Spain’s Agriculture Ministry said it has halted all pork exports to China after two wild boar found dead near Barcelona tested positive for African swine flu, the first cases in three decades. The outbreak, the first since 1994, coincides with Spanish efforts to court Beijing and gain market share in the pork sector and after…
Hong Kong began a three-day official mourning period on Saturday for victims of the city’s deadliest blaze in decades as residents queued at the site of the tragedy and various halls to pay their respects, penning tributes and laying flowers. For the first time since the fire broke out on Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court…
South Africa is looking to new export markets in Asia – particularly China – and Europe to diversify away from the United States, as its relations with Washington rapidly deteriorate. America boycotted last weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg after Washington accused Pretoria of persecuting Afrikaner farmers, labelling the situation “white genocide” – a…
China is betting on bio-manufacturing to boost technological self-reliance and drive economic growth as part of the next five-year plan, elevating the sector on par with electric vehicles and semiconductors. Beijing is upgrading and expanding a nationwide bio-ecosystem, with 43 companies and research institutes selected in the first batch of pilot-scale manufacturing platforms for products…
The death toll in Hong Kong’s worst fire in seven decades climbed to 83 on Thursday as many remained missing and a grief-stricken city rallied as one with authorities, private companies, charities and ordinary folks donating hundreds of millions to the victims and their families. The towering inferno that tore through seven blocks at a…
Macron has included the European Union on his last few engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This was seen as an effort to “Europeanise” his dealings with Beijing. Von der Leyen went to Paris last year to meet Xi alongside Macron and also visited Beijing in 2023 alongside the two-term centrist French leader. Before that,…
Chinese President Xi Jinping and the US President Donald Trump had a phone conversation on Taiwan and Ukraine issues on Monday, according to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua. The phone call came after a series of fast-changing geopolitics in recent weeks. China has seen an escalating row with Japan over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s…
A highly anticipated animated crossover between a Chinese mythological hero and American pop culture icons will debut early next month, marking a significant collaborative release as bilateral tensions continue to ease. Many see My Ne Zha and Transformers – a 52-episode co-production between China’s CCTV Animation and US toy giant Hasbro – as the latest…
The chief scientist of China’s top naval institute has been suspended as a foreign academician to the Russian Academy of Engineering after he became the subject of a police probe over alleged academic misconduct. On Friday, the Chinese headquarters of the Russian Academy of Engineering said it had taken note of the case against Guo…
Beijing has blasted Japan’s missile deployment on an island only 110km (68 miles) away from Taiwan as “extremely dangerous”, saying it stokes regional tensions and military confrontation amid deteriorating ties between the two Asian powers. But Shinjiro Koizumi, Tokyo’s defence minister, believed the deployment on Yonaguni Island would “reduce the likelihood of any armed attack…