SCMP China·Sunday, December 14, 2025

SCMP China - Sunday, December 14, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

How China’s US$150,000 robotic start-up beat Tesla boss Elon Musk in 2 years

The odds seemed impossible: a shoestring Chinese start-up founded in 2023 with just 1 million yuan (US$142,000) taking on Elon Musk – tech legend, disrupter in space and CEO of Tesla – who is valued at half a trillion dollars. But in less than two years, EngineAI Robotics, led by CEO Zhao Tongyang, created the T800 – a robot that delivers Bruce Lee-style roundhouse kicks with the force of a small car – and, under the instruction of smiling engineers and scientists, tried it first on the boss...

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Why has reference to Taiwan attending Rimpac been removed from US defence bill?

A proposal to invite Taiwan to next year’s US-led Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) military exercises has been removed from defence policy legislation progressing through Congress, raising concerns in Taipei that Washington’s political calculus may be shifting. Some analysts have warned that the removal of language approved by the US Senate in the 2026 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) could even pave the way for Beijing’s return to the world’s largest naval exercise. For the first time, the.

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US is rewriting its China policy under national security strategy

The recently released US National Security Strategy (NSS) marks a sharp geographic and political turn. It moves the western hemisphere to the top of the agenda and pushes Asia – and with it, visible China-centric “great power competition” – down a notch. This does not mean China no longer matters. Rather, it means Washington now sees China partly through the lens of what it is doing in the Americas instead of only what it is doing in the Indo-Pacific. This shift is not accidental. It is a...

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China orders local governments to settle company bills by end of year

China has set a deadline for local governments to settle outstanding payments owed to companies, calling it essential for improving the country’s business environment amid an economic slowdown. All arrears below 500,000 yuan (US$70,870) must be cleared by the end of the year, said Xiao Weiming, deputy secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner. “The biggest step in improving the business environment right now is clearing the...

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Reporter’s notebook: home test kit takes headache out of Beijing healthcare

When I woke up with a sore throat and fever in Beijing earlier this month, the last thing I wanted to do was go to a hospital. Even though the nearest public facility is just a 15-minute walk from my flat, I didn’t have the energy to leave my bed, let alone endure the long queues, crowds and cumbersome procedures that come with a hospital visit. In fact, I suspected I had contracted the virus that was causing my symptoms from a trip to that very hospital four days earlier, as it was the only...

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How will China respond to latest West Africa coup as economic footprint expands?

Just days after Chinese ambassador Yang Renhuo met Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo to donate airport security inspection equipment, the West African nation was hit by a military coup that ousted Embalo. The November 26 coup marked yet another military takeover along Africa’s “coup belt”, adding Guinea-Bissau to nations like Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Niger and Gabon that had recently seen leaders toppled. The political turmoil has raised the stakes for China’s vast economic...

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China to fully cover childbirth costs for all as fertility crisis sparks economic alarm

China will expand its national healthcare insurance programme next year to fully cover all out-of-pocket expenses related to childbirth, according to state media reports. It is the country’s latest bid to lift birth rates and avert a looming demographic crisis that threatens to undermine long-term growth prospects. The pledge to widen the medical insurance coverage was unveiled at a national healthcare security conference in Beijing on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua reported. According to a.

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Sales of high-end cars tumble in China as affordable local brands trump European marques

Chinese demand for foreign luxury cars is waning as customers opt for more affordable Chinese brand models, often sold at big discounts, catering to their taste for fancy electronics and comfort. That is bad news for European carmakers like Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz and BMW that have long dominated the upper reaches of the world’s largest auto market. A prolonged property downturn in China has left many consumers with little appetite for big purchases. Meanwhile, the well-to-do are...

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China tourism: cold spots are hot tickets as southern residents head north to ski

With temperatures falling and holidays approaching, ski resorts across northern China are experiencing a surge in visitors from the south, a trend that is cheering airlines as well as resort operators including Malaysia-based Genting Group. Since the ski season opened on November 15, the Changbai Beautiful China Resort in the northeast province of Jilin, a complex owned by China Green Development Group, has welcomed more than 110,000 visitors, marking a nearly 40 per cent year-on-year increase..

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Is the US pushing South Korea to the fore in deterring a war over Taiwan?

Mounting US pressure on allies to bolster the first island chain’s defence in the western Pacific Ocean is raising concerns about South Korea’s possible but reluctant involvement in a conflict over Taiwan, analysts have said. In its recently released National Security Strategy (NSS), US President Donald Trump’s administration highlighted the importance of a “favourable conventional military balance” as an “essential component of strategic competition”, focusing on deterring conflict over Taiwan.

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