17 h. ago China’s Xiaomi says returns from AI investments ‘far exceed expectations’

Chinese tech firm Xiaomi reaped returns from its artificial intelligence spending in 2025 that “far exceeded expectations”, the company’s president Lu Weibing said in a recorded video posted on Chinese social media platform Douyin. Lu said the Beijing-based company was pivoting to embodied AI after heavy investment in general AI over the past few quarters. The Beijing-based company’s efforts to apply AI in electric vehicles (EVs) and robotics are similar to Elon Musk’s plan of using the advanced...

Politics

40 h. ago China’s top AI chip firms set for bumper IPOs as Nvidia kept out of market

China’s Nvidia challengers Moore Threads and MetaX are set for their hotly anticipated market debuts, driven by investor excitement over domestic demand for home-grown graphics processing units (GPUs) amid Beijing’s tech self-sufficiency drive. Beijing-based GPU maker Moore Threads, which was 4,000 times oversubscribed after launching its 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) initial public offering (IPO) last week, will be listed on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market on Friday, according to a...

Economics

3 d. ago China’s ‘dirt cheap’ missiles could shake up global defence market: state media

Chinese aerospace firm Lingkong Tianxing unveiled a hypersonic glide missile last week that has a range of up to 1,300 km (800 miles) and a top speed of Mach 7. The YKJ-1000 has been nicknamed the “cement-coated” missile for its use of civilian-grade materials such as foamed concrete in its heat-resistant coating. According to slides widely circulated online, the unit production cost of this missile, already in mass production after successful combat trials, may be as low as 700,000 yuan (around...

Events

4 d. ago ‘Weight gain subsidy’: China food tasters share videos, reveal new side to job

Chinese food tasters are going viral by sharing videos that reveal a job much tougher than its dreamy image, even if the task comes with a “weight-gain subsidy”. The unusual workers are hired by snack brands, food factories and supermarkets. They earn an average of about 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) a month for their taste-testing duties. Their formal title is “sensory evaluation engineer”. Their job is to detect the tiniest shifts in flavour, from milk-fat concentration to how long the aftertaste...

Society

7 d. ago Malaysia’s Sabah begins voting as Anwar faces test over coalition’s performance

Voters in Sabah began casting their ballots on Saturday, in a state election seen as a referendum on Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership midway into his first term. Anwar, who came to office in 2022 after pulling together a rag-tag coalition of former political rivals, depends on Sabah to prop up his parliamentary supermajority. His coalition has so far fended off the challenge of a Malay-nationalist opposition bloc and pushed through unpopular measures, including subsidy cuts to...

Events

7 d. ago Malaysia’s Sabah votes as Anwar faces test over coalition’s performance

Voters in Sabah are casting their ballots on Saturday, in a state election seen as a referendum on Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership midway into his first term. Anwar, who came to office in 2022 after pulling together a rag-tag coalition of former political rivals, depends on Sabah to prop up his parliamentary supermajority. His coalition has so far fended off the challenge of a Malay-nationalist opposition bloc and pushed through unpopular measures, including subsidy cuts to...

Politics

7 d. ago Apple's Beijing Direct Stores Join National Subsidy Program, Offer Up to 2,000 Yuan Discount

Apple's Beijing Direct Stores Join National Subsidy Program, Offer Up to 2,000 Yuan Discount  36Kr

Politics

8 d. ago Chinese EV makers step on gas abroad amid weakening mainland sales

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) builders are increasingly shipping their cars abroad to spur international sales ahead of an expected downturn in their home market, analysts say, as Beijing phases out incentives such as tax holidays and cash subsidies. The carmakers, which can enjoy a net margin of 20,000 yuan (US$706) per vehicle by selling their cars outside mainland China, are rolling out more models and pushing into untapped territories to chase high profitability. Stellantis-backed Leapmotor,...

Politics

8 d. ago Chinese man marries woman 4 hours after blind date, spends US$34,000 in a month

A 40-year-old man has stunned mainland Chinese social media by marrying just four hours after a blind date arranged by multiple matchmakers, subsequently depleting his entire savings of over 240,000 yuan (US$34,000) within a month of marriage. Huang Zhongcheng, hailing from Hengyang in Hunan province, southern China, went on a blind date on the morning of August 21. During the matchmaking process, nine different matchmakers introduced him to the same woman, who works in a beauty salon. “On the...

Economics

1 week ago Chinese husband splits from wife who squandered US$163,000, mostly on live

A man in central China who lived a frugal life and sent all his money to his wife saw her squander it all, including tipping a male live-streamer 670,000 yuan (US$94,000). The tearful husband told Henan TV he was trying to recover half of their common property. The man, surname Liu, and his wife have been married for eight years and live in Xingyang, Henan province. He works in Zhengzhou, which is 25 km from Xingyang. After deducting his basic living expenses and a rent of just 300 yuan (US$42)...

Politics

1 week ago How China turned a cement factory into a haven for mathematicians

Even as the bombs fall in Ukraine, precisely following trajectories defined by equations, Ukrainian and Russian mathematicians, among others, gather in sunlit rooms beside tranquil Yanqi Lake in an industrial estate north of China’s capital. Here, at the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (Bimsa), they debate string theory over coffee, co-author papers on quantum fields and lose themselves in problems that stretch across centuries while some of their countries engage in...

Politics

1 week ago China businesswoman sells lotus roots to repay US$700,000 debt after living lavishly

A businesswoman from central China who once lived a life of luxury is rebuilding her future by digging up and selling lotus roots to repay five million yuan (US$700,000) of debt. According to the mainland media outlet, Changjiang Daily, 44-year-old Hu Qin from Hunan province and her husband launched a fruit business in 2012 that grew to have more than 30 shops nationwide. At its peak, Hu’s assets reportedly topped 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million). The couple lived in a villa by the Xiang River,...

Economics

1 week ago New Apple Store Opening In Livat Centre Shopping Mall, Beijing

New Apple Store Opening In Livat Centre Shopping Mall, Beijing  ilounge.com

Economics

2 w. ago Grab a Fun  Beijing Wallpaper from Apple to Celebrate a New Store Opening

Grab a Fun  Beijing Wallpaper from Apple to Celebrate a New Store Opening  OS X Daily

Politics

2 w. ago 2nd Zhongguancun Embodied Intelligence Robot Application Competition held in Beijing

2nd Zhongguancun Embodied Intelligence Robot Application Competition held in Beijing  Global Times

Events

2 w. ago Apple Announces New Beijing Store With Fresh Wallpapers for All Devices

Apple Announces New Beijing Store With Fresh Wallpapers for All Devices  The Mac Observer

Politics

2 w. ago 800 million: how a new target indicates a shift in China’s economic strategy

Xiao Mei, a kindergarten teaching assistant living in the suburbs of Hangzhou in eastern China, has barely seen her income rise for three years and is not optimistic about her chances of getting a pay rise any time soon. Still, she counts herself as relatively fortunate. “At least I haven’t had my pay cut or lost my job,” she said, adding that several of her friends had suffered such setbacks recently. Earning around 6,000 yuan (US$845) a month – well below the local average of 13,500 yuan for...

Economics

2 w. ago ‘Devastating’ losses: scammers targeting mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong

Mainland Chinese student Zhang Li* was devastated after losing 200,000 yuan (US$25,734) in a phone scam in Hong Kong. The 24-year-old said she received a call last September, shortly after arriving in the city to pursue a master’s degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The caller initially claimed to be from the Immigration Department. Her call was then transferred to another person posing as a mainland law enforcement officer after she explained that she did not speak Cantonese. She was...

Events

3 w. ago China law graduate turns delivery driver after ex’s luxury habits drain finances

A law graduate from China’s prestigious Zhejiang University who spent nearly all of his income on his beautiful wife has been dumped by her after he lost his lucrative job. The story of the 43-year-old man, identified as Qianqian, has trended on mainland social media after it was reported by the news outlet 163.com. He had worked as a white-collar worker at a state-owned enterprise in Hangzhou, eastern Zhejiang province, and had a monthly income of 50,000 yuan (US$7,000). Five years ago Qianqian...

Society

3 w. ago Helper arrested in Hong Kong for allegedly stealing HK$520,000 from employer

A domestic helper in Hong Kong has been arrested for allegedly stealing about HK$520,000 (US$66,700) in cash from her employer at a luxury flat in Happy Valley. Police said on Wednesday that the employer, 59, a woman living at The Leighton Hill on Broadwood Road, discovered the money – comprising cash of HK$500,000 and 17,000 yuan (US$2,190) – missing and suspected her helper had taken it. The employer, a mainland Chinese woman, reported the case at around 9.30am. Officers arrived at the scene...

Events