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Xi Jinping has instructed China’s National Natural Science Foundation Commission to strengthen and strategically reorient funding for basic research, deepen grant reforms, and support original scientific breakthroughs to advance technological self‑reliance. The move elevates basic science as a national priority while foreshadowing more targeted funding, tougher incentives for originality and cautious expansion of international cooperation.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has ordered robust implementation of trade‑in subsidies for appliances, electronics and automobiles during the nine‑day 2026 Spring Festival holiday, prioritising offline channels and rural participation. The policy is a targeted consumption stimulus designed to boost holiday spending, support physical retailers and protect subsidy integrity through upgraded information systems and anti‑fraud measures.

Guotou Securities has received its fourth regulatory warning within ten months after Chinese provincial regulators found repeated compliance failings across branches in Zaozhuang, Xiamen and Shenzhen. The sanctions — recorded in the national integrity database — reflect a sustained crackdown on improper marketing, unqualified fund sales and other breaches in retail distribution practices.

Since January, Chinese regulators have issued at least 11 penalties against regional branches of the Bank of Communications for widespread compliance and lending violations. The fines, though modest relative to the bank’s size, expose systemic weaknesses in governance and signal tightened regulatory scrutiny across provinces.

China’s stock market saw a broad mid‑session rally led by power‑grid equipment and other industrial names, while cinema chains tumbled. High turnover and more than 2,700 advancing stocks signalled a retail‑led rotation into infrastructure and materials ahead of the holiday period.

China’s dairy market experienced broad declines in 2025 as liquid‑milk consumption and core categories cooled, pressuring corporate profits and prompting market leaders to spend heavily on infant‑formula subsidies to lock in future users. The sector is pivoting toward higher‑margin functional and lifecycle nutrition products, but faces high R&D costs, channel friction and the risk of rapid homogeneity.

Airbus has secured INTA certification for fully automated boom refuelling on the A330 MRTT, covering daytime and night operations. The milestone automates a historically manual, high-risk task, provides a procurement advantage against rivals such as Boeing, and paves the way for refuelling of unmanned aircraft — with attendant security and industrial-policy implications.

Ali Larijani, Iran’s chief security adviser, said indirect talks with the United States continue and signalled that American engagement indicates a move toward pragmatism, while warning that Israel is trying to undermine the negotiations. Meeting Qatar’s leaders, Larijani said Iran has not received concrete US proposals and reiterated that an attack on Iran would bring retaliatory strikes on US bases in the region.

South Korea showcased concepts for large unmanned aircraft carriers — notably a 42,000‑tonne design — and plans to retrofit its Dokdo and Marado amphibious ships for UAV operations. The move signals a strategic shift toward unmanned naval aviation that could expand Seoul’s expeditionary reach and create new industrial opportunities, even as technical, budgetary and geopolitical challenges persist.

NATO will reassign two major regional command posts—Naples to Italy and Norfolk to the United Kingdom—as part of a planned redistribution of senior officer duties within the alliance. The changes reflect U.S. efforts to rebalance responsibilities as Washington pivots priorities globally while keeping top operational commands and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe under U.S. control.

Xi Jinping conducted a video inspection of multiple PLA units on 10 February, delivering Lunar New Year greetings while urging sustained combat readiness and praising recent political rectification and anti-corruption efforts. The outreach highlights the Chinese leadership’s dual focus on tighter Party control and accelerating multi-domain military capability.

China’s foreign ministry responded to a remark by Donald Trump by stressing that its new strategic partnership with Canada is not aimed at any third party and is intended to benefit both peoples and global stability. The exchange highlights the diplomatic tightrope Canada faces between economic ties with China and security ties with the United States, while illustrating how high-profile rhetoric can shape international perceptions.

The Israel Defense Forces announced the creation of a new 38th maneuver division — the first new deep‑penetration division since the 1970s — drawn from training units and slated to reach combat capability by 2027. The move signals a long‑term shift toward preparing for large‑scale, high‑intensity warfare and has implications for regional deterrence, logistics demands, and international support.

Iran’s foreign minister accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to drag the United States into a war with Iran, alleging Israel has favored military solutions and even struck multiple regional targets. Tehran says some U.S. officials prefer diplomacy, and frames its charges as both deterrence and a bid to shape international opinion amid heightened regional tensions.

China’s defence ministry rebuked proposals from Taiwan to forward‑deploy HIMARS rocket systems to offshore islands and dismissed the idea of a Taiwanese “pre‑emptive strike” as reckless. Beijing framed the proposal as justification for tough deterrence measures and warned that any armed provocation would face annihilation by the PLA.

President Trump said he may send a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East as a contingency if talks with Iran fail, even as indirect negotiations continue after meetings in Muscat. The planned deployment would signal U.S. resolve but risks creating coverage gaps elsewhere and heightening the chance of escalation.

A specialist hernia and reflux surgery team at the PLA General Hospital Seventh Medical Center has developed standardized, minimally invasive and hybrid surgical solutions for very high‑risk elderly hernia patients, large recurrent incisional hernias, and refractory GERD with hiatal hernia. Rapid multidisciplinary coordination and enhanced recovery protocols have produced quick postoperative recoveries and promising short‑term outcomes, while the centre formalises a full clinical pathway from outpatient assessment to long‑term follow‑up.

Seoul has proposed joint South Korea–US management of the DMZ, a move framed as a compromise but seen by critics as an attempt to reclaim authority from US command. The plan risks undermining alliance cohesion, provoking North Korea, and creating operational confusion unless accompanied by deeper changes to wartime command arrangements and renewed diplomacy.

A specialised maintenance team on China’s Xianggui railway routinely climbs karst cliffs to identify and neutralise hazardous rocks that threaten China–Vietnam international rail traffic. Their work combines drone and AI detection with dangerous manual interventions, and underlines the human backbone of infrastructure resilience amid growing reliance on cross‑border rail links.

China has told reporters it is considering unilateral visa-free access for British citizens, with detailed terms to be announced after internal procedures are completed. The move, floated during Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit, would be a high-profile confidence-building step with uncertain scope and timing.