00:00 00:00 1.25x South China Morning Post
Tariffs, truces, Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’: key developments in US-China trade war in 2025
Month: December 2025
China signals tolerance for stronger renminbi
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. China has fixed the renminbi at its strongest level against the dollar in 15 months, a move that analysts say signals its tolerance of a gradual appreciation as its soaring exports stoke tensions with trading partners. The People’s Bank of China on Monday set the renminbi at 7.03 to the dollar, the strongest fix since September 30 2024. The currency has strengthened by almost 4 per cent this year against…
In the Gobi Desert, China is powering up the world’s largest ‘super-cold air battery’
In the Gobi Desert outside Golmud in the northwestern province of Qinghai, a row of white tanks stands tall in the open wilderness. Inside, air is compressed and cooled to -194 degrees Celsius (-317 Fahrenheit), and then it becomes liquid. When released, it expands by more than 750 times, drives turbines and generates electricity. This is the world’s largest liquid-air energy storage plant. Also known as the Super Air Power Bank, it is built by China Green Development Investment Group and developed with the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry…
‘They want to destroy my career’: Kiwi Chow on life as a dissenting director in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, where dissent is now characterised by silence, few dare openly criticise the government or the Chinese Communist party (CCP) that controls it. Film-maker Kiwi Chow is one of the few. “The Chinese Communist party’s practice is to try and destroy history and truth,” the 46-year-old director says from his home in the region. “It’s ridiculous that I can still live in Hong Kong without being in jail.” In a society where someone can be jailed for wearing a “seditious” T-shirt, his surprise is understandable. Chow is best…
Search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 expected to resume on Tuesday
The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to resume on 30 December, more than a decade after the plane disappeared with 239 people onboard in one of aviation’s greatest mysteries. A renewed search by Ocean Infinity, a UK and US-based marine robotics company, had begun earlier this year but was called off in April because of bad weather. The Malaysian transport ministry announced this month that the search of the seabed would be conducted intermittently over 55 days from 30 December. Ocean Infinity has agreed a “no find,…
China sets yuan fixing rate at 15-month high amid offshore gains
China’s central bank has set the yuan’s daily reference rate at its strongest level in 15 months, as the currency strengthened in offshore trading and briefly broke through the closely watched seven-per-US-dollar threshold. The move followed a recent rally in the Chinese currency, with the offshore yuan briefly breaching the benchmark rate of seven against the US dollar last week. Advertisement By midday on Monday, the offshore yuan was trading at 7.009 per US dollar. Analysts at China International Capital Corporation (CICC) said in a note on Saturday that US…
China launches military drills around Taiwan
‘Justice Mission 2025’ exercises to test US response after largest-ever arms sale to TaipeiFinancial Times
China launches live-fire drills encircling Taiwan
China has launched live-fire military drills around Taiwan, in what it calls a warning to “separatist” forces in Taiwan and “external interference” by foreign parties. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – the military wing of the ruling Communist party in China – said it had sent naval, air force and rocket forces to surround Taiwan on Monday morning. The exercise, named Justice Mission 2025, was a “a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces”, said a spokesperson for the PLA’s eastern theatre command, Col Shi Yi.…
The wildcat traders and US contractors piling into Pakistan’s antimony
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Mining myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. For years, the only buyers for the antimony Jabbar Khan sourced from wildcat traders in Afghanistan were secretive Chinese intermediaries, who bargained hard over the price. Now, Khan, chief operating officer at Himalayan Earth Exploration company, is fielding calls from US buyers interested in stockpiling the silvery-white rock vital to the production of missiles, batteries and flame retardants from Pakistan and central Asia. The price of antimony trioxide has shot up…
Chinese cities face subway delays as Beijing targets wasteful spending, high debt levels
China is tapping the brakes on some subway expansions, including in certain affluent cities, a decision analysts said reflects a shift from the debt-fuelled infrastructure boom of the past to a new era of fiscal discipline and investment efficiency. Rich eastern hubs such as Ningbo and Suzhou are among those facing regulatory roadblocks in securing Beijing’s approval for new lines as policymakers scrutinise loss-making projects. In an online response to public inquiries, the Ningbo Municipal Development and Reform Commission said this month that the city’s ridership metrics “need further improvement”…