
Hang Seng Index rises to fresh high since late 2021 on trade deals

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South China Morning Post
19 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
DeepSeek's AI dominance in China challenged by Alibaba's Qwen and rising rivals
DeepSeek 's artificial intelligence models are the most commonly used products of its kind in China, but the company is quickly losing market share to rivals in the highly competitive AI market, according to a cloud computing service provider. Advertisement DeepSeek, which commanded over 99 per cent of open-source AI model usage on Chinese cloud computing platform PPIO in the first quarter, saw its share decline to about 80 per cent in June, according to data released by the service provider late last week. Meanwhile, the Qwen models from Alibaba Group Holding , owner of the Post, had gained significant traction, PPIO said. At its peak in late May, use of Qwen models on the platform surpassed that of DeepSeek products, reaching 56 per cent. In January, PPIO became one of the first cloud computing platforms to offer DeepSeek's V3 and R1 models to third-party clients, driving a surge in AI adoption in China. On July 12, PPIO added Kimi-K2-Instruct, an open-source model developed by Alibaba-backed start-up MoonShot AI, which is drawing rapid uptake worldwide China's AI competition remains intense: the country now boasts over 1,500 AI models, with many start-ups striving to enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of their open-source offerings. In contrast, DeepSeek has remained silent about its highly anticipated next-generation models. Advertisement 'Since May, DeepSeek's share [on our platform] has decreased because of the influx of excellent models that has provided users with more choices,' PPIO said.


South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
South Korea pitches ‘Make American Shipbuilding Great Again' plan to avert Trump tariffs
South Korea is pitching the US on a shipbuilding partnership as a key proposal to seal a last-minute agreement to avoid a 25 per cent tariff rate. While details remain unclear, Yonhap News reported that South Korea has proposed a multibillion-dollar project dubbed 'Make American Shipbuilding Great Again' (Masga). South Korea's Industry Ministry declined to comment. 'We confirmed the US side's strong interest in the shipbuilding sector and the two countries agreed to work together to develop mutually acceptable terms that include shipbuilding cooperation,' South Korea's presidential office said in a statement on Saturday. As countries across Asia clinched deals last week, Seoul's negotiators have been racing to stay engaged with their US counterparts as Washington shifted its focus to the European Union and China. The US and EU announced a pact on Sunday that will see the bloc face 15 per cent tariffs on most of its exports to the US, including automobiles. The latest agreement, which follows a Japan deal last week , adds to the pressure on Asia's fourth-largest economy to clinch a deal. South Korea, where negotiations have been slowed by internal political turmoil, is one of the biggest Asian economies to still be without a deal. In addition to China India is another major exporter in the region currently engaged in negotiations.


South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Why some Chinese students are skipping elite universities amid job market fears
After underperforming in China's national college entrance exam in June, Lu Jie was accepted into a computer science and technology programme earlier this month at a lesser-known polytechnic university in central China's Hunan province. 'Good schools had too many applicants for this major, so I had to choose a lower-ranked one to pursue it,' Lu said. The results for the exam, better known as the gaokao , have been released over the past two weeks – marking a life-changing moment for students like Lu. Now more than ever, students are opting for majors with strong job prospects over prestigious universities. A focus on immediate employability and job security is eclipsing long-term aspirations and personal interests. Driving this trend is a growing oversupply of college graduates , intensifying competition in the job market amid a challenging economic climate. Computer science has long been a highly popular major, Lu said, but the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) – widely expected to create new job opportunities – has fuelled even greater demand over the past couple of years.