SCMP China·Sunday, December 21, 2025

SCMP China - Sunday, December 21, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

How will US-China ties fare with Trump calling fentanyl a ‘weapon of mass destruction’?

Donald Trump’s move labelling fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction” is unlikely to disrupt Sino-US relations, but it expands Washington’s China policy toolbox and could inject uncertainty in ties over the long term, according to analysts. On Monday, the American president signed an executive order designating illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, as a weapon of mass destruction, calling the drug “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic”. Without naming names, the order highlighted

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Chinese workers return to Africa as lucrative job opportunities beckon

Chinese workers are returning to Africa in their thousands, reversing a decade-long decline and signalling a renewed focus on strategic mega-projects across the continent. In 2024, there were 90,793 Chinese workers on contracted projects and labour services on the continent, an increase of about 4 per cent over the 87,078 recorded the previous year, according to data from the China Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. The upturn marks..

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J-16s vs Rafales: Chinese air force puts jets to the war-game test

China’s state broadcaster has given a rare glimpse of PLA war gaming, with footage of a simulated encounter between Chinese and French multi-role fighters. The tabletop exercise pitted Chinese J-16 fighters against French Rafales, a model reportedly bested by Chinese-made J-10C jets in a conflict between India and Pakistan earlier this year. The CCTV report on Friday said this year was the first year that the entire People’s Liberation Army and People’s Armed Police Force were promoting pilot...

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Arguing about China’s overcapacity overlooks its drive for clean energy

China is often described today as having “overcapacity” in manufacturing. Its dominance in solar panels, batteries and wind equipment, for example, has left many observers baffled. How did a country once dismissed as undeveloped become, within a generation, so technologically developed that its success now unsettles global markets? Part of the answer lies in how we frame China’s development. What is often described as excess capacity is better understood as the outcome of an energy-centred...

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‘No need to explain’: leading mRNA vaccine scientist Hu Haitao leaves US for China

Vaccine expert Hu Haitao, who studied under Drew Weissman, the Nobel laureate and pioneer of mRNA biology, has given up his tenured position at a US research institute and returned to China – a decision that required little explanation in 2025, he said. Even just one year ago, people close to him would have thought it “unbelievable” that he might give up an academic career established over nearly two decades in the United States, Hu told the South China Morning Post. But academic prospects in...

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China’s top court sends message to employers on sexual harassment

China’s top court has ruled that if an employer fires an employee for sexual harassment it should not have to pay compensation to the dismissed worker – a move lawyers said would make it easier for victims to take action. The ruling was among five cases highlighted by the Supreme People’s Court on Tuesday as examples of “promoting core socialist values” in family relations, the workplace and transport. According to a document released by the court, a man surnamed Wu in the southern province of..

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China eases visa rules for India, tapping into US$21.6 billion travel market

Beijing and New Delhi have taken another step towards normalising economic ties after a five-year rift, as China moves to introduce a simplified visa process for Indian nationals that could help it tap India’s fast-growing travel market. The Chinese embassy in New Delhi said earlier this month that Indian citizens would be able to apply for visas online from December 22, sparing them time-consuming initial in-person visits to the embassy or other consular offices in the country. The move follows

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From Labubu to blockbuster films, was 2025 the year China’s soft power went mainstream?

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest stories about China’s soft power this year. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Labubu, soft power of a stealthy ‘ugly-cute’ sort, takes on America The Chinese-made dolls, a playful global megahit, give Beijing an opportunity to make inroads into deep US distrust. 2. ‘Huge shift’: why learning Mandarin is losing its appeal in the West Available figures suggest enthusiasm for learning Mandarin abroad is waning after...

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In eastern China, ancient ruins are pushing back the date of Yangtze delta’s earliest cities

Chinese archaeologists unearthing the ruins of the earliest known settlement in the Yangtze River Delta say water management may have been the origin of ancient “cities” in the area. Researchers began large-scale excavations of the Doushan site in Wuxi in the eastern province of Jiangsu in July last year, dating the city to about 6,000 years ago. Previously, the oldest urban site in the delta area was the Liangzhu culture site near Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, dating back about 5,300...

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Dior, Louis Vuitton ditch China’s malls for shopping streets to replicate Ginza’s charm

Stand-alone flagship stores with distinctive architectural facades, long prevalent in global metropolises like Tokyo, Seoul and New York, are gradually gaining traction in China, as the country’s retail landscape undergoes a broader shift from enclosed malls towards open-air and street-facing formats. More luxury brands are setting up such flagships in places like Beijing’s Taikoo Li Sanlitun North, a trendy open-air commercial block developed and operated by Hong Kong’s Swire...

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