US chip giant Qualcomm has agreed to pay to licence and acquire patents from China’s Huawei Technologies for the first time as part of a “multi-year, broad patent licence agreement” covering 5G, computing and artificial intelligence.
The deal involved cross-licensing between both firms’ patent portfolios, the Shenzhen-based firm said in a statement on Monday, adding that it included Qualcomm’s purchase of specific Huawei US patents across compute, AI, networking and other technologies.
The...
Midway through the Asian Games, China’s sports minister felt the need to issue a rallying cry despite the country again overwhelmingly dominating proceedings.
A week into competition, the delegation had already racked up 125 gold medals, won more swimming titles than ever before and were so far clear of the rest that one American press outlet half-jokingly suggested changing the name to the China Games.
In the final reckoning on Sunday, China’s tally was as follows: 169 gold, 89 silver and 83...
UK fund house Schroders will increase investment and headcount in Hong Kong after being acquired by US asset manager Nuveen, according to Schroders’ global CEO.
“Hong Kong is a critical interface for mainland China through schemes like Wealth Management Connect,” Richard Oldfield said in an online interview with the South China Morning Post on Friday. The scheme, launched in 2021, allows investors in the Greater Bay Area to buy wealth-management products across borders.
Underpinning Schroders’...
Hong Kong’s largest public hospital, built on the former airport site in Kai Tak, will begin its first phase of operation on Monday after more than a decade of planning and preparation.
The South China Morning Post looks at the new hospital’s key features and what its opening means for the city’s healthcare development.
1. What makes Kai Tak Hospital special?
With a gross floor area of about 500,000 square metres and 2,400 beds, Kai Tak Hospital will be Hong Kong’s largest public hospital. It...
Chinese scientists have built a small, stable co-production plant that uses one system to extract hydrogen and fresh water from seawater, while also recovering uranium and bromine and improving electricity use efficiency by about 15 per cent.
The team, led by Deng Dehui and Liu Yanting from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, improved on an existing technology that is both costly and power hungry, according to a paper in the peer-reviewed journal Nature...
An elderly man in central China, who has spent the past 21 years making ends meet as a scavenger, experienced a remarkable stroke of luck when he discovered that his pension fund contained over 420,000 yuan (US$63,000).
In late September, the 71-year-old man, surnamed Ru, received a bank card linked to his pension account, which revealed a balance of 424,204 yuan, as reported by Changde Daily.
Completely unaware of his entitlement to pensions over the decades, Ru sobbed as he spoke to the media:...
Neighbouring China and Vietnam, two manufacturing giants, are building out railways, adding flights and boosting cargo links to leverage their geographic proximity for another boost in trade and tourism that will help both weather pressure from the US.
The two countries set aside political disputes last year to step up economic ties, and analysts said they were now improving both the quality and quantity of transport links.
“Overall, I see the China-Vietnam connectivity story moving from...
Beijing has tightened scrutiny of quantitative trading funds in recent months amid fears they add to market instability. Yet a leading investor believes the future is bright for China’s quant funds, as they are “necessary for a developed economy”.
Seth Huang, the head of Aris Capital, said quant funds had such a clear advantage over retail investors on China’s capital markets that the situation could be described as “a war with some using machine guns and others butcher knives”.
Quant funds have...
China’s spending on research and development (R&D) has reached a milestone worth celebrating, a testament to Beijing’s sustained commitment to science and technology.
It hit a record 2.8 per cent of gross domestic product last year, exceeding 3.92 trillion yuan (US$584.8 billion) and beating the average for Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states. Yet, there is still a long road ahead as the nation strives to lead the world at the technological frontier.
The...
Zheng Yongnian is a political scientist in China and a government adviser. His academic work is mainly about contemporary China, particularly politics, the country’s transformation and its external relations.
This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.
Many have offered a lukewarm assessment of the Xi-Trump summit in Washington, citing the lack of a breakthrough. What is your take?
There are two primary views right now. One is...
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei seems to believe that he, the American artificial intelligence (AI) industry and the United States are the only ones who should have the right to determine the fate of humanity.
While he pays lip service to involving other democracies in AI development, which ones remotely approach the technological capacities of the US and China? Do other non-democratic developing countries not count?
His self-belief is far more dangerous than mere commercial greed. Like Peter Thiel,...
The Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya close on Sunday, bringing the curtain down on a fortnight of competition featuring some record-breaking performances.
Among the best performers were the two athletes named Asian Games MVPs: 13-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi and Thai track and field sprinter Boonson Puripol.
Yu, who won all three of her individual events with ease, said “I’m no prodigy” after being named the women’s MVP on Sunday.
The schoolgirl, who looks poised to take the Los Angeles 2028...
Beijing has been urged to do more to protect its overseas interests with a call for diplomatic engagement to reshape international rules and deeper security cooperation with other countries.
As China’s expanding global footprint comes under pressure from geopolitics and restrictions from the West, a Chinese analysis posted on the Global Security Research social media account has called for a major shift in strategy.
The author was not identified, but the account regularly posts analysis and...
A range of public and private-sector Chinese buyers have acquired a total of 44 small-model Bell helicopters, often for sightseeing and corporate travel. This makes China the vendor’s second biggest market in the Asia-Pacific, with growing demand for more despite safety concerns surrounding rotary-wing aircraft, an aviation services firm said.
China lagged behind only South Korea in the total number of five-seat Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopters, according to a statement by the Hong Kong-based...
China Eastern Airlines has reported a male passenger to the police for allegedly disturbing order, after a flight attendant was filmed kneeling in a cabin aisle to apologise for bumping his elbow with a service trolley.
In its second statement on the incident, the carrier said on Saturday that it believed the actions of the passenger amounted to disturbing order aboard a civil aircraft and had severely infringed upon the employee’s personal dignity.
The airline added that it had banned the...
For American and Chinese people interested in the outcome of the latest summit between China’s President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, their conclusions could not be more different if they turn to the media and pundits for guidance.
Chinese state media spared no superlative, echoing the official description of the summit as: forging the right way for the major powers to get along and writing a new chapter in ties. It played up the fact that Trump gave Xi the highest-level reception...
Most trade ministers from the world’s largest economies disagreed with calls to curb excess industrial capacity at a Group of 20 (G20) trade meeting that ended on Thursday, according to China’s commerce ministry, a view that contrasts with a US statement that a “handful” of countries objected.
“The issues related to excess industrial capacity and forced labour have been highly controversial,” a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday about the two-day G20 Trade...
It is no secret that Chinese emperors had many women in their lives, and the imperial concubine system was a significant feature of feudal social structures.
Ming-era (1368–1644) emperors could have upwards of 9,000 consorts, ostensibly to ensure an heir. Unfortunately, these women often existed in gilded prisons, barred from leaving the palace grounds and frequently subject to the wrath of a cruel emperor.
However, one leader stands out for doing just the opposite; the Hongzhi Emperor (r....
Taipei’s dilemma over its history during World War II appeared to deepen as Beijing and Washington looked to the Flying Tigers as a source of connection and goodwill during last month’s Xi–Trump summit.
US President Donald Trump’s description of China as an American ally during the war has raised concerns in Taiwan that what could have been a valuable historical connection with the United States ended up benefiting Beijing’s ties with Washington.
The dilemma resurfaced after Trump and Chinese...
At a two-day trade exhibition in Hong Kong earlier this week, Vera Nikitina, a representative of Russian confectionery producer Belyov Pastila Manufacture, was looking for new buyers – while also trying to reassure them that the company’s products were genuinely made in Russia.
The company made its first attempt to enter China in 2019, before beginning regular shipments and establishing a local office in 2022-23. Its sales grew in 2024 amid booming Chinese demand for Russian consumer goods.
That...
When the Auspicious Ark entered Dakar, Senegal, on September 25, the scene looked closer to a public health mission than a naval deployment. Senegalese people and members of the Chinese community were waiting at the port as the vessel arrived for the first visit by a Chinese naval hospital ship to Senegal.
The Auspicious Ark is a PLA Navy vessel. That places the visit within a wider Chinese maritime presence in Africa, something more often associated with anti-piracy patrols, port calls,...
Beijing has hit back at a US lawmaker’s criticism of coffee chain Starbucks for opening its first stores in Xinjiang, rejecting the allegation that China has committed human rights abuses against the far-western region’s mostly Muslim Uygur population.
Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun on Saturday said claims of “genocide” in Xinjiang were a “blatant lie” and accused the “US group” who raised the suggestions of attacking Beijing for political purposes.
“Today’s Xinjiang enjoys social...
On the edge of western China’s Taklamakan Desert, in a county where sand covers 90 per cent of the land, an unlikely harvest is heading to market: Australian freshwater crayfish.
As China begins its National Day “golden week” holiday, a farm in Maigaiti county, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region’s Kashgar prefecture, is pulling 250 to 300kg (551 to 661lbs) of the premium crustaceans from its ponds every day.
Native to Australia’s rivers and streams, freshwater crayfish are now being raised...
Opened in the 1950s, Sai Woo was a two-storey restaurant in Toronto’s Chinatown, with a traditional Chinese banquet hall on the upper floor. Designed for wedding celebrations, the space featured a canopy with two columns, a golden dragon entwined on one and a phoenix on the other. Lazy Susans sat atop the round banquet tables.
Chinatown was also home to Charlie’s Meat and Seafood, a white-tiled butcher shop that opened in 1971. Inside was a glass display case filled with cuts of meat. On the...
Two decades after stepping away from the spotlight, iconic actress Joey Wong made an unexpected return to the screen – not through a traditional production, but via artificial intelligence-powered reconstruction.
In a two-minute video by NetEase this summer, Wong, one of the most well-known actresses of the 1980s and 90s, had some of her most celebrated roles recreated, including the beautiful ghost in A Chinese Ghost Story and an alluring snake demon in Green Snake.
The revival is just the tip...
From online-gambling rings in eSwatini to SIM swapping in Kenya and cybercrime networks in Zambia, a wave of cross-border fraud is drawing African governments and China into closer security cooperation.
China hosted East African security ministers and police chiefs in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, on September 10 for talks on terrorism, kidnapping, online fraud and other cross-border threats.
China’s public security minister, Wang Xiaohong, said Beijing would strengthen law-enforcement...
Christie’s auctioneer Rupert Banner leans forward with practised showmanship as bidding stalls on a rare Yongzheng bowl near New York’s iconic Rockefeller Centre. He pauses as if willing offers from thin air, scanning dozens of in-person buyers and phone banks connecting with China, London, Texas.
It will be a bad look if the frenzy abates for this delicate peach-decorated bowl highlighted on Christie’s glossy Chinese sale catalogue and online advertising. But bidding soon resumes with a...
Business-class flights, once largely the domain of company reps on paid trips, are becoming more popular among tourists in China who do not mind spending a bit extra for a comfortable ride from start to finish, industry insiders said.
Businesspeople once occupied 90 per cent of the spacious seats, but have lost that edge to leisure travellers who can buy their way out of economy class but not into first class, said Wong Hong, director general of the 18-member Association of Asia Pacific...
As global adoption of the open-source RISC-V chip architecture accelerates, US intellectual property provider MIPS is collaborating with Chinese firms at an unprecedented level, according to a senior executive, highlighting how cross-border cooperation persists despite intense tech rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
MIPS, which was acquired by US chipmaker GlobalFoundries last year, was driving RISC-V standardisation “very closely with China”, chief technology officer Yankin Tanurhan said...
