3 d. ago Beijing launches antitrust investigation into Trip.com ahead of Lunar New Year break

China has opened an antitrust investigation into Trip.com Group, the country’s largest online travel services provider, weeks before hundreds of millions of people on the mainland go away on holiday during the Lunar New Year break. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on Wednesday said the group – operator of namesake platform Trip.com, Skyscanner, Ctrip, Qunar and Dutch site Travix – abused its “dominant market position” and engaged in “monopolistic practices”. The...

Events

4 d. ago Taiwan and the US launch joint production of 155mm artillery shells amid blockade fears

Taiwan has begun co-producing 155mm (6.1-inch) artillery shells with the US, as the island moves to strengthen wartime ammunition resilience amid Beijing’s escalating military pressure and concern over supply disruptions in a high-intensity conflict. Taiwan’s defence ministry on Monday said Taipei and Washington had launched early-stage joint production of a new type of 155mm howitzer ammunition. Lieutenant General Lin Wen-hsiang, head of Taiwan’s Armaments Bureau, testified during a legislative...

Politics

4 d. ago Chinese firm Sinovac to supply vaccine to Chile ahead of flu season

The Chilean government has awarded a contract to Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech to supply its influenza vaccine ahead of the southern hemisphere winter. The vaccine will be part of Chile’s nationwide immunisation programme, which public health body Cenabast said was “internationally recognised for its impact on public health protection, particularly among high-risk groups”. Beijing-based Sinovac’s influenza vaccine uses an inactivated virus based on a split-virion platform – a...

Politics

4 d. ago Beijing calls on Hong Kong to take lead in globalising traditional Chinese medicine

China’s top health official has called on Hong Kong to serve as a key pillar in promoting traditional Chinese medicine globally, as the city’s leader pledged to align local policies with the national development strategy in the field. At a launch ceremony for the Chinese Medicine Hospital and nearby testing institute on Tuesday, National Health Commission head Lei Haichao offered advice for Hong Kong in advancing the development of traditional Chinese Medicine. “Serve the globe for the benefit...

Politics

5 d. ago UK regulator launches probe into Musk’s X over Grok’s ‘disgusting’ sexualised AI imagery

Britain’s media regulator launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X on Monday to determine whether sexually intimate deepfakes produced by its Grok AI chatbot violated its duty to protect people in the UK from content that could be illegal. “There have been deeply concerning reports of the Grok AI chatbot account on X being used to create and share undressed images of people – which may amount to intimate image abuse or pornography – and sexualised images of children that may amount to...

Politics

5 d. ago Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun names Philip Tinari its new head of art

Tai Kwun has named Philip Tinari as its head of art, bringing one of mainland China’s most high-profile art personalities to the Hong Kong cultural institution. He replaces Pi Li, who will be leaving Tai Kwun next month to help launch a new art museum in Shenzhen. The American-born long-time Beijing resident will also take on the role of deputy director, working with Timothy Calnin, director of Tai Kwun Arts, across all artistic disciplines, including performing arts and heritage programmes at...

Politics

5 d. ago Japan launches world’s first deep sea trial to secure own rare earth supply

A Japanese mining ship departed on Monday for a remote coral atoll to probe mud rich in rare earths, part of Tokyo’s drive to curb its reliance on China for critical minerals as Beijing tightens supply. The month-long mission of the test vessel Chikyu near Minamitori island some 1,900km (1,200 miles) southeast of Tokyo, will mark the world’s first attempt to continuously lift rare earth seabed sludge from 6km deep onto a ship. Japan, like its Western allies, has been reducing its dependence on...

Politics

9 d. ago China launches Woody Island fresh food link as disputed Paracels hub expands

China has launched a fresh food supply service for residents of Woody Island, part of the hotly contested Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. A flight carrying fresh fruit, vegetables and meat landed on Woody Island – known as Yongxing Island in Chinese – on Tuesday, according to local state broadcaster Sansha TV. Woody Island is the largest outcrop in the Paracels, which are called the Xisha Islands in China. The island hosts the government of Sansha, which was established to administer...

Politics

1 week ago Netflix launches in Hong Kong in 2016 – from the SCMP archive

This article was first published on January 8, 2016 By Nikki Sun and Ben Westcott Netflix enters HK pay TV market with bargain offers Internet streaming pioneer Netflix has rolled out its over-the-top (OTT) service in Hong Kong for as low as HK$63 a month hoping to making inroads into the city’s pay TV market. Hong Kong is among 130 new markets – which exclude the mainland - in which the company rolled out the service yesterday (January 7, 2016), taking the total to 190 countries. OTT...

Politics

1 week ago DeepSeek to customise namesake chatbot for Italian users following probe

Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek has agreed to launch the first country-specific version of its namesake chatbot, while tackling the problem of “hallucinations” in its AI models to meet the requirements of regulators in Italy. DeepSeek assented to the package of commitments after a months-long negotiation with the Italian Competition Authority, known as the AGCM, which had earlier accused the Hangzhou-based start-up of not sufficiently warning users in the country about the risk of...

Politics

1 week ago Tsinghua launches Center for Life Sciences and Artificial Intelligence

Tsinghua launches Center for Life Sciences and Artificial Intelligence  tsinghua.edu.cn

Politics

1 week ago Alibaba’s Amap muscles up on ‘world models’ in push beyond text

Amap, the mapping and navigation arm of Alibaba Group Holding, is stepping up research into “world models” – systems designed to simulate real-world environments – as the tech giant pushes deeper into embedding artificial intelligence across its services. The unit planned to launch a new product based on its FantasyWorld model, which was developed by the Alibaba Amap Computer Vision Lab and released in September, according to Shanghai Securities News. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a...

Politics

1 week ago North Korea links Sunday’s missile launch to ‘recent geopolitical crisis’

North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the Sunday test-firing of hypersonic missiles in a drill made necessary by “the recent geopolitical crisis”, state media quoted him as saying. The report on Monday by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed and added details about North Korea’s first missile launch of 2026, including that it employed a “cutting-edge” new weapon system using hypersonic missiles first tested in October. Kim was not present for that launch, reports at the time...

Events

2 w. ago China’s Zhipu AI launches US$560 million share sale as Hong Kong’s IPO tech race heats up

Chinese artificial intelligence firm Zhipu AI kicked off a share sale on Tuesday to raise HK$4.35 billion (US$560 million), moving closer to becoming the first large language model (LLM) developer listed in Hong Kong amid a surge of technology initial public offerings (IPOs). The start-up, officially known as Knowledge Atlas Technology and marketed overseas as Z.ai, set its offer price at HK$116.20 for more than 37 million shares, with 10 per cent allocated to retail investors. The company plans...

Economics

2 w. ago Iran launches 3 satellites into space from Russia, state television reports

Iran launched three domestically built observation satellites into space from Russia on Sunday, state television reported, marking a new step for Tehran’s space programme despite Western sanctions. The country maintains that its aerospace industry is peaceful and complies with UN Security Council resolutions imposed over its nuclear programme. “Three Iranian satellites, Zafar-2, Paya and Kowsar 1.5, were launched into space by a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia,” Iranian...

Politics

3 w. ago China launches venture capital fund to lead the charge on tech investment

China has launched a national fund designed to channel state-backed money into early-stage bets on tech, a move officials said could ultimately steer trillions of yuan into preferred avenues of investment. Beijing’s National Venture Capital Guidance Fund was unveiled on Friday, at a ceremony which also introduced three investment vehicles covering major cross-regional agglomerations: the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. At...

Politics

3 w. ago Launch window opens for China’s private space companies as LandSpace advances IPO

China’s private rocket makers are stepping up their dash for public funding, with Beijing-based LandSpace becoming the first commercial launch provider to clear a key regulatory “tutoring” milestone ahead of a planned listing on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market. LandSpace completed its initial public offering (IPO) tutoring process on December 23, according to information published on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) – a step that typically precedes the...

Economics

3 w. ago US launched ‘deadly’ strikes against Isis in Nigeria, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday night that he had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after he spent weeks decrying the group for targeting Christians. “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!”...

Events

3 w. ago US launches strike on Islamic State targets in Nigeria, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday night that he had launched a “powerful and deadly” US strike against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians,...

Events

3 w. ago US launches tariff action on Chinese chips, flags economic threat

In a decisive trade move against China’s semiconductor industry, the US Trade Representative Office said it had determined that Beijing’s drive for dominance in the sector is “unreasonable and discriminatory” and poses a direct threat to US commerce. In a formal Notice of Action filed with the Federal Register, the agency said the US is implementing a tariff action on a wide range of Chinese semiconductors, with an initial rate of 0 per cent. The rate is set to rise in 18 months, on June 23,...

Economics