https://www.scmp.com/rss/318660/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The One Belt, One Road initiative was inspired by the ancient Silk Road, but it is also futuristic. Its rail lines are among the most advanced in the world, and its land and seaports are some of the most sophisticated. The belt and road is also stimulating the development and testing of innovative transport technologies that may set new logistical standards. “Asia is becoming a laboratory of sorts for transportation ideas,” says Jonathan Hillman of the Center for Strategic International Studies... https://www.scmp.com/special-reports/business/topics/one-belt-one-road/article/2082732/belt-and-roads-new-ports-stimulate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/special-reports/business/topics/one-belt-one-road/article/2082732/belt-and-roads-new-ports-stimulate?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Mar 2017 05:45:25 +0000 Xiamen is set to become a major stop on the “one belt, one road” network, a central government- driven initiative seeking to further intertwine the trade policies, economies and transport routes of countries from China to Europe. In August last year, a set of transnational trains departed from Xiamen’s Haicang Railway Station for the first time. The first traversed the 9,826km expanse to Lodz, Poland in 15 days, stopping in Chengdu en route. The second delved into Central Asia in five days,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1994947/road-economic-prosperity-xiamens-rail-air-and-sea-links-strengthen-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1994947/road-economic-prosperity-xiamens-rail-air-and-sea-links-strengthen-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Jul 2016 06:23:38 +0000 A new type of urbanisation is being carried out in the Tongan district of Xiamen. Called Bingzhou New Town, the new development seeks to incorporate the existing natural and cultural features with newly built infrastructure and amenities, providing a more authentic, unique experience for residents and visitors alike. Bingzhou Island is a four-kilometre-long verdant wedge that sits in the northeast of Xiamen, where Tongan Bay and three rivers come together. For centuries, this island was the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1994944/history-lessons-bingzhou-new-town-xiamen-preserves-past-build-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1994944/history-lessons-bingzhou-new-town-xiamen-preserves-past-build-future?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Jul 2016 06:07:23 +0000 As an ever-increasing number of tourists pour into Sanya each year, the need for a new airport that can handle growing passenger volumes has become evident.   Sanya’s Phoenix International Airport, which was built more than 20 years ago, was originally designed to cope with a maximum 1.5 million passengers a year. As the city’s tourism industry grew at an extremely fast pace through the latter half of the 2000s, annual passenger volumes through Phoenix airport rose by 25 per cent, pushing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1988768/tourism-bottleneck-relief-way-work-due-start-new-sanya-airport-later-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1988768/tourism-bottleneck-relief-way-work-due-start-new-sanya-airport-later-year?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jul 2016 02:45:15 +0000 The surface area of China increases by hundreds of square kilometres each year through land reclamation. In every province along the country’s 18,000 kilometres of coastline, there are massive reclamation projects underway, creating more land for urban develop-ment, industrial areas, airports, and seaports. Sanya, a hilly city in the south of Hainan Island, has also been engaging in large-scale land reclamation projects to increase the amount of space available to develop. The city’s impending... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1988767/dangers-land-reclamation-sanya-aims-create-new-artificial-island-house?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1988767/dangers-land-reclamation-sanya-aims-create-new-artificial-island-house?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jul 2016 02:30:04 +0000 China’s one belt, one road initiative is one of the most expansive and complex political and economic undertakings ever attempted, and inherent to such a large-scale and long-term project are some very formidable challenges. Political, economic, and social factors all have major impacts on how thoroughly the strategy can be instituted throughout the 65 countries it touches, and working out all of these various elements is key to its success. Consistent and concentrated political will is perhaps... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1978442/consistent-political-will-needed-ensure-one-belt-one-road?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1978442/consistent-political-will-needed-ensure-one-belt-one-road?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jun 2016 05:33:58 +0000 With six major economic corridors extending over Eurasia, China’s one belt, one road initiative stands to reshape the region’s infrastructure network, improve connectivity across the continent, and fill in some of the underdeveloped gaps along the way. Spanning over 60 countries, this massive project will spread an interconnected network of rail lines, highways, pipelines and logistics zones from China to Europe, covering a potential market that includes more than half of the population, 75 per... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1978396/chinas-one-belt-one-road-plan-covers-more-half-population-75?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1978396/chinas-one-belt-one-road-plan-covers-more-half-population-75?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jun 2016 03:42:15 +0000 Shanghai Disneyland sits at the core of the emerging 20-square-kilometre Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone [SITRZ], in the centre of Pudong District, 21km southeast of People’s Square. This project began during the 12th five-year plan (2011-2015), and was a major part of the city’s initiative to steer the economy away from manufacturing and towards services. Shanghai first started building this new catalyst of tourism, leisure, and residential living by liquidating a large... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1962550/shanghai-disneyland-spurs-growth-thanks-massive-infrastructure-projects?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1962550/shanghai-disneyland-spurs-growth-thanks-massive-infrastructure-projects?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jun 2016 22:01:31 +0000 Booming retail, tourism, food and beverage, and real estate sectors have enabled Shanghai to lead China’s broader economic transition from faster to more sustainable, better growth. “The big trend is the transition from a B-to-B [business-to-business] to a B-to-C [business-to-consumer] economy is in its final, most challenging stages,” says Richard Brubaker, an adjunct professor at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. The service industry in Shanghai now dominates... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1962546/shanghai-focuses-service-citys-economy-switches-factory-production?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1962546/shanghai-focuses-service-citys-economy-switches-factory-production?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jun 2016 22:00:30 +0000 A small team of French hardware designers and entrepreneurs arrived in Shenzhen in 2011 with the intention of producing their own smartphone. Rather than investing money and taking five years to design their phone from scratch, they joined up with a local original equipment manufacturer (OEM) producer. This led to a partnership with Tinno, a large Shenzhen telecommunications company that produces 25 to 30 million phones a year. Tinno became a 90 per cent majority partner, agreeing to do most of... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/hi-tech-shenzhen/article/1943979/partnership-yields-dividends?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/hi-tech-shenzhen/article/1943979/partnership-yields-dividends?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 May 2016 04:57:12 +0000 Over the past two decades Shenzhen has grown into a global epicentre of telecommunications innovation and equipment production. With large companies such as Foxconn, Huawei and ZTE, along with tens of thousands of smaller design houses and "mom-and-pop" factories, the city pulls together all aspects of the hi-tech design and manufacturing ecosystem in one place. "Shenzhen is the hardware hub of the world, thanks to the Free Economic Zone established by the government," says Shlomo Freund of... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/hi-tech-shenzhen/article/1943983/centre-creativity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/hi-tech-shenzhen/article/1943983/centre-creativity?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 May 2016 04:57:11 +0000 The history of Zhengzhou stretches back over 3,500 years. It is one of China's earliest cities, having grown up between the Yellow and Songshan rivers. "Zhengzhou is important because of its geographic setting along the Yellow River and in the central plain. Relics show how Chinese people created their culture along the Yellow River, the cradle of Chinese civilisation," says professor Li Xiaobing of the University of Central Oklahoma. Due to its geographically central position in China,... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931480/zhengzhous-location-has-given-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931480/zhengzhous-location-has-given-it?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2016 02:10:38 +0000 With 30 airlines connecting to 98 different cities, Zhengzhou's Xinzheng International Airport is one of China's fastest-growing and most important aviation hubs. It is ideally located for passenger and cargo air transport - being just an hour's flight time away from Beijing and Shanghai - within range of over 39.5 million people, and directly connected to an extensive network of national and international ground transport. Built 37km southeast of Zhengzhou's downtown in the rapidly emerging... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931473/zhengzhous-xinzheng-international?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931473/zhengzhous-xinzheng-international?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2016 02:10:37 +0000 Zhengzhou is a major manufacturing epicentre of China with a network of vast industrial zones and tech parks, including the Zhengzhou High and New Technology Industries Development Zone, the Zhengzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, and the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone (ZAEZ). The city's most famous manufacturing enterprise is perhaps Foxconn's massive 250,000-worker plant that's located in ZAEZ. This factory, which is aptly dubbed "Apple City" for the main brand it manufactures... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931472/zhengzhou-heart-manufacturing-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931472/zhengzhou-heart-manufacturing-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2016 02:10:36 +0000 On February 21, China's State Council announced a new set of urbanisation guidelines that are intended to improve the country's cities socially, economically, and ecologically. A major part of these guidelines were requirements for cities to increase the amount of green space they provide for their residents. But Zhengzhou was already ahead of these new central governmental recommendations, and has been in the process of systematically greening many parts of the city. Zhengzhou is known as one... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931475/zhengzhou-focuses-ecological?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931475/zhengzhou-focuses-ecological?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2016 02:10:35 +0000 Refrigeration has grown rapidly in China. From 1995 to 2007, the ratio of urban families with refrigerators jumped from 7 to 95 per cent. Nicola Twilley, the author of a forthcoming book on refrigeration and a contributing writer at The New Yorker, estimates that within a decade China has refrigerated as much as it took the United States 50 or 60 years. Being located in the heart of China's Central Plains between many agricultural regions and at the intersections of major rail lines and highways... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931471/rapid-rise-refrigeration-transforms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931471/rapid-rise-refrigeration-transforms?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2016 02:10:34 +0000 Zhengzhou has risen to become a major logistics and manufacturing hub on the Silk Road Economic Belt under China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, which seeks to increase political, economic and infrastructural connectivity among more than 60 countries from China to Western Europe. "In the last two years, Zhengzhou has invested heavily in cargo handling at the local airport and created more capabilities in bringing in intermodal connections," says Steve Huang, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931476/one-belt-one-road-transforms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931476/one-belt-one-road-transforms?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2016 02:10:34 +0000 Throughout its history, Zhengzhou has been a great crossroads of China. Throughout successive dynasties and periods, the city has served as a kinetic commercial and cultural hub - a status that hasn't changed to this day. The reason for Zhengzhou's prominent economic role has always been the same: location. The city is located in the heart of China's central plains, with Beijing to the north, Shanghai to the east, Guangzhou to the south and Xian to the west. Today, Zhengzhou sits within 500km of... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931474/zhengzhous-position-crossroads-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/china/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1931474/zhengzhous-position-crossroads-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2016 02:10:34 +0000 The China Western Development strategy started in 2000 as the mainland sought to spread the economic vitality of its booming eastern cities across the country. This resulted in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, transitioning into a kinetic 14-million person hub of manufacturing, hi-tech research and development, financial services, retail and trade, and tourism. "In the past decade, the city experienced an economic transition," says George Sun, a lecturer at Chengdu University. "The... https://www.scmp.com/presented/business/topics/go-china-chengdu/article/1859124/taking-high-road?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/business/topics/go-china-chengdu/article/1859124/taking-high-road?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Sep 2015 10:00:45 +0000 Sanya's clean air is making it an increasingly popular destination for tourists, part-time residents and investors from across mainland China, as pollution becomes more of a concern.  "Sanya is really the one city that is consistently clean whenever I look at the air quality maps," says Steven McCord, from Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).  "Therefore, refuge from pollution is a great additional selling point for Sanya [and] for people who want a vacation home." According to the mainland's Ministry of... https://www.scmp.com/presented/business/topics/go-china-sanya/article/1838384/profiting-war-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/business/topics/go-china-sanya/article/1838384/profiting-war-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jul 2015 02:21:40 +0000 Large shopping malls are significant catalysts of service sector growth in mainland cities, and Zhengzhou has built its consumer economy around them.  "Modern urban developments in China tend to be identical: large-scale, monotonous environments which are car-oriented and hard to navigate by foot," says Daan Roggeveen, the founder of MORE Architecture. "The shopping mall is at the heart of these developments, with the mall becoming the new public space for neighbourhoods."  The first major... https://www.scmp.com/presented/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1802899/economy-booms-consumers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1802899/economy-booms-consumers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2015 02:45:45 +0000 With 60 skyscrapers in two concentric circles, Zhengzhou's Zhengdong central business district (CBD) aims to become a financial and banking hub in central China. The Zhengdong CBD is now home to 150 financial institutions, including the regional headquarters of HSBC, People's Bank of China, Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China. These big banks alone have been estimated to process 70 per cent of all deposits and 60 per cent of all loans in Henan province. This has helped the Zhengdong... https://www.scmp.com/presented/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1803044/business-district-flourishes-strategic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1803044/business-district-flourishes-strategic?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2015 02:45:30 +0000 Zhengzhou's Zhengdong New District was once cited as one of the mainland's ghost cities by the international media, but the steady increase in public services, transport infrastructure, commercial outlets, educational facilities and employment opportunities has transformed the district into a place that is ready to sustain a large population. At least 1.4 million people have already moved in, and more are on the way.  "We found what they call a 'ghost city' of new towers with no residents,... https://www.scmp.com/presented/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1802853/banishing-ghost?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1802853/banishing-ghost?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2015 02:45:30 +0000 The mainland often revitalises its new cities, districts and towns with new university campuses.  It is a logical strategy because an influx of students, faculty and staff can help to populate a newly developed area, instantly create a sizeable consumer base and encourage investment in shops and entertainment.  Such developments get the community's service economy rolling, and help new cities and districts transition from being recently constructed wastelands into vibrant urban... https://www.scmp.com/presented/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1802851/strategy-lets-campuses-transform-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/topics/go-china-zhengzhou/article/1802851/strategy-lets-campuses-transform-city?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2015 02:15:30 +0000 When Chinese manufacturers entered the global hi-tech space, they were known for copying the designs of big companies from other countries. Fledgling manufacturers became notorious for Nokia and Motorola knock-offs in the early days, while Apple and Samsung became the main sources for replication later. Although as China’s hi-tech manufacturers evolved, their propensity for producing knock-offs transitioned into a driver for innovation and niche market adaption which has allowed them to compete... https://www.scmp.com/native/business/topics/invest-china/article/1802238/chinas-copycat-manufacturers-are-now-pushing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/native/business/topics/invest-china/article/1802238/chinas-copycat-manufacturers-are-now-pushing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 May 2015 02:09:38 +0000 Grassroots hardware innovators from around the world have been drawn to Shenzhen for one reason: its capacity to produce. Prototypes and products are easier and cheaper to develop and roll out here than anywhere else on the planet, and a vibrant international community of hardware innovators have formed around the city’s electronics markets, startup incubators, and factories. “It's become [the go-to place] for people who make hardware projects that they want to make into products,” says Mitch... https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1765600/forget-silicon-valley-innovators-drawn-dream-city-shenzhen-make-things-happen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1765600/forget-silicon-valley-innovators-drawn-dream-city-shenzhen-make-things-happen?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2015 01:42:05 +0000 In January, Premier Li Keqiang went on a three-day inspection tour of Guangdong province under the banner of promoting reform and structural adjustment to counteract a slowing export market and a stagnating domestic economy. Along with visiting Qianhai Webank, the mainland's first virtual bank; Huawei Technologies, a rising domestic tech giant; and the new Guangdong Free Trade Zone, the premier also made two stops at less typical locations: the Chaihuo makerspace and Seeed Studios, a hardware... https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1754120/lis-shenzhen-tour-gives-boost-chinas-innovators?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1754120/lis-shenzhen-tour-gives-boost-chinas-innovators?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Apr 2015 01:22:42 +0000 China has long been seen as the final frontier of new customers for Western companies, a place where the commercial wells are deep – 1.35 billion people deep, to be precise. Tapping this incredibly huge market has been an obsession for foreign companies since long before China’s reforms from the late ’70s to the early ’80s. Today, this hasn't changed at all. As China continues to evolve into a consumer-oriented economy with an ever-growing number of middle-class and upper-class consumers hungry... https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1742769/why-white-wine-clothes-dryers-and-car-seats-all-flopped-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1742769/why-white-wine-clothes-dryers-and-car-seats-all-flopped-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2015 02:02:05 +0000 Shenzhen is known as the Silicon Valley of China for good reason: tech giants Tencent, BYD, Huawei and ZTE have their headquarters there, and the infrastructure, investment and government support enables the city in the Pearl River Delta to generate more hi-tech enterprises. Coolpad, Dingoo and G’Five International started in Shenzhen, and The Economist describes the city as the best place in the world to be a hardware innovator. Industry insiders estimate there are more than 2,000 design houses... https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1733530/investing-chinas-start-ups-risky-business-can-reap-big-rewards?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1733530/investing-chinas-start-ups-risky-business-can-reap-big-rewards?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2015 01:45:07 +0000 As China transitions from an export to domestic consumption-based economy, many imported goods have gone from being rare and expensive to becoming readily available. Once the preserve of cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, it is now common to find imported food shops, foreign-food sections in supermarkets, and authentic international restaurants in third and fourth-tier cities. French milk, Swiss chocolate, New Zealand cheese and German beer can now be obtained easily. This availability of... https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1710694/chinese-demand-new-tastes-driving-increase-food-and-drink-imports?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1710694/chinese-demand-new-tastes-driving-increase-food-and-drink-imports?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:30:45 +0000 The economic tides in China have shifted, and many who intended to keep riding the wave have had to change direction. Using their diverse backgrounds, many foreign small- and medium-sized business owners have leapt headlong into the newly invigorated consumer economy of China, and seen their themed establishments flourish in a country,  brimming with customers hungry for new products and food, foreign tastes and better quality. The 2008 global financial crisis demonstrated the instability of... https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1672936/how-chinas-expat-business-owners-have-diversified-survive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1672936/how-chinas-expat-business-owners-have-diversified-survive?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jan 2015 01:19:52 +0000 Several new economic and development zones have been created across China. This means more options, a flood of reforms and new opportunities for investors as the country reorganises its economic strategy. However, is all of this development leading to a climate of inter-regional co-operation and mutual benefit, or competition and mutual loss? China now has 215 national-level economic and technical development zones in addition to special areas, such as Shanghai's Free Trade Zone, Suzhou's... https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1655566/chinas-glut-new-economic-zones-compete-each-other-and-fuel-buyers-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1655566/chinas-glut-new-economic-zones-compete-each-other-and-fuel-buyers-market?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:30:45 +0000