Alibaba Group Holding raised US$5 billion from a multi-tranche dual-currency bond offering, the Chinese e-commerce giant said on Wednesday, an initiative that looks to enhance Hong Kong’s role as an international financial centre. The company’s latest bond offering reflects efforts by the mainland and Hong Kong to bolster the city’s financial standing, including its function…
Japanese firms in China are becoming more pessimistic about the world’s second-biggest economy, with about two-thirds saying it’s getting worse and almost half scaling back or halting their investments. About 64% of Japanese companies said the Chinese economy is faring worse than last year, according to the latest survey from the Japanese Chamber of Commerce…
He is coming into office with the unreserved support of the world’s richest man, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index – tech mogul Elon Musk – who has just been named to lead a new department of efficiency. The massive power Trump now wields has sent shock waves across the US and around the world….
The rally that swept across China’s stock market a month ago may have cooled, but a slew of indicators suggests some investors are still betting on further gains. The CSI 300 Index has largely been range-bound since an Oct. 8 peak, with an underwhelming fiscal stimulus and concerns over US President-elect Donald Trump’s confrontational stance…
1. ByteDance’s ChatGPT-like Doubao AI bot becomes No 1 in China with 51 million users Doubao has become China’s top AI app with 51 million active users, surpassing competitors like Baidu’s Wenxiaoyan and Alibaba’s Kimi. Free and versatile, it excels in various tasks including text, image, audio and video generation, and data analysis, making it…
China’s southern tech hub Shenzhen spent a record amount on research and development (R&D) last year, rivalling Beijing’s level and vastly exceeding that of neighbouring Hong Kong to cement its position as a national research mecca. Shenzhen’s R&D expenditure jumped to 223.66 billion yuan (US$30.93 billion) in 2023, surpassing the 200-billion-yuan mark for the first…
Beijing is worried that Hong Kong developers’ tepid response to local megaprojects may further erode investor confidence and this was why a top central government official took on the task of cajoling the private sector on behalf of city authorities, political analysts have said. Economic and property specialists said the central government’s “explicit” call to…
A scramble for artificial intelligence (AI) talent is intensifying in China, as local tech giants dangle eye-watering salaries to hire top-notch professionals to compete in a heated AI race. Beijing-based smartphone giant Xiaomi will be hosting a special hiring session for AI experts in areas spanning AI models, computer vision, deep learning, autonomous driving and…
Beijing’s top man on Hong Kong’s affairs has urged local business tycoons to lead in the reinvention of the city and replace inertia with reforms, while encouraging them to innovate and stage international events to attract foreigners to take part in the financial hub’s vibrancy. Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs…
A young man in China was detained after he flaunted an impressive cash gift of 180 million yuan (US$25 million) from his grandmother for his birthday, only to later be discovered to have fabricated the entire story. On October 5, the man was exposed for showcasing luxury cars, jewellery, and antiques on his Douyin account…