Chinese artificial intelligence developer Z.ai has raised its year-end annual recurring revenue (ARR) outlook by 25 per cent to US$3 billion, as the firm indicated its fresh US$5 billion war chest had helped clear its computing capacity bottlenecks for the time being. The updated ARR projection, up from a previous estimate of about US$2.4 billion, was ...

About 10 artificial intelligence (AI) and biotech companies will be the first to access cross-border data flows under a new pilot scheme, securing an early edge over roughly 100 other firms set up in Hong Kongs flagship tech hub at the border. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu revealed on Wednesday during the final policy address of his term that more than ...

A former director of a state-owned museum at the centre of a rare high-profile art scandal was sentenced to three years in prison, Chinese state media said on Wednesday. Xu Huping was found to have abused his position at the Nanjing Museum in eastern Jiangsu province and taken bribes, including money and property, for helping others secure projects and ...

Australia is set to introduce sweeping changes to its immigration policy by barring international students from bringing dependants, in a bid to ease housing pressures and fend off a growing political challenge from the far-right. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will announce the measures at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday, outlining plans ...

I attended this years Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok and took part in a dialogue on technological development. There, I had a deep discussion with Maxim Oreshkin, Russias deputy chief of the presidential executive office, who co-chairs the countrys national AI headquarters. I left Vladivostok with a broader impression: Russia increasingly sees its ...

Hong Kongs leader has pledged to overhaul the citys building maintenance regime and improve emergency response as part of the governments response to last years fatal Tai Po fire, while authorities study criminalising bid-rigging and plan to submit a proposal later this year. The measures were outlined in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chius policy address on ...

China is bracing for a potential massive sell-off of a high-profile artificial intelligence chip stock on Thursday, when a lock-up period affecting 14 million shares in MetaX Integrated Circuits is set to expire. Analysts expect MetaX to face significant selling pressure when the restricted shares are released for trading, after the expiry of a similar ...

Hong Kong will create an AI city brain system to strengthen its response to extreme weather events, major incidents and public order management, while creating the role of artificial intelligence commissioner to tackle emerging challenges. While the citys first five-year plan set out a vision to advance technology development, Chief Executive John Lee ...

Hong Kong authorities have rolled out 11 new initiatives to encourage residents to have children, including an expanded cash bonus scheme and a reduced down payment for subsidised housing for parents with newborns. In the latest policy address delivered on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that the HK$20,000 (US$2,550) newborn bonus ...

Hong Kong aims to boost the share of zero-carbon energy in its electricity generation fuel mix to 30 per cent by 2030, up from the current 28 per cent one of four binding environmental protection targets set out in the citys first five-year plan on Wednesday. The binding goal aligns with existing climate protection strategies that target a zero-carbon ...

Hong Kong will introduce a pilot scheme next year to bring in foreign domestic carers to look after older residents as part of a broader package of measures announced in the policy address to deal with an ageing population. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in his address on Wednesday that the government would admit carers under a scheme modelled on the ...

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has said it will funnel HK$3 billion to support the construction of a Life and Health Academic Research Building at the citys new Northern Metropolis University Town. During his policy address on Wednesday, Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu announced the creation of an integrated teaching and scientific research building in the ...

Chinese online travel platform Trip.com has turned heads by launching its most expensive offering to date: a space flight package costing at least 5.1 million yuan (US$759,900). The six-day trip includes several days of preflight training followed by a 90-minute suborbital flight operated by US-based provider Virgin Galactic, which takes off from Las ...

The United Nations can count on Chinas support, the UNs peacekeeping chief said in Beijing as he flagged the bodys financial strains due in large part to Washingtons funding squeeze. Speaking at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Wednesday, UN undersecretary general for peace operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the international system was under severe ...

Forest and peatland fires raging across Indonesia are threatening to become more than an environmental emergency, with analysts warning that the thickening haze could weigh on economic activity, strain public health and test confidence in the nations fledgling carbon market. Indonesia is no stranger to forest and peat fires, but this years super El Nino has ...

Hong Kong aims to reduce the risk of premature deaths from some major chronic diseases to 6.9 per cent by 2030 by investing heavily in primary healthcare and prevention, authorities have said. Delivering the annual policy address and first five-year plan, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Wednesday also unveiled plans to develop the citys first integrated ...

Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci was found guilty of war crimes including murder, torture and illegal detention by the Kosovo war crimes tribunal on Wednesday. Thaci, 58, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes committed as top commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the territorys violent break from Serbia in the ...

A US military honour guard held a rehearsal at the White House as Washington fine-tuned diplomatic protocols and preparations for Chinese President Xi Jinpings expected visit to the United States next week. A video clip posted on social media by Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson on Tuesday afternoon Washington time showed service members from various ...

Geologists have discovered two large water sources beneath Chinas largest desert, potentially offering the northwestern region a vital new tap for sand-control projects and agriculture. The desert region has drawn attention for extensive afforestation and anti-desertification efforts taking place around its edges under the Great Green Wall initiative, ...

In the early hours of the morning, 29-year-old Guo Zihao awoke in a 24-hour billiards hall in Shenzhen, southern China. For months, such places had served as his makeshift shelter. At his lowest point, he found himself with merely 20 yuan (US$3) left in his pocket. That period was more than a financial struggle, Guo told the SCMP. Every minute, every ...

A third-generation member of a long-established Hong Kong developer family has bought a HK$98.8 million (US$12.6 million) luxury flat in Mid-Levels, weeks after the family sold a long-held North Point property, highlighting a broader market trend of capital shifting across real estate sectors. John Lai Sung-ziang agreed to buy a high-floor unit at Estoril ...

Chinas ruling Communist Party mouthpiece has rejected US allegations that Chinese artificial intelligence companies conducted industrial-scale distillation of American frontier models, warning that Beijing would respond if Washington continued to suppress Chinas AI industry. In a commentary published on Wednesday, Peoples Daily said the US claims were ...

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has placed deepening integration with mainland China and developing new economic engines centre stage as he unveiled the citys first-ever five-year plan alongside the last policy address of his term. During his landmark speech on Wednesday, which ran just one minute shy of three hours, Lee laid out how the citys ...

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu presented the citys first ever five-year plan, including steps to bolster innovation, birth rates and financial activity. The city aims to raise spending on innovation to 3 per cent of gross domestic product after 2030 from 1.63 per cent in 2024, Lee said as he announced the plan on Wednesday alongside the ...

China confirmed on Wednesday that a research vessel conducted a month-long, wide-ranging geological survey in the waters near Scarborough Shoal, a South China Sea flashpoint between Beijing and Manila. The Haiyang Dizhi Shihao, or Marine Geology No 10, carried out the survey from August 11 to September 8, with the aim of gaining a comprehensive ...