Inside China

SCMP reporter Amber Wang reports on the damage to Zhengzhou and surrounding cities in Henan province as millions of people continue the recovery from disastrous floods. Tech reporter Tracy Qu discusses the emergency spreadshett that became a a huge crowd-sourced resource, and how China's huge short video audience are using TikTok style platforms for emergency aid and assistance,

Mimi Lau reports on the developing flood disaster in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou following record-smashing rains which have pushed the Yellow River to extreme heights, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and threatening nearby dams. Hear first-hand accounts of people trapped in subway trains as flood waters filled the tunnels, and analysis from Beijing-based reporter Echo Xie on how these floods differ from last year's floods on the Yangtze River.

Following the crackdown on ride-hailing firm Didi, China’s cybersecurity police have turned up the heat on other mainland tech firms with US IPO plans, by ordering data security reviews of Chinese firms with over a million users if they want to list on Wall Street. SCMP tech reporter Xinmei Shen is joined by colleagues Zhou Xin and Tracy Qu to discuss the growing role of Chinese regulators in reining in not only mainland tech firms but also the live-streaming industry.

Days after China's biggest ride-hailing app Didi launched a multibillion-dollar IPO on Wall Street, Beijing's internet watchdog removed it from China's app stores, claiming data being collected was a national security risk. SCMP tech reporter Xinmei Shen is joined by fellow reporter Tracy Qu and tech desk editor John Artman to analyse what’s behind the move, the Tesla-Microsoft connection, and whether this signals the start of decoupling between the world’s two biggest economies.

How did one factory in Taiwan become the sole reason why new cars, iPhones, gaming consoles and consumer whitegoods are facing delays in production? SCMP tech editors John Artman and Zhou Xin pull apart the circumstances that created this global supply chain crisis, how the US tech war and the pandemic created this situation and analyse what China is doing to become self-sufficient in chip manufacture. Can it catch up - or will it simply invade and take over production?

Mimi Lau presents a deep-dive into China's expansion plans for its new space station, its new Hubble-style telescope and its invitation for (most) nations to collaborate, as well as its timeline to develop a base on the moon in conjunction with Russia. Hear from space industry journalist Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) and Hong Kong University space program head Professor Quentin Parker on China's ambitious plans for space travel and research. More on Hong Kong's space lab: www.lsr.hku.hk/

In this week’s Inside China, Xinmei Shen presents a deep dive into the new operating system Huawei has unveiled for phones, tablets and devices. SCMP tech editor John Artman analyses how the tech war that began under the Trump administration helped fuel the drive to develop a system to compete in an environment dominated by Android and Apple. We also look at the strategy behind the pivot for China's largest telecoms company, why no other Chinese firms supports it and why the Internet of Things…

Reporting from China's newest Covid-19 outbreak in Guangzhou, where lockdowns, mass testing, and mass quarantine are being deployed for China's busiest export and trade hub; analysing how politics, conspiracy and science collide in the mainstream resurgence of the Wuhan lab leak theory, amid new revelations of the extent of wildlife trading at Wuhan's wet markets and calls for the WHO investigation team to return to China. 

Mainland China's once-per-decade census has been released, showing overall population growth despite demographers stating China’s population is likely to start shrinking in the next few years. The SCMP’s Mimi Lau examines the sensitivities behind the numbers that will shape China’s future policies. Sidney Leng speaks about census methodology, Zhou Xin weighs in on what the census numbers tell us about changes in various segments of China’s population and Qin Chen talks about how the daughters…

After years of turbocharged growth, China’s leading tech firms have come under intense scrutiny from Beijing. The record fines slapped on Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, sent alarm bells among China’s Big Tech. But the move may not be just a bid to rein in the firms, but Beijing’s attempt to reshape the future direction and focus of its home-grown tech companies. SCMP’s Xinmei Shen and Jane Zhang discuss the changes under way with guest HKU China law professor Angela Zhang