Only a few years ago, the notion that Beyond Meat – the former poster child of the plant-based meat industry – would shut down its operations in China seemed unthinkable. At the height of the brand’s popularity, its label could be found adorning heavily promoted products at restaurants and grocery stores across major cities. Many observers speculated that the alternative meat company and others like it had found the next great success story in the country’s rapidly evolving consumer market. But...

China’s artificial intelligence boom is giving rise to a new cohort of “solopreneurs”, who are turning their business dreams into reality with the help of technology, offering a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak job market. While there is no government data tracking this group, the proliferation of affordable AI models suggests that the number of AI-powered solopreneurs in China is on the rise. Recent data from the US Census Bureau showed that the US had about 30 million solopreneurs, who...

China’s top aircraft maker is stepping up efforts to promote its first business jet as it looks to break into a market dominated by Western aviation firms like Gulfstream Aerospace. The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) took the rare step of showcasing a completed version of the model – called the Comac Business Jet, or CBJ – at an exhibition in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in October. The move signalled the state-owned company was “seeking to break into the large-cabin...

With the technology race between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, intensifying even though a trade truce was reached in late October, analysts say the prospects of China achieving self-sufficiency in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) are positive, despite American efforts to maintain leads in those fields. “If any country can do it [achieve self-sufficiency in semiconductors], it’s China, owing to its vast resources and pool of engineering talent,”...

BYD, China’s electric vehicle (EV) king, is pinning its hopes on next-generation technology to engineer a turnaround in sales amid fierce competition in the world’s largest automotive market, according to its founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu. Speaking at a shareholders’ meeting in Shenzhen on Friday, the billionaire said the company’s 12,000 engineers – the backbone of the carmaker – would help it regain a technological edge over rivals. “We have heavyweight new technology in the pipeline,” he...

As China’s regions roll out proposals for their next five-year plans, two trends are emerging: localities are preparing to nurture new, highly technological industries while focusing on those sectors best suited to their strengths. Additionally, some areas pledged to bolster their supply of rare earth elements and soybeans, items which gained greater prominence amid this year’s escalatory trade war with the United States. According to data compiled by the Post, at least 22 provincial-level...

As the Chinese leadership prepares to set the economic agenda for the year ahead, analysts expect Beijing to mostly maintain this year’s policy tone but say it could tolerate a slightly lower growth target. Chinese leaders will hold a closed-door meeting to discuss next year’s main policy goals during the central economic work conference, which usually takes place in early or mid-December. “To address the demand slump, we expect Beijing to maintain its proactive fiscal policy stance, with a...