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South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Chinese state newspaper strikes rare friendly tone towards internet giants
A leading Chinese state media outlet has expressed support for the nation's internet platform operators, emphasising their importance alongside hard-tech companies like chip manufacturers, as it adopts a positive tone that reflects Beijing's friendly stance towards e-commerce companies. According to the editorial published by the Economic Daily on Wednesday, food delivery and 'hard-tech' breakthroughs – such as advances in high-speed trains and aerospace technologies – represented two key aspects of Chinese innovation. 'China needs breakthroughs in 'stranglehold technologies' just as much as it needs innovations that improve daily life and boost employment,' the article said. 'We need both.' 'Stranglehold technologies' refer to critical technologies or equipment that China needs to import, owing to its inability to produce them locally in sufficient quality or quantity. This category includes lithography machines for advanced chip production, computer operating systems, aircraft engine nacelles, and industrial design software. The article was published amid intense competition among e-commerce behemoths Alibaba Group Holding and Meituan in the food delivery sector, as companies offered massive subsidies to entice users. Alibaba's instant-commerce platform, seen on the Taobao app. Photo: Simon Song Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, reportedly plans to launch a 'Super Saturdays' programme over the next 100 days to attract consumers with discounts, intensifying a price war against Meituan and
South China Morning Post
08-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Chinese tech hub Shenzhen launches plan to support consumption, exporters amid trade war
China's top export city and tech hub, Shenzhen, is stepping up efforts to boost domestic consumption and support exporters amid a turbulent trade war between Beijing and Washington. Advertisement 'Consumption is the fundamental driving force behind economic growth and development,' according to a 39-point plan released by the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission on Friday. Shenzhen will leverage its strategic strengths in four key categories: artificial intelligence (AI) terminals, smart home systems, modern fashion, and outdoor equipment. The city will make good use of trade exhibitions and other resources to 'help enterprises better respond to tariffs', according to the document. China's consumption market has shown gradual improvement but still requires further stimulation, especially as external demand is under pressure due to US President Donald Trump's tariff war. At a meeting of the country's Politburo in late April – a Communist Party conclave that typically sets the tone for economic work in the second quarter – the high-level political body vowed to 'resolutely focus on doing our business, steadfastly expand high-level opening up and focus on stabilising employment, businesses, markets, and expectations'. Advertisement Consumption is a key driver of economic growth, and establishing long-term mechanisms to promote consumption is crucial, according to a commentary published under the pen name Jin Guanping in the state-owned Economic Daily on Sunday.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Taiwan's government strengthens 'silicon shield,' restricts exports of TSMC's most advanced process technologies
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Taiwan plans to tighten control over exports of advanced process technologies as well as outbound semiconductor investments, reports Economic Daily. The new legal measures will enforce the 'N-1' technology restriction, essentially barring TSMC from exporting its latest production nodes, and introduce penalties for violations— but there's a major catch for TSMC. The 'N-1' policy, confirmed by Premier Cho Jung-tai, will apply to TSMC's planned production in the United States. This approach restricts export of the most advanced process technology, allowing only one generation older to be deployed abroad. Before this amendment, Taiwan's regulations did not explicitly require such controls for semiconductor manufacturing processes. These rules are based on Article 22 of the amended Industrial Innovation Act, which is expected to take effect by the end of 2025. There is a major catch about TSMC's most advanced process technology, though. Today, TSMC has one leading-edge node: N3P manufacturing technology. But by the end of the year, it will start producing chips on its N2 fabrication process, which will become its flagship. Starting from late 2026 and onwards, however, TSMC expects to have two flagship nodes: N2P for client applications that do not need advanced power delivery and A16 with Super Power Rail backside power delivery for HPC applications that consume a lot of power. It remains to be seen which process technology will be considered as 'flagship' by Taiwanese authorities, and therefore export restricted, or if the government will ban exports of both nodes for a year when TSMC introduces successors for N2P and A16, its A14 and A16P nodes. In addition, the amended law, passed after its third reading in the Taiwan parliament, gives Taiwan's authorities the right to reject or cancel overseas investments if they are found to compromise national security, damage the country's economic development, violate treaty obligations, or result in unresolved major labor disputes. Under the new law, these six conditions are retained, but are now backed by higher-level legislation. The revised Article 22 also includes the possibility of partially or fully rejecting investments or attaching conditions to approval. If a company receives approval but later triggers any of these risks, the central authorities are authorized to demand corrective action or revoke the investment entirely if the issue is serious. The new law elevates existing investment restrictions from sub-regulations to formal legislation and adds legal consequences for non-compliance. The Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that the law's implementation date will be announced only after the sub-regulations are revised, within six months. This means the earliest enforcement could begin by late 2025. The regulation's rollout comes amid rising geopolitical risks and after TSMC announced plans to increase its investments in its American production capacity from $65 billion over four years to $165 billion over an undisclosed period. The amendment also introduces penalties that were not present before. Companies that invest abroad without prior approval may face fines ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$1 million ($30,830). If an investment is approved but the company later fails to correct identified violations — such as endangering national security or harming economic development—the authorities can impose repeated fines of NT$500,000 ($15,414) to NT$10 million ($308,286). But given that TSMC plans to invest $165 billion in its U.S. facilities, a $300,000 fine will hardly affect the company's bottom Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
The Star
27-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
China's ‘involution' trap is hurting nation's competitiveness, state media warns
Chinese state media has refreshed its calls for local-level governments and businesses to refrain from unhealthy, exhausting competition that is feared to be damaging the competitiveness of the nation's economy, as the issue remains a headache for Beijing. A self-defeating cycle of excessive competition – known as neijuan , or involution – has remained prevalent, distorting market dynamics and hindering sustainable growth, the Economic Daily warned in a commentary on Wednesday, as the issue has been a focal point in the past year. Explaining the term as 'the harder you work, the less you gain', the state-owned newspaper focusing on economic reports urged government officials and business owners to focus on long-term economic health rather than short-term gains. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. Such a phenomenon 'traps all kinds of entities in a vicious cycle of low-price, low-quality, and ineffective repeated competition, ultimately damaging the overall competitiveness of related industries in China', it said. Among local governments, that type of self-defeating competition includes misguided efforts to attract businesses through unsustainable policies – such as offering excessive incentives like tax breaks and subsidies – resulting in rising debt and long-term risks, the newspaper noted. For businesses, 'involution' manifests in excessive price wars, a lack of differentiation, and a focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term innovation, which leads to resource waste, stagnation and lowered overall competitiveness. The commentary used solar energy as an example, with the output value of China's photovoltaic manufacturing industry slumping by more than 40 per cent in the first 10 months of 2024 from the same period of 2023. In March, Premier Li Qiang vowed to launch a 'comprehensive crackdown on neijuan ' during his work report to the National People's Congress – the first time the premier has mentioned the once-obscure concept in his agenda-setting annual address. In what has been seen as a response to Beijing's push to stop vicious competition, e-commerce platforms jointly announced on Tuesday that they would abandon a 'refund-only' policy that has been criticised for straining merchant profit margins. Major platforms such as Taobao and Pinduoduo will no longer proactively intervene in after-sales requests made by consumers for refunds without returning the goods that they have already received. Such issues will be left to sellers and buyers to negotiate instead, in a move to balance merchant-rights protection with an improved consumer experience, they said. Taobao is operated by Alibaba Group, which owns the South China Morning Post. the parcel-logistics services giant that expanded to food delivery earlier this year, and on-demand delivery firm Meituan have been accusing each other this week of the monopolistic behaviour of blocking part-time delivery riders from accepting orders on both platforms. More from South China Morning Post: For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
South China Morning Post
24-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China's ‘involution' trap is hurting nation's competitiveness, state media warns
Chinese state media has refreshed its calls for local-level governments and businesses to refrain from unhealthy, exhausting competition that is feared to be damaging the competitiveness of the nation's economy, as the issue remains a headache for Beijing. Advertisement A self-defeating cycle of excessive competition – known as neijuan , or involution – has remained prevalent, distorting market dynamics and hindering sustainable growth, the Economic Daily warned in a commentary on Wednesday, as the issue has been a focal point in the past year. Explaining the term as 'the harder you work, the less you gain', the state-owned newspaper focusing on economic reports urged government officials and business owners to focus on long-term economic health rather than short-term gains. Such a phenomenon 'traps all kinds of entities in a vicious cycle of low-price, low-quality, and ineffective repeated competition, ultimately damaging the overall competitiveness of related industries in China', it said. Among local governments, that type of self-defeating competition includes misguided efforts to attract businesses through unsustainable policies – such as offering excessive incentives like tax breaks and subsidies – resulting in rising debt and long-term risks, the newspaper noted. Advertisement For businesses, 'involution' manifests in excessive price wars, a lack of differentiation, and a focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term innovation, which leads to resource waste, stagnation and lowered overall competitiveness.
