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Hong Kong homebuyers snapped up new flats on offer on Saturday, fuelling optimism that the bull run in the city's property market will continue. All 154 units at Sun Hung Kai Properties' Lime Spark project sold out as of 4.30pm, while 147 homes, or 93 per cent of the 158 flats available at Henderson Land's Highwood Phase 2 project, found buyers, according to real property agents. “Home prices have climbed by nearly 8 per cent this year, and prospective buyers are likely to find that a delay in......

Beijing is moving to make green electricity usage a key metric in the operation of new data centre projects, as part of a major push to align the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence with national carbon goals, according to an action plan released Friday. The policy document, jointly released by four bodies – the National Energy Administration, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and National Data Administration – encouraged operators......

Huaqiangbei, home to the world's largest electronics marketplace in southern China's tech hub Shenzhen, is reinventing itself as the world's artificial intelligence showroom, drawing back foreign traders and tourists hunting for the latest gadgets. For first-time visitors like Abigail Slagveer from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the sheer scale of Huaqiangbei's electronics market is overwhelming. “I came here one and a half hours ago through that front door,” she said, pointing to an entrance just......

TikTok owner ByteDance is ramping up its spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure, boosting its planned capital expenditure this year to more than 200 billion yuan (US$30 billion), according to two people familiar with the matter. This represented an increase of at least 25 per cent compared with a preliminary plan discussed late last year that proposed AI capex of 160 billion yuan, they said. The increase was necessary because of the company's growing commitment to AI, as well as......

In an extraordinary break from the diplomatic restraint typical of central banks, a dozen leaders of the world's foremost monetary institutions issued a joint statement in January declaring their “full solidarity” with the US Federal Reserve and its embattled chair, Jerome Powell. “The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve,” they wrote. The move was intended to shore up the separation of monetary......

US President ⁠Donald Trump's administration is nearing a US$400 million settlement with TikTok to resolve an ongoing lawsuit over alleged child-privacy violations, ABC News reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The White House declined to comment, referring questions to the Justice Department, ‌which did not immediately comment. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment. ABC said the settlement monies would be used to fund Trump's “beautification” projects in......

Hong Kong has raised HK$27.6 billion (US$3.5 billion) through a green and infrastructure bond sale to finance the Northern Metropolis and low-carbon transformation projects. The offering drew investors from more than 30 markets across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, signalling global institutional investors' confidence in Hong Kong's development, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a statement on Friday. Orders totalled about HK$239 billion, 8.6 times the offer size. The......

Leapmotor, one of China's strongest-performing electric vehicle (EV) makers this year, has taken a major step towards building cars locally for European customers after agreeing with shareholder Stellantis to add a line at a Spanish plant previously earmarked for Opel. The Hangzhou-based company and Stellantis, owner of Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep, would jointly build Opel's new fully electric C-sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and B10 models at the Figueruelas plant in Zaragoza, according to a......

Chinese artificial intelligence high-flier DeepSeek is expected to close its first external financing round soon, boosting its valuation to up to US$50 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter, as the country's marquee state-backed investment vehicle joins in bankrolling what is seen as a national technology champion. The round was being backed by a group of state-linked investors, including AI-focused affiliates under the third phase of the China Integrated Circuit Industry......

Chipmaking giant Nvidia's deepening partnership with US fibre optics maker Corning to replace copper links in next-generation rack-scale artificial intelligence systems is shining a spotlight on mainland China's optical communications supply chain. The domestic optical value chain is also doubling down on AI scenarios, emerging as the global bedrock for the high-capacity components required to power AI infrastructure. “The global optical fibre and cable market had entered a period of both rising......

China's rapid technological gains and aggressive pricing are making it increasingly difficult for South Korean firms to find profitable areas of industrial synergy with their Chinese counterparts, according to experts. Speakers at a recent forum in Beijing urged firms from both countries to pivot towards building more interdependent ecosystems in high-growth sectors such as batteries and artificial intelligence, while also calling for the advancement of negotiations towards an upgraded......

To break a curse of repeated failures to launch gold futures trading, bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) should extend its trading hours and the government should offer tax incentives and establish clearing and storage facilities, according to industry players. These recommendations came as HKEX aimed to relaunch gold futures in the coming months and sought market feedback to refine the plan, Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Joseph Chan Ho-lim told......

Kunlunxin, the artificial intelligence chip unit of Chinese tech giant Baidu, is seeking a valuation of at least 100 billion yuan (US$14.69 billion) for its Hong Kong stock exchange listing, according to two people familiar with the matter. The valuation could change based on market conditions and final terms, according to one of the sources, who requested anonymity as the information was private. Baidu and Kunlunxin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Separately,......

US President Donald Trump will bring a scaled-back group of chief executive officers with him on a trip to Beijing next week, reflecting limited expectations for a summit that may be overshadowed by the war on Iran. The White House considered inviting about a dozen business leaders on the May 14-15 trip, compared with the 29 high-profile executives on Trump's last visit in 2017, Reuters said, citing unidentified people briefed on preparations. Nvidia, Apple and Boeing are among the companies......

An electricity shortfall for AI data centres and computing power is fuelling demand for generators and power equipment, driving up stocks from Weichai Power in China to GE Vernova in the US. The AI investment spree in the world's two largest economies, which are vying for a leading position in the cutting-edge technology, has rekindled buying interest in stocks of a sector viewed as old economy. Shares of Weichai Power, a heavy-duty truck maker that also builds large-bore engines, have jumped......

Tesla's Shanghai factory reported a big year-on-year rise in deliveries last month as it benefited from local governments' subsidies and increasing interest in electric vehicles (EVs) amid the global energy shock. The US carmaker said in a statement that the so-called Gigafactory delivered 74,478 units in April, up 36 per cent from the same period in 2025. The number comprises sales in mainland China and exports to overseas markets. However, on a month-to-month basis the factory's sales in April......

What do a wealth management professional covering the burgeoning Asian region and a painter have in common? For LH Koh, it involves staying grounded. Koh, head of global family and institutional wealth for Asia-Pacific at UBS – the Swiss financial services company which is consistently ranked as the world's largest – believes that guiding the region's most sophisticated families and institutions requires more than market expertise. It calls for clarity of thinking, deep understanding of client......

Beijing's tighter oversight of vicious price competition in the automotive sector is expected to increase borrowing pressure on mainland carmakers and accelerate the exit of weaker, debt-laden players amid softening consumer demand, according to S&P Global Ratings. The warning is likely to deepen bearish sentiment surrounding mainland China's more than 100 car assemblers, many of which have been at the forefront of global electric vehicle (EV) technology and production. “Financially fragile......

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is pressing ahead with the relaunch of gold futures as mainland China's appetite for the metal continues to grow. The city would continue to introduce new gold products and facilities to capture the growing opportunities of the gold market, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Thursday at the LME Asia Metals Seminar 2026 in Hong Kong. The HKEX planned to relaunch gold futures in coming months and seek market feedback to refine the products,......

Chinese technology billionaire Chen Tianqiao's artificial intelligence start-up MiroMind is suspending its services in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, in the latest sign that some of the country's most globally ambitious firms are increasingly retreating from the domestic market as geopolitical tensions reshape the industry following the Manus saga. In an email sent to select users on Wednesday, the company said that its MiroThinker services would stop operating in regions including......