Day: October 22, 2025

Global hotel chain operator Hilton plans to introduce new brands to mainland China, aiming to meet evolving lifestyle demands amid its rapid expansion in the world’s second-largest economy. Advertisement “From my perspective, hotel rooms do not have to be very big, but they have to feature elegant designs and decor to impress customers, giving them a sense of inspiration,” Qian said. “As hotel managers, we are trying to add a new dimension to lifestyle to cater to Chinese consumers’ demands.” Hilton, which operates 11 brands in China, including Conrad and…

China should break free from Western “discourse traps” over issues such as state subsidies, democracy and the global order to challenge “double standards” about its rise, a former official policy adviser has urged. Advertisement Ding Yifan, a former deputy director of the Institute of World Development, a government think tank, also said many Chinese scholars were reluctant to argue that the Communist Party had played a key role in China’s “remarkable” development because of criticisms it was autocratic. But he told an event at Fudan University in Shanghai last week…

Huawei Technologies on Wednesday released to consumers in China the latest version of its proprietary operating system, HarmonyOS 6, that enables direct file transfers between Huawei and Apple devices for the first time. Advertisement The updated mobile operating system’s new function, which is similar to Apple’s AirDrop feature, enables short-range wireless transfer of photos and documents without the need for data plans. According to Huawei, the function “breaks down device boundaries and allows for more flexible data flow”. That function also showed Shenzhen-based Huawei’s efforts to further improve the user…

With an eye to transforming Cambodia into a Southeast Asian travel and cargo hub, a new US$2.3 billion airport – developed by a venture affiliated with one of the country’s wealthiest men – was opened at a grand ceremony near Phnom Penh, where officials and business leaders praised the project for enhancing regional connectivity and deepening links with Hong Kong and mainland China. Advertisement Techo International Airport (TIA), which has replaced the Cambodian capital’s previous facility, has been forecast by PwC to accommodate 5.3 million passengers in the remainder of…

China and the United States often find themselves sharply at odds on policy, but nowhere is the divide between the rival powers more striking than on climate change – as their leaders made clear at last month’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. Advertisement Even as US President Donald Trump dismissed climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”, his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, used the moment to unveil Beijing’s latest strategies for addressing the issue. Xi said China sought to cut its emissions by…

The Chinese government’s recent announcement of more export controls on rare earth-related items marks a significant shift in global economic statecraft. The new measures, covering a spectrum of rare earth elements, other critical materials and relevant processing technologies, have been justified as measures to safeguard national security and fulfil non-proliferation obligations. Advertisement The controls aim to deny the use of the materials in foreign military systems, linking China’s mines directly to the heart of Western military technological superiority. This could be seen as a robust policy response to the challenges…

Washington should focus its industrial policy on strategic, cutting-edge technologies rather than trying to bring back manufacturing wholesale, particularly in areas where the US has little competitive advantage, said members of the former Joe Biden administration. Advertisement This comes at a time when US policy circles are debating whether the nation should borrow some of China’s playbook as the bilateral competition intensifies and how far it should go as China’s state-led system makes a big bet on advanced manufacturing and future industries like AI, robotics and biotech in its coming…