HONG KONG, 31 August 2021 – The South China Morning Post released its new annual China Internet Report 2021 today, offering an extensive study on Beijing’s crucial role in shaping the country’s technology ecosystem and unveiling new trends and insights impacting China’s fast-growing internet industry. 

The fourth edition of the China Internet Report examines timely and highly-debated trends in China’s tech industry, analysing risks, challenges and new opportunities as businesses adapt to shifting market dynamics, while revealing emerging new customer segments and demographic shifts. Some of the year’s most significant insights include:

•    Tightening Regulations on Multiple Fronts: Sweeping regulatory crackdowns since the second half of 2020 have focused on four main areas — antitrust, fintech, data protection, and cryptocurrencies. 
•   Bumpy Road Ahead for Chinese Tech IPOs: Chinese tech companies weigh the risk of removal and strict regulations by listing overseas for the economic opportunity or join the growing number of companies going public domestically.
•    Changing Overseas Expansion Plans amid Geopolitical Tensions: Companies are increasingly forced to switch their focus to Southeast Asia or downplay their Chinese origins to look outside their established markets, because of growing tensions between China and other countries.
•   Shifting Demographics Highlighting Underserved Internet User Segments: The evolving demographic of internet users has created the rise of new niche customer segments. The ‘silver economy’, ‘sheconomy’ and under-penetrated sinking markets in third-tier cities and rural areas are heated battlegrounds for businesses competing for growth.
•    Growing Focus on Private-domain Traffic: eCommerce brands opt to create private-domain traffic and build direct communication channels with customers because of rising customer acquisition costs.

“Given the sheer size of China’s internet sector and its intertwined relationship with the global financial system, evolving regulations and market fundamentals will have significant implications for the entire world,” said Gary Liu, CEO of the South China Morning Post. “This year’s edition provides essential reading on the new phase of change in this digital ecosystem and a curated look behind those trends.”

“Technology transforms how every industry operates in China,” said Edith Yeung, General Partner with Race Capital and co-creator of the China Internet Report. “With over 1,800 companies raising over $41.1 billion in 2020, China is a leading market for technological development and investment, so it’s essential for investors, CEOs and operators to learn and gain insights on the Chinese market to stay ahead of the innovation curve.” 

Race Capital is a supporting partner of the China Internet Report 2021. 

Download the free China Internet Report 2021 at http://sc.mp/cir-2021. A more comprehensive China Internet Report 2021 Pro Edition is also available for purchase here, which includes additional, exclusive deep-dives into ten key sectors of the tech market with in-depth case studies and expert commentaries that provide unprecedented insights from technology insiders and industry leaders. 

 

China Internet Report 2021 – Executive Summary

The China Internet Report 2021 provides an annual update on the industry and is a must-read for global businesses and investors, finance professionals, policy-makers, marketing, technologists, academics. 

Following a period of rapid growth and innovation, the China internet sector enters a new phase of development with both push and pull factors driving internet companies to evolve. Tightening regulation, increasingly saturated domestic markets with changing demographics, and geopolitical tensions are influencing companies to look outside their established markets, pivot business models, focus on new customer segments, and adapt to shifting dynamics to remain competitive and capture funding opportunities.

China is the world’s biggest digital market with 989 million internet users that is larger than the populations of the U.S.A, Russia, Mexico, Germany, UK, France, and Canada combined. It remains on a growth trend with 85 million new internet users in the past year alone. 

Here are the top five trends from this year’s China Internet Report:

Tightening Regulations on Multiple Fronts

China’s tech industry has been hit by sweeping regulatory crackdowns since the second half of 2020, driven by Beijing’s desire to better align the country’s technology development with national strategic goals and public interests. The tightening has focused on four areas — antitrust, fintech, cybersecurity and data privacy, as well as cryptocurrencies.

Bumpy Road Ahead for Chinese Tech IPOs

Chinese tech companies are facing increasingly difficult decisions on where to go public. Geopolitical tensions and relaxed listing rules in Hong Kong are leading to more listed companies seeking secondary listings closer to home. For start-ups, China’s tightening screws on overseas listings and regulatory oversight in the mainland are adding further complications.

Changing Overseas Expansion Plans amid Geopolitical Tensions

Chinese tech companies are changing their global expansion strategies to cope with intensifying geopolitical tensions. Some find success by switching focus back to Southeast Asia while a new generation downplays their Chinese origins.

Shifting Demographics Highlighting Underserved Internet User Segments

China’s demographics are quickly changing, creating new niche segments to compete over. The silver economy, the sheconomy, and “sinking” markets are three of the most heated battlefronts.

Growing Focus on Private-domain Traffic

E-commerce brands have relied on paid ads offered by platforms to acquire and re-target customers. Slowing growth has pushed up the cost of customer acquisition. Brands are now paying more attention to private-domain traffic as they look to build direct communication channels with customers and engage them directly to drive repeat repurchases.

 

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

ABOUT RACE CAPITAL 

Race Capital in an early stage venture capital fund focuses on investing in exceptional founders who are building market-transforming companies in the data, enterprise, infrastructure, and fintech sectors. Our previous investments include FTX, Goodnotes, Opaque Systems, Social Chat, Polysign, Slack (NYSE: WORK), Agora.io (NASDAQ: API), Solana, and many other great companies.

 

For media enquiries, please contact:

pr@scmp.com

HONG KONG, 9 August 2021 – The South China Morning Post announced today the launch of its Group Subscription product that provides unparalleled intelligence and insights on China, tailored for enterprises and corporate organisations.  

SCMP’s Group Subscription packages offer holistic solutions that combine comprehensive award-winning news reporting and industry insights, that illuminate global trends as the epicentre of global economic growth continues to shift towards Asia. 

Group subscribers can access all the latest news coverage on international trade, finance technology, geo-economic policies, as well as environment, sustainability and governance trends. Exclusive member benefits will include policy briefings, research and industry reports, access to flagship events and conferences, and invite-only conversations with a community of globally influential senior executives, China experts and SCMP editors.

“It is increasingly essential to understand nuances in global trends to keep ahead of the competition in a fast-changing environment,” said Ang Jin, SCMP’s Senior Vice President leading the enterprise subscription business. “SCMP’s Group Subscriptions are designed for professionals to make well-informed decisions with customised news and industry intelligence and to help navigate complex economic, business and political issues. As a product aligned to organisational needs, we believe it is an investment that will see invaluable benefits in return.” 

SCMP recently launched a global brand campaign to communicate its ‘Understand China, Understand the World’ value proposition, demonstrating its mission to lead the global conversation about China. SCMP positions itself as an important resource for readers looking to acquire a more complete understanding of global trends.

Interested parties can visit the SCMP Group Subscription page for more details.

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

For more information, please contact:

elgan.kua@scmp.com

stef.lo@scmp.com

HONG KONG, 19 July 2021 — The South China Morning Post announced today its  ‘ARTIFACT’ Litepaper, advocating a standardised metadata structure for recording accounts of history and historical assets on the blockchain as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

The Post believes that factual accounts of history and authentic historical assets should be immutable, and that ownership of these digitised and tokenised assets, which are part of our collective human experience, should be decentralised. 

NFTs make it possible to achieve both objectives, and SCMP aims to create a standardised metadata structure that anyone can use to tokenise history as NFTs, which will be called ‘ARTIFACTs’. This provides the foundation on which history can be discovered, connected, and collected in a meaningful way. 

The Post plans to showcase the use of this standard with an NFT collection drawn from the organisation’s historical archives under the name ‘ARTIFACTs by SCMP’. By tokenising key moments from SCMP’s 118-year-old collection of media assets, it aims to take the first steps towards creating greater value from the news organisation’s “first drafts of history.” 

“The South China Morning Post is committed to engaging and educating a global audience with information and technology,” said Gary Liu, SCMP CEO. “Blockchain offers immense potential to immutably preserve journalism that witnesses and explains history. The ‘ARTIFACT’ project is an opportunity to discover, collect, showcase, trade, and reanimate meaningful moments and objects from our collective human experience and we are excited to introduce this standard to the world.”

The ‘ARTIFACT’ project will begin with a few selected blockchains, with the intention to be chain-agnostic in the long-run. At launch, the ability to issue authenticated ‘ARTIFACTs’ will be available to a group of trusted partners who are globally recognised owners and guardians of authentic historical assets. The project roadmap includes plans for a decentralised authentication process that will eventually allow for anyone to tokenise assets using the ‘ARTIFACT’ standard.

The Post has recently announced a strategic partnership with The Sandbox, a leading decentralised gaming virtual world, to bring to life its 118 years of journalism about Hong Kong and China in the metaverse. This partnership is also a testament to how the Post is continuing to advocate for information accessibility through new technologies, innovation and creativity. 

The ‘ARTIFACT’ Litepaper is the Post’s first step on the ARTIFACTs journey. In the coming months, SCMP will work towards achieving its vision by launching ‘ARTIFACTs by SCMP’ and inviting other partners to tokenise accounts of history and historical assets as ‘ARTIFACTs’. SCMP will also explore how best to serve a community of collectors via an ‘ARTIFACTs’ platform and marketplace, along with the creation of a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) to decentralise long term project governance.

Visit https://artifact.scmp.com to download a copy of SCMP’s ‘ARTIFACT’ Litepaper. 

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

For more information, please contact:

PR@scmp.com

                                         

HONG KONG, 11 June 2021 – The South China Morning Post ‘China Conference: Hong Kong’ takes place as a virtual conference from 15-17 June featuring former Chief Executive Hon. Leung Chun-ying, as well as Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Hon. Edward Yau Tang-wah as leading keynote speakers. 

Themed “Formulating Hong Kong’s emergence out of crisis”, the three-day conference convenes business leaders, government officials, academics and entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, mainland China and the international community to discuss Hong Kong’s immediate future, and a blueprint that can navigate the city towards positive and sustained growth. 

The agenda will focus on a wide array of topics including new avenues of growth for Hong Kong’s key industries, deliberating the future of work for its workforce, as well as the city’s long-term position within the Greater China framework and Beijing’s 14th five-year plan. 

Mr Leung, currently Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, will lead as the keynote speaker and share important perspectives on Hong Kong’s future as a financial and commercial hub and how legislative changes may impact this city’s business landscape. Mr Yau will offer insights on how policymakers are striving to rejuvenate Hong Kong’s economy.

The conference will provide an unparalleled lens into how Hong Kong can overcome one of the toughest challenges in its history by featuring perspectives from local and international experts. Notable speakers include Amar Gill, Managing Director & Head of Investment Stewardship, APAC, BlackRock; Ashley Alder, Chief Executive Officer, Securities and Futures Commission; Laura M Cha, Chairman, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd; Tara Joseph, President, American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong; James Liang, Co-founder & Executive Chairman of the Board, Trip.com Group; Dr Ted Suen, Chief Information Officer, MTR Corporation Limited; Siddharth Tiwari, Chief Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Bank for International Settlements; and Fuller Yu, Chief Information Security Officer, Hospital Authority Hong Kong.

Please refer to the full agenda here and the appendix attached for the full list of speakers. Kindly visit www.chinaconference.hk for more information. 

 

China Conference: Hong Kong speakers

• The Hon. Leung Chun-ying, GBM, GBS, JP, Vice Chairman, National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, People’s Republic of China
• The Hon. Edward Yau Tang-wah, GBS, JP, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
• Amar Gill, Managing Director & Head of Investment Stewardship, APAC, BlackRock
• Ashley Alder, Chief Executive Officer, Securities and Futures Commission
• Selim Baek, Business Development, OKEx
• Laura M Cha, GBM, GBS, JP, Chairman, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd
• Joyce Chan, Partner, Clyde & Co.
• Nick Chan, MH, Vice Chairman, eBRAM International Online Dispute Resolution Centre
• David Chao, Global Market Strategist, Asia Pacific, Invesco
• Alan Chiu, Managing Partner, ELLALAN
• Cynthia Chung, Partner, Deacons
• Paul Colwell, Head of Advisory Portfolio Group & Senior Director, Investments Asia, Willis Towers Watson
• David Dodwell, Executive Director, Hong Kong-APEC Trade Policy Study Group
• Steven Fok, Head of Technology Risk Management, livi bank
• Ryan Fung, Chief Executive, Ping An OneConnect Bank
• Tom Gaffney, Regional Managing Director, CBRE Hong Kong
• Lucy Gazmararian, Founder & Managing Partner, Token Bay Capital
• Joanne Ho, Chief Operating Officer – Fung Academy, Fung Group
• Rockson Hsu, Chief Executive Officer, ZA Bank
• Cristal Hui, Head of Data Governance and Analytics, AIA Hong Kong
• Davon Hui, Co-founder & CEO, Blutech.io
• Prof. Witman Hung, JP, Principal Liaison Officer for Hong Kong, Shenzhen Qianhai Authority
• Tara Joseph, President, American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
• Olivia Lai, Managing Director – Hong Kong, Global Institute For Tomorrow
• Kennas Lam, Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Asia-Pacific, Johnson Controls
• Lawrence Lam, Chief Executive & Consumer Business Manager, Citibank Hong Kong
• Carman Lau, Group Head of Talent Acquisition, Jardine Matheson
• Eva Lee, Head Hong Kong Equities, UBS Global Wealth Management Chief Investment Office
• Prof. Jyh-An Lee, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Gilbert Li, Corporate Partner & Co-Head, China Equity Capital Markets, Linklaters
• Nana Li, Research and Project Director, China, Asian Corporate Governance Association
• James Liang, Co-founder & Executive Chairman of the Board, Trip.com Group
• Clarence Ling, Co-founder, Ztore.com
• Gary Liu, Chief Executive Officer, South China Morning Post
• Vivian Lo, General Manager, Customer Experience and Design, Cathay Pacific Airways
• Christine Loh, Chief Development Strategist, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Dr Lawrence Ma, President, Hong Kong Blockchain Society
• Joe Ngai, JP, Senior Partner and Managing Partner, McKinsey Greater China
• Hanah Paik, Asia Pacific Lead, Cities, States and Regions, CDP
• Susan Poon, Chief Information Officer, TK Elevator
• Hong Qiu, Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, Greater China, Lazard Greater China
• James Quinn, Managing Director, Q9 Capital
• Rob Sheffield, Managing Director – Greater China, Morgan Mckinley
• Hendrick Sin, President, Internet Professional Association
• Dr Ted Suen, MH, Chief Information Officer, MTR Corporation Limited
• Haochen Sun, Associate Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law
• Debra Tan, Director & Head, China Water Risk
• Siddharth Tiwari, Chief Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Bank for International Settlements
• Tony Á. Verb, Founder, GreaterBay Ventures & Advisors; Co-founder, Carbonless Asia
• Gabriel Wilson-Otto, Director, Sustainable Investing, Fidelity International
• Julia Wang, Executive Director & Global Market Strategist, J.P. Morgan Private Bank
• Allan Wong, Director of Information Technology, Hong Kong Baptist University
• Andy Wong, Head of Innovation and Technology, InvestHK
• Mike Wong, Chief Executive Officer, The Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies
• Yvonne Wong, General Manager, Qianhai International Liaison Services Limited
• Carl Wu, Chief Executive Officer, New Frontier
• Damien Wu, Director of Business Transformation and Innovation, Chinachem Group
• Zhang Yang, Director, Debt Origination and Advisory, Asia Pacific, Crédit Agricole CIB
• Gary Yeung, MH, President, Smart City Consortium
• Briana Young, Professional Support Consultant & Foreign Legal Consultant, Herbert Smith Freehills
• Fuller Yu, Chief Information Security Officer, Hospital Authority Hong Kong
• Dr Mingpeng Zhao, Founder, Han-Peng Assisted Reproductive Technology Limited
  
  
  

About the South China Morning Post

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organizations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organization, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

About the China Conference

South China Morning Post’s China Conference was first launched in 2015 with the aim of setting the agenda for China watchers, business leaders and government officials around the world. Convening hundreds of thought-leaders at each event, renowned experts have debated pressing issues surrounding the world’s second-largest economy, and fostered better understanding and elevated thought about China’s culture, society, industries and economy. The event has been held in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and the United States. Visit http://www.chinaconference.hk for more details.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Muriel Cheung – muriel.cheung@scmp.com   

Stef Lo – stef.lo@scmp.com 

HONG KONG, 10 May 2021 – The South China Morning Post (SCMP) announced today the launch of ‘Add Ink: Cartoon Chronicles of Life in Hong Kong’, the latest book by the celebrated award-winning political cartoonist Harry Harrison.

Recognised for more than 20 years as one of Hong Kong’s top political cartoonists, Harrison’s 329-page book is carefully curated by SCMP’s editors from the daily editorial cartoon ‘Harry’s View’. It illustrates the most gripping events from the last five years while providing a pointed and humorous critique on the city’s many contradictions, satirising global events through a Hong Kong lens, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The book showcases Harrison’s satirical wit and journalistic intelligence with keen observations that give his work depth and meaning. Most importantly, his cartoons resonate on a personal level and continue to amuse and entertain readers, often providing much-needed levity and perspective on topics with a bleaker tone.

“Hongkongers always have a dark sense of humour no matter how difficult things get, and the book is a tribute to the people in the city who inspire me every day,” said Harrison. “While my cartoons are not able to make the city’s problems magically disappear, I hope they can provide some relief by encouraging us to laugh at ourselves.”

“It gives me great pleasure to present this book to our readers – many of whom have made a habit of turning to ‘Harry’s View’ first before reading the Post,” said Tammy Tam, SCMP’s Editor-in-Chief. “His cartoons have a knack for humanising complex issues and ‘Add Ink’ is an interesting way of looking back at the last five years with a lighter perspective. Much like how laughter is the best medicine, we hope the book will serve as a timely dose of good humour as we look forward to recovering from the pandemic.” 

Harrison drew his first cover cartoon for the Post a week after the handover in 1997 and since 2001, his work appears every day in ‘Harry’s View’. For more than two decades, his art has been a staple that Post readers have come to admire and appreciate, with its signature wry humour that entertains, informs and educates.

‘Add Ink’ retails for HK$280 at major bookstores and distributors in Hong Kong. Readers can also order a copy directly from SCMP here.

  

 

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. Additionally, SCMP publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. SCMP is also home to Abacus, a digital news brand focused on China’s tech industry; Inkstone, a daily news brief for those curious about China’s growing impact around the world; and Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism. 

For more information, please contact:

Elgen Kua

elgen.kua@scmp.com

Stef Lo

stef.lo@scmp.com

HONG KONG, 3 May 2021 – The South China Morning Post (SCMP) announced today that the Advertising and Marketing Solutions team will be rebranded as SCMP Advertising to emphasise and strengthen its focus on digital innovation to help drive impact for brands and partners. 

SCMP’s digital transformation has earned the news publisher a strong reputation for innovation and the rebranding is part of a strategic initiative to align its advertising business with its well-established digital expertise to empower clients with tools that deliver more effective and efficient campaigns.   

The rebrand solidifies SCMP Advertising’s position as a leading insight-driven brand partner committed to driving client success across APAC, after being the first news publisher in Asia to launch a first-party data platform in SCMP Lighthouse and brand suitability tool in SCMP Signal. These digital tools have garnered positive feedback from clients who can look forward to new and updated features when SCMP launches their next iteration this year.   

“SCMP Advertising’s rebranding reinforces our legacy as a trusted partner that works with brands to make an impact with readers. This is a significant step in our evolution that showcases our commitment to industry innovations that drives performance and our commitment to our clients,” said Elsie Cheung, SCMP’s Chief Operating Officer.

SCMP Advertising’s mission is to help brands and partners to make an impact with readers seeking to understand global issues from an Asian perspective. SCMP’s expanding international audience has allowed advertisers new opportunities to connect with globally-minded readers, making SCMP Advertising the news marketing partner of choice across the APAC region with a reach of nearly 51 million monthly readers globally. SCMP Advertising connects thought-leading editorial content with brands across print and digital media platforms and develops leading digital marketing solutions, and runs campaigns that deliver results. 

SCMP Advertising offers a comprehensive portfolio of integrated offerings with 360-degree multiplatform coverage and campaign effectiveness. In addition to its first-party data platform, SCMP Lighthouse, to support its clients with purposeful intelligence that delivers more effective and efficient campaigns to highly-targeted audiences. At the same time, SCMP holds brand safety as a top priority and has developed the publisher-built brand suitability tool SCMP Signal to ensure partners’ messages are placed in the optimal context. SCMP Advertising’s offerings includes its award-winning brand-storytelling team Morning Studio which continues to give leading clients across APAC a voice through bespoke content marketing solutions.

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. Additionally, SCMP publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. SCMP is also home to Abacus, a digital news brand focused on China’s tech industry; Inkstone, a daily news brief for those curious about China’s growing impact around the world; and Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism. 

ABOUT SCMP ADVERTISING 

SCMP Advertising’s mission is to help partners make an impact on readers who want to understand global issues from an Asian perspective. Our principal focus is to deliver effective and efficient marketing solutions that engage and activate the right audiences through a comprehensive portfolio of integrated offerings – including SCMP Lighthouse, the first Asia publisher built first-party-data platform that offers marketers unparalleled consumer insights to drive efficiencies by enhancing audience targeting, and SCMP Signal, a proprietary brand suitability tool that offers marketers with customisable contextual, keyword & sentiment targeting options. The award-winning studio Morning Studio offers clients with successful bespoke brand-storytelling solutions. Visit advertising.scmp.com for more information.

For more information, please contact:

Elgen Kua

elgen.kua@scmp.com

Stef Lo

stef.lo@scmp.com

HONG KONG, 12 April 2021 – The South China Morning Post announced today the appointment of Darryl Choo as Regional Sales Director, APAC. Choo will lead the Post’s international advertising business in the Asia Pacific region and contribute to its international sales strategy.

SCMP’s expanding international audience has given advertisers the opportunity to connect their brand to an expanded market, making the Post the news marketing partner of choice across the APAC region. Darryl’s appointment bolsters the SCMP’s focus in Southeast Asia and will lead collaborations with brands keen to engage with its global business audience. In his new role, Darryl will be in charge of implementing and managing the sales activities in the APAC region, identifying new business opportunities and defining strategies to generate new growth opportunities. 

Choo will oversee the regional sales office in Singapore and report directly to Romanus Ng, SVP of Advertising & Marketing Solutions. 

“Darryl’s deep understanding of the Asia market and expertise bolsters our growing digital advertising and branded content business in this region and we are delighted to welcome him to the SCMP team,” said Ng. “Southeast Asia continues to be a key market, and we look forward to leveraging his proven experience to scale our regional and global advertising business.”

With more than 12 years of advertising sales experience and holding strategic sales positions in digital, print and broadcast media outlets, Darryl was most recently the Sales Director at Inskin Media where he was responsible for driving commercial and revenue for the business in Asia. He has held senior managerial advertising sales roles at BBC Global News Limited, Pixels Asia & Gravity4, Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks Asia, SPH Magazines, in addition to stints at Discovery’s AFC Network and FOX Sports.

“News continues to make an impact by connecting people to their world and issues that matter most to them, and it is exciting to join a robust digital-led, multi-platform news organisation in the SCMP. In Asia and across the world, the Post represents journalism that is credible and trustworthy and I look forward to helping partners engage with readers who want to understand global issues from an Asian perspective,” said Darryl. 

SCMP’s Advertising & Marketing Solutions offers a comprehensive portfolio of integrated offerings with unparalleled 360-degree multiplatform coverage and campaign effectiveness. This includes advertising innovations that empower partners with purposeful intelligence and insights through Asia’s leading first-party data platform for news publishing in SCMP Lighthouse and an award-winning brand-storytelling team in Morning Studio to give clients a voice through bespoke content marketing solutions. Visit advertising.scmp.com  for more details.

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ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. Additionally, SCMP publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. SCMP is also home to Abacus, a digital news brand focused on China’s tech industry; Inkstone, a daily news brief for those curious about China’s growing impact around the world; and Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism. 

For more information, please contact:

Elgen Kua

elgen.kua@scmp.com

Stef Lo

stef.lo@scmp.com

 

HONG KONG, 13 August 2020 – South China Morning Post announced today the release of its inaugural China Healthcare Report that comprehensively examines industry innovations and trends that will impact the global market, as well as ambitious reforms that will reshape China’s domestic healthcare market. 

China’s healthcare industry currently leads the world in double-digit growth and has an outsized impact on the global healthcare market as the second-largest healthcare market by expenditure – US$3.5 trillion in 2018. The report also tracks the impact of Covid-19 on structural shifts in the global supply chain of healthcare products and includes a review of Covid-19 vaccine developments and leading healthcare innovators and industry leaders in China.  

The report features deep dive case studies on the latest developments in the business of China’s healthcare industry, including opportunities, risks, and predictions. The report is created by SCMP Research and leverages the Post’s unmatched access into China, covering major sectors such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and supplies manufacturing, service providers, and healthcare technology. Several major findings include: 

• Massive investments in R&D and innovation: China’s combined pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical R&D spending is forecast to grow at a 23 percent compound annual rate until 2023, when it will reach US$49 billion, accounting for 23 percent of the world’s total spending on drug discovery and testing.
• Rapid growth of China’s biopharmaceutical industry: Biopharmaceutical sales in China have more than doubled since 2016 and are projected to reach almost $50 billion by 2021. China’s capacity to create best-in-class drugs could rival that of America and Europe before 2030.
• Global manufacturing tech giants tap into medical devices and equipment: Chinese medical supplies accounted for US$10 billion or 2.6 percent of the total exports in Q1 2020. The government’s Made in China 2025 strategic plan calls for a greater focus on innovation to bring manufacturing up the value chain for high-tech medical devices.  
• China’s dominance in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients global exports: China manufactures 40 percent of APIs used worldwide and is a leading supplier of basic chemicals to the global pharmaceutical industry, worth 384.3 billion yuan (US$54 billion) in 2018. 
• China’s foray into health-technology: The Covid-19 outbreak prompted a 20x increase in diagnoses and 10x jump in prescriptions on online healthcare platforms, and accelerated the adoption of AI in CT scans, algorithms for Covid-19 detection in genomic sequencing, and AI-based research platforms for vaccines.

SCMP’s Executive Editor Chow Chung-yan said: “The world is facing an acute healthcare challenge when people are living much longer, populations are rapidly ageing, and healthcare costs are rising. China aims to significantly improve its healthcare standards to be on par with those in developed nations by 2030. This will spur innovation in the sector, provide impetus for growth in the global healthcare industry, and catapult Chinese healthcare firms onto the international stage.” 

The report is targeted at those interested in understanding the complexity of the Chinese healthcare market, including academics, investors and technologists. For an overview of the China Healthcare Report and to purchase the full report, visit https://research.scmp.com/products/china-healthcare-report-2020. 

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. Additionally, SCMP publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. SCMP is also home to Abacus, a digital news brand focused on China’s tech industry; Inkstone, a digest for those curious about China’s growing impact around the world; and Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.   

ABOUT SCMP RESEARCH

Targeted at global business leaders and China industry observers, SCMP Research aims to meet the increasing global need for reliable intelligence into China’s leading industries. For each industry, our proprietary product – which combines a report of the highest research rigour and a careful curation of live sessions with industry experts – provides customers with instant actionable insights.

For more information, please contact:

Elgen Kua

elgen.kua@scmp.com

Andrea Leung

andrea.leung@scmp.com 

+852 2680 8118

HONG KONG, 5 March 2021 – The South China Morning Post’s announced today its inaugural Women of Our Time Conference on 8-9 March and its compelling lineup of speakers led by Madam Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore, and Ambassador Delia Domingo-Albert, Former Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Asia, Republic of the Philippines.

Themed “Beyond empowerment and equality”, the interactive two-day conference will examine how today’s women in power and tomorrow’s emerging female leaders are sparking new ideas that spur generations of followers and collaborators in building a new world with a more sustainable future.

The conference provides a global platform for thought leaders and puts the spotlight on the myriad achievements of female trailblazers and pioneers in Asia who have been influential in tackling the many challenges posed by an ongoing pandemic and a depressed economy, against a backdrop of ever-changing global diplomacy. Madam Halimah will kick off the conference with perspectives on strategies for building an inclusive society in a COVID-19 era. Ambassador Albert will also share her valuable insights on women in diplomacy.

In addition, the event offers attendees the opportunity to learn from over 30 female leaders who are leading through disruption, confusion, turbulence and conflict, as well as exploring complex and timely issues, from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women to building an inclusive society. Attendees can look forward to being inspired by stories of reinvention, benefit from networking opportunities as well as enjoying the insights of leading and emerging women champions and entrepreneurs such as Mohammad Naciri, Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific, UN Women; Joey Wat, Chief Executive Officer, Yum China;  Jane Sun, CEO, Trip.com Group; Lucy Liu, Co-founder & President, Airwallex; Tan Hooi Ling, Co-founder, Grab; Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Chief Executive Officer, Sintesa Group; Ankiti Bose, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Zilingo; Jeanne Lim, Board Member and former CEO of Hanson Robotics; and Christine Ip, CEO – Greater China, UOB.

The conference is part of SCMP’s goal to champion diversity and inclusion. This initiative first took the form of the ‘Women of Our Time’ magazine, launched in 2011, followed by the inaugural Women of Our Time conference in 2014.

To register or learn more about the Women of Our Time Conference, visit our website at https://womenofourtime.scmp.com/home for more details. Media wishing to apply for access passes should please contact Stef Lo at stef.lo@scmp.com.

Speakers at Women of Our Time Conference:

• Madam Halimah Yacob, President, Republic of Singapore
• Amb. Delia Domingo-Albert, Senior Adviser, SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. and Former Secretary (Minister) of Foreign Affairs, Asia, Republic of the Philippines
• Mohammad Naciri, Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific, UN Women
• Joey Wat, Chief Executive Officer, Yum China
• Jane Sun, CEO, Trip.com Group
• Tan Hooi Ling, Co-founder, Grab
• Lucy Liu, Co-founder & President, Airwallex
• Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Chief Executive Officer, Sintesa Group
• Emily Lam-Ho, Founder & CEO, Empact 28; Co-founder & CEO, EcoDrive
• Ankiti Bose, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Zilingo
• Jeanne Lim, Co-founder & CEO, beingAI Limited; Former CEO & CMO, Hanson Robotics
• Christine Ip, CEO – Greater China, UOB
• Gillian Ng, Senior Director, Corporate Governance, Iclif Executive Education Center, Asia School of Business
• Ruth Benny, Founder, Top Schools
• Natalie Chan, Founder, OWN Academy
• Josephine Chow, Co-founder & Head of International Expansion, ShopBack
• Caecilia Chu, Co-Founder & CEO, YouTrip
• Christina Dean, Founder & CEO, The R Collective; Founder, Executive Director & Board Chair, Redress Asia
• Pat Dwyer, Founder & Director, The Purpose Business
• Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, Co-founder, Rags2Riches
• Ee Ling Lim, Co-founder & CEO, Smarter Me
• Raena Lim, Co-founder & COO, Style Theory
• Windy Natriavi, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, AwanTunai
• Lennise Ng, CEO & Co-founder, Dropee
• Esther Nguyen, Founder & CEO, POPS Worldwide
• Crystal Pang, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Pickupp
• Vanessa Paranjothy, Co-Founder, Freedom Cups
• Christel Quek, Co-founder & CTO, BOLT
• Michelle Tan, Co-founder & Editor-in-Chief, INFLUASIA
• Suzana Tengku, Co-founder & Chief Editor, Have Halal, Will Travel
• Val Yap, Founder & CEO, PolicyPal

-End-

About the South China Morning Post

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. Additionally, SCMP publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and, Harper’s BAZAAR. SCMP is also home to Abacus, a digital news brand focused on China’s tech industry; Inkstone, a daily news brief for those curious about China’s growing impact around the world; and Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

About Women of Our time Conference

The South China Morning Post’s Women of Our Time conference puts the spotlight on the myriad achievements of female trailblazers and pioneers in Asia who have been influential in tackling the many challenges posed by an ongoing pandemic and a depressed economy, against a backdrop of ever-changing global diplomacy. As efforts toward diversity and inclusion become less of a novel concept, and rather an ingrained facet of global business and politics, the conference will look beyond ideas of empowerment and equality to examine how today’s women in power and tomorrow’s emerging female leaders are sparking new ideas that spur generations of followers and collaborators in building a new world for a more sustainable future.

Featuring influential keynote speakers, interviews spotlighting inspiring stories of female industry champions, and panel discussions highlighting how today’s emerging trailblazers are redefining their industries, the conference will magnify how women in Asia have been and will continue to be crucial in piloting substantial change and spawning opportunities for a new generation in the face of mounting challenges and relentless uncertainties.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Elgen Kua

elgen.kua@scmp.com

Stef Lo

stef.lo@scmp.com

HONG KONG, 23 February 2021 – The South China Morning Post’s successful China Conference: Southeast Asia (CCSEA) returns on 25-26 February with a compelling lineup of speakers including Minister for Trade and Industry of Republic of Singapore Chan Chun Sing and former Deputy Director of Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xu Ze.

Themed “Beyond the Pandemic: From crisis to opportunity”, the two-day live-stream conference will cover issues impacting the cooperation between China and Southeast Asia including China’s 14th five-year plan, US-China economic decoupling and maritime diplomacy. The event will also include discussions on post-pandemic business opportunities and key growth issues in Southeast Asia such as business travel and tourism, strategies to reopening economies, women & youth issues, and digital health and much more. 

Mr Xu, currently President of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, will kick off the conference with perspectives on how China’s upcoming 14th five-year blueprint will affect Southeast Asia’s future economic recovery, trade and investments. Minister Chan, who is responsible for driving Singapore’s economic and industrial development, will offer insights on Asia’s future in the post-pandemic era and how the region can work towards the ‘next normal’.

The event will also feature foreign policy experts including former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Philippines Ambassador Delia Albert, who will address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the progress of gender equality and leadership in Asia. Former Deputy Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Dr Dino Patti Djalalm will discuss how ASEAN can help avert conflicts in the South China Sea amid US-China rivalry and the necessary steps needed to uphold regional stability and maritime security. 

The conference brings together over 60 speakers from 12 different countries to discuss opportunities beyond pandemic and current issues impacting Southeast Asia. The compelling line-up includes top government officials, policymakers as well as business and health experts such as Professor Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished Fellow, Asia Research Institute, the National University of Singapore and Singaporean former diplomat; Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Chief Executive Officer, Sintesa Group; Deepali Khanna, Managing Director, Asia, Rockefeller Foundation; Tan Sri Andrew Sheng, Distinguished Fellow, Fung Global Institute; Dr Huiyao Wang, President, Center for China and Globalization (CCG), and Prof Dale Fisher, Professor of Medicine, National University of Singapore and Chair, Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, WHO.; and Raymond Alimurung, Chief Executive Officer, Lazada Philippines; and Prof. Hans Genberg, Senior Director of Banking and Finance Programs, Professor of Economics, Asia School of Business. A detailed agenda is available here, as well as the full list of speakers.

Please visit www.chinaconference.asia for more details. Kindly email muriel.cheung@scmp.com to register for access passes. 

 

Other speakers at China Conference: Southeast Asia include:

• Xu Ze, President of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies and former Deputy Director of Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
• Minister Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore
• Amb Delia Albert, Senior Adviser, SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co.​, Former Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Philippines
• Dr. Dino Patti Djalal, Founder of Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) and Former Deputy Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Indonesia  
• Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Chief Executive Officer, Sintesa Group, Indonesia
• Deepali Khanna, Managing Director, Asia, Rockefeller Foundation, Thailand
• Tan Sri Andrew Sheng, Distinguished Fellow Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong, Malaysia
• Professor Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished Fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore and Singaporean former diplomat, Singapore
• Dr Huiyao Wang, Founder and President, Center for China and Globalization (CCG), China
• Prof Dale Fisher, Professor of Medicine, National University of Singapore and Chair, Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, WHO, Singapore  
• Raymond Alimurung, Chief Executive Officer, Lazada Philippines  
• Dr Dan Fineman, Co-Head of Equity Strategy for Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse, Thailand
• Tan Bin Ru, CEO (Southeast Asia), OneConnect Financial Technology; Co-Chairwoman, Blockchain Association Singapore  
• Lee Limeng, CEO, Razer Fintech and CSO Razer Inc, Singapore
• Dr Dario Heymann, Chief Research Officer, Galen Growth, Singapore
• Samuel Lin Yanjun,  CEO of International Business, 9F Group, China
• Atty Kristine Rosary Yuzon-Chaves, Executive Director, Philippine Commission on Women, Manila, Philippines
• Shahriman Lockman, Director in the Chief Executive’s Office, Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia
• Dr Shameen Prashantham, Professor of International Business and Strategy, Associate Dean, MBA Director, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), China
• Prof. Hans Genberg, Senior Director of Banking and Finance Programs, Professor of Economics, Asia School of Business, Malaysia 
• Simon Lacey, Senior Lecturer, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide and former Vice-President, Trade Facilitation and Market Access, Huawei Technologies China, Australia  
• Dr Wu Shicun, President, China Institute of South China Sea Studies, China
• Dr Mary Pan, Chief Operating Officer, Health Decisions, USA
• Christopher Ong, Managing Director for DHL Express Singapore
• Yinglan Tan, founder of Insignia Ventures Partners, Singapore
• Jasmmine Wong, CEO (Greater China and Singapore), Inchcape Motors Pte Ltd, Singapore
• Hoda Abou-Jamra, Founding Partner, TVM Capital Healthcare, Singapore
• Paul Feldhausen, Director of Growth Operations & Partnerships, Holmusk, Singapore
• Simone Puorto, Founder, CEO, and Futurist, Travel Singularity, France 
• Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute, Philippines
• Zhihan Lee, Co-Founder and Group CEO, BagoSphere and Ashoka Fellow, Philippines
• Veronica Colondam, Founder & CEO, YCAB Foundation, Indonesia
• Hayley Roffey, Managing Director, Designated Safeguard Lead and Co-lead Global Development Team, Global Fund for Children, UK
• En Lee, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investments Asia, LGT, Singapore
• Pham Ngoc Minh Trang, Lecturer, Faculty of International Relations, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Vietnam
• Michael Walsh, CEO of Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) and Board of Director at Asia Jet Partners Malaysia, Hong Kong 
• Craig Allen, President, US-China Business Council, USA 
• David Bishop, Associate Professor of Teaching, The University of Hong Kong and Fudan University, Hong Kong  
• Trinh Nguyen. Senior Economist, Emerging Asia, Natixis, Hong Kong  
• JP Gan, Founding Partner, INCE Capital, China
• Henry Motte-Muñoz, Founder and Executive Chairman, Edukasyon.ph, Philippines
• Maria Holtsberg, Regional Advisor for Humanitarian and DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction), UN Women for Asia Pacific, Thailand
• Thomas Tsao, Founding Partner, Gobi Partners, Malaysia
• Michael Brosowski, Founder & co-CEO, Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, Vietnam  
• Christian Honegger,  Chief Executive Officer, TC Acoustic, Singapore
• Dr Karen Grépin, Associate Professor, Division of Health Economics, Policy and Management, University of Hong Kong
• Blair Crichton, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Karana, Singapore

About the South China Morning Post

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. Additionally, SCMP publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and, Harper’s BAZAAR. SCMP is also home to Abacus, a digital news brand focused on China’s tech industry; Inkstone, a digest for those curious about China’s growing impact around the world; and Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.   

About the China Conference

South China Morning Post’s China Conference was first launched in 2015 with the aim of setting the agenda for China watchers, business leaders and government officials around the world. Convening hundreds of thought-leaders at each event, renowned experts have debated pressing issues surrounding the world’s second-largest economy, and fostered better understanding and elevated thought about China’s culture, society, industries and economy. The event has been held in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and the United States. Visit https://sea.chinaconference.scmp.com/ for more details.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Muriel Cheung    muriel.cheung@scmp.com