Day: June 17, 2025

China will set up an “international operations centre” for the digital yuan to boost the global influence of the renminbi, People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng announced at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on Wednesday. Advertisement The measure was among eight financial policies Pan announced during the opening of the annual finance-facing forum, which also included pledges that China would pilot a range of structural monetary policy tools in Shanghai. The policies come at a time when growing tensions with the United States over trade and technology issues have…

Mainland Chinese companies will use Hong Kong’s capital market as the launch pad for their global growth, according to an action plan signed on Wednesday with Shanghai to connect the premier onshore commercial city with the nation’s offshore financial hub. Advertisement The two cities will expand the decade-old connect programme linking the stock markets of Shanghai and Hong Kong with more equities, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and gold, as well as working on cross-border settlements and uses of the digital yuan, according to the agreement signed at the annual Lujiazui…

As China witnesses a boom in humanoid robotics, companies in the sector are offering salaries more than three times the urban average to lure top engineers and AI talent – underscoring a deepening talent crunch that even industry leaders acknowledge. Advertisement The average monthly pay for humanoid robot algorithm engineers now stands at 31,512 yuan (US$4386), rising up to 38,489 yuan for roles requiring more than five years of experience, according to a new report released this week by online recruitment platform Zhaopin. That is nearly four times the nationwide…

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping sat alongside his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to watch Moscow’s Victory Day parade wearing the symbolic St George’s ribbon. Before that, the two leaders, who have met more than 40 times, signed over 20 bilateral cooperation agreements and pledged that their countries would be “friends of steel”. There seems ample evidence supporting the oft-touted “no limits” friendship. Advertisement But a leaked memo, reportedly from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) tells a more sobering story – one of deep mistrust, strategic anxiety and growing alarm…

Taiwan is actively engaging both local and international defence innovators to showcase uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) technologies with potential military applications. Advertisement This comes as the island intensifies efforts to strengthen its asymmetric warfare capabilities, in response to growing threats from Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army. As part of the push, 12 companies – seven of them from Taiwan and the rest US-based – are taking part in a two-day USV demonstration that began on Tuesday at Suao port in northeastern Yilan county. The government-backed National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and…

China leads the world in converting decommissioned coal-mining sites into solar power projects, a trend that promises to advance the clean energy transition while potentially reducing a surplus of solar panels produced by struggling Chinese manufacturers, according to Global Energy Monitor (GEM). Advertisement Conversion of surface-mined lands into solar-generation projects had surged in 15 countries, particularly over the past couple of years, the non-governmental organisation said in a report on Wednesday. In mainland China – the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal – 90 former coal mines were operating…

Advertisement “Basically, no statement because the Americans wanted to water it down,” an unnamed Canadian official told reporters on condition of anonymity, according to AFP. News services on Tuesday reported the proposed statement would have condemned Russia in no uncertain terms – a routine G7 stance before US President Donald Trump’s re-election – but that Washington had argued such an approach could undermine its ability to negotiate. The other six member countries decided that the watered-down language would not have been fair to Ukraine, the official added, so they opted…