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China’s private sector

China’s private sector
The latest news, analysis and opinion on China’s private sector. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
The success of US retailer Sam’s Club in China is attributed to its “premium-value” offering sought by upper-middle-income consumers. Photo: Eugene Lee
Consumers

Changing tastes: China’s new affluent consumers seek quality not extravagance

Rise of upper middle class reshapes China’s retail market, driving demand for quality goods and creating a battleground for global brands.

Mainland China

China to probe food delivery platforms under anti-monopoly law

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Mergers & Acquisitions

China’s M&A revival points to deeper investor confidence in growth prospects

Consumers

Small restaurants in China starve as consumers suppress spending appetite

Per-capita spending per meal has dropped nearly 24 per cent since 2023, data provider says, as property slump sows uncertainty.

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A costumed man promotes restaurant specials in Beijing on December 2, 2025. Photo: AFP
China's economic recovery

China broadens foreign investment list in renewed pitch for overseas capital

The catalogue, which lists the sectors carrying policy incentives for overseas investors, has hundreds of new entries, many in advanced manufacturing.

Mainland China

From swoosh to local: Nike stumbles in China as home-grown rivals close the gap

Nike’s sharp drop in China sales underscores intensifying competition from home-grown brands amid changing consumer tastes.

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Biomedicine: Companies

BeOne Medicines names R&D chief Wang Lai as president amid global expansion

BeOne generated global revenue of about US$3.8 billion last year, driven by its flagship products Brukinsa and Tevimbra.

BeOne’s manufacturing facility in Guangzhou. Photo: Handout
China innovators

China’s growing young billionaire class masks innovation hurdles, analysts say

Technological innovation – one of Beijing’s top priorities – is helping to drive wealth creation, report says.

China's space programme

China launches satellite ‘super factory’ in bid to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink

The facility features a ‘factory-to-launch’ pipeline, expected to make it faster and cheaper to build low Earth orbit constellations.

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Tencent

Tencent quits Paramount’s Warner Bros bid amid US regulatory concerns

Tencent has been dropped as a financing partner from Paramount Skydance’s US$108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery.

Tencent’s failed bid underscores how US regulatory oversight is narrowing the space for Chinese investment in US media and technology deals. Photo: Shutterstock
China's economic recovery

China warns internet platforms not to shift tax burden onto gig workers

Celebrities and high-profile influencers also under scrutiny, with regulators pursuing hundreds of such cases in recent years.

The gig workforce in China includes food delivery drivers, an industry known for its intense demands. Photo: Getty Images
Artificial intelligence

ByteDance’s agentic AI smartphone dials up a digital backlash by China’s top apps

ByteDance’s new AI smartphone has run into resistance, as major Chinese platforms move to block its features citing fairness and security.

Hong Kong

Deloitte say Hong Kong primed as treasury hub for China’s go-global push

As Chinese companies diversify into Southeast Asia, Latin America and belt and road markets, many are using Hong Kong as a springboard.

United States

US lifts China sentiment, but tensions cloud outlook in Japan: report

Global confidence in China ticked higher in the third quarter, Morgan Stanley says, driven by US companies and policy support in Beijing.

Global business sentiment towards China improved in the third quarter of 2025. Photo: Xinhua
China's economic recovery

Beijing aims to harness state, private sectors to build ‘world-class firms’

Private firms need a stable, level playing field, with state-owned enterprises acting as anchors for strategic industries, state-asset watchdog says.

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A robotic arm moves stock at the smart workshop of a footwear company in China’s southeastern Fujian province. Photo: Xinhua
Hong Kong

Kelly Zong steps down as Wahaha chief amid bitter inheritance feud

The succession drama at Wahaha has entered a new phase, with heiress Kelly Zong relinquishing her top roles at the beverage giant.

Shanghai

Beauty market aglow: young Chinese splurge on self-care, Fosun-backed firm says

Growing number of men join women in embracing energy-based aesthetic treatments as a preventive measure: Sisram Medical.

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Open Questions series

Open Questions | Nicholas Lardy on China’s unique economic advantage

Economist at US think tanks on bright prospects for China, the challenges it faces and why more market discipline is needed.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
Shenzhen

China’s housing slide deepens as October prices fall at fastest pace in a year

New home prices drop 0.5 per cent across 70 cities despite easing measures amid slowing economy and job worries.

China's economic recovery

Tax reform in China’s 5-year plan aims to protect budgets without crushing firms

Officials propose boosting direct and local levies, curbing tax breaks and tapping new sectors to shore up local revenues and fund social spending.

China economy

China’s new private sector liberalisation spreads to infrastructure

Railways, nuclear reactors, oil pipelines and water networks in China are all opening up to private investors as the government seeks new ways to revive economic growth.

Photo: Xinhua
China economy

Explaining China’s 13 measures to promote private investment

SCMP Plus annotates State Council’s 13-point plan to promote private investment in infrastructure projects, until now the domain of the country’s state-owned enterprises.

Explaining China’s 13 measures to promote private investment
China economy

From rail to nuclear power, China taps private capital to fund major projects

Beijing unveils a slew of new measures to channel private investment into infrastructure projects ranging from hydropower to oil pipelines.

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Artificial intelligence

Innovation is key to curbing ‘involution’ in China: Two Sigma co-founder

While there is a lot of hype around AI, China’s practical approach is more effective, David Siegel says at the Family Business Summit.

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Mainland China

Fosun brings UK particle therapy to mainland China in advanced cancer care push

The US Food and Drug Administration-approved Marie system promises human-centred care, advanced technology and lower costs.

Fosun Pharmaceutical says the Marie system could reduce total treatment costs by 50 per cent compared with existing therapies. Photo: Daniel Ren
Middle East

Labubu maker Pop Mart pushes into Middle East with first Qatar store

The Chinese toymaker expects overseas revenue to surpass domestic sales by the end of this year.

Pop Mart’s first store in the Middle East is at Hamad International Airport in Doha, capital of Qatar. Photo: Handout
China’s fourth plenum

China unveils 5-year plan’s support for private sector, financial strength

Revelations had not been mentioned in the communique issued last week following the fourth plenum.

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US-China relations

China can learn US lessons to unleash military power of civilian tech, researcher says

Successful firms such as SpaceX, Palantir and Anduril are part of an agile American ecosystem, according to adviser.

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