Day: May 16, 2026

China has confirmed for the first time that it is drawing up a “comprehensive law” on artificial intelligence. Industry insiders said the move showed China had accumulated enough practical experience and was speeding up its governance as a result. A legislative work plan for the year issued last week by the State Council, China’s cabinet, outlined plans to “improve AI governance and accelerate comprehensive legislation for the sound development of AI”. Advertisement It said the government would move faster to refine legislation concerning the protection and regulation of data, computing…

Three polls firmly caught my attention over the past month or so. Each was conducted by a different outlet and addressed different questions. However, taken together, they tell one overarching story – implicitly, but unmistakably. Beyond an assortment of data, the story is about direction. The first was a CNN poll. It showed that 76 per cent of Americans now see high prices and the cost of living as their country’s most serious economic problem. Even more striking, nearly seven in 10 expect a recession within the next year. What…

As the United States experiences a brain drain, Europe is emerging as a key research partner for China as both benefit from an influx of young scientists from America. Rapid changes in geopolitics have brought “massive changes in the global flow of talent”, according to Patrick Cramer, the president of Germany’s Max Planck Society, a leading research body in Europe. “These are exactly the questions that I think about all day,” Cramer said during an interview in Shenzhen in April. Advertisement “One trigger is the new administration in the United…

Beijing’s assessment of whether US President Donald Trump can “properly handle” the Taiwan issue and US-China relations will largely come down to arms sales to the island, analysts said. A day earlier, Xi had warned him that mishandling the Taiwan question – the most important issue in bilateral relations – could lead to confrontation or even conflict between China and the United States. Advertisement Shao Yunqun, a senior research fellow in American studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said arms sales were the “most important indicator” for Beijing…

The way they have tried to frame the interactions between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping revealed both sides’ eagerness to emphasise the importance of the occasion. The messaging began with one of the choices of venue for their talks: the secluded leadership compound in Zhongnanhai in the heart of Beijing, rather than the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, which is more usually used to host visiting foreign leaders. Advertisement When Trump asked Xi whether other foreign leaders had been welcomed to Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leader replied that few had been granted such…

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that it had reached an agreement with the United States over the purchase of aeroplanes, jet engines and components. “The two sides have reached arrangements on China’s purchase of aircraft from the US and the US ensuring the supply of aircraft engines and components to China, and agreed to continue advancing cooperation in related areas,” the ministry said in a statement on its website. The world’s two biggest economies agreed to establish a trade council and an investment council to “discuss respective concerns…

Global envoys and experts are doubling down on mediation as a preferred way to resolve regional conflicts amid stalled US-Iran peace talks and China’s appeal for more countries to join its new mediation body. According to Cui Jianchun, commissioner of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, mediation ensures “to the greatest extent” the autonomy of disputing parties and its “unique charm” is the high respect given to the will of the parties. Advertisement He also encouraged countries to join the China-led initiative that was established last year and…