https://www.scmp.com/rss/522524/feed The latest new and top stories on Gavekal Dragonomics, a leading independent economic research firm, with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, specialising in comprehensive analysis of China’s economy, politics and social issues. It provides in-depth research reports, data services and briefings to financial institutions, institutional investors and corporate clients globally. Known for its rigorous macroeconomic and sectoral data analysis, including insights on China’s consumption trends and the... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Zhu Wenqian Zhu Wenqian The momentum in China’s venture-capital industry, which is recovering after years of decline, is likely to continue this year, mainly bolstered by government financing, but an expert warned that the lack of funding diversity poses a hidden risk. Fundraising picked up in 2025, with most of the gains coming from government sources, as central policymakers loosened rules to allow local governments to issue more bonds to finance government guidance funds, according to a report released on Tuesday by... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3345502/chinas-venture-capital-revival-fuelled-state-cash-faces-risk-losing-momentum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3345502/chinas-venture-capital-revival-fuelled-state-cash-faces-risk-losing-momentum?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 03:20:41 +0000 Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings Fiscal strains are forcing Chinese provinces to slash their budget-revenue expectations for 2026 due to the knock-on effects of a five-year property market slump, and analysts cite the shift as a warning sign that intense debt pressures continue to drag down the nation’s economic growth outlook. Major provinces are budgeting for 2 to 3 per cent growth this year in general public operating revenue, broadly in line with last year but below broader economic growth targets, Fitch Ratings said in a... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3343499/chinese-provinces-slash-revenue-outlook-analysts-warn-debt-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3343499/chinese-provinces-slash-revenue-outlook-analysts-warn-debt-control?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 15:00:08 +0000 Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings Chinese regulators are targeting one of the world’s biggest travel platforms in an anti-monopoly probe after complaints it had hurt travellers and travel operators in China’s expansive tourism market, analysts said. Unlike the broad legal actions against Chinese tech firms and cram schools five years ago, the investigation into Trip.com is seen as a relatively isolated case – yet one that might precipitate others – in response to issues over commissions, exclusivity and the sophisticated use of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3341019/china-probe-tripcom-zeroes-algorithms-prices-after-vendor-backlash-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3341019/china-probe-tripcom-zeroes-algorithms-prices-after-vendor-backlash-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 01:30:15 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma China’s central bank strengthened the yuan’s daily fixing for a third consecutive session to a nearly 16-month high, as the currency also held firm in offshore markets despite recent US dollar strength. On Tuesday, the People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s midpoint rate, also known as the daily fixing rate, at 7.0103 to the US dollar – the strongest showing since the end of September 2024, when the rate was set at 7.0074. That official midpoint rate, however, was still weaker than that of the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3339699/chinas-central-bank-sets-onshore-yuan-fixing-strongest-point-nearly-16-months?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3339699/chinas-central-bank-sets-onshore-yuan-fixing-strongest-point-nearly-16-months?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 06:00:15 +0000 Kandy Wong,Mia Nurmamat Kandy Wong,Mia Nurmamat China’s exports of permanent magnets to the European Union saw a sharp rebound in November, as Beijing confirmed last week it has begun granting general licences with lengthier terms for overseas shipments of the materials, which contain valuable rare earth elements and are essential components in numerous hi-tech products. Last month’s total export volume of the magnets to the EU increased 59.5 per cent year on year to 2,568.8 tonnes, according to figures released on Saturday by China’s General... https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3337346/chinas-rare-earth-magnet-exports-eu-jump-nearly-60-approvals-take-effect?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3337346/chinas-rare-earth-magnet-exports-eu-jump-nearly-60-approvals-take-effect?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:30:21 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma China’s top economic policy coordinator has urged the country to confront unavoidable challenges, while expressing confidence that investment and consumption growth will recover next year as efforts to boost domestic demand intensify. An unnamed official from the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission said the current challenges were “issues arising in the course of development and transition”. “[They] cannot be avoided or sidestepped, but with effort they can be... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3336756/policy-body-urges-china-confront-economic-challenges-confident-demand-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3336756/policy-body-urges-china-confront-economic-challenges-confident-demand-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Dec 2025 08:00:12 +0000 Ralph Jennings,Kandy Wong Ralph Jennings,Kandy Wong US President Donald Trump’s green light for Nvidia to sell H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips in China signals a calculated shift to export older technology, according to analysts who see the move as aiming to fortify the US market share while dampening China’s urgency for self-reliance. But some predict an ongoing policy tug of war in the US between advocates of this week’s relaxation and those who prefer continued tight restrictions on hi-tech gear shipped to China. Trump said on Monday... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3335774/us-china-tech-thaw-trump-clears-nvidia-h200-exports-why-green-light-matters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3335774/us-china-tech-thaw-trump-clears-nvidia-h200-exports-why-green-light-matters?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 14:00:09 +0000 Ralph Jennings,Mia Nurmamat Ralph Jennings,Mia Nurmamat China and a bloc of 11 Southeast Asian countries signed an upgrade to their free-trade agreement on Tuesday, expanding its terms to cover product quality, environmental protection and help for small businesses, in a sought-after strengthening of multilateral economic ties for Beijing amid its ongoing trade war with the US. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a group with a combined population of 680 million and a total gross domestic product of US$3.8 trillion in 2023, signed the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3330635/china-asean-free-trade-pact-gets-upgrade-beijing-touts-regional-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3330635/china-asean-free-trade-pact-gets-upgrade-beijing-touts-regional-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 10:00:17 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow When Alibaba Group Holding’s CEO Eddie Wu Yongming took the stage at the company’s annual Apsara conference in Hangzhou on September 24, few people expected the media-shy executive to deliver anything shocking, especially since he read from prepared statements at last year’s event. Wu, however, immediately outlined a clear road map for Alibaba’s AI development, with a goal towards so-called artificial superintelligence (ASI) – when the firm’s Qwen open-source models and cloud services would... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3328568/chinas-lesson-us-it-takes-more-chips-win-ai-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3328568/chinas-lesson-us-it-takes-more-chips-win-ai-race?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Oct 2025 04:00:13 +0000 Daniel Ren Daniel Ren Caring for the elderly, rising awareness of environmental protection and the flourishing “she economy” are creating a cushion against potential deflation in mainland China, offering manufacturers, retailers and service providers a ray of hope amid consumer concerns over wages and job prospects. A recovery of consumer vigour in the mammoth Chinese market, which officials and company bosses believe will turn the world’s second-largest economy around, could take shape when the big population of... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3327830/china-looks-silver-economy-women-eco-consciousness-spur-consumer-spending?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3327830/china-looks-silver-economy-women-eco-consciousness-spur-consumer-spending?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Oct 2025 05:00:08 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Alibaba Group Holding and Nvidia on Wednesday unveiled a collaboration that will see the US semiconductor giant’s suite of “physical” artificial intelligence tools integrated into the Chinese tech firm’s machine learning-focused cloud platform for AI. Users of Alibaba Cloud, the AI and cloud computing services unit of Alibaba, are now able to access Nvidia’s embodied AI development toolkit, including data processing, real-world reinforcement learning and model training, according to the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3326715/alibaba-integrates-nvidias-ai-robotics-tools-cloud-platform?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3326715/alibaba-integrates-nvidias-ai-robotics-tools-cloud-platform?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:30:09 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma A recent rally in China’s yuan has been primarily fuelled by stronger guidance from its central bank rather than by market forces, analysts said, pointing to a mostly steady US dollar index. However, they noted, this period of strengthening is likely to remain measured, as Beijing prefers to avoid harming the competitiveness of its exporters amid trade tensions with the United States. Over just five trading days last week, the People’s Bank of China pushed the yuan’s reference rate against the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3324501/chinas-yuan-rallies-central-bank-backing-worries-mount-over-us-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3324501/chinas-yuan-rallies-central-bank-backing-worries-mount-over-us-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Sep 2025 02:00:14 +0000 Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports are biting into the income of some American retail-focused companies, with at least two already in bankruptcy court and others forecasting significant losses. Exporters were shouldering a relatively small share of duties on goods sent from China to the US, leaving American firms to absorb the remaining costs or pass them on to consumers, according to minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting on July 29-30, citing the views of... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3323198/2-china-exposed-us-retailers-face-risk-bankruptcy-trumps-tariffs-bite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3323198/2-china-exposed-us-retailers-face-risk-bankruptcy-trumps-tariffs-bite?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Aug 2025 11:00:27 +0000 Carol Yang Carol Yang Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for more action to boost consumption and investment, as the world’s second-largest economy strives to meet its annual growth targets despite facing growing headwinds in the second half of the year. “[We] should recognise the hard-won achievements and the strong resilience as well as dynamism of China’s economy, reinforcing confidence, while also acknowledging the risks and challenges in the economy and the complex external environment,” he told a meeting of... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3322320/china-signals-bolder-policies-boost-spending-investment-headwinds-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3322320/china-signals-bolder-policies-boost-spending-investment-headwinds-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 05:00:28 +0000 Carol Yang Carol Yang While China’s economy has shown considerable resilience through a turbulent first half of 2025 – navigating the dramatic twists and turns of US trade policy while maintaining steady growth - experts warn Beijing’s challenges are far from over. Although many believe the country can still hit its annual goal of “around 5 per cent” for gross domestic product growth, more pressure points are expected to emerge in the latter half of the year. After the bilateral trade war saw a temporary... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3316531/china-mostly-unscathed-turbulent-six-months-2025-still-uphill-climb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3316531/china-mostly-unscathed-turbulent-six-months-2025-still-uphill-climb?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jul 2025 23:00:15 +0000