China is stepping up its chip self-sufficiency push by combining relatively mature chips with new computing architectures in an effort to approach Nvidia’s performance levels, according to a top industry expert. Logic chips made with a 14-nanometre process, which are generally seen as trailing cutting-edge AI processors, could reach a performance comparable with Nvidia’s 4nm products if they were integrated with high-performance memory and an innovative computing architecture, said Wei Shaojun,...

China’s finance minister has called for a more proactive fiscal policy to boost domestic demand, strengthen industrial security and advance technological self-reliance while mitigating debt risks, as Beijing prepares for one of its most important economic planning meetings of the year. Finance Minister Lan Foan outlined the country’s top fiscal priorities on Tuesday in an editorial published in the People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s flagship newspaper. He stressed the need to support...

China logged a record 180 billion express deliveries in the first 11 months of the year, according to state media reports, as the country’s online shopping platforms continue to rake in orders despite an economic slowdown. Xinhua said the bumper parcel deliveries – which reached as high as 777 million per day from January to November, according to the State Post Bureau – reflected the “vigorous vitality of China’s economy”, though analysts cautioned that vendors were often relying on generous...

German companies are accelerating efforts to partner with Chinese rivals, conceding in fresh survey results that the local competitors appear poised to seize the lead in global innovation. While business sentiment among surveyed German firms in China has seen a slight uptick, optimism has been tempered by fierce price competition and a nationalist “Buy China” push, according to findings from the German Chamber of Commerce’s 2025/26 Business Confidence Survey. About 56 per cent of surveyed firms...

Renewable energy is the tech revolution of our time. It promises ubiquitous, cheap and easily accessible energy for all. The rise of the sodium-ion battery is the final piece to make this dream come true. Its low cost and reliable energy storage can make distributed and affordable electrification widely available for everyone across the world. Chinese firm CATL is on the verge of mass-producing a sodium-ion battery that can charge more than 10,000 cycles, performs between minus 40 and 70 degrees...

Mainland China’s property market will remain under pressure in the first quarter of next year as weak monthly sales show few signs of a turnaround, according to Morgan Stanley. Sales at the country’s top 100 developers fell 36 per cent in November from a year earlier to 184 billion yuan (US$26 billion), according to Morgan Stanley, which used data compiled by China Real Estate Information Corp (CRIC). In the first 11 months, developers recorded 2.71 trillion yuan in sales, a decrease of 19 per...

More than 1,900 flights from China to Japan scheduled for this month have now been cancelled, according to state media reports and travel experts, as a political dispute between the two nations over Taiwan grinds on. The figure represented more than 40 per cent of the flights from mainland China to Japan scheduled for December, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday, citing data from online platforms. Li Hanming, an independent civil aviation analyst, said his research indicated that...