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China innovators

China innovators
Entrepreneurs and companies helping to lead the world’s second largest economy away from being the world’s factory into being one of its leading innovators and experimenters.
Employees work on a production line for an electric flying car at a factory of Xpeng’s subsidiary Aridge in Guangzhou on November 6. Photo: AFP
China economy

Opinion | As China’s tech rises, companies must rethink their R&D strategy

Firms seeking to localise in China must see the country not just as a place to manufacture and sell, but as a co-creator and innovator.

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China’s fourth plenum

Opinion | 15th five-year plan charts a course for China’s modernisation

China technology

Editorial | Chinese science contributes to safe and peaceful nuclear power

US-China tech war

Rokid’s AI eyewear joins the quest to be the biggest thing since the smartphone

Start-up Rokid is teaming up with eyewear brand Bolon on lightweight AI glasses as competition heats up to deliver the next ‘iPhone moment’.

The Rokid AI glasses (left) and the newly launched Bolon-branded AI glasses without a display. Photo: Wency Chen
China manufacturing

Chinese AI, humanoid robot make Time magazine’s ‘Best Inventions of 2025’ list

New generation of innovators in spotlight as DeepSeek’s advanced reasoning model and Unitree’s affordable humanoid draw acclaim.

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Artificial intelligence

Exclusive | Zhipu AI sees tenfold surge in foreign users as Chinese AI gains traction

The Beijing start-up is leveraging its affordable ‘good enough’ open model to compete in the fast-growing AI coding market.

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China manufacturing

China calls for faster, wider adoption of advanced tech to strengthen industry

Locked in a tech war with the US, Beijing seeks greater commercialisation of cutting-edge technologies through large-scale application.

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Manufacturing technology in China. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Mainland China

When mines run dry: why some Chinese cities are racing to reinvent themselves

Once China’s answer to Pittsburgh, steel hub Panzhihua faces same challenge as other old industrial cities: how to avoid ‘rust belt’ decline.

China’s economic stimulus

Explainer | China has a new 500 billion yuan ‘financial instrument’. How will it be used?

Beijing created the special financing tool to turbocharge domestic innovation and help the economy ride out the trade war.

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China economy

Opinion | How China can position its K visa for success in race for global tech talent

Beijing must assuage local concerns while ensuring transparent selection, institutional support and the equitable integration of foreigners.

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China’s K visa, launched on October 1, marks a significant shift in its global talent strategy. Photo: Shutterstock
China economy

Opinion | Critics are missing the big picture on China’s economic transition

Thanks to green infrastructure, digital connectivity and world-class research, China’s economy is no longer reliant on one source of growth.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Open Questions series

Open Questions | Economist Liu Qian on China’s innovation, rivalry with US

From DeepSeek to WeChat, China innovates differently, says Liu, who also weighs in on the Thucydides Trap and Chinese women’s advancement.

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China technology

China vows faster global roll-out of BeiDou, its GPS rival, to expand ‘friends’

From smartphones to e-bikes, the system has rapidly embedded itself in daily life at home – now, Beijing eyes faster international expansion.

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China manufacturing

The hidden standards battle: inside China’s push to rewire global manufacturing

China is quietly vying to influence the bodies that set global manufacturing standards, which Europe and the US have long dominated.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
China energy security

China targets global leadership in AI-driven energy sector by 2030

Beijing plans to incorporate the cutting-edge tech across energy as part of its new “AI Plus” strategy.

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People attend the launch event of the first commercial application of artificial intelligence for the mining industry in Jinan, Shandong province, on July 18, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE
China education

AI enters the classroom: China’s Hangzhou makes lessons compulsory in schools

Local governments are beginning to take action after Beijing said it wants all primary and secondary students to study the advanced tech.

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Technology

Editorial | First humanoid robot games are proof the future is already here

From automation to athletics, the merging of artificial intelligence with robotics holds great promise, and peril.

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US-China trade war

China debuts first e-beam lithography tool for commercial use in chip milestone

Beijing’s efforts to build its own chipmaking tools may be paying off as global competition in the sector heats up.

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Electronic engineer holding computer chip with Chinese flag design. Photo: Shutterstock Images
China consumption

Beijing urged to curb ‘free milk tea’-style cash burn in e-commerce battle

Instant retail has potential to boost domestic demand, but more government policy support needed to end excessive competition, central bank adviser says.

China shipbuilding

Why China’s first rocket recovery ship is a milestone for its space programme

The launch of the drone ship marks a step forward for China’s push to develop reusable rockets, a technology currently monopolised by the US.

China travel

China’s high-speed rail nears 50,000km milestone – but is it sustainable?

The network dwarfs global rivals and has reshaped domestic travel – but analysts warn debt levels cannot be ignored.

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A volunteer holds leaflets as he stands near a 600km/h High Speed Maglev model showcasing at the National Railway Test Center during a tour by delegates to the World Congress on High-Speed Rail held in Beijing, on July 9. Photo: AP
Made in China 2025

China’s booming low-altitude economy spurs demand for ‘drone flight planners’

Beijing eyes growth in the emerging sector, but industry faces a severe talent shortage.

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Employees work on the production line of drones at the workshop of an aviation technology enterprise on May 16, 2024, in Anqing, Anhui province of China. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
China food security

Why is China converting cargo ships into giant floating fish farms?

China wants to build a ‘marine bread basket’ to shore up its food supply. Its latest idea: turning old vessels into mobile fish farms.

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US-China trade war

Nvidia CEO shines in China – but trade war fears still lurk beneath surface

AI-fuelled optimism casts light on recent China-US thaw, but the shadow of tariffs continues to haunt businesses.

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China manufacturing

China unveils world’s first humanoid robot that changes its own batteries

The Walker S2 returns to a charging point and swaps out its batteries when low on power, allowing it to work with minimal supervision.

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A screen grab from a demonstration video shows UBTech’s Walker S2 robot replacing its own batteries at a charging station. Photo: Weibo/ i陆三金
Robotics

In China, delivery robots now ride the subway to restock 7-Eleven stores

The project, reportedly the first of its kind in the world, will see robots ride subway trains to deliver goods to more than 100 stores across Shenzhen.

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Three of the new delivery robots trundle across a subway station in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Tuesday. Photo: Handout
Space

Opinion | A few small steps for Hong Kong, a giant leap for China’s space sector

The city is well suited to advance China’s commercial ambitions in the cosmos and play a leading role in reforming outdated legal frameworks.

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US-China trade war

What are China’s ‘future industries’? And why they count in the global tech race

From humanoids to quantum computing, Beijing wants to reshape its economy – and lead the world in next-gen technologies.

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