Hong Kong and Hainan should forge a strong partnership and explore new models of cooperation, the city’s leader has said, urging the business sector to capitalise on the mainland Chinese province’s free-trade port status by offering professional services in areas such as finance, law and accounting. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s call followed a meeting…
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will arrive in Hong Kong on Thursday for a three-day visit, meeting the city’s leader, politicians and businesspeople, and will also examine key sites in the Northern Metropolis megaproject to explore collaboration opportunities. It will be Wong’s first official visit to Hong Kong since he assumed office as Singapore’s fourth…
As Hainan pushes ahead with its free-trade port, the tropical island is emerging as a potential rival to Hong Kong’s long-standing role as a regional shopping and low-tax hub – even as both sides signal interest in closer cooperation. Since launching a separate customs regime three months ago, Hainan – now a gateway to the…
Pedestrians walk past the T Galleria by DFS in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. getty Luxury travel retailer DFS Group’s disposals have been steadily shrinking the company’s presence—and relevance—in the global duty-free and travel retail channel it once dominated. Today, one of the most prominent of these deals was announced, with the majority LVMH-owned…
Previously, I put forward the argument that Hong Kong’s relevance in China’s opening up lies less in guarding its gateway role and more in developing new forms of partnership. Since then, Hainan has set up distinct island-wide customs operations from December 18. This is a turning point – one that invites Hong Kong to think…
On December 18, China made a bold move on the global economic chessboard. It launched a massive free-trade experiment by turning the entire island province of Hainan – an area, comparable in size to Belgium, whose gross domestic product was US$113 billion last year – into a duty-free customs zone. A new narrative has now…
Rong Yi, a rocket expert with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), said in a social media post on Friday that the development of the new-generation crewed launch rocket was accelerating. “There have been breakthroughs in key technologies, and demonstration verification flights are about to be conducted to support the crewed lunar landing…
In a global first, China has launched a cutting-edge commercial underwater data centre in Hainan. The facility has the potential to upgrade digital service offerings, increase Beijing’s share of global internet traffic and serve as a magnet for foreign direct investment from global technology giants. To make progress, China must find a competitive edge, given…
The world’s first commercial underwater data centre is now operational in China’s Hainan, as the island province pushes to attract foreign investment by expanding the blue economy in the country’s largest pilot free-trade zone. The servers manage digital services from restaurant recommendations to travel hacks, and will be installed in a 1,300-tonne underwater data cabin…
SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Typhoon Matmo hit southern China on Sunday, the state broadcaster said, after flights and many events had been cancelled in the island province of Hainan, causing disruption in a peak holiday season. Matmo, which caused flooding in the Philippines last week, made landfall on the east coast of Xuwen in Guangdong province around…