China

Hong Kong’s security chief has defended police’s “difficult decision” to shoot a man who brandished a knife and took a woman hostage in a shopping centre, praising their bravery and decisiveness in saving lives. After police fatally shot the 34-year-old man on Thursday, Security Secretary Chris Tang Ping-keung revealed the suspect was mentally […]

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese military says it is developing over 10 quantum warfare weapons The People’s […]

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Temperatures in Hong Kong are expected to sharply dip to as low as 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday next week as a cold front […]

GUANGZHOU, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's first domestically developed undersea robot capable of three-dimensional drilling and in-situ monitoring within seabed strata has successfully completed a trial operation in the South China Sea at a depth of 1,264 meters.The robot, developed by the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey (GMGS) under the China Geological […]

TOKYO, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday informed senior officials of the ruling coalition parties of her intention to dissolve the House of Representatives at the initial stage of this year's ordinary parliamentary session and call a snap election. The decision has drawn widespread attention and controversy.WHY […]

Taipei [Taiwan], January 16 (ANI): Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence said on Friday that it recorded the presence of 34 PLA aircraft, 11 PLAN ships and one official ship operating around its territory.The Ministry of National Defence also added that 18 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern, central, southwestern and eastern Air […]

HOHHOT, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- In a humming factory in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, conveyor belts carry plump sunflower seeds through sorting machines, separating them by size and color before sealing them into export-ready bags.Within days, these seeds will depart from Bayannur, a major agricultural hub in the region, destined for ports, […]

Scroll through Tam Jai International’s mobile apps and you will encounter a wave of perks, menu offerings and other choices laid out to tempt you to the Hong Kong restaurant group’s staple offering, noodles. The apps are among several strategies, along with filling all dining segments from breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner with new menu items, that the […]

Hong Kong’s banking and finance sector is tipped to lead retail property leasing activity, with massive uptake by firms like Forthright Securities, Futu Holdings and HSBC providing support to landlords struggling through a multi-year real estate slump. Forthright Securities leased three storeys totalling 14,000 sq ft at Golden Centre in Sheung Wan for its […]

Washington DC [US], January 16 (ANI): The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday (local time) said that President Donald Trump wants the United States to acquire Greenland for our 'best national security'.Addressing reporters, the White House Press Secretary said, 'The President has made his priority quite clear. He wants the United States […]

(Photo credit: Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK)Four current college basketball players are among 20 men who have been charged in a point-shaving scheme that led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being wagered in allegedly fixed games.The federal indictment was unsealed Thursday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.'This was a massive […]

ABU DHABI, 15th January, 2026 (WAM) -- UAE-based Global South Utilities (GSU), a Resources Investment company and Headline Partner of ADSW 2026, has announced a strategic industrial collaboration with Weiheng, a Chinese global manufacturer of battery energy storage systems (BESS), aimed at localising advanced clean-energy manufacturing in Abu Dhabi and […]

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 15 (ANI): The India Tourism and Trade Fair, a long-standing annual event at the Island Grounds in Chennai, is being celebrated this year as a Golden Jubilee Fair, marking 50 years since its inception in 1974. The fair was originally envisioned by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi with the objective of […]

(260115) -- BEIJING, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, speaks while attending a meeting attended by heads of organization departments across the country in Beijing, capital of China, […]

(260115) -- BEIJING, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 15, 2026. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI): Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has moved to the Delhi High Court against the framing of charges in the Chinese Visa scam case. The trial court had framed charges of conspiracy and corruption against him. The petition was listed before the bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma for hearing. The bench will take up the […]

New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI): Former champion Lakshya Sen relied on his strong defence and injection of pace to defeat Japan's Kenta Nishimoto while Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy's inspired performances were not enough in the second round of the India Open 2026, a BWF World Tour Super 750 event being organised by the Badminton Association of India, […]

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Well before dawn, vans begin to pull up along Flower Market Road. Buckets of lilies and roses are lifted onto the street, hands moving quickly before the heat sets in. Later in the day buyers drift between shops, some with lists, others guided by scent and colour. These daily […]

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday announced a series of measures to support growth and facilitate structural improvements, including cuts to interest rates and the down payment ratio for commercial property mortgages.The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will cut the interest rates on all structural monetary policy tools by 0.25 percentage points, […]

(260115) -- SOUTH CHINA SEA, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Staff members prepare the trial operation of China's first domestically developed undersea robot capable of three-dimensional drilling and in-situ monitoring within seabed strata in the South China Sea, Oct. 14, 2025. TO GO WITH "China Focus: China unveils undersea drilling robot to boost deep-sea […]

Hong Kong lawyers should not think of competing head-on with mainland counterparts in the Greater Bay Area, but instead position themselves as common law specialists and collaborators in cross-border legal teams, Hong Kong Bar Association chairman Jose-Antonio Maurellet has said. His comments came during a fireside chat on the sidelines of the China […]

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Over the past five years, China's foreign trade volume has successively surpassed the thresholds of 40 trillion yuan (about 5.71 trillion U.S. dollars) and 45 trillion yuan, hitting 45.47 trillion yuan in 2025. This marks nine consecutive years of foreign trade expansion since 2017, according to customs data.The country's robust […]

(260115) -- BEIJING, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- An aerial drone photo shows people having fun on a frozen lake at Jiuru mountain scenic spot in Jinan City, east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 13, 2026. (Photo by Hao Xincheng/Xinhua)

(260115) -- HAILIN, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- A child experiences snow tubing in Hengdaohezi Town of Hailin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 15, 2025. Dubbed "a town pulled by trains," Hengdaohezi was originally established in the late 19th century when Russians built train maintenance workshops and other facilities there following the […]

New measures to strengthen Hong Kong’s building maintenance regime after the deadly Tai Po fire only scratch the surface of long-standing issues that require deeper systemic reforms and tougher laws, according to experts and industry figures. The damning verdict came after the government’s pledges and proposals on Wednesday to close policy gaps and […]

CHENGDU, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- For generations, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) arrived with ceremony as dried roots and peels were carefully measured from wooden drawers, taken home, and simmered for hours in a slow, bitter ritual that demanded attention whenever the body called for care.Today, it can be ordered iced and sipped on the commute.On the […]

SANYA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Co-hosted by the China Extreme Sports Association and Fosun Tourism Group, the 2026 China Extreme Dance Performance Competition was held from Jan. 14 to 15 at Atlantis Sanya, attracting 24 contestants from over 10 provinces and municipalities across the country.Extreme Dance is an innovative sport evolved from street dance. The […]

(260115) -- JIANDE, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- People buy food at a food stall during a new year's shopping festival in Jiande, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 15, 2026. The new year's shopping festival, featuring agricultural products, local delicacies, local opera performances and folk parades, kicked off at a local market in Jiande on Thursday. […]

Along the journey toward modernization, China and Africa are learning from each other, generating a mighty force of solidarity, self-reliance and shared development across the Global South.DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African nations. Over the decades, […]

At least three newcomers to Hong Kong’s legislature, including two from the city’s largest political party, have failed to declare company shareholdings, the Post has found, with the trio blaming the omissions on heavy workloads or misunderstandings. The three lawmakers are Jody Kwok Fu-yung and Hung Kam-in of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment […]

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Canada in areas such as clean energy, digital technology, modern agriculture, aerospace, advanced manufacturing and finance, to foster more new drivers of economic growth, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said when holding talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Beijing on […]

(260115) -- HEFEI, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Shuchen (1st L), a member of an international research team, is pictured at a lab at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 14, 2026. An international research team has developed a "self-etching" technique to process soft and unstable ionic crystal […]

(260115) -- SANYA, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Contestants perform extreme dance on an underwater stage in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, on Jan. 14, 2026. Co-hosted by the China Extreme Sports Association and Fosun Tourism Group, the 2026 China Extreme Dance Performance Competition was held from Jan. 14 to 15 at Atlantis Sanya, attracting 24 […]

More Hong Kong employees are seeking to have minor day procedures covered under the inpatient services of their group medical insurance, a joint study has found, while projecting a near 15 per cent increase in employers’ premiums this year. The findings, published in the Hong Kong Employee Medical Insurance Index, were released on Thursday by the Hong […]

Hong Kong police have shot and killed a man who brandished a 30cm knife at a shopping centre in Tuen Mun, with the force saying the officers involved had no choice but to open fire to save a passer-by. The tragedy unfolded around 7pm on Thursday near Tuen Mun Town Hall on Tuen Wui Road. Police said the 34-year-old man killed was a Hong Kong identity card […]

(260115) -- COLOMBO, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya addresses an unveiling ceremony of a project launched by China and Sri Lanka aiming at the digital transformation of general education, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Jan. 14, 2026. The project will help Sri Lanka construct an education cloud data center, a multimedia […]

Hong Kong’s construction industry body has begun distributing 3,000 rigorously tested scaffolding nets from a 12,000-unit shipment to 11 contractors overseeing 19 renovation sites, following the suspension of hundreds of projects after the deadly Tai Po inferno. The Construction Industry Council (CIC) said on Thursday that it had received 12,000 centrally […]

The death toll of Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades has risen to 168 from 161 after the remains of more victims were identified, with the city’s security chief reporting seven weeks after the tragedy that the figure was “final”. Authorities on Thursday also released demographic information on the deceased in the Tai Po blaze. The inferno that swept […]

Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has raised concerns over the potential misuse of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok, developed by Elon Musk’s company, warning that using its image-generation function to create indecent or malicious content could amount to criminal offences. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) issued a […]

ZHENGZHOU, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A photo recently went viral showing a group of elderly villagers beaming with joy in front of the "Tian'anmen Rostrum," their faces radiating with a warm sense of excitement.But a closer look reveals a heartwarming secret: the "Tian'anmen Rostrum" is actually a meticulously painted mural in the Wuying Village of Shangqiu City, […]

New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI): A tragic rail disaster unfolded on Wednesday, in Nakhon Ratchasima province, north-eastern Thailand, when a construction crane collapsed onto a moving passenger train, causing it to derail and resulting in a significant number of deaths and injuries.The accident occurred at approximately 9:05 a.m. local time in Ban […]

New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI): India's overall exports in December 2025 stood at USD 74.01 billion, marginally lower than USD 74.77 billion in December 2024, while imports rose sharply to USD 80.94 billion from USD 76.23 billion a year ago, according to official data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.The country's overall […]

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A speech delivered by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at the Central Urban Work Conference will be published on Friday.The speech by Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will be published in this year's second issue of the Qiushi […]

(260115) -- CHENGDU, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- A variety of drinks infused with herbal ingredients are available at a Tong Ren Tang's coffee shop Zhima Health in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 15, 2025. TO GO WITH "China Focus: From apothecary to Americano, traditional Chinese medicine turns into a lifestyle add-on" (Photo by Wu […]

(260115) -- CANGZHOU, Jan. 15, 2026 (Xinhua) -- A cargo ship is berthed at a container terminal at Huanghua Port, Cangzhou City of north China's Hebei Province, on Jan. 15, 2026. The cargo throughput of Huanghua Port reached 366 million tonnes in 2025, an increase of 3.08 percent year on year, which set a historical high, according to statistics with […]