On a recent weekday morning, the Repulse Bay post office, in one of Hong Kong’s most affluent coastal neighbourhoods, stood almost empty. In an hour, only five customers walked through the door, with two staff members serving them.

One of them was Dicky Lo, who had sent a parcel to Europe, citing the service’s reasonable price compared with private couriers.

“I come here two to three times a month, mostly to collect online shopping packages,” the 43-year-old

China is stepping up efforts to source local components for its passenger aircraft, particularly the C919 narrowbody airliner, with the focus expanding from home-grown engines to progressively replacing imported sealants, paints, bolts and other materials, according to a prominent aircraft engineer.

The push means the C919, as well as future Chinese models and engines, could increasingly incorporate parts from domestic suppliers as Beijing seeks to lessen exposure to supply chain and geopolitical headwinds.

Entering commercial service in May 2023,

A new study from China has warned Beijing of the danger of defence contractors having too much influence over defence policy, pointing to the profit-driven expansion of the US military-industrial complex as a salutary example.

In the study published on Monday, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s National Institute of Strategic Studies said Washington’s “iron triangle” – linking the Department of Defence, private contractors and congressional committees – had hijacked US national security policy.

Defence contractors, the military, and politicians formed a mutually