Breaking China, Asia, HK News, Opinions and Insights

Joe Ngai, Greater China chairman at McKinsey & Company. Photo: Edmond So

China market is the ‘world’s toughest gym’ for global brands: McKinsey

Innovation, speed, and entrepreneurial agility are needed in China, foreign firms must adapt or lose ground, says McKinsey’s Joe Ngai.

18 minutes ago

Which company could become the Chinese Pfizer? Here are analysts’ top picks

China’s private sector

Diplomacy

China’s Xi Jinping arrives in North Korea after hailing everlasting friendship

Joined by top aide and foreign minister, Chinese leader arrives in Pyongyang on Monday for his first visit since 2019.

10 minutes agovideocam

Military

China’s nuclear stockpile growing as disarmament era ends: SIPRI

Swedish think-tank says Beijing now has 620 nuclear warheads and may be increasing deployment as New Start’s expiry ends arms control era.

8 Jun 2026 - 6:01AM

Hong Kong Economy

Lantau reclamation plans should be revived, property tycoon Gordon Wu says

Lack of urban land will hold back city’s development as population grows, Hopewell Holdings chairman argues.

2 hours agovideocam

Open Questions

Economist James Heckman on the value of risk-taking, and China’s ‘common goal’

World

Chinese cash reshapes African port, students rethink Hong Kong: 5 weekend reads

From a historic slave port turning into a tourist site to Chinese drink chains in the US, here are five stories you may have missed over the weekend.

2 hours ago

The “Gate of No Return” memorial arch on Ouidah beach, Benin. The historic port once saw nearly 2 million enslaved Africans marched along the 2km “Slave Route” from the auction plaza to the beach during the transatlantic slave trade. Photo: Shutterstock

Science

Tibet quartz discovery boosts China’s self-sufficiency push for hi-tech materials

China’s discovery of rare quartz used to make solar panels and semiconductors could help rewrite US import dominance.

4 hours agovideocam

Politics

Japan museum under fire for ‘rewriting history’ with Nanking ‘incident’ label

Conservatives force the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum to drop the word massacre, a move critics say downplays Japan’s wartime aggression.

37 minutes agovideocam

Business

How Changan Automobile’s design-driven brand strategy shapes its global expansion plans

Klaus Zyciora, vice-president of the Chinese carmaker, says its innovative, smart, low-carbon vehicles can entice customers around the world.

In partnership with:

Changan Automobile

Southeast Asia

Developing | 12 killed, 200 injured after magnitude 7.8 quake strikes Philippines

The threat of a tsunami largely passed about five hours after the quake struck the southern region of Mindanao.

11 minutes agovideocam

A man walks near a collapsed building after a magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, Mindanao Island, the Philippines, on Monday. Photo: GenSan Dev/Reuters

A drone view shows collapsed buildings in General Santos, Mindanao Island, after the earthquake on Monday. Photo: GenSan Dev/Reuters

A building in the Philippines is seen after being damaged by the 7.8-magnitude quake. Photo: Facebook/Kevin Steele

Diplomacy

Israel strikes Iran, defying Trump after ‘I call the shots’ claim

It is now 100 days since the war erupted and it has been marked by an escalation of violence in the region.

3 hours ago

China Business

Hong Kong stocks slump as AI rallies in Asia unravel on US rate-increase fears

Investors drive Hong Kong and other Asian markets lower as the AI trade unravels on rate-increase fears after strong reading on US jobs report.

3 hours agovideocam

Tech

DeepSeek’s bargain AI triggers price war across China’s tech sector

DeepSeek’s pricing shock is rippling through China’s AI sector, pressuring rivals and unsettling cloud providers.

5 hours ago

DeepSeek’s ultra-cheap V4 models have triggered a new round of competition, forcing rivals to rethink how they monetise AI. Photo: Reuters

East Asia

K-drama stars IU, Lee Dong-wook dragged into South Korean ballot protest

Protesters have called on IU to send coffee to them, in reference to her support during the 2024 rallies against ex-president Yoon.

19 minutes ago

IU posts a photo of herself at a fan meeting on May 16. Photo: Facebook/IU

Politics

Hong Kong tycoon bets China will overtake US economy ‘in next decade or so’

Hopewell founder Gordon Wu says city must leverage its role as a premier trading hub to attract highly fluid American private wealth.

24 minutes agovideocam

Food & Drink

Visual feast: Chinese photographers shine at World Food Photography Awards 2026

Hotpot feasts, communal banquets and street food scenes were the highlights from Chinese photographers during this year’s competition.

8 Jun 2026 - 7:15AM

Australasia

Albanese plans major Australian migration cuts amid falling poll numbers

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has seized on comparatively high recent net migration as the cause of a housing shortage.

3 hours ago

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese holds a press conference on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Americas

Peru faces drawn-out count as presidential race goes down to the wire

Four-time candidate Keiko Fujimori is locked in a tight run-off with leftist rival Roberto Sanchez.

23 minutes ago

Presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori after voting on Sunday. Photo: AP

Politics

Japan prepares to drop its pacifist mask as the right rises

A right-wing parliamentary supermajority is paving the way for Tokyo to amend its post-war pacifist constitution.

6 hours ago

Southeast Asia

Cambodia’s ‘performative’ crackdowns fail to stop scam centres: Amnesty

The rights group said it identified 86 scam compounds operating across Cambodia as of April, up from 53 a year earlier.

4 hours agovideocam

OPINION

Alice Wu

Opinion | Teachers behaving badly should prompt reflection in Hong Kong

5 hours ago

Gaurav Kumar

Opinion | As Asia’s strategic landscape evolves, what is the Quad’s purpose?

8 Jun 2026 - 5:30AM

SCMP Editorial

Editorial | Harness World Cup fever to grow Hong Kong football

8 Jun 2026 - 7:15AM

Letters

Letters | Must Hong Kong use seawater for flushing, despite leaks and repairs?

3 hours ago

Wang Xiangwei

Opinion | On Taiwan, the Trump-Xi summit offered more than optics

7 Jun 2026 - 8:30PM

Harry’s View | 8 Jun 2026

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Diplomacy

Has a diplomatic feud prompted China to press pause on Japanese film and music?

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Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra pack a punch in back-to-back Hong Kong concerts

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China Business

China market is the ‘world’s toughest gym’ for global brands: McKinsey

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Chinese homeowner buys 34th-floor flat in 32-storey building, gets no compensation

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East Asia

K-drama stars IU, Lee Dong-wook dragged into South Korean ballot protest

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Americas

Peru faces drawn-out count as presidential race goes down to the wire

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Arts

At 92, British artist Frank Bowling is still trying to make the best painting ever

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East Asia

Japanese IT head says he made AI videos to smear Takaichi’s rivals during poll

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Hong Kong

Hong Kong serves up local flavour as ‘Typhoon Dim-sum’ joins new storm names list

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World

Chinese cash reshapes African port, students rethink Hong Kong: 5 weekend reads

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US President Donald Trump listening to a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping at a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, last week. Photo: Reuters

SCMP Series Trump’s 2026 trip to China

China will buy at least US$17 billion of US farm goods annually, White House says

The agreement was struck at the recent summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to US fact sheet.

3-MIN READ

How will Beijing judge Trump’s take on Taiwan? Look for 1 critical factor

3-MIN READvideocam

How China and the US felt the weight of history behind Trump and Xi’s meeting

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Open Questions series

China Business

Open Questions | Hong Kong must embrace ‘bipolar’ role to thrive in its ‘Stage 3.0’: Charles Li

Veteran deal maker urges an IPO link to lure global resource giants and turn Chinese buyers into owners as city solidifies role as East-West bridge and global capital hub.

9-MIN READvideocam

Diplomacy

Open Questions | Stable US-China ties? It won’t last long, Evan Medeiros says

After Trump’s China trip, political scientist gives his assessment on Taiwan, trade leverage, the Iran war and Beijing’s tensions with Tokyo.

9-MIN READvideocam

Politics

Open Questions | Mainland China’s Wu Yongping on what the Xi-Trump summit means for Taiwan

Regardless of the meeting’s outcome, the trend towards resolution of the Taiwan question won’t change, according to the Tsinghua academic.

12-MIN READ

Politics

Open Questions | Taiwan’s Cheng Li-wun on cross-strait peace, meeting Xi and managing US ties

Kuomintang chairwoman says hostility towards mainland is a product of political engineering that does not reflect reality of Taiwan.

17-MIN READvideocam

Key Industries:

United States & Canada

US takes step to halt Nvidia AI chip shipments to Chinese overseas subsidiaries

Surprise move suggests US chips may have been making their way to the subsidiaries of Chinese firms based in places such as Malaysia.

2-MIN READvideocam

The Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Photo: Getty Images / TNS

China Business

Which company could become the Chinese Pfizer? Here are analysts’ top picks

A boom in outlicensing agreements leads to a debate over which Chinese firms may be first to break into overseas markets with own brands.

4-MIN READ

Policy

What does Washington’s latest AI chip guidance mean for Chinese tech firms?

Beijing has criticised the move, but lawyers say the US document is more a clarification than a brand-new curb.

3-MIN READ

Tech

Chinese memory makers step up challenge to Korea’s chip champions

CXMT and YMTC are nearing public listings, giving China’s memory-chip sector fresh firepower in its pursuit of Samsung and SK Hynix.

3-MIN READ

Analysts say CXMT’s IPO approval is further evidence that Chinese memory-chip makers are becoming increasingly competitive with their US and Korean rivals. Photo: Getty Images

China Economy

China’s gig economy is an employment reservoir – but is the well drying up?

More than 200 million people in China are flexibly employed, but AI adoption, unstable income and poor social security make positions precarious.

5-MIN READvideocam

US

How Chinese drink chains are testing the limits of soft power

New tea and coffee brands from China are winning customers across America, but their broader influence remains unclear.

6-MIN READvideocam

Health & Environment

‘Silent killer’: the race to beat cancer in Hong Kong

Despite a rising number of cancer cases in Hong Kong, survival rates are improving. Here is what you need to know.

1-MIN READ

Global Economy

China and Japan aren’t talking. Will their rare earth trade go quiet?

With bilateral relations at a low and Beijing already enacting limited export controls on critical minerals, fears of a broader ban grow.

7-MIN READvideocam

China market is the ‘world’s toughest gym’ for global brands: McKinsey

Innovation, speed, and entrepreneurial agility are needed in China, foreign firms must adapt or lose ground, says McKinsey’s Joe Ngai.

Which company could become the Chinese Pfizer? Here are analysts’ top picks

China’s Xi Jinping arrives in North Korea after hailing everlasting friendship

Joined by top aide and foreign minister, Chinese leader arrives in Pyongyang on Monday for his first visit since 2019.

China’s nuclear stockpile growing as disarmament era ends: SIPRI

Swedish think-tank says Beijing now has 620 nuclear warheads and may be increasing deployment as New Start’s expiry ends arms control era.

Lantau reclamation plans should be revived, property tycoon Gordon Wu says

Lack of urban land will hold back city’s development as population grows, Hopewell Holdings chairman argues.

Economist James Heckman on the value of risk-taking, and China’s ‘common goal’

Chinese cash reshapes African port, students rethink Hong Kong: 5 weekend reads

From a historic slave port turning into a tourist site to Chinese drink chains in the US, here are five stories you may have missed over the weekend.

Tibet quartz discovery boosts China’s self-sufficiency push for hi-tech materials

China’s discovery of rare quartz used to make solar panels and semiconductors could help rewrite US import dominance.

Japan museum under fire for ‘rewriting history’ with Nanking ‘incident’ label

Conservatives force the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum to drop the word massacre, a move critics say downplays Japan’s wartime aggression.

.css-12ooj4n{font-family:Roboto Condensed,Roboto Condensed fallback,sans-serif;}How Changan Automobile’s design-driven brand strategy shapes its global expansion plans

Klaus Zyciora, vice-president of the Chinese carmaker, says its innovative, smart, low-carbon vehicles can entice customers around the world.

.css-1f6sr3w{color:#727272;}Developing | 12 killed, 200 injured after magnitude 7.8 quake strikes Philippines

The threat of a tsunami largely passed about five hours after the quake struck the southern region of Mindanao.

Israel strikes Iran, defying Trump after ‘I call the shots’ claim

It is now 100 days since the war erupted and it has been marked by an escalation of violence in the region.

Hong Kong stocks slump as AI rallies in Asia unravel on US rate-increase fears

Investors drive Hong Kong and other Asian markets lower as the AI trade unravels on rate-increase fears after strong reading on US jobs report.

DeepSeek’s bargain AI triggers price war across China’s tech sector

DeepSeek’s pricing shock is rippling through China’s AI sector, pressuring rivals and unsettling cloud providers.

K-drama stars IU, Lee Dong-wook dragged into South Korean ballot protest

Protesters have called on IU to send coffee to them, in reference to her support during the 2024 rallies against ex-president Yoon.

Hong Kong tycoon bets China will overtake US economy ‘in next decade or so’

Hopewell founder Gordon Wu says city must leverage its role as a premier trading hub to attract highly fluid American private wealth.

Visual feast: Chinese photographers shine at World Food Photography Awards 2026

Hotpot feasts, communal banquets and street food scenes were the highlights from Chinese photographers during this year’s competition.

Albanese plans major Australian migration cuts amid falling poll numbers

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has seized on comparatively high recent net migration as the cause of a housing shortage.

Peru faces drawn-out count as presidential race goes down to the wire

Four-time candidate Keiko Fujimori is locked in a tight run-off with leftist rival Roberto Sanchez.

Japan prepares to drop its pacifist mask as the right rises

A right-wing parliamentary supermajority is paving the way for Tokyo to amend its post-war pacifist constitution.

Cambodia’s ‘performative’ crackdowns fail to stop scam centres: Amnesty

The rights group said it identified 86 scam compounds operating across Cambodia as of April, up from 53 a year earlier.

.css-1pcrwvc{color:#2aa191;}Opinion | Teachers behaving badly should prompt reflection in Hong Kong

Opinion | As Asia’s strategic landscape evolves, what is the Quad’s purpose?

Editorial | Harness World Cup fever to grow Hong Kong football

Letters | Must Hong Kong use seawater for flushing, despite leaks and repairs?

Opinion | On Taiwan, the Trump-Xi summit offered more than optics

Has a diplomatic feud prompted China to press pause on Japanese film and music?

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra pack a punch in back-to-back Hong Kong concerts

China market is the ‘world’s toughest gym’ for global brands: McKinsey

Chinese homeowner buys 34th-floor flat in 32-storey building, gets no compensation

K-drama stars IU, Lee Dong-wook dragged into South Korean ballot protest

Peru faces drawn-out count as presidential race goes down to the wire

At 92, British artist Frank Bowling is still trying to make the best painting ever

Japanese IT head says he made AI videos to smear Takaichi’s rivals during poll

Hong Kong serves up local flavour as ‘Typhoon Dim-sum’ joins new storm names list

Chinese cash reshapes African port, students rethink Hong Kong: 5 weekend reads

China will buy at least US$17 billion of US farm goods annually, White House says

The agreement was struck at the recent summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to US fact sheet.

How will Beijing judge Trump’s take on Taiwan? Look for 1 critical factor

How China and the US felt the weight of history behind Trump and Xi’s meeting

Open Questions | Hong Kong must embrace ‘bipolar’ role to thrive in its ‘Stage 3.0’: Charles Li

Veteran deal maker urges an IPO link to lure global resource giants and turn Chinese buyers into owners as city solidifies role as East-West bridge and global capital hub.

Open Questions | Stable US-China ties? It won’t last long, Evan Medeiros says

After Trump’s China trip, political scientist gives his assessment on Taiwan, trade leverage, the Iran war and Beijing’s tensions with Tokyo.

Open Questions | Mainland China’s Wu Yongping on what the Xi-Trump summit means for Taiwan

Regardless of the meeting’s outcome, the trend towards resolution of the Taiwan question won’t change, according to the Tsinghua academic.

Open Questions | Taiwan’s Cheng Li-wun on cross-strait peace, meeting Xi and managing US ties

Kuomintang chairwoman says hostility towards mainland is a product of political engineering that does not reflect reality of Taiwan.

US takes step to halt Nvidia AI chip shipments to Chinese overseas subsidiaries

Surprise move suggests US chips may have been making their way to the subsidiaries of Chinese firms based in places such as Malaysia.

Which company could become the Chinese Pfizer? Here are analysts’ top picks

A boom in outlicensing agreements leads to a debate over which Chinese firms may be first to break into overseas markets with own brands.

What does Washington’s latest AI chip guidance mean for Chinese tech firms?

Beijing has criticised the move, but lawyers say the US document is more a clarification than a brand-new curb.

Chinese memory makers step up challenge to Korea’s chip champions

CXMT and YMTC are nearing public listings, giving China’s memory-chip sector fresh firepower in its pursuit of Samsung and SK Hynix.

China’s gig economy is an employment reservoir – but is the well drying up?

More than 200 million people in China are flexibly employed, but AI adoption, unstable income and poor social security make positions precarious.

How Chinese drink chains are testing the limits of soft power

New tea and coffee brands from China are winning customers across America, but their broader influence remains unclear.

‘Silent killer’: the race to beat cancer in Hong Kong

How Changan Automobile’s design-driven brand strategy shapes its global expansion plans

Developing | 12 killed, 200 injured after magnitude 7.8 quake strikes Philippines

Opinion | Teachers behaving badly should prompt reflection in Hong Kong