SCMP China·Saturday, December 13, 2025

SCMP China - Saturday, December 13, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

China narrows AI gap with US 3 years after initial ChatGPT shock

US start-up OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT on November 30, three years ago, sent China’s technology industry scrambling to get up to speed on the latest artificial intelligence developments. Chinese government authorities sent urgent requests to various experts, including professors from Tsinghua University, to provide briefings on the implications of generative AI technology, according to people with knowledge of the matter. China’s Big Tech firms and ambitious start-ups rushed to roll out their...

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How an American family’s wartime bond with China is bringing the countries together

When Elyn MacInnis first moved to Nanjing in the late 1980s, she was greeted by a wholly unexpected connection. Local elderly residents would look at the American newcomer, pause and tell her she resembled Minnie Vautrin: a middle-aged woman with round glasses and centre-parted hair often pinned up. MacInnis, who goes by the Chinese name Mu Yanling, knew the name only vaguely then. Vautrin was an American missionary who led Jinling Women’s College during the Nanking massacre, in the city now...

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China’s Wang Yi urges UAE to help close free-trade deal with Gulf Cooperation Council

China is looking to the United Arab Emirates to help speed up negotiations for a free-trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Wang met his Emirati counterpart in Abu Dhabi on Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on its website. He told Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan that China supported the UAE’s “measures to safeguard national security and development” and its “increased role in international and...

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Is China testing submarine drones that could threaten US west coast or Panama Canal?

Underwater drones being tested by China could be used to blockade the Panama Canal or even the US west coast, an American defence publication has claimed. The drones, referred to as XXLUUVs (Extra-Extra-Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicles), are highly classified and little is known for certain about them. However, some clues have been gleaned from satellite imagery, eyewitness photographs and a builder’s concept model displayed at a defence exhibition, according to the Naval News website. The...

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China marks Nanking massacre anniversary with warning against Japan’s militarism

A top official warned against moves to revive Japanese militarism as China held its annual national commemoration of the Nanking massacre amid tense ties with Tokyo. Speaking at a memorial ceremony in the eastern city of Nanjing on Saturday, Shi Taifeng, head of the ruling Communist Party’s organisation department, said that any attempt to revive militarism, challenge the post-war international order or undermine global peace and stability was “doomed to failure”, according to state broadcaster.

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Tanzania biotech firm NovFeed wins 7th Africa’s Business Heroes award in start-up bonanza

A microbiologist who revolutionised the production of laboratory-grown seafood protein took home the top prize in the 2025 African Business Heroes awards in Rwanda on Saturday, in the seventh annual edition of the largest event for start-ups of its kind on the continent. Diana Orembe, the founder of Tanzania-based NovFeed, was the winner out of 10 finalists in the awards, which received up to 32,000 applications from 54 countries. She took home US$300,000 in grant funding. Abraham Mbuthia of the

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How China-built Ecowas headquarters is latest ‘concrete symbol’ of Africa ties

China is cementing its image as a lasting partner across Africa by gifting high-profile infrastructure, such as presidential palaces and parliament buildings. A key example is the new US$32 million Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) headquarters in Abuja. Funded by China and set for handover by the end of January, this centralised complex for the 15-member bloc aims to boost staff productivity and cut operational costs. On December 4, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria Yu Dunhai...

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Beijing lodges protest after reported secret Israel trip by Taiwanese official

Beijing’s embassy in Israel has protested following media reports of a secret trip by Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister to the Middle Eastern country. According to a Reuters report on Thursday citing multiple anonymous sources, Francois Wu Chih-chung had travelled to Israel in recent weeks, though it was not disclosed who he met there. Taipei has not officially confirmed whether the visit took place. The Chinese embassy in Israel commented on the matter on Saturday, stating that Beijing firmly...

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China’s green tech revolution will outlast geopolitics with scale and cost: Arif Aga

The global green energy transition is less about geopolitics and more about economic reality, according to Arif Aga, director of global renewable engineering consultancy SgurrEnergy. For many nations seeking to adopt clean energy, their priority remains the practical pursuit of lowering costs, a reality that has entrenched China’s leading role in the global clean power supply. According to the renewable energy technical adviser, the vast scale of Chinese manufacturing and its rapid enhancement..

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China’s copper heartland vows to build US$28 billion empire, dominate in global market

A key industrial hub in eastern China is launching a push to transform itself into one of the world’s top copper-smelting bases, aiming to forge stronger supply chains for the strategic metal as prices flirt with record highs. In an implementation plan released on Tuesday, the Shandong provincial government pledged to expand its copper industry, with the next two years seeing rapid advancements. The move comes as geopolitical tensions and the race for technological dominance shore up copper’s...

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