16 h. ago Belt and Road Summit marks a decade of deals as Hong Kong eyes new chapter of collaboration

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Co-organised by the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 10th Belt and Road Summit will return to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 10-11.  Bringing together over 90 speakers from 18 Belt and Road economies, this year’s two-day programme continues a ten-year run of policy dialogue, business exchange and investment matchmaking under the theme “Collaborate for...

Politics

24 h. ago Hong Kong’s top talent scheme succeeds if people are really staying

Since its launch late in 2022, the Top Talent Pass Scheme has become a central component of Hong Kong’s global competitiveness strategy. By July this year, the scheme had attracted close to 140,000 applications. Of these, around 110,000 were approved, resulting in more than 90,000 new arrivals to the city. This influx of skilled residents is a sign that Hong Kong remains a strong magnet for talent. However, as former chief executive Leung Chun-ying and other commentators have warned, the real...

Politics

24 h. ago Success of Hong Kong’s top talent scheme must go deeper than numbers

Since its launch late in 2022, the Top Talent Pass Scheme has become a central component of Hong Kong’s global competitiveness strategy. By July this year, the scheme had attracted close to 140,000 applications. Of these, around 110,000 were approved, resulting in more than 90,000 new arrivals to the city. This influx of skilled residents is a sign that Hong Kong remains a strong magnet for talent. However, as former chief executive Leung Chun-ying and other commentators have warned, the real...

Politics

26 h. ago Venture firm Lanchi doubles down on Chinese AI, robotics start

Chinese venture capital firm Lanchi Ventures is doubling down on investing in China’s artificial intelligence and robotics start-ups while raising a new fund amid increased global investor appetite for the country’s early-stage tech firms, its executives said. Lanchi Ventures, formerly known as BlueRun Ventures China, would continue to be “all in” on AI and robotics, focusing on AI applications, multimodal AI models and firms targeting overseas markets, managing partner Jui Tan said in an...

Politics

40 h. ago Chinese companies could start making money from AI agents next year, UBS says

Chinese companies could start making money from their artificial intelligence agents – software systems that use AI to autonomously plan and perform complex tasks for users – as soon as next year, according to UBS. “2026 is the year of agent monetisation in China,” said Sundeep Gantori, an equity strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management CIO, on Thursday. As advanced models like DeepSeek’s R2 become more sophisticated, “we expect to see more monetisation”, he added. AI agents are widely...

Politics

3 d. ago “SC WIN Now & Next Challenge” Marks Milestone in Standard Chartered and LIFTWOMEN®’ Support for Women Entrepreneurs

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Standard Chartered and LIFTWOMEN® proudly announced the winners of the inaugural “SC WIN Now & Next Challenge”, the latest initiative under Standard Chartered's Women's International Network (“SC WIN"), celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit of women-led startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and supporting their growth journey through tailored resources, mentorship, and exposure opportunities. A total...

Politics

4 d. ago Hong Kong, 2 mainland Chinese cities named UN body’s top innovation cluster

A cluster of cities comprising Hong Kong and two others from mainland China has been named the world’s top innovation hub, a feat attributed to a new ranking metric that involves venture capital deals, a United Nations body has said. For the first time in five years, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster surpassed Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan, to claim the number one spot in the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) 2025 Global Innovation Index. The result was announced on Monday at the...

Politics

5 d. ago Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair returns as a stage for global names and independent brands 

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] When the 44th Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair and the 13th Salon de TIME open their doors this September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, not only will they showcase the artistry of global luxury names but also the resilience and creativity of independent watchmakers.  For independent brand creators, in particular, the event offers a rare chance to gain visibility, connect with international buyers and...

Politics

8 d. ago Hong Kong Disneyland marks 20th anniversary with charity donations and ticket giveaways

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, which marked its 20th anniversary this summer, launched its year-long celebrations, “The Most Magical Party of All”, in June with the largest ever “Friendtastic!” parade in the park’s history, the anniversary-only show “Disney Friends Live: Party at the Castle!” and its grandest nighttime spectacular “Momentous: Party in the Night Sky”. However, the resort’s spectacular outdoor line-up of entertainment formed only part of year-long festivities, which also include...

Politics

9 d. ago The Peak home sold for US$140 million in Hong Kong’s top deal this year

Hong Kong recorded a billion-dollar home sale this week, another sign that ultra-wealthy customers are continuing to find choice assets even amid the city’s property slump. A mansion at 1 Gough Hill Road on The Peak on Hong Kong Island, refurbished from an old guest house used in the 1990s by the Bank of China, sold for HK$1.088 billion (US$139.87 million) on Tuesday, according to the transactions register. The buyer’s identity could not be ascertained. That made it the city’s most expensive...

Economics

1 week ago Fire engine topples after crashing into car in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun, 7 injured

A fire engine has toppled onto its side after a crash with a private car in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun district, injuring seven people including five firefighters. The incident occurred at around 3.35pm on Sunday near the Shek Pai Light Rail stop, when the private car travelling along Ming Kum Road toward Leung King Estate collided with the emergency vehicle, causing it to topple onto its side. Bystanders were seen climbing onto the overturned fire engine to help trapped firefighters exit the...

Events

1 week ago Hong Kong tops the US as IPO venue for mainland Chinese start

In the first of a two-part series about Hong Kong’s market for initial public offerings, Zhang Shidong and Ao Yulu report that more Chinese companies opted to list in Hong Kong in the first eight months of 2025 than in New York. Hong Kong has overtaken the US as the new listing venue for mainland Chinese companies, marking a major milestone for the world’s fourth-largest capital market after a decade of betting on its growth in its much larger and stronger hinterland. As many as 46...

Politics

2 w. ago DeepSeek’s ‘UE8M0 FP8’ innovation seen as boost for China’s AI self

A technical change in the latest model from Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek could be a big step towards achieving China’s goal of AI self-sufficiency, as it shows a new level of coordination between local model developers and hardware makers, according to analysts and industry insiders. This week, the Hangzhou-based AI lab said its new V3.1 model was trained using a UE8M0 FP8 scale data format, which was suitable for the “home-grown chips soon to be released”. While DeepSeek...

Politics

2 w. ago Top EU envoy in Hong Kong says alleged Russian transshipments a ‘major concern’

Hong Kong’s alleged transshipment of Western-sanctioned dual-use goods for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine remains a “major concern” for the European Union, the bloc’s top envoy in the city has said. At an event on Friday to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day, Harvey Rouse, the head of the EU office in Hong Kong, said he had continued to raise the issue with city authorities and hoped there could be “progress together”. “It remains a major concern that Russia keeps receiving dual-use goods for its...

Politics

2 w. ago Hong Kong luxury rents jump 8.6% to top Knight Frank’s global list

Hong Kong’s luxury home rents increased the most globally in the second quarter, according to Knight Frank, benefiting from an influx of high-net-worth individuals through the capital investment scheme. A survey tracking 16 cities worldwide showed upscale residential rents climbed 8.6 per cent in the April to June period from a year earlier, the consultancy said. Tokyo came a close second with an 8.3 per cent increase, followed by New York at 6.9 per cent. Singapore ranked 13th with a 1.5 per...

Politics

2 w. ago Tech war: DeepSeek hints China close to unveiling ‘next generation’ AI chips

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek said that China will soon have home-grown “next generation” chips for AI stacking, fanning speculation over breakthroughs China may have achieved. In a one-line note on its official WeChat account explaining the “UE8M0 FP8 scale” of its newly released model V3.1, the Hangzhou-based firm said that the model was particularly designed “for the home-grown chips to be released soon”. It did not specify the vendor of these chips or whether their use...

Events

2 w. ago DeepSeek’s upgraded AI model absorbs reasoning feature in agentic shift

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek said on Thursday that its newly released V3.1 model supported both “think” and “non-think” modes, marking the firm’s “first step towards the agent era” – a shift that suggests a change in its research focus and and the possibility it would forgo the highly anticipated R2 reasoning model. The “think” mode on DeepSeek’s namesake chatbot was previously powered by its R1 reasoning model that garnered global attention after its release in January,...

Politics

2 w. ago DeepSeek’s V3.1 update sparks speculation over fate of next AI model

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has updated its foundational V3 model and removed references to its reasoning model R1 from its chatbot, prompting speculation about a shift in the company’s research focus. DeepSeek announced on Tuesday the release of the V3.1 model in a brief message to one of its WeChat user groups. The update expands the context window to 128k, allowing the model to hold more information – equivalent to a roughly 300-page book – during user interactions. The...

Politics

2 w. ago HKU virologist says next pandemic inevitable and world may not be ready

In the fourth instalment of a series to mark the 10th anniversary of the Future Science Prize, Victoria Bela and Holly Chik look at Professor Malik Peiris’s contributions to public health and virology, which earned him the 2021 award in life science. Click here for parts one, two and three. The next pandemic is inevitable, yet the world may not be any better prepared than it was before Covid-19, a top virologist has warned, and to prevent it, a more resilient world integrating human, animal and...

Events

2 w. ago Top Hong Kong insurers band together on AI development, adoption

Seven major insurers, including AIA, AXA and HSBC Life, on Monday signed a pledge and joined a Hong Kong Insurance Authority programme to promote the adoption of artificial intelligence in the sector to enhance the city as a regional AI hub. FWD, Prudential, YF Life, and China Taiping Insurance (HK) also signed the pledge during a ceremony at Cyberport. Each company will establish and staff an AI centre in Hong Kong to develop innovations for use across the region. The seven insurers are the...

Politics