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We have put together stories from our coverage on electric and new energy vehicles from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China's flying car makers aim for deliveries this year as passenger use nears China could see its first flying car begin carrying paying passengers in 2026, as government backing and a growing pipeline of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle makers push the country's......

Beijing has recently targeted tax incentives in telecoms and other select industries after fiscal revenue dropped sharply in late 2025, fuelling market speculation of similar, larger-scale moves and triggering volatility. The South China Morning Post examines the latest developments and outlines how economists view the changes. What has the Chinese government announced? Beijing has moved to boost government finances by tightening tax incentives and raising preferential rates across several......

Tencent Holdings' aggressive red-packet blitz to promote its artificial intelligence chatbot Yuanbao ran into a roadblock on Wednesday from the company's own super app WeChat, dealing a blow to a US$144 million effort to acquire users for the emerging AI app. WeChat, known as Weixin on the mainland, announced on Wednesday that it would restrict Yuanbao links from opening directly within WeChat, effective immediately, in response to “user feedback and complaints”, according to a......

Chinese companies are mitigating the risks of artificial intelligence in their own way and should not be judged through a Western lens, according to Chinese industry insiders. The comments come ahead of what is expected to be a busy month for Chinese AI developers, with new major models set to be released ahead of the Lunar New Year. Last year, concerns about the risks of Chinese models held back some global users from adopting them, with high-profile DeepSeek in particular banned or restricted......

Tesla has spearheaded a new round of low-interest, long-term loans to spur electric vehicle (EV) sales in mainland China, prompting domestic rivals such as Nio and Xpeng to follow suit in a cutthroat market grappling with raw-material inflation. However, fresh competition in car financing – while better than another bruising discount war – may not be enough to shore up deliveries as consumers refrain from buying cars due to reduced government incentives. “All EV makers are facing a dilemma this......

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Manulife has launched a global Longevity Institute with a C$350mn (HK$1.96bn) commitment through 2030, sharpening its focus on how people live longer lives with better health and financial resilience.  The initiative is a response to global trends. People are living longer, yet some may spend many of those added years facing health challenges or financial uncertainty. Manulife believes this is the moment to address that......

Hong Kong stocks fell on Wednesday, dragged by technology heavyweights, as speculation about higher value-added taxes weighed on sentiment. The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.1 per cent to 26,797.05 at the open, after falling 0.2 per cent Tuesday. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.9 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index lost 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1 per cent. Tech giants were among major losers, as rumours persisted that Beijing could follow up an adjustment of......

Shaping the future of inclusion at the Hong Kong Inclusion Summit As Asian companies confront economic uncertainty, rapid technological change and intensifying competition for talent, business leaders gathering in Hong Kong on Monday argued that inclusion has moved beyond a “soft” agenda to become a strategic driver of performance, resilience and long-term value. The Hong Kong Inclusion Summit 2026, held at the Ocean Park Marriott Hotel and streamed to hundreds of participants across the region,......

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), Hong Kong's largest developer by market capitalisation, said executive director Maureen Fung Sau-yim resigned with immediate effect on Tuesday due to health issues, according to a stock exchange filing. “Ms Fung has confirmed that she has no disagreement with the board of the company and that she is not aware of any matters in relation to her resignation that need to be brought to the attention of the holders of the securities of the company,” the filing said. Her......

A number of mainland-based suppliers of memory chips and storage solutions are pursuing share listings in Hong Kong, signalling a strategic change in how the sector aims to fuel its global ambitions, according to analysts. The most watched firm is Shanghai-based Montage Technology, a designer of high-speed interconnect chips for data centres, which is taking orders from institutional investors and is set to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday. Montage, which listed in Shanghai in......

Hong Kong's banking regulator has unveiled four flagship projects, including a quantum computing readiness index, to help the city's lenders stay competitive and secure in the artificial intelligence era. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said the initiatives formed part of its new Fintech Promotion Blueprint, aimed at guiding responsible innovation and preparing the city's banking sector for rapid technological change. The blueprint was announced on Tuesday in response to industry......

Following the sudden demise of a major gold trading platform in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, another retail-focused operator has suffered a run, stoking fears of contagion in China's private market for the precious metal. The platform, Ydd007, is the latest to face trouble. On Sunday, it told investors that it had experienced three “severe runs” in recent days amid mounting industry panic. It also acknowledged a significant funding shortfall, according to Chengdu.cn, part of the......

Chinese robotics firms continue to secure fresh financing, including from state-backed funds, as investors shift focus from hardware to the “brains” of humanoids – the software and operating systems that underpin their intelligence. Alongside hardware-centric companies like Unitree Robotics, a new wave of firms is emerging with capital directed towards robotic software and operating systems. Shenzhen-based humanoid robot maker LimX Dynamics announced on Monday the completion of its US$200......

French police raided the Paris offices of social media platform X on Tuesday as prosecutors summoned its owner Elon Musk for questioning over a widening investigation into alleged offences, including the spread of child pornography and deepfakes. The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the search was part of a probe opened in January last year by its cybercrime unit, conducted in coordination with the EU police agency Europol. In a major escalation of the legal scrutiny facing the platform......

As UBS consolidates its Hong Kong operations in West Kowloon to deepen mainland-linked growth, it does so at a time when Hong Kong's office market is showing tentative signs of recovery in prime districts such as Central. The consolidation is set to release office space in Central, contributing to a reshaping of demand as hedge funds and other financial firms take up space vacated by banks. The Swiss bank on Tuesday marked the handover of UBS Tower at the International Gateway Centre (IGC), a......

Hong Kong's property transactions slipped in January, official data showed, but agents are betting on a Lunar New Year “mini-boom” after several new-home launches sold out in recent weeks. Deals covering new and existing homes, offices, shops, car parking spaces and industrial units fell 15.2 per cent month on month to 7,631, while transaction value declined 12 per cent to about HK$57.25 billion (US$7.3 billion). “With both the economy and stock market performing well, coupled with steadily......

China's civil aviation authority has floated a regulatory change that would allow its home-grown passenger jet, the C919, to use narrow runways typically found in smaller airports, a move that could help the plane expand its presence at home and break into the Southeast Asian market. The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced on Friday that it had set “special conditions” for the C919 to use narrow runways based on the jet's design features, releasing a draft proposal for a......

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up StepFun has unveiled a lightweight AI model that it says punches above its weight, rivalling larger systems from domestic competitors including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI as competition intensifies in the country's AI sector. The Shanghai-based AI lab said on Monday its latest Step 3.5 Flash model was designed to deliver advanced reasoning and agentic capabilities while maintaining efficiency. Despite its relatively modest size of about 196 billion......

The sudden death of a top fund manager in Shanghai – the latest in a string of similar cases – has raised alarm in China's financial sector, as worries grow over the health risks posed by the industry's intense work culture. Shen Xianbing, a founding partner of the private fund Qilin Investment, died on Monday at the age of 40, the company announced the same day, without explaining the cause of his death. The former University of Science and Technology of China graduate had served as a founding......

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Hong Kong businesses have entered the new year with cautious optimism, as economic output is expected to rise only moderately and global trade continues to drag. Slower recovery at home has prompted many firms to look outwards, driving interest in regional markets and digital banking capabilities that help simplify cross-border operations, support faster settlement and provide clearer liquidity management. As corporates......