13 h. ago Apple’s iPhone and beauty products lead the charge in record

Alibaba Group Holding kicked off direct sales for its annual Singles’ Day shopping festival on Monday, with initial figures surpassing last year’s performance – a sign of strengthening domestic consumption during China’s biggest online retail event. Since direct sales began on Taobao and Tmall at 8pm on Monday, 80 brands had exceeded 100 million yuan (US$13.8 million) in sales within the first hour, while more than 30,000 brands doubled their takings from a year earlier, according to data...

Politics

4 d. ago Alibaba confident AI tools will drive sales and empower Singles’ Day shoppers

Alibaba Group Holding is making tangible progress in applying artificial intelligence models into the search and recommendation engines of its e-commerce ecosystem, according to a senior executive, as the company kicked off its annual Singles’ Day promotion this week. At the campaign’s launch in Shanghai on Thursday, Alibaba vice-president Zhang Kaifu, who also serves as head of applications for the company’s e-commerce businesses, said the firm’s use of Qwen’s large language models (LLMs) had...

Economics

5 d. ago Alibaba banks on AI to boost Singles’ Day sales on Taobao, Tmall

Alibaba Group Holding is taking advantage of artificial intelligence to turn its online marketplace into a “comprehensive consumption platform”, as the e-commerce giant regains momentum in an extremely competitive market. The company kicked off its annual Singles’ Day event – the world’s largest shopping festival – on Wednesday, riding on the back of strong growth in online shopping and on-demand delivery. Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba’s two domestic e-commerce platforms, are offering 50 billion...

Economics

3 w. ago Restaurants eye 20% business bump as National Day celebrations kick off

Hong Kong kicked off National Day “golden week” celebrations on Tuesday with two People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warships thrilling onlookers at Victoria Harbour and the catering sector betting on a business bump of up to 20 per cent amid a raft of festivities in the city. Michael Leung Chun-wah, chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management, gave the upbeat forecast as about 4,000 restaurants – the highest number in three years – joined its campaign to offer a 30 per...

Politics

3 w. ago Hong Kong lowers typhoon warning signal to No 1 as Ragasa weakens

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong’s weather forecaster has further downgraded the typhoon warning signal to No 1 as Tropical Storm Ragasa continues to move away after wreaking havoc in the city. Education authorities also announced on Thursday that afternoon kindergarten classes would resume, while morning classes remained...

Events

3 w. ago Hong Kong to cancel all typhoon warning signals at 11.20am as Ragasa moves away

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong’s weather forecaster will cancel all typhoon warning signals at 11.20am on Thursday as Tropical Storm Ragasa continues to move away after wreaking havoc in the city. Education authorities also announced on Thursday that afternoon kindergarten classes would resume, while morning classes remained...

Events

3 w. ago Hong Kong cancels all typhoon warning signals as Ragasa moves away

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong’s weather forecaster has cancelled all typhoon warning signals as Tropical Storm Ragasa continues to move away after wreaking havoc in the city. Education authorities also announced on Thursday that afternoon kindergarten classes would resume, while morning classes remained suspended. The Hong...

Events

3 w. ago Super Typhoon Ragasa: firms, schools, transport in southern China close

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. As residents and officials in southern China brace for the full force of Super Typhoon Ragasa, the most powerful typhoon to hit the region in recent years, they are Guangdong province upgraded its typhoon alert to Level 1, the highest in a four-tier warning system, as officials declared a “combat-ready”...

Politics

3 w. ago Super Typhoon Ragasa: Pearl River Delta in China hit by 212km/h winds

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Residents and officials in southern China are bracing for the full force of Super Typhoon Ragasa, the most powerful typhoon to hit the region in recent years. Before midday on Wednesday, the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong was starting to see the full effects of Ragasa as the typhoon moved closer to making...

Events

3 w. ago Super Typhoon Ragasa: 14 dead, more than 100 missing in Taiwan

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. In southern China, Super Typhoon Ragasa, the most powerful typhoon to hit the region in recent years, made itself felt in the Pearl River Delta before midday on Wednesday as the typhoon moved closer to making landfall, according to the National Meteorological Centre. In Taiwan, 14 people were confirmed...

Events

3 w. ago Super Typhoon Ragasa to be closest to Hong Kong in next hour: forecaster

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong has woken up to a downpour triggered by the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edges as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The weather forecaster, which upgraded the No 9 signal issued at 1.40am to the hurricane warning an hour later, has said...

Politics

3 w. ago Super Typhoon Ragasa lashes Hong Kong as it reaches closest point to city

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong has woken up to a downpour triggered by the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edges as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The weather forecaster, which upgraded the No 9 signal issued at 1.40am to the hurricane warning an hour later, has said...

Politics

3 w. ago Super Typhoon Ragasa: Hong Kong to replace T10 with T8 at 1.20pm as storm eases

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong has woken up to a downpour triggered by the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edges as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The weather forecaster, which upgraded the No 9 signal issued at 1.40am to the hurricane warning an hour later, has said...

Events

3 w. ago Super Typhoon Ragasa: Hong Kong replaces T10 with T8 as storm eases

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong has woken up to a downpour triggered by the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edges as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The weather forecaster issued the signal at 2.40am on Wednesday before lowering it to No 8 at 1.20pm. The weather has...

Events

3 w. ago Hong Kong expected to keep T8 until 8pm as Super Typhoon Ragasa moves away

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong has woken up to a downpour triggered by the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edges as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The weather forecaster issued the signal at 2.40am on Wednesday before lowering it to No 8 at 1.20pm. The No 8 warning...

Politics

3 w. ago Hong Kong under T8 until 8pm as Typhoon Ragasa departs, flight updates at 4pm

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong has been lashed by storms triggered by the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city overnight. Earlier on Wednesday, Super Typhoon Ragasa edged as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the T10 signal at 2.40am on Wednesday before lowering it to...

Politics

3 w. ago All Hong Kong flights to gradually resume from 6am in wake of Ragasa

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong woke up to a storm that triggered the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edged as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the T10 signal at 2.40am on Wednesday before lowering it to T8 at 1.20pm. The No 8 warning...

Politics

3 w. ago Hong Kong flights to resume from 6am after storm Ragasa departs, T3 at 8.20pm

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong woke up to a storm that triggered the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edged as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the T10 signal at 2.40am on Wednesday before lowering it to T8 at 1.20pm. The No 8 warning is...

Events

3 w. ago Hong Kong at T3 soon in wake of Ragasa, back to business on Thursday as schools reopen

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong woke up to a storm that triggered the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edged as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the T10 signal at 2.40am on Wednesday before lowering it to T8 at 1.20pm. The No 8 warning is...

Politics

3 w. ago Hong Kong at T3 in wake of Ragasa, back to business on Thursday as schools reopen

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing now for 50 per cent off during our two-day flash sale. Hong Kong woke up to a storm that triggered the highest-level No 10 warning, which shut down the city, as Super Typhoon Ragasa edged as close as 100km (62 miles) south of the city. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the T10 signal at 2.40am on Wednesday before lowering it to T8 at 1.20pm. The No 8 warning...

Politics