Without Hong Kong’s thriving entertainment industry and open culture, the genius and creativity of the literary giant and his martial arts epics would have no chance to shine.
The much-anticipated press conference at the close of the National People’s Congress was cancelled, discontinuing a customary practice that was established in the early 1990s.
The concept of ‘new productive forces’ shows that China’s top leadership has realised that the traditional model of relying on debt-fuelled investment to drive growth has reached its limit.
ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming and other key voices at the company view AI as a battle that it cannot afford to lose, one source says.
Foreigners having trouble making mobile payments in China is just a trivial issue when it comes to the cost of its walled internet.
Twenty-seven years have passed since the death of China’s reformist leader Deng Xiaoping, but it seems that today there are different interpretations of his legacy – a worrying and disappointing development.
ByteDance founder reportedly asked village in Fujian province to remove the commemorative stone tablet amid online speculation.
The Year of the Dragon may have signalled the return of the overseas Chinese tourist, with preliminary data from Alipay showing a 7 per cent increase in transactions this year compared with 2019.
112 years after the last Qing emperor abdicated, China has yet to come to grips with its past, as the authorities have still not ‘finalised’ the official version of 268 years of history.
Some officials in the Chinese government are so desperate to get their desired narrative across that they have started to disregard basic principles, an approach which may carry a high cost in the long run.
The Argentinian president’s argument against ‘socialism’ has given Chinese netizens a chance to rethink a topic important to their country’s future.
The combined stakes of the two co-founders eclipsed SoftBank Group, which has reduced its shares in Alibaba through a series of forward contracts.
China’s population is declining and ageing faster, requiring decisive action from authorities if the country is to avert a demographic time bomb.
China’s economic success can be attributed in part to internal competition for growth among the country’s hundreds of municipalities, but those days are over as consumers drive growth.
The privilege of a higher education has faded, but nowadays a diploma, even from one of China’s top schools, is no longer a guarantee of employment amid an overabundance of graduates.
A Chinese Communist Party newspaper has urged the country’s regulators to end their erratic moves against the platform economy, in a sign of growing concern over policy damage to the health of internet titans.
Beijing will no doubt declare 2023 a good year, with headline growth in line with the target of ‘about 5 per cent’, but doubts linger about longer term prospects without real reform.
The e-commerce giant is reshuffling the top ranks of its most important profit earner since its sweeping restructuring started over half a year ago, as it tries to regroup after its value fell behind rival PDD Holdings.
While Beijing is keen to promote a rosy view of China’s economic prospects, authorities must be careful not to silence debate as independent voices are important to spot risks.
The chronic decline of stock prices in Hong Kong is a worrying trend, lending support to a narrative that the city’s financial prowess is in ‘ruins’, requiring concrete measures from Beijing to shore up confidence.
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, is offering to buy back up to US$5 billion worth of shares from existing investors as its initial public offering plan remains up in air, according to sources briefed on the matter.
The Chinese leadership’s advocacy for measures to support and spur growth in the private sector economy intensified in 2023, but the protection of private firms’ assets and rights remain a concern.
PDD and Meituan both post bumper increases in third quarter revenues as former captures desire for bargain prices and latter benefits from hotels and travel rebound.
While hugely successful, China’s shopping apps are facing regulatory headwinds in destination countries and could benefit from studying the lessons of former glory days.
The Chinese leader’s message promoting digital trade and common rules comes as the US is walking back its long-standing commitment to free trade.
While China’s rainmakers have been essential to the country’s great market opening, corruption concerns and a changing geopolitical balance have seen them pushed to the sidelines.
Alibaba announced overnight that it would not proceed with the full spin-off of its cloud computing unit after posting 9 per cent revenue growth in its September quarter.
Even after its first foreign investment deficit, China remains an attractive market for many firms, but bureaucrats need to do more to attract business.
For the first time, Wu has spoken publicly about his vision for Alibaba after he took the reins from Daniel Zhang Yong in September.
While the specific size of the job cuts is not known, reports by Chinese local media said the planned lay-offs are expected to affect hundreds of jobs at Pico.