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A top official warned against moves to revive Japanese militarism as China held its annual national commemoration of the Nanking massacre amid tense ties with Tokyo.Speaking at a memorial ceremony in the eastern city of Nanjing on Saturday, Shi Taifeng, head of the ruling Communist Party’s organisation department, said that any attempt to revive militarism, challenge the post-war international order or undermine global peace and stability was “doomed to failure”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.Shi, one of 23 members of the party’s elite Politburo, was the highest-ranking official to attend the 88th anniversary commemoration.The memorial ceremony took place at the…

Addressing concerns over “new” International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has clarified that the measures being implemented under the Fund programme are not fresh demands but the operationalisation of reforms already approved through legislation. In an event on Saturday, Aurangzeb said that steps such as the public disclosure of civil servants’ assets are an extension of standards applied to parliamentarians. “If the assets of parliamentarians are made public, why not those of the civil service?” “The first step was to design this and get the legislation passed. That legislation has been enacted. Now the IMF has said…

A residential project in Yau Tong triggered buying euphoria on Saturday, with all 150 units snapped up by midafternoon amid heightened expectations for a recovery in Hong Kong’s home market next year.The flats at One Park Place, priced between HK$4.23 million (US$543,684) and HK$9.51 million, were in high demand after developers Sino Land, CSI Properties and MTR Corporation offered discounts of up to 15 per cent to lure buyers.The strong homebuying interest came a day after New World Development (NWD) sold out all 63 units at its Austin Bohemian project in Yau Ma Tei on Friday.“The units appeared to be…

A residential project in Yau Tong triggered buying euphoria on Saturday, with all 150 units snapped up by midafternoon amid heightened expectations for a recovery in Hong Kong’s home market next year.The flats at One Park Place, priced between HK$4.23 million (US$543,684) and HK$9.51 million, were in high demand after developers Sino Land, CSI Properties and MTR Corporation offered discounts of up to 15 per cent to lure buyers.The strong homebuying interest came a day after New World Development (NWD) sold out all 63 units at its Austin Bohemian project in Yau Ma Tei on Friday.“The units appeared to be…

China’s airlines are encountering severe turbulence over their growing use of extra charges like seat selection fees, as passengers, state media and a consumer protection watchdog slam the practice as a violation of customers’ rights.The controversy reflects the difficulties Chinese airlines face as they try to strike a delicate balance between profitability and service quality, with an industry insider cautioning that companies may not be able to scrap extra fees completely.Seat selection fees – long a bugbear of travellers in the West – have become more common in China over recent years, as airlines facing squeezed profit margins seek out…

The Chinese ambassador to Rwanda said on Friday that China-Africa cooperation had expanded into forward-looking sectors such as artificial intelligence, the digital economy, green energy, fintech and sustainable development.While attending the Seventh Africa’s Business Heroes Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda, Gao Wenqi thanked entrepreneurs from China and African nations for expanding cooperation into sectors that “reflect the future trends of the global economy”.“China will continue to broaden market access to Africa,” the envoy said in a speech at the summit on Friday, according to state news agency Xinhua.Gao said China would share the fruits of its development and vast market…

The government has signed a $2 billion real-world asset tokenisation agreement with Binance Investments, one of the world’s leading blockchain and digital asset technology companies, marking Pakistan’s first formal step into blockchain-based distribution of sovereign assets. However, questions have emerged over the transparency of the selection process and the absence of leading global asset tokenisation players in the initiative. The concerns were raised by Asad Umar, former finance minister, in a post on the social media platform X,  on Saturday. “A real-world asset tokenisation agreement worth $2 billion was signed between GOP and Binance. What process was used to select…

A year after the curtain fell on the Assad regime’s five-decade reign of terror, Syria is emerging as a rare beacon of renewal in a conflict-weary region.President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadi filled with revolutionary zeal to rebuild his home after 14 years of civil war, has successfully consolidated power and won broad international recognition.Over the past 12 months, Syria has “transformed from a global pariah to a fully fledged, integral component of the international community”, according to Charles Lister, director of the Syria programme at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar on Monday, Lister…

China is cementing its image as a lasting partner across Africa by gifting high-profile infrastructure, such as presidential palaces and parliament buildings.A key example is the new US$32 million Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) headquarters in Abuja. Funded by China and set for handover by the end of January, this centralised complex for the 15-member bloc aims to boost staff productivity and cut operational costs.On December 4, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria Yu Dunhai visited the site to review progress and met Ecowas Commission President Dr Omar Touray.Yu hailed the building as a “landmark project of bilateral cooperation” and…

BEIJING: China plans to expand exports and imports next year as part of efforts to promote “sustainable” trade, a senior economic official said on Saturday, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The trillion-dollar trade surplus posted by the world’s second-largest economy is stirring tensions with Beijing’s trade partners and drawing criticism from the International Monetary Fund and other observers who say its production-focused economic growth model is unsustainable. “We must adhere to opening up, promote win-win cooperation across multiple sectors, expand exports while also increasing imports to drive sustainable development of foreign trade,” Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Central Financial and…