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Hong Kong Economy

Hong Kong tipped to be world’s top financial hub amid global yuan expansion plan

National People’s Congress deputy Li Yinquan says Hong Kong to gain substantially from Beijing’s push to internationalise yuan’s reach.

Lunar New Year fireworks in Hong Kong. Photo: Sam Tsang

Business

Singapore property clan puts rare Hong Kong estate up for US$38.4 million tender

Sale of compound in Southern district by family linked to Wah Ha Realty comes as Hong Kong’s luxury home market shows signs of recovery.

A view of Belvedere, a low-density compound in Chung Hom Kok in Hong Kong’s Southern district. Photo: Google Maps

Basketball

China’s big four back for another shot at reaching Women’s Basketball World Cup

Han Xu, Li Yueru, Zhang Ziyu and Liu Yutong give coach Gong Luming plenty of height for six-team tournament in Wuhan.

Han Xu (right) is back for China after the end of her season with Perth Lynx. Photo: Xinhua

Economics

South Korea caps fuel prices for first time in decades to fight Iran oil shock

As a nation that imports nearly every drop of oil it consumes, South Korea is hitting the panic button to shield citizens from rising prices.

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A board shows prices as cars queue at a petrol station in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday. Photo: Reuters

China Economy

China’s financial superpower ambitions get legal backing at ‘two sessions’

Two new laws may prove wide-ranging, spanning yuan’s global status to green finance and turning ambition into codified rules, analyst says.

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Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, speaks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. Photo: AP
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United States & Canada

TikTok gets green light to stay in Canada, reversing earlier ban

The app, owned by China’s ByteDance, has agreed to improve privacy and security, and to enhance protections for minors.

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TikTok Technology Canada will now be allowed to operate under new legally binding commitments to enhance its security. Photo illustration: dpa

China Business

China investors energise Hong Kong biotech stocks. Is foreign money missing out?

Stock Connect reshuffle reflects biotech sector’s growing role on international stage, though overseas funds remain cautious.

Overseas capital tends to cherry-pick a few big-cap pharmaceutical companies rather than buy the biotech sector broadly, according to an analyst. Photo: Handout

Opinion

Editorial | High-level US-China dialogue is good for global stability

Foreign Minister Wang Yi has suggested the Trump-Xi summit is still on track and Beijing’s commitment to diplomacy is clear in budget allocations.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi listens to a question during a press conference on foreign policy and external relations during the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 8. Photo: EPA

Health & Wellness

Why the 5am Club isn’t for everyone

Ahead of World Sleep Day, we look at how to get the best night’s sleep and why getting up early isn’t always as productive as you may think.

Sleeping and waking up early works for some people, but others are more naturally suited to a later timetable. Photo: Shutterstock

Tech

China’s chip bosses endorse semiconductor push in next 5-year plan

Industry leaders say the draft blueprint underscores Beijing’s determination to reduce reliance on foreign technology.

The five-year plan blueprint calls for breakthroughs in critical technologies across the entire semiconductor value chain. Photo: AFP
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Politics

Hong Kong Legco to explore mainland-style oversight system for bills enforcement

Legco president Starry Lee’s proposal follows Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang’s call for city’s legislature to deliver more ‘practical outcomes’.

Starry Lee also brushed off concerns that the city’s first five-year plan could undermine the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. Photo: Jelly Tse

Opinion

Editorial | Hong Kong must do more to unlock women’s full economic potential

The city can take pride in women’s progress across different fields. Yet there is also room for cultural and policy improvement.

Commuters head for work in North Point on December 16, 2025. Women account for half of the government, legal and accounting workforce in Hong Kong. Photo: Sun Yeung

Diplomacy

US to counter China’s critical minerals dominance with innovative upgrades

New improvements in recycling electronic waste, refining and processing can close the gap on China, says Department of Energy official.

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Critical minerals have become a point of contention in the US-China relationship, with Beijing dominating the sector. Photo: Reuters

Politics

Economic Security 101: why China’s officials now have to study rare earths

Beijing’s decision to instruct promising cadres on logistics and resources reflects a sober outlook on trade relations, observers say.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

World Opinion

Opinion | Journalists must confront the real risks of AI: fabricated facts

We don’t trust journalists because they type sentences; we trust journalists because they verify the truth.

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Avoiding AI in news production does not prevent AI-shaped information from reaching the public. Readers encounter such information through search engines, automated summaries and conversational interfaces. Photo: dpa
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Diplomacy

Trump and Putin discuss ‘quick’ ending to Iran war

US president also claimed operation in Iran is for ‘places like China’ and he had a ‘good relationship’ with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with US President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska in August 2025. Photo: Reuters

China Economy

China-US trade relations may reach a ‘tactical truce’, as 2 superpowers talk

Foreign companies in China quietly confident on US ties, but are bracing for ongoing geopolitical tensions.

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Companies in southern China are feeling growing confidence in the state of US-China relations. Photo: AFP

United States & Canada

US teacher dies after students’ toilet paper prank goes wrong

Jason Hughes tripped and fell and was hit by a truck as the teen pranksters – whom he knew and loved – were starting to drive away.

Jason Hughes’ family urged authorities to drop all charges against the students. Photo illustration: Shutterstock

Middle East

Ships brandish China links to evade Iran’s attacks in Strait of Hormuz

Vessels are claiming to have an ‘all-Chinese crew’ or ‘Chinese owner’ in a bid to reduce the risk of being targeted.

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Ships sit anchored in Muscat, Oman, on Monday, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: Reuters

United States & Canada

US and China clash over fentanyl and tariffs at global drugs meeting

The exchange underscored tensions ‌between the two countries ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting in China at the end of the month.

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A US Drug Enforcement Administration chemist checks confiscated pills containing fentanyl in New York in October 2019. Photo: TNS
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United States & Canada

Anthropic sues Trump administration as row over AI use by military deepens

The Pentagon blacklisted the start-up after it refused to let its technology be used for fully autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance.

The Pentagon on Thursday slapped a formal supply-chain risk designation on Anthropic, limiting use of a technology that a source said was being used for military operations in Iran. Photo illustration: TNS

Hong Kong Economy

Hong Kong urged to extend stock trading hours to keep up with rivals

Competitors moving towards near 24-hour trading to capture liquidity, Our Hong Kong Foundation’s Kenny Shui tells SCMP forum.

The Hong Kong stock exchange currently has 5½ hours of trading on weekdays. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Science

China can’t buy Elon Musk’s theory on space-based AI centres: experts

Beijing urged to focus on installing computing system in orbit to analyse data from satellites making information gathering more effective.

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Elon Musk’s SpaceX is aiming to have a constellation of up to a million satellites operating as orbital data centres. Pictured is the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9. File photo: SpaceX/TNS

Europe

‘Like the Blitz’: vape shop blaze closes Glasgow railway station

The fire also led to several businesses being wrecked amid the collapse of most of an ‘iconic’ four-storey building by the transport hub.

Smoke rises following a major fire at a building in Glasgow, Scotland. Photo: BRUNA GOMES via Instagram/Reuters

Global Economy

China vows to stabilise oil and gas output in new 5-year plan amid global risks

Amid Mideast instability and US$100 oil, China is mapping out strategic production bases, underpinning long-term energy security.

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A truck is loaded with coal in China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: AFP
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Europe

Northern Ireland’s Gerry Adams, 77, in UK court for trial over IRA bombings

Adams has always denied being an IRA member, although he has ‌long faced accusations that he was involved in its killing campaign.

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams arrives on Monday at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where a civil claim is being brought against him. Photo: via AP

Society

Hong Kong couple’s HK$50,000 exit from Dubai after ‘biggest blunder’

Like many other travellers, construction consultant Yen Kwok and her husband were stranded in the Middle East when war started.

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The couple said they were worried about going outside while in Dubai. Photo: AP

Climate and energy

China’s CATL profit surges 42% as global market share soars to all-time high

Surging demand solidifies CATL’s position as world’s top EV battery manufacturer for ninth consecutive year.

CATL’s 2025 sales volume of lithium-ion batteries rose 39 per cent from the previous year. Photo: AFP

Middle East

Nato intercepts Iran missile fired towards Turkey

There was a similar incident last week, with the latest Nato interception coming amid Iran’s targeting of several nations as it retaliates.

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Debris from a Nato air defence system that intercepted a missile launched from Iran is seen in southern Hatay province in Turkey on March 4 in this video screengrab. Photo: via Reuters

Politics

China eyes cross-border corruption law. Will it blunt the ‘long arm’ of the US?

Beijing to pass law aimed at preventing corruption by Chinese companies operating overseas after courts recover billions in illegal gains.

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Delegates walk past China’s national emblem at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing before the national legislature’s second plenary session in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Reuters