Research
Economy
[Big read] Is Singapore the ultimate ‘China+1’ biopharma hub?
China’s biotech industry is becoming a formidable force in drug R&D and manufacturing. For Singapore, its rise brings new competition — but also an opportunity to strengthen its role as a trusted China+1 hub for global pharma. Lianhe Zaobao senior business correspondent Lewis Ong Yong Huat speaks with industry players and government officials to find out more.
Lewis Ong Yong Huat
09 Sep 2026
Technology
China’s 582-tonne fusion magnet is not a weapon — yet
China’s 582-tonne superconducting magnet is not a weapon; it is a marker of integrated technological power. The real strategic weight lies in how its dual-use foundations could reshape energy, security and supply-chain leverage for generations to come, argues researcher Tahir Mahmood Azad.
Tahir Mahmood Azad
08 Sep 2026
Economy
How Guangzhou and Shenzhen weathered Trump’s tariff storm
Guangzhou and Shenzhen, manufacturing and technology engines of Guangdong province, were hard-hit by Trump 2.0 tariffs, but they managed to bounce back or even hold steady with resilience under pressure. Economics professor Jiang Kun gives her analysis in ThinkChina’s Eye on Guangdong series.
Jiang Kun
26 Aug 2026
Technology
How did Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou become the world’s number one tech hub?
The Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Office puts the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster in first place. The tech hub’s unique combination of strengths has allowed it to surpass the usual suspects in Silicon Valley, observes academic Erik Baark in ThinkChina’s Eye on Guangdong series.
Erik Baark
25 Aug 2026
Society
Are Chinese universities abolishing the ‘iron rice bowl’?
Tongji University’s decision to replace faculty tenure with three-yearly assessments effectively ends the traditional “iron rice bowl” concept for university lecturers. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Chen Jing explores the issue.
Chen Jing
20 Aug 2026
Politics
Fudan targeted as universities become casualties of the tech war
Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University have been placed on a US national security list, while China has targeted a European university. The moves signal a new era in which academic research is increasingly treated as a security risk. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei reports.
Sim Tze Wei
18 Aug 2026
Politics
Why Xi gathered China’s top scientists in Beidaihe
China’s annual Beidaihe retreat has put basic research and frontier technologies centre stage, offering a rare glimpse into President Xi Jinping’s priorities as Beijing seeks breakthroughs in critical technologies. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Chen Jing finds out.
Chen Jing
06 Aug 2026
Economy
Why China’s biotech rise is harder to contain than AI
China is emerging as a biotech powerhouse, but its rise is entwined with US drugmakers through research, licensing and supply chains, making decoupling far more difficult than in AI. Academic Chen Xiangming and biopharma industry practitioner Leon Tang analyse the situation.
Chen Xiangming, Leon Tang
05 Aug 2026
Technology
How China’s changing the brain-computer interface race
By taking a semi-invasive approach to developing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) — systems that link brain signals to computers — China is moving ahead of the US in commercialising BCI applications. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Liu Sha examines this development.
Liu Sha
20 Jul 2026
Technology
Is China a threat, or just out-engineering everyone?
Inverting Joseph Needham’s questions about the failure of modern science in China gives us a framework to understand China’s advances in science and innovation today, especially its edge in AI, says academic Erik Baark.
Erik Baark
13 Jul 2026
Technology
US’s biotech scrutiny tests China’s drugmakers abroad
A proposed US bill to tighten scrutiny of biotech investment in China is casting a shadow over cross-border drug licensing, threatening a fast-growing partnership model that has fuelled innovation and global drug development.
Caixin Global
10 Jul 2026