📰 Latest News

Iran used drones to strike energy facilities on 10 March 2026 in direct retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on an oil depot, marking a tactical shift toward direct economic targeting. The move increases the risk of wider escalation, threatens regional energy security, and underscores the growing role of UAVs in the Israel–Iran confrontation.

China’s A‑share market rallied with ChiNext and Shenzhen leading gains as compute‑hardware and related tech names pushed many mid‑caps to daily limits. The advance was broad but occurred on thinner turnover, suggesting a rotation that could be fragile without stronger trading volumes or policy clarity.

Hong Kong equities rallied with the Hang Seng TECH Index up 2.4%, led by a strong advance in semiconductor and optical-communications stocks. The move highlights renewed investor appetite for chip-related exposure amid structural narratives of domestic technology development, even as energy shares lagged and southbound flows showed caution.

January 2026 SNE Research data show EV deliveries fell 2.1% year‑on‑year while installed battery capacity grew 10.7%, driven by larger packs and premium models. Chinese battery makers expanded their lead to 73.3% of global installed capacity, while South Korea’s top three suppliers slipped amid a sharp North American market slowdown following U.S. policy changes.

Guangdong’s 2026–2035 industrial plan prioritizes brain‑computer interface technologies, from implantable and intravascular electrodes to high‑channel acquisition chips and specialized software, and seeks rapid commercialization across healthcare, entertainment and manufacturing. The move strengthens China’s bid to build domestic BCI supply chains while raising regulatory, ethical and dual‑use challenges that will shape global competition and collaboration in neurotechnology.

Guangdong’s 2026–2035 industrial plan prioritises advanced autonomous driving, targeting accelerated development of L3 and L4 systems and the construction of full‑scenario "safety sandboxes" for large‑scale unmanned traffic trials. The initiative combines technical R&D with regulatory experimentation to bridge the gap between prototypes and commercial deployments, while raising legal, security and public‑trust challenges.

Guangdong’s 2026–2035 industrial plan champions commercial space, prioritising manufacturing, production lines and pilots for thousand-ton-class reusable rockets to create an airline-style launch cadence. The move leverages the province’s manufacturing base and could accelerate China’s commercial launch and satellite capabilities, while raising technical, regulatory and space-traffic challenges.

UCloud cautioned that its lightweight cloud servers using the OpenClaw image remain early-stage and have not produced meaningful revenue, with significant uncertainty over future commercial returns. The company says tech maturity, data security and intense competition limit near‑term financial impact but leave long‑term upside uncertain.

Xiaohongshu announced a policy to strictly target accounts managed by AI or third‑party management services, citing concerns about content quality and user trust. The move aligns with broader Chinese regulatory trends on AI and content provenance and will affect creators, marketers and the technical fight against deceptive engagement.

In response to heightened US–Iran–Israel hostilities, about 30 commercial vessels have altered AIS data to present themselves as Chinese, or otherwise hide their identities, while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The manoeuvre reflects acute concern for safety but deepens risks to neutral shipping, complicates naval responses and threatens further disruption to global energy markets.

OpenClaw — an open‑source agent middleware — has ignited mass adoption in China, prompting cloud giants to offer free installations to capture long‑term infrastructure revenue. Municipal subsidies and cheap domestic model pricing have accelerated deployment, even as regulators warn of major security and lock‑in risks. The episode underscores a strategic divergence between China’s rapid commercialisation of agents and more cautious approaches abroad.

China’s annual legislative meetings amplified proposals that prioritise citizen welfare—most notably a legally protected "right to rest," higher paid leave, privacy reform on ID cards, and measures to lift disposable income. The initiative signals a policy pivot toward consumption and human-capital investment, but implementation and enforcement will determine whether these ideas translate into meaningful economic and social change.

Gold plunged about $100 intraday on March 9 as oil prices spiked amid renewed Middle East violence, prompting a dollar rally and higher real yields that raised the opportunity cost of holding bullion. Traders increased put hedges even as futures net‑longs recovered, signaling protective positioning rather than a collapse of gold’s long‑term case.

A violent reversal in oil prices—WTI tumbling as much as 28% intraday after a prior spike—was driven by diplomatic signals and talk of coordinated reserve releases that drained speculative bets. The rout relieved short-term inflation and FX pressure but left structural concerns over Gulf shipping and potential production outages unresolved, keeping markets vulnerable to renewed shocks.

Hubei province is moving from a Wuhan-centric development model to a coordinated “Wuhan–Xiangyang–Yichang” golden triangle, enabled by new high-speed rail links and long-standing planning designations. The strategy aims to strengthen Wuhan by creating capable secondary centres that share innovation, production and logistics functions, reshaping regional competition in central China.

China reported an 18.3% year-on-year rise in goods trade for January–February 2026, driven by a near-20% bounce in exports and strong import growth. Private firms, diversified markets such as ASEAN and the EU, and buoyant bonded logistics activity underpinned the recovery, while trade with the United States contracted sharply.

A‑shares rallied after a dip in Middle East tensions, with the ChiNext index up over 3% and more than 4,500 stocks advancing. Technology and optical‑communications sectors led the gains, while oil, coal and gold fell amid commodity weakness. Lower turnover suggests the move may be theme‑driven rather than a broad conviction rally.

Senate Democrats have threatened to obstruct normal Senate proceedings unless senior officials appear before committees to explain U.S. military actions against Iran. They seek hearings on the operation’s duration, costs, civilian harm and legal basis, and have filed withdrawal resolutions while vowing to use parliamentary maneuvers to force votes and testimony.

French president Emmanuel Macron announced that France may extend naval deployments to the Strait of Hormuz to protect shipping and European interests, following talks with Greek and Cypriot leaders. The pledge underscores Paris’s intent to project maritime power but raises the risk of confrontation with Iran and tests European willingness to back naval security operations.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard publicly rejected President Trump’s forecast that hostilities with Iran would end soon, saying Tehran alone would decide when the fighting stops and warning it would bar adversaries from exporting oil if attacked. Iranian officials also accused the U.S. of planning strikes on energy and nuclear sites and promised “surprises,” heightening risks to global oil markets and regional stability.