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At a time when Covid-19 has severely interrupted international air travel, Hong Kong airlines are operating “flights to nowhere” in hopes of finding at least a small solution to some of their financial woes at the same time as they give grounded travellers a chance to scratch their itch to get on the road as they wa…
As China enters its autumn 2020 harvest season, agricultural produce from staples such as rice and corn, to fruits and seaweed are rolling into the consumer market. Beijing authorities say the country can expect a bumper harvest this year, with 650 million tonnes (717 million tons) of grain harvested, according to o…
The fifth plenum, China’s major policy meeting, took place behind closed doors in Beijing from October 26-29, 2020. The 200-member strong Central Committee, the top decision-making body of the ruling party, delivered a work report, a draft five-year plan and a document outlining China’s long-term objectives up to 20…
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Digital financial services giant Ant Group is set to pull off the world’s biggest initial public offering, or IPO. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba which owns the Post, controls Ant Group through ownership of over half of its shares. Ant operates China’s massive e-…
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on October 27 that she and five senior ministers will travel to Beijing next week to secure the central government’s support to help revitalise Hong Kong’s flagging economy.
In an effort to engage pandemic-grounded customers, Singapore Airlines has opened a restaurant in one of its A380 long-haul aircraft, serving meals on board even though it never leaves the tarmac. Restrictions to fight the spread of Covid-19 has caused a global downturn in air travel, placing many airlines under int…
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on October 20 pledged low-interest loans of 50 billion yen (US$474 million) to help cushion Indonesia's economy from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also agreed with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to step up security cooperation and begin discussions on resuming trave…
Demand for sex toys is increasing in China, which is already the world's biggest exporter of bedroom aids, with millennials and women driving the country’s US$14.7 billion sex toy market. While attitudes towards sex in China’s traditionally conservative society had already been changing, the online retail market for…
US president Donald Trump announced on August 11, 2020, that the “Made in Hong Kong” label could no longer be used on US-bound exports from the city. The order, which requires Hong Kong exports to be labelled as “Made in China”, came as Washington imposed sanctions against Hong Kong over a national security law impo…
The world’s second-largest economy grew by 4.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2020, according to figures released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on October 19, 2020. China is expected to be one of the few countries in the world to register growth during a year heavily impacted by the coronavirus pa…
China sees Shenzhen as one of the nation’s most important cities because “it's been the most successful since China’s reopening process”, according to Lau Siu Kai, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies. He spoke with the South China Morning Post after Chinese President Xi Jinping s…
China is joining Covax, the global Covid-19 vaccine alliance, to help ensure equitable immunisation distribution to developing countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on October 9. China is the biggest economy yet to join the World Health Organisation-led bid to control the coronavirus …
Thailand's Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul helped plant cannabis seedlings on October 8, 2020, as the government looks to tap into the multibillion-dollar potential of medical marijuana. Thailand was the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise medical marijuana in 2018, but recreational use and oth…
The months-long Covid-19 lockdown in India has devastated the country’s economy and millions of Indians have lost their livelihoods. As a result, more children have been forced to take up jobs to help support their families.
Amnesty International stopped its operations in India on September 29, 2020. The human rights group said its bank accounts have been frozen by the Indian government, in what New Delhi described as a crackdown over allegations of financial wrongdoing. Amnesty officials say the government claims are baseless. The grou…
The worldwide death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic surpassed one million on September 29, 2020. Countries that had previously seen a consistent drop in case numbers have started to report record highs, prompting governments to reintroduce social-distancing measures. The United States has the world’s largest number …
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The future still looks bleak in Vietnam for pangolins, the world’s most trafficked mammal, despite the nation’s renewed laws to crack down on the wildlife trade. Some wildlife conservation experts say the illegal trade in wild creatures persists, in part, because of pressure from market pressures created by the coro…
Bali’s economy, which relies largely on its tourism industry, has been suffering badly because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The island started welcoming Indonesian domestic visitors in July 2020 in an effort to revive its battered economy, but it has since experienced a surge in coronavirus cases. Local authorities hav…
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Visitor arrivals in Hong Kong have plunged 99 per cent, according to official year-on-year figures, since the second quarter of 2020, as the city closed its borders to fight the spread of Covid-19. By July, the hotel occupancy rate in the city had sunk to 49 per cent, from 86 per cent in the same month the previous …
Tens of thousands of Hongkongers have been left struggling to make ends meet after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the city on the heels of months of anti-government protests. Among the hardest hit are members of ethnic minority communities, including many who were already struggling with lower than average pay before the…
About 40,000 residents and tourists were on hand for the opening of an extended pedestrian area on the eastern part of Nanjing Road in China’s financial capital of Shanghai on September 12, 2020.
The Japanese tuna industry is taking an outsize hit from the coronavirus pandemic, which has put intense pressure on wholesalers at Tokyo's sprawling Toyosu Fish Market. Demand for fresh fish, especially the so-called king of sushi – bluefin tuna, has declined after the coronavirus crisis decimated orders normally s…
Australia’s last two accredited correspondents in mainland China have been rushed out of the country as diplomatic relations between the trading partners worsen. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Bill Birtles and Michael Smith from the Australian Financial Review landed in Sydney on September 8, 2020. They w…
Overseas online gambling businesses are increasingly targeting the mainland China market, where gambling is illegal. At a private rehabilitation centre in Shanghai, some Chinese gamblers struggling with addiction pledge to escape from the grip of their crippling habit.3
Gyms across Hong Kong were allowed to reopen on September 4, 2020, after being closed for more than 50 days in the second round of social-distancing measures ordered by the city to fight Covid-19. But gyms face heavy restrictions as they get back to business, and many owners and operators say the damage has already …
Several coronavirus vaccine developers in China have readied their facilities for mass production, even though the medicine is still undergoing clinical trials and has no market approval yet. Once found and approved, the Covid-19 vaccines will be in high demand for use in efforts to control the worldwide coronavirus…
Watchmakers bet big on factories amid downturn; Breguet’s CEO turns anniversary year into a stress-test; how zodiac symbolism travels through luxury; and the gemstone outpacing gold and inflation
Gaining access to the job market has always been relatively challenging for disabled people around the world. But in the Chinese city of Shanghai, the booming package delivery service sector has become a well-worn career path for deaf people, who are earning the same wages as their counterparts who are not hearing i…
Chinese airlines are offering unlimited flights packages to lure travellers back into the air as competition heats up for China’s domestic market in the absence of overseas travel because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hong Kong’s Ocean Park was forced to close for a second time as the city struggles to fight its third wave of Covid-19 infections. The theme park had already received an emergency government bailout of HK$5.4 billion (US$696 million) in May. Park employees that look after animals at the attraction say there has been…
A 60-year-old street food stall in a Taipei night market has been included in a 2020 Michelin Guide list because of its famous US$2 “hamburger” steamed bun. The Taiwan eatery had already been a favourite among locals for its guabao, also known as ho-ga-ti or “tiger bites pig” in Taiwanese. They are made by folding a…
Bali has postponed plans to reopen its borders to international travellers until the end of 2020 because of concerns about the spread of Covid-19. The Indonesian resort island had previously been getting ready to reopen to visitors from abroad on September 11. The move has raised worries about the impact on the loca…
India’s lucrative gold market is struggling as the economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus pandemic keeps sales down and shops closed. Gold traditionally has a central role in Indian culture, as the precious metal is often bought and given as gifts at weddings and on festive occasions as a symbol of auspicio…
Diane Lau is among tens of thousands of Hongkongers struggling to make ends meet after the coronavirus pandemic hit her city on the heels of anti-government protests that began in June 2019. The 34-year-old single mother, lost her job in February 2020, and has since been making ends meet with money borrowed from her…
