Hong Kong Times

Tai Po Fire Probe Finds Non-Compliant Safety Nets Were Ordered Before Deadly Blaze

Documents from an independent investigation into the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire show that subcontractors had explicitly ordered non-fire-retardant safety nets, prompting lawmakers to call for tighter procurement rules and stronger account...

Mainland China’s 20% Offshore Trust Tax Raises Concerns for Hong Kong Wealth Managers

New mainland Chinese tax oversight and a 20 percent levy on offshore trusts are creating uncertainty for Hong Kong’s wealth management and insurance sectors, although regulatory experts say greater transparency in cross-border arrangemen...

Hong Kong Watchdog Raids Contractors Over Suspected HK$500 Million Bid-Rigging Scheme

Hong Kong’s Competition Commission has searched four building contractor offices as part of an investigation into suspected bid-rigging involving 28 building maintenance projects with a combined estimated value of HK$500 million.

SF Real Estate Investment Trust Reports 7.3% Drop in First-Half Distributable Income

SF Real Estate Investment Trust reported a 7.3 percent decline in first-half distributable income despite maintaining portfolio occupancy of 96.8 percent at the end of June, highlighting pressure on Hong Kong’s logistics property market ...

Shein Targets Hong Kong Listing That Could Raise Up to $3 Billion

Fast-fashion retailer Shein is targeting a Hong Kong listing in August that could raise as much as $3 billion at a valuation of about $50 billion, turning to the city’s exchange after facing regulatory obstacles to listings in New York a...

Hong Kong Closes Consultation on First Five-Year Economic and Social Development Plan

Hong Kong has concluded a two-month public consultation on its 2026 to 2030 economic and social development plan, with professional groups urging the government to expand the city’s role in global capital markets and strengthen its posit...

Hong Kong Professionals Use Artificial Intelligence at More Than Twice the Global Average

A new academic survey found that 72 percent of corporate professionals in Hong Kong regularly use artificial intelligence tools in their daily work, although the rapid adoption is also contributing to increased job-security concerns amon...

Former Hong Kong Observatory Directors Push for Global Heat Warning Standard

Several former directors of the Hong Kong Observatory are urging the government to replace the existing heat-stress alert system with the internationally recognized Wet Bulb Globe Temperature standard, seeking stronger protections for ou...

CK Hutchison Reports 1% Decline in Global Port Throughput After Panama Exit

CK Hutchison Holdings said the forced termination of its operating rights at key Panamanian ports contributed to a 1 percent decline in global port throughput during the first half of the year, underscoring the impact of geopolitical and...

Standard Chartered-Backed HKDAP Becomes Hong Kong’s First Regulated Stablecoin

A joint venture led by Standard Chartered has launched HKDAP, described as Hong Kong’s first regulated stablecoin, for corporate clients and professional investors as the city develops its digital-asset market amid competition and restri...

Beijing Expands World Humanoid Robot Games as China Pushes Embodied AI

The second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing will feature more than 2,000 robots from 16 countries across 51 technical categories, quadrupling the scale of last year’s inaugural event as China expands its focus on commercializing hum...

Senior ICBC Retail Banking Executive Disappears Amid Expanding Corruption Investigation

Zhang Hangyu, a senior retail banking executive at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, has disappeared amid an expanding graft investigation, adding to recent regulatory and disciplinary actions involving personal banking operations...

Huawei Holds 20% Weekly Smartphone Share in China Despite Market Contraction

Huawei maintained about 20 percent of China’s weekly smartphone market during the first half of 2026 even as overall domestic sales fell 8.6 percent year on year, reinforcing the company’s position as competition intensifies with Apple a...

China Drafts New 2030 Air Quality Plan With Tighter Regional Pollution Controls

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment is preparing a nationwide action plan targeting average fine particulate matter concentrations below 27 micrograms per cubic meter by 2030, with stricter controls planned for major industrial r...

Hong Kong Excludes Proprietary Traders From Planned Corporate Tax Break

Hong Kong financial authorities have confirmed that proprietary trading firms will not qualify for a planned corporate tax exemption designed to strengthen the city’s capital markets, limiting the scope of the measure as Hong Kong compet...

China Extends Anti-Dumping Duties on Indian Optical Fiber for Five Years

China’s Ministry of Commerce will extend anti-dumping duties on single-mode optical fiber imported from India for another five years from August 14, following a review requested by domestic manufacturers and as the country expands next-g...

China’s New Energy Vehicles Reach Record 65.1% Retail Market Share

China’s new energy vehicles captured a record 65.1 percent of retail car sales in July as battery-electric sales rose 6 percent while internal combustion engine vehicle sales plunged 44 percent year on year, widening the shift toward ele...

Huawei Leads China’s Push Toward Domestic Artificial Intelligence Chip Supply

China’s high-end artificial intelligence processor market is projected to become nearly 90 percent domestically supplied by the end of the year, with Huawei expected to lead local producers as export controls and rising demand accelerate...

China’s Central Bank Signals Greater Focus on Short-Term Rates and Targeted Technology Lending

The People’s Bank of China plans to diversify loan-pricing benchmarks and refine its short-term interest-rate framework to improve monetary policy transmission, while continued strong lending to technology, green energy and digital econo...

China Aligns Administrative Rules With New Ecological and Environmental Code

Premier Li Qiang has approved revisions to 12 administrative regulations and the repeal of three others ahead of the Ecological and Environmental Code taking effect on August 15, strengthening alignment with national pollution controls a...

China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express

The July launch links credit-card spending and rewards to Kimi memberships and AI computing benefits, although some claims about conversational banking functions go beyond what the companies’ official materials currently confirm.

Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Returns to Profit as Luxury Travel Demand Recovers

The operator of the Peninsula Hotels reported a net profit of twenty-three million Hong Kong dollars for the first half of 2026, reversing a loss a year earlier as revenue approached four billion Hong Kong dollars on stronger room rates ...

Hong Kong Regulator Fines Luk Fook Securities HK$2.1 Million Over Cybersecurity Failings

The Securities and Futures Commission has fined Luk Fook Securities after a cyberattack exposed weaknesses in its trading-system safeguards, marking the first disciplinary action against a licensed firm for cybersecurity deficiencies des...

Malaysia and Hong Kong to Launch Simplified Dual-Listing Framework in September

A new framework will allow companies listed on Bursa Malaysia to pursue secondary listings in Hong Kong through a streamlined process, widening access to international investors and Greater China capital markets.

Hong Kong Commercial Property Investment Jumps 129 Percent in Second Quarter

Commercial real estate investment in Hong Kong rose to three point one billion US dollars in the second quarter, according to JLL, as investors targeted retail and office assets sold through receivership and other opportunistic transacti...

Hong Kong Proposes Carried Interest Tax Breaks That Exclude Proprietary Trading Firms

Hong Kong's proposed expansion of tax exemptions for carried interest will not cover proprietary trading businesses, according to the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau, limiting the benefit to firms that meet the government's defini...

Hang Seng TECH Index Set for Expansion to Fifty Stocks With Greater Focus on AI and Semiconductors

Index compilers are proposing to expand the Hang Seng TECH Index from thirty to fifty constituents and add a revenue-growth criterion, changes that could increase representation of emerging artificial intelligence and semiconductor compa...

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Pays Tribute to Former Premier Zhu Rongji

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee expressed sorrow following the death of former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji at 98, crediting him with helping safeguard Hong Kong's financial stability during the Asian financial crisis and strengthen lin...

Hong Kong and Dubai Regulators Deepen Green Finance Cooperation

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Dubai Financial Services Authority plan to co-host a climate finance summit with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and Nasdaq Dubai, expanding financial cooperation between Hong Kong and the Gulf aroun...

Tencent Music Integrates Audio Platforms to Counter ByteDance Competition

Tencent Music is integrating more closely with its parent company's ecosystem and the newly acquired Ximalaya platform as it seeks to defend its position in China's increasingly competitive digital audio and streaming market.

China Raises Typhoon Response as Dolphin Threatens Zhejiang and Fujian

China’s meteorological authorities have raised the emergency response level to Level II as Typhoon Dolphin approaches Zhejiang and Fujian, with heavy rain posing risks of urban flooding, mountain torrents and infrastructure damage.

US Regulators Target Drone Maker Over Alleged Links to DJI Supply Chain

The US Federal Communications Commission has proposed restrictions on an American drone manufacturer over alleged technology-licensing and manufacturing ties to Chinese drone company DJI, widening scrutiny of Chinese technology links in ...

Xinjiang Reports Forty-Five Percent Rise in Foreign Visitors as Payment Systems Improve

Xinjiang recorded a forty-five percent increase in foreign visitors in the first half of the year, with more than one hundred and eighty thousand overseas travelers using streamlined mobile payment services as authorities promote easier ...

Chinese AI Developer ModelBest Begins Preparations for Domestic IPO

Artificial intelligence startup ModelBest has begun regulatory preparations for an initial public offering as it seeks funding to expand on-device AI applications in China's automotive and education sectors.

China Imposes Provisional Tariffs of Up to Fifty-Four Percent on North American Pecans

China has ordered provisional deposit duties of up to fifty-four percent on pecan imports from the United States and Mexico, citing harm to domestic producers and adding another trade dispute to tensions with North America.

Hong Kong Launches First Regulated Stablecoin for Corporate and Professional Users

A consortium led by Standard Chartered has launched the HKDAP stablecoin for corporate clients and professional investors, advancing Hong Kong’s push to develop regulated digital assets within the territory’s distinct financial framework.

Chinese AI Startup Manus Buys Back Meta Stake as Tencent Becomes Lead Backer

Artificial intelligence agent developer Manus is buying back Meta’s stake for two billion US dollars following regulatory intervention, with Tencent providing financing as Manus continues operating independently.

China’s High-Tech Exports Jump More Than Fifty Percent in July

Chinese exports of advanced technology and manufacturing goods rose more than fifty percent year on year in July, according to customs data, as foreign institutions increased their exposure to Chinese artificial intelligence and robotics...

ChangXin Memory Market Value Surges Past Three Trillion Yuan After Shanghai Listing

Chinese memory-chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies has been added to the MSCI China All Shares Index after its Shanghai STAR Market debut pushed its market capitalization above three trillion yuan.

Yangtze Memory Overtakes Kioxia to Become World’s Third-Largest NAND Flash Supplier

Chinese memory-chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation has moved ahead of Japan’s Kioxia in global NAND flash shipments, strengthening China’s position in memory semiconductors as artificial intelligence demand drives the market.

China Tightens Entry, Exit and Immigration Rules From September

China’s State Council has announced stricter rules covering entry and exit procedures, travel applications and immigration-related intermediary services, with the new measures scheduled to take effect in mid-September.

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji Dies at 98

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, a leading economic reformer who helped steer China through the Asian financial crisis and oversaw its entry into the World Trade Organization, has died at 98.

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