Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, represented by generative AI and machine learning, are reshaping industries with unprecedented speed and potential. Reports indicate that AI is expected to elevate productivity by 33% and redefine the global competitive landscape and economic growth (see Note 1).

In 2025, despite the threat posed by Donald Trump’s disruptive reciprocal tariffs and various other uncertainties, the global economy fortunately maintained a degree of resilience and recorded growth of about 2.7%. At this turn of the year, while attention is naturally on short-term changes and transitions, some long-standing and deeply entrenched issues such as climate change, income inequality, debt crises, geopolitical conflicts, and internal imbalances in major economies should not be overlooked.

As global technology conglomerates project an unprecedented $390 billion expenditure on Artificial Intelligence infrastructure in 2025, the discourse surrounding a potential “AI bubble” has intensified.

The Chinese economy is in a state of “strong supply and weak demand”. While production capacity continues to leap forward, domestic demand has not expanded in tandem. Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that on 11 January 2025, China’s trade surplus reached a new high of US$1.076 trillion.

At 2:51 p.m. on 26 November 2025, seven blocks of the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po were devastated by a massive fire. Raging non-stop for 43 hours, the blaze claimed at least 160 lives, robbed over 1,000 families of everything, and took away the smiles from everyone in Hong Kong.

A few weeks ago, the parents’ WeChat group of a top international school in Hong Kong blew up. It all started with one mother’s dilemma: “The essay written by AI is so much better than my daughter’s.

For many electric vehicle (EV) owners in Hong Kong, circling around the car park near home after work to look for an available charging spot has become a daily routine. At weekends, they drive to park at shopping malls, only to find few charging bays available.

Tropical forests are disappearing at an alarming rate, with the loss of approximately 6.7 million hectares of tropical primary forests worldwide in 2024, representing close to an 80% increase over 2023 (see Note 1). Held in November in Brazil, the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) was regarded as a major climate summit since the Paris Agreement.