Business News
Latest business news and updates
Total: 2071
Bitcoin Rout Exposes MicroStrategy’s Gamble — $12.4bn Quarterly Loss Pushes 'Buy-and-Hold' Model to the Brink
A steep Bitcoin sell‑off since late 2025 inflicted a $12.4 billion quarterly loss on MicroStrategy, revealing the fragility of a buy‑and‑hold strategy financed with equity and debt. The rout has pushed the company toward potential restructuring, altered corporate and investor behaviour across the crypto ecosystem, and undermined the narrative of Bitcoin as a reliable store of value.
Widespread Branch-Level Misconduct: Major Chinese Insurer Hit with Dozens of Regional Fines in Early 2026
China United Property & Casualty Insurance has been hit with at least 15 regional regulatory penalties in early 2026 for widespread branch-level misconduct including falsified documents, fictitious intermediary fees, inflated agricultural insurance and unauthorised product changes. The sanctions, issued by the National Financial Regulatory Administration and its regional bureaus, highlight systemic control weaknesses and signal intensified supervisory scrutiny of insurers in China.
China Taiping’s P&C Business Hit with Fourth Regulatory Penalty This Year as Branches Cited for Fraud and Channel Misconduct
China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration has issued its fourth penalty this year against Taiping Property & Casualty Insurance Co., fining multiple local branches for misconduct including falsified financials, illicit agent arrangements and poor channel management. Regulators named branch managers personally responsible, signalling intensified oversight of distribution practices and internal controls across the insurance sector.
Hong Kong Stocks Slide as Metals Rout Drags on Hang Seng; Tech Holds Up Relatively Better
Hong Kong equities retreated ahead of the Lunar New Year, with the Hang Seng down 1.72% as metals and mining stocks led losses. Tech names proved more resilient, while investors await U.S. inflation data and post‑holiday Chinese activity for direction.
China Starts the Year with Ample Liquidity: M2 Rises 9% as Deposits and Government Bond Financing Surge
China’s central bank data for January show broad money (M2) up 9% and an increase of 8.09 trillion yuan in RMB deposits, while total social financing expanded by 7.22 trillion yuan. Government bond issuance and short‑term bank credit powered the monthly financing increase, against a backdrop of plentiful interbank liquidity and low short‑term rates.
A‑Shares End the Lunar Year Lower as Traders Rotate into AI Hardware; Memory and PCB Stocks Lead Sector Divergence
China’s A‑share indices closed lower on the final trading day of the Year of the Snake, with turnover subdued ahead of the Lunar New Year. Investors rotated into robotics, PCB materials and memory‑adjacent stocks after bullish commentary on embodied AI and signs of a sharp rally in DRAM prices, while CPO‑related names plunged.
China’s Zhipu AI Soars After GLM‑5 Open‑Source Push — But Profits Remain Distant
Zhipu AI’s shares surged after open‑sourcing its GLM‑5 foundation model and hiking prices for an AI coding subscription, boosting investor optimism about product traction. Yet the company continues to incur large losses driven by heavy R&D and compute costs, and is pursuing a mainland Shanghai listing to broaden its capital base.
Meituan Warns of Deep 2025 Loss After Price War and Big Push Abroad
Meituan expects a heavy net loss for 2025 after its core local commerce arm swung from large operating profit to an operating loss, driven by intensified domestic competition and increased overseas and ecosystem investment. The reversal has unsettled investors and highlights the tough trade‑off between defending market share and preserving profitability in China’s on‑demand services market.
China's 'Oriental Selection' Takes Copycat Shop to Court — A Test for Brand Protection in Livestream Commerce
Oriental Youxuan — the company behind the popular Oriental Selection livestream brand — has sued a Xi'an individual merchant called Zhenxuan Jubao for unfair competition. The Xi'an Xincheng People's Court issued service by public notice and scheduled an open hearing after the evidence phase, highlighting broader tensions over name imitation in China's livestream e‑commerce sector.
When Founders Step Aside: What Yu Donglai’s Second Retirement Reveals About China’s Corporate Transition
Yu Donglai, founder of Henan retailer Pangdonglai, has formalised his retirement after a prior symbolic exit failed to stick. He has relinquished executive power to a decision committee while retaining an advisory role; the move — backed by explicit age limits for executives — is a rare example of a founder stepping aside at a company high point, but maintaining the firm’s culture without his magnetic leadership remains a key uncertainty.
China’s 70‑City Housing Data: Monthly Drops Narrow but Year‑on‑Year Slump Deepens
January 2026 housing data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics show month‑on‑month price declines across first, second and third‑tier cities have narrowed, but year‑on‑year drops remain substantial, particularly in resale markets. Shanghai bucks the national trend with annual gains in new‑home prices, highlighting persistent city‑level divergence.
Leadership Shake-up at Ping An Good Doctor Wipes About HK$8.6bn Off Market Value as Shares Slip
Ping An Good Doctor's CEO and chairman Li Dou will step down effective 7 October 2025, prompting a modest share decline and extending a four-month sell-off that has erased roughly HK$8.65 billion in market value. The board appointed Guo Xiaotao as chairman and He Mingke as CEO; investors will look for a clear strategic reset to restore confidence.