📰 Latest News

Alibaba’s Qianwen extended its free‑order promotion and added Damai and Fliggy integrations to let users buy event and travel tickets via AI. The campaign is part of a broader strategy to convert AI convenience into consumer lock‑in across Alibaba’s ecosystem, with strong uptake in lower‑tier cities but questions about costs and regulatory scrutiny.

A U.S. carrier strike group’s deployment to the Arabian Sea and high‑profile aerial operations have coincided with a breakdown in U.S.–Iran talks, prompting Tehran to answer with dramatic public propaganda and heightened military readiness. Both capitals face a strategic bind: Washington can project overwhelming conventional power but lacks a clear, achievable objective that won’t trigger wider conflict; Tehran cannot match U.S. forces but can raise costs through asymmetric means, particularly by threatening the Strait of Hormuz.

A near‑unanimous US House vote threatened to remove China from six international bodies if it attacked Taiwan, a move that signals bipartisan hardening in Washington and shifts the contest into the realm of financial governance. Beijing answered with a political gesture toward Iran and vows to deepen ties in 2026, underscoring how both powers are using institutional leverage and symbolic diplomacy to prepare for prolonged strategic competition.

A partisan dispute over aggressive federal immigration enforcement has left the U.S. Department of Homeland Security without new funding as Congress adjourned, forcing essential employees to work without pay. While an extended shutdown would hamper agencies such as TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard, analysts expect a short-term compromise; the political battle over immigration policy, however, is unlikely to abate.

MooreThreads said it achieved Day‑0 adaptation of MiniMax M2.5 on its MTT S5000 GPU, enabling immediate deployment of the model on its hardware. The claim highlights progress in China’s domestic AI hardware‑software stack, though independent performance verification and ecosystem maturity remain decisive.

U.S. outlets reported that the Pentagon used Anthropic’s Claude model in a January operation in Venezuela that seized President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Anthropic says uses must follow its safety policy but declines to confirm specifics, and the episode spotlights the tensions between commercial AI policies, military use, and enforcement.

Soldiers from a Western Theatre Command unit spent several days restoring retired military equipment at the Huang Jiguang memorial in Sichuan, applying carefully regulated red-and-white paint to small details and advising museum staff on interpretive programming. The joint effort combines technical conservation with patriotic education, illustrating how the PLA is deepening its role in shaping public memory and civic-military engagement.

China’s 24th UN peacekeeping contingent conducted a three‑hour ‘Tiger’ evacuation drill in Lebanon to test its capacity to receive and protect UN staff and local civilians during sudden outbreaks of violence. The exercise combined command‑and‑control, liaison with the embassy and local authorities, medical screening and protective sheltering, signalling Beijing’s growing operational role in UN peace operations.

A remote PLA information-support unit spent the Lunar New Year period combining two-decade-old maintenance rituals with new intelligent-control systems, emergency drills and family-outreach measures to sustain readiness and morale. The mix of hands-on repair work, automation and social support illustrates how China’s military modernization is playing out at the garrison level and why sustaining public trust in the armed forces matters for domestic stability.

In January 2026 Chinese bank wealth‑management balances unexpectedly contracted by about 114.2 billion yuan as retail investors, lured by strong equity market returns and standout public‑fund performance, moved money into mutual funds. The rout was concentrated at major state bank wealth arms while public fund issuance and new account openings surged, highlighting a rapid retail shift toward higher‑volatility, higher‑return instruments.

China’s STAR Market (Sci‑Tech Innovation Board) significantly outperformed broader A‑shares over the snake year, powered by listing and reform measures and a surge in ETF issuance. In 2025, 65 new SciTech ETFs raised a record CNY 44.749 billion as indices and product suites proliferated, drawing growing allocations from institutional long‑term investors while leaving the market exposed to high valuations and policy dependence.

Japan has announced a large rare‑earth deposit beneath the seabed near Minami‑Tori‑shima, but deep water, engineering complexity, high extraction costs and environmental and regulatory hurdles make commercial exploitation unlikely in the near term. China’s existing lead in purification technology and cost structure means Tokyo’s claim is more of a political signal than an immediate challenge to Beijing’s dominance in rare‑earth supply chains.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has proposed top fines and lifetime market bans after finding that Tianfeng Securities illegally financed its largest shareholder and failed to disclose related‑party transactions from 2020 to 2022. The penalties — including RMB 25 million in corporate fines, RMB 34.8 million in individual fines and lifetime bans for three executives — signal tougher enforcement on conflicts of interest and weaker tolerance for broker‑sponsor collusion.

Hong Kong posted a stronger growth profile in 2025, driven by export demand, a services rebound and renewed capital‑market activity. Policy moves to develop a northern innovation cluster linked to Shenzhen are beginning to produce measurable results, challenging the notion that the city is solely a financial centre.

China opened 2026 with a notable expansion of credit and money supply: January M2 grew 9.0% year‑on‑year while social financing rose 8.2%. Government bond issuance and a significant rise in bank lending—particularly medium‑ and long‑term corporate loans—underpinned the pickup, while financing costs remained low, supporting firms and infrastructure projects.

Outlet malls are enjoying a post‑pandemic renaissance across China, drawing a diverse mix of middle‑aged men, suburban families and disenchanted online shoppers with open‑air design, clustered brand offerings and visible discounts. Rapid expansion by established chains and new entrants is reshaping retail geography, but the model faces risks from discount dilution, overcapacity and rising consumer scepticism about promotional authenticity.

President Trump announced he will visit Venezuela and said U.S. companies are extracting oil there, as Washington pursues high‑level talks with Caracas on energy, mining and sanctions. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright met Venezuela’s acting president in Caracas to negotiate cooperation and possible sanctions relief, while anti‑U.S. demonstrations have erupted in the capital.

China’s GB 48001—2026 mandates mechanical redundancy for vehicle door handles and effectively bans fully power‑dependent hidden exterior handles, with staggered compliance from 2027 to 2029. The rule responds to a cluster of rescue failures and consumer complaints and will force costly redesigns across automakers and suppliers, with likely global ripple effects given China’s market size.

A post‑holiday rush of young buyers in China is boosting sales of lightweight, design‑led gold jewellery even as global bullion prices climb. Financial results show a split: large franchised chains drive revenue through scale while a handful of boutique operators extract far higher margins, but the durability of brand premiums is uncertain because resale values remain tied to metal prices.

Li Zhaoting, the former head of the Dongxu business empire and once among Hebei’s richest individuals, was detained by Shijiazhuang police on February 13 as investigations continue. Regulators had already imposed roughly RMB 1.7 billion in penalties and lifetime market bans related to disclosure violations and alleged fraudulent share issuance; only Jia Linjie remains listed from the Dongxu orbit and says operations are normal.