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At the end of March, China inaugurated the World Data Organisation in Beijing, a body with a stated mission of “bridging the data divide, unlocking data's value and powering the digital economy”. The move is the latest signal of a broader trend: over the past several years, Beijing has developed a distinct data governance strategy to drive artificial intelligence (AI) development as it reshapes the terms of technological competition. Since late 2025, Beijing has pursued an aggressive AI adoption......

For decades, the global image of Chinese trade was synonymous with massive container ships loaded with footwear, bags and furniture. However, a profound structural shift is under way. Having conquered the world of physical goods, China is now rapidly ascending the industrial chain as an emerging exporter of manufacturing technology. In 2025, the country's exports of telecoms, computer and information services reached 808 billion yuan (US$118 billion), marking a robust 13 per cent year-on-year......

Ant Bank, the digital banking arm of Ant Group, has rolled out stock trading services within its AlipayHK mobile application, marking a further push into Hong Kong's retail brokerage market as fintech players race to capture a new generation of investors. The service allowed users to trade Hong Kong and US stocks and exchange-traded funds, as well as structured products including warrants and callable contracts, through the app's wealth-management section, according to its promotional......

Singapore wealth-tech firms are increasingly using Hong Kong as their first major overseas expansion market, betting that the city's large pool of idle savings, deep wealth base and role as a regional financial hub will support the scaling of their retail investment platforms. The latest entrant, Chocolate Finance, launched in Hong Kong last month with a product targeting retail investors' idle cash. It offers 3.8 per cent annualised returns on the first HK$100,000 (US$12,763) with no minimum......

China's smartphone and electronics supply chain is adapting its expertise to support the country's fledgling but fast-growing humanoid robotics industry, as component suppliers seek new growth beyond a slowing mobile market. The sector received a glimpse of that crossover after Honor's humanoid robot D1, a dark-horse entrant from the smartphone maker, won Beijing's recent robot half-marathon, beating established Chinese robotics names such as Unitree. Honor entered the humanoid robotics sector......

Technology firms are increasingly gravitating towards premium office space in Shenzhen's core business districts, offering a degree of support to the city's office market. However, vacancies are expected to remain elevated in the near term as a wave of new supply continues to outpace demand, analysts said. The city's technology sector – spanning artificial intelligence, consumer electronics and robotics – remained a key driver of leasing activity, particularly in western submarkets such as......

China has become one of the largest sources of investment in land parcels and other properties in Singapore, as the safe-haven status of Southeast Asia's top financial hub continues to attract global capital, according to analysts. China-linked developers and business entities have become more active in the market, said Alan Cheong, executive director for research and consultancy at Savills Singapore. “Chinese developers who have had experience in Singapore are now familiar with the rules,......

Driven by intensifying competition in advanced manufacturing, the world is waking up to “China shock 2.0”. The first “shock”, associated with China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, focused on low-tech manufacturing. Of course, this latest “shock” isn't framed as such by Chinese policymakers. They present it as an upgrade in export strength, often described as a shift from the “old three” of textiles, furniture and home appliances to the “new three” of electric vehicles,......

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, is pushing deeper into artificial intelligence with Anew Labs, a drug-discovery unit that has begun presenting its AI-designed therapies at international conferences. The unit – also known as Anew Therapeutics or ByteDance AI Drug Discovery – operates from Shanghai, Singapore and San Jose, California. Its official website listed 36 core members, as well as big names on its “scientific advisory board”: Liu Yongjun, former president of Innovent Biologics, Ji......

At the close of his presentation at this year's Auto China show, Li Fenggang, president of Beijing Hyundai Motor, surprised the audience by asking them to lift LED boxes placed on their seats. “We'll use this beam of light to kick off Hyundai's new journey in China,” he said, raising the device stamped with the logo of Ioniq, the new brand the Korean carmaker has just launched in mainland China. After years of lacklustre performance in the country, Hyundai was preparing to regain lost ground by......

Hong Kong has made “significant” progress in its bid to transform itself into a technology hub, according to a Chinese venture capital investor, whose firm was recently selected by the city to invest in local start-ups under a HK$2 billion (US$250 million) government initiative. “You can see fundamental, significant changes are indeed taking place,” said Steve Sun, founding managing partner of Dalton Venture, in an interview on Thursday. “I believe that over the next decade, Hong Kong can......

A sweeping rule change for drones in Beijing, which bars sales in the Chinese capital and requires identity registration linked to each device from Friday, has left sellers and consumers scrambling to cope with some of the country's toughest regulations on the sector. At a flagship retail store operated by DJI, the world's largest drone maker, in Beijing's bustling Guomao area, a shop assistant said that the store had been preparing to clear its shelves of all drone products in accordance with......

China's latest electric vehicle (EV) innovations – from ultra-fast battery charging to headlights capable of projecting films – have drawn strong attention at Beijing's Auto China show, underscoring how the country's automotive technology is pulling ahead of global rivals. As domestic carmakers and key suppliers recast vehicles as “mobile living spaces” powered by artificial intelligence and digital systems, they are increasingly looking beyond the mainland to drive export growth. “We are......

Vigloo, a South Korean micro drama production company, has gone all-in on artificial intelligence this year, betting that automation can fundamentally reshape how content is made. The company has begun spending roughly 30 per cent of its budget on AI-driven workflows, and the change is already having a dramatic impact. It can now produce a show in just one month rather than three, and at one-fifth of the cost. That is not only allowing Vigloo to release far more shows, but also to experiment......

Gold bars, cruises, Dior beauty services and Rosewood Hong Kong vouchers are just some of the incentives Hong Kong's major lenders are offering in hopes of capturing wealthy clients, as visitors from mainland China descend on the city during the golden week holiday starting on Friday. HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of China (Hong Kong) – the city's three biggest banks – Citigroup, DBS Hong Kong, ICBC Asia, Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng Bank have all extended the hours of certain branches on......

Chinese property stocks are poised for a comeback, as investors believe that a rebound in tier-one city home prices is a sign that the sector's years-long woes are nearing an end. The pickup in home prices in mega cities such as Beijing and Shanghai has coincided with a spike in transaction volumes, indicating that buyers are piling in after prices have fallen to more affordable levels. In March, more than 30,000 lived-in homes were sold in Shanghai, the highest in five years, after the city......

As China's bear housing market enters its fifth year, a growing number of global investment bank analysts and property agents are increasingly optimistic on the sector, underscoring a positive view on its outlook fuelled by upbeat data in April. Bank of America holds a positive stance on the sector and believes the “green shoots” of a recovery are visible, it said in a report issued in late April. After five consecutive years of weakness, the bank said “market recovery sustainability is becoming......

Stablecoin payments into Hong Kong are surging on the cross-border payment network of Circle Internet Group, operator of the world's second largest stablecoin issuer USDC, as the US firm eyes regulatory approval in the Asian crypto hub, its CEO said in an interview. “Hong Kong remains a central trade hub, and cross-border payments and cross-border trade are major drivers in the adoption of stablecoins,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle. He said that payments into Hong Kong were......

Hong Kong police do a good job in combating cybercrime, but artificial intelligence (AI) is now driving a tsunami of losses with even the most savvy of individuals getting scammed. As a finance professional, I have attended courses about financial crime for decades, supported by continuous annual training. So how was I still taken in recently? Was my guard lower because it was in a private capacity? The scam thankfully concluded with no adverse results – only because people had fallen victim......

The Federal Communications ⁠Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to advance a proposal to bar all Chinese labs from testing electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras and computers for use in the United States. The agency says about 75 per cent of ‌all US electronics are tested in China and plans to adopt a streamlined approval process for devices tested in US labs or labs from countries not posing national security risks. In a separate 3-0 vote, the commission advanced a proposal to......