# South China Morning Post (scmp.com) News Scraper (`xtracto/scmp-scraper`) Actor

Retrieves full South China Morning Post articles, including content protected by soft paywalls, for comprehensive regional coverage.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/xtracto/scmp-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Xtractoo](https://apify.com/xtracto) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## South China Morning Post Article Scraper

Extract article text, headline, description, and metadata from **scmp.com** URLs. The South China Morning Post is Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper and a primary source for news on China, Hong Kong, and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

### Why Use This Actor?

- **Bypasses soft paywall** - full SCMP article content accessible via HTTP.
- **China and Asia coverage** - SCMP provides English-language reporting on China not available in most Western outlets.
- **Geopolitical research** - track developments in HK-China relations, Taiwan, and regional diplomacy.
- **Business and trade** - SCMP covers China economy, trade policy, and tech industry in depth.
- **Policy monitoring** - track Chinese government policy announcements and regulatory changes.

### How It Works

This actor uses **only HTTP requests** - no browser, no Selenium, no Playwright. Articles are extracted in seconds with RAM usage well under 256 MB.

### Input

```json
{
  "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/example-slug",
  "urls": [
    "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/article-one",
    "https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/article-two"
  ]
,
  "mode": "article",
  "limit": 10
}
````

### Output

```json
{
  "url": "https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3350718/china-presses-imf-quota-reform-better-surveillance-advanced-economies?utm_source=rss_feed",
  "source": "SCMP",
  "title": "China presses IMF for quota reform, better surveillance of advanced economies",
  "description": "PBOC head urges IMF to ‘stand against protectionism’ amid effects from tariffs, Iran war.
",
  "published_date": "2026-04-20T09:05:04+00:00",
  "authors": [
    "Ralph Jennings"
  ],
  "content": "China’s central bank chief has urged the IMF to serve as a bulwark against “rising unilateralism”, at a time when escalating trade restrictions and an intensified Middle East conflict threaten energy and food security.
The International Monetary Fund should “take a clear stand against protectionism and defend multilateralism”, People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said in a statement to the fund’s International Monetary and Financial Comm..."
}
```

### Fetch Latest News

Set `mode` to `"latest"` to fetch the newest article URLs and titles from South China Morning Post instead of extracting a single article.

**Input:**

```json
{
  "mode": "latest",
  "limit": 10
}
```

**Output** - array of objects:

```json
[
  {
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3350718/china-presses-imf-quota-reform-better-surveillance-advanced-economies?utm_source=rss_feed",
    "title": "China presses IMF for quota reform, better surveillance of advanced economies",
    "published_date": "Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:05:04 +0000",
    "source": "South China Morning Post"
  }
  //..
]
```

Source: `https://www.scmp.com/rss/91/feed` (RSS feed)

### Other News Actors

Need a different news source? All actors in this collection:

| Actor | Source |
|---|---|
| [`aljazeera-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/aljazeera-scraper) | Al Jazeera |
| [`apnews-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/apnews-scraper) | AP News |
| [`bbc-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/bbc-scraper) | BBC News |
| [`cnbc-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/cnbc-scraper) | CNBC |
| [`forbes-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/forbes-scraper) | Forbes |
| [`fortune-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/fortune-scraper) | Fortune |
| [`ft-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/ft-scraper) | Financial Times |
| [`guardian-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/guardian-scraper) | The Guardian |
| [`msn-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/msn-scraper) | MSN News |
| [`nytimes-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/nytimes-scraper) | New York Times |
| [`reuters-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/reuters-scraper) | Reuters |
| [`scmp-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/scmp-scraper) | South China Morning Post |
| [`techcrunch-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/techcrunch-scraper) | TechCrunch |
| [`upi-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/upi-scraper) | UPI |
| [`yahoo-finance-scraper`](https://apify.com/xtracto/yahoo-finance-scraper) | Yahoo Finance |
| [`smart-news-loader`](https://apify.com/xtracto/smart-news-loader) | Any URL - adaptive HTTP loader |

All actors support `mode: "latest"` for fetching newest article URLs from each source.

# Actor input Schema

## `url` (type: `string`):

Single article URL to extract.

## `urls` (type: `array`):

List of article URLs to extract.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Operation mode: 'article' to extract a single article (default), 'latest' to fetch newest headlines from the source's RSS feed.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Number of latest articles to return when mode is 'latest'. Default: 10.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "article",
  "limit": 10
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("xtracto/scmp-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("xtracto/scmp-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call xtracto/scmp-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=xtracto/scmp-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "South China Morning Post (scmp.com) News Scraper",
        "description": "Retrieves full South China Morning Post articles, including content protected by soft paywalls, for comprehensive regional coverage.",
        "version": "1.0",
        "x-build-id": "3ASdgQyPfxeBT9KTJ"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/xtracto~scmp-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-xtracto-scmp-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/xtracto~scmp-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-xtracto-scmp-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/xtracto~scmp-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-xtracto-scmp-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "url": {
                        "title": "Article URL",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Single article URL to extract."
                    },
                    "urls": {
                        "title": "Article URLs",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "List of article URLs to extract.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "mode": {
                        "title": "Mode",
                        "enum": [
                            "article",
                            "latest"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Operation mode: 'article' to extract a single article (default), 'latest' to fetch newest headlines from the source's RSS feed.",
                        "default": "article"
                    },
                    "limit": {
                        "title": "Limit",
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Number of latest articles to return when mode is 'latest'. Default: 10.",
                        "default": 10
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```
