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Qwen’s AI app aims to help people get things done in everyday scenarios, according to Alibaba. Photo: Shutterstock

Tech Trends

Alibaba’s Qwen AI app hits 100 million users as update widens role in daily life

Chinese e-commerce giant deepens integration of its fast-growing app to enable voice-powered shopping, travel and digital tasks.

Hong Kong, Shenzhen ‘to deepen’ ties in finance, AI for a world-class tech hub

Musk’s Grok barred from undressing AI images after global backlash

Tech Trends

OpenAI sees another ‘seismic shock’ from China as talks swirl of DeepSeek launch

There is heightened anticipation about a potential major DeepSeek release around the Lunar New Year.

Open-sourcing AI models “in weeks, rather than months” helps DeepSeek and other Chinese tech firms drive global adoption, according to OpenAI. Photo: Shutterstock
Open-sourcing AI models “in weeks, rather than months” helps DeepSeek and other Chinese tech firms drive global adoption, according to OpenAI. Photo: Shutterstock

Banking & Finance

Alibaba, JPMorgan said to back Chinese chip firm’s Hong Kong listing

Montage Technology could raise up to US$900 million in an IPO as soon as this month, sources say.

Policy

Beijing opens antitrust investigation into Trip.com before Lunar New Year break

The Trip.com case shows how China’s regulatory inquiries into various online platforms have become the norm.

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Tech War

Zhipu AI breaks US chip reliance with first major model trained on Huawei stack

Zhipu claims GLM-Image achieved industry-leading scores among open-source models for text rendering and Chinese character generation.

Zhipu said the achievement proved the feasibility of developing powerful multimodal models without US chips. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Zhipu said the achievement proved the feasibility of developing powerful multimodal models without US chips. Photo: Shutterstock Images

China Business

Huawei reclaims top spot over Apple in China smartphone market

Huawei turns to China-designed processors to complete a rebound from US sanctions and ship nearly 47 million smartphones domestically.

Tech Trends

Video-generation boom sees China’s Kling AI post US$240 million revenue run rate

Kling AI is widely adopted in the fields of marketing and e-commerce, as well as in films, television and animation, owner Kuaishou says.

Banking & Finance

Growth in sovereign investors’ China exposure slows amid political tensions

Inflows fall 58 per cent as sovereign wealth funds grow cautious, yet outlook signals selective opportunities ahead, experts say.

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Sovereign investment activity has become increasingly politicised, forcing some Western state-owned investors to avoid major deals in China, according to a data platform. Photo: EPA

Tech Trends

DeepSeek stays mum on next AI model release as technical papers show frontier innovation

Hangzhou-based start-up’s technical papers bode well for potential advances in its next major AI models.

DeepSeek’s latest technical papers underscore its efforts to improve the underlying infrastructure of AI models in China. Photo: Shutterstock
DeepSeek’s latest technical papers underscore its efforts to improve the underlying infrastructure of AI models in China. Photo: Shutterstock

Big Tech

Alibaba reaffirms open-source AI commitment as it hails successes

‘Building with the community’ is crucial to the success of the Qwen family of large language models, company says.

Tech Trends

DeepSeek founder’s latest paper proposes new model training to bypass GPU limits

The development underscores the start-up’s focus on maximising cost efficiency amid a deficit in computational power relative to the US.

China Business

UBS projects rosy view of Chinese stocks in 2026 as investors diversify holdings

‘Chinese assets’ appeal will further increase this year because of a sharpened focus on diversified investments,’ UBS’ Thomas Fang says.

A Chinese trader looks at an electronic trading board at the Shanghai stock exchange. Photo: Reuters

Banking & Finance

Chipmaker GigaDevice jumps 37% in Hong Kong debut amid China self-reliance push

GigaDevice shares surge as investors chase Beijing’s self-sufficiency theme, with retail demand oversubscribed more than 540 times.

Zhu Yiming, right, chairman of GigaDevice Semiconductor, and Hu Hong, deputy general manager, at the firm’s trading debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Photo: Handout
Zhu Yiming, right, chairman of GigaDevice Semiconductor, and Hu Hong, deputy general manager, at the firm’s trading debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Photo: Handout

Big Tech

Apple, Google strike Gemini deal for revamped Siri in major win for Alphabet

Alphabet has been jostling with OpenAI for the Apple deal, the financial details of which were not disclosed.

Business

Hong Kong stocks climb as yuan strengthens and investors broaden focus beyond US

Hang Seng Index advances as investors shift focus, boosting Asian equities, with pharmaceutical and healthcare shares leading gainers.

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Tech War

How Nexperia saga exposes Europe’s waning influence in US-China chip war

The dispute around the Dutch chipmaker shows the erosion of Europe’s geopolitical neutrality in the face of escalating US-China rivalry.

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Nexperia is caught in a geopolitical tussle between the Netherlands and China. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Nexperia is caught in a geopolitical tussle between the Netherlands and China. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Tech War

China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race

The AI war is increasingly waged among ‘hyperscalers’ – companies with full-stack capabilities across software, hardware and applications.

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Tech War

How Huawei and DeepSeek are tending the garden of China’s AI aspirations

Amid growing AI rivalry with the US, the two companies are leading China’s drive to shake off the nation’s dependence on Nvidia processors.

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Big Tech

Immediate gratification: instant commerce transforms China’s retail market

Instant commerce has developed over a short period of time, as providers expanded their on-demand delivery coverage beyond food.

Illustration: Henry Wong
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China Future Tech
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
China Future Tech

Tech War

Zhipu AI breaks US chip reliance with first major model trained on Huawei stack

Zhipu said the achievement proved the feasibility of developing powerful multimodal models without US chips. Photo: Shutterstock Images

China Economy

Exclusive | European test pilots put China’s C919 airliner through paces in Shanghai

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C919s at the Singapore Airshow in February 2024. Photo: Xinhua

China Business

China-EU tariff agreement on EVs will cut shipments but boost profits

People view BYD cars during the Brussels Motor Show in Brussels, Belgium, on January 10, 2026. Photo: Xinhua

Tech Trends

OpenAI sees another ‘seismic shock’ from China as talks swirl of DeepSeek launch

Open-sourcing AI models “in weeks, rather than months” helps DeepSeek and other Chinese tech firms drive global adoption, according to OpenAI. Photo: Shutterstock

China EVs

China’s EV makers face slowdown in export growth after doubling in 2025

Vehicles await export at Yantai Port in east China’s Shandong province on January 14, 2026. Photo: Xinhua
MORE IN China Future Tech
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OPINION
Kun Tian

Opinion | Hong Kong’s fertile ground for AI IPOs aligns with China’s tech strategy

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Mark Purdy

Opinion | The global AI race: 3 scenarios the world must prepare for

Mark Purdy
Mark Pirie,Christopher Tang

Opinion | Why reducing AI harm requires more than tech firms’ empty promises

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Patrick Winter

Opinion | Asia needs AI talent to fuel its future growth

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Anthony Rowley

Macroscope | Can AI deliver the economic goods and high returns? Don’t count on it

Anthony Rowley
Jake Sullivan

Opinion | US and China must get serious about AI risk

Jake Sullivan
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MULTIMEDIA
Video

Digital ‘Tamagotchi’ pets mark 30 years

The egg-shaped plastic toys that were a playground craze in the 1990s feature digital pets needing to be cared for like live household animals.
03:40
Video

Hongkongers urged to use eMPF to ward off scams

Hongkongers urged to sign up for eMPF platform as defence against scams
Video

How a Shanghai start-up is digitalising Chinese tea

Safety, verification and trust behind start-up company Teakan Technology’s goal to make traditional Chinese tea digitally traceable
Video

Humanoid robots take centre stage at Shanghai summit

Competitions mainly focused on robotic applications in industrial assembly, home services, flower arranging, healthcare and elderly care, as well as restaurant services
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