As China drafts its 15th five-year plan – the next entry in a line of expansive blueprints that have set the tone for the country’s development over more than seven decades – we examine how these documents inform and reflect high-level policy priorities, what to expect in the coming iteration and why Beijing has continued this tradition after the seismic economic changes of the reform era. Updated: 23 Sep, 2025 South China Morning Post
When US tech giant Nvidia unveiled its B40-series chips for China – stripped-down versions of its more advanced H20 line – many in Washington and Silicon Valley believed they had struck a clever compromise. The United States would retain its technological lead while allowing China to buy “safe” alternatives that preserved its dependence on American suppliers. Nvidia, in turn, could continue to profit from one of its largest markets. Advertisement The logic was simple: Beijing would accept something rather than nothing. Yet China has responded with a decisive “no”. Regulators…
This article is an on-site version of the India Business Briefing newsletter. To receive it in your inbox regularly, sign up if you’re a premium subscriber, or upgrade your subscription here. Good morning. It’s the week of hoping for a diplomatic reset. Both commerce minister Piyush Goyal and foreign minister S Jaishankar are in the US for talks. It’s good to know hopes for a deal that could ease US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs are not dead, even though Washington seems to be constantly upping the ante. Goyal continues to…
As China drafts its 15th five-year plan – the next entry in a line of expansive blueprints that have set the tone for the country’s development over more than seven decades – we examine how these documents inform and reflect high-level policy priorities, what to expect in the coming iteration and why Beijing has continued this tradition after the seismic economic changes of the reform era. Advertisement “Plans can’t keep up with changes,” the Chinese proverb goes. Yet for more than seven decades, China has relied on successive five-year plans…
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva opened his week at the United Nations on Monday by meeting with TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew to discuss plans for a multibillion-dollar data centre investment in Brazil, even as political controversies persist over regulation of the Chinese-owned platform. Advertisement The meeting, held at Brazil’s mission to the UN, was Lula’s first working engagement in New York, highlighting the importance of technology and digital policy in his international agenda. Brazilian officials estimate TikTok’s investment could reach R$55 billion (US$10.29 billion), making it…
For a week, the White House has signaled that a deal to transfer ownership of TikTok to a US company is forthcoming. Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order this week that would create a structure for a group of investors to take over operations of the Chinese social media company in the US. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. On Monday, White House officials said that the US business software company Oracle would license…
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is open to talks with the United States, but only if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons program. Kim made the remarks during a recent session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) reported Monday. He said he has “good memories” of President Trump from their previous summits and would consider talking if the United States changes its stance. The statement marked Kim’s first public response to Trump’s recent overtures and underscored the gulf between…
A sweeping two-month crackdown on online content is coming in China, aiming to restrict posts expressing views from hostility and conflict to “world-weariness,” Beijing’s top internet regulator announced on Monday. Monday’s notice from the Cyberspace Administration of China did not specify when the content crackdown would begin. It follows an announcement on Saturday saying the CAC would would take “disciplinary and punitive measures” against Weibo, a micro-blogging platform, and Kuaishou, a short-form video service — and a similar action taken on Sept. 11 against Xiaohongshu, the Instagram-like social-media service known…
China could build an artificial island at the fiercely contested Scarborough Shoal to shore up control of the surrounding waters if its newly established nature reserve fails to stem challenges by the Philippines, a prominent Chinese scholar on the dispute has said. Advertisement But a final decision would boil down to control, cost and confrontation, according to Wu Shicun of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, a government-sponsored think tank. A major consideration would be “whether it serves to strengthen China’s assertion of sovereignty and effective administrative control”,…
China’s soybean imports remained at historically high levels in August, with companies making huge purchases from Brazil and other South American growers as they prepared for a protracted trade stand-off between Beijing and Washington. Advertisement More than 12.2 million tonnes of soybeans entered China in August – the second-highest monthly total the country has ever recorded after May’s 13.9 million tonne inflow, according to detailed Chinese customs data released over the weekend. Brazil provided 10.49 million tonnes – or more than 85 per cent – of those imports, as a…