Month: April 2026

China has slammed the US blockade of Iranian ports as “dangerous and irresponsible”, calling for an immediate and full ceasefire and for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters at a daily briefing in Beijing on Tuesday that the US action would only “inflame tensions, escalate the situation and undermine an already fragile ceasefire”, and that would further jeopardise the safety of navigation in the strait. “We urge all parties to abide by the ceasefire arrangement, focus on the broader direction of dialogue…

At a top-level meeting of her 26 department chiefs in March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen quietly approved a plan to stop EU funds from going to clean technology projects containing Chinese inverters. Inverters are the essential power electronics at the heart of solar and wind systems. Industry groups estimate that Chinese companies led by Huawei Technologies control more than 220 gigawatts of Europe’s installed solar capacity via the devices. The commission wants to prevent EU money from flowing to such projects and curb research cooperation under its…

China and Spain should work closely to resist “the law of the jungle” and defend true multilateralism in a turbulent world caught in “a contest between justice and power”, Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in a meeting on Tuesday. The meeting came after both sides strongly condemned the US-Israel miliary actions on Iran and criticised the US blockade of Iranian ports. Sanchez, who landed in Beijing on Saturday for a five-day trip, is on his fourth visit to China in four years, as Madrid…

China is gaining from America’s trillion-dollar artificial intelligence spending spree despite Washington’s efforts to curb Chinese technology ties, as the US data centre boom ripples through Asian technology supply chains, according to research by Oxford Economics. Roughly US$2 trillion worth of data-centre projects are planned or under way in the US, according to a report by the consultancy, with as much as three-quarters of the cost tied to equipment such as semiconductors and servers. That spending was translating into a sharp rise in US imports of electronic goods, much of…

An AI computing centre capable of predicting weather patterns weeks in advance typically carries a price tag of US$100 million or more. Now, Chinese researchers say a small-scale quantum system can outperform such facilities at less than 1 per cent of the cost. The findings raise questions about the long-term economics of the global artificial intelligence infrastructure race. If compact quantum systems can deliver competitive performance in specific tasks, could today’s colossal data centres costing trillions of dollars soon be obsolete? 03:33 Will AI replace conventional methods in forecasting typhoons…

As part of a public trial held by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court, China Evergrande Group founder and former chairman Hui Ka-yan admitted guilt and expressed remorse over a set of charges including embezzlement of corporate assets and corporate bribery, according to a statement issued by the court. The trial was held on Monday and Tuesday, and the court will issue its judgement at a later date. More to follow … Advertisement South China Morning Post

Hong Kong holds the unwanted distinction of being the most US-sanctioned territory in China, with more than 300 entities blacklisted by Washington in a bid to curb Beijing’s technological rise. But the government maintains that a backlash from Washington will not stop Hong Kong from becoming an international technology hub, in line with an initiative that seeks to bypass technological containment through deepened partnerships with the mainland. Anchored by the cross-border Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, the initiative could turn Hong Kong into China’s quantum gateway…

China’s export growth softened and imports rose considerably in March, as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz drove up transport costs and energy prices. Exports rose 2.5 per cent year on year to US$321.03 billion in March, according to data released by China’s General Administration of Customs on Tuesday. The reading fell short of the 4 per cent growth forecast by economists polled by the financial data provider Wind. Advertisement Imports grew by 27.8 per cent to US$269.9 billion over the same period, surpassing the Wind poll’s 5.62 per cent…

Jet fuel shortages and surging prices are forcing flight cancellations across the Asia-Pacific, a squeeze that could intensify after the United States began controlling oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following failed peace talks with Iran. Tehran’s effective closure of the strait – a chokepoint for about 20 per cent of global oil supply – is hitting regional airlines, particularly in countries without strategic energy reserves, analysts said. Jet fuel reached nearly US$198 in the week ending on April 10, about double pre-war levels, according to the International Air…