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China Future Tech

China Future Tech

Key Industries:
EVs
AI
Semiconductors
Aerospace
Robotics
Biomedicine
Live Q&A webinars

As China bets on tech and innovation to drive its growth, it has placed its chips on several industrial sectors that are expected to play increasingly important roles in development and trade, which will bring fresh opportunities and challenges for stakeholders. SCMP’s China Future Tech is your go-to destination for the latest news, insights, and opinions on these select industries. Explore in-depth coverage of EVs, AI, semiconductors, aerospace, robotics and biomedicine sectors. Follow us to stay ahead in China's evolving competitive landscape.

Illustration: Henry Wong

Big Tech

China curbs US AI chips, shuns foreign capital in pursuit of tech self-reliance

These restrictions signify a new phase in the US-China tech war where ‘offensive and defensive roles have shifted’, says an analyst.

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DeepSeek a year on: how a Chinese start-up sparked a global AI arms race

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China’s Unitree ships over 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025, surpassing US peers

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Tech Trends

Explainer | Global memory chip crunch set to intensify amid Trump’s new industrial policy

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says major memory chipmakers could either pay 100 per cent tariff or build their products in America.

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The current shortage and rising prices of regular dynamic random access memory chips have severely affected the consumer electronics market. Photo: Shutterstock
The current shortage and rising prices of regular dynamic random access memory chips have severely affected the consumer electronics market. Photo: Shutterstock

Tech Trends

UBTech partners with Airbus to bring humanoid robots to aviation manufacturing

The deal follows a similar one with US semiconductor maker Texas Instruments, underscoring the Chinese firm’s accelerated overseas push.

China Business

China’s drug and medical device sector fuels growth with record licensing deals

China’s pharmaceutical industry surges on ageing demand and global expansion, with revenue forecast to top US$2.1 trillion by 2030.

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China Business

Chinese electric vehicle makers eye Western markets as trade barriers fall

Canada will drop the 100 per cent punitive tariffs on Chinese-made pure electric cars while setting an annual import quota of 49,000 units.

Ora cars from Great Wall Motor are parked in a parking lot at JadeWeserPort in Germany. Photo: dpa
Ora cars from Great Wall Motor are parked in a parking lot at JadeWeserPort in Germany. Photo: dpa

Big Tech

Tencent seeks cooperation with other AI firms to better serve vulnerable users

Tencent Research Institute looks to build expert data sets for AI models that could broadly benefit the world’s second most populous nation.

Policy

Hong Kong bolsters tech hub ambitions as city hosts global AI summit

Hong Kong’s turn to host a summit under WAIC reflects Beijing’s confidence in the city’s strategic development goals.

Big Tech

China dominates global humanoid robot market with over 80% of installations

AgiBot and Unitree help China capture bulk of global deployments in 2025 as market heads for sixfold growth by 2027, report says.

Visitors take pictures of Unitree robots at a fair in Paris. Photo: Reuters

China Economy

A Chinese tech hub eyes 3- to 7-nanometre chip breakthroughs to beat US curbs

Province’s five-year plan backs national push for tech independence – but can it succeed?

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China is world’s largest chip manufacturer, demonstrating the country’s superiority in global supply chain. Photo: Shutterstock
China is world’s largest chip manufacturer, demonstrating the country’s superiority in global supply chain. Photo: Shutterstock

Tech War

Chinese firms to incur higher costs for deploying AI chips from US: analysts

‘Beijing has made it politically unpalatable for private firms to rely too much on imported AI chips,’ EIU senior analyst Chim Lee says.

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China Business

China’s subsidy change adds to EV makers’ stress, while petrol cars gain

Typical subsidy on an EV drops by around US$1,150, changing buyer calculations and exacerbating the sector’s profitability woes.

Tech Trends

SpacemiT to launch server-class RISC-V processor following capital injection

CEO Chen is betting on Edge AI – which can run AI algorithms locally rather than in the cloud – to boost the adoption of RISC-V chips.

Shipments of processors based on the RISC-V architecture are forecast to grow 50 per cent each year between 2024 and 2030. Photo: Shutterstock Images

China Economy

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

European Union Aviation Safety Agency test flights a crucial step in acquiring certification needed for global operation.

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

China Business

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

Agreement on price floors will allow mainland carmakers to avoid price wars and nurture brand reputation, analysts say.

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.

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China Business

Wuxi AppTec’s upbeat business update boosts stock despite US bill

A presentation persuaded investors that risk of a potential US blacklisting is low while growth in some business areas is ‘unprecedented’.

Shares in Chinese drug research and development group Wuxi AppTec closed up 23.9 per cent on Friday, the most since its listing in 2018. Photo: Reuters
Shares in Chinese drug research and development group Wuxi AppTec closed up 23.9 per cent on Friday, the most since its listing in 2018. Photo: Reuters

Big Tech

China Telecom say AI model with 1 trillion parameters trained with Chinese chips

The state-owned telecoms operator did not reveal what chips it used for its 1 trillion-parameter model, but it has a partnership with Huawei.

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Tech War

Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou back at the helm of firm ahead of next smartphone launch

In her latest tenure as rotating chairwoman, Meng is expected to oversee the launch of Huawei’s next flagship 5G smartphone series, the Mate 70.

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China Business

5 Chinese EV makers set monthly sales records as discounts draw buyers

BYD, Li Auto, Xpeng, Zeekr and Leapmotor posted new monthly delivery records in September as new models and promotions proved enticing.

Employees work on an EV production line at a Leapmotor factory in Jinhua, in China’s eastern Zhejiang province, on September 18, 2024. Photo: AFP
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Oppo expects to roll out generative artificial intelligence functions to its 50 million smartphone users by the end of this year. Photo: Shutterstock

Oppo enters tech pact with top EV maker BYD, acquires AI start-up

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OPINION
Michael Han

Opinion | China’s new property pivot is coming. Expect full stabilisation ahead

Michael Han
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Mark Andrews

Opinion | Innovation and exports will winnow China’s car industry in 2026

Mark Andrews
David Tingxuan Zhang

Opinion | Why China has moved to curb steel exports

David Tingxuan Zhang
Brian Y. S. Wong

Opinion | Protection of vulnerable workers must be part of China’s AI strategy

Brian Y. S. Wong
Zhang Zhipeng

Opinion | Why the Global South is embracing Chinese AI

Zhang Zhipeng
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Hamzah Rifaat

Opinion | Does AI’s rise have to mean job losses? East Asia tells a different story

Hamzah Rifaat
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