newsmart – Latest News

thenextweb.com | 2 hrs. 6 min. ago

China’s AI industry is moving from models to agents, a state report says

China’s AI industry is moving from competing on models to deploying agents, and the China Telecom Research Institute expects inference to reach 80% of the country’s compute market by 2029. Europe’s answer is seven gigafactories whose bids close in November and whose machines are due to run by mid-2028, on a EUR 30bn budget of […] This story continues at The Next Web

ft.com | 2 hrs. 28 min. ago

[$] Can China’s Icicle woo global shoppers in a luxury downturn?

Cashmere brand wants more stores in Europe and the US after being backed by Gucci owner Kering

thehill.com | 3 hrs. ago

Trump says he would allow Chinese automakers to build cars in US

President Trump said Friday he would permit Chinese automakers to move manufacturing to the U.S. over the protest of American automakers. “If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I’d be OK with it,” the president told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on “The Ingraham Angle.” “Japan does it,...

scmp.com | 3 hrs. 22 min. ago

US-China decoupling could benefit other countries, China trade war game suggests

Chinese researchers have modelled a war game scenario suggesting that a complete economic decoupling between the US and China could, unexpectedly, yield dividends for most other nations. Using a quantitative trade model – a data-based economic framework that estimates how changes in trade affect economies – two researchers based in southern China’s Guangdong province found that if the world’s two largest economies were to sever trade relations entirely, a number of other countries, including...

livemint.com | 5 hrs. 16 min. ago

Xi Jinping's Hongqi N701 in Delhi: All you need to know about his armoured limousine

Explore the Hongqi N701, China’s secretive presidential limousine carrying President Xi Jinping. Discover its armour, engine specs, security tech, and how it rivals US ‘The Beast’.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com | 6 hrs. 12 min. ago

China rejects Anthropic allegations of using Claude to train their models

defence-blog.com | 6 hrs. 17 min. ago

China’s nuclear stockpile climbs to 620 warheads, SIPRI says

China’s nuclear weapon stockpile grew to an estimated 620 warheads as of January 2026, up from about 600 a year earlier, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s newly published World Nuclear Forces assessment. SIPRI researchers Hans M. Kristensen and Matt Korda say the increase is part of a broader expansion that shows no […]

scmp.com | 7 hrs. 26 min. ago

Chinese men warned over bridal scams as marriage squeeze drives search for wives in Africa

A young Malagasy woman was stopped at Madagascar’s Ivato International Airport last month as she prepared to travel to China for a proposed marriage, according to local media reports citing police. She had reportedly been promised 10 million ariary (US$2,300) once she arrived and married a Chinese man. The case led police to investigate a suspected network involved in arranging similar marriages. Four people were detained, and police reportedly recovered false stamps, documents and 10 Malagasy...

thehindu.com | 8 hrs. 11 min. ago

China Southern Airlines to resume Guangzhou-Delhi flights after 6 years

With the resumption, the airline will operate more than 100 weekly flights across eight round-trip routes in South Asia

scmp.com | 9 hrs. 27 min. ago

US wants Taiwan to ‘serve as cannon fodder’ against mainland China: state broadcaster CCTV

“Separatists” and the United States are putting Taiwan in greater danger, China’s state broadcaster CCTV warned on Friday after Washington’s de facto ambassador said the island could convince a potential adversary that landing forces would be very difficult. Raymond Greene, the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, said in a keynote address at the 2026 Taipei Security Dialogue on Wednesday that “Taiwan doesn’t need to demonstrate that it can win a war outright”. He added that Taiwan had...

scmp.com | 9 hrs. 27 min. ago

State funeral for Hong Kong’s first leader Tung Chee-hwa set for September 20

The state funeral for the city’s first chief executive, the late Tung Chee-hwa, is scheduled for next Sunday, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source confirmed on Saturday that the funeral would take place on September 20, with details being arranged. State leaders and central government officials are expected to join the funeral committee, following previous practice. The SCMP reported earlier that a state funeral would be accorded to Tung to honour his legacy as a deputy...

nytimes.com | 11 hrs. 5 min. ago

[$] India Wants to Buy Fewer Chinese Imports, but Keeps Needing More

Trade between India and China has nearly doubled in five years, leaving New Delhi with a widening deficit and a difficult choice over how to build its industrial future.

scmp.com | 12 hrs. 7 min. ago

What is AGI? How China’s AI firms are catching up as OpenAI Astra sparks debate

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s declaration that artificial general intelligence (AGI) has arrived following the release of OpenAI’s latest model, Astra, has ignited debate over whether AI’s holy grail is now reality. As China races to close the gap with the US, leading Chinese AI companies are declaring their ambitions to pursue AGI, even as Beijing appears to maintain a cautious stance towards the concept. Here is a primer on what AGI means, where top Chinese AI developers stand, and how Chinese...

scmp.com | 14 hrs. 4 min. ago

Taobao’s ‘ugly’ goods find a growing market among China’s young consumers

Products widely considered “ugly” or “bizarre” have gone viral online in China as millions of young consumers embrace the items’ quirky humour and distinctive character. Cumulative sales of such products on Taobao – an e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group Holding – have surpassed 230 million yuan (US$34.3 million) since 2020, when Taobao launched its so-called Uglies Award to celebrate creatively unusual goods, the platform said recently without specifying exactly what constitutes an “ugly”...

scmp.com | 14 hrs. 55 min. ago

Senior official asked to resign over defective lifts at Queen Mary Hospital

A senior Hong Kong government official who oversaw faulty lift installation work that stalled the launch of a new block at Queen Mary Hospital was asked to resign and left her post last month to take responsibility for the defects and delays on other projects, the South China Morning Post has learned. But experts criticised the authorities’ handling of civil service management missteps, which bypassed the established disciplinary mechanism, saying it lacked transparency. Multiple sources said...

thenextweb.com | 16 hrs. 22 min. ago

China’s car exports beat last year’s record with four months to go

China exported more than 6.2 million passenger cars in the first eight months of this year, beating its full-year total for 2025 with four months to spare, while domestic sales fell 25.6% in August. Europe absorbed much of the growth through plug-in hybrids, which the EU’s tariff on Chinese cars does not cover, and BYD’s […] This story continues at The Next Web

time.com | 21 hrs. 21 min. ago

Why a Divided BRICS Poses No Challenge to America

BRICS is unlikely to become an anti-American or anti-Western power bloc anytime soon, and its clout is already limited by the rivalry between China and India.

thehindu.com | 23 hrs. 27 min. ago

Watch: India-China ties in bad shape since Galwan, says Shashi Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said India-China relations have been in bad shape since the 2020 Galwan clash and called for greater flexibility, understanding and friendship from China.

scmp.com | 1 days ago

‘Pillar of Shame’ sculptor to ask Denmark to negotiate for artwork’s return

The creator of a sculpture commemorating those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown will ask Danish authorities to negotiate with Hong Kong for its return, with city officials disputing his claims of owning the confiscated artwork. The fate of the “Pillar of Shame” sculpture has come back under the spotlight after the High Court on Friday handed jail sentences to three former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China at the end of a...

euronews.com | 1 days ago

Azerbaijan’s state oil fund helps launch China-ASEAN investment council

SOFAZ is the only founder from outside East and Southeast Asia, reflecting Azerbaijan’s position on the trade corridor between Asia and Europe.

iol.co.za | 1 days ago

South Africa to showcase innovation at Pujiang Innovation Forum in China

Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande will lead the South African delegation.

dw.com | 1 days ago

India's BRICS strategy tested with Xi, Putin set to visit

New Delhi's "America Plus" approach sees India deepening its ties with China and Russia, while also trying to keep BRICS from turning into an anti-Western platform.

scmp.com | 1 days ago

Beijing can rewrite China’s property rules, but it can’t undo the damage

Financial markets are notoriously prone to mistaking a fundamental institutional shift for a temporary liquidity crisis. The futurist Roy Amara is often credited with the observation that people tend to overestimate the short-term effect of a transformation while underestimating its long-term impact. China’s real-estate sector is furnishing a textbook case of an analogous dynamic. On August 28, Chinese housing authorities and financial regulators announced a package to overhaul the commercial...

scmp.com | 1 days ago

Fresh photos offer clearest view yet of China’s ‘WZ-X’ spy drone

Fresh clues are emerging about a new type of Chinese drone being developed as a long-range intelligence and surveillance platform intended to operate deep inside contested airspace. New photographs circulated on Chinese internet forums earlier this month that appear to show the massive drone in the air, offering much clearer views of its wing shape than earlier images. The original source of the photos and exactly where they were taken have not been independently verified. Andreas Rupprecht, a...

scmp.com | 1 days ago

Singapore and mainland China top global student assessment as OECD scores hit record low

Singaporean and Chinese students led the world in educational performance in 2025, according to an assessment by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, as average scores across OECD countries reached a record low. The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment comprised 760,000 15-year-old students across 91 countries and economies, including OECD members and partners. This edition of the survey was the largest since the OECD first administered the triennial...

ft.com | 1 days ago

Anglo nickel deal tests EU resolve over Chinese control of resources

China-backed MMG urges Brussels to approve $500mn transaction as European regulators prepare formal warning

dw.com | 1 days ago

Why North Korea's Kim Jong Un doesn't need a US deal

Donald Trump's overtures to North Korea's dictator have gone nowhere, with an emboldened Pyongyang accelerating its nuclear program and solidifying alliances with Russia and China.

businessinsider.com | 1 days ago

China's AI chip IPO boom rolls on as another Nvidia challenger soars 200% in market debut

Tencent-backed Enflame is riding China's AI chip boom as US export curbs accelerate Beijing's semiconductor ambitions.

scmp.com | 1 days ago

China’s young investors embrace risk. Why are their portfolios so safe?

Young Chinese investors may be just as willing to take risks as their global peers, but their portfolios remain more conservative against a backdrop of years of relative underperformance in China’s stock market, a prolonged property downturn and deflation, according to a senior researcher at the CFA Institute Research and Policy Centre. The disconnect between their willingness to take risks and their actual investment choices illustrated what the institute called an “aspiration-implementation...

dw.com | 1 days ago

China angered by Taiwan VP's visit to EU democracy forum

Beijing has lodged a complaint with Italy and the EU over top Taiwanese officials visiting a democracy conference. The EU is navigating contentious issues with China and high-ranking Taiwanese visits are rare.

nytimes.com | 1 days ago

For China, a Mock A.I. Attack on WeChat Signals a Dangerous New Era

The demonstration of a potent cyberweapon has exposed China’s vulnerabilities and added to the urgency of A.I. safety talks between Beijing and Washington.

dw.com | 1 days ago

Hong Kong Tiananmen activists sentenced up to 7 years

Three pro-democracy activists who organized annual commemorations of China's deadly 1989 Tiananmen crackdown were charged under Hong Kong's Beijing-backed national security law.

scmp.com | 1 days ago

From Pakistan to Uzbekistan: how China’s J-10CE is widening its overseas reach

Battle-testing modern weapon systems can come at a steep price: a country must send its forces to war. But for China’s 4.5-generation J-10CE fighter aircraft, exports have opened another route. Pakistan provided the aircraft’s first major combat test during its four-day conflict with India in May 2025, when Islamabad’s J-10CEs were used in an air battle. Two US officials told Reuters that at least two Indian aircraft were downed, including a French-built Rafale – though the precise losses,...

euronews.com | 1 days ago

EU's largest political group doesn't want confrontation with China

The EU's most influential political family is drafting a paper urging tougher use of trade leverage with China, while maintaining dialogue and avoiding a trade escalation.

abc.net.au | 1 days ago

Former China ambassador warns Beijing is becoming 'smug' and closed

A former ambassador to China has sharply critiqued elements of the Morrison government's response to Beijing's coercion, saying some in the Coalition "almost delighted" in being targeted and "paraded" the famous list of 14 grievances handed over by Chinese diplomats.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com | 1 days ago

South China Sea methane leak formed a 1km plume; worms and bacteria built a ‘worm bed’ in 2 years

A South China Sea drilling incident caused a significant methane leak in 2018. Ocean scientists observed an ecosystem rapidly responding to the underwater gas release. Bacteria and worms quickly formed a methane-munching 'worm bed' within two years. This new biofilter degraded methane effectively, reducing plume height significantly. However, this rapid ecosystem development caused a notable decrease in original microbial diversity.

abcnews.com | 1 days ago

BRICS leaders gather in New Delhi as wars and rivalries strain the expanded bloc

BRICS leaders are meeting in New Delhi this weekend as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and U.S.-China tensions test the group's unity

businessinsider.com | 1 days ago

China's star AI labs routed user requests to Claude at least 35 million times in the summer: Anthropic

Anthropic said Alibaba, Moonshot, Zhipu, DeepSeek, and Xiaomi all tried to use Claude to train their models in various ways.

nytimes.com | 1 days ago

[$] At BRICS Summit, China and India Vie for Influence

China sees the BRICS group as a vehicle for challenging American power. India wants to keep the group broad enough to avoid choosing sides.

thehindu.com | 1 days ago

Low funding for postdoc roles fuelling brain drain, govt. funds only 2,500 positions

India spends about $13 a year per person on research; China spends $250, the U.S. over $2,100. There are just 262 full-time-equivalent researchers per million people in the country