Month: February 2026

Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese pharmaceutical companies are on track to deliver full-year profits, as surging drug sales and lucrative out-licensing deals with global partners start to pay off after years of research and development outlay. “Despite domestic challenges, particularly drug pricing pressure, the earnings performance of innovative drugs should still fare well in China in 2025,” said Tony Ren, head of Asia Healthcare Research at Macquarie Capital. Innovent Biologics, the first Chinese company cleared to sell a drug for weight loss and diabetes, is expected to post its first full-year…

Ahead of China’s annual legislative meetings – typically a window into Beijing’s top-level policy agenda – this is the third entry in a series examining the complex economic recalibration driving China’s growth philosophy and its wide-ranging implications for local governments, financial investors and private enterprises. In China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, a sprawling laboratory for Beijing’s “common prosperity” campaign to reduce income inequality, statistics suggest success: between 2021 and 2025, its urban-rural income gap narrowed from a ratio of 1.96 to 1.81 – a rare feat of compression during an…

A social media ban on a stand-up comic for joking about marriage has triggered an online backlash in China. Authorities said the Weibo account of Uygur stand-up comedian Xiao Pa was suspended as part of a cyberspace clean-up campaign during the Chinese New Year. Xiao Pa, whose real name is Paziliyaer Paerhati, was banned from posting online, a verified Weibo community manager posted on Friday. Advertisement “Xiao Pa had posted information that stirred up gender conflicts and created anxiety over marriage and childbirth … and was banned,” the post read.…

A social media ban on a stand-up comic for joking about marriage has triggered an online backlash in China. Authorities said the Weibo account of Uygur stand-up comedian Xiao Pa was suspended as part of a cyberspace clean-up campaign during the Chinese New Year. Xiao Pa, whose real name is Paziliyaer Paerhati, was banned from posting online, a verified Weibo community manager posted on Friday. Advertisement “Xiao Pa had posted information that stirred up gender conflicts and created anxiety over marriage and childbirth … and was banned,” the post read.…

In international relations, interactions between states are often understood through a transactional lens. A transactional approach treats diplomacy as a series of discrete deals, short-term and conditional exchanges governed by a strict calculus of quid pro quo. Its focus is immediate gain and measurable returns. The turbulence in transatlantic relations over the past year illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach. At the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reassured European leaders of the “unbreakable link” between the United States and Europe.…

The United States was out in force in Cape Town this month, throwing down a direct challenge to China at Africa’s biggest mining conference, the Investing in African Mining Indaba. While Chinese firms showed their technological leadership with automation and green energy solutions, officials from the State Department, the Department of Energy and several US development agencies were among the record number of American diplomats and financiers at the event in South Africa. Analysts said the US was looking to buy Africa’s critical minerals through financing deals – but it…

Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed, according to Iran’s state media. He called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history” and said the strike delivered justice for Iranians, Americans and others “killed or mutilated” by him. Advertisement Tehran declared a seven-day public holiday and 40 days of public mourning for Khamenei’s death. As the US and Israeli strikes against Iran entered a second day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that “the most devastating offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic will begin…

Taiwan’s procurement of three US arms packages has come under renewed scrutiny, with military experts now questioning their effectiveness in deterring Beijing. The debate has sharpened after opposition parties repeatedly blocked a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special defence budget in the legislature’s procedure committee last month. At the centre of the latest criticism are three US-approved systems for Taiwan: the Patriot PAC-3 missile defence system and its upgrades, the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (Nasams) and the M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzer. Advertisement According to Taiwan’s defence ministry and some…

The Chilean Ministry of Health said on Friday that it had reviewed the Silk Road Ark’s request and decided not to grant it, citing a health code that restricts such services to professionals accredited ‌in the country, Reuters reported. Advertisement “We ⁠determined that ⁠it is not appropriate to authorise this health operation to function on the ship’s facilities,” ‌the ministry said. The Silk Road Ark is a Chinese naval ship equipped with 14 clinical departments, seven diagnostic units and a rescue helicopter. Advertisement It is a symbol of China’s soft…

China and South Korea have resolved a trade dispute over hot-rolled steel coils through a price-undertaking deal, mirroring the solution used in China’s electric vehicle (EV) stand-off with the European Union. Analysts say the deal, which will see exporters raise export prices to avoid anti‑dumping duties, could avert punitive tariffs and safeguard market access for Chinese exports. The China Iron and Steel Association said in a statement issued on Thursday night that it “welcomed and supported” the use of a price-undertaking agreement to resolve an anti-dumping case initiated by South…