Day: September 21, 2025

As next month’s fourth plenary session of the Communist Party’s Central Committee approaches, global attention is turning to China’s next five-year plan, which will be discussed at the gathering and will offer insights into how Beijing plans to navigate uncertainties amid rising tensions with the US. Advertisement China has used five-year plans – a strategy and time frame similar to that of the former Soviet Union – in the more than seven decades since the establishment of the People’s Republic. In that time, it has lifted itself out of extreme…

As China’s Victory Day parade got under way in Beijing on September 3, some of the world’s most advanced military hardware began to file through Tiananmen Square with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – the GJ-11 “Sharp Sword” – leading the way. Advertisement The drone, with the number 21 displayed on its fuselage, represented one of the most advanced uncrewed systems in service in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). A closer look at the aircraft’s wings showed visible folding hinges, a change from the debut of the UAV in 2019.…

HSBC has opened its first wealth management centre in the Middle East in the UAE – its biggest investment in two decades in its premier banking business – to tap the growing investment appetite of affluent investors globally, according to a top banker. Advertisement The bank’s 24,000 sq ft wealth centre started operations in Dubai on Tuesday, where some 90 relationship managers will cater to the investment needs of high-net-worth individuals in the United Arab Emirates. The country is one of the world’s top destinations for wealthy investors and entrepreneurs,…

China might build a science laboratory at the disputed Scarborough Shoal and invite international experts to conduct coral reef and fisheries research, a leading South China Sea analyst said. Advertisement He also called for further measures like boarding inspections, penalties for illegal fishing and barring rival claimants from the area. Beijing announced on September 10 that it had approved the creation of a nature reserve spanning around 35 sq km (13.5 square miles) at the shoal, which Beijing calls Huangyan Island. The Philippines, which also claims the feature and calls…

Dong Yu has been executive vice-president of the China Institute for Development Planning at Tsinghua University since 2019. Before joining academia, he held senior positions in several of China’s major economic decision-making bodies, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission. Advertisement He has been part of the teams that drafted several of the country’s economic blueprint documents, including the 11th, 12th and 13th five-year plans. In this interview, he discusses what might be included in the next five-year plan…

Following several high-profile aeronautical production quality lapses in recent years, including a door falling off mid-flight and tooling left inside aircraft, the last thing any plane manufacturer wants is a missing bolt or any oversight that slips through manual checks. Advertisement Enter the futuristic assembly line of C919, China’s first domestically developed large passenger jet. Leveraging a groundbreaking 5G-enabled industrial network system, the C919 smart mega factory in Shanghai is setting a new standard for aircraft manufacturing integrity, ensuring that all the parts, tools and technicians are monitored in real…

Advertisement They said China was likely to view such diversified partnerships positively, which could also open new opportunities to expand arms sales, although the security dynamics in the region might become further complicated. The mutual defence pact signed late on Wednesday significantly strengthens a decades-old security partnership between Riyadh and Islamabad at a time when Gulf Arab states are growing increasingly wary about the reliability of the United States as their long-standing security guarantor. It was signed only a week after Israeli strikes on Qatar targeting Hamas killed six people…