Business & Markets

China's foreign ministry accused a US congressional committee on Saturday of "fabricating claims" after its chairman called on Starbucks to shutter two newly opened cafes in Xinjiang over alleged rights abuses. John Moolenaar, chairman of the US House Select Committee on China, called the decision to open stores in the regional capital Urumqi on Tuesday "morally bankrupt," and urged Starbucks to close the cafes — the company's first in the region.

Paul Chan, financial secretary of Hong Kong's HKSAR government, reports deepening collaboration between Hong Kong and the Middle East, focusing on innovation, technology, industrial projects, and institutional development. Despite short-term market fluctuations due to U.S. bond yields, the trend of global realignment continues. Middle Eastern economies are diversifying and seeking cooperation in warehousing and logistics, aligning with Hong Kong's strengths.

Financial Secretary Chen Maobo said that Hong Kong's market festival atmosphere was strong at the beginning of the National Day Golden Week. More than 732,000 mainland tourists visited Hong Kong on the first three days of Golden Week, an increase of about 8.4% year-on-year. In his blog, he said that he went to a tea restaurant in the Central District on the 11th National Day, met many citizens and visiting tourists, and the atmosphere was lively and pleasant. In addition, he mentioned that he had been to Doha, Qatar, to attend the annual meeting of the AIIB and communicate with people in the political and business circles. He is convinced that the cooperation between China and Hong Kong and the Middle East and even the global South is moving from the two-way flow of funds and personnel to the broader cooperation of innovation and industrial projects to the deeper experience of institution building. He said that the economies of the Middle East have actively promoted economic diversification in recent years, with key investment themes including infrastructure, artificial intelligence and digitalization, medical and health, etc., in line with the direction of Hong Kong's innovation and technology development. Over the past year, there has been a significant increase in the participation of Middle Eastern funds in the listing of new shares in Hong Kong. Some funds in the Middle East pointed out that they have participated more in Hong Kong's initial public offering in the past year, hoping to increase the proportion of investment in Hong Kong. Another representative from a Central Asian country said that he hoped to learn from Hong Kong's experience, develop an international financial center based on common law, study the listing regulations of real estate investment trust funds, and welcome Hong Kong banks to open operations locally. Chen Maobo said that representatives of chambers of commerce in the Middle East showed great interest in his proposal to specify Hong Kong as the place of mediation and arbitration in the contract.

October 3, 2026 What we want to do now is to influence the Chinese-speaking audience and let more and more Chinese speakers understand the Tibetan problem, so as to truly promote a peaceful solution to this problem. "What we want to do is actually an information desk. Any Chinese who wants to understand Tibet will think of us. Duan Bingbian, founder of the Chinese Youth Stand For Tibet, told The Field that the organization currently operates mainly by publishing in-depth long articles, so as to gradually form an information network about Tibet (Tibet). The Chinese-speaking Young Tibetans Association, which will be established for two years, is composed mostly of Chinese born and raised in China. The group began to attract attention, mainly because its editor, Zhang Yadei (Tara), lost contact when she returned to China to visit her family in July 2025, after which it was reported that she was accused of inciting division of the country, and has been detained in the detention center so far. In the Western Forest podcast broadcast on March 16, Duan Thorns talked about the impact of the incident on the Chinese-speaking youth. She said," We have always felt that we are an advocacy organization rather than a media platform. "However, after Zhang Yadi's incident, more and more people are paying attention to the Tibetan Association of Chinese-speaking Youth, asking questions about Tibet, and even wanting to submit articles. Therefore, Chinese-speaking Youth of Tibet will write Tibetan news in Chinese, and assume more responsibilities. The Field also participates in this episode of the podcast....

Financial Secretary Chen Maobo said that Hong Kong's market festival atmosphere was strong at the beginning of the National Day Golden Week. More than 732,000 mainland tourists visited Hong Kong on the first three days of Golden Week, an increase of about 8.4% year-on-year. In his blog, he said that he went to a tea restaurant in the Central District on the 11th National Day, met many citizens and visiting tourists, and the atmosphere was lively and pleasant. In addition, he mentioned that he had been to Doha, Qatar, to attend the annual meeting of the AIIB and communicate with people in the political and business circles. He is convinced that the cooperation between China and Hong Kong and the Middle East and even the global South is moving from the two-way flow of funds and personnel to the broader cooperation of innovation and industrial projects to the deeper experience of institution building. He said that the economies of the Middle East have actively promoted economic diversification in recent years, with key investment themes including infrastructure, artificial intelligence and digitalization, medical and health, etc., in line with the direction of Hong Kong's innovation and technology development. Over the past year, there has been a significant increase in the participation of Middle Eastern funds in the listing of new shares in Hong Kong. Some funds in the Middle East pointed out that they have participated more in Hong Kong's initial public offering in the past year, hoping to increase the proportion of investment in Hong Kong. Another representative from a Central Asian country said that he hoped to learn from Hong Kong's experience, develop an international financial center based on common law, study the listing regulations of real estate investment trust funds, and welcome Hong Kong banks to open operations locally. Chen Maobo said that representatives of chambers of commerce in the Middle East showed great interest in his proposal to specify Hong Kong as the place of mediation and arbitration in the contract.