Month: July 2025

Companies linked to Shi Yongxin, the disgraced head of China’s renowned Shaolin Temple, have been deregistered, and his Buddhist credentials revoked – with authorities citing “severe damage” caused to the image of the order. Advertisement The swift move to erase the institutional footprint of the abbot of China’s most famous Buddhist sanctuary came a day after temple authorities said Shi was under investigation for criminal charges, including embezzling funds and temple assets. The Buddhist Association of China, the national governing body overseeing Buddhist affairs, expressed its strong support for the…

After underperforming in China’s national college entrance exam in June, Lu Jie was accepted into a computer science and technology programme earlier this month at a lesser-known polytechnic university in central China’s Hunan province. Advertisement “Good schools had too many applicants for this major, so I had to choose a lower-ranked one to pursue it,” Lu said. The results for the exam, better known as the gaokao, have been released over the past two weeks – marking a life-changing moment for students like Lu. Now more than ever, students are…

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will pay a Chinese company US$12.5 billion for exclusive global rights to develop a dozen drugs, in a landmark deal that underscores how China’s research labs are snapping up market share in the global pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. Advertisement The deal would give GSK the rights to develop a drug for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) called HRD-9821, as well as 11 of the preclinical programmes owned by Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals. The global rights exclude mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, according to a statement to…

In 1951, immediately after Tibet’s liberation, the Chinese government established the first Tibetan scientific expedition. Advertisement This was the first comprehensive scientific expedition to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. More than 50 researchers, equipped with barometers, compasses and other basic instruments, accompanied the army on their pioneering quest. It took them nearly three years to complete the expedition from the Jinsha River in the east to Mount Everest in the west, and to the Yarlung Tsangpo River in southern Tibet. A geological map highlighting key mining areas along the route was compiled,…