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South China Morning Post
33 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Chinese AI scientists dominating field, Beijing's message to Brics: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing US President Donald Trump has threatened to slam an additional 10 per cent tariffs on countries supporting what he calls 'anti-American policies' after the leaders of Brics nations condemned unilateral tariffs. When Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives in China next week for his second official visit, he will have more than the typical diplomatic niceties to discuss with President Xi Jinping. A joint study by a United Nations organisation and Shenzhen-based Dongbi Data has found that the majority of the world's smartest AI scientists hail from China. Photo: Xinhua A study of nearly 200,000 researchers and 100,000 high-impact papers has revealed that the vast majority of the world's top 100 brains in the field of artificial intelligence are of Chinese origin.


South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
‘Pessimistic': Ukraine war, trade expected to mar progress at China-EU summit this month
European Union envoys to China say they have low expectations of any substantial achievement at the coming EU-China summit while citing complex trade challenges and the ongoing Ukraine war 'I am sorry to be pessimistic – the next EU-China summit will be a wonderful summit with wonderful statements of principles, but I doubt that we will get some strategic incremental progress,' said Italy's ambassador to China, Massimo Ambrosetti, at the World Peace Forum in Beijing on Friday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will travel to Beijing for the summit, which is expected to take place over two days from July 24, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of EU-Chinese relations. 05:05 Trump and Xi discuss Taiwan, troubled US-China trade ties in call breaking stand-off Trump and Xi discuss Taiwan, troubled US-China trade ties in call breaking stand-off 'We have to realistically consider that the preparation of the summit was, of course, influenced by the negotiations on tariffs – between the EU and the US, between China and the US – it is a terribly complicated context,' Ambrosetti said. 'So it's not surprising that probably we will not have all the results that we hoped for. 'But it's always good to have dialogue and institutional interactions, provided that we look at the future in a really strategic, longer-term perspective.' The summit will take place two weeks after the July 9 deadline set by US President Donald Trump after he waged a global tariff war targeting all major trading partners. US officials now say they will take effect on August 1 The EU member states – once deemed 'nastier than China' by Trump – have been racing to secure a deal, but there have been no breakthroughs.


South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Why Vietnam's US trade deal is a high-risk economic gamble
Just days before a sweeping 46 per cent US tariff on Vietnamese imports was set to take effect, Hanoi and Washington reached a surprise deal . Vietnam agreed to a tariff of 20 per cent on direct exports to the United States and 40 per cent on transshipped goods . In return for the reduced US tariffs, Vietnam grants zero-tariff access to American goods entering its market. Advertisement Presented as a pragmatic trade compromise, the deal's deeper significance lies in its geopolitical and structural dimensions. It underscores both Vietnam's urgency to safeguard US market access and a shifting – though still tentative – strategic alignment between Hanoi and Washington amid rising Chinese economic and military assertiveness. Vietnam has long benefited from preferential trade access to the US market, particularly during the first Trump term, when Chinese companies fleeing US tariffs relocated their manufacturing to Vietnam. But that advantage became a liability: last year, Vietnam's trade surplus with the US surged to US$123.5 billion – raising alarm in Washington over alleged transshipments and the back-door benefits to China. Back in office, US President Donald Trump has turned that imbalance into a political flashpoint. By agreeing to the tariffs, Vietnam has temporarily averted direct punitive measures. But in doing so, it has opened its market – completely and unconditionally – to US goods. Vietnam's decision to eliminate import duties on a broad swathe of American exports – from liquefied natural gas (LNG) and aircraft to semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and even automobiles – represents a dramatic shift. For US exporters, it unlocks a US$100 billion consumer market in Southeast Asia with a rapidly expanding middle class. For Vietnamese producers, however, the competitive landscape just became significantly more challenging. Advertisement The impact is expected to be broad. In the LNG sector, with multiple terminals under development, Vietnam's energy diversification strategy could align with US suppliers such as Cheniere Energy, which are well-positioned to secure long-term contracts.