China

Nine residential sites will be offered to developers in the coming financial year to provide about 6,650 flats under Hong Kong’s land sale programme, after authorities highlighted the property market had stabilised in the latest budget. Combined with other land sources, such as urban redevelopment, private development and projects linked to railway […]

Hong Kong authorities have defended a controversial subsidy cut for the kindergarten sector for the coming financial year, saying the low birth rate and resultant shrinking pupil population have prompted a reassessment of education policy priorities. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said on Friday that the government would channel more […]

HANGZHOU, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Peking Opera performer, clad in embroidered armor, raises her spear as gongs reverberate through a studio in Hangzhou in eastern China. There is no traditional stage or theater audience, only a green screen and a ring of specialized cameras capturing each posture.Later, through a virtual reality (VR) headset, the same scene […]

China's tropical island Hainan received over 12.32 million tourist visits during the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, a 28.9% increase year-on-year. Tourist spending reached 18.366 billion yuan (about 2.65 billion U.S. dollars), up 30.7%, during the island's first Spring Festival since the launch of island-wide special customs operations.

Three people suffered leg injuries when they were knocked down by a wild boar that was found roaming inside an MTR station and at a residential estate in Hong Kong on Friday, with another woman bitten by the animal. Police said they received multiple reports of sightings of the wild boar at Wu Kai Sha station and the Lake Silver housing complex at 5.08pm. […]

Stretching nearly 100 km across western Senegal, the Mbour-Kaolack highway project is approaching completion, with construction teams working to finalize the remaining sections.DAKAR, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Stretching nearly 100 km across western Senegal, the Mbour-Kaolack highway project is approaching completion, with construction teams working to finalize […]

A Hong Kong court has jailed a retiree for eight months for posting speeches on his social media account in which he seditiously criticised authorities and called on voters to boycott last year’s Legislative Council election. Lam Ming-chung, 68, on Friday admitted to posting seditious content on his Facebook account between September 2024 and November […]

Kabul [Afghanistan], February 27 (ANI): Several countries on Friday called for restraint and an immediate ceasefire after fresh cross-border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan along the Durand Line.The calls for a ceasefire came after overnight strikes by both sides caused significant damage to military installations and civilian infrastructure, along […]

BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- China is scheduled to launch two crewed missions and one cargo spacecraft mission for its space station operation in 2026, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).An astronaut from the Hong Kong or Macao special administrative region is expected to carry out a space station flight mission as early as this year, the […]

The publisher of the South China Morning Post, Tammy Tam, has been appointed to Hong Kong’s Law Reform Commission as the representative for the media industry for a three-year term starting in March. Veteran journalist Tam succeeded May Chan Suk-mei, a news director at Commercial Radio, who completed two three-year terms, with Secretary for Justice Paul […]

Hong Kong’s exports surged by more than 30 per cent in the first month of 2026, thanks to a rebound from last year’s low base after US-China trade war fears eased. According to the Census and Statistics Department, the total value of exports of goods rose by 33.8 per cent year on year in January to HK$520.6 billion (US$66.6 billion). The value of […]

The violence in the African nation is not driven by government policy or religious bias, Abuja has saidNigeria has rejected fresh accusations from US lawmakers that Christians in the West African country are being persecuted, insisting that there is no government policy targeting any religious group.The allegations were renewed in a report submitted to US […]

At Pop Mart’s shop in Hong Kong’s bustling Causeway Bay shopping district, a display of the toymaker’s newly launched character, Merodi, drew little attention on Friday morning. “A few people are buying it,” a salesperson said. “It’s not very well known yet.” The new series, Merodi After School, features a mischievous little girl with the […]

Less than half of Hong Kong employees feel happy at work, a survey has found, ranking the city’s workplace happiness the lowest among eight Asia-Pacific economies, including Singapore. Recruitment platform Jobsdb on Friday released its survey of 1,020 local workers. The poll also found that 44 per cent of local respondents reported burnout at work and […]

BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Friday chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to discuss a draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development and a draft government work report to be submitted by the State Council […]

(260227) -- BEIJING, Feb. 27, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Para ice hockey athlete Wang Zhidong of China delivers a speech during the launch ceremony of Chinese delegation for the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, Feb. 27, 2026. The Games will take place March 6-15, with 79 medal events across six sports. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Taipei [Taiwan], February 27 (ANI): The government's stance on prohibiting senior officials from China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) from entering the country remains unchanged, citing an ongoing lack of goodwill from Beijing, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said, according to a report by Taipei Times.MAC Deputy Chairman Liang Wen-chieh defended the […]

Washington DC [US], February 27 (ANI): The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) has called on the international community, including relevant United Nations bodies, to take coordinated and principled action in response to what it described as the continued institutionalisation of a coercive security and control system in East Turkistan, also known as […]

Hong Kong’s finance chief has assured the public that the city can manage its debt after proposing the issuance of more bonds to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis, expressing confidence in the long-term investment returns from the megaproject. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po sought to reassure the public during a radio programme on […]

Defense Minister Asif has said his country is at open war with its western neighborThe Taliban administration in Afghanistan has turned the country into an Indian "colony," Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said in the aftermath of Islamabad's military strikes on its western neighbor.In a post on X on Friday, Asif said Pakistan and Afghanistan are […]

(260227) -- HANGZHOU, Feb. 27, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Nikk Mitchell, founder and CEO of VR production company FXG, checks an image on his computer at his company based in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 27, 2026. TO GO WITH "Feature: Canadian entrepreneur uses VR to bring Chinese culture to global audience" (Xinhua)

Shanghai [China], February 27 (ANI): India's Consul General in Shanghai, Pratik Mathur, met Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng at the opening of the SCO Cooperation Centre for Metabolic Diseases in Shanghai on Friday, reaffirming efforts to strengthen India-China ties.According to a post by the Consulate General of India in Shanghai on X, the meeting took place on […]

"For Russians, the Spring Festival is often perceived as something exotic, yet people recognize the shared human values that underpin it. It is precisely through these shared values that the festival gains universal significance," said Konstantin Baraboshkin, head of the Department of Chinese Philology at Lomonosov Moscow State University.MOSCOW, Feb. 27 […]

(Photo credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images)Second-seeded Emma Navarro and No. 3 seed Ann Li of the United States, along with No. 7 seed Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain, were denied spots in the quarterfinals by losing Thursday at the Merida (Mexico) Open Akron.Navarro, ranked No. 20 in the world and the tournament's defending champion, was sent packing by Shuai […]

(Photo credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images)Top-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime extended his hot streak on Thursday, topping eighth-seeded Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.Auger-Aliassime won for the 11th time in 12 matches this month as he seeks to reach a third straight final. […]

Hong Kong is expected to record 53.8 million visitor arrivals this year, an 8 per cent rise over 2025, the tourism minister has revealed. Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui also said on Friday that a new light show replacing the 22-year-old “A Symphony of Lights” would be launched in key sightseeing spots, such as The Peak, […]

Join the global "Becoming Chinese" trend with authentic Chinese culture: Zan Hua, Embroidery, Chinese Herbal Tea and Cupping Therapy.Produced by Xinhua Global Service

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. Hong Kong can expect gloomy weather and occasional rain this weekend, with showers persisting into next week, according to the city’s weather […]

Washington DC [US], February 27 (ANI): US-based Artificial Intelligence company Anthropic has said it cut had off access to its AI model- Claude for firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), forgoing several hundred million dollars in revenue as part of efforts to safeguard America's technological lead.In a statement issued on Thursday, Anthropic […]

Panamanian authorities have reportedly raided the office of a subsidiary of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings that previously operated two ports at either end of the country’s canal, days after the terminals were taken over against the company’s will. According to Panamanian media on Thursday, local authorities had searched the office of the […]

This article was first published on February 27, 2021. By Phila Siu Legendary Hong Kong actor Ng Man-tat, best known for co-starring alongside “king of comedy” Stephen Chow Sing-chi in many popular films, died on Saturday afternoon of liver cancer. He was 70. Ng’s friend, Tenky Tin Kai-man, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, said the […]

Taipei [Taiwan], February 27 (ANI): The Ministry of Defence of Taiwan detected 8 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and 6 People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels operating around its territory up until 6 am (local time) on Friday. Out of the 8 sorties detected, 6 crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's central and southwestern ADIZ.In a post […]

NEW YORK/HONG KONG: Investment firm General Atlantic is seeking to sell part of its stake in ByteDance in a transaction that values the Chinese social media company at $550 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said, reflecting a sharp rise in the privately held group's valuation. If completed, the deal would be the first stake sale since the Trump […]

(260227) -- VIENNA, Feb. 27, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Artists perform during the Grand Chinese New Year Concert 2026 in Vienna, Austria, Feb. 26, 2026. (Xinhua/He Canling)

Hong Kong’s innovation and technology (I&T), intellectual property and investment promotion departments will receive budget increases of at least 10 per cent in the coming financial year, even as the government moves to curb recurrent spending, while the environmental branch and public broadcaster face sharp cuts of 70 and 28 per cent, respectively. […]

The increase in stamp duty on ultra-luxury homes above HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) is unlikely to change buying behaviour, analysts said, as the structural forces underpinning demand from mainland Chinese buyers could outweigh the impact of the rise in transaction costs. The Hong Kong government, in the annual budget on Wednesday, increased the tax […]

Los Angeles [US], February 26 (ANI): Celebrated South Korean director, screenwriter, and producer Park Chan-wook is all set to preside over the jury of the upcoming 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.According to Variety, Park Chan-wook will succeed French actor Juliette Binoche, whose jury previously handed over the Palme d'Or to Jafar Panahi's […]

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], February 26 (ANI): Britain's Felix Gill held his nerve in a high-intensity battle to defeat India's top star Sumit Nagal 7-6(4), 0-6, 6-3 in a marathon encounter lasting 2 hours and 37 minutes and make it to the quarter finals at the Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 Men's Tennis Championship. According to a release, the tournament is […]

Washington DC [US] February 26 (ANI): During the 2026 State of the Union Address, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson invited Ziba Murat, the daughter of detained Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas, as his guest, drawing national attention to her case and the broader human rights concerns surrounding the Uyghur community in China. The development was highlighted in […]

(Photo credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images)San Diego Padres reliever Yuki Matsui will not pitch for Japan in next month's World Baseball Classic due to a groin injury.The 30-year-old left-hander was ruled out Thursday, about a week after experiencing tightness in his left groin in a batting practice session at spring training.'It's pretty disappointing,' […]

New Delhi [India], February 26 (ANI): Delhi Police detained Congress workers and leaders during their protest over the arrest of Indian Youth Congress President Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with the 'shirtless protest' at the AI india Impact Summit in the national capital.Speaking about the protest, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav expressed pride over […]

(260226) -- HONG KONG, Feb. 26, 2026 (Xinhua) -- This photo taken on Feb. 26, 2026 shows a scene of a hillside fire in south China's Hong Kong. A hillside fire broke out on Thursday afternoon in Fanling, south China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), with a fire front stretching about 100 meters, local media reported. The flames were clearly […]

(260226) -- BEIJING, Feb. 26, 2026 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is pictured during a test ride on a new generation S-Class vehicle of Mercedes Benz to experience an urban and highway pilot driver-assist system, co-developed by Mercedes-Benz and Chinese tech firm Momenta, in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 26, 2026. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

(260226) -- HANGZHOU, Feb. 26, 2026 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is on an official visit to China, watches a humanoid robot of Unitree Robotics writing the Chinese character "Fu", meaning "good fortune", in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 26, 2026. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Hong Kong’s trade promotion body has opened applications for the 2026 edition of its Start-up Express programme, as efforts are stepped up to help local tech ventures break into overseas markets and secure commercial partnerships. Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development […]