Month: January 2026

Tianxia 2.0: how China can help shape the next world order

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Several signals from this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos revealed a fundamental transformation in international politics. The forum laid bare the conclusion of a long era, yet provided little clarity about the coming one. The first signal is the collapse of the post-World War II order shaped by the West – and the West’s own unravelling with it. The West has used its dominance over global discourse to construct and impose concepts it favours on the non-Western world. Yet the West itself is a Western construct, an ideological fiction…

As UK PM Starmer leaves China, what did he achieve – and what next for Sino-British ties?

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China and the United Kingdom are expected to sign more business deals as the British delegation, which comprises 54 companies, heads to Shanghai from Beijing as part of Keir Starmer’s visit, the first by a UK prime minister since 2018. The UK delegation will attend a reception in Shanghai on Friday evening, according to Peter Burnett, chief executive of the China-Britain Business Council. A business forum will be held, followed by lunch on Saturday before the group departs the country. “I think we signed some more deals this morning, including…

China lifts travel ban on British MPs

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. China is lifting its travel ban on MPs and peers who criticised the country’s human rights record and will allow all British parliamentarians to enter the country, Sir Keir Starmer has announced. Starmer said the lifting of the travel ban, which affects four currently serving MPs and two peers, was a vindication of his approach in engaging “constructively” with China during a four-day visit to the country. The UK prime…

China has lifted sanctions from six serving British MPs and peers, Starmer says

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China has lifted the sanctions it imposed on serving British MPs and peers in a significant sign of warming relations after Keir Starmer travelled to Beijing for landmark talks with Xi Jinping. Nine UK citizens were banned from China in 2021, including five Conservative MPs and two members of the House of Lords, targeted for highlighting human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghur community. However, it is unclear whether an academic, a barrister, and a former Tory MP who stepped down from parliament at the last election, who were also…

China tech giants ByteDance and Alibaba to ramp up AI infrastructure efforts

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Advertisement “Given the massive investments, efficiency is paramount. Otherwise, it amounts to significant waste,” Liang told employees on Thursday. “We must continuously pursue cheaper computing solutions,” he said. “This involves optimising efficiency across all levels: data centres, power consumption, GPU/CPU [graphics processing unit/ central processing unit] utilisation, system architecture, algorithms and product engineering.” Advertisement ByteDance planned to spend about 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) on AI chips from Nvidia in 2026, a hefty increase from roughly 85 billion yuan in 2025, the South China Morning Post reported last month, citing…

Alibaba AI chip push hits 100,000 mark, beating local rival Cambricon: sources

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Alibaba Group Holding has delivered more than 100,000 units of its most advanced artificial intelligence chip, the Zhenwu 810E, whose performance is said to be comparable to Nvidia’s H20, according to people familiar with the matter – a milestone that highlights the company’s growing role in China’s race to build domestic alternatives to US processors. The shipments, handled by Alibaba’s semiconductor arm T-Head, have already surpassed those of domestic rival Cambricon Technologies, the sources said, declining to be named because the information is not public. Alibaba owns the South China…

Trump warns UK against doing business with China after Starmer visits Beijing – UK politics live

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It is ‘flourishing’: China’s man-made forest in Gobi produces good rubber for military use

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Chinese scientists are planting high-value alternative “rubber trees” in the Gobi Desert. China is the world’s largest consumer and importer of natural rubber, mainly to support its massive car sector. Consumption last year is expected to have exceeded 7 million tonnes, over 85 per cent of it imported. However, the unique Chinese medicinal plant Duzhong (scientific name Eucommia ulmoides) may help to resolve this dependency. Advertisement While its bark is a valued material in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Duzhong is also a unique source of natural rubber in China, and…

UK services sector holds out hopes for China boost after Starmer visit

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Sir Keir Starmer will fly out of China this week a step closer to a possible bilateral services agreement, raising the hopes of British businesses that the prime minister said were “crying out for ways to grow their footprints” in the country. Starmer and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on Thursday to launch a “feasibility study” on possible negotiations for a bilateral services pact, alongside a host of other agreements…

Starmer says progress made on tariffs and visa-free travel in Beijing talks – video

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Keir Starmer hailed the economic benefits of resetting relations with China during a visit to Beijing – the first by a British prime minister in eight years. Starmer said bilateral meetings with China’s president, Xi Jinping, and its premier, Li Qiang, ‘made some real progress’, and announced the halving of tariffs on whisky and visa-free travel to China for British citizens. It comes after Donald Trump warned the UK against doing business with China The Guardian