Weekend Buzz: 29-30 November 2025

Hong Kong Fire Deaths Rise to 128, Corruption Probe Launched

The death toll in Hong Kong's deadliest fire since 1948 stood at 128 on Saturday morning as rescue workers continued to search through the charred floors of a residential apartment complex for about 200 people still missing. The fire is the worst in the city since 1948, when a warehouse fire killed 176 people. The inferno at the public housing complex in the city's Tai Po district started on Wednesday and took about 40 hours to extinguish. It's believed to have started in bamboo scaffolding and mesh netting erected on the facades of eight 31-story blocks as part of a renovation project. The Wang Fuk Court complex was built in 1983 and housed about 4,600 residents. Donations have been pouring in from corporations, charities and individuals to help those affected by the blaze. The government announced a payment of HK$200,000 (US$25,640) to each family of those who died in the fire, and a HK$50,000 living allowance for survivors.

Questions about the safety of construction materials, operation of fire alarm systems in the buildings and possible bribe-taking in the letting of contracts for the renovation project swirled across a shocked Hong Kong. The Independent Commission Against Corruption has arrested eight people, including an engineering consultant and scaffolding contractors, as a probe continues.

Meituan Posts Loss on Fast-Delivery War Costs

Chinese tech and e-commerce giant Meituan reported its first loss in three years as the cost of its fast food-delivery battle with rivals Alibaba and JD.com ate into profits. Meituan swung to a third-quarter loss of 18.6 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion) from a year earlier profit of 12.9 billion yuan. The company posted a 2 percent revenue increase to 95.5 billion yuan. Meituan in a statement blamed "continuous intensified competition in the food delivery sector" and said it expects that trend to continue in the fourth quarter. Companies involved in a competitive market that promises one-hour delivery have poured millions of yuan into discounts and promotional offers. Meituan shares fell 1.4 percent in Hong Kong.

Beijing-based Meituan, since its founding in 2010 by Wang Xing, has created platforms spanning food delivery, logistics, group-buying, supermarkets, consumer reviews, bike-sharing, hotel and travel bookings and micro-credit. The company has moved further into technology in recent years with investments in unmanned aerial vehicles and self-driving delivery vehicles. In August, it released an open-sourced, large language model called LongCat. Last year it expanded its Keeta food delivery service to Saudi Arabia.

Airbus Orders Repairs Affecting Half of Global A320 Fleet

Europe's Airbus roiled the airline travel market just as it began the end-of-year holiday season by ordering immediate software repairs to 6,000 of its best-selling A320 jetliners, affecting half of the global fleet. Airbus said in a statement a recent incident involving an A320 aircraft revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls. The recall comes just weeks after the Airbus A320 surpassed rival Boeing 737 as the world's top-delivered model.

Ukrainian President's Top Aide Resigns Amid Graft Probe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Andriy Yermak, his chief of staff and longtime ally, resigned after an anti-corruption raid on his home. Although Yermak hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing, a probe into an escalating scandal into high-level graft involving US$100 million has eroded Zelensky's popularity and jeopardized the nation's negotiating stance in difficult talks on a US plan to end the war with Russia. Yermak was a leading negotiator in the negotiations.

Top Business

China Carmakers Poised to Shake Up Global Leaderboard

Up to five Chinese carmakers are likely to be among the world's top 10 vehicle companies by 2030, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a briefing by global consultancy firm McKinsey. BYD, China's largest electric vehicle maker, and Geely Holding, which owns Volvo Cars, are already in the top 10 based on 2024 sales. McKinsey didn't identify the three Chinese carmakers that may join them, but SAIC, FAW and Changan are among likely candidates, along with emerging companies like Xiaomi, Xpeng and Leapmotor, which have all reported surging sales this year. Chinese carmakers have been at the vanguard of new automotive technologies driving sales.

C919 Maker Gets Investment Boost From Shareholders

COMAC Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China received additional investment of 44 billion yuan (US$6.2 billion) from eight state-owned shareholders to support mass production of the domestically developed C919 jetliner. The top-up was led by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, boosting its stake to 53.1 percent from 49.8 percent. The C919 is China's answer to narrow-body, single-aisle rivals Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 Max. Comac has said it aims to raise annual production capacity to 150 aircraft by 2027 and to 200 by 2029.

Baidu Cuts Workforce in Swing to AI

Baidu, which runs China's largest search engine, started layoffs a week after reporting a third-quarter loss of 11.2 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion). The scale of the terminations isn't known, but some people close to the company said it could reach as high as 40 percent in some units. Jobs tied to AI and cloud computing are reportedly safe. At the end of last year, Baidu employed 35,900 people.

Nexperia China Steps Up Attack on Dutch Parent

Nexperia China issued a statement accusing parent Nexperia Netherlands of responsibility for supply chain chaos resulting from disrupted shipment of chips vital in carmaking. Dutch regulators seized the headquarters of Nexperia, which is owned by China's Wingtech, on national security grounds in September but have since relinquished control after forcing changes in management. That leaves the Dutch and Chinese sides of the company to battle it out for control.

Wingtech said on Friday that it has appealed decisions stripping it of control of the Dutch company to the Netherlands' Supreme Court. It also demanded that the Dutch company initiate talks on company control. Key demands include immediately resuming the supply of production-essential wafers to Nexperia China, paying all outstanding debts and halting plans to expand capacity in overseas regions like Malaysia to replace Chinese output.

Economy & Markets

Chinese Futures in Platinum, Palladium Make Trading Debut

The Guangzhou Future Exchange began trading in China's first platinum and palladium futures this week, providing a hedging tool against volatile prices. Options contracts were added on Friday. Platinum and palladium are important elements in the production of green technologies such as vehicle emissions control, wind power and hydrogen energy. China is the world's largest user of platinum group metals, but is highly dependent on imports, leaving companies exposed to risks from international price swings and supply chain insecurity.

Investors Turn Focus to US Holiday Sales

Preliminary estimates of consumer spending during the Black Friday shopping weekend in the US, which traditionally starts the Christmas shopping season, show that online sales rose 5.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Adobe Analytics.

Retail sales are being closely watched by investors amid data and surveys showing weak consumer sentiment and questions about the effect of Trump administration import tariffs on prices. Some US retailers said consumers are willing to buy as long as there are deep discounts.

CME Halts Some Trading on Data Center Glitch

Exchange operator CME Group said derivatives trading resumed after being halted in Asian time on Friday due to a cooling issue at a data center operated by Texas-based CyrusOne. The halt froze trading across currencies, commodities and some equities markets, Reuters reported.

Infinigence AI Closes Major Funding Round

Shanghai-based AI infrastructure company Infinigence AI completed its A+ round of fundraising, securing nearly 500 million yuan (US$69.4 million). The round was led by Zhuhai Technology Group and Fortera Capital, reflecting the booming demand for AI systems in China. Infinigence AI's system is noted for integrating diverse AI chips and models, including DeepSeek, to offer advanced hardware access beyond conventional platforms. The company's major clients include Baichuan AI, Kimi, Lenovo Group, China Mobile and ZTE.

Deep Dive

To Win China's Market, Overseas Drugmakers Are Encouraged to Make in China

Foreign pharmaceutical companies must produce in China to win, not only sell to it.

Black Friday in US: Bonanza or Red Ink for Chinese Vendors?

Some Chinese cross-border traders are expected to cash in on sales while others are simply skipping the event altogether.

Froth and Faith: The Puzzling Future of China's Robotic Hype

For 12 years, China has been the world's biggest market for industrial robots, outpacing Germany and Japan to capture more than 50 percent of the market last year.

Corporate

Disney's 'Zootopia 2' a China Box Office Hit

Walt Disney Studios scored a Chinese box office hit, with the movie "Zootopia 2" raking in 228 billion yuan (US$32 million) on its opening day this week – the highest single-day gross for a foreign animated film screened on the mainland, according to analytics platform Maovan Pro. In the first three days of screening, the movie had ticket sales of over 500 million yuan. It is following in the footsteps of the first "Zootopia" film, released in 2016, which grossed 1.5 billion yuan in China. Shanghai Disney Resort, capitalizing on the mainland popularity, opened the world's first Zootopia-themed attraction two years ago.

Carmaker Avatr Files for Hong Kong IPO

Chinese luxury electric-car maker Avatr Technology filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong to raise funds to develop new models. It didn't disclose how much it hopes to raise in the share sale. The company, 41-percent owned by Changan Automobile, reported a first-half loss of 1.6 billion yuan (US$226 million) on revenue of 12.2 billion yuan.

Circumventing US Chip Restrictions

Alibaba and ByteDance are among top Chinese firms moving some training of artificial intelligence models offshore to access Nvidia chips that are restricted for export to China by the US, the Financial Times reported. The companies that want access to Nvidia H20 chips are increasing utilizing data centers in Southeast Asia that have no affiliations with China.

OYMotion Secures Major Funding for Robotics & AI Expansion

Shanghai-based OYMotion Technologies, which specializes in embodied intelligence and neural-interface technology, raised over 100 million yuan (US$14 million) in a Series B3 round of fundraising, its third this year. The investment from bearing manufacturer Hangzhou Radical Energy Saving Technology will accelerate OYMotion's manufacturing capacity, research and development, and global expansion.

Sohu Revives Push for US TV Content

Sohu Video plans to resume acquisition of US TV series and films, founder and Chief Executive Charles Zhang said. The move marks a return to a business Sohu once led in China, before piracy, policy shifts and high licensing costs weakened earlier investments.

JD Takeover of Ceconomy Wins Italian Approval

China's JD.com won conditional approval from the Italian government for its US$2.5 billion takeover of German electronics retailer Ceconomy, Reuters reported. Italy is exercising its right to vet foreign deals that may affect the nation's businesses. The takeover would involve the MediaMarkt and Saturn brands that operate in Italy. JD, through its subsidiary Jingdong Holding Germany, is seeking to acquire at least 31.7 percent of Ceconomy.

Beyond Meat Retreats from China Market

US-based Beyond Meat, a vegan food company, has shut its China business, closing stores on the Tmall and PDD online platforms. The company, which specializes in plant-based alternatives to meat, entered the China market in 2020, establishing a wholly owned subsidiary and opening a production facility in the city of Jiaxing, its first major plant outside the US.