China

Hong Kong authorities did not conduct a fire risk assessment of a HK$336 million (US$42.9 million) renovation project at Wang Fuk Court before the city’s deadliest blaze in decades engulfed the housing estate, a public inquiry has heard. Sam Keung Sai-ming, an assistant director of the Fire Services Department’s licensing and certification branch, said […]

Hong Kong taxi passengers will still have to pay full tunnel tolls despite government relief measures that cut the fee for commercial vehicles by half, transport authorities have said. The Transport and Logistics Bureau said on Friday that the relief measure, contained in a package to support the transport sector as oil prices rise, was aimed at helping […]

Hong Kong students taking the English paper in university entrance exams on Friday were pleasantly surprised by relatable topics such as bubble tea and starting a YouTube channel. But many candidates sitting the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exam were caught off guard by the inclusion of two poems in the reading section for the first time. About […]

Hong Kong’s largest public hospital will open to patients in phases from October, with the new 2,400-bed facility in Kai Tak set to take over the services of Queen Elizabeth Hospital and become a healthcare hub for Kowloon. The Hospital Authority said on Friday that the first phase of services at Kai Tak Hospital, located on Shing Cheong Road in Kowloon […]

LANZHOU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have recently revealed how long-term cultivation impacts soil fauna diversity and the stability of ecological networks in desert agricultural ecosystems, according to the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.The study provides a scientific […]

Hong Kong’s smoking rate fell to 8.5 per cent last year, missing an ambitious target of 7.8 per cent, but health authorities have hailed the success of the city’s tobacco control strategy, which led to a 30 per cent decline in overall cigarette consumption. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau told a Legislative Council meeting on Friday that the rate – […]

(260410) -- BEIJING, April 10, 2026 (Xinhua) -- A press conference is held by a delegation of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party in Beijing, capital of China, April 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

(260410) -- NATAL, April 10, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Musicians from the China National Symphony Orchestra perform in a concert celebrating the China-Brazil Cultural Year in Natal, Brazil, April 9, 2026. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua)

An international animal rights group and a veterinary organisation have called for a public boycott of Hong Kong’s major online retailer, HKTVmall, after its parent company revealed a life science project testing the viability of detached animal heads and limbs. The two groups staged an hour-long protest on Friday outside the HKTVmall building in Tseung […]

A Hong Kong independent bookstore owner has been fined HK$32,000 (US$4,085) for holding a Spanish class in his shop after a court ruled the course took place at an unregistered school. Pong Yat-ming, 52, was convicted on Friday of violating the Education Ordinance by organising a Spanish course in April last year at Book Punch, a bookstore he founded in […]

HSBC and a joint venture led by Standard Chartered have been awarded Hong Kong’s first stablecoin issuer licences, marking the city’s latest step towards embracing cryptocurrency’s most-traded cash substitute in its bid to become a global digital asset hub. Eight months after Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Ordinance, one of the world’s first such laws, […]

Washington DC [US], April 10 (ANI): Former US National Security Advisor General Mike Flynn on Friday raised questions on Pakistan's ability to serve as an 'honest mediator' for peace talks between Iran and the US in light of the purported claims of Islamabad's role in providing Chinese-supplied missiles to Iran.General Flynn served as the National Security […]

Many Europeans consider America more dangerous than China, Politico reportsThe US is perceived as a threat by a significant portion of people in six leading European nations, a new opinion poll suggests. In Spain, a majority holds this view, it says.Politico, which commissioned the survey, said on Wednesday that these perceptions are linked to the policies […]

ABU DHABI, 10th April, 2026 (WAM) -- The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) Group and its listed companies are heading to Hong Kong for its annual Global Investor Outreach from 14th to 16th April. This roadshow will be held on the sidelines of the HSBC Global Investment Summit 2026.Hong Kong will be the ADX's first international stop for 2026, connecting […]

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Friday morning met with Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, in Beijing.Invited by the CPC Central Committee and Xi, Cheng is the first KMT chairperson that has led a delegation to the Chinese mainland in the […]

(260410) -- NINGBO, April 10, 2026 (Xinhua) -- An Se Young of South Korea react after winning the women's singles quarterfinal match against Miyazaki Tomoka of Japan at Badminton Asia Championships 2026 in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)

As a close neighbor maintaining constructive relations with both sides, China has offered a credible, neutral and trusted platform -- one that prioritizes de-escalation, encourages dialogue, and anchors fragile trust. This is not symbolic diplomacy, but concrete action aimed at stabilizing a volatile region.BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The recent informal […]

Hong Kong housing authorities have spent HK$34 million (US$4.3 million) on recovery efforts following the devastating fire at Wang Fuk Court, including removing damaged scaffolding, conducting structural assessments and strengthening works. The Housing Bureau said on Thursday evening that the expenditure was the main reason for the 22.1 per cent increase in […]

More than 150 Hong Kong civil servants were dismissed for serious misconduct or criminal convictions over the past three financial years, with police accounting for the largest number of cases. In a written reply to a lawmaker’s inquiry on Thursday, the Civil Service Bureau said 151 civil servants were dismissed for serious misconduct or criminal offences […]

(260410) -- BEIJING, April 10, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with a delegation of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party led by its chairwoman Cheng Li-wun in Beijing, capital of China, April 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Hong Kong police have arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of robbing HK$35,000 (US$4,469) from a bank with an air gun and a hammer before escaping on a bicycle, with officers apprehending him and recovering the money in 90 minutes. The force received a report at 12.26pm on Friday that the Bank of East Asia branch in Harbour View Centre in Wan Chai had […]

Hong Kong will directly pay diesel subsidies to local oil companies based on sales volume after lawmakers approved a massive HK$1.8 billion government scheme to ease rocketing fuel prices for the transport sector over the next two months. The city’s environment minister maintained that a mechanism would be in place so the government could “know” and […]

SHENYANG, April 10 (Xinhua) -- At 6 a.m., as the first rays of sunlight hit the Xiaoheyan morning market in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, the air was already thick with the aroma of freshly fried beef pies and steaming tofu pudding.In this 200-year-old market in Liaoning Province, long snaking queues line stalls selling everything from […]

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, returned to year-on-year growth in March, ending a 41-month streak of decline, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.The PPI rose 0.5 percent year on year in March, reversing a 0.9 percent drop in February, according to the […]

Jardine Matheson is giving up its remaining office space in FWD Tower at Taikoo Place and plans to relocate staff back to Jardine House in Central as part of operational consolidation, sources said. The move reflects a wider trend of companies consolidating into the core district, where demand for premium office space has been strengthening. The group’s […]

New Delhi [India], April 10 (ANI): Record-breaking outflows in March, primarily driven by North American investors, halved global inflows into physically backed gold ETFs for the first quarter of 2026. According to a report by the World Gold Council, March saw a hefty USD 12 billion exit from the market, representing the largest monthly outflow on record. […]

(260410) -- FREETOWN, April 10, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Members of the 27th batch of Chinese medical team in Sierra Leone pose for a group photo during a handover ceremony of medical supplies at the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, April 9, 2026. The 27th batch of Chinese medical team in Sierra Leone on Thursday donated a […]

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Friday morning met with Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, in Beijing.

BEIJING, 10th April, 2026 (WAM) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of inflation, rose 1 percent year-on-year in March, according to official data released today.Xinhua News Agency reported that the National Bureau of Statistics also said the producer price index (PPI), which measures costs of goods at the factory gate, increased by 0.5 […]

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee examining the causes of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades completed its 10th day of evidential hearings on Friday. The session focused on the Fire Services Department’s handling of […]

SAN FRANCISCO/SHANGHAI: Tesla is exploring a return to more affordable electric cars with a new compact SUV under development, according to four people familiar with the matter, in a move that could signal a shift in strategy after years of prioritizing autonomous technology. The automaker has recently approached suppliers to discuss specifications and […]

WUHAN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Drumbeats rise and fall inside a university gymnasium in central China. A brightly colored dragon surges forward, then dips and coils, its body rippling in perfect rhythm.At the front, guiding the dragon with a pearl, is Miguel de Oliveira Manacero, known in China as Ma Feilong, a 24-year-old Brazilian graduate student.In […]

FUZHOU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- An investigation into a deadly fire at a food company's construction site in the city of Sanming, east China's Fujian Province, has identified the incident as "a major workplace safety liability accident," provincial emergency response authorities said on Thursday.The fire at a cold-chain facility project under construction […]

SHENZHEN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Every morning at eight, 15 workers arrive at a car wash on Meilin Road in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and begin a routine that is part work and part performance.To lively music, they spray water, lather each car and wipe it down in a carefully timed sequence they have turned into a game, drawing customers who pause […]

Clashes over the screening of a controversial, award-winning Hong Kong coming-of-age documentary at an Italian film festival have escalated, with the director accusing the secondary school at the centre of the dispute of “blatantly lying” about the arrangement for the showing. Acclaimed filmmaker Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting slammed Ying Wa Girls’ School […]

(260410) -- AUGUSTA, April 10, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Li Haotong of China lines his putt during the round 1 of the 2026 Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, the United States, on April 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

Hong Kong bus company boss Martin Lau feels overwhelmed as he attempts every option possible to minimise mounting losses wrought by runaway fuel prices. He has done everything he can think of, from trying to reduce services to doing his own repairs on his fleet of more than 20 coaches. Lau, managing director of ABC Touring Car Company, told the South China […]

US President Donald Trump assailed Tehran for its plan for the crucial Strait of Hormuz, suggesting it was dishonorable, even as top US and Iranian officials were due to gather in Islamabad on April 10 for crucial peace talks.Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the […]

Top US and Iranian officials are preparing to gather in Islamabad for what could be the most consequential diplomatic encounter between the two countries in over four decades, even as disputes over the Strait of Hormuz and Israel's bombardment of Lebanon continue to cloud prospects for a deal to end the war.US Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve […]

The island's ruling party has pushed military buildup, while the opposition has visited the mainland to offer an olive branch Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Friday proposed a nearly $40 billion military buildup amid tensions with Beijing. This came just days after the head of the self-governing island's […]

The islands ruling party has pushed military buildup, while the opposition has visited the mainland to offer an olive branchTaiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Friday proposed a nearly $40 billion military buildup amid tensions with Beijing. This came just days after the head of the self-governing island's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), […]

(260409) -- PYONGYANG, April 9, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Choe Son Hui in Pyongyang, the DPRK, April 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Chao)

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China has expanded its pilot free trade zones (FTZ) to 23 with the establishment of the China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the latest move in the country's sustained push for high-standard opening up, according to a plan made public by the State Council Thursday.The plan grants the new pilot FTZ in north China's Inner […]

Workplace sexual harassment complaints in Hong Kong have jumped by 38 per cent year on year, according to the equality watchdog. The Equal Opportunities Commission recorded 315 such complaints in 2025, up from 228 the previous year, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said in a written response to legislative inquiries on Thursday. […]

A proposed increase in the Hong Kong government’s borrowing cap for its bond programmes to HK$900 billion (US$115 billion) will be sufficient to finance infrastructure projects over the next three years, officials have said, while leaving the door open to further rises in the long run if needed. Andrew Lai Chi-wah, permanent secretary for financial […]