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SCMP

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Harvard’s top mathematician Liu Jun leaves US for China
Liu Jun, one of the world’s leading statisticians and a long-time professor at Harvard, has returned to China full-time, accepting a prestigious chair at Tsinghua University last month.
2. China’s ‘silent sanction’ on US semiconductors creates a weapons generation gap
In addition to the spectacle of last week’s military parade in Tiananmen Square, with its rows of never-before-seen weapons and equipment, was a less visible but highly consequential shift.
3. In a first, US-China team turns plastic waste into petrol in 1 step

Scientists in the US and China say they have developed a one-step method to safely turn toxic mixed plastic waste into petrol, with more than 95 per cent efficiency at room temperature.
4. China unveils world’s first ‘all-frequency’ 6G chip capable of 100Gbps speeds
Chinese scientists have developed the world’s first “all-frequency” 6G chip that could help bridge the digital divide between rural and urban communities.
5. Mars should not have a solid inner core but it does, China-US study finds

6. AI, lasers and chips: the science and tech of China’s military parade
China’s military parade on Wednesday – featuring the latest AI-powered uncrewed vehicles, laser weapons and missiles – signalled an arms race fuelled by scientific and technological advances.
7. China launches tiny Mexican satellites in rare North American rocket contract

Mexico has become the second country in North America to send satellites into orbit using a Chinese rocket – more than half a decade after Canada blazed the trail.


Xi’s leverage ahead of Trump meet, Hong Kong schools: 5 weekend reads you missed

Shanghai’s changing expats, Hong Kong trail sign fallout: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Exhibition on gardens of China, Europe; art director’s top spots: 7 Lifestyle highlights

China builds world’s first ‘coal battery’, war on Alzheimer’s: 7 science highlights

SCMP Highlights

Top Harvard professor leaves US for China, plastic waste into petrol: 7 science highlights

Liu Jun, one of the world’s leading statisticians and a longtime professor at Harvard University, has returned to China full time, accepting a prestigious chair at Tsinghua University last month. Photo: Handout


Global cumulative plastic production is said to have reached 10 billion tonnes. Photo: Getty Images

Chinese and US scientists have discovered that Mars, also known as the red planet, has a solid inner core. Photo: Shutterstock

The CAS rocket carrying seven satellites, including two from Mexico, blasts off from a commercial aerospace innovation pilot zone in northwest China on August 19. 2025. Photo: EPA

YJ-19, China’s first hypersonic cruise missile, is based on breathtaking science

The YJ-19, among the anti-ship missiles spotted in Beijing during rehearsals for the military parade on Wednesday. Photo: Handout

China’s JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel. Photo: Handout

China’s military parade adds up to the power of maths: Shing-Tung Yau

A member of the People’s Liberation Army stands at attention as the maritime operations group displays YJ-19 hypersonic anti-ship missiles during a military parade in Beijing on Wednesday marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Photo: Reuters

Shing-Tung Yau, director of the Yau Mathematical Sciences Centre at Tsinghua University, is a native of Shantou, Guangdong province, and obtained his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Photo: Edmond So

News

China

Science

From Mexico’s tiny satellites on Chinese rocket to a plastics-to-petrol first, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting


From Mexico’s tiny satellites on Chinese rocket to a plastics-to-petrol first, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.


Top Harvard professor leaves US for China, plastic waste into petrol: 7 science highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Mexico’s tiny satellites on Chinese rocket to a plastics-to-petrol first, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting

1. Harvard’s top mathematician Liu Jun leaves US for China

From Mexico’s tiny satellites on Chinese rocket to a plastics-to-petrol first, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting