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China Evergrande Group’s founder and former chairman Hui Ka-yan pleaded guilty to charges including embezzlement of corporate assets and corporate bribery, according to a statement issued by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court. The trial was held on Monday and Tuesday, and the court said it would issue its judgment at a later date. The charges against Hui and Evergrande also included illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud, illegal loan issuance, fraudulent issuance of...

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Hong Kong holds the unwanted distinction of being the most US-sanctioned territory in China, with more than 300 entities blacklisted by Washington in a bid to curb Beijing’s technological rise. But the government maintains that a backlash from Washington will not stop Hong Kong from becoming an international technology hub, in line with an initiative that seeks to bypass technological containment through deepened partnerships with the mainland. Anchored by the cross-border Hetao Shenzhen-Hong...

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China’s export growth softened and imports rose considerably in March, as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz drove up transport costs and commodity and energy prices. Exports rose 2.5 per cent year on year to US$321.03 billion in March, according to data released by China’s General Administration of Customs on Tuesday. The reading fell short of the 4 per cent growth forecast by economists polled by the financial data provider Wind. Imports grew by 27.8 per cent last month – the most since...

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Jet fuel shortages and surging prices are forcing flight cancellations across the Asia-Pacific, a squeeze that could intensify after the United States began controlling oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following failed peace talks with Iran. Tehran’s effective closure of the strait – a chokepoint for about 20 per cent of global oil supply – is hitting regional airlines, particularly in countries without strategic energy reserves, analysts said. Jet fuel reached nearly US$198 in the...

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As the new Communist Party chief of China’s southern manufacturing hub Shenzhen, Jin Lei is facing his first major test as the city prepares to host the Apec leaders’ summit in November. Beijing is seeking more cooperation with the bloc in areas like artificial intelligence, and the key regional forum is an opportunity to show the potential in tech-driven Shenzhen, where Jin took the helm last month. In recent weeks, the 56-year-old economist and former Sichuan official has been focused on...

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A leading European business association in China has urged Brussels to avoid becoming a “passive recipient” of US-China trade negotiations, as European firms scramble to navigate Beijing’s export controls. In a report released on Tuesday, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China asserted that the EU must take the lead in discussions affecting its interests, while urging Beijing to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to export controls. “We’re in a situation where Europe simply cannot...

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The Brazilian government has dismissed the head of its labour inspection authority, days after his office added Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD to a registry of employers found to have subjected workers to conditions analogous to slavery. Luiz Felipe Brandao de Mello led the National Secretariat of Labour Inspection since 2023 and his dismissal was published in the official gazette on Monday. He oversaw the unit responsible for enforcing labour standards nationwide, including the fight...

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The US drive to reduce reliance on China for rare earths and critical minerals will take more than fixing resource and processing gaps, experts say, noting that the decisive factor would be talent. Eroding industrial know-how, a weak education pipeline, and the lack of a consistent long-term strategy could complicate US ambitions to become a mining powerhouse and rival or even surpass China, they warned. Rare earth supplies are expected to be on the agenda when US President Donald Trump and...

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The European Union on Monday launched ⁠the critical minerals ⁠section of its energy and materials ⁠procurement platform, which aims to give more power to regional buyers and cut dependence on dominant producer China by aggregating their purchases. The platform is part of the bloc’s RESourceEU strategy, announced in December ‌to develop its supply chains for rare earths and other strategic minerals needed for the energy transition and defence applications. China controls up to 90 per cent of...

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Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) on China’s Taiwan province visited the mainland of China from April 7-12 at the invitation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and General Secretary Xi Jinping. Arriving in Shanghai, and also visiting Nanjing and Beijing, this was the first mainland visit by … Continue reading Kuomintang Chairwoman visits mainland

The post Kuomintang Chairwoman visits mainland appeared first on Friends of Socialist China.

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The United States on Monday moved to implement a blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping corridors, after US-Iran peace talks failed over the weekend, but questions persist over how fully the measures can be enforced and what they will mean in practice. Despite concerns of escalation, Pakistan, which has acted as mediator in the peace negotiations, continued efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict, including a phone call with China’s Foreign...

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Donald Trump’s threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz “forces Beijing into a political dilemma” and could potentially derail the US president’s coming summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, analysts said. After talks in Pakistan between the US and Iran ended without a deal on Sunday, Trump said in a social media post that the US would seal off the strategically vital chokepoint. In a narrower order issued later, the US military said American forces would blockade only “maritime traffic...

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Hungary’s prime minister-elect Peter Magyar has extended a warm overture to China, which he referred to as “one of the world’s most powerful countries”, saying he would like to visit Beijing and that Chinese leaders are welcome to visit Budapest. “We are absolutely, absolutely open [to discussions with Chinese leaders] and China is one of the world’s most important, largest and most powerful countries. It is in our interest, and I believe it is in the interest of both countries,” Magyar said in...

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Hungary’s stunning political transition will not trigger a dramatic overturning of its ties with China, Chinese experts suggest, with China-EU relations also expected to see limited impact. A landslide parliamentary election victory on Sunday for the centre-right Tisza Party, led by Peter Magyar, ended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 16 years in power. Orban conceded defeat and congratulated Magyar in a phone call. Magyar is now on course to become Hungary’s next prime minister, and his...

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Taiwanese industry groups and businesses have broadly welcomed Beijing’s package of 10 measures to promote cross-strait exchanges across economic sectors. They said the proposals from the Communist Party’s Taiwan affairs authorities could help ease pressures weighing on local industries in recent years. Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang, also appeared relieved that the measures focused largely on economic and livelihood issues rather than politically sensitive themes. The Taiwan...

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In Beijing, strategic elites have started to see world politics as sliding from the Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States era. However, if China believes the old order is falling apart, its future will depend less on economic power and more on presenting a reliable political vision. For much of the past decade, the dominant framework for understanding China-US relations has been the Thucydides Trap. Since Graham Allison popularised the term, the relationship has been cast as an...

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The US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz might give it a strategic advantage over Iran, analysts said, but they warned that the increased pressure on Tehran might call the ceasefire into question and deepen the energy crisis. US Central Command said on Sunday that a blockade on ships “entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas” would take effect at 10am US Eastern Time on Monday along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. It also said it would not impede vessels crossing the Strait of...

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China is pushing a ceasefire in the Iran war as key to the Strait of Hormuz being open to international trade and energy, as US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping naval operation targeting the oil transit chokepoint. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday that the strait was an important channel for international trade in goods and energy, and that “maintaining its safety, stability and unimpeded passage serves the common interests of the international community”. “The...

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Printed circuit boards (PCBs) – unsung core components in all electronic devices – are emerging as the latest source of excitement in China’s chip supply chain, as domestic companies capitalise on surging global demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure to pursue share listings. Victory Giant Technology, a PCB supplier to US chip champion Nvidia, kicked off bookbuilding in Hong Kong on Monday for an initial public offering (IPO) that aims to raise up to HK$17.49 billion (US$2.2...

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Governments, industry and the public are in “common ignorance” about the present and future of artificial intelligence, making both international collaboration and coordination between industry and policymakers necessary, experts have said. In a panel discussion at the inaugural Hong Kong Global AI Governance Conference at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on Saturday, Alibaba Group Holding policy lead Fu Hongyu said that China was now at the front lines of global efforts to introduce guardrails...

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The economist famously dubbed “Doctor Doom” for predicting the 2008 financial crisis has seemingly morphed into a bullish “Doctor Boom” with his latest economic outlook. Nouriel Roubini now predicts that a “Cambrian explosion” of technological advances – including artificial intelligence – could propel the US’ potential economic growth to 4 per cent by 2030, and as high as 10 per cent in less than a quarter-century, overshadowing Middle East oil shocks and other near-term headwinds. Framing AI...

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This document was translated from Chinese into English using Alibaba’s Qwen3.6-Plus, then checked and tweaked for accuracy by a South China Morning Post journalist. It is for reference only, and is not the official English version of the original Chinese document. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

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Off the northern boundary of the Spratly Islands, winds howl and waves surge. A Japanese-flagged oil tanker ploughs through these disputed waters in the South China Sea. The Towa Maru, measuring roughly 340 metres (1,115 feet) long and 60 metres wide, rivals an aircraft carrier in sheer bulk. A Chinese satellite locks its gaze upon the vessel, 35,800km (22,245 miles) overhead. Last month, China released a series of undated radar images of the Towa Maru. It marked the first time ever that a...

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A mega dam under construction in Tibet must prioritise ecological integrity and safety, Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing said during a visit to the project. The dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo will be the world’s largest hydropower facility. It is a key element of China’s plans to exploit the potential of the Tibetan Plateau by boosting regional growth through green energy and infrastructure. India has frequently expressed concerns that the project could lead to water shortages and ecological...

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China’s reported decision to halt sulphuric acid exports, together with the failure of peace talks between the United States and Iran over the weekend, risks driving prices higher and disrupting global mining and fertiliser supply chains that have few readily available alternatives. Beijing had indicated it would halt shipments of sulphuric acid from May, according to reports from Acuity Commodities and Bloomberg, though no official announcement has been made. Economists said food security sat...

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