SCMP Nachrichten

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) – computer systems that can copy intelligent human behaviour – is rapidly transforming our world. The growing use of smart technologies in our homes and businesses, including facial or image recognition, data analysis, language understanding, problem-solving, robots and self-driving vehicles, is helping to enhance traditional human capabilities. Hong Kong, recognised as an international finance centre with a stable digital infrastructure and hi-tech regional business......

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] A visionary roadmap for change Since 2022, CEO Lawrence Lam has led Prudential Hong Kong through a purposeful, phased transformation that has strengthened customer propositions and advanced change across health, digital capability and the customer experience. His leadership has gained wide recognition, earning him the title of Corporate Executive of the Year. Lam is known for a style that builds lasting change, embraces......

“Do you know what this is, or what this might be – the dirty-looking one?” asks Oliver Haas, the head of sustainability – commercial and innovation at Cathay Pacific, holding up a laboratory bottle filled with dark, murky liquid. The bottle contains used cooking oil, Haas explains, which is one of the raw materials most widely used for producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). “And this is SAF,” Haas says, holding up another sealed bottle filled with crystal-clear liquid. “It's jet fuel –......

Hong Kong stocks rose for a third day on Friday, putting the benchmark gauge on course for its longest winning streak in three weeks, after softer US inflation data bolstered the case for monetary easing. The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.3 per cent to 25,588.85 as of 10.04am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.6 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index climbed 0.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 per cent. Bottled water maker Nongfu Spring gained 3.4 per cent to......

China is gaining a solid reputation as a pharmaceutical innovation hub, shifting from a copycat drug maker to one whose infrastructure and research and development capabilities rival global pharmaceutical behemoths, according to a global consultancy. US-based SAI MedPartners and its unit Idea Pharma recently launched a new index with the aim of highlighting Chinese drug makers and recognising their shift from generics to “true” innovation. The consultancy released the China Pharmaceutical......

China's energy storage firms, battered by a three-year price war, have been jolted by lithium battery maker Deegares, which has announced plans to raise prices by 15 per cent, a move that is sparking debate over whether the sector could be the first to break free from the “involution” cycle. Rising lithium costs were the immediate trigger, with at least three other battery makers reported in recent weeks to be planning similar increases. Prices of the metal, crucial to rechargeable batteries,......

China is expected to remain the world's biggest buyer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment through 2027, as domestic chipmakers keep expanding capacity under Beijing's push for greater tech self-sufficiency, according to a new industry report. Sustained investment across both mature-node and leading-edge processes would keep China the largest market for chipmaking tools until at least 2027, industry association SEMI said. Even so, the association expects the pace to ease, with sales......

As global brands prepare for another year of economic uncertainty and shifting consumer expectations, some of the clearest clues about where marketing is heading may be emerging from the hospitality world. Black Sheep Restaurants founder Syed Asim Hussain, who has built one of Asia's most prolific hospitality groups, believes the playbook for 2026 will centre on storytelling, community, clarity and long-term conviction.  “Our restaurants are living, breathing things,” he explains. “We look at......

Chinese artificial intelligence pioneer SenseTime has open-sourced a “world model” and kicked off its foray into the burgeoning field of embodied intelligence by releasing its first robotic dog. The Hong Kong-listed AI firm's new venture, Ace Robotics, on Thursday released Kairos 3.0, an open-source model that simulates the physical world, and a developer platform called “KaiWu” that supports embodied intelligence applications. “Ace Robotics will promote the large-scale commercialisation of......

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world's largest maker of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, has started deploying humanoid robots at scale within its Zhongzhou production base in Luoyang, a city in central Henan province. The company on Wednesday described its deployment at scale as a “world's first”, as humanoid robots built by start-up Spirit AI performed complex tasks with speeds that matched those of skilled human workers. Spirit AI's Xiaomo robots have been assigned to plug in......

Global hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies (QRT) is set to become the largest private tenant at Two International Finance Centre, signing a multi-story lease as falling rents drive a wave of office upgrades across Hong Kong's premier business district. The London-based firm will take up to 146,000 sq ft of space across six floors owned by MTR Corp in Two International Finance Centre, for an undisclosed rental amount. The space was previously occupied by the UBS Group. QRT's lease was set to......

Alibaba Group Holding is folding its mapping and navigation platform Amap into its Qwen artificial intelligence app, in a tie-up the company says will sharpen Qwen's real-world “life services” just weeks after the app's debut. The integration, announced on Thursday, lets Qwen users handle travel and lifestyle requests – from restaurant and hotel recommendations to route planning and turn-by-turn navigation – in a single conversational interface. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Alibaba......

The Hong Kong stock exchange has proposed standardising board lot sizes, reducing the number of trading units from more than 40 to eight options in a bid to boost market efficiency and liquidity. Bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) was proposing to limit the choices listed companies make regarding their trading unit size, or board lot, from one share to a maximum of 10,000 shares, according to a consultation paper published on Thursday. The options in between are: 50, 100,......

ByteDance saw usage of its Doubao large language models (LLMs) rise more than tenfold this year, as more enterprises in China adopt artificial intelligence to increase productivity and reduce operating expenses, according to the head of its cloud computing services unit. “AI is being adopted at an unprecedented speed, and how to make better use of it has become a question all businesses have to answer well,” Tan Dai, president of ByteDance cloud unit Volcano Engine, said in Shanghai on......

Manus, the high-profile artificial intelligence agent launched by Chinese founders, has crossed US$100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) nine months after launch, the company said on Wednesday. The achievement makes it the “fastest growing start-up”, the former China-based team, now headquartered in Singapore, claimed in a blog post, with total revenue run rate now exceeding US$125 million. “We've been growing at more than 20 per cent month-over-month since the release of Manus 1.5, and......

China International Capital Corporation (CICC) has unveiled details of its merger with two smaller state-owned rivals that will create an entity with combined assets of more than 900 billion yuan (US$127.8 billion). The Beijing-based investment bank will issue some 3.1 billion new A shares at 36.91 yuan to acquire all outstanding shares in Dongxing Securities and Cinda Securities to facilitate the merger, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday. Shares of CICC rose 3.7......

Hong Kong's initial public offering (IPO) market is heading for its busiest month in four years, as a late rush of listings gathers pace despite the traditional slowdown around the Christmas and New Year holidays. At least 15 companies were set to go public by the end of December, with drug-discovery firm Insilico Medicine planning one of the largest deals in the final stretch of the year, according to data compiled by the Post. A total of 12 companies had already made their market debuts......

A top executive of a multinational logistics group has bought a luxury flat in Hong Kong's Mid-Levels West for HK$132 million (US$16.9 million), adding to a growing list of wealthy buyers acquiring high-end homes as prices soften. Cherry Hill Investment, an entity linked to Arnold Lee, acquired the 2,772 sq ft, four-bedroom apartment at The Legacy, jointly developed by Henderson Land Development and New World Development, according to Land Registry records. The transaction was completed on......

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) leader BYD has reinforced its push to build and sell more cars fitted with level 3 (L3) autonomous driving systems after Beijing took its first step towards deregulating the technology. The company collaborated with authorities in Shenzhen, where it was based, to test some of its cars ahead of mass production, according to China Business News. BYD confirmed the report, adding that it had completed more than 150,000 kilometres of real-world L3 testing. The company......

Hong Kong stocks resumed their decline on Thursday, with technology stocks leading the sell-offs on growing jitters that a global boom in artificial intelligence could turn into a bubble. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 per cent to 25,391.46 at 10.10am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.2 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index slid 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added less than 0.1 per cent. Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone and electric vehicle maker, tumbled 2.5 per......