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Zhijiang Laboratory has announced plans to field a 100‑satellite ‘Three‑Body Computing Constellation’ by 2027, with 39 satellites in development and 10 AI‑capable units due in 2026. The constellation will run a domestic foundation model on‑orbit to enable satellite autonomy, rapid calibration and multimodal data fusion, signalling China’s push to embed AI in space systems.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has announced a service‑focused opening for 2026 that includes pilot liberalisation of telecoms, healthcare and education, a national one‑stop overseas platform for outbound firms, and a push to build a national digital trade demonstration zone with interoperable standards. The package aims to attract foreign investment, deepen digital trade, and leverage China’s large domestic market while advancing multilateral engagement at the WTO.

China Rare Earths forecasts a net profit of RMB 143–185 million for 2025, reversing a RMB 287 million loss the prior year. The recovery was driven by a stronger first-half market and inventory write-backs, but fourth-quarter price falls in medium and heavy rare-earths triggered additional impairment charges that tempered full-year gains.

Moutai’s latest zodiac release, the Horse-year “Ma-Mao,” has seen resale premiums shrink and dealer enthusiasm cool after the company introduced lower-priced and higher-quality dual versions and tightened release controls. The move reflects a deliberate strategy to reposition zodiac bottles from speculative assets toward consumer and collectible products, stabilising prices and emphasising cultural and drinking value.

Guoxing Aerospace has revealed plans for a 2,800‑satellite space compute network aimed at serving autonomous ‘silicon‑based’ agents and large AI models, with initial nodes already launched. The programme promises low‑latency global compute via laser‑linked low Earth orbits but faces substantial technical, economic and geopolitical hurdles before it can scale.

Chinese commentators have seized on a viral US‑based concept called the “kill line” to illustrate how high fixed costs and financialisation can quickly push American households into destitution. By contrast, China’s mix of rural land rights, large‑scale poverty alleviation, public subsidies and protective financial policies creates institutional buffers that reduce the likelihood of sudden social collapse.

China’s bourses saw a stark sector divergence: precious‑metals and oil stocks rallied to new highs while small‑cap and technology‑related segments slipped. Market turnover rose, reflecting active but selective flows as investors chased commodity exposure amid lingering doubts about capital‑intensive tech sectors.

Ant Data Technology and Tongfang Global Life have signed an agreement to deploy AI across life-insurance operations, combining Ant’s modelling and platform tools with Tongfang’s regulatory licence and balance sheet. The deal highlights both opportunities for faster, cheaper insurance services and the regulatory and consumer-protection challenges of algorithmic underwriting in China.

Tencent is deploying a RMB1 billion Lunar New Year red‑packet campaign to drive users to Yuanbao, an AI‑focused social app, while accelerating internal AI reorganisations and hiring. The company hopes the promotion and a new feature called Yuanbao Pai will reproduce the viral network effects of WeChat’s early red‑packet phenomenon and bind content, communications and generative AI.

Beijing researchers have successfully linked a humanoid robot directly to a GalaxySpace LEO phased‑array internet satellite, streaming visual data without ground‑based infrastructure. The test demonstrates a practical path for robots to operate with resilient, wide‑area connectivity and underscores China’s advances in commercial LEO broadband technology.

Chinese researchers report the first successful direct link between a humanoid robot and a low‑Earth‑orbit internet satellite, streaming robot vision data without ground network support. The test combines embodied robotics with phased‑array flat‑panel satellite technology, enabling potential autonomous operations in remote or infrastructure‑sparse areas while raising verification, security and dual‑use concerns.

StepFun has appointed Qianli Technology chairman Yin Qi as its own chairman and closed a B+ round exceeding RMB 5 billion to accelerate development of foundation models and commercialise AI on devices. The funding and leadership change underscore a strategic push in China to embed large models into cars, smartphones, wearables and robots through close hardware partnerships.

Zhu Xudong, a veteran Chinese semiconductor investor and former Pudong science bureau chief who led state‑backed deals to build domestic chip capability, died suddenly at 62 while on a business trip. His passing leaves a practical leadership gap at a major investment vehicle and removes a seasoned architect of China’s strategy to translate state capital into industrial capacity in semiconductors.

Two Chinese embodied‑AI start‑ups, Galbot and Magic Atom, have been chosen for prominent roles on the 2026 Spring Festival Gala, signalling a shift from technical demonstration to mass visibility. Galbot has secured large industrial orders and more than $300 million in financing, while Magic Atom — spun out of a Xiaomi‑linked robotics team — has shown rapid product development and fundraising momentum.

Samsung plans to begin HBM4 production in February and has passed validation for Nvidia and AMD, signalling a sharper contest with SK Hynix for AI‑grade memory. The move could ease supply constraints for next‑generation GPUs, affect pricing and market share, and has contributed to a notable re‑rating of Samsung’s financial outlook.

Chinese tech giants are using traditional Lunar New Year red‑envelope campaigns to fight for dominance over consumer AI entry points, with Baidu and Tencent pledging hundreds of millions to a billion yuan in giveaways. These promotions aim to convert festival virality into long‑term control of AI interfaces and datasets, but they also carry high cost, regulatory and competition risks.

Tencent has pledged RMB1 billion in Lunar-New-Year cash red packets via its Yuanbao app, and Baidu followed with a RMB500 million giveaway tied to its Wenxin AI assistant. The promotions are designed to drive engagement, accelerate AI adoption and cement payment and app ecosystems, but they carry costs and regulatory and long-term monetization risks.

Yin Qi has been appointed chairman of StepFun while retaining the chairmanship of Qianli Technology, as StepFun closes a B+ round exceeding RMB5 billion. The move pairs deep foundation-model R&D with a hardware-centred commercialization strategy — notably automotive — and signals a new phase of consolidation and specialization in China’s AI landscape.

Samsung has raised NAND flash prices by over 100% in Q1 2026 as AI‑driven demand for high‑performance storage outstrips supply. Analysts say the industry has entered a storage‑chip "supercycle," with tight capacity likely to persist until at least 2027 and meaningful new supply not expected until 2028.

Qianwen has denied claims that its restaurant‑reservation calling feature is operated by humans, asserting the service uses a fast emotion and intent recognition engine to produce humanlike speech. The response underscores tensions between the operational benefits of voice automation and concerns about deception, privacy and regulatory oversight.