STEM crisis in China’s universities; preliminary deal struck: 5 weekend reads

A new profession called “Outsourced Children” has emerged in China, where strong men are hired to accompany elderly people in nursing homes, providing companionship and even serving as a deterrent against potentially abusive carers. The trend went viral after one such “outsourced son” from Dalian, Liaoning province in northeastern China, gained widespread attention on social…

TOKYO — There’s little doubt that China’s export engine is working its magic to get Asia’s biggest economy across the finish line to 5% growth. Clearly, China blowing past his tariffs in 2025 to rack up a record $1 trillion tradesurplus wasn’t on Donald Trump’s bingo card. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s economy did it in…

Henderson Land Development has unveiled Central Yards, a 1.6 million sq ft mixed-use project taking shape on Hong Kong’s most expensive piece of prime real estate and a key component of the developer’s HK$63 billion (US$8 billion) New Central Harbourfront project. The nine-storey building in Central, which would offer more than 700,000 sq ft of…

Traditional Chinese medical practitioners in Hong Kong will work more closely with their Western medicine counterparts in pain management and post-illness recovery, according to the city’s health officials. Chinese medicine is also expected to play a bigger role in primary healthcare, as authorities prepare a list of illnesses for patients who are advised to consult…

Malaysia is seeking chip deals with Brazil and India, the government has said, issuing a stark warning that the US market may be lost to the country’s exporters. As tariff-pummelled Southeast Asian nations scour for new, friendlier markets, the Brics grouping has come into focus. The bloc, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South…