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European and US markets fell amid renewed trade tensions, sending investors into safe havens while Beijing moved to combine top‑level policy coordination with targeted market controls. The Guangzhou Futures Exchange widened lithium carbonate price limits to 11% and raised margins, a tactical response to extreme volatility in a key EV battery input. The episode highlights the interplay between geopolitical shocks, commodity market structure and China’s effort to sustain growth while tightening market oversight.

Chinese military recruitment agencies have launched an intensified, varied publicity campaign for the 2026 early conscription period, using campus fairs, household visits and public ceremonies to promote enlistment and veteran benefits. The effort seeks to counter demographic challenges and support the PLA’s modernization by making service both materially attractive and socially prestigious, with particular emphasis on outreach in frontier and rural areas.

China’s Ministry of Finance has extended a fiscal interest‑subsidy for personal consumer loans through 31 December 2026, with an implementation window from 1 September 2025. The policy aims to lower borrowing costs and stimulate household spending, while authorities will reassess its continuation after evaluating outcomes.

Jefferies forecasts that GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs could cut U.S. major airlines’ fuel bills by up to $580 million annually as lighter passengers reduce aircraft payload. While direct fuel savings are small, fleet‑wide weight reductions can meaningfully boost margins, raising corporate and ethical questions about relying on medical trends for cost savings.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation will roll out a nationwide validation and evaluation system in 2026 to speed the adoption of domestically produced testing instruments. The programme focuses on standards, overcoming core technological bottlenecks, and promoting nationally competitive brands, with an "AI + testing" push to modernise equipment. The effort is part of a broader drive for technological self-reliance that could reduce dependence on foreign suppliers but will need internationally credible accreditation to win global acceptance.

Chinese stocks fell broadly on Tuesday with the ChiNext index down 1.83%, even as chemicals and several property names rallied sharply. Market turnover rose to ¥1.85 trillion, but breadth was weak — over 3,300 stocks declined — highlighting selective buying rather than a broad-based recovery.

Xinghe Power Aerospace has successfully completed a full-system hot-fire test of the CQ-90 main engine for its Zhishenxing-2 reusable rocket, advancing a private-sector effort to field medium- and heavy-lift reusable launchers. The milestone reduces technical risk ahead of integrated and flight testing and underscores the growing maturity of China’s commercial space industry.

OpenAI told investors and users that its 2025 annual recurring revenue exceeded $20 billion, driven by nearly tenfold compute growth since 2023 and soaring user engagement. The company is pursuing an aggressive strategy of large upfront compute investments to accelerate research and monetisation, while remaining unprofitable and negotiating huge financing and infrastructure deals.

Yu Minhong has named Chen Xingjia a senior consultant to New Oriental and its livestreaming and cultural arms, offering RMB 1.5 million a year and committing at least RMB 1 million annually to Chen’s Henghui Philanthropy Foundation. The move follows scrutiny of Chen’s previously disclosed foundation salary and signals a strategic effort by New Oriental to shore up social legitimacy while raising questions about governance and transparency in corporate–charity ties.

An Evercore analyst forecasts OpenAI could earn about $25 billion annually from advertising by 2030 if tests of in‑chat ads scale successfully. The move would leverage ChatGPT’s large user base and rich intent signals, but OpenAI faces entrenched competition from Google, privacy and regulatory hurdles, and the challenge of translating scale into profit.

New Oriental founder Yu Minhong appointed former county official and charity founder Chen Xingjia as the education group's chief adviser with a reported annual salary of 1.5 million yuan, while committing at least 1 million yuan a year to Chen’s Henghui Foundation. The move aims to bolster New Oriental’s social credentials but risks renewed scrutiny given recent controversy over Chen’s foundation pay and questions about charity governance in China.

Provincial 2025 banking data show household deposits climbing rapidly across several provinces while household short-term loans shrink, signalling greater risk aversion and subdued consumption. Corporate lending, by contrast, expanded robustly, driven by policy support and firms’ financing needs, leaving regulators with the task of converting high savings into stronger domestic demand.

BAIC BluePark and Anhui Jianghuai expect a combined net loss of at least ¥60 billion for 2025 but are responding by committing over ¥113 billion to joint projects with Huawei’s automotive software and solutions. The strategy mirrors the profitable Huawei partnership seen at Seres, but risks include dependence on a shared platform and dilution of differentiation as more OEMs adopt Huawei’s stack.

China left its LPR unchanged for an eighth straight month on January 20, with the one‑year rate at 3.00% and the five‑year+ at 3.50%. Forecasters warn that worsening export pressures from higher U.S. tariffs could prompt Beijing to follow early targeted easing with a broader policy rate cut in Q2, which would likely push mortgage and corporate lending rates lower.

China’s weather in late 2025 and early 2026 has behaved like a roller coaster as a La Niña state overlays a record-warm world, producing sharp regional swings in temperature and precipitation. The episode is likely to produce uneven but economically meaningful disruptions to agriculture, energy markets and supply chains, serving as a stress test of China’s improved adaptation and emergency management capabilities.

China met its 2025 growth target, recording 5% GDP growth and crossing 140 trillion yuan, while per‑capita GDP rose to about $13,953. The expansion was sharply uneven: high‑tech and equipment manufacturing led the gains even as investment fell and consumer momentum softened, producing a K‑shaped recovery and renewed calls for targeted fiscal and redistributional measures.

De Beers has trimmed diamond prices again as demand weakens, lab-grown stones proliferate and competition intensifies. The cuts, coupled with swelling inventories and producer countries’ interest in buying stakes in the company, signal a structural shift in an industry long governed by supply control and strong branding.

China’s 2025 population data show births falling to roughly 7.92 million and the country’s share of global newborns dipping to about 6.12%. Persistent sub‑replacement fertility and regional disparities mean the population is projected to shrink further, forcing policy shifts toward productivity, social support and possibly immigration.

Rongbai Technology announced a headline RMB120 billion, six‑year supply intention to CATL that the buyer later described as non‑binding and not internally approved. Regulators have opened a formal probe after the company admitted the figure was an estimate and its current capacity falls far short of the volumes implied by the announcement. The incident highlights governance gaps at smaller suppliers and reputational risk for industry leaders amid rapid expansion and cooling prices in China’s LFP market.

Xi Bei will close 102 stores and lay off about 4,000 workers as it faces over RMB 600 million in projected losses, a crisis compounded by a public feud between founder Jia Guolong and influencer Luo Yonghao. The dispute highlights how consumer perceptions, amplified online, can inflict severe damage on dining chains already facing a broad consumption downturn and dimming IPO prospects.