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China's leading optical‑module makers have issued 2025 profit forecasts that reflect a surge in demand from AI data‑centre deployments. Xinyisheng and Zhongji Xuchuang expect historically large, core‑business‑driven profit gains, while Tianfu Communication posts solid but smaller growth, underscoring an uneven competitive landscape.

China’s securities regulator, led by Wu Qing, held a meeting with listed‑company representatives to shape capital‑market priorities for the next five years. The CSRC pledged reforms to listing and refinancing rules, deeper market tier integration and measures to attract long‑term capital, while stressing risk prevention and stronger supervision.

A livestream‑built Shenzhen gold retailer, Jieweirui, suspended withdrawals after leveraged, option‑style products it sold to retail customers blew up amid sharp rises in precious‑metal prices. The firm's unlicensed, high‑leverage mini‑program ecosystem created large asymmetric exposures and possible illegal fundraising, affecting investors across many provinces and threatening Shuibei’s reputation as a jewellery hub.

A pro‑AI super PAC, Lead the Future, has raised over $125 million with donations from Greg Brockman, Joe Lonsdale and Andreessen Horowitz. The move signals Silicon Valley’s growing willingness to use large‑scale political spending to influence AI policy and elections at a time when regulators are tightening scrutiny of the technology.

Elon Musk is accelerating plans to relocate some large‑scale AI computing into orbit, arguing that intelligence density has been greatly underestimated. The idea could become economically viable within a few years as launch costs fall, but it faces serious technical, regulatory and geopolitical hurdles.

China’s market regulator announced an escalation in live‑stream e‑commerce oversight, insisting platforms act as gatekeepers and promoting a ‘one case, three investigations’ enforcement model. The measures include tougher verification, a national platform standard, targeted inspections of counterfeit and deceptive practices, and new tools that can limit a streamer’s traffic or suspend broadcasts.

CAICT forecasts China’s domestic smartphone shipments at 307 million units in 2025, reflecting a large but mature market driven by replacement demand and premium upgrades. Apple and Xiaomi stand to benefit from premium positioning and broad model portfolios, while suppliers and policymakers navigate margin pressure and localisation trends.

At Chengdu’s 2026 municipal political meetings, locally made AI health products — notably a multispectral, AI-driven "health hat" — were showcased as proof of the city’s strategy to marry AI with medical devices. Backed by national compute resources, strong manufacturing chains and favourable local policies, the company behind the hat reports rapid sales growth and expanding exports while aiming to shift spectral diagnostics into portable and home settings.

Harbin Engineering University and the China Institute of Atomic Energy have inaugurated a joint accelerator laboratory to advance accelerator physics and ion-beam applications. The partnership follows the commissioning of China’s first commercialised domestic serial accelerator and aims to deepen research, talent development and industrial application in the nuclear sector.

Shanghai has issued guidance to expand its second‑hand goods market by scaling an “Internet+” model, improving trade‑in and registration procedures for cars and electronics, and encouraging third‑party testing and appraisal services. The package aims to boost consumption, formalise trading practices and advance circular‑economy goals, while posing enforcement and data‑privacy challenges.

Shanghai will subsidise purchases of top‑rated energy and water‑efficient household appliances with a rebate equal to 15% of the sale price, capped at 1,500 yuan per item and available for six categories of products. The move aims to boost consumption, accelerate replacement of inefficient appliances, and support domestic manufacturers while advancing municipal energy‑efficiency goals.

Elon Musk is reportedly preparing to merge xAI into SpaceX and pursue a blockbuster IPO that would combine rockets, the Starlink network, X and the Grok AI model. The strategy aims to move compute into orbit to bypass terrestrial energy and cooling limits, but it raises major technical, regulatory and national-security questions.

Elon Musk is reportedly advancing plans to shift substantial computing into space, consider mergers among his companies, and explore delivering Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots to the Moon and Mars. The ambition combines SpaceX’s launch capability with Tesla’s robotics and Musk’s AI interests, but faces steep technical, economic and regulatory hurdles.

Shanghai will subsidise purchases of top‑rated energy and water‑efficient household appliances — refrigerators, washing machines, TVs, air conditioners, computers and water heaters — at 15% of the sale price up to ¥1,500 per item. The measure aims to stimulate consumption and accelerate household upgrades while supporting municipal energy‑saving goals, though its impact depends on implementation and recycling capacity.

The CCP Politburo, chaired by Xi Jinping, reviewed and approved 2026 work plans for five major party‑led state organs and the Central Secretariat, praising their 2025 performance and demanding strict implementation of the party centre’s directives. The meeting frames 2026 as the start of the 15th Five‑Year Plan and emphasises political unity, disciplined party governance and a stability‑first approach to economic and institutional priorities.

Cambricon expects 2025 net profit of ¥1.85–2.15 billion, a year‑on‑year turnaround driven by stronger AI compute demand and successful product deployments. The result signals that Chinese AI chipmakers are beginning to convert rising demand and policy support into commercial profit, though challenges around scaling, margins and competition remain.

Fourier, a Chinese robotics firm, says it will integrate brain‑computer interfaces with exoskeletons to enable robots to detect patients’ movement intentions and provide timed physical assistance, aiming for clinical rollout within one to two years. The move rests on more portable BCI hardware, AI advances in signal interpretation, and a staged market strategy that targets hospitals first, then care homes and households.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Hang Seng Tech indexes fell just over 2% on Friday, reversing part of January’s rally. Heavy losses in gold and lithium miners — with some names plunging more than 10–14% — drove the decline and point to heightened short-term volatility as investors reassess commodity prospects and risk appetite.

China’s NDRC and NEA have instructed provinces to strengthen capacity‑price mechanisms for coal, gas, pumped storage and new grid storage, mandating that capacity payments recover at least 50% of coal units’ fixed costs and establishing rules for reliable capacity compensation tied to spot market development. The package aims to stabilise dispatchable revenues, encourage storage participation in markets and support reliability as renewables expand, while requiring provincial assessments of consumer affordability and stricter performance oversight.

China’s Treasury recorded a 57.8% jump in securities transaction stamp tax to 2,035 billion yuan in 2025, reflecting stronger market turnover, while overall general public budget revenue fell 1.7% to 21.6 trillion yuan. Tax receipts rose only modestly and non‑tax income declined due to a 2024 one‑off, even as childcare subsidies have reached more than 30 million infants and remaining payments are to be completed by March 2026.