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SCMP

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China science stories of the year. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. China unveils a powerful deep-sea cable cutter that could reset the world order
A compact, deep-sea, cable-cutting device, capable of severing the world’s most fortified underwater communication or power lines, has been unveiled by China – and it could shake up global maritime power dynamics.
2. China tests non-nuclear hydrogen bomb, science paper shows
Chinese researchers have successfully detonated a hydrogen-based explosive device in a controlled field test, triggering devastating chemical chain reactions without using any nuclear materials, according to a study published last month.
3. Chinese team finds coronavirus that could infect humans via same route as Covid

A Chinese team has found a new bat coronavirus that carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission because it uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes Covid-19.
4. How China’s Fujian aircraft carrier deceived US military experts at launch
It happens in an instant – your eyes register motion, your brain predicts what comes next and, in a split second, you think you understand what you are seeing. But what if that instinct is wrong? That happened when the world saw China’s most advanced warship, the Fujian, in action earlier this month.
5. Chinese maths star Wang Hong solves ‘infamous’ geometry problem
Chinese mathematician Wang Hong has solved an “infamous” geometry problem called the Kakeya conjecture within three dimensions.
6. Chinese breakthrough challenges Elon Musk’s verdict on paralysed patients
Patients with spinal cord injuries have been offered the chance to walk again after the success of a Chinese trial.
7. Chinese scientists turn Boeing’s Starliner crisis into missile breakthrough

In an ironic twist of cosmic problem-solving, Chinese researchers have transformed a lingering Nasa headache into a revolutionary propulsion breakthrough that could redefine modern warfare and space travel.
8. How Chinese scientists fought 74 years for world’s most powerful dam – and won
Beijing has launched the massive Yarlung Tsangpo hydropower project in southern Tibet after decades of scientific research.
9. Chinese physicists prove Einstein wrong and put century-old debate to an end
For the first time, scientists in China have faithfully recreated a thought experiment proposed by Albert Einstein nearly a century ago, showing that the quantum world behaves in ways the iconic physicist never fully accepted.
10. China builds record-smashing mega bridge with technology never seen before
The world’s longest cable-stayed bridge opened to traffic in Jiangsu province, eastern China on September 9, connecting the cities of Changzhou and Taizhou and slashing the travel time from over an hour to just 20 minutes.


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SCMP Highlights

Deceiving US experts; proving Einstein wrong: 10 China science breakthroughs in 2025

Chinese scientists used a 2kg bomb to generate a fireball that lasted 15 times longer than an equivalent TNT blast, according to a new study. Photo: 705 Research Institute


The HKU5 coronavirus was first identified in the Japanese pipistrelle in Hong Kong. Photo: Shutterstock

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft experienced helium leaks which stranded two Nasa astronauts at the International Space Station. Now Chinese scientists have used the situation to come up with a scientific breakthrough. Photo: Nasa via AP

DeepSeek’s game-changing rise, China’s robot boot camps: 7 AI 2025 breakthroughs

DeepSeek is being touted as China’s secret weapon in the artificial intelligence war with the US. Photo: AFP

Technicians train humanoid robots at a data collection centre run by the robotics company Agibot in Shanghai. Photo: Getty Images

Sex dolls made by WMDoll are on display at its headquarters in Zhongshan, a city in southern Guangdong province. Photo: Coco Feng

EngineAI Robotics’ humanoid T800 is capable of delivering Bruce Lee-style roundhouse kicks with great force. Photo: Handout

From Labubu to blockbuster films, was 2025 the year China’s soft power went mainstream?

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

 Illustration: Henry Wong

Chongqing has become known as China’s “cyberpunk capital”. Photo: Getty Images

Kenyan social media influencers (from left) MC Jessy, Betty Kyallo, Terence Creative and Mulamwah during their visit to China. Photo: Instagram

Tourists pose for photos with a wall painting featuring the hit animated film “Ne Zha 2” in Dongfeng Village in east China’s Shandong Province on March 1, 2025. Photo: Xinhua

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China

Science

From the detonation of a hydrogen-based explosive to ending a century-old debate, here are some of the major science developments of the year


From the detonation of a hydrogen-based explosive to ending a century-old debate, here are some of the major science developments of the year.


Boeing

Deceiving US experts; proving Einstein wrong: 10 China science breakthroughs in 2025

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From the detonation of a hydrogen-based explosive to ending a century-old debate, here are some of the major science developments of the year

1. China unveils a powerful deep-sea cable cutter that could reset the world order

2. China tests non-nuclear hydrogen bomb, science paper shows

From the detonation of a hydrogen-based explosive to ending a century-old debate, here are some of the major science developments of the year