South China Morning Post
Xi wants yuan’s global punch to match Chinese economic might
Author: Media Library
China navigates US threats to anchor global shipbuilding dominance in 2025
China secured the most new shipbuilding orders globally in 2025 despite a slight dip in market share, showing enduring market dominance amid industry turbulence sparked by US threats targeting the Chinese maritime sector, official data showed. Chinese shipyards secured 107.8 million deadweight tonnage (DWT) in new orders in 2025 – a 4.6 per cent year-on-year decline – accounting for 69 per cent of the global market, down from a 74.1 per cent share in 2024, according to data released on Sunday by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry…
Alibaba’s Qwen ramps up AI app race with Spring Festival giveaway blitz
Alibaba Group Holding has joined rivals including Tencent Holdings and Baidu in rolling out Spring Festival red-packet giveaways to drive mass-market adoption of its artificial intelligence, committing 3 billion yuan (US$432 million) to spur spending across its ecosystem as it seeks to extend its edge in foundational models to consumer-facing products. The Hangzhou-based e-commerce and AI giant said on Monday that its AI app Qwen would anchor a Spring Festival campaign across its flagship shopping platform Taobao, on-demand retail and food-delivery service Shangou, online travel agency Fliggy, ticketing platform Damai,…
Ikea assembles China strategy with closure of 7 big stores
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Ikea has shut seven large stores in China, as the furniture retailer’s new strategy takes shape against a challenging consumer backdrop in the mainland. Big stores in cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nantong closed on Monday after what the Swedish furniture retailer described as a “store network optimisation”. Ikea’s strategic shift to smaller stores comes as China’s consumer markets struggle to gain momentum amid a prolonged property slowdown that has…
Ikea assembles China strategy with closure of seven big stores
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Ikea has shut seven large stores in China, as the furniture retailer’s new strategy takes shape against a challenging consumer backdrop in the mainland. Big stores in cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nantong closed on Monday after what the Swedish furniture retailer described as a “store network optimisation”. Ikea’s strategic shift to smaller stores comes as China’s consumer markets struggle to gain momentum amid a prolonged property slowdown that has…
Zhang Youxia investigation to end ‘watered down’ capability of China’s military: PLA Daily
The People’s Liberation Army’s anti-corruption investigations into top general Zhang Youxia and others will eliminate a watered down combat capability and give new momentum to the military’s development, according to a commentary by its mouthpiece the PLA Daily. “The resolute investigation and punishment of corrupt officials such as Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli removes obstacles and stumbling blocks that hinder the development of our cause,” it said in a front-page editorial on Monday. “It eliminates the watered down parts of combat capability building and inspires the spirit of hard work…
Dalai Lama expresses ‘gratitude and humility’ at first Grammy win
The Dalai Lama said he was grateful for his first Grammy after winning the top music industry award for audio book, narration and storytelling. The 90-year-old Buddhist spiritual leader, who lives in exile in India, was announced as the winner at the Grammys ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday for his book Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. “I receive this recognition with gratitude and humility,” he said in a post on social media. “I don’t see it as something personal, but as a recognition of our…
China’s AI labs race to debut latest models before Lunar New Year
China’s frontier artificial intelligence labs are ending the lunar year on a high note, racing to release a series of new AI models in the last few weeks of the Year of the Snake as the country gears up to celebrate the start of the Year of the Horse. Beijing-based Zhipu AI and Shanghai-quartered MiniMax, which just made their stock exchange debuts in Hong Kong, would be the next to update their flagship AI systems with across-the-board enhancements, according to sources familiar with their release plans. Zhipu AI, known as…
The ‘deep fried’ stocks that spurred a market meltdown
The volatile swings of some Indonesian shares have earned them the nickname saham gorengan or ‘deep fried stocks’, with their restricted floats and concentrated ownership contributing to rallies that can lift their tycoon owners into the ranks of Asia’s richest people almost overnight. In recent days, index provider MSCI has shone a light on this practice, threatening to downgrade Indonesia to a frontier market unless it cleans up its act by May. The announcement — citing “opacity in shareholding structures and concerns about possible co-ordinated trading behaviour that undermines proper price…
Secret Filming of Women Thrives in China as Officials Silence Activists
An Underground Industry in Plain Sight Little EnforcementSilencing Those Who Speak Up