Month: July 2025

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US and China are ‘creeping’ towards a trade deal, former ambassador Burns says Washington and Beijing are on a “creeping path towards some kind of a deal”, former US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said on Tuesday, while offering some rare support for US President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy towards China. 2. China’s foreign minister urges SCO to work for more ‘equal and orderly’…

MiniMax, the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up backed by two of China’s largest technology conglomerates, has confidentially applied for a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), according to people familiar with the matter. Advertisement China International Capital Corporation and UBS are the sponsors for the listing, according to the sources, who declined to be identified for discussing a confidential matter. MiniMax aimed to raise between HK$4 billion and HK$5 billion (US$510 million to US$637 million), but its deal size and valuation could change depending on market conditions, Reuters reported. MiniMax is…

Beijing has pledged to punish those who enforce Taiwan’s residency restrictions for mainland Chinese spouses, with Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily slamming Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s recent remarks about “removing impurities” on the island. Advertisement On Wednesday, Chen Binhua, a spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, described the island’s tightened residency rules as “a typical case of illegal abuse of power” and accused Taiwanese authorities of “discriminatory treatment and deliberate suppression that expose the nature of separatists”. Chen said Taiwanese authorities were “deliberately targeting mainland spouses who have lived…

A leading Chinese state media outlet has expressed support for the nation’s internet platform operators, emphasising their importance alongside hard-tech companies like chip manufacturers, as it adopts a positive tone that reflects Beijing’s friendly stance towards e-commerce companies. Advertisement According to the editorial published by the Economic Daily on Wednesday, food delivery and “hard-tech” breakthroughs – such as advances in high-speed trains and aerospace technologies – represented two key aspects of Chinese innovation. “China needs breakthroughs in ‘stranglehold technologies’ just as much as it needs innovations that improve daily life…

The Communist Party’s chief theoretician has urged groups outside the party – including China’s eight minor political parties, industry and commerce representatives, and public figures without party affiliation – to contribute to the discussion on how to boost domestic demand, as Beijing steps up efforts to entice the public to spend more. Advertisement Improving domestic demand is a strategic priority and a necessary step towards ensuring the long-term and healthy development of China’s economy, said Wang Huning, head of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and China’s No 4 official,…

China appears to be positioning Africa as a testing ground for internationalisation of the yuan as it seeks to expand the currency’s global use and break the dominance of the US dollar. Advertisement During a recent meeting in Cairo, the central banks of China and Egypt signed a series of agreements to promote the use of the yuan in trade and investment. These deals – lauded by People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng as a key step in advancing economic ties – were signed last week during Chinese Premier…

China’s expanded efforts to encourage visitors continued to pay off in the first half of 2025, with the number of visa-free foreign entries rising by more than half compared to the same period a year earlier. Advertisement Foreign nationals made 38 million trips in and out of the country, a 30 per cent increase year on year, according to the National Immigration Administration. “Visa facilitation measures have effectively attracted large numbers of foreign visitors for tourism and business, driving sustained growth in inbound consumption,” administration spokeswoman Lu Ning said. A…