Hong Kong banks are facing a growing backlog of repossessed homes as aggressive pricing by developers draws buyers towards new projects, leaving fewer buyers for second-hand properties being sold by mortgagees. The number of residential properties listed for sale by mortgagees rose 30 per cent in the third quarter to sit at 262 at the end of September, a four-quarter high, according to Centaline Property. The increase of 61 properties was the largest since records began in the fourth quarter of...

Hong Kong officials’ apology over the deadly Tai Po blaze nearly a year ago came too late, residents of the fire-ravaged estate have said, as they urged authorities to learn from the disaster and pursue long-term reforms. Several Wang Fuk Court residents also said on Thursday the resignation of housing minister Winnie Ho Wing-yin could not answer for cross-departmental failings, adding that institutional overhaul would be ineffective unless officials enforced rules, exercised sound judgment and...

When Ocean Park launched its Halloween celebrations in 2001, pumpkins, witches and vampires helped turn a visit to the theme park into a seasonal fright night. Twenty-five years later, haunted houses drawing on Hong Kong ghost stories share this year’s programme with family activities, live performances and a dark-fantasy collaboration with a pop star. The history of Halloween at Ocean Park is not simply a timeline of increasingly bigger productions and more elaborate effects. It is also a story...

Shares of major Chinese optical communications suppliers slumped on Friday before clawing back some of their losses, extending a two-day sell-off despite upbeat third-quarter earnings driven by the global artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. During morning trading in Shenzhen, Chengdu-based Eoptolink Technology dropped as much as 15 per cent, while Suzhou TFC Communication slid 10.3 per cent and industry leader Zhongji Innolight fell over 7 per cent. By the midday break, the trio had...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Win for Lula boosts China’s foothold and gives Brazil rare earths leverage Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s re-election preserves Beijing’s most critical foothold in Latin America, while positioning Brasilia to leverage...

Seven members have been selected for a specialist panel that will assess companies identified by the Singapore government over potential links to transboundary haze, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Friday. Three are investigation firms: Control Risks Group, FTI Consulting (Singapore) and Kroll Singapore. The remaining four are law firms or legal advisers: Dentons Rodyk & Davidson, Toby Landau, King’s Counsel of Duxton Hill Chambers, TSMP Law Corporation...

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. Hong Kong’s first five-year plan sets a striking target: local innovation expenditure should rise from 1.63 per cent of gross domestic product in 2024 to 3 per cent after 2030 – nearly double. The city has five universities in the top 100 and is home to national key laboratories...

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has pledged to cover all losses from a hack that it said drained around US$6.3 billion from its wallet. At that scale, it would be the biggest crypto theft on record, surpassing the US$1.5 billion stolen from Dubai-based exchange Bybit in February 2025, a theft the FBI attributed to North Korea. Binance said in a post on X on Friday that it had suspended all deposits and withdrawals while its team conducts security checks,...

Hong Kong’s M+ museum, New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Centre Pompidou in Paris signed an agreement on October 30 to establish a three-way cultural alliance, aiming to redefine how visual culture is collected, exhibited and shared globally. The framework agreement, signed at M+ in the West Kowloon Cultural District, departs from conventional short-term blockbuster touring exhibitions and fee-based satellite franchises. With no money changing hands, the institutions will focus on...

China’s makers of energy storage systems, including Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and Gotion High-Tech, stand to benefit as conflict in the Middle East keeps fossil fuel prices elevated, raising demand for their products in green energy projects, according to analysts. The tailwinds are expected to outweigh a slowdown in the local market, where weaker-than-expected demand has dragged stock prices in the lithium-ion battery supply chain down by more than 46 per cent over the past six...

A matter of identity By Christopher Wood This article was first published on October 31, 1981 The passage of the British Nationality Bill through Parliament has proved an emotional issue for Hongkong, sparking off fears that the Colony is sliding into political limbo. As Hongkong-born British subjects lost their right of residence in the United Kingdom back in 1962, the strength of feeling against the legislation has surprised many, including probably the British Government. But such a view...

This live article is freely available to our registered users. Please log in or create an account. Hong Kong authorities will provide more details about reforms to tackle bid-rigging and enhance oversight of building maintenance projects, in response to the city’s deadliest fire in decades. The government will hold two press conferences on Friday to provide details about the reforms, after an independent committee that investigated the Tai Po fire pointed to inadequacies in the government’s...

The number of Malaysians detained overseas for drug-related offences increased to 1,588 as of September this year, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni. Lukanisman said the five countries with the highest numbers of Malaysians detained were Indonesia (381), China (380), Singapore (310), Thailand (102) and Japan (72). He said increasingly sophisticated drug-smuggling methods had contributed to the frequent arrests of Malaysians overseas. “A total of 1,181 Malaysians were...

The Pentagon has accused a newly ousted three-star general of leaking sensitive information to the media just hours after officials confirmed his removal from a top military planning post. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth fired US Army Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia as head of strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a defence official said late Wednesday. Typically, the general in the position and their staff are responsible for generating and coordinating military plans for...

A Chinese woman donated 500 yuan (US$75) to an 18-year-old stranger with a disability after seeing a social media post saying he was too poor to afford meals. Eight years later, he repaid her double the amount after learning she was going through a difficult time, which moved many people online. In 2018, Wang Shuming, from China’s eastern Shandong province, posted a video saying he had no money and could not afford food. Wang lives with the effects of a childhood fever. He has difficulty walking...

Even Asia’s first UFC world champion, Zhang Weili, cannot escape the pressure of Chinese parents pushing her to get married. A year ago, Zhang, now 37, said she was glad her family was not rushing her to marry, preferring to focus on her fighting career and leave relationships to fate. But in an interview posted on social media this week, Zhang revealed her parents grew deeply concerned about her love life during the first half of the year, saying they were “pushing really hard”. In the...

In 1933, Jeanne Toussaint was appointed creative director of Cartier, and the wildly influential designer set about cementing the noble panther’s role as the indelible emblem of the storied Parisian jeweller that it remains to this day. Two years later, in Hong Kong, legendary entrepreneur Aw Boon Haw finished the construction of Haw Par Mansion, now known as Villa Haw Par, the magnificent East-meets-West edifice in Tai Hang that is also a showcase for the allure of big cats, complete with the...

Hong Kong is still healing from the trauma of the Wang Fuk Court fire that claimed 168 lives nearly a year ago. The difficult process has been taken a step further with the release of the final report of an independent committee of inquiry led by a High Court judge, and the response of the government, revealed on Thursday by the city’s leader and his administration. The concept of accountability has hung heavily over proceedings. It is only natural after such a catastrophe for people to expect...

No protester sets out expecting a friend to be arrested, injured or caught in a confrontation with the police. Yet when that happens, the reasons for returning to the streets can change. People may return not only because of the cause that first brought them out, but because they believe a friend has been treated unjustly. That is how anger becomes personal, and how a protest can move towards a dangerous cycle of action and reaction. This is the risk confronting France. The student protests...

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Global venture capital is surging in 2026, fuelled by concentrated investment in AI, digital infrastructure, robotics and other frontier technologies. At the same time, agentic AI, tokenisation, stable coins and programmable finance are accelerating the movement of capital across borders, giving rise to an emerging ‘agentic economy.’  Against this backdrop, CVCF 2026 aims to further energise and accelerate venture...