China

Yang Zhilin, founder of fast-rising start-up Moonshot AI, has become the latest artificial intelligence entrepreneur to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang, as Beijing steps up its push to accelerate the digital transformation of manufacturing. The 32-year-old was among a select group of business leaders and experts invited to a high-level symposium on Friday, where participants offered views on China’s economic resilience and future growth drivers. Li acknowledged that the external environment had...

With US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell reported to have held urgent talks over Anthropic’s latest artificial intelligence model, experts are warning that immediate cybersecurity assessments are needed to avert potential economic damage running into the hundreds of billions of US dollars. Across the Pacific, however, analysts said China’s banks were taking a more cautious approach, as Beijing prioritises financial stability and intensifies monitoring of...

Sunday’s election in Hungary could have repercussions far beyond its borders. Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban came to power in 2010, his illiberal policies have made Hungary the only EU member state classified as “partly free” by Freedom House. His close ties to Vladimir Putin have also complicated Europe’s response to the war in Ukraine. Hungary has become something of a black sheep within the EU – but also a model for far-right movements elsewhere. The question now is whether that model is faltering. Opinion polls show a strong lead for the centre-right opposition Tisza party, led by Peter Magyar, who defected from Orban’s party in 2024. Meanwhile, the government’s efforts to boost sluggish economic growth by attracting Chinese investment appear to have backfired. Our regional correspondent Gulliver Cragg reports.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on Friday that relations with Beijing had been elevated to new heights. He was speaking at a meeting in Pyongyang with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, where both sides pledged to deepen strategic coordination and “practical cooperation”. Wang’s two-day visit to North Korea is his first since 2019. At the meeting he conveyed greetings from President Xi Jinping, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua. Wang also said the meeting at the Workers’ Party of...

A new video generation model quietly unveiled by Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding has overtaken Seedance 2.0, ByteDance’s most advanced model, as the world’s top-ranked artificial intelligence video tool based on an evaluation by a benchmark site, offering a glimpse into the AI talent race as the market heats up. The HappyHorse 1.0 model, which was still under internal beta testing, was developed by the Innovation Business Unit under the e-commerce giant’s newly formed Alibaba Token Hub...

Travellers stepping out of the railway station at Hungary’s second-biggest city, Debrecen, are immediately greeted by a banner hanging over the street that reads “No battery, no deal”, “Debrecen belongs to Hungarians” and “Chinese, go home”. Targeting a mega-factory set up by Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), it also calls for a protest on Saturday, on the eve of Sunday’s general election in the central European nation. The banner was put up by the local candidate...

Foreign visitors have been flocking to spa centres in China to try a unique cultural experience at an affordable price. Many foreigners have been amazed by the bathhouses in the country because they operate on a 24-hour basis. Not only can people take a bath at hot springs, but they can also enjoy everything from fruit, drinks, ice cream and a buffet, to singing Karaoke, playing with game machines, billiards and mahjong. Some places also provide libraries and mini cinemas, the China News...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is courting Taiwan's China-friendly opposition leader as Beijing seeks to reframe the cross-strait narrative.

China plans to launch its first rocket from open waters in the South China Sea, in a display of a more flexible, long-range maritime launch capability. The 31-metre (102-foot) tall, solid-fuelled Jielong-3 is expected to lift off at 7.30pm on Saturday from the Dong Fang Hang Tian Gang, a converted barge operating in international waters, according to a leaked schedule circulating on Chinese social media. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all the islands and rock features in the South China...

China’s healthcare sector has been drawing offshore capital to Hong Kong-listed stocks as investors look for safe havens amid global volatility in commodities. The Hang Seng Healthcare Index, tracking some of China’s most innovative pharmaceutical companies including Akeso and Innovent Biologics, has surged about 13 per cent since March 23, outpacing the benchmark Hang Seng Index’s about 6 per cent gain over the same period. “Although the Middle East conflict has created a lot of uncertainty and...