SCMP China·Tuesday, January 13, 2026

SCMP China - Tuesday, January 13, 2026

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

China’s central bank sets onshore yuan fixing at strongest point in nearly 16 months

China’s central bank strengthened the yuan’s daily fixing for a third consecutive session to a nearly 16-month high, as the currency also held firm in offshore markets despite recent US dollar strength. On Tuesday, the People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s midpoint rate, also known as the daily fixing rate, at 7.0103 to the US dollar – the strongest showing since the end of September 2024, when the rate was set at 7.0074. That official midpoint rate, however, was still weaker than that of the...

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US$1.7 billion SciNeuro-Novartis deal offers hope for 55 million Alzheimer’s patients

A partnership between China’s SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals and Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Monday has revived hopes for treating Alzheimer’s disease, which affects some 55 million people worldwide and could cost the global economy US$2.8 trillion by 2030. The deal, worth nearly US$1.7 billion, grants Novartis exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise SciNeuro’s antibody candidates to develop drugs for the progressive brain disease. SciNeuro’s novel amyloid beta targeted...

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China planning dozens of plants that use coal instead of oil to make plastics

China is stepping up its efforts to use its vast coal reserves instead of oil to produce plastics and synthetic rubber. Coal can be refined to make olefins – an essential raw material for tens of thousands of chemical products that include plastics, synthetic fibres and rubber. While the mainstream practice is to produce olefins from oil, using coal can bring significant cost savings and might help to reduce the country’s reliance on imported fuel at a time when Donald Trump is seeking to expand

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Chip designer GigaDevice surges 45% in Hong Kong debut amid China’s self-reliance drive

Mainland chip designer GigaDevice Semiconductor jumped more than 45 per cent on its first trading day in Hong Kong on Tuesday, as the Beijing-based firm’s debut catered to investor appetite for tech companies amid China’s push for self-reliance. The firm’s shares started trading at HK$235, versus the offer price of HK$162, before ending the morning session up 40 per cent at HK$226.80. Its shares closed between HK$224.20 and HK$226.80 on the grey market on Monday evening, helping some investors..

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Why the US will fail to use Taiwan to counter China

Last month, the United States announced its decision to sell advanced weapons amounting to US$11.1 billion to China’s Taiwan region. The authorisation of the largest ever arms package to Taiwan since China and the US established diplomatic relations has seriously violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, severely undermined Chinese sovereignty and security interests, gravely interfered in China’s internal affairs and sent the wrong signals to “Taiwan...

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North China farmers pay heavy price this winter for Beijing’s clean air success

In the daytime the temperature in northern China often stays below freezing, but for many rural villagers the prohibitive cost of heating means that they have little choice but to endure the cold. “We dare not turn on the heating during the day,” one woman from Guan county in Hebei named Wang said. The 75-year-old’s home is around 70km (43 miles) from the centre of Beijing, but running the heating all day would cost between 60 and 90 yuan (US$8-13), an expense that could soar over the course of.

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Expect no ‘systemic shock’ from Chinese developer Vanke’s ‘technical default’: HSBC

Distressed Chinese property developer Vanke’s potential debt restructuring constitutes a one-off, technical default, and was not likely to result in contagion effects, according to an HSBC report. The leading mainland developer before it got caught up in the property crisis, Vanke has not yet registered a material default on its domestic bonds. However, two of its key medium-term notes have entered grace periods, and S&P downgraded the company’s long-term issuer credit rating from “CCC-” to “SD”

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China’s weight-loss drug war: prices slashed up to 80% as obesity crisis worsens

Foreign and mainland Chinese drug makers are fighting for a multibillion-dollar slice of the domestic weight-loss market by slashing prices by as much as 80 per cent, as China faces a worsening obesity crisis. Competition in the sector, dominated by global pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, intensified after both secured obesity-drug approvals in China in 2024. The landscape is set to shift further when the patent on Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide expires in March in China, opening...

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China’s US embassy decries ‘coercion’ after Trump slaps 25% tariffs on Iran trade partners

US President Donald Trump on Monday announced sweeping new tariffs targeting nations maintaining commercial ties with Iran. Effective immediately, the US will impose a 25 per cent tariff on all goods and services imported from any country that “does business” with Iran, Trump said in a social media post. The president characterised the order as “final and conclusive”. “Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a tariff of 25% on any and all...

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The US has played its hand in Latin America. Will China’s firms there cash out?

With domestic profits narrowing and production capacity expanding, China’s firms are continuing to widen their overseas footprints in search of new, more lucrative markets. In this series, we examine China Inc.’s next phase of “going global” and the complex, challenging international environment its companies have chosen to enter. In the days since Washington’s ousting and abduction of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro – an event that sent shock waves through global markets – some...

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