World News by Wild Rose

This year has opened a rare window of relative calm in global commerce. On October 8, the World Trade Organization doubled its forecast for global goods trade growth, from 1.9 to 3.9 per cent. The easing of US-China and Europe-China tensions has given open economies some breathing space. Hong Kong has seized the moment. Its exports rose 42.5 per cent year on year in the first eight months of 2026, with figures from August alone up 53 per cent, driven largely by AI-related equipment and...

This is the sixth in a series of factsheets about Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and the 2026 policy address. Click here to view the other factsheets. The series has been produced with support from the Hong Kong SAR government. To see the South China Morning Post’s coverage of the five-year plan, click here. This Factsheet will appear in the SCMP print edition on October 26. You can find the newspaper at newsstands and convenience stores. For inquiries, contact printsupport@scmp.com.

This is the fifth in a series of factsheets about Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and the 2026 policy address. Click here to view the other factsheets. The series has been produced with support from the Hong Kong SAR government. To see the South China Morning Post’s coverage of the five-year plan, click here. This factsheet will appear in the SCMP print edition on October 26. You can find the newspaper at newsstands and convenience stores. For inquiries, contact printsupport@scmp.com.

Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), one of Hong Kong’s largest developers, has sold out the latest batch of flats at its Sierra Sea project in the New Territories, where units were offered at discounted prices ahead of a possible US Federal Reserve interest-rate increase by year-end. By 5.40pm on Wednesday, SHKP had found buyers for all 128 flats offered at listed prices in Phase 2C(2) of the development in Shap Sze Heung, between Sai Kung and Ma On Shan, according to agents. Sales began at...

Hong Kong has reaped the benefits of the Apec finance ministers’ meeting with foreign political leaders broadly supporting cross-border digital finance development and showing renewed appreciation for the city, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has said. Following the conclusion of the two-day milestone meeting on Wednesday, Chan said senior officials and representatives had discussions in a sincere and open manner over macroeconomic, fiscal and financial policy, with the overall feedback from...

Jeny Yeung, CEO at MTR, discusses the opportunities she sees for the railway operator as it expands into Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis. She speaks exclusively on "Bloomberg: The China Show." (Source: Bloomberg)

Hong Kong is more “optimistic” about its economic growth this year than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is about the global outlook, the finance chief has said, pointing to the city’s unique position to capitalise on international capital flows and the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Writing on his blog on Sunday after attending the IMF and World Bank Group’s annual meetings in Bangkok, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said world leaders’ discussions had been dominated by two forces:...

Hong Kong can capture a share of the global yacht industry, which is expected to reach HK$350 billion (US$44.6 billion) in six years, a senior official has said as the city launched the Southbound Yacht Travel Scheme, with the transport minister announcing new measures to attract overseas captains. The scheme is part of the government’s broader plan to develop Hong Kong’s yacht economy, as outlined in the city’s first five-year plan and the latest policy address. Under the scheme, mainland...

Revamped CTF Media and Entertainment, which holds one of Hong Kong’s three free-to-air television licences, plans to expand its focus beyond TV programmes and broadband to entertainment and the sports economy as its traditional businesses stagnate. Revealing the new logo of the company previously known as i-Cable Communications, CEO and executive director Ivy Wong Nga-fan listed its five core areas going forward: event organisation and investment; celebrity merchandising and e-commerce;...

A mild displacement of jobs across the Asia-Pacific region as companies expand their use of AI would trim five percentage points off growth in office space demand in the next few years, according to property consultancy CBRE. In a report released on Thursday it said 3.9 per cent of office jobs were vulnerable to artificial intelligence-driven displacement in developed markets in the region, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. However, only 1.7...