The first Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum finance ministers’ meeting to be held in Hong Kong focused on openness, cooperation and resilience. These themes go to the heart of a question confronting the city: as globalisation becomes more difficult and the rules and security boundaries governing international markets grow more complex, what can Hong Kong still offer cross-border commerce? Globalisation is not over. Capital still seeks opportunities overseas, while technology,...

China’s two largest carmakers, BYD and Geely Auto, recorded their strongest monthly sales of the year in October, bucking a downward trend in the world’s largest automotive market as smaller rivals come under increasing pressure to turn a profit. Shenzhen-based electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD handed over 490,168 cars to customers at home and abroad last month, up 11 per cent year on year, while Hangzhou-headquartered Geely delivered 310,183 petrol and electric cars worldwide in the same period,...

Former Japanese adult film actress Mao Hamasaki has spoken out about the “terror” and “harm” of drugs after fighting for her life when she consumed a suspected spiked drink while performing as a disc jockey in Hong Kong on Sunday. Hamasaki, who is recovering in hospital, wrote in Japanese on her social media X account that she would be examined by a psychiatrist on Monday afternoon. “And if all goes well, I should be able to be discharged,” she said. “My consciousness is completely clear, and I...

Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers blocked a major highway and clashed with police on Monday, demanding a monthly minimum wage more than double current pay, as protests spread across industrial hubs. Bangladesh is the world’s second-biggest garment exporter behind China, manufacturing clothes for some of the largest international brands. Hundreds of workers in Gazipur, north of the capital Dhaka, blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway, vandalising several vehicles, while large groups took to...

For the first time, the amount of inference data generated by artificial intelligence systems in China has surpassed the amount of data used to train those systems, according to a new government-backed report, illustrating how the country is increasingly adopting AI at scale. The report released on Saturday by the China Centre for Information Industry Development (CCID), which operates under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), cited recent official data showing that...

We have put together stories from our coverage of China’s fifth plenum. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘Unwritten rules’ become newest target in Communist Party’s war on corruption The Communist Party of China has pledged to vigorously crack down on the “unwritten rules” that enable corruption in the party, deepening its long-running campaign to keep officials in line. 2. At China’s fifth plenum, Communist Party puts discipline and loyalty to Xi...

A newly established Chinese start-up is developing what it describes as the country’s first home-grown new-energy business jet, adding to China’s efforts to cut aviation emissions. Beijing Airlink Aircraft, a Chinese private aircraft manufacturer founded in March, unveiled scale models of two variants of its Belyn 100 series at the Nanchang Aviation Industry Expo on Saturday. The company said its core team was drawn mainly from Tsinghua University’s school of aerospace engineering and China’s...