https://www.scmp.com/rss/518757/feed Christina Pantin spent 20+ years at Reuters News as a corporate news and equities markets specialist, working in five countries. She has been a communications practitioner at global brands and agencies in New York and Hong Kong, leading communications for a crypto enterprise. She is a founding member of Web3 Women and the Global Commtrepreneurs Network, sits on the board of disability non-profit SENsational Foundation, and is an active mentor for professional women. Born and raised in Malaysia,... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com With an abrupt export curb on advanced semiconductors sold to China, the Trump administration’s trade war has shifted gears to a tech war. The announcement on Tuesday that Nvidia, the world’s dominant maker of advanced AI graphics processing units, faced indefinite new export licensing requirements for sales of its customised H20 chip for China prompted the company’s founder and CEO Jensen Huang to hop on a plane to Beijing to defend a market that is strategically critical. Huang, who arrived on... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3307041/jensen-huang-beijing-auto-shanghai-kicks-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3307041/jensen-huang-beijing-auto-shanghai-kicks-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Apr 2025 09:01:23 +0000 As the latest volley was fired in the US-China trade war on Friday with Beijing hiking tariffs on US imports to 125 per cent from 84 per cent, US President Donald Trump turned up the heat on e-commerce with the third successive increase in tariffs on small parcels shipped from the mainland and Hong Kong to America. The Trump administration set a new tariff of 120 per cent on small goods shipments from China valued at US$800 or less effective May 2, ratcheting up the tariffs on items previously... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3306092/de-minimis-1q-gdp-reveal-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3306092/de-minimis-1q-gdp-reveal-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Apr 2025 09:02:34 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3305528/golden-age-women?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3305528/golden-age-women?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000 As criticisms mount on CK Hutchison’s surprise decision to sell all of its port stakes including 90 per cent of its Panama Ports to a consortium that includes US money manager BlackRock, the Hong Kong conglomerate is leaving observers guessing about the fate of the US$23 billion deal. This week brought a fresh round of denunciations, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning saying on Tuesday that Beijing firmly opposed “economic coercion and bullying” without elaborating if authorities were... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3303273/pile-hutchison-global-ceos-china-development-forum-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3303273/pile-hutchison-global-ceos-china-development-forum-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Mar 2025 09:00:27 +0000 With the recent conclusion of the annual week-long meetings of China’s top legislature and advisory body, the South China Morning Post partnered with the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis to host a webinar to unpack key takeaways, their impact on the economic landscape, politics and what to expect in US-China relations. The Post’s executive editor Chow Chung-yan moderated the discussion with the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis fellow on Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3302375/two-sessions-webinar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3302375/two-sessions-webinar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Mar 2025 09:06:22 +0000 Less than two weeks after CK Hutchison Holdings’ surprise announcement that it was selling its Panama Canal ports to a consortium that includes US money manager BlackRock, the Hong Kong company came under fire from Beijing, which questioned its motives and loyalties. Against the backdrop of a roiling trade war between the US and China, CKH said on March 4 that it signed an agreement in principle to sell 80 per cent of Hutchison Port Group, a subsidiary that owns 43 container ports in 23... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3302353/hutchison-ports-sale-two-sessions-wrap-ed-miliband-visit-beijing-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3302353/hutchison-ports-sale-two-sessions-wrap-ed-miliband-visit-beijing-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Mar 2025 09:04:52 +0000 US President Donald Trump turned up the heat on trade with China, abruptly tacking on an additional 10 per cent in duties for imports from the world’s second-largest economy on top of a prior 10 per cent that had already been announced. Starting from Tuesday – the same day that Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress – the 20 per cent tariffs are in effect for China, which the US leader has blamed for not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl coming... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3299841/trump-doubles-china-tariffs-two-sessions-kick-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3299841/trump-doubles-china-tariffs-two-sessions-kick-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Feb 2025 09:06:09 +0000 Christina Pantin Christina Pantin Tôi không phải là người Việt Nam, tôi là người Mỹ gốc Malaysia. (“I’m not Vietnamese; I’m an American originally from Malaysia.”) This was the first phrase I asked my Vietnamese language instructor to teach me as I took up the bureau chief position for Reuters in Hanoi. I found it necessary to recite this often to establish my background at the outset, because to many Vietnamese, I looked Vietnamese. It occurred to me as I moved back to Hong Kong in 2019 that I might need to memorise something... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3299301/i-look-chinese-dont-speak-language-so-bad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3299301/i-look-chinese-dont-speak-language-so-bad?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Feb 2025 01:30:08 +0000 China’s hi-tech companies, riding a wave of optimism generated by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek’s models, reported upbeat financial results this week following a surge in share prices as investors reassessed the sector. Sentiment towards China’s Big Tech companies was also bolstered by the inclusion of some leading names – including founders of Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, Huawei and CATL – at a rare symposium with private-sector leaders hosted by Chinese President... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3299566/china-tech-earnings-hong-kong-budget-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3299566/china-tech-earnings-hong-kong-budget-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Feb 2025 09:01:43 +0000 China’s relationship reset with the United Kingdom gained momentum as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the first UK-China Strategic Dialogue to be held since 2018 during his first trip to Britain in a decade. Co-chairing the conference with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Wang also met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is planning a one-on-one with Chinese President Xi Jinping this year. Starmer plans to travel to Beijing, according to Politico. The Labour government has... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3298633/china-uk-relations-xi-meet-tech-titans-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3298633/china-uk-relations-xi-meet-tech-titans-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Feb 2025 09:48:20 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s suspension of foreign assistance programmes under USAID pending a 90-day review triggered worldwide consternation and may give China an opening to expand the reach of its soft power, particularly in the Global South, a chief beneficiary of American assistance. Trump issued an executive order on the first day of his second term to freeze more than US$60 billion in programmes that have aided countries in crisis for 64 years, saying USAID is “not aligned with American... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3298039/usaid-frozen-chinas-influence-global-south-looks-set-advance-unimpeded?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3298039/usaid-frozen-chinas-influence-global-south-looks-set-advance-unimpeded?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Feb 2025 09:00:47 +0000 The Year of the Snake started on a promising note for China, with tourism revenues and domestic travel hitting all-time highs during the eight-day holiday period. Over the annual Lunar New Year holiday which ended last Tuesday, China’s tourism revenue climbed 7.0 per cent on year to a record US$94.2 billion, with domestic trips up 5.9 per cent to a new high of 501 million, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Foreign tourism has been bolstered by a visa-free... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3297730/holiday-spending-wang-yi-meet-top-eu-diplomat-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3297730/holiday-spending-wang-yi-meet-top-eu-diplomat-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Feb 2025 09:11:12 +0000 If someone made another biopic about US President Donald Trump, it wouldn’t be a stretch to use the title of the 2022 hit movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. Since taking office on Monday for his second term, Trump has issued a whirlwind of executive orders, policy pronouncements and reversals as well as being the overall disrupter-in-chief. On Thursday, in his speech via video link to the World Economic Forum, the first international address since his return to the Oval Office, his... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3296069/wef-china-welcome-year-snake-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3296069/wef-china-welcome-year-snake-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2025 09:00:16 +0000 Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, opening up a new chapter in relations with rival China, which despite featuring as a regular punching bag before and after his re-election was barely mentioned in the newly installed president’s inaugural address. The half-hour speech name-checked China just once, when Trump mentioned the world’s second-largest economy’s role in the Panama Canal and vowed to return it to American hands. “We didn’t give it to China,” he said... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3295641/trump-inauguration-china-and-tariffs-get-few-mentions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3295641/trump-inauguration-china-and-tariffs-get-few-mentions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2025 09:00:53 +0000 China has closed the door on 2024 with a barrage of economic data for December and the full year, including the much-anticipated announcement that it had met the 5 per cent annual gross domestic product target. The National Bureau of Statistics, China’s leading government data compiler, rolled out a report card on the world’s second-largest economy that included the urban jobless rate, population growth, retail sales and home prices. The confirmation of last year’s GDP being on target offered... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3295201/chinas-2024-gdp-donald-trumps-inauguration-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3295201/chinas-2024-gdp-donald-trumps-inauguration-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2025 09:01:49 +0000 China led the largest foreign contingent to CES 2025, but some of its most notable companies were absent in a further sign of the tense relationship between Washington and Beijing. Ahead of the show’s kick-off on Tuesday, the Post reported that some Chinese tech companies’ employees were denied US visas despite holding invitations to attend. The four-day expo in Las Vegas drew more than 1,300 Chinese companies, including 1,212 from the mainland and 98 from Hong Kong, accounting for a quarter of... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3294201/ces-pentagons-expanded-blacklist-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3294201/ces-pentagons-expanded-blacklist-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2025 09:00:12 +0000 China said Wednesday that it will expand a trade-in programme to subsidise purchases of consumer items, a sign that this will be the centrepiece of government efforts to stimulate consumption in 2025. The announcement – by the National Development Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner – came a day ahead of December consumer and producer inflation data that remained in the doldrums: China’s consumer price index rose by 0.1 per cent on year, slower than the consensus in a poll... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3294046/china-expands-subsidies-consumer-goods-boost-consumption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3294046/china-expands-subsidies-consumer-goods-boost-consumption?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Jan 2025 09:00:43 +0000 Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks began 2025 inauspiciously, with their most dismal opening performances since 2016 and 2019, respectively, damped by caution over China’s slowing growth and uncertainty about incoming US President Donald Trump’s trade policies. On Friday, the CSI 300 Index slipped further, taking the loss since Tuesday’s close (markets were closed on Wednesday) to 4.1 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index clawed back 0.7 per cent to trim its year-to-date loss to 1.5 per... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3293289/china-stocks-poor-start-beijings-export-ban-us-defence-firms-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3293289/china-stocks-poor-start-beijings-export-ban-us-defence-firms-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Jan 2025 09:15:25 +0000 Hong Kong announced its third round of bounties on pro-democracy activists it accuses of violating national security, adding six individuals who are living abroad to a prior list of 13 opposition figures. The bounties of HK$1 million (US$128,690) announced on Tuesday by the Hong Kong police seeks information leading to the arrest of the individuals who include political commentator Chung Kim-wah (鍾劍華), 64, and Joseph Tay (鄭敬基), a 62-year-old former actor and founder of Canada-based NGO... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3292453/hong-kong-bounties-chinas-new-retirement-rules-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3292453/hong-kong-bounties-chinas-new-retirement-rules-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:01:21 +0000 China’s President Xi Jinping made his first post-pandemic visit to Macau this week to officiate the inauguration of its new chief executive, Sam Hou-fai, and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese administration. It was an opportunity for Xi to laud the remarkable growth of the 33.3 sq km special administrative region, the world’s biggest gaming hub, and to lay out Beijing’s expectations for the Greater Bay Area region which encompasses Macau and Hong Kong, along with... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3291694/xi-macau-industrial-profits-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3291694/xi-macau-industrial-profits-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2024 09:03:41 +0000 Beijing announced its latest tweaks to a visa-free transit policy that benefits travellers from 54 nations on Tuesday. The National Immigration Administration is now allowing travellers to stay in 24 provinces and municipalities for up to 10 days, provided that they travel onwards upon exiting the country. It expands on a policy that went into effect in November last year that allowed people from the same 54 countries to stay up to six days in 23 cities. Following are more details on the current... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3291351/china-further-relaxes-tourist-visa-policies-bid-spur-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3291351/china-further-relaxes-tourist-visa-policies-bid-spur-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2024 09:00:44 +0000 China’s central economic work conference wrapped up Thursday, with leaders providing little in the way of details on the economic agenda for 2025 while pledging to reach next year’s target for growth and better support the country’s private sector while stimulating domestic consumption. President Xi Jinping presided over the two-day meeting, which is usually held at this time of year and sets the tone for the coming year. The Politburo on Monday provided clues to the direction of the economic... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3290636/china-economic-conference-november-data-dump-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3290636/china-economic-conference-november-data-dump-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Dec 2024 09:00:15 +0000 Beijing announced sanctions against 13 US defence companies and six industry executives in retaliation for Washington’s latest round of US$385 million in arms sales to Taiwan. Meanwhile Taiwan’s leader William Lai gave Beijing yet another thing to criticise – undertaking a seven-day tour of Pacific islands that included stopovers on US soil in Hawaii and in the territory of Guam, where he spoke by phone with several US legislators. Lai also called on his only diplomatic allies in the region –... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3289658/taiwan-tensions-november-trade-figures-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3289658/taiwan-tensions-november-trade-figures-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Dec 2024 09:02:13 +0000 Haining Gao,Christina Pantin Haining Gao,Christina Pantin / https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3289160/chinas-local-government-debt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3289160/chinas-local-government-debt?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Dec 2024 09:06:41 +0000 Subscribers: SCMP Plus launched its China Future Tech industry briefing series today. Each edition will focus on one of the six sectors that comprise the China Future Tech section of SCMP.com (EVs, AI, semiconductors, aerospace, robotics and biomedicine). The online section is the go-to place for regular readers of SCMP to see the latest news, insights and opinions on China’s emerging innovation industries. In this inaugural edition of the industry briefing, available only to SCMP Plus readers,... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3289147/us-expands-controls-chip-exports-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3289147/us-expands-controls-chip-exports-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Dec 2024 09:00:45 +0000 Call me Beautiful. No, really. My Chinese name, Ee Wan – according to some translations – means “beautiful cloud”. By the naming conventions that my father’s Toh clan followed when I was growing up in Malaysia, those born into the same generation had the same first character in the two-character names they were given. My two sisters shared Ee, followed by a personalised second syllable. Likewise, my female paternal cousins adopted Ee, plus a second character. Meanwhile, the boys in the same... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3288337/i-may-not-use-my-beautiful-chinese-name-often-im-glad-gift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3288337/i-may-not-use-my-beautiful-chinese-name-often-im-glad-gift?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Nov 2024 01:30:09 +0000 Apple CEO Tim Cook’s appearance at China’s supply chain expo this week underlined the critical role the country still plays as the world’s factory floor. This is despite moves by multinational businesses to decouple or implement “friend shoring” and “China +1” production strategies to defend against manufacturing disruptions and US-China trade tariffs. Cook made his first visit to the China International Supply Chain Expo (the first edition was last year), saying he valued Apple’s Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3288662/supply-chain-expo-november-factory-activity-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3288662/supply-chain-expo-november-factory-activity-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Nov 2024 09:01:25 +0000 Hong Kong’s flagship financial forum drew a capacity crowd of the world’s top banks and investment companies as well as a large delegation of top Chinese officials as the city seeks to secure its standing as a global financial hub and gateway to the mainland. Organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the three-day summit that concluded on Wednesday was themed “Sailing Through Changes” – aimed at bringing to mind the trade, economic and geopolitical challenges facing Hong Kong and the... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3287659/financial-forum-politburo-meeting-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3287659/financial-forum-politburo-meeting-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Nov 2024 09:00:19 +0000 A barrage of economic stimulus measures China announced in late September may be bearing fruit on consumer spending, as retail sales and existing home sales in October turned in positive readings. China’s leaders have been making increasingly urgent calls to achieve the “around 5 per cent” GDP target for 2024 that had been imperilled by the country’s property sector crisis, stagnant consumer spending and global trade barriers. Following are details from October economic data released on... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3286677/october-retail-sales-rise-xi-biden-meet-one-last-time-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3286677/october-retail-sales-rise-xi-biden-meet-one-last-time-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Nov 2024 09:00:21 +0000 Christina Pantin,Haining Gao Christina Pantin,Haining Gao / https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3286377/chinas-corporate-landscape-private-companies-and-state-owned-enterprises?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3286377/chinas-corporate-landscape-private-companies-and-state-owned-enterprises?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Nov 2024 07:45:49 +0000 Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is on a four-day visit to China, his third official visit to the country since coming to power in November 2022, reflecting a pivot toward closer relations between the two countries. Anwar, who was jailed twice on sodomy and corruption charges after having served as deputy prime minister – charges that were widely viewed as politically motivated – was seen as a reliable Western ally when he was in opposition. Since taking charge in Kuala Lumpur, he has... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3285425/malaysia-reinforces-china-economic-ties-ahead-asean-leadership-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3285425/malaysia-reinforces-china-economic-ties-ahead-asean-leadership-role?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Nov 2024 09:06:32 +0000 Hong Kong secured a foothold in Middle Eastern markets this week after a business delegation closed around a dozen deals worth billions of dollars in start-up funding and collaborations at Riyadh’s three-day “Davos in the Desert” gathering. The leader of the delegation, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan, said, “It is not just talk,” as he recapped outcomes from the visit, which included participation by HSBC’s Hong Kong CEO Luanne Lim, HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan and 25 start-ups led by Albert... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3284762/davos-desert-npc-standing-committee-convenes-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3284762/davos-desert-npc-standing-committee-convenes-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Nov 2024 09:00:32 +0000 For the past few years, Hong Kong’s FinTech Week has been the place for cryptocurrency aficionados to converge around this time of year. While cryptocurrencies and the concept of Web3 are still alive, FinTech Week has pivoted to focus more on artificial intelligence and tokenisation. Web3 or Web 3.0 is the purported next step in the evolution of the internet, characterised by decentralisation that gives individuals more agency on the web thanks to wider use of the blockchain technologies that... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3284441/ai-tokenisation-focus-hong-kongs-fintech-summit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3284441/ai-tokenisation-focus-hong-kongs-fintech-summit?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Oct 2024 09:00:55 +0000 Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to make headway in establishing an alternative to the Swift cross-border settlement mechanism among Brics members at the bloc’s annual leaders’ summit in Kazan, Russia, this week, but an apparent lack of interest from China’s President Xi Jinping appears to have derailed the Russian’s plans. Xi was more focused on increasing cooperation among the Brics members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa welcomed Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3283814/brics-leaders-meet-pmis-tap-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3283814/brics-leaders-meet-pmis-tap-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Oct 2024 09:08:10 +0000 China cemented its trade ties with principal trading partner Asean this week, as it vowed more economic integration with the bloc. Addressing leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said China and Asean had completed talks to upgrade their free trade pact: “The extra-large market is the greatest support we have to promote economic prosperity, and improving market connectivity is an important direction for our further cooperation,” Li... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3281996/asean-summits-european-brandy-tariffs-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3281996/asean-summits-european-brandy-tariffs-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Oct 2024 09:09:58 +0000 I may have been nine or 10 years old when I first heard Australian singer Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman. I didn’t know it would become an anthem for the women’s movement, but the words stirred me. Even decades later, a tingle goes up my spine when the lyrics float through my mind: “I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman...” The boldness of proclaiming the superpowers of my gender had never occurred to me as a girl growing up in Malaysia. But as if on cue, there came a dose of reality around this... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3280806/hard-truths-about-growing-chinese-and-female-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3280806/hard-truths-about-growing-chinese-and-female-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Oct 2024 01:30:07 +0000 Subscribers: The Daily Pulse won’t be published on October 7. We will resume publication on Tuesday, October 8. China’s electric vehicle industry faces a day of reckoning as the European Union votes on punitive tariffs against Chinese-made EVs, bringing to a close four months of back-and-forth negotiations and threats of retaliatory trade action by Beijing on some European agricultural products. The 27-member EU’s decision on the measure – expected to pass – would impose additional duties of up... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3281027/eu-vote-chinese-ev-tariffs-chinese-equities-rally-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3281027/eu-vote-chinese-ev-tariffs-chinese-equities-rally-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Oct 2024 09:02:44 +0000 China’s problem of jobless youth has spawned viral social media phrases including “lying flat” (躺平) and “letting it rot” (摆烂). The first describes a mindset of doing the minimum to get by and the second refers to young people not making an effort because of losing hope. The most recent description may be the darkest yet given its allusion to China’s spiralling property sector. Rotten-tail kids (烂尾娃) are as unfinished as a rotten-tail building (烂尾楼) that has no electricity, no running water,... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3279604/chinas-jobless-youth-complicate-growth-plans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3279604/chinas-jobless-youth-complicate-growth-plans?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:01:09 +0000 With the final quarter of 2024 approaching, China’s economy is sending mixed signals that may be prompting even its biggest boosters to soften forecasts on the annual target of “around 5 per cent” gross domestic product growth. The crop of data for August on the world’s second-largest economy provided little sign that various policy measures to stimulate domestic consumption, shore up the beleaguered property sector and revive private investment have engineered a recovery. Following are some... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3279274/mixed-signals-chinas-economy-bidens-ev-tariffs-take-effect-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3279274/mixed-signals-chinas-economy-bidens-ev-tariffs-take-effect-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Sep 2024 09:00:23 +0000 Beijing responded to Ottawa’s decision last week to take the US’s lead and levy 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and 25 per cent on steel and aluminium. It launched an anti-dumping investigation into rapeseed imports from Canada and will also consider auditing imports of Canadian chemicals. Canada is the world’s top exporter of rapeseed, which Canadians call canola. China is the largest purchaser of the seeds, which are used in food preparation and in biofuels, accounting for... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3277455/beijing-responds-ottawa-tariffs-chinas-shangri-la-dialogue-kick-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3277455/beijing-responds-ottawa-tariffs-chinas-shangri-la-dialogue-kick-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Sep 2024 09:06:37 +0000 When neuroscientist Jane Wu ended her life in her Chicago home in July following alleged US scrutiny of her ties to Beijing, the incident revived discussions about the targeting of Chinese scientists in America and highlighted the deteriorating US-China relationship. Wu was the Dr Charles L. Mix Research Professor at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Much of the funding for her decades-long research that focused on RNA splicing and regulatory RNA-binding proteins – processes that are... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3277006/us-scrutiny-chinese-scientists-leads-tragic-end-one?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3277006/us-scrutiny-chinese-scientists-leads-tragic-end-one?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Sep 2024 09:08:15 +0000 Hong Kong’s press freedoms came under fresh scrutiny after a court convicted the now-defunct online news service Stand News and two of its former editors on charges of conspiracy to publish seditious articles after the adoption of the Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020. Stand News was founded in 2014 and became known for its live streams on the front lines of the 2019 social unrest in Hong Kong. It was the first media outlet accused of sedition since the city’s return to Chinese rule... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3276565/convictions-hong-kong-press-sedition-case-drone-export-controls-take-effect-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3276565/convictions-hong-kong-press-sedition-case-drone-export-controls-take-effect-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Aug 2024 09:00:17 +0000 The topics we covered this week in the Daily Pulse paint a picture of a country on the cusp of changes yet firmly tethered to its history. The week started with China playing conflict mediator in Myanmar, followed by Beijing reaffirming solidarity with socialist ally Vietnam. The economy came into focus in the past two days, with Europe’s revised tariffs looming over China’s exports of electric vehicles and Beijing’s efforts to revive the economy, which has been dogged by low consumer confidence... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3275581/china-marks-dengs-120th-collisions-south-china-sea-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3275581/china-marks-dengs-120th-collisions-south-china-sea-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2024 09:00:31 +0000 China added antimony – used to make military weapons – to its list of export controls on important materials, the latest salvo in a trade battle with the US which has led a global sanctions campaign to deny Beijing access to advanced chips and other technologies. Effective September 15, the export controls cover the rare antimony metals, ores and oxides, as well as equipment for processing superhard materials like lab-grown diamonds, according to the Ministry of Commerce and the General... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3274729/beijing-tightens-antimony-exports-dengs-120th-anniversary-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3274729/beijing-tightens-antimony-exports-dengs-120th-anniversary-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Aug 2024 09:01:07 +0000 President Xi Jinping sent a rare letter to Hong Kong corporate leaders who have roots in Ningbo, a port city that has produced a number of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs. Xi urged the group to “proactively integrate into China’s reform and opening up, make new contributions to Chinese modernisation, and contribute to the realisation of the Chinese dream of great national rejuvenation” in his response to a letter sent by a Hong Kong-based Ningbo bang (宁波帮)– merchants who established China’s... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3272949/xi-letter-politburo-signals-policy-support-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3272949/xi-letter-politburo-signals-policy-support-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Aug 2024 09:00:28 +0000 China’s central bank surprised markets twice this week, with reductions in the key short-term policy rate and mortgage reference rate on Monday, followed three days later by an out-of-cycle cut in the one-year medium-term facility rate by an unexpectedly large 20 basis points. The cuts came after the conclusion of the third plenum last week. The usual communique issued immediately afterward expressed an unusual commitment for a meeting about long-term development policy: to accomplish this... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3272006/china-rate-cuts-new-us-tariffs-take-effect-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3272006/china-rate-cuts-new-us-tariffs-take-effect-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Jul 2024 09:07:19 +0000 China hosted the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai this week, where Premier Li Qiang called for bridging an “intelligence gap” and making development of the emerging technology more inclusive of developing countries. “Artificial intelligence is the common wealth of mankind,” he said. “The Chinese people have always believed that true development is when everyone develops together.” Beijing has vowed to be the undisputed world leader in all areas of AI inquiry and applications... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3269305/chinas-ai-objectives-inflation-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3269305/chinas-ai-objectives-inflation-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jul 2024 09:00:15 +0000 China’s Politburo, which convened its sixth gathering this year, has launched corruption investigations into two former defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and his successor Li Shangfu, and expelled them from the Communist Party. The surprise move, announced by party mouthpiece Xinhua on Thursday, marked the first time in the history of the People’s Liberation Army that corruption investigations into two defence ministers were announced on the same day. President Xi Jinping has made anti-corruption a... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3268433/military-corruption-sco-summit-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3268433/military-corruption-sco-summit-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Jun 2024 09:00:20 +0000 A group of seven bipartisan US lawmakers met with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at his monastery in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala on Wednesday, drawing the ire of Beijing but receiving a welcome from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the audience. The US delegation was led by Michael McCaul, a Republican congressman from Texas who also chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and included former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Beijing, which asserts that Tibet... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3267483/tibet-meeting-summer-davos-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3267483/tibet-meeting-summer-davos-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jun 2024 09:04:07 +0000 After a nine-month anti-subsidy investigation into imported Chinese electric cars, the European Commission on Wednesday announced extra duties of up to 38.1 per cent starting July 4. The actual tariff will depend on the company, and will be added to the existing 10 per cent import tariffs on vehicles. The 27-member EU with a combined population of 450 million is a critical market for China’s EV sector, and is poised to be China’s biggest automotive export destination by 2030. Tariffs were... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3266631/ev-tariffs-li-qiang-new-zealand-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3266631/ev-tariffs-li-qiang-new-zealand-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jun 2024 09:01:19 +0000