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Apple has listed a new iPhone 17e on its China website at a starting price of ¥4,499 with 256GB of storage, opening pre‑orders on March 4 at 22:15. The move signals a targeted push into China’s price‑sensitive mid‑range, aiming to broaden Apple’s addressable market while preserving ecosystem advantages.
A Chinese report citing a former FBI official warns Tehran could activate clandestine ‘sleeper cells’ in the United States, prompting U.S. agencies to raise alert levels. While authorities have increased patrols and surveillance, public evidence tying Iran to active, operational sleeper networks on U.S. soil remains limited and politically sensitive.
February delivery figures show China’s EV newcomers weathering a seasonal and product-cycle lull, with Leapmotor and Li Auto holding the top spots. Widespread financing incentives have become table stakes, but the real test arrives with a wave of new model launches in March and Q2 that will determine who can convert interest into profitable growth.
A sudden escalation in the Middle East on March 2 triggered a sharp safe‑haven bid for gold, with futures briefly reported above $5,400 an ounce and London spot near $5,393. The international surge prompted major Chinese jewelers to raise pure-gold prices by more than ¥20 per gram overnight, feeding through immediately to consumers and markets.
China’s three state oil majors—PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC—simultaneously closed at their daily trading limit for the first time, driven by an abrupt spike in Brent crude following a US-Israel strike on Iran. The move reflects a rapid repricing of geopolitical supply risk after disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and underscores how Chinese markets amplify global energy shocks.
Baidu’s 2025 results reveal a painful transition from search advertising to AI-driven products: revenue fell to ¥129.1 billion and net profit plunged 76% after a ¥16.2 billion impairment on obsolete compute. While AI revenue grew strongly, it has not yet replaced lost ad income and the company faces intense competition and uncertainty over AI unit economics.
Greg Abel’s first shareholder letter as Berkshire Hathaway CEO underscores continuity with Warren Buffett’s approach while acknowledging setbacks in 2025: net income fell year‑on‑year and operating profits were weighed down by insurance weakness and write‑downs. The company retains a massive cash reserve and a concentrated equity portfolio, leaving Abel the strategic choice of how and when to deploy capital.
The Hang Seng Tech Index has lagged regional peers as ByteDance, a private giant, siphons user attention and advertiser budgets through Douyin and new AI products. Seedance 2.0’s breakout and ByteDance’s unlisted status have heightened investor anxiety that the index cannot capture the country’s next wave of tech winners. The impasse reflects commercial disruption combined with genuine regulatory and geopolitical obstacles to a ByteDance listing.
Markets trimmed losses after reports that Iran and the United States may be reopening diplomatic channels and President Trump signaled he could lift sanctions if Iran's leadership became sufficiently pragmatic. Brent crude retreated from a 13% intraday spike to about a 4% gain as investors priced out some near-term escalation risk, though analysts cautioned that broader regional tensions keep volatility elevated.
Liu Yonghao, a CPPCC member and chairman of New Hope Group, has proposed issuing a universal 500-yuan consumption voucher to every resident in China. He argues the measure — costing about ¥700 billion in issuance — could mobilise nearly ¥2 trillion in spending and support millions of service-sector jobs, while correcting a bias in past voucher schemes that favoured large retailers.
Zong Fuli has shut Wahaha’s robotics arm, reversing her father Zong Qinghou’s decade-long diversification into industrial automation and other non-core ventures. The move reflects a strategic pivot back to Wahaha’s beverage business, prioritising capital discipline and focus over risky, long‑cycle R&D bets in robotics.
Hong Kong equities fell as investors rotated out of tech and into energy, shipping and gold stocks amid rising risk aversion. The Hang Seng slid 2.14% and the Hang Seng TECH declined 2.89%, while oil and oil‑services names and gold miners posted significant gains.
China condemned a new set of UK sanctions announced on 24 February that name multiple Chinese companies for alleged Russia‑related activity, calling the measures unilateral and without UN authorization. Beijing demanded the sanctions be revoked, warned it would take necessary measures to protect its firms, and framed the move as part of a pattern of extraterritorial Western pressure. The dispute risks raising commercial and diplomatic friction between China and Britain and highlights broader tensions over the use and reach of sanctions in global trade.
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.47% on heavy turnover as oil, gas and other commodity-linked sectors staged a sharp, concentrated rally. Despite the headline gain, market breadth was weak—over 4,200 stocks fell—leaving the advance dependent on a handful of resource and state-linked names.
Xiaomi displayed the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo concept supercar at MWC in Barcelona as part of the Gran Turismo VGT project, but the company has confirmed it will not be mass produced. The move is a strategic branding exercise that leverages gaming partnerships and design signalling to raise Xiaomi’s automotive profile without taking on production or regulatory commitments.
Beijing has opened a municipal Data and AI Security Testing Centre to provide testing, risk assessment and standards work for AI systems, based in MenTouGou’s Jingxi Zhigu industrial cluster. The centre aims to professionalise AI assurance, supporting the capital’s digital-economy goals while raising compliance requirements for developers and shaping regional standards.
Honor used MWC to unveil a RobotPhone and humanoid robot that embody a new direction for consumer AI: moving intelligence out of apps and into physical, interactive devices. Backed by Qualcomm’s remarks on accelerating personal AI, the demonstration signals closer hardware‑software alignment and raises questions about adoption, safety and the economics of embodied intelligence.
The confirmed death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has provoked an urgent power struggle between the hardline IRGC, which has vowed large‑scale retaliation against US and Israeli targets, and a reformist civilian leadership seeking to reopen talks with Washington. The resulting split raises the risk of regional escalation while creating an uncertain window for diplomatic engagement depending on how the succession unfolds.
Leapmotor announced a public tip line on March 2 offering rewards of ¥50,000–¥5,000,000 for verified leads exposing ‘‘black PR’’ attacks, joining other Chinese carmakers and aligning with state-led efforts to curb online disinformation. The move reflects rising corporate concern over reputational risk in the fast-growing EV sector but raises questions about incentives, evidentiary standards and the limits of crowd-sourced policing.
OpenAI announced an agreement with the Pentagon in March 2026, provoking criticism and renewed debate over the militarisation of commercial AI. Observers say the deal highlights tensions between corporate ambitions, public trust, governance gaps and geopolitical competition over advanced AI capabilities.
