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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......

Artificial intelligence investments by US tech giants continue to soar, dwarfing those of Chinese AI firms, but China's rising appetite for AI applications will compel its tech companies to increase their AI spending this year, according to analysts. The largest US tech companies are on track for more than US$700 billion in AI capital expenditures this year, driven in part by rising memory costs and continuously growing demand for AI applications. Google and Microsoft on Thursday both said that......

Hong Kong homebuyers snapped up most of the new flats released on Thursday, with developers beginning to ramp up new construction amid sustained housing demand. All 120 units at the One Victoria Cove I in Hung Hom, jointly developed by Henderson Land Development, Hysan Development and Empire Group, were sold by 5.20pm, according to agents. Meanwhile, New World Development (NWD) and MTR Corp's Pavilia Farm III above Tai Wai MTR station found buyers for 19 of the 45 units as of 6.50pm. Most recent......

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, South Korea's two memory chip giants, are warning of a prolonged and severe global supply crunch, weeks after the two companies disclosed increased investments in their China wafer fabs to meet surging artificial intelligence demand. During Samsung's first-quarter earnings call on Thursday, the company said its order fulfilment rate had plunged to a “record low”. In a rare move, customers worried about shortages were already pre-booking memory capacity for 2027,......

Non-local residents in Shenzhen can now buy property in some of the city's core districts after the local housing authority eased restrictions and raised home-loan caps, a move likely to further improve the real estate prospects of mainland China's top tech powerhouse. Those holding a valid residence permit can buy one residential unit in Futian and Nanshan districts, and Xinan in Baoan district, without having to pay social security or individual tax for a year. The rules came into effect on......

Wingtech Technology, the Chinese owner of chipmaker Nexperia, is facing the risk of delisting from the Shanghai Stock Exchange due to an audit failure, as the company remains embroiled in a power struggle for control of its Dutch subsidiary. The risk was triggered after Wingtech's auditor issued a “disclaimer of opinion”, citing restrictions in verifying the financial records of Nexperia's overseas operations, according to a company filing to the Shanghai bourse on Wednesday. The audit failure......

China's largest state-owned banks delivered stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings, with rising interest income and steady asset quality pointing to improving credit demand as Beijing ramps up support for key sectors of the economy. The Big Four lenders – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and Bank of China (BOC) – all reported growth in both revenue and net profit, marking a turnaround from the margin pressure......

Standard Chartered's first-quarter profit rose 19 per cent as it achieved strong wealth-management performance, which was offset by lower interest rates and rising bad debt provisions. Net profit rose 19 per cent year on year in the first three months of 2026 to US$1.9 billion, or 74.2 US cents per share, from US$1.59 billion a year earlier, the bank said on Thursday. The result was better than analysts' estimates of US$1.33 billion. The bank's pre-tax profit rose 17 per cent to a record US$2.5......

Ant International, the overseas spin-off of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, has connected more than 150 million merchants with over 2 billion consumer accounts around the world, as it positions its payments network as core infrastructure for the emerging AI commerce economy. The figures, disclosed at the company's MoMents 2026 forum in Kuala Lumpur, which ran from Monday to Wednesday, underscore the scale Ant is seeking to leverage amid the rising adoption of artificial intelligence agents. Ant......

China is bracing for a record surge in cross-regional travel over the coming Labour Day holiday, as the country's tourism sector continues to see strong demand amid government efforts to boost consumption. The domestic transport network is projected to handle 1.52 billion cross-regional trips – about 304 million trips per day – over the five-day public holiday, up 4 per cent compared with the same period last year, the Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday. Public transport passenger flows......

Geely Automobile Holdings, Chery Automobile and BYD, the most profitable listed Chinese carmakers last year, all reported double-digit declines in net profit in the first quarter, highlighting a squeeze at home amid reduced purchase incentives. Hangzhou-based Geely, the country's second-largest carmaker behind BYD, said in a filing on Wednesday that its net profit for the January-March period slid 27 per cent year on year to 4.17 billion yuan (US$610 million). The profit slump came even as......

China's home-grown software and operating systems like Huawei Technologies' HarmonyOS are gaining traction, according to an official of China's technology ministry, as the country accelerates its push to cut reliance on foreign technology. More than 55 million smartphones ran on the HarmonyOS mobile platform as of the end of March, according to Ke Jixin, vice-minister of industry and information technology. “Domestic software like operating systems and databases has been improving steadily,” Ke......

Hong Kong's monetary authority has held its base interest rate steady, following the lead of the US Federal Reserve, as analysts said the inflationary impact of the US-Israel war with Iran had reduced the chances of a rate cut this year. The city's base rate would stay at 4 per cent, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Thursday, hours after the US Federal Reserve kept its target rate in the range of 3.5 to 3.75 per cent following the third meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee......

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] At present, the global wave of AI technological innovation and the computing industry revolution is surging forward, driving explosive growth in data center construction and the demand for high-end hardware. As the “skeleton and nerves” of electronic products, printed circuit boards (PCBs) have already become the core components that determine the performance ceiling of AI computing equipment. The industry is currently......

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has added multimodal capabilities to its flagship chatbot for the first time – meaning that it can process images and video in addition to text – bringing it in line with rivals that already offer the function. The limited release to select users comes just days after the Hangzhou-based company released its new flagship model V4, which was followed by extensive price cuts. According to DeepSeek multimodal team leader Chen Xiaokang, who made the......

Chinese chip designers Cambricon Technologies and MetaX Integrated Circuits reported substantial growth in the first quarter, as the artificial intelligence boom, lingering US export-control risks and China's self-sufficiency push drove the country's demand for home-grown computing power. Cambricon's first-quarter revenue jumped 160 per cent from a year earlier to 2.89 billion yuan (US$423 million), while profit soared 185 per cent to 1 billion yuan, the company said in a filing on......

The impact of sky-high costs for memory chips is spreading from smartphones to cars, as China's electric vehicle (EV) king BYD announced a 21 per cent price increase for its high-end driver-assistance system. Starting on Friday, the price of the optional DiPilot 300 assisted-driving system would rise to 12,000 yuan ($1,757) from 9,900 yuan, BYD said on Tuesday, attributing the decision to “the sharp rise in global storage hardware costs”. The system, which allows cars to navigate themselves on......

A top-floor residence at High Peak in Hong Kong's Mid-Levels West neighbourhood has sold for HK$420 million (US$53.7 million) as activity in Hong Kong's high-end housing segment remains heated after a strong first quarter. The penthouse unit at 23 Po Shan Road sold to a company called Shine Action on April 8, Land Registry records showed. The buyer is believed to be a mainland resident, based on the name of Shine Action's director in the Companies Registry, Zheng Jiang. Momentum at the pinnacle......

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has issued HK$19 billion (US$2.4 billion) of multi-tranche senior notes, the largest Hong Kong dollar-denominated bond offering to date, drawing nearly three times oversubscription. The success of the offering reinforces the Hong Kong dollar's position as a reliable funding currency and the city's role as a fixed income and currency hub, according to bankers. The notes were “well received” by investors including sovereign wealth funds, asset managers,......

China's robotaxi sector has hit a speed bump after regulators tightened licensing requirements while reviewing the causes of a recent incident in Wuhan that left passengers stranded and disrupted traffic for hours. Authorities had begun scaling back the issuance of autonomous driving licences, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The sources requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. The curbs, however, do not amount to a complete halt. Officials still......