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News Desk Last Updated: 31 March 2026, 07:56 PM IST Emphasising diplomacy over force, the framework calls for UN-backed negotiations that respect regional sovereignty. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) speaking with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Beijing | Photo: AFP Beijing: China and Pakistan issued a joint call on Tuesday for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Middle East, unveiling a five-point peace initiative aimed at halting the monthlong war and preventing a wider regional conflagration. The diplomatic push followed high-level deliberations in Beijing between Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. The two nations, which have positioned themselves as mediators in the conflict triggered by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, agreed to "strengthen strategic communication and coordination on the Iran situation and ... make new efforts towards advocating for peace," according to a statement from the ...

TOKYO: Japan's coast guard ordered a Chinese survey ship on Tuesday (Mar 31) to cease operations near some disputed islands, saying Tokyo had not given permission for it to conduct research there. The uninhabited Senkaku Islands between Taiwan and Japan's Okinawa are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyu. They have figured for decades into bilateral tensions, which have worsened since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments about Taiwan in November that angered Beijing. The Chinese vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 was seen on Tuesday around 57km northwest of the Senkaku, said a spokesman for the Japan Coast Guard. It entered Japan's exclusive economic zone around the islands on Monday afternoon and has been seen dropping a pipe-like object and a wire-like item into the sea, the coast guard said in a statement. "Our patrol vessel conducted a radio communication to the research vessel in question and demanded that it cease i...

BEIJING — As energy stress spreads across Southeast Asia, governments across the region are asking China to deliver on its pledges of closer energy security co-operation by freeing up now-banned exports of fertiliser and fuel. But so far China has offered only vague statements and has yet to even publicly acknowledge the export bans reported by Reuters and others as it focuses on insulating its own economy from the war in Iran. Analysts don't expect that to change, pointing to the tension between China's stated ambition to be a bigger player in regional affairs and the realpolitik of its commitment to keep its own economy outpacing global growth. China is the world's second largest fertiliser exporter and also a large supplier of fuel.  For many countries in Asia including Bangladesh, the Philippines and even Australia, Chinese imports are a major source of supply, now cut off by its export bans. Dhaka earlier this month asked China to honour e xisting fuel contracts, ...

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Super-sized hovercraft provide a rare and specialized capability that only a handful of navies can afford. China is the only nation investing in these massive platforms, pursuing series production of the Zubr-class vessels for amphibious assault operations. These offer key operational advantages and may signal a growing level of preparedness for a potential invasion of Taiwan. The unique Zubr-class hovercraft can carry 500 troops, or three main battle tanks (MBTs) or 10 lighter armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) and 230 troops. It can carry them at speeds of over 55 knots, overcome beaches which other landing craft could not face, and deliver the troops directly to the fight. Now China is building a fleet of these giant hovercraft, which may be an indicator of increased preparedness for an invasion of Taiwan. China was already reported to have six of these vessels , but Naval News can confirm that they have moved into series production. ...

Nike's struggles in China are intensifying, as operational missteps collide with fierce domestic competition and weakening consumer demand, raising concerns about the company's execution in one of its most important markets. China accounts for roughly 15% of Nike's global revenue and remains its second-largest market outside North America. But a slowing economy and prolonged property crisis have dampened consumer spending, making a turnaround increasingly urgent, News.Az reports, citing Reuters . Nike is rapidly losing ground to domestic competitors such as Anta and Li Ning, which are leveraging faster supply chains, expansive retail networks, and competitive pricing to capture market share across China . The pressure is mounting: Nike has reported six consecutive quarters of declining sales in the region, including a sharp 17% drop in its most recent quarterly results. CEO Elliott Hill has acknowled...

SHENZHEN – Two weeks after Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang mounted a charm offensive to court the Chinese market, the American chip giant found itself once again the centre of attention in Beijing – and not in a good way. "Nvidia, how can I trust you?" So read the headline of a commentary published by the People's Daily, the communist party's mouthpiece, a day after Chinese regulators summoned the company's representatives on July 31 over what they deemed "serious security issues" related to its chips. The processor in question, known as the H20, was until recently the most advanced chip that Nvidia could sell to China under US restrictions. Washin gton effectively banned their export in April amid an escalating trade war, but said in July that it would allow sales to resume. Some US officials touted the easing of export controls as a negotiating chip in ongoing trade talks with Beijing. But this apparent concession, analysts say, is not n...

The 2026 China Internet Media Forum opens in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province, on March 29, 2026. Photo: 2026 China Internet Media Forum The 2026 China Internet Media Forum opened in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province, on March 29. Hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of China, People's Daily and the cyberspace commission of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the forum is themed "Leveraging the leading role of mainstream media, unleashing the creativity of diverse stakeholders, and jointly building a prosperous online content ecosystem." On April 19, 2016, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on cyberspace security and informatization and delivered an important speech. This year's forum systematically reviews and summarizes the extraordinary journey and fruitful achievements of online content development over the past decade, discusses the new situations ...

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HONG KONG – Hainan and Hong Kong offer Singapore new ways to connect with China, as its rapid development spurs the Republic to keep thinking of how it can add value to partners and to the world, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on March 28. He was speaking to the Singapore media at the end of his visit to China. During his trip from March 25 to 28, he attended the annual conference of the B oao Forum for Asia in Hainan province and met Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee in the special administrative region. "We had very good discussions happening within the backdrop of excellent bilateral ties between China and Singapore," PM Wong said. "So that gives us many potential touchpoints within China itself, because we have Hong Kong, we have now the Hainan Free Trade Port, which is an interesting new opportunity." "We have projects in so many different provinces of China, and all of these different projects allow us to engage China in multiple ways, to parti...

HONG KONG – It is important for Singapore to engage both China and Japan – which are going through a "difficult phase" in their relationship – not just bilaterally, but also in shaping regional affairs, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on March 28. The two North-east Asian countries are important partners for ASEAN, he noted. China is ASEAN's largest trading partner, while Japan is a top investor in the regional grouping. Beyond trade, both countries are key partners in the ASEAN-centred regional architecture. Singapore will take over ASEAN's rotating chairmanship in 2027. "For Singapore, both China and Japan are important partners," PM Wong said. "It is so for Singapore, it is also true for ASEAN, and that is why it is important for us to engage both countries, to deepen our cooperation with them and to engage them actively, not just bilaterally, but also in shaping regional affairs." He added: "That is (Singapore's) consistent mes...

logitech Swiss computer accessories brand Logitech's China branch, Logitech China, on late Thursday night issued an apology on its official Sina Weibo account, after controversial content posted by its e-commerce store operator in China sparked outrage. "Regarding the highly inappropriate content today by the 'Logitech G Official Flagship Store' on Douyin, Logitech China expresses profound shock and regret," the company said in the Sina Weibo post. "We fully understand and empathize with every gamer's disappointment and anger, and we offer our sincerest apologies to all users," it said in the statement. Earlier reports indicated that on Thursday, the Douyin account of Logitech China's official store posted a product promotional video for its GPW 3 mouse with the caption "When you say, 'I won't spend another penny,' I lower the price, and yet you still come running like a dog." The video was widely criticized for belitt...

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, March 24 - Global corporate executives attending China's flagship annual business conference this week were reassured by leaders of the world's second-largest economy that it remains a predictable anchor at a time of geopolitical flux and global uncertainty. The tone at this year's China Development Forum (CDF), which ended on Monday, was noticeably more confident than in recent years, analysts said, marking a shift from previous post‑pandemic forums where officials tended to emphasise support measures and recovery trajectories. "Compared to previous CDFs, the China messaging was the most confident," said Han Lin, China Country Director at U.S.-based s trategy consultancy, The Asia Group. "While identifying challenges in the international system and without naming the U.S. directly, (Premier Li Qiang's) opening speech focused on what China was doing right to encourage innovation, trade and other opportunities to collaborate." T...

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China's leading science and technology federation has announced a boycott of one of the world's top artificial intelligence conferences, escalating tensions in the global AI research community. The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) said it will stop supporting participation in NeurIPS, after the conference introduced new submission rules excluding entities under US sanctions, News.Az reports, citing Reuters . NeurIPS, short for the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, recently updated its policy to comply with US regulations. The change effectively blocks organizations such as Huawei and SMIC from submitting research papers. The decision has triggered strong criticism in China, which is locked in a growing technological rivalry with the United States over advanced AI development. CAST said it would redirect researchers toward domestic conferences or international even...

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By Eduardo Baptista BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) - Four Chinese universities, including two linked to the People's Liberation Army, bought Super Micro Computer servers with restricted AI chips over the past year, procurement data shows, even as the U.S. clamps down on sales of ‌some advanced processors to China. It was not clear how the servers were sourced. Concerned about the potential for artificial intelligence chips to enhance China's ‌military capabilities, the U.S. from 2022 began banning the sale of some Nvidia chips such as the A100 to China. San Jose, California-headquartered Super Micro hit the headlines last week when three ​people associated with the company, including its co-founder, were charged with helping smuggle at least $2.5 billion of U.S. AI technology to China. The company was not named in the indictment and says it was the victim of an elaborate scheme by the individuals. Chinese universities have previously acquired restr...

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Thursday (March 26) met China's top legislator Zhao Leji after speaking at the annual Boao Forum for Asia held in Hainan, China. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement on the same evening that the two leaders reaffirmed the strength and depth of Singapore-China relations and commended the progress made to further deepen bilateral ties under the All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership. They also exchanged views on cross-straits developments, where PM Wong reiterated Singapore's consistent and longstanding "One China" policy. "Prime Minister Wong reaffirmed Singapore and China's shared commitment to upholding rules-based multilateralism and free trade, including through platforms such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), which China is chairing this year," MFA added. At the 21st Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ga...

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Officials should "be bold in taking responsibility, throw themselves into the work of implementation, and strive to deliver satisfactory results to the Party and the people," Xi urged during his inspection tour, Xinhua said.  China's top leadership tends to keep a distance from specific projects, but Xi has tied his own name to Xiongan as he cemented his position as paramount leader of China's Communist Party and the People's Republic.  Official documents and state media hail the decision to build the city as one of lasting importance for the coming millennium, emphasising Xi's personal role in planning, making decisions and driving forward the project. Xi first visited the site in 2017, the year he got a second term as general secretary of the Communist Party, followed by a 2019 visit after a historic constitutional amendment the previous year paved the way for a third leadership term. Monday's tour included visits to the newly built headquarters of ...

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Rare earths Photo: VCG China's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has revealed new mine exploration results showing significant rare-earth reserves in Maoniuping, Mianning County, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, the China Central Television (CCTV) Finance Channel reported on Tuesday.  The report cited mineral exploration results released by the MNR, stating that a total of 9.6656 million tons of rare-earth oxides, along with 27.1354 million tons of fluorite and 37.2277 million tons of barite, were found in the Maoniuping mining area. The discovery of new rare earth oxide in the area represented an increase in reserves of over 300 percent, making it the world's second-largest light rare-earth mine after the Bayan Obo deposit in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to the report. Experts said that the findings represent another major discovery that significantly bolsters the country's strategic rare-earth reserves an d expands the nat...

China has dialled back on planned fuel price hikes in a bid to "reduce the burden" on drivers, as energy costs surge amid the Iran war. The local price of petrol has jumped by about 20% since the start of the conflict, which has seen Iran effectively close one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels, the Strait of Hormuz, News.Az reports, citing the BBC . Gasoline and diesel prices were initially set to rise by 2,205 yuan (£239; $320) and 2,120 yuan per tonne respectively, but after government adjustments, the increases will be nearly halved to 1,160 yuan and 1,115 yuan, starting Tuesday. More than 300 million people in China drive cars that run on petrol or diesel, with Gulf countries a major source of the country's oil. Long queues of cars had formed outside petrol stations in multiple Chinese cities over the weekend, with some stations having to post notic...

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US congressional advisory body has issued a stark warning to America's biggest artificial intelligence (AI) companies: China's AI ecosystem is no longer just catching up and it is zooming ahead in ways that chip export restrictions alone cannot stop. According to a report by news agency Reuters, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a report on Monday (March 23) concluding that China's dominance in open-source AI is generating a "self-reinforcing competitive advantage" which is allowing those companies to challenge US rivals despite being cut off from the world's most advanced AI chips.Since 2022, the US government has imposed export restrictions on China, blocking it from acquiring the most advanced AI processors: which is now being seriously challenged. Chinese companies including Alibaba, Moonshot, and MiniMax have developed large language models at a lower cost which now dominate worldwide usage rankings on platforms like Huggin...

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Chinese scientists have discovered a way to turn cheap coal into valuable ingredients for medicine. This was once a long and difficult process, but now they have found a surprising short cut. In a study published on March 16 in the journal Nature, Jiao Ning's team at Peking University solved a chemical puzzle that had confounded scientists for over 160 years. They successfully transformed inexpensive and readily available industrial feedstock – olefins – into high-value alkynes under mild and efficient conditions. This breakthrough not only revolutionises the concepts of molecular synthesis but also opens a gateway for China's coal-based chemical industry to venture into the production of high-value-added fine chemicals. This exemplifies the strategic thinking that has guided China's chemical industry in recent years: without needing more oil , China's chemical industry can improve and create more value through new ideas. To grasp the significance of this achieve...

A Chinese woman from Jiangxi was reunited with her biological parents, 28 years after she was abandoned in a toilet as a newborn by her grandfather.  She was later adopted by a Dutch couple. On March 14, Hong Yangli (transliteration) was accompanied by volunteers searching for her family, as she met her biological mother who burst into tears and pulled her into a tight embrace, Chinese outlet QQ News reported. The daughter was welcomed with a banquet and firecrackers, reports said. Hong is the third child of her biological family before she was abandoned by her grandfather without her parents' knowledge, reported Chinese media.  With a traditional mindset, Hong's grandfather favoured boys over girls and left the infant in a toilet in another village, reported South China Morning Post (SCMP).  Hong's father, Xu Lihong, said he was guilt-ridden for years but did not challenge his father or report the case to the police out of filial piety.� � The baby was later found by ...

But for China, an unusual advantage is coming into focus: the ability to predict grain output more than six months in advance with striking accuracy. That capability – refined over decades – could allow Beijing to move early, reshaping risk into strategic leverage. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global energy and commodity flows, has emerged as a key vulnerability. Roughly a third of global urea exports pass through the corridor, linking fertiliser markets directly to geopolitical stability. Urea production depends heavily on natural gas, meaning any sustained disruption to energy supplies or shipping routes can quickly drive up fertiliser costs. For farmers , higher input prices often translate into reduced application rates – and ultimately lower yields. The impact is already being felt across Asia. India, which imports a large share of its fertilisers from the Middle East, faces mounting pressure ahead of its planting season. Indonesia, reliant on Gulf sulphur for phosp...

Representatives of Chinese and German enterprises exchange ideas during a German CEO delegation's visit to Chongqing earlier this week. HE PENGLEI / CHINA NEWS SERVICE More German companies are looking for business opportunities in western China, as a delegation of business leaders from the European nation visited Southwest China's Chongqing on Wednesday to deepen their understanding of the local market and explore new collaboration projects. The delegation comprised over 20 leaders from sectors such as food and agricultural product processing, trade and retail, business consulting, and publishing, among others. On Wednesday, the CEOs toured the Chongqing branch of CRIntermodal and the International Logistics Hub in Inland China Exhibition Center in Shapingba district, where they gained firsthand insights into the operational processes of the China-Europe Railway Express. The railway route reaches as far as Duisbur...