Month: April 2026

Amid a high-stakes global tech race, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for greater efforts to boost the country’s basic research and innovation capabilities by expanding its talent pool and fostering a culture of tolerance. “Basic research is the source of the entire scientific system and the main switch for all technical challenges,” Xi said at a symposium on strengthening the country’s basic research in Shanghai on Thursday. Xi argued that global tech rivalries were increasingly pivoting towards basic and frontier fields, making “original and disruptive innovation” even more important.…

A former head of China’s equities market regulator will face trial on allegations that he took vast sums in bribes in return for approving company listings and loans, according to the Communist Party’s top anti-graft watchdog. Yi, who held the post at the CSRC from January 2019 to February 2024, had been expelled from the party and dismissed from all public positions, the CCDI said, wrapping up an eight-month investigation. Advertisement He would be handed over to prosecutors to face trial, it said. The investigators accused Yi of “losing his…

Beijing has pledged to expand vocational training for young jobseekers this year, as it looks to help millions of unemployed graduates find work in emerging industries such as robotics and AI. But the policy drive – which includes plans to encourage university graduates to return to technical school – has drawn mixed reactions from a generation already hit hard by China’s youth unemployment crunch. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security vowed on Tuesday to upskill 1 million young… South China Morning Post

The Donald Trump administration’s strategic interest in rare earths is pushing the US towards more pragmatic diplomacy as it seeks to rebuild critical mineral supply chains that pivot away from China, according to observers. The shift has yielded cooperation on resource projects even when broader political ties are strained, they added, saying it highlighted Washington’s eagerness to secure alternative supplies even though Beijing’s dominance in the supply chain appeared too strong to break soon. One example is the Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project in South Africa, which recently received US$50 million…

South China Morning Post

Chinese social media reacted with amusement and disbelief as Britain’s King Charles gave US President Donald Trump a World War II-era British submarine bell as a gift, highlighting differing cultural interpretations of the unusual gesture. “Gifting a bell isn’t a big deal in Western culture – but it’s quite amusing, as far as we’re concerned!” a user on Chinese social media wrote. On Tuesday, during his state visit to the United States, King Charles presented Trump with the original brass bell… South China Morning Post

China has agreed to cooperate with Australian businesses on jet fuel shipments, while reaffirming that both countries uphold multilateralism in a meeting between the countries’ top diplomats on Wednesday. Following talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Beijing was “facilitating engagement with Australian businesses on jet fuel” and called the move an important “first step” in alleviating supply crunches. “Inputs China supplies to Australia, including jet fuel, support the Australian resources sector, which in turn helps to maintain the flow of commodities that are…