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Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Tsinghua University. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
(From left) Joshua Zahl, Chen Jing and Zhou Ming. Photo: Handout/Tsinghua University
SCMP Highlights

7 scientists, mathematicians, physicists and experts who moved to China in 2025

From a world-leading statistician to a mathematics luminary, here are some experts who made the move.

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Artificial intelligence

China’s Zhipu and MiniMax release latest AI models ahead of Hong Kong listing

Science

Chinese team builds optical chip AI that is 100 times faster than Nvidia’s A100

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Artificial intelligence

Tencent shakes up AI operations, names recent recruit as chief AI scientist

Vinces Yao Shunyu now serves as chief AI scientist under the CEO’s office, reporting directly to Tencent president Martin Lau.

Tencent Holdings’ latest restructuring underscored the intense competition in the country’s fast-developing AI sector. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

Chinese expert calls for world models and safety standards for embodied AI

Turing Award winner Andrew Yao says embodied AI needs reasoning, planning and control in one framework.

TikTok

Are China’s social media apps the soft power play to win over the West?

After the US migration to RedNote, experts say transforming engagement into influence will require a ‘light touch’ from Beijing.

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US-China relations

Why China may be better placed than US in tussle for rare earths

While Beijing has long engaged with resource-rich nations, Trump’s Washington is seen as more ‘aggressive’ and reactive.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Science

Man behind 99% chips: semiconductor legend Chih-Tang Sah’s ashes leave US for China

Celebrated Chinese electronics engineer who ‘kept his homeland in his heart’ while living overseas buried in Fujian with his late wife.

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Robotics

Tsinghua University sets up research institute in push for robotics talent

The Institute for Embodied Intelligence and Robotics will be led by Zhang Tao, director of the university’s automation department.

Artificial intelligence

Huawei-style ‘chip stacking’ seen as a path for China to rival Nvidia’s GPUs

With US curbs biting, experts say near-memory computing and chip stacking could narrow the AI hardware gap with Nvidia.

China hopes to steal a march on Nvidia by combining relatively mature chips with new computing architectures. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

Alibaba Cloud team wins top AI award for breakthrough in model efficiency

The research could help reduce training and inference costs for Alibaba’s next generation Qwen models without sacrificing accuracy.

In this photo illustration, the Qwen logo is displayed on a smartphone with the Alibaba logo in the background. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Science

How China turned a cement factory into a haven for mathematicians

Beijing research institute has become a magnet for global talent, drawing Fields medallists, quantum physicists and others from 21 nations.

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Robotics

China’s robotics twin stars join national committee to shape industry standards

Unitree’s Wang Xingxing and AgiBot’s Peng Zhihui have been appointed to the Standardisation Technical Committee for Humanoid Robots.

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China-Russia relations

Missile defence in focus as China, Russia generals pledge deeper cooperation

Zhang Youxia and Russian counterpart discuss collaboration ‘blueprint’ in Moscow as US pushes Golden Dome, nuclear weapons testing.

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In his first visit to Russia in two years, Zhang Youxia, China’s top general, has signalled a continued strengthening of defence ties between the two countries. Photo: Sputnik
Science

QS university rankings ridiculed in China as latest listing bombs online

Social media commenters point out anomalies, calling the results ‘nonsense’ and ‘unintentionally funny’.

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Tsinghua University in Beijing is widely regarded as one of China’s leading universities. Photo: Shutterstock
US-China relations

‘Not enthusiastic’: why China finds Trump’s ‘G2’ talk too costly in geopolitics

While the term treats China and the US as equals, Beijing is probably ‘not enthusiastic’ about its ‘hegemonic’ undertones, analysts say.

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Taiwan

Beijing irked by Taiwan No 2’s speech, but measured response likely: analysts

Unofficial engagement at European Parliament is expected to prompt mainland officials to ‘be a lot more vigilant’ about political stunts.

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Science

Rising star mathematician Wu Meng returns to China from Finland

Now affiliated with Hunan University, the award-winning professor solved a major part of Furstenberg’s conjecture dating to the 1960s.

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Wu Meng (centre) wrote a paper about his proof of Furstenberg’s conjecture, earning him the 2023 International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians Best Paper Award. Photo: Handout
DeepSeek

China’s DeepSeek makes rare comment, calls for AI ‘whistle-blower’ on job losses

Remarks by CEO Liang Wenfeng’s delegate highlight potential dangers of race to build superintelligent systems.

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Science

Half of China’s raw building materials could be recycled by mid-century: study

Circular economy model could change the future of the nation’s sand and gravel industry, according to researchers.

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China manufacturing

Factories first: why China is determined to shield manufacturing from decline

Reversing deindustrialisation is notoriously difficult, making industrial protection a top priority, official publication says.

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Workers at the Seres Super Factory in Liangjiang New Area, southwest China’s Chongqing on September 19. Photo: Xinhua
US-China relations

Beyond a trade deal: will more Xi-Trump summits lead to new era of stability?

After the Biden presidency, the two leaders seek to chart a new course with more meetings and a focus on ‘bigger picture ideas’.

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US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping appear to have locked in a period of calm in bilateral relations following a highly anticipated summit in South Korea. Photo: Reuters
Taiwan

What does the Xi-Trump summit’s silence on Taiwan mean?

The self-ruled island is less of a priority for the US leader and could affect others playing the ‘Taiwan card’, analysts say.

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US-China trade war

China and US must halt escalating weaponisation of trade, Chinese scholar urges

Both sides will ‘need to have some kind of self-restraint’ to move past a recent flare-up in tensions, Tsinghua University professor says.

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DeepSeek

Will DeepSeek’s new model break the ‘long-context’ bottleneck holding back LLMs?

The solution proposed by DeepSeek in its latest paper is to convert text tokens into images, or pixels, using a vision encoder.

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The Deepseek v3.1 logo appears on a smartphone screen. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images
Science

Letters | Let’s inspire the future scientists from Hong Kong secondary schools

Readers discuss how to excite student interest in science, the legacy of physicist Chen-ning Yang, and typhoon leave.

Students from Bishop Hall Jubilee School present a low-energy cooling system for building facades at the Hong Kong Science Fair on June 28. Photo: Dickson Lee
Artificial intelligence

Chinese AI start-up Shengshu unveils Vidu Q2 in challenge to OpenAI’s Sora

Membership tiers range from free access to a flagship plan costing up to US$84 a month, which offers faster output and more capacity.

Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook pushes AI system launch in China after iPhone Air release

‘Cook has leveraged his personal brand to transform Apple’ into an ‘engaged participant attuned to local sentiments’, consultancy M360 says.

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