Day: March 26, 2026

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) launched an action plan to enhance its current businesses and seek new growth in 2026, as the largest contract chipmaker in China aims to solidify its role as the backbone of the country’s self-sufficiency drive. Released alongside its annual report for 2025, the plan outlined a commitment to “optimising existing stock and digging for new increments”, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday. The company said two trends would continue to bring new growth opportunities to the domestic semiconductor industry this year:…

China’s airlines are expected to add nearly 2,900 more China-Europe flights to their summer schedules compared with last year, analysts said, as the US-Israel war on Iran hands them an even greater competitive advantage over other global carriers. Unlike many Western airlines, Chinese carriers can fly directly through Russian airspace to Europe rather than taking a lengthy detour, allowing them to offer quicker flights, save on fuel and avoid sending planes over the Middle East. The number of European flights offered by Chinese airlines will rise by a net 2,891,…

Amid uncertainty over the timing of a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, the world is watching closely to see where the two largest economies are leading us. At a time of cascading crises like wars, regional tensions and economic uncertainty, the relationship between Washington and Beijing has become one of the most important variables for global stability. And yet, for all the analysis of military budgets, trade deficits and geopolitical competition, one critical dimension remains stubbornly underappreciated in American policy circles: the deep, historical…

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) is lagging behind China’s national average in basic research, despite showing strong potential in sectors such as semiconductors and smart manufacturing, according to Deloitte. The cluster of cities in southern China, which included Shenzhen, spent about 28.9 billion yuan (US$4.2 billion) on basic research in 2024, accounting for just 5.67 per cent of total spending in research and development (R&D), the consulting firm said in a report released in Hong Kong on Thursday. That compared with a national average of 6.9 per cent,…

US President Donald Trump denied on Thursday that he was desperate for a deal with Iran, swinging between threats and diplomacy, while presenting a series of “boats of oil” that reportedly made it through the blocked Strait of Hormuz as an Iranian “gift” – a reveal that he teased a day earlier. This comes as the war he and Israel launched against Iran approaches the one-month mark with little end in sight, driving oil prices up globally and further unsettling the global economy. “I read a story today that I’m…

The scramble in Asia to secure Russian energy supplies – coupled with the temporary lifting of US sanctions – in the wake of the war in Iran has created a growing sense that Moscow might prove the main winner from the conflict. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of oil and gas suppliers that they should use the “additional revenues” generated by the spike in energy prices as a result of the war and the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Putin has also benefited…

Beijing is probably sighing with relief following US President Donald Trump’s postponement of his visit to China for “a month or so”. Initially, Trump had tried to threaten China for not joining a proposed naval escort campaign in the Strait of Hormuz, but quickly changed his tone after recognising the absurdity of such a demand. Not even the United States’ closest allies are willing to lend a hand. However, Beijing is even more frustrated with Washington’s lack of clarity and Trump’s hazy agenda for what he wants to accomplish on…