12 h. ago Beijing's performance arts market reports record high revenue in 2025

Beijing's performance arts market reports record high revenue in 2025  Xinhua

Politics

40 h. ago China dominates global humanoid robot market with over 80% of installations

China accounted for more than four out of five humanoid robot installations globally in 2025, driven by domestic start-ups AgiBot and Unitree Robotics, as mass production and commercialisation accelerated, according to a report by Counterpoint Research. A total of 16,000 humanoid robots were installed globally in 2025, mainly for data collection and research, as well as in the logistics, manufacturing, and automotive sectors, according to Counterpoint data released on Wednesday. The market was...

Politics

40 h. ago Hong Kong’s finance chief warns of market volatility, pledges support for families

Hong Kong’s capital market is likely to experience significant fluctuations this year owing to intensifying geopolitical risks, the city’s finance chief has warned, stressing the need for caution in financial management. Six weeks before the government unveils its annual budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po pledged to consider whether there is scope to adjust child allowance to encourage more births, after a Post report revealed that Hong Kong’s registered births hit a record low last...

Events

3 d. ago Huawei reclaims top spot over Apple in China smartphone market after chip breakthrough

Huawei Technologies edged out Apple to reclaim the No 1 spot in mainland China’s smartphone market in 2025, a new report showed, as the domestic handset maker overcame crippling US sanctions. For the full year, Huawei captured 16.4 per cent of China’s smartphone market with 46.7 million units shipped, narrowly beating Apple, which shipped 46.2 million iPhones for a 16.2 per cent share, research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) said on Wednesday. Huawei’s smartphone shipments fell 1.9...

Politics

3 d. ago China reports record $1.2 trillion trade surplus for 2025, defying Trump's tariffs

China reports record $1.2 trillion trade surplus for 2025, defying Trump's tariffs  NBC News

Politics

7 d. ago Have investors missed the boat on Japan’s property market amid tensions with China?

Japan’s property market was less likely to deliver significant rewards to investors because of heightened geopolitical tensions with China, more than a tightened monetary policy, according to analysts. “The yield spread is likely to narrow as cap rates are unlikely to widen,” said Chinatsu Hani, head of research at Tokyo-based CBRE. “However, spreads should remain in positive territory.” The Bank of Japan in March last year began unwinding its nearly decade-long negative interest rate policy –...

Economics

8 d. ago Northern Metropolis can combine best of central planning and free market

The Northern Metropolis is in the news almost every day. The big policy focus for the administration, it is determining a new future for Hong Kong. Part of the New Territories, which were dubbed “a land between” in the 1980s, the area was once little more than a rural leftover between urban Hong Kong and the mainland, where Shenzhen’s paddy fields could be seen from a Lok Ma Chau hill. China’s opening-up policies saw Deng Xiaoping promoting Shenzhen in the 1990s. Suddenly, a world-class,...

Politics

9 d. ago Hong Kong politician Bunny Chan bets US$40 million on luxury market with Stanley purchase

A Hong Kong delegate to China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) bought a luxury residential project in the seaside enclave of Stanley for 44 per cent less than the seller paid six years ago, in the latest sign that deep discounts are drawing wealthy buyers back into the city’s high-end property market. Bunny Chan Chung-ban, also the chairman of the apparel firm Prospectful Holdings and a former district councillor, acquired Villa Mortini at 8 Stanley Beach Road for HK$310 million (US$39.8...

Economics

1 week ago Soaring prices, but shrinking demand as China’s memory chip market falters

China’s secondary semiconductor market is seeing a sharp run-up in memory chip prices as global supplies tighten, though vendors say the rally faces an awkward conundrum: the price tags might be higher, but the buyers are disappearing. “We’re looking at high asking prices, but no buyers,” said Cai Zhaojie, a merchant who sells electronic components at Huaqiangbei, the vast Shenzhen wholesale hub often described as the world’s biggest electronics market. The mark-ups on memory products had become...

Economics

1 week ago Furniture retailer Ikea to close 7 stores in China amid property market slump

Ikea will close seven stores in mainland China, as the multinational furniture retailer grapples with the country’s weak property market and sluggish consumer spending, which have dampened demand for its goods. Following a comprehensive review, Ikea China said the seven stores would cease operations from February 2. These are located in Shanghai’s suburban Baoshan district, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Nantong and Xuzhou in eastern Jiangsu province, Ningbo in eastern Zhejiang province and Harbin in...

Politics

1 week ago Tesla hits record sales; Chinese carmakers eye third of global market: 7 EV reads

We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s EV sector doubles down on discounts and cheap financing as growth cools Electric vehicle makers have kicked off a fresh round of price cuts in mainland China at the start of 2026, despite Beijing’s repeated calls to curb “involution”, as pressure on margins and survival...

Economics

1 week ago US removal of Maduro has potential to reshape global oil market: analysts

The United States’ seizure of Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, has the potential to reshape the global oil market, as America gains effective control over a country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves, analysts said. While crude prices may rise marginally in the short term, the move could boost long-term supplies and tighten the US’ grip over the oil market at a time when its position was starting to look more vulnerable, they said. “Once the US gains control of the country,...

Politics

1 week ago How Hong Kong can work with Hainan to ease entry to China’s market

Previously, I put forward the argument that Hong Kong’s relevance in China’s opening up lies less in guarding its gateway role and more in developing new forms of partnership. Since then, Hainan has set up distinct island-wide customs operations from December 18. This is a turning point – one that invites Hong Kong to think not only about how to cooperate, but how to co-design the next phase of China’s engagement with the world. Hainan’s transformation is ambitious. Around 6,600 types of goods...

Economics

2 w. ago What are China’s hottest jobs as AI reshapes the labour market?

China’s job market is entering a decisive phase of structural transformation as the country retools its growth model after years of rapid expansion. As jobseekers struggle to reconcile shrinking traditional opportunities with a labour market in flux, Beijing has laid out a road map in the next five-year plan for reshaping its employment landscape amid demographic shifts through innovation-led industries, upgraded services and regionally balanced development. In this explainer, the Post outlines...

Politics

2 w. ago China should intervene more decisively to shore up property market: top party journal

China’s top party journal has called for a stronger package of policies implemented in one go – rather than through “piecemeal-style steps” – to stabilise the country’s struggling property sector, as the market remains vital to the domestic economy and consumer demand. The article published by Qiushi, the Communist Party’s leading theoretical journal, said policymakers should take concrete steps to stabilise the property market, urging them to implement measures that are “aligned with market...

Society

2 w. ago China’s box office up 22% in 2025 to US$7.4 billion, led by record

China’s box office revenue jumped nearly 22 per cent in 2025, driven by a record-breaking domestic animated hit that helped the market rebound from a soft patch. Total ticket sales reached 51.8 billion yuan (US$7.4 billion), the second-highest level in five years, according to data released by the China Film Administration on Thursday. While surpassing 2024’s haul, last year’s total trailed the 54.92 billion yuan recorded in 2023. Local films continued to dominate the world’s second-largest...

Economics

2 w. ago China’s record hypergravity machine, Nepal’s ‘bride buying’ probe: SCMP’s 7 highlights

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China builds a record-breaking hypergravity machine to compress space and time China is set to break its own record in hypergravity research with a colossal new centrifuge that can spin multi-tonne samples at unmatched intensities. 2....

Politics

2 w. ago In the new world order, market power trumps military might. Can China compete?

China needs to adapt to a more competitive global environment driven by market power, technological innovation and institutional leverage, according to analysts at a leading Beijing-based think tank. These pillars were more critical than conventional military dominance or strengthening territorial control in the great power rivalry, particularly as Beijing sought to project itself as a stabiliser in an increasingly fractured international order, the analysts added. In an article this week, Fu...

Events

2 w. ago China’s M&A market poised for 2026 expansion as investors regain confidence in assets

China’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is poised for another year of growth as investors regain confidence in the country’s assets and long-term growth prospects, and look beyond geopolitical and economic headwinds, according to industry experts. Investor optimism in 2026 would build on a deeper understanding of risks associated with regulatory restrictions, improved market conditions and success stories in the past year, said Kevin Yu Zhe, Shanghai-based partner at Zhong Lun Law...

Economics

2 w. ago ChinaToday | American children's choir performs at hospital in Beijing

ChinaToday | American children's choir performs at hospital in Beijing  Xinhua

Politics