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Beijing-based Baidu, one of the earliest tech firms in China to develop LLMs, has made a U-turn by making its models open source.

Chinese tech giant Baidu on Monday marked its entry into the highly competitive field of Chinese open-source artificial intelligence (AI) systems, by making its flagship Ernie 4.5 models available for download on AI site Hugging Face.

Baidu open-sourced 10 variants from its Ernie 4.5 multimodal model family, from the 0.3 billion parameter lightweight models to the heavyweight 424 billion parameter ones, according to a statement.

Beijing-based Baidu, one of the earliest tech firms in China to develop large language models (LLMs) following the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, has made a U-turn by making its models open-source. A year ago, founder and CEO Robin Li Yanhong was publicly saying its Ernie series, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT models, would be more powerful than open-source ones.

Citing a range of benchmark tests that value an AI system’s general and domain knowledge, coding and maths skills, as well as reasoning capabilities, Baidu said that its 300B Ernie 4.5 model outperformed DeepSeek’s V3, which was twice the size of the Ernie model.

The benchmark results showcase the progress Baidu has made in improving its models in recent months, after the company announced earlier this year it would shift to an open source approach. The move followed Hangzhou-based DeepSeek’s emergence into the global spotlight with its open-source V3 and R1 models that were built cost-efficiently for high-performance tasks.

Refinancing loans drive the increase, rising 33.7 per cent to HK$3 billion, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority says

Banks approved HK$26.6 billion (US$3.39 billion) worth of loans in May, a 5.3 per cent rise from a month earlier, according to official data on Monday. It was the highest total since May last year when lenders extended about HK$31.6 billion in loans, according to data compiled by agents.

The increase came from approved mortgage loans for refinancing, which climbed 33.7 per cent to HK$3 billion. Mortgage loans for new and lived-in homes declined by 4.2 per cent to HK$8.9 billion and 7.1 per cent to HK$14.6 billion, respectively, according to the HKMA.

Meanwhile, mortgage loan applications rose 5 per cent to 8,187 in May from April, the highest since March’s 8,456 applications.

“Interest rates have dropped significantly, and large developers continued to launch low-priced properties to attract first-time buyers and investors to enter the market, boosting the overall market sentiment,” said Eric Tso Tak-ming, chief vice-president of mortgage broker mReferral. “The real estate market will continue to stabilise and will drive the number of residential mortgages to rise further.”

Department of Justice is seeking proposals from interested parties to run a two-year pilot programme for sports dispute resolution

Hong Kong authorities are seeking proposals from interested parties to run a two-year pilot programme for sports dispute resolution, a move experts have said is a key step in establishing a neutral third-party intervention mechanism for the growing sector.

Observers said on Monday that such a programme would enhance the city’s reputation as a leading legal and dispute mediation and arbitration hub, providing a specialised avenue for increasingly complex commercial disagreements within the global sports industry.

The Department of Justice said it had prepared the invitation for proposals to identify a suitable administering body and a technology provider for the pilot scheme, with these two parties needing to submit a joint proposal by July 31.

“The appointed dispute resolution institution will administer the pilot scheme and provide institutional support for the conduct of mediation and arbitration,” a department spokesman said.

“To promote wider use of lawtech and online dispute resolution, the administering body shall partner with an online dispute resolution institution as a technology provider to provide the technological infrastructure and support required for the operation of the pilot scheme.”

Lawtech, or law technology, refers to the use of technology to improve or replace traditional legal processes and services.

From China partially lifting a Japanese seafood ban to a quick fix for motion sickness, here’s a round-up from today’s coverage

The leading academic finds grounds for “moderate optimism” after leading a group of American students on a 10-day tour of China.

Factory activity in China edged upwards in June but stayed in contractionary territory for a third straight month, as the country battles soft demand and the effects of a trade war with the United States.

After Chinese scientists pinpoint causes of EV motion sickness, Japanese researchers say a simple sound therapy may be the answer.

The former Bamban mayor is now in detention, facing Pogos-linked charges of human trafficking, money laundering and corruption

The Manila Regional Trial Court ruled on Friday that Guo’s election and assumption of office in Bamban, Tarlac, from 2022 to 2024 were “null and void”. Agreeing with a petition by the Office of the Solicitor General, it asserted that Guo had never been a natural-born Filipino, as required under the constitution.

“Guo is nothing more than a usurper of the office of the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac. The fact that she won the election and has already assumed office is of no moment as it did not cure her disqualification of lack of Philippine citizenship,” it said.

“Guo Hua Ping is undoubtedly a Chinese citizen, born to Chinese parents, namely Guo Jian Zhong and Lin Wenyi,” the court said, adding that she and her parents held Chinese passports.

The former mayor fled the country in July following a warrant for her arrest due to her failure to attend a series of Senate hearings investigating criminal activity linked to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).

China has ‘no information’ on whether US leader will attend parade but one observer says it is ‘only appropriate’ to invite wartime ally

A Kyodo report on Sunday citing unnamed sources said that China was planning to invite Trump to its Victory Parade in Tiananmen Square on September 3, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

When asked to comment on the report on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she did not have “any information to provide” on the matter.

Some three weeks earlier, after a long-awaited phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping as trade tensions spiralled, Trump said that a trip to China may happen “at a certain point”.

Speaking on eve of handover anniversary, Zhou Ji also says tackling core issues and maintaining ‘bottom line’ of safety key for growth

Beijing’s new liaison office chief has said Hong Kong is in a “critical stage of opening a new chapter” and should further embrace reforms to broaden its economy in a speech delivered on the eve of the city’s 28th handover anniversary.

Zhou Ji also said on Monday evening Hong Kong should “achieve breakthroughs and tackle core issues” to improve development while maintaining a robust “bottom line” of safety to pave the way for further growth.

“Hong Kong is in a critical stage of opening a new chapter and realising new heights,” he said at a gala celebration ahead of the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the nation on Tuesday.

“With opportunities ahead of us, time waits for no one. We must act proactively and seize the momentum for progress, building a better Hong Kong with united hearts.”

The city would need to embrace reforms and unleash new productive forces for economic transformation, Zhou added.

“We need to move with the times, focus on residents’ needs, proactively identify, react and seek changes to alter our ideas for development and innovatively reform to fully unleash the immense potential in society for new productivity, pushing for economic transformation,” he said.

Two pedestrians injured after pane, measuring two metres by 1.5 metres, detaches from first-floor Cafe de Coral outlet in Kwun Tong

Hong Kong police have arrested the manager of a major fast-food outlet after a window pane fell from the first floor and landed on a Kwun Tong street, injuring two pedestrians.

The pane, measuring two metres by 1.5 metres (6.6 feet by 4.9 feet), detached from the first-floor Cafe de Coral outlet in the Champion Court building on Hong Ning Road at about 3pm on Monday.

The glass, along with some food items, landed on the pavement below and shattered. Two male pedestrians, aged 68 and 51, sustained limb injuries from the shattered glass and were taken to United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong for treatment.

Officers arrested a 53-year-old female employee on suspicion of allowing objects to fall from a height, a police spokesman said.

She is currently in custody, and the case is being handled by the Sau Mau Ping district investigation team.

More offline mainland brands are placing big bets on American consumers despite bilateral tensions and weak investor sentiment

On a recent Sunday afternoon in lower Manhattan, a small shop inside the Oculus, a soaring curvilinear mall at the World Trade Center, stands out for the bustling crowd thronging its space.

“We’re out of stock,” more than one employee can be heard telling customers.

This is not one of New York’s many top-brand boutiques but Pop Mart, a Chinese designer toy brand that has become a sensation in the United States.

Its signature “blind box”, containing collectable figurines revealed only when the box is opened, runs for a mere US$20.

In a sign of the buzz around Pop Mart, Xie Feng, Beijing’s ambassador to Washington, recently cited one of its offerings, Labubu, as an example of a Chinese brand touching American consumers’ hearts.

Former Hospital Authority chairman John Leong and gold medal fencer Vivian Kong among 427 people recognised in honours list

A former chairman of Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority, a media mogul and a business leader have been awarded the city’s highest honour this year, while Olympic gold medal fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai was also recognised for her sporting achievements.

Two Hongkongers who helped save residents from a deadly fire were also among the 427 individuals recognised on the 2025 Honours List on Tuesday for their contributions to society.

Also honoured were a Hong Kong rescue team that had been deployed to Myanmar after a devastating quake earlier this year, and the city’s justice minister and nine officers for their contributions to safeguarding national security.

The top-tier Grand Bauhinia Medal was awarded to former Hospital Authority chairman John Leong Chi-yan, Charles Yeung Chun-kam, honorary lifetime chairman of the city’s Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, and Hong Kong Economic Times founder Lawrence Fung Siu-por.

The government highlighted Leong’s 50-year career spanning teaching, academic research and administration as part of his “lifelong and sterling contributions” to Hong Kong.

“I am deeply humbled and [filled with] gratitude to receive such a great honour in my retirement,” Leong said. “I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to those of you who walked alongside me over the decades, especially my family members.”