📰 Latest News

Mingming Hen Mang has quietly tested a mall-focused fresh-snack chain, You.Tuijian, that emphasises short-shelf-life products and low prices. The move aims to escape the margins squeeze in bulk snack retailing, but it brings fresh logistical and execution risks even as it pressures established rivals on price.

Xibei, a prominent Chinese restaurant chain, has taken emergency steps—including minority investments from a mining magnate and industry peers, mass store closures, staff cuts and leadership changes—after a scandal over pre‑prepared dishes precipitated a steep sales decline. The injections are small and largely symbolic; the company now faces a difficult recovery that depends on restoring product credibility while managing a slimmer cost base.

Cambrian reported its first annual profit in 2025 and proposed its first cash dividend of about RMB632 million. However, the payout followed a parent‑level accounting adjustment using capital reserves that created distributable profits and positioned the dividend just above a regulatory 30% threshold, clearing the way for possible controlling‑shareholder sell‑downs while the company still faces sizeable cash‑flow and funding gaps.

Beijing and Shanghai have posted the first month-on-month rises in residential prices after a nine-month decline, signalling a tentative recovery concentrated in core cities. Broadly, however, sales, starts and developer financing remain weak, and the market is set to stay uneven with stronger performance in prime urban areas and continued stress in lower-tier cities.

Household saving in China has risen despite ongoing economic growth, as property-driven wealth effects and income insecurity curb consumption. Policymakers have deployed targeted fiscal support but face a deeper structural challenge: converting corporate profits and public investment into stable household income to sustain demand.

At GTC 2026 Nvidia announced a sweeping hardware and software stack aimed at turning AI inference into highly optimised “token factories,” and projected $1 trillion in revenue by 2027. The company unveiled specialised inference racks, a new CPU, optical interconnects, an enterprise agent platform and a space compute module, signalling a bid to control the full AI infrastructure stack.

China’s January–February data show a broad early‑year recovery led by infrastructure and high‑tech investment, a services‑led consumer rebound and a brisk trade performance. New drivers—AI‑related compute demand, electronics manufacturing and strengthened online services metrics—are increasingly visible alongside traditional investment.

China and the United States discussed creating a working mechanism to promote bilateral trade and investment cooperation, amid talks about tariff levels, possible extensions of tariff‑related arrangements, and mutual economic concerns. Beijing expressed worry about uncertainty from recent US tariff adjustments, while both sides agreed to pursue stability in economic ties.

Iran’s velayat‑e faqih — the guardianship of the jurist — has been institutionalized into a network of political, economic and military bodies that give the regime resilience against US and Israeli pressure. That architecture allows Tehran to absorb shocks, mobilize resources and pursue asymmetric deterrence, even as economic malaise and generational change pose long‑term risks.

The United States plans to form a multinational escort coalition to protect vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz as Iran vows continued self‑defence and shows limited interest in immediate negotiations. Tehran insists decisions on safe passage will be made by its military, while rising violence in Lebanon highlights wider regional spillovers that could affect shipping, energy markets and diplomatic options.

Japan has taken delivery of US Tomahawk cruise missiles and Norway’s JSM for its F-35As, a notable expansion of its long-range strike options. The move drew criticism from PLA-affiliated Chinese media and highlights Tokyo’s ongoing shift toward counterstrike capabilities amid rising regional tensions.

Iran's IRGC says it used a two‑stage solid‑fuel medium‑range ballistic missile nicknamed "Mudstone" against Israeli military targets, calling the attack part of a broader operation. The use of an MRBM represents a tactical and symbolic escalation, complicating missile‑defence efforts and heightening risks of wider regional confrontation.

Video from RAF Fairford shows US B‑1B bombers being prepared with Launcher Load Frames removed and staged JASSMs and GBU‑31(V)3/B JDAMs, indicating readiness to use bomber‑dropped penetrator munitions against hardened Iranian targets. The concentration of up to 15 US bombers in Britain and authorisation for US use of Diego Garcia broaden strike options, but air‑defence risks and political constraints limit where and how forces may operate.

The IRGC says most missiles used in recent strikes against the US and Israel were made about a decade ago and that many newer missiles remain unused. It also claimed roughly 700 missiles and 3,600 drones have been launched so far, a tally that, if true, signals a sustained Iranian capability that continues to challenge regional defenses and raise escalation risks.

The IRGC announced it has fired about 700 missiles and 3,600 drones, claimed hits on 18 US- and Israeli-linked vessels, and said it destroyed four THAAD systems. It has also declared logistics facilities supporting the USS Ford carrier strike group in the Red Sea to be legitimate targets, a move that elevates the risk to naval operations and maritime trade.

Lai Ching‑te’s recent declarations that Taiwan is a country and his provocative remarks about Japan’s colonial past have triggered sharp reactions from Beijing and coincided with a notable uptick in PLA flights and amphibious drills. The developments exacerbate electoral competition in Taiwan and complicate U.S.–China diplomacy at a sensitive moment, raising the risk of miscalculation in the Taiwan Strait.

A viral video shows a 95‑year‑old Korean War veteran cutting the hair of a young woman about to enter military service, a gesture lauded online as a passing of duty. The moment underscores how personal stories of veterans are used to humanize the armed forces and shape public attitudes toward military service, especially for women.

China says it has been mediating recent military clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan through phone diplomacy, a shuttle envoy and embassy contacts, urging restraint and a return to negotiations. Beijing frames its role as pragmatic and stabilizing, seeking to prevent escalation that could affect regional security and its own interests.

Israel said it struck a Tehran facility used for anti-satellite work and for Iran’s Chamran-1 military space project, a rare strike inside the Iranian capital that escalates the contest over military uses of space. The attack highlights the growing risks of ASAT development and the potential for asymmetric retaliation that could draw the region toward broader confrontation.

Nvidia unveiled DLSS 5 at GTC, a generative‑AI driven graphics system that combines structured 3D data with probabilistic models to produce photo‑real lighting and materials in real time up to 4K. Jensen Huang called it the graphics industry’s “GPT moment,” and major publishers including Bethesda, Capcom, NetEase, Tencent, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Games plan to adopt it, with a rollout expected this fall.