Day: October 18, 2025

AMIES Technology, a new Chinese lithography equipment manufacturer that showcased its latest chipmaking products at an industry event in Shenzhen last week, is offering renewed optimism in the nation’s drive to reduce its dependence on Dutch giant ASML. Advertisement The company presented a wide range of products – including compound-semiconductor lithography machines, laser-annealing systems, advanced inspection tools and solutions for packaging and wafer bonding – at the WeSemiBay Semiconductor Ecosystem Expo 2025, which featured more than 600 exhibitors, such as Huawei Technologies partner SiCarrier. Advanced lithography remains a significant bottleneck…

China’s biggest airlines have started offering free Wi-fi to passengers on a growing number of domestic flights, as they vie to win back business travellers who now often prefer to shuttle between cities on high-speed trains. Advertisement China Eastern Airlines on October 11 launched a free “basic” Wi-fi service on all its widebody aircraft operating on domestic routes, said a company representative who spoke anonymously per company rules. The planes cover a total of 37 routes serving major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Kunming and Wuhan, the representative said.…

Landlocked in the heart of Southeast Asia, Laos ranks among the world’s poorest nations. Advertisement However, for over a decade, China invested heavily to build a dual-purpose passenger and freight railway through the thick rainforest between Kunming and Vientiane, the Laotian capital. This 1,000km (621-mile) rail line, with speeds of up to 200km/h (124 mph), has been operating quietly for four years. According to a Chinese government study released this month, this railway has become a critical conduit for China to secure potassium – a strategic resource vital for agricultural…

For Krislyn Massey, it all began with late nights watching Japanese anime as a child. That sparked a discovery of Chinese novels and a deep interest in studying Asia – an unlikely path for someone who grew up in a conservative family in Houston, Texas. Advertisement She began learning Japanese and getting involved in student-run educational exchanges. One of those, Bridge Culture Exchange Academy, led her to attend a virtual conference in 2023 with students in China, strangers who soon became friends she wanted to meet face-to-face. By the time…

At the autumn session of the twice-yearly Canton Fair – China’s oldest and largest trade exhibition – which opened this week, the busiest pavilions were those showcasing robotics, smart manufacturing and new energy vehicles. Advertisement At the exhibition halls in Guangzhou, the capital of southern China’s Guangdong province, cameras flashed, crowds surged and long queues formed at booths displaying hi-tech products, with concerns about the shadows cast by US tariff increases thin on the ground. The sales team at the Taixirobot booth, which featured new mountain- and stair-climbing exoskeleton robots,…

Advertisement The October 10 parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea was attended by Li Qiang – the first Chinese premier to visit the country in 16 years. It featured several advanced weapons systems, including tanks, artillery and drones as well as three new Hwasong-20 missiles. Other high-ranking officials present at the military parade included Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, and Vietnamese leader To Lam. The new missile’s existence was only disclosed last month when North Korean leader Kim…

An Air China flight from Hangzhou to Seoul was forced to make an emergency landing in Shanghai on Saturday after a lithium battery caught fire in the plane’s cabin. Advertisement In a statement on social media, Air China confirmed the incident. “On October 18, on flight CA139 from Hangzhou to Incheon, a lithium battery in a passenger’s carry-on luggage stored in the overhead compartment spontaneously ignited,” the airline said. The crew handled the situation quickly, it added, and “to ensure flight safety”, the plane had to “make an unscheduled landing”…

China and Canada are showing a readiness to mend mutual ties as both nations tackle strained relations with the US, marking a shift by Ottawa that analysts have described as “pragmatic”. Advertisement Beijing was willing to restart dialogue and exchanges “at all levels” and rebuild trust with Ottawa, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said as he met Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand during her two-day trip to China. Friday’s meeting in Beijing came just over a week after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited US President Donald Trump in Washington,…