With the world’s biggest high-speed rail network already established, China now plans a more balanced, integrated and intelligent transport system over the next five years, prioritising efficiency and smart technology over sheer scale. Beijing will move away from large-scale expansion to optimising new projects and upgrading existing assets, Minister of Transport Liu Wei said at a recent symposium on the 15th five-year plan attended by local transport officials, according to an official...

Beijing has flagged risks of excessive duplication in China’s rapidly growing humanoid robot sector, vowing to strengthen guidance for an industry that officials have identified as an important engine of future growth. Driven by an influx of new capital, the number of humanoid robot companies in China has climbed to over 150 and is continuing to grow, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) spokeswoman Li Chao told a news conference in Beijing on Thursday. “More than half of them are...

Up to five Chinese vehicle assemblers, leveraging their technology and production advantages in building electric cars, are likely to make the list of the world’s top 10 carmakers by 2030, disrupting the pecking order in the global automotive industry, according to global consultancy McKinsey. “The industry will undergo some major changes by 2030,” Guan Mingyu, a senior partner of McKinsey, told reporters in a media briefing on Thursday. “Indeed, we have already seen some signs that tremendous...

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) builders are increasingly shipping their cars abroad to spur international sales ahead of an expected downturn in their home market, analysts say, as Beijing phases out incentives such as tax holidays and cash subsidies. The carmakers, which can enjoy a net margin of 20,000 yuan (US$706) per vehicle by selling their cars outside mainland China, are rolling out more models and pushing into untapped territories to chase high profitability. Stellantis-backed Leapmotor,...

Both China and the European Union have signalled that a dispute over semiconductor maker Nexperia should be resolved at the corporate level, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce, as affected countries continue to seek a solution to supply-chain disruptions. The push for a corporate resolution came after two separate video conferences that Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao had on Wednesday – with German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche and European Commissioner for Trade Maros...

UBS has warned of greater market volatility next year, citing risks ranging from weaker-than-expected artificial intelligence revenue to geopolitical tensions, but the Swiss investment bank remains bullish about Chinese technology shares and gold. UBS identified five major market risks for next year: economic weakness, a resurgence of inflation, government debts, renewed US-China conflicts, and disappointing returns from AI after three years of heavy investment. “One point that we can be very...

China’s industrial profits dropped in October after a strong September, according to official year-on-year data released on Thursday, and analysts are pointing to domestic competition and trade tensions weighing on corporate balance sheets. Profits fell 5.5 per cent from a year ago, reversing a 21.6 per cent surge in September and a 20.4 per cent jump in August, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics. For the January-October period, profits earned by Chinese companies of a...