ago Officials race to comply with Xi’s austerity rules as inspectors come knocking

As Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency was shaking up federal agencies in America with deep spending cuts, bureaucrats in China were also feeling the heat. Since mid-March, thousands of Chinese officials have been scrambling to comply with President Xi Jinping’s austerity orders – making sure their offices are modest, their meal receipts are in order and returning any lavish gifts – as inspectors carry out checks. The campaign has been running since 2012 and takes aim at...

Politics

61 h. ago Vietnam ramps up expansion of South China Sea outposts: think tank

Vietnam has continued to expand land reclamation on its occupied features in the South China Sea, with military-related construction of new ports and airstrips, according to a Chinese think tank. Citing satellite images, the Beijing-based South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI) said on Friday that the Southeast Asian nation had reclaimed nearly 0.78 sq km (0.3 square miles) of land on 11 features in the contested Spratly Islands, known as the Nansha Islands in China, over the past six...

Events

61 h. ago Vietnam ramping up expansion of South China Sea outposts: Chinese think tank

Vietnam has continued to expand land reclamation on its occupied features in the South China Sea, with military-related construction of new ports and airstrips, according to a Chinese think tank. Citing satellite images, the Beijing-based South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI) said on Friday that Vietnam had reclaimed nearly 0.78 sq km (0.3 square miles) of land in the past six months on 11 features in the contested Spratly Islands, which are known as the Nansha Islands in China. In total,...

Events

63 h. ago Chinese TV host praised for helping tourist with altitude sickness in scenic spot

A renowned Chinese television host has been praised for helping a tourist suffering with altitude sickness. The plaudits came after curious online observers dug into her past life and discovered her legendary history. On May 28, television personality Zhu Xun and her colleagues came across a group of tourists after attending an environmental protection event in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, southwestern China. One woman from the group was suffering from altitude...

Politics

64 h. ago Why China’s leaders seek a culture that is both modern and distinctly Chinese

Renowned historian Wang Gungwu’s Roads to Chinese Modernity: Civilisation and National Culture traces China’s transformation from an ancient civilisation into a modern nation-state shaped by revolution, reform and global engagement. Drawing on decades of scholarship and his unique perspective as an overseas Chinese intellectual, Wang reflects in this excerpt on Deng Xiaoping’s legacy and the enduring challenge facing China’s leaders today: how to build a modern national culture that embraces...

Politics

64 h. ago US retailers demand Chinese firms pay shipping costs as trade pressure grows

US retail giants are demanding that their Chinese suppliers split or even bear the full cost of shipping goods across the Pacific, as freight rates skyrocket amid the disruption caused by the trade war, sources at Chinese export firms told the Post. The move is the latest sign of the intense pressure America’s biggest retailers are putting on Chinese factories to absorb more of the additional costs created by the trade war, with the companies facing calls at home to “eat the tariffs”. Until...

Economics

3 d. ago Over 700 US scholars of China urge Rubio to pause student visa limits

More than 700 American scholars of China have signed a petition urging US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pause moves to impose visa restrictions against Chinese students. The petition sent to America’s top diplomat on Friday comes about a week after he announced the State Department would “aggressively” revoke visas of Chinese students, including those with “connections” to China’s Communist Party and in “critical fields” as well as apply extra scrutiny to future applicants from mainland...

Politics

3 d. ago How Chinese plane radar tracks moving targets without breaking radio silence

Two unassuming Cessna-208 Caravan aircraft flew in formation, separated by hundreds of metres in altitude. One emitted radar signals; the other, flying lower, remained utterly silent, passively gathering echoes. Far ahead below, three vehicles raced across undulating terrain, dense with vegetation and scattered structures – a scene designed to hide moving targets in a storm of background clutter. Radar screens showed only snowlike noise, as traditional filtering methods struggled. Then, a...

Events

3 d. ago China Renaissance’s investment in stablecoin issuer Circle pays off

China Renaissance, which has funded many leading Chinese technology firms, made another winning bet after shares of stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group more than doubled on their debut in New York. The Chinese investment bank said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday that it had invested in Circle, which was founded in 2013, in 2018 through its Huaxing New Economy Fund. The investment reflected its “strong confidence in the growth prospects of the digital asset industry”,...

Economics