Hong Kong Times

United States Keeps Sanctions on Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese Officials

US lawmakers confirmed that sanctions targeting 39 Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials will remain in place, preserving a source of geopolitical pressure on Hong Kong's international relations.

Mainland Mutual Funds Cut Hong Kong Exposure While Increasing Bets on Technology Leaders

Mainland Chinese fund managers reduced Hong Kong equities to 23.3% of their portfolios during the second quarter, even as they concentrated investments in major artificial intelligence companies.

Hong Kong and Southern China Prepare for Tropical Storm Noul

Authorities issued severe weather and flood warnings across the Pearl River Delta as Tropical Storm Noul approaches, raising the risk of disruption to aviation, shipping and cross-border transport over the weekend.

Cross-Border Shopping Reshapes Hong Kong Consumer Spending

UnionPay International data shows Hong Kong residents are increasingly shopping in mainland China, highlighting changing spending patterns that continue to challenge the city's domestic retail sector.

Hong Kong Strengthens Anti-Collusion Rules for Government Procurement

The Competition Commission has introduced new declarations requiring companies bidding for public contracts to confirm they have not engaged in bid-rigging, reinforcing safeguards for fair and transparent procurement.

Hong Kong Exchange Weighs Confidential IPO Filings and Easier Listing Rules for Start-ups

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is considering confidential listing applications and lower market capitalisation thresholds for emerging companies as it seeks to strengthen the city's competitiveness and attract more technology listings.

Zhongji Innolight Readies Hong Kong's Largest IPO of the Year

Zhongji Innolight has secured 30 cornerstone investors for its planned US$8 billion initial public offering, highlighting renewed institutional demand and reinforcing Hong Kong's role as a leading fundraising centre for mainland Chinese ...

Hong Kong Stocks Rise as Technology Shares Lift Hang Seng Index

The Hang Seng Index climbed above 25,200, gaining more than 1.2% as investors returned to artificial intelligence and technology stocks while drawing confidence from recent capital-raising activity.

Cathay Pacific Forecasts First-Half Profit to Jump 75% on Strong Travel and Cargo Demand

Cathay Pacific expects first-half profit to reach HK$6.5 billion, supported by resilient passenger traffic and solid cargo volumes, extending the recovery of Hong Kong's aviation and logistics sectors.

Chinese State Media Highlights Export Growth and Industrial Upgrading After First-Half Economic Results

Following first-half gross domestic product growth of four point seven percent, state media emphasized strong export performance, including a sixty-eight percent increase in electric vehicle exports and record trade volumes of twenty-fiv...

China Sets Renewable Energy Priorities for the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan

The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration have released clean energy guidelines for the 2026–2030 planning period, reaffirming renewable energy expansion and industrial upgrading as central pil...

China Launches Initiative to Build International Alliance Against Online Fraud

The Ministry of Public Security has announced plans to establish an international anti-fraud coalition at the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in September, expanding cooperation against telecommunications scams and transnational...

European Union Fines AliExpress Five Hundred and Fifty Million Euros Under Digital Services Act

The European Commission has imposed a record five hundred and fifty million euro penalty on AliExpress, concluding the platform failed to adequately address counterfeit and unsafe products, marking a significant escalation in regulatory ...

Chinese Mathematicians Wang Hong and Deng Yu Win Historic Fields Medals

Peking University alumni Wang Hong and Deng Yu have become the first scholars trained entirely in mainland China to receive the Fields Medal, earning mathematics' highest honor for breakthroughs on the three-dimensional Kakeya conjecture...

Chinese AI Start-Up Moonshot Unveils Kimi K3 as Markets Reassess Artificial Intelligence Valuations

Moonshot Artificial Intelligence has launched its open-weight Kimi K3 model with two point eight trillion parameters, placing it close to leading Western closed models, while a sharp decline in Chinese semiconductor stocks reflects cooli...

China Issues New Guidelines to Strengthen Communist Party Oversight of Grassroots Governance

The Central Committee and State Council have introduced a broad policy framework to expand Party leadership across new economic organizations, the gig economy, and local communities, emphasizing early dispute resolution through the Fengq...

OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism

Former Florida pastor Scott Winters says the chatbot presented personalized medical guidance with unwarranted confidence, encouraged prolonged inactivity and failed to recognize symptoms preceding a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.

Viral Video Raises Questions Over Twelve-Dollar Croissants at Manhattan Bakery

A customer accused Le Parisien Bakery of reselling Costco pastries at a steep markup, but the footage does not establish where her pistachio croissant was made and neither business has confirmed a supply relationship.

Hong Kong Exchange Weighs Longer Trading Hours to Strengthen Global Market Position

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is consulting major brokers on plans to start trading earlier, remove the traditional midday break and introduce an evening session, aiming to better align with global markets and strengthen the city's co...

Hong Kong Sees Strong Demand for Offshore Renminbi Infrastructure Bonds

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said its latest institutional offshore renminbi government bond offerings attracted robust demand, with the ten-year tranche more than eight times oversubscribed, reinforcing the city's role as a leading ...

Hong Kong Maintains Growth Outlook While Raising Inflation Forecast

The Hong Kong government kept its full-year economic growth forecast at between 2.5% and 3.5%, supported by strong artificial intelligence-related electronics exports, while raising its headline and underlying inflation projections to re...

Capital A Pursues Hong Kong Dual Listing to Expand Regional Presence

Capital A Berhad, the parent company of the AirAsia airline group and several digital travel businesses, is preparing for a dual listing in Hong Kong as it seeks to broaden its investor base while supporting the city's efforts to attract...

Mainland Mutual Funds Cut Exposure to Hong Kong Equities

Mainland Chinese mutual funds reduced their allocation to Hong Kong-listed stocks to 23.3% in the second quarter, reflecting portfolio rotation toward domestic technology shares and continued pressure on liquidity in the Hong Kong market.

Hong Kong and Laos Sign Agreement to Develop Precious Metals Market

Hong Kong and Laos have signed a financial cooperation agreement to modernize Laos' precious metals sector by drawing on Hong Kong's trading infrastructure and regulatory expertise to support cross-border market development.

AgiBot Plans Hong Kong IPO as Exchange Expands Technology Listings

Humanoid robotics developer AgiBot is preparing to list in Hong Kong, adding to a growing pipeline of artificial intelligence and automation companies as the exchange introduces measures to attract more high-technology issuers.

Zhongji Sets Record Retail Entry Threshold for Hong Kong IPO

Technology and industrial group Zhongji has set the highest minimum subscription requirement in Hong Kong initial public offering history for its planned US$8 billion listing, attracting thirty cornerstone investors while limiting partic...

Commercial Property Sales Rise as Refinancing Pressures Mount

Owners of older commercial buildings in Hong Kong are selling assets at steep discounts as tighter bank lending and persistently high office vacancy rates increase refinancing challenges across the property sector.

Sinopec Begins Mass Production of Aerospace-Grade Carbon Fiber

State-owned energy and chemicals company Sinopec announced the domestic mass production of wet-process T-1000-grade carbon fiber, strengthening China's supply of advanced materials used in aerospace and other high-technology manufacturin...

China Tightens Oversight of Data Centre Expansion as Computing Capacity Reaches New High

Chinese authorities are shifting to centrally managed approval of new data centres after national intelligent computing capacity reached 2,185 exaflops, with policymakers placing greater emphasis on computing efficiency and the use of do...

China Coast Guard Says It Intercepted Philippine Vessels Near Huangyan Island

The China Coast Guard said it intercepted and expelled Philippine vessels that entered waters around Huangyan Island, reaffirming Beijing's claims and continuing tensions over disputed areas of the South China Sea.

China Completes Key Engineering Milestone for Jintang Undersea High-Speed Rail Tunnel

China Railway Eleventh Bureau Group successfully carried out an ultra-high-pressure deep-sea engineering operation at the Jintang subsea tunnel in Zhejiang province, marking a major technical step forward for what is planned to become th...

Private Companies Account for Nearly Sixty Percent of China's Foreign Trade Growth

Officials from the State Council Information Office said private enterprises generated almost 60 percent of China's foreign trade growth in the first half of the year, underlining their central role in supporting exports and manufacturin...

China's Record Trade Surplus Highlights Export Strength as Domestic Demand Remains Uneven

Official data showed China's trade surplus reached a near-record 576 billion US dollars in the first half of the year, supported by strong artificial intelligence-related semiconductor exports, while second-quarter economic growth slowed...

Foreign Investment in China's High-Technology Industries Climbs More Than 33 Percent

Vice Commerce Minister Yan Dong said nearly 4,800 foreign-funded enterprises expanded their investments in China during the first half of the year, lifting investment in high-technology industries by 33.2 percent despite a challenging gl...

China Unveils New Renewable Energy Plan Targeting 3.5 Billion Kilowatts of Capacity by 2030

The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration have released the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development, aiming to raise installed renewable capacity to 3.5 billion kilowatts by 2...

Hong Kong Economy Grows 5.9 Percent as AI-Related Exports Drive Trade Recovery

Hong Kong's economy expanded 5.9 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, with a sharp rise in merchandise exports fueled by global demand for artificial intelligence-related electronics, supporting the government's full-year g...

China Implements New Mineral Resources Rules to Strengthen Strategic Supply Chains

The State Council has put new regulations under the revised Mineral Resources Law into effect, tightening oversight of mineral extraction, reserves management, and environmental restoration while strengthening control over strategic reso...

XPeng Debuts New SUV Simultaneously in China and Germany

XPeng launched its L03 compact sport utility vehicle in Munich at the same time as its domestic release, underscoring the company's push into overseas markets as intense price competition squeezes profit margins in China.

BDO Raises Hong Kong IPO Forecast to 400 Billion Dollars for 2026

Accounting firm BDO expects Hong Kong to host as many as 200 initial public offerings raising 400 billion dollars in 2026, following a strong first half of the year and a surge in listings that points to renewed investor confidence in th...

People's Bank of China Directs More Than 760 Billion Yuan to Private Sector Lending

The central bank said it provided more than 760 billion yuan in targeted funding during the first half of the year, aiming to channel low-cost credit through financial institutions to private manufacturing and technology companies.

China Approves Major Renewable Energy Expansion Across Western Provinces

The National Energy Administration has finalized its latest renewable energy plan, authorizing large-scale solar and hydrogen projects in western China to accelerate the country's transition toward domestically generated clean energy.

Hong Kong Exchange Opens Door to More Malaysian Secondary Listings

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has added Bursa Malaysia to its list of recognized stock exchanges, allowing eligible Malaysian-listed companies to pursue secondary listings in Hong Kong and strengthening regional capital market connect...

Hong Kong Exchange Proposes Ending Midday Trading Break to Align With Global Markets

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has proposed eliminating the stock market's traditional lunch break for the first time in more than a decade, aiming to improve market liquidity and better match international trading hours despite concer...

Cathay Pacific Expects First-Half Profit to Exceed Six Billion Dollars

Cathay Pacific forecast underlying profit of between six billion and six point five billion dollars for the first half of 2026, supported by strong passenger demand, improved performance from its low-cost carrier, and higher cargo volume...

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