Gazing over the remains of his home, Wang Bingbing surveys a decades-old jujube tree flowering through the rubble, and the yard where he and his wife once raised pigs, now a pile of crumbled brick. In the valley below, a sprawling coalmine is the source of their dislocation: years of digging heightened the risk of landslides, forcing Wang and his family out. To prevent the family from returning, local authorities later demolished their home. “We really didn’t want to leave,” Wang’s wife, Wang Weizhen, says ruefully. Wang’s life is the…
Month: July 2025
China’s SpinQ sees quantum computing crossing ‘usefulness’ threshold in 5 years
Quantum computing is poised to reach a tipping point in three to five years by becoming useful for solving real-world problems, as computers harnessing about 500 qubits become a reality, according to Chinese start-up SpinQ. Advertisement Founded in 2018 and based in Shenzhen, SpinQ has two main product lines: small-scale nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum computers with about three qubits for educational use and industrial-grade superconducting quantum computers with up to 20 qubits. In 2020, SpinQ launched the world’s first programmable desktop NMR quantum computer. In 2023, it shipped a…
Extreme weather drives food price surges across the globe
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. From potatoes in Britain to onions in India, weather extremes driven by climate change are driving short-term food price surges globally, research has found. A study led by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center directly links dozens of climate extremes to sharp food price spikes, highlighting the increasing vulnerability of food systems to environmental shocks. Previous studies have examined how high temperatures, which cause waning yields and supply shortages, drive general food…
Sean Stein on why US businesses are walking a tightrope to stay in China
Sean Stein is president of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), a Washington-based non-profit organisation that promotes trade between the world’s two largest economies. The council represents more than 270 American companies doing business in China. Advertisement He most recently served as board chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in China and is chair emeritus of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Before that, he served for nearly three decades as a diplomat, including as US Consul General in Shenyang and Shanghai. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus.…
FirstFT: Japan’s prime minister signals intent to stay on despite election setback
This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here Good morning and welcome to FirstFT Asia. In today’s newsletter: Japan’s ruling party dealt election blow Why AI groups are spending on top experts Inside India’s powerful Hindu-nationalist movement We start with Japan’s upper house election — an exit poll published yesterday suggested a heavy setback for the ruling Liberal Democratic party. The latest: Japan’s…
Australia should not sabotage its own efforts to boost ties with China
Chinese media outlets were keen to accentuate the positives of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to China. However, sections of the Australian media played up the idea that China was attempting to drive a wedge between Australia and the United States and members of the Australian opposition criticised the visit, calling some of Albanese’s stops “indulgent”. Advertisement The visit achieved much in some areas, but otherwise made little progress. Despite reported efforts by Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary of defence for policy, to seemingly sabotage the visit, Albanese deftly refused…
Japan’s PM Ishiba signals intent to stay on despite election blow
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appeared determined to battle on in office on Sunday, despite a heavy setback for his Liberal Democratic party in an election fought over the rising cost of living and immigration. Speaking as results started to emerge in Sunday’s election for just over half the seats in the upper house, Ishiba told reporters that he would “continue to take responsibility for national issues”. An exit poll published after voting ended suggested the ruling LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, would lose their combined majority in the…
Japan’s PM Ishiba signals intent to stay on despite forecast election blow
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appeared determined to battle on in office on Sunday, despite a heavy setback for his Liberal Democratic party in an election fought over the rising cost of living and immigration. Speaking as results began to emerge in Sunday’s election for just over half the seats in the country’s upper house, Ishiba told reporters that he would “continue to take responsibility for national issues”. An exit poll published after voting ended suggested that the ruling LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, would lose their combined majority…
Xi Jinping is growing more elusive
Each august the most powerful man in the world drops from view. President Xi Jinping will probably leave Beijing next week and join senior officials at the beach resort of Beidaihe, three hours east of the capital, for a summer retreat. Communist Party grandees have gathered in its villas since the days of Mao Zedong. Even so, extended absences can stir heady speculation outside China about the leader’s grip on power. The Economist
Is Xi Jinping in trouble?
Each august the most powerful man in the world drops from view. President Xi Jinping will probably leave Beijing next week and join senior officials at the beach resort of Beidaihe, three hours east of the capital, for a summer retreat. Communist Party grandees have gathered in its villas since the days of Mao Zedong. Even so, extended absences can stir heady speculation outside China about the leader’s grip on power. The Economist