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Graphics: China’s new ‘new three’ high-tech exports in numbers

By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser. While exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells are known as China's "new three," the country's manufacturing lineup is rapidly evolving. Robots, artificial intelligence (AI) and innovative medicines – labeled the "new 'new three'" – have emerged as powerful new foreign trade growth drivers in the first half of the year.

July 28, 2026

Business

China issues document calling for objectivity over ‘excess capacity’

By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser. China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Tuesday released a document titled "China's Position on the So-called Excess Capacity Issue" to clarify the facts surrounding the matter and elaborate China's policy stance on the issue. The document states that the rapid development of China's modern industries has been driven by innovation, adding that the relationship between manufacturing capacity and demand is a changing dynamic in a market economy. The document urges all parties to be open-minded and objective when it comes to the issue of capacity, saying that protectionism can only disturb global trade and bring long-term risks to global growth. File photo of a solar panel factory in China's Jiangxi Province. /VCG Following the release of the document, Lin Weilong, a MOFCOM researcher, told the press that China's industrial capacity utilization is at a reasonable level — 74.4% among factories over a designated size in 2025.

July 28, 2026

Business

CATL-backed smart driving tech firm to kick off Hong Kong IPO this week: sources

NASN Intelligent Tech could launch its book-building as early as Thursday and debut in early August NASN Intelligent Tech, a mainland Chinese smart driving motion control technologies company, is seeking to kick off its initial public offering (IPO) as soon as Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter. Founded in 2016, NASN completed multiple funding rounds before the IPO, with CATL and Hillhouse Investment each holding more than 3 per cent of shares. Other backers include Qiming Venture Partners and the Bank of China Capital. Prior to the IPO, NASN announced that CLSA stepped down as one of its overall coordinators, without disclosing the reason for the termination. Haitong International Securities and BOCI Asia continue to serve as joint sponsors. The company remains unprofitable, posting a 2025 full-year loss of 189 million yuan (US$26.9 million), up 12 per cent year on year, and a first-quarter loss this year of 54.9 million yuan, up 37 per cent, driven by high R&D spending. It expects to remain operating at a loss for 2026.

July 28, 2026

Business

How a displaced F1 race could be Malaysia’s ‘blessing in disguise’

Malaysia once decided Formula One was too expensive to keep, but Bahrain’s displaced Grand Prix has given it an unexpected route back to the calendar, as well as a chance to test whether the sport can still deliver value without the full financial burden of a long-term comeback. Analysts say the one-off race, made possible by the war in Iran and the cancellation of April’s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, offers Malaysia more than a nostalgic return to Sepang: it provides a timely tourism lift...

July 28, 2026

Business

US walks out on France at UN over human rights criticism

Rift deepens after sharp clash over UN rights chief’s second term and a scathing social media post US diplomats walked out as their French counterparts were speaking at the United Nations on Monday after America’s close European ally criticised the Trump administration’s human rights record. The surprise move during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine followed US opposition to giving UN human rights chief Volker Turk another four-year term. The reappointment on Friday got overwhelming support, including from France. The US walkout reflects not only the more strained relations between President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, but also wider tensions between the US and Europe. These include questions over Trump’s commitment to Nato, possible changes to US troop deployments in Europe, and Trump’s desire to control Greenland, which belongs to Nato member Denmark. Trump has complained that Europeans, who were not consulted, did not help the US during the Iran war. Amid the tensions, Macron has taken a lead in trying to build up Europe’s military and ensure a nuclear umbrella as one of the continent’s two nuclear powers, along with Britain.

July 28, 2026

Business

How early screening saved Hong Kong woman from her family’s liver cancer fate

Health authorities renew call for early hepatitis B screening, citing 40 per cent of 410,000 patients in city being unaware of condition Hongkonger Ms Lam has long known she is carrying a ticking time bomb after her mother and grandmother died of liver cancer. Her mother was completely asymptomatic until a late-stage diagnosis left no option for surgery. “I knew I carried the hepatitis B virus when I was in my twenties and had since then undergone regular health check-ups to manage the bomb,” the woman in her fifties recalled. Her regular checks were only disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic. When she returned for a check-up in 2024, tests showed a surging viral load and a liver tumour despite her not feeling any pain. Caught early, the tumour was successfully removed, and she was back on her feet just days after the operation. Now taking daily medication with stable blood readings, she has overhauled her lifestyle. “Fortunately, what happened to my mother did not happen to me … a long battle has begun, and I need to build my strength to fight it,” she said.

July 28, 2026

Business

What Hong Kong can learn from Northern Metropolis’ first land tender

Pilot tender of large mixed-use plot for public-private development shows scale of complexity requires flexibility and constant adjustment Major development projects involve balancing public policy goals with commercial realities. Governments seek to shape long-term outcomes, while investors must assess the risks, capital commitments and expected returns. Successful urban transformation programmes typically emerge when these perspectives are aligned. One key lesson is that large mixed-use developments are complex. Unlike a traditional residential land sale, the tender required bidders to consider not only housing development but also the delivery and operation of innovation and technology-related facilities over an extended period. This broadens the range of expertise, partnerships and financial commitments required.

July 28, 2026

Business

China court rules sharing family disputes in chat is domestic violence after dad embarrasses son

Son seeks court order to stop father from posting harmful messages and harassing family members A Chinese court issued a personal protection order to restrict a man’s behaviour after he repeatedly posted arguments with his wife in his son’s school chat groups. The Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court took this action after determining that the father’s behaviour constituted domestic violence. This case was recently publicised, igniting heated online discussions. The Shanghai man, surnamed Lin, had been estranged from his wife for an extended period. His son lived with his mother and had long been enduring the conflicts between his parents. Since November last year, Lin had repeatedly used “extremely emotional and derogatory” language in communications within his son’s class chat group, the parents’ group, and a neighbourhood group. In those messages, he accused his wife and parents-in-law of destroying their family and alienating his son from him. As the messages circulated, Lin junior began to feel ashamed in front of his classmates, teachers, and neighbours.

July 28, 2026

Business

China team unearths world’s oldest amber, hidden in ancient Xinjiang coal seam

Ancient plants were capable of producing resin to protect themselves 65 million years earlier than previously thought, study finds Until now, the oldest known amber to have been isolated from rock and confirmed through chemical analysis dated to the Late Carboniferous period, around 320 million years ago, when the first herbivores also emerged. The researchers, led by Luo Cihang, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, detailed their findings in a paper published by the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances on July 15. According to the paper, the palaeontologists were initially sceptical when they found hundreds of microscopic pieces of what appeared to be amber preserved in a coal seam dating from the Middle Devonian period around 393 million to 383 million years ago. When Luo and his team travelled to Xinjiang in 2019, they did not expect the fossil samples they planned to examine and collect from the region’s unusual coal seam would yield the world’s oldest known amber, the paper said.

July 28, 2026

Business

Amber rainstorm warning issued in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning

Hong Kong Observatory issues warning at 7.15am, with unsettled weather expected in the city over the next few days The Hong Kong Observatory issued an amber rainstorm warning on Tuesday morning, warning of unsettled weather over the next few days. The amber warning, issued at 7.15am, means that more than 30mm of rain has fallen in an hour, or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong and is likely to continue. “Showers will be heavier in some areas [on Wednesday]. The weather will still be unsettled in the following couple of days,” the weather forecaster said. It added that a broad trough of low pressure would continue to bring unsettled weather to the northern part of the South China Sea and the coast of Guangdong over the next couple of days. According to the Observatory, there would be flooding in some low-lying and poorly drained areas. It added that heavy rain could cause flash floods and advised residents to stay away from watercourses. “Showers will be heavier at times, with squally thunderstorms over the region. Under the influence of a southerly airstream, there will still be a few showers and sunny intervals along the coast of Guangdong over the weekend,” it said.

July 28, 2026

Business

Food court stalls caught off guard by rules over plastic serving containers

Warnings over food containers lined with plastic have been handed out to some stall operators, who say switch to approved versions will cost them Hong Kong environmental authorities have warned that restaurant operators must not use disposable tableware coated in plastic for dine-in service, after some owners told the South China Morning Post they were caught off guard by inspectors. The Environmental Protection Department on Monday clarified that paper products with an inner plastic lining could only be used for takeaway orders after a food stall owner at Dragon Centre in Sham Shui Po said he was “shocked” by a warning he received. Philip Ho was among the operators of dozens of food stalls at the shopping centre’s food court that were inspected on July 23 by department officers, who handed out multiple warnings. Given that the food court provides common seating for sit-down meals, regulations covering dine-in service apply. “I know I cannot use plastic bowls for dine-in, so I thought I was using paper bowls. Almost everyone here does the same,” Ho said.

July 28, 2026

Business

Singapore-based investors now the top non-local buyers of Hong Kong office assets

Investors from the Lion City unseated mainland Chinese in the second quarter, seizing distressed asset opportunities amid price corrections Singapore-based investors have become the largest group of non-local buyers of commercial properties in Hong Kong, drawn by the sizeable correction in the prices of distressed assets amid a slump in the city’s office segment, according to Colliers. The demand from Singapore was likely to remain steady in the coming months, given that the prices of office assets have declined by as much as 50 per cent, according to Thomas Chak, head of capital markets and investment services at the property consultancy. “Singaporean investors are drawn to Hong Kong more prominently in the second quarter because pricing has become significantly more attractive after several years of correction,” Chak said. “Many see this as an opportunity to acquire quality assets at a discount while positioning for a longer-term market recovery.” In the April to June period, non-local and mainland Chinese investment in commercial properties in Hong Kong amounted to HK$5.46 billion (US$696.23 million), of which Singapore-based buyers contributed HK$3.37 billion or 62 per cent of the total, data from Colliers showed.

July 28, 2026