TOPIC

/ location

Xinjiang

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Xinjiang. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Ürümqi

Head of Government

Party Secretary of Xinjiang Ma Xingrui

Prawn linguine at BluHouse, an Italian restaurant in the Rosewood Hong Kong that Guillaume Sejourne recommends taking visitors to the city. Photo: BluHouse

Food and Drinks

French chef’s Hong Kong restaurant picks for ‘stylish’ Italian and Xinjiang

Guillaume Sejourne of Le Colvert shares where he eats steak and regional Chinese lamb dishes, and an Indian spot he keeps returning to.

7 Oct 2026 - 4:15PM

US-China relations

US seeks US$100 million bail for Chinese-born couple in surrogacy abuse case

7 Oct 2026 - 5:59AM

US-China relations

As I see it | Can’t Uygurs drink Starbucks and taste American freedom?

7 Oct 2026 - 5:30AM

China energy security

China taps oil reserves 6,000 metres deep as global energy turmoil persists

Advanced drilling technology and offshore expansion are fuelling plans to boost domestic supply by 2030.

6 Oct 2026 - 4:44PM

The Hade-Fuman oilfield, located in the Taklamakan Desert in China’s Xinjiang province. Photo: CNPC

US-China relations

China lashes out after US lawmaker urges Starbucks to close Xinjiang stores

Beijing rejects human rights abuse claims, saying region ‘enjoys social stability, economic prosperity, ethnic unity and religious harmony’.

4 Oct 2026 - 4:00PM

China food security

How crayfish raised in desert are nipping away at China’s food security fears

Government encouraging saline-alkaline aquaculture and inland fisheries to diversify food supplies and put abandoned land to use.

4 Oct 2026 - 2:00PM

Xinjiang cotton

In Focus | How US sanctions forced Xinjiang’s cotton industry to build a survival model

State support and tech upgrades help producers pivot, but they face tight profit margins, a ‘domestic decoupling’ and EU market spillover.

2 Oct 2026 - 3:05PMvideocam

China-Latin America relations

Exclusive | China set to decide if Costa Rican or Guyanese becomes first woman UN chief

Rebeca Grynspan and Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett lead a split Security Council as Beijing rules out Argentina's Rafael Grossi.

26 Sep 2026 - 1:38AM

China’s Communist Party

Communist Party names new Tibet party chief in regional leadership reshuffle

Hu Changsheng takes top Tibet post as regional transfers offer clues about broader political line-up ahead of national party congress.

22 Sep 2026 - 11:56PM

China’s Communist Party

Former Shenzhen mayor Qin Weizhong under corruption probe

Announcement from China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection comes in the lead-up to Apec meetings in tech hub.

21 Sep 2026 - 9:47PMvideocam

Qin Weizhong, who served as Shenzhen mayor until August, is suspected of "grave disciplinary and law violations". Photo: Handout

Science

Geologists find unexpectedly large water sources beneath China’s largest desert

Discovery offers an answer to sand control and agricultural demands along the arid region’s edge.

16 Sep 2026 - 6:00PMvideocam

Groundwater discoveries were made as part of a water-finding project in the Taklamakan Desert conducted by Xinjiang's geological bureau, according to CCTV Finance. Photo: CCTV

Hong Kong politics

Ex-Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa worked to bridge US-China divide in last years

In one of his final public engagements, Tung visited SCMP headquarters in Causeway Bay in 2020 to deliver keynote speech at China Conference.

9 Sep 2026 - 11:11PMvideocam

China-UK relations

China’s Xi Jinping urges deeper UK ties in first call with new PM Andy Burnham

Xi asks to ‘transcend differences’, while British leader speaks of will to restore ties to ‘highest historical level’, Xinhua reports.

9 Sep 2026 - 5:11PMvideocam

Central Asia

China rallies Central Asian police chiefs on terrorism threats, energy and trade

Security ministers from five nations back Beijing initiative targeting extremism, border order and telecoms fraud.

8 Sep 2026 - 4:20PMvideocam

Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (third from right) attends the China-Central Asia ministerial conference on public security and internal affairs in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

China’s air force

What China’s Lop Nur desert base expansion means for PLA jets in race with US

Remote site is ideal for quiet testing of sensitive, next-generation aircraft, analysts say, as some forecast faster high-end PLA deployment.

6 Sep 2026 - 10:00PMvideocam

Infrastructure offers a clearer signal of China’s long-term investment in advanced aircraft rather than sporadic prototype sightings, a PLA Air Force watcher says. Photo: X/Hurin92

SCO

What to expect as China’s Xi Jinping attends SCO summit in Bishkek

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s 25th anniversary summit expected to offer clues to China’s ambitions for a more multipolar Asia, analysts say.

31 Aug 2026 - 2:57PMvideocam

Belt and Road Initiative

In Focus | Can Beijing’s gateway plan for Tibet survive geopolitics and natural disasters?

Beijing hopes trade will stabilise Tibet, but friction with India and the looming Dalai Lama succession are hampering its efforts.

29 Aug 2026 - 6:49AMvideocam

China consumption

Will minimum-wage increases in more Chinese regions help boost consumption?

Guangdong, Shanxi and Xinjiang have announced plans to introduce increases of 10 per cent or more in the next few months.

28 Aug 2026 - 3:00PM

A worker shovels coal at the Zhundong open-pit coal mine in Xinjiang. Photo: Xinhua

China’s Communist Party

In Focus | Why China’s mineral hubs and border regions face heaviest anti-corruption toll

China’s past CCDI annual plenums stress intensifying efforts to combat corruption where ‘power, funds and resources are concentrated’.

27 Aug 2026 - 11:03AMvideocam

Corruption in China

Xi’s 13-year corruption campaign just keeps accelerating

China’s anti-graft investigators are targeting more officials, including more retirees, according to a South China Morning Post research project.

25 Aug 2026 - 5:35PM

Science

Your backyard could hold a rare earth fortune and this orange lichen is the clue

Chinese scientists discover link between lichen growth and potentially untapped rare-earth-bearing carbonates and mineral deposits.

23 Aug 2026 - 10:00PMvideocam

Lichen on rocks in the West Kunlun Mountains, southwest of China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Photo: Li Yang and team

Mainland China

From mountains to sea: China’s plan to ring the nation with highways

The vast ‘border-coast loop’ is designed to boost development and national unity, but will have to navigate geopolitical and ecological barriers.

23 Aug 2026 - 9:00AM

The G219 highway is part of China’s plan for a vast new road link running along the country’s borders and coastline. Photo: Handout

US-China relations

In Focus | As the US widens a Xinjiang trade ban, China’s cotton industry shrugs it off

Dozens of firms that source from the region were added to a US import blacklist, but few appear worried after years of diversification.

21 Aug 2026 - 6:15AMvideocam

China energy security

China eyes peak oil demand by 2030 amid pipeline increase, smart rig tech plan

Beijing’s peak-oil plan pairs an expansion of China’s network of pipelines with 15-km-deep drilling rigs.

18 Aug 2026 - 3:26PM

Wealth: Alternative Investments

AI-driven asset demand is reshaping Asia-Pacific’s investment landscape

Vast demand for infrastructure, fuelled by digitalisation and the energy transition, offers solid opportunities for private capital across the region.

Supported by

Standard Chartered Global Private Bank

India is a big growth story – KKR’s Hardik Shah and his team have committed over US$1 billion across the country’s renewable energy projects, led by companies like Serentica and Hero Future Energies. Photo: Getty Images

US-China relations

In Focus | Race for UN top job enters final stage: choice may ‘make or break’ bloc

A strong, visionary leader is needed as next secretary general as Iran war rages during one of most ‘unpredictable times geopolitically’.

7 Aug 2026 - 11:07PMvideocam

China’s private sector

Sugar for the pill: US$8b fund boosts Hong Kong’s biotech hub ambitions

Hong Kong Investment Corporation is stepping up its efforts to position itself amid Beijing’s challenge to US pharmaceutical dominance.

7 Aug 2026 - 6:12PM

US-China trade war

China adds US sanctions, drone curbs in trade tit-for-tat

Beijing tightens curbs on unmanned aerial vehicle exports after US robotics import ban, sanctions firms for aiding measures targeting Xinjiang.

6 Aug 2026 - 5:01PM

Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.

SUPPORT NOW

Xinjiang

French chef’s Hong Kong restaurant picks for ‘stylish’ Italian and Xinjiang

Guillaume Sejourne of Le Colvert shares where he eats steak and regional Chinese lamb dishes, and an Indian spot he keeps returning to.

US seeks US$100 million bail for Chinese-born couple in surrogacy abuse case

.css-1pcrwvc{color:#2aa191;}As I see it | Can’t Uygurs drink Starbucks and taste American freedom?

China taps oil reserves 6,000 metres deep as global energy turmoil persists

Advanced drilling technology and offshore expansion are fuelling plans to boost domestic supply by 2030.

China lashes out after US lawmaker urges Starbucks to close Xinjiang stores

Beijing rejects human rights abuse claims, saying region ‘enjoys social stability, economic prosperity, ethnic unity and religious harmony’.

How crayfish raised in desert are nipping away at China’s food security fears

Government encouraging saline-alkaline aquaculture and inland fisheries to diversify food supplies and put abandoned land to use.

.css-1f6sr3w{color:#727272;}In Focus | How US sanctions forced Xinjiang’s cotton industry to build a survival model

State support and tech upgrades help producers pivot, but they face tight profit margins, a ‘domestic decoupling’ and EU market spillover.

Exclusive | China set to decide if Costa Rican or Guyanese becomes first woman UN chief

Rebeca Grynspan and Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett lead a split Security Council as Beijing rules out Argentina's Rafael Grossi.

Communist Party names new Tibet party chief in regional leadership reshuffle

Hu Changsheng takes top Tibet post as regional transfers offer clues about broader political line-up ahead of national party congress.

Former Shenzhen mayor Qin Weizhong under corruption probe

Announcement from China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection comes in the lead-up to Apec meetings in tech hub.

Geologists find unexpectedly large water sources beneath China’s largest desert

Discovery offers an answer to sand control and agricultural demands along the arid region’s edge.

Ex-Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa worked to bridge US-China divide in last years

In one of his final public engagements, Tung visited SCMP headquarters in Causeway Bay in 2020 to deliver keynote speech at China Conference.

China’s Xi Jinping urges deeper UK ties in first call with new PM Andy Burnham

Xi asks to ‘transcend differences’, while British leader speaks of will to restore ties to ‘highest historical level’, Xinhua reports.

China rallies Central Asian police chiefs on terrorism threats, energy and trade

Security ministers from five nations back Beijing initiative targeting extremism, border order and telecoms fraud.

What China’s Lop Nur desert base expansion means for PLA jets in race with US

Remote site is ideal for quiet testing of sensitive, next-generation aircraft, analysts say, as some forecast faster high-end PLA deployment.

What to expect as China’s Xi Jinping attends SCO summit in Bishkek

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s 25th anniversary summit expected to offer clues to China’s ambitions for a more multipolar Asia, analysts say.

In Focus | Can Beijing’s gateway plan for Tibet survive geopolitics and natural disasters?

Beijing hopes trade will stabilise Tibet, but friction with India and the looming Dalai Lama succession are hampering its efforts.

Will minimum-wage increases in more Chinese regions help boost consumption?

Guangdong, Shanxi and Xinjiang have announced plans to introduce increases of 10 per cent or more in the next few months.

In Focus | Why China’s mineral hubs and border regions face heaviest anti-corruption toll

China’s past CCDI annual plenums stress intensifying efforts to combat corruption where ‘power, funds and resources are concentrated’.

Xi’s 13-year corruption campaign just keeps accelerating

China’s anti-graft investigators are targeting more officials, including more retirees, according to a South China Morning Post research project.

Your backyard could hold a rare earth fortune and this orange lichen is the clue

Chinese scientists discover link between lichen growth and potentially untapped rare-earth-bearing carbonates and mineral deposits.

From mountains to sea: China’s plan to ring the nation with highways

The vast ‘border-coast loop’ is designed to boost development and national unity, but will have to navigate geopolitical and ecological barriers.

In Focus | As the US widens a Xinjiang trade ban, China’s cotton industry shrugs it off

Dozens of firms that source from the region were added to a US import blacklist, but few appear worried after years of diversification.

China eyes peak oil demand by 2030 amid pipeline increase, smart rig tech plan

Beijing’s peak-oil plan pairs an expansion of China’s network of pipelines with 15-km-deep drilling rigs.

.css-12ooj4n{font-family:Roboto Condensed,Roboto Condensed fallback,sans-serif;}AI-driven asset demand is reshaping Asia-Pacific’s investment landscape

Vast demand for infrastructure, fuelled by digitalisation and the energy transition, offers solid opportunities for private capital across the region.

In Focus | Race for UN top job enters final stage: choice may ‘make or break’ bloc

A strong, visionary leader is needed as next secretary general as Iran war rages during one of most ‘unpredictable times geopolitically’.

Sugar for the pill: US$8b fund boosts Hong Kong’s biotech hub ambitions

Hong Kong Investment Corporation is stepping up its efforts to position itself amid Beijing’s challenge to US pharmaceutical dominance.

China adds US sanctions, drone curbs in trade tit-for-tat

Beijing tightens curbs on unmanned aerial vehicle exports after US robotics import ban, sanctions firms for aiding measures targeting Xinjiang.

As I see it | Can’t Uygurs drink Starbucks and taste American freedom?

In Focus | How US sanctions forced Xinjiang’s cotton industry to build a survival model

AI-driven asset demand is reshaping Asia-Pacific’s investment landscape