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Illustration: Henry Wong

How will coming medicine approval regime help Hongkongers? New, better drugs

Authorities plan to set up Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation in 2026-27, tasking it with conducting primary drug approvals.

  • Authorities plan to set up Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation in 2026-27, tasking it with conducting primary drug approvals

China’s urban-rural gap is a threat to growth. Is the divide too wide to fix?

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Does China risk losing it all by playing both sides in Myanmar’s civil war?

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Deng Xiaoping’s one country, two systems path for Hong Kong – a work in progress

Hong Kong analysts and experts discuss how Deng Xiaoping’s policy approach to the city has changed amid protests, pandemics and economic changes.

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Why China’s 220 million retail investors are shying away from the stock market

Chinese investors shun stocks amid economic uncertainty, preferring bonds, ETFs and luxury homes. Optimism is low despite government efforts to boost market confidence.

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As China recounts Deng’s legacy, Xi’s challenge to motivate country in focus

Chinese from all walks of life look back at how their lives have changed as a result of Deng’s policies.

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As China celebrates Deng Xiaoping’s legacy, the country is again at a crossroads

Deng and his ‘true heir’ Xi Jinping differ in strategies and approaches, but closer examination reveals many core similarities.

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Illustration: Brian Wang

How China used Japanese know-how to outpace rival in EV, steel production

With a lengthy joint venture in steel between China and Japan coming to an end, analysts reflect on its broader meaning in the context of the two countries’ new roles in the global economy.

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Feeling increasingly unwelcome, Chinese pupils sour on US universities

Some US schools have lost 89 per cent of their Chinese enrolment since 2017, but China still accounts for most international students seeking American degrees.

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Here’s why tiny Hong Kong is so important for China’s EV producers

Carmakers are turning to Hong Kong as buyers shed their disdain for made-in-China EVs, while companies use the opportunity to fine-tune their products that appeal to markets in Asia and elsewhere.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

No bold moves: China’s wide anti-corruption net has officials afraid to innovate

China’s leadership urged to introduce new incentives for local officials who are now playing it safe in the face of anti-graft measures.

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Are young Hongkongers sacrificing their dreams for public rental flats?

Officials caution against ‘lying flat’, but young people point to severe shortage of housing choices.

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China’s countryside calls to city-dwellers, and rural life never looked so good

With stability waning in China’s contentious job market, the lure of long-term jobs in rustic regions hearkens back to Mao Zedong’s Down to the Countryside Movement.

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China’s Xiongan offers lush green spaces, but will newcomers grow to like it?

Advocates say the site 100km south of Beijing has a lot of potential, but empty streets and buildings suggest this is yet to be realised.

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Illustration: Brian Wang

Why the spectre of another Trump term haunts China-born scientists in the US

Chinese-American researchers worry that if Donald Trump returns to the White House he could revive the China Initiative.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

After trade ban, will the Chinese market be enough for Xinjiang’s cotton?

After a US trade ban for cotton from China’s Xinjiang, textile manufacturers have turned to domestic consumers – but the ban’s chilling effect on all exports has left a gap that is difficult to fill.

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AI has made Hongkongers more vulnerable to fraud but is also used to fight back

Fraudsters are using AI to convincingly portray themselves as acquaintances and steal digital identities, driving demand for hi-tech cybersecurity solutions.

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US-China sister-city project, meant to build bridges, targeted as countries spar

After a state law in Indiana barred new partnerships, two cities with ties to Xiangyang take opposite approaches.

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Are Cathay’s pilot crunch, capacity issues hampering Hong Kong’s hub ambitions?

Three-runway system will boost HKIA capacity, but fast-growing Shenzhen and Guangzhou airports step up pressure.

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China’s crackdown on PLA corruption exposes ‘insular’ culture, rampant bribery

Analysts say there’s more to come given that graft has long been rampant, the rapid build-up of the PLA, and its ‘insular’ culture.

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Will China’s ‘smart political game’ in the Middle East and Ukraine pay off?

Beijing is trying to cast itself as an alternative peacemaker but is clear-eyed about the limits of its influence, observers say.

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Parks and adaptations: China industrial hubs wrangle with new recipe for success

Gone are the days when foreign firms could be lured to industrial zones with financial incentives alone, as ‘cutthroat competition’ and overcapacity are seen creating a no-win scenario.

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A worker conducts a final inspection on new-energy hydraulic excavators at an industrial park in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, in April. Photo: Xinhua

Have Hong Kong lawmakers become ‘yes men’ under ‘patriots-only’ Legco?

Analysts say line ‘unclear’ for lawmakers trying to keep government in check, while also cooperating in overhauled legislature.

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Open questions | This economist says China’s property oversupply is far from over. Here’s why

Chinese economist Mao Zhenhua, who was among the first to spot weaknesses in the country’s real estate sector, says the era of large-scale construction which fuelled the property crisis has ended.

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Can China balance climate, energy concerns as it endures more extreme weather?

As China tries to mitigate environmental disasters while meeting economic demands, ‘the shocks reverberate globally’, expert says.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Can an ‘anti-fraud tsar’ stamp out Hong Kong’s HK$9 billion scams?

Losses nearly doubled last year amid growing victim frustration, while fraudsters reap profits with seeming ease and banks and financial regulators struggle to contain the damage.

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Illustration by Henry Wong

Open questions | Ex-World Bank economist on why ‘China will not be misled’, dodging Japan’s fate

Professor and economist Justin Lin Yifu says China’s industrial policy is paramount to continued development, tech innovation and the transition to higher productivity.

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China’s coastguard faces ‘unprecedented strain’ as tensions rise on 3 fronts

The force is expanding its fleet rapidly as it confronts major challenges – especially from the Philippines in the South China Sea.

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last updated:
27 August, 2024
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