Inside China

With slower growth in China’s economy, young professionals and middle-class people across the country are tightening their belts and cutting down on spending. But what can the rest of the world expect...

Two years after taking office as Hong Kong's chief executive, John Lee has shifted his focus from enforcing national security to improving the lives of residents and rebuilding the city's economy. But...

How does a country deepen its relationship and do business with China without risking retaliation by the US and its allies? How can a nation protect its territorial claims in the South China Sea yet m...

The European Union and the United States claim that China is flooding global markets with cheap goods. China says these assertions are groundless. Post Europe correspondent Finbarr Bermingham breaks d...

The US has been grappling with an opioid crisis for decades, but the problem has been exacerbated by the arrival of fentanyl – a synthetic drug 50 times more potent than heroin. What roles do China an...

Domestic tourism in China is steadily recovering, but what about inbound tourism? Post senior correspondent Ralph Jennings has a look at who is visiting China and who is not and explores the various h...

Hong Kong’s urban jungle was once regularly visited by wild tigers, with sightings of the big cats until the 1960s. While local history books only mention tiger killings in 1915 and 1942, the animals ...

China is turning science fiction into fact, whether through the development of nuclear reactors for interplanetary space travel or the use of artificial intelligence to fight corruption. The Post’s sc...

China has just concluded its biggest annual plenary event in Beijing, the “two sessions” of its top legislative and political advisory bodies. Post executive editor and resident China expert Chow Chun...

How might a second Trump presidency affect US relations with China, North Korea, Japan, Asean, India and more? Post US bureau chief Robert Delaney compares and analyses the foreign policies of incumbe...

A century-old American trade provision known as the “de minimis” rule has drawn the attention of some US lawmakers. They argue that the rule gives Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as Temu, an unfair...

Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami team travelled to Hong Kong for a highly anticipated football match on February 4, 2024. But the game ended with boos and demands for refunds after the player often re...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made the South its “principal enemy” in proposed changes to the country’s constitution. He has also ended hopes of reunification, while intensifying missile tests. ...

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate won the Taiwan presidential race on January 13, 2024. The opposition Kuomintang managed to secure the most seats in the legislature. But as Post cor...

Post reporter Emily Hung takes us through her reporting, exploring the unregulated world of “medical beauty” in Hong Kong, and the resulting tragedies. Check out the full article: https://sc.mp/m55x ...

The year 2023 was when China’s video gaming industry staged a comeback. More licences for games were approved, the biggest global launch of a Chinese game was recorded and gold medals were won. Post r...

Cui Tiankai is China’s longest-serving ambassador to the US. Ever since his retirement as Beijing’s top envoy to Washington in 2021, he has been active in backchannel diplomacy between the two countri...

Post editor Josephine Ma explains where China stands on the Israel-Gaza war, how Israel and Palestine have responded to Beijing’s actions so far and what China stands to gain in trying to help mediate...

Millions of migrant workers helped transform China from an agrarian economy into a manufacturing giant, but most have yet to see major changes in their own living conditions. Unequal distribution of b...

Intelligence agencies in the US and China have apparently become intentionally more visible than ever. But why? Post US deputy bureau chief Mark Magnier explains what’s going behind the strategic leak...

Hong Kong’s nightlife is not what it used to be. Post reporter Connor Mycroft breaks down what’s changed, how the government wants to revitalise the city’s night economy and whether plans unveiled so ...

As China’s property crisis continues and the growth of household wealth dwindles, some owners have had to sell their overseas investments. But with a saturated market and very few buyers, property own...

China has seen a significant increase in the size and influence of its middle class, but an ageing population is set to hinder the nation’s growth. In the US, the size of the middle class fell from 61...

One week ago on September 7, 2023, Hong Kong was hit by a record-breaking rainstorm that flooded the city. South China Morning Post city desk reporter Harvey Kong breaks down what happened across the ...

China’s southern metropolis of Shenzhen is the only mainland city where individuals can apply for bankruptcy, but it’s not easy since authorities reportedly frown on debt forgiveness. While debt is of...

Finbarr Bermingham reports on the EU response to Xi's absence at the G20, how 'de-risking' is playing out, and Beijing's reception to Germany's far right populist party AfD; Chad Bray analyses China's...

Jarrod Watt and Jasmine Tse sift through the facts of how China came to levy nearly three years of escalating official and unofficial trade bans on Australian exports after comments made by the Austra...

SCMP science reporter Victoria Bela speaks of the science behind China and Russia's opposition to the Fukushima water release plan and how it compares to the tritium water releases from Chinese nuclea...

US President Joe Biden has taken another step to counter China’s technological advancements. Post North America bureau chief Rob Delaney and Beijing-based correspondent Kinling Lo analyse Biden’s “sma...

Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research, analyses how the world of investment reacted to the latest US investment restrictions on China’s tech industry, and the options that are l...

Hear how Chinese scientists and the semiconductor industry have responded to Biden’s latest executive order, why some are calling it a “lose-lose” situation, and why China’s goal towards technological...

The US and China have less than two weeks to decide whether to renew a landmark science and technology agreement. Post reporter Khushboo Razdan explains what this agreement has achieved in the past an...

China is predicted to have 400 million retirees in 2035 - the same year the state pension fund is expected to run out. In this episode, Jasmine Tse analyses the central government's race to prepare th...

Something's changed in China's youth and it's causing concern all the way up to President Xi Jinping. Jasmine Tse presents an episode tracing the roots of a cross-generational protest from the 90s 'sl...

A record 12 million Chinese college graduates are entering the workforce at a time of historic youth unemployment. Xi Jinping's response to China's GenZ and millenials was "eat bitterness'. King’s Col...

What started as a government-backed campaign to shame women in their late 20s and 30s who didn’t marry and have children has backfired spectacularly. Hear from the daughters of the one child policy; n...

After 70 years as the world's most populated nation, the news of China's first decline in population since the Great Famine of the 1960s was a long time coming. King’s College sociologist Dr Ye Liu re...

There’s more to the shock of China's declining population than just births, deaths and marriages. Chinese GenZ and Millenials are choosing career over kids - or choosing to “lay flat” or “let it rot”....

Holly Chik looks at how this year’s heatwaves in China presaged the announcement of an El Nino weather cycle. Shanghai-based sustainability expert Richard Brubaker analyses the challenges to secure wa...

The final in a three part special on Hong Kong's new retail crypto trading era: SCMP tech reporter Xinmei Shen speaks with Vivien Khoo about her transition from compliance in banking and how that infl...

The second in a three part special on Hong Kong's new retail crypto trading era: SCMP specialist digital editor Jarrod Watt speaks with Neil Tan, chair of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong about ho...

SCMP tech reporter Xinmei Shen presents an episode on Hong Kong’s new era of regulated retail cryptocurrency. Matt Haldane looks at the major players in Hong Kong and the attraction to mainland Chines...

Hear analysis from Orient Capital Research managing director Andrew Collier of the raids and arrests on consulting firms conducting due diligence and sharing expert analysis in mainland China and the ...

Finbarr Bermingham analyses the EU Indo-Pacific forum and the reality of "de-risking" from China; Kawala Xie reports on expectations for the role of China's peace envoy to Ukraine Li Hui; Rob Delaney ...

Holly Chik presents the latest update on AI in mainland China. William Zheng reports on the first person arrested for using ChatGPT to generate fake news; while tech reporters Ben Jiang and Coco Feng ...

Hear the stories going viral this week from the SCMP People and Society desk with Luisa Tam and Kevin Kwong. The airbnb guests from hell who protest a denied cancellation by turning the taps and gas o...

The 2023 “golden week” holiday period which includes May Day did more than just reveal how badly people in mainland China wanted to travel and visit tourist sites. Beijing-based reporter Luna Sun disc...

Holly Chik presents an episode analysing new announcements about the Chinese space programme. Post science reporter Xin Ling and Space.com journalist Andrew Jones report on Beijing’s timeline for deve...

Holly Chik looks at how people in China are using AI and ChatGPT. A dead woman holds a conversation with her grandson; a surveillance satellite operates without human control; and the PLA considers “c...

Holly Chik presents the second in a two part special. Technology reporter Xinmei Shen analyses Beijing’s new draft guidelines for generative AI and how it will affect China’s burgeoning chatbot indust...