7 h. ago China’s economic growth hit by higher tariffs and property slump

China’s economic growth hit by higher tariffs and property slump  Los Angeles Times

Economics

12 h. ago Why top Chinese scientist warned public against ‘hubris’ over country’s advances

The Chinese people have been urged to stay “calm and objective” about the country’s advances in cutting-edge weapons by a veteran rocket scientist, who warned “a lot of effort” was still needed. An array of advanced rockets, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, featured in last month’s Victory Day parade in Beijing along with other hi-tech weapons, generating considerable public enthusiasm. In an interview for a popular video account, Zhao Ruian, 84, a former researcher with the China...

Events

12 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

13 h. ago Hong Kong retains top spot in finance, logistics and tourism in Greater Bay Area

Hong Kong has retained its leading position in three out of six major industries within the Greater Bay Area, according to an index comparing the relative advantages of 11 cities across the southern Chinese region. Shenzhen held onto its top spot in innovation and technology as well as manufacturing, while Guangzhou remained the leader in real estate. The Greater Bay Area Industry Development Index, compiled by Our Hong Kong Foundation and Dah Sing Bank, surveyed 3,400 companies across 11 cities...

Politics

18 h. ago Chinese Tech Titans Retreat From Hong Kong Stablecoin Launch After Beijing Warning | Bitcoinist.com

Chinese Tech Titans Retreat From Hong Kong Stablecoin Launch After Beijing Warning | Bitcoinist.com  Bitcoinist.com

Events

19 h. ago Chinese coastguard patrols reefs controlled by Vietnam in South China Sea

The Chinese coastguard patrolled around disputed sites controlled by Vietnam in the South China Sea last week, vessel tracking information shows. Three patrol ships left a Chinese base on Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands on Thursday and circled around a series of land features – some of which Vietnam has built facilities on – before returning to the reef on Saturday, according to Automatic Identification System data. The purpose of the patrol by the coastguard vessels – identified by the...

Politics

28 h. ago US begins sending nuclear workers home as government shutdown drags

The agency responsible for safeguarding the US nuclear stockpile began placing most staff on enforced leave on Monday, US media reported, as the government shutdown dragged into a fourth week. Some 1,400 workers at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were expected to receive notices telling them they had been placed on unpaid “furlough”, CNN reported, leaving just 375 at their posts. “Since its creation in 2000, NNSA has never before furloughed federal workers during funding...

Events

32 h. ago China doubles GenAI users, PLA ship near disputed shoal: SCMP daily highlights

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China reports 4.8% quarterly GDP growth, moving closer to annual target China’s economy grew 4.8 per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2025, keeping the country largely on track to achieve its full-year target, but analysts said further policy support is still needed to maintain this stable trajectory and improve domestic demand. 2. China’s...

Politics

32 h. ago China’s soybean imports surge as orders to US hit zero and American farmers fret

China imported no soybeans from the United States in September, but total imports remained at high levels amid a recent escalation in the US-China trade war, the latest Chinese customs data showed. Last month, the world’s largest food buyer purchased 12.8 million tonnes of soybeans – a crop heavily reliant on imports for its livestock industry – with a notable surge from Argentina during a brief suspension of export taxes, according to the detailed customs data released on Monday. The absence of...

Events

32 h. ago Apple CEO Tim Cook pushes AI system launch in China after iPhone Air release

Apple CEO Tim Cook is looking forward to launching the company’s artificial intelligence system in China, following the successful effort to release the iPhone Air in the vast market. Capping his six-day visit to the country last week, Cook said at an event in Shanghai on Saturday that AI was “making a difference in people’s lives” and that Apple was “working on getting [Apple Intelligence] into China right now”. No timeline was provided. Apple Intelligence – a built-in AI feature of the...

Society

33 h. ago China’s Unitree Robotics unveils latest humanoid ahead of US$7 billion IPO

Unitree Robotics has teased a new humanoid model in a short video on its social media channels, its most humanlike model to date. In the video, the H2 model performed a series of dexterous dance moves – including perfectly executed pirouettes and arabesques – and sported a strikingly human face modelled in silver with well-defined eyes, lips and nose. Standing at 180cm – the tallest humanoid robot the company has yet developed – and weighing 70kg, the H2 featured the tagline: “Destiny Awakening...

Economics

34 h. ago China’s generative AI user base doubles to 515 million in 6 months

China saw a massive uptick in generative artificial intelligence adoption in the first half of the year to 515 million users, with most of the users preferring domestic models, according to a state-run research organisation. The number of users more than doubled in the first six months of the year from the end of December to reach an adoption rate of 36.5 per cent, a report released on Saturday by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) found. Bolstered by advanced infrastructure...

Politics

35 h. ago From Fortnite to Alexa, Amazon’s AWS outage causes global outage

Amazon’s cloud services unit AWS was hit by an outage on Monday, causing connectivity issues for many companies around the world and disrupting services for several popular websites and apps, including Fortnite and Snapchat. “We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region,” AWS said in an update on its status page. AI start-up Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood attributed the outages to AWS. “Perplexity is...

Politics

35 h. ago From Fortnite to Alexa, Amazon’s AWS disruption causes global outage

Amazon’s cloud services unit AWS was hit by an outage on Monday, causing connectivity issues for many companies around the world and disrupting services for several popular websites and apps, including Fortnite and Snapchat. “We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region,” AWS said in an update on its status page. AI start-up Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and trading app Robinhood attributed the outages to AWS. “Perplexity is...

Politics

36 h. ago Hong Kong officials involved in water procurement fiasco face disciplinary probe

Hong Kong authorities will launch a disciplinary investigation into officials involved in a bottled water procurement scandal after an initial probe by the audit watchdog found that human error may have been a factor in the case. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu on Monday also announced six recommendations to improve the government’s procurement process. The move came two months after the Government Logistics Department awarded a three-year HK$52.9...

Politics

36 h. ago Hong Kong’s social work, construction sectors hit as jobless rate rises to 3.9%

Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose to 3.9 per cent between July and September, with higher unemployment in social work and construction, authorities said. Preliminary data released by the Census and Statistics Department on Monday showed the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points over the preceding three-month period. This marks the highest rate since the three-month period between July and September 2022, when it was 4 per cent. Unemployment in the food and beverage sector remained...

Society

39 h. ago Chinese man returns to terminally ill ex, vows unwavering support

A Chinese man has returned to his first love after learning about her rare disease, which has begun to manifest symptoms, touching many online. A July video featuring the man, known as Fusheng, making a heartfelt confession of love to his ex-girlfriend, Cheng Aixiao, in their hometown in eastern China’s Fujian province, quickly went viral. Cheng suffers from hereditary ataxia, a disorder that results in muscular dystrophy and leads to uncoordinated movements, as well as difficulties with walking...

Politics

42 h. ago China’s Ant, JD.com Hit Pause on Hong Kong Stablecoin Plans After Beijing Warning

China’s Ant, JD.com Hit Pause on Hong Kong Stablecoin Plans After Beijing Warning  Yahoo Finance

Events

42 h. ago Instant view: China Q3 GDP growth slows to 4.8% y/y, in line with forecast

Instant view: China Q3 GDP growth slows to 4.8% y/y, in line with forecast  Yahoo

Politics

44 h. ago How iPhone Air’s eSIM debut reshapes China’s telecoms landscape

The launch of the iPhone Air as the first eSIM-supported smartphone sold in China marks a pivotal moment in the country’s telecoms history, as state-owned mobile carriers vie for dominance in a changing landscape. Beijing approved “commercial trials” of the handset’s eSIM function by the country’s “Big Three” telecoms operators – China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom – last week, and the iPhone Air sold out within minutes of its release on Friday. Domestic brands quickly followed suit....

Politics