Year: 2025

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva kicked off the Cop30 climate summit on Thursday, urging leaders to turn promises into action while highlighting his country’s work within the Brics group to reaffirm the importance of climate finance, capacity building and technology transfer in global cooperation. Advertisement The meeting comes amid the notable absence by the United States. President Donald Trump, who ordered the country’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in January, declined an invitation from Lula in October to attend the conference. Washington also opted not to send any…

After China and the US reached an agreement on soybeans, Beijing has signalled its intent to seek favourable terms, with the scale of future imports dependent on the competitiveness of American crops, a commerce official said. Advertisement “With the adjusted tariffs, China will encourage companies to import agricultural products from the US in line with market principles,” said Chen Chao, director general of the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, in a speech at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on Thursday. “As…

The United States must take urgent action if it is to avoid a “logistical catastrophe” in any possible conflict with China, military strategists have suggested, describing supply lines as its biggest weakness. Advertisement Decades of neglect, cost cutting and personnel shortages – as well as poor maintenance and systemic decline – have directly undermined the US deterrence strategy in the Pacific, according to an analysis published on the military website Breaking Defence. While most public discussion focuses on advanced weapons and combat power, the deficit in the logistics network “is…

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese student boom helps create more university spots for Americans: study China’s university boom has helped boost US postgraduate education and local economies in college towns, according to a new study. 2. Chinese trade negotiator urges US to boost agricultural cooperation China’s key trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, has called on the US to create “a favourable atmosphere” for agricultural cooperation between the two countries.…

Advertisement Volcano Engine, the Beijing-based tech unicorn’s cloud computing division, is offering a monthly salary of 95,000 yuan to 120,000 yuan (US$13,328 to US$16,838), according to a job posting. It marked the company’s clearest move into humanoid robotics as it specifically sought humanoid specialists rather than general robotics experts. According to listings on Chinese hiring websites, the role involved conducting research on operational algorithms, pre-training large language models and integrating hardware for humanoid robots. Candidates were required to hold a master’s or doctoral degree in computer science, automation, artificial intelligence…

The ripple effects of the record-breaking US government shutdown have spread beyond Washington, denying US agricultural officials an opportunity to deepen cooperation with Chinese companies at a high-profile trade fair even as bilateral tensions show signs of easing. Advertisement The Post learned on Thursday that, because of the shutdown, representatives from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) did not attend this year’s China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. This marks the first absence of USDA staff since the American Food and Agriculture Pavilion was established at China’s flagship import…

Chinese scientists and engineers have pushed far beyond a string of US military bases known as the second island chain, reaching a seamount in the western Pacific Ocean 2,000 metres (6,561 feet) below the surface to test a smart mining vehicle designed to harvest cobalt-rich deposits, gathering critical performance data. Advertisement The robotic miner showed its ability to traverse rugged seabeds littered with cobalt crusts, autonomously adjusting its posture to avoid overturning or being trapped. Cobalt-rich crusts are slow-growing layers of iron and manganese oxides that coat the slopes of…

In recent months, the European Union has been more Trumpian on China, renouncing part of its free-trade DNA in favour of increasingly protectionist policies. Just like its role model in Washington, the EU has tried to exact geopolitical and economic concessions from Beijing by escalating to de-escalate – a brinkmanship approach that seems to come straight from US President Donald Trump’s playbook in his trade war against China. Advertisement But the recent trade detente reached by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea is likely to change the…

With nearly one month before Hainan, China’s southern island province, launches a separate customs regime, President Xi Jinping has urged officials to ensure the process goes smoothly so the region can spearhead the country’s opening up. Advertisement “The strategic goal of building the Hainan Free Trade Port is to establish it as a significant gateway leading China’s opening up in the new era,” Xi said on Thursday in Sanya, a city in southern Hainan, during his tour of the tropical island. “This is an exemplary move that demonstrates China’s unwavering…