Daily Buzz: 1 January 2026

China's President Says 2025 Progress Sets Stage for New Year

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a New Year message, hailed the nation's progress in 2025 and said China will write a new chapter in its development "miracle" in 2026, which starts China's 15th Five-Year Plan. Xinhua news agency reported. Xi cited clear goals of promoting high-quality industrial transformation, deepening economic reforms, opening markets wider to foreign investors and improving the prosperity of residents. "Our economic strength, scientific and technological abilities, defense capabilities, and composite national strength have all reached new heights," Xi said. "No issue of the people is too small; we care for every leaf and tend every branch in the garden of public well-being." He also pledged more action to address climate change and highlighted China's continued efforts to promote global peace. Xi reiterated the importance of cross-strait reunification.

China Earmarks Funding for Trade-In Subsidies

China has allocated 62.5 billion yuan (US$9 billion) in funding this year to continue its subsidy program on trade-ins of consumer goods, a key plank in efforts to bolster domestic spending. The government will again raise the money by issuing ultra-long, special sovereign bonds, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. The program encourages consumers to trade in older model goods for new ones, spanning sectors that include electronic devices, electric cars, furniture and home appliances. Smart glasses are listed for the first time as eligible products. Home appliance subsidies will continue to cover refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, air conditioners, computers and water heaters, but stoves and microwaves are being removed. In addition, only products with Level 1 highest energy-efficiency labels will be eligible. Subsidies on digital products will remain unchanged at 15 percent, with a cap of 500 yuan. The replacement subsidy program was first started in 2024 to boost economic recovery from the corona pandemic slump in consumer spending. For the first 11 months of 2025, it helped push sales of consumer goods past 2.5 trillion yuan and benefited 360 million consumers, the government reported.

Airbus Ends Year with Flurry of China Jet Orders

Flagship carrier Air China has ordered 60 A320neo aircraft from Airbus in a deal valued by its catalogue at about US$9.5 billion, though the final cost is expected to be lower because of discounting. The planes will be delivered between 2028 and 2032, the airline said in a stock exchange filing. The announcement is the third major order with Airbus disclosed this week in the China civil aviation, capping the European plane maker's 40th anniversary year in its single largest market. A day earlier, China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings said it will buy 30 Airbus A320neo jetliners without disclosing the cost. The order is the fifth the Hong Kong-based company has placed with the company. The A320 series is one of the world's most popular single-aisle passenger planes, with China's 2,000 fleet accounting for nearly half the nation's civil aviation. The China Aircraft Leasing order was disclosed a day after Chinese regional airlines Spring and Juneyao announced plans to buy a combined 55 Airbus jetliners, catalogue-priced together at US$4.1 billion. Airbus has two assembly lines in the northern city of Tianjin.

Thailand Releases Captured Cambodian Soldiers

Thailand released 18 Cambodian soldiers captured during deadly border clashes as part of a ceasefire the two countries agreed to last week. The handover came after Chinese diplomatic efforts to ensure that provisions of the latest truce hold. Tensions along the disputed border erupted in early December, breaking an earlier ceasefire and forcing nearly one million people from their homes. Thailand's foreign ministry said the release of the soldiers was a "demonstration of goodwill."

Top Business

CXMT Aims for Second-Largest STAR Market IPO

CXMT Corp, China's largest maker of dynamic random-access memory chips, announced it will seek to raise 29.5 billion yuan (US$4.2 billion) in the second largest initial public offering on Shanghai's STAR market. In a prospectus filing, the company said it will issue up to 10.6 billion new shares, with pricing to be announced. The IPO would be the largest since Semiconductor Manufacturing International raised 53 billion yuan in a 2020 listing, the South China Morning Post reported. Founded in 2016, Hefei-based CXMT specializes in the design, research and development, production and sales of DRAM chips. Its products are used in servers, mobile devices, personal computers and smart vehicles, and its major clients include Alibaba Cloud, ByteDance, Tencent, Lenovo and phone makers Honor, Oppo and Vivo. It is the fourth-largest DRAM maker in the world, based on 2024 volumes.

ByteDance Poised to Spend Big on Nvidia Chips

Beijing-based ByteDance, owner of video platform TikTok, cloud business Volcano Engine and chatbot Doubao, is planning to spend 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) on artificial intelligence chips from Nvidia this year if the US company is allowed to sell its H200 graphic processing units in China, the South China Morning Post reported. That expenditure would be up from 85 billion yuan in 2025. Nvidia, which has received US regulatory approval to sell the more advanced chips to China, earlier said it hopes to start shipments in February, but China has yet to approve purchases by domestic companies. ByteDance, which has a private market value of US$500 billion, has built a chip design unit to fill increasing demand and gain long-term control over supply and costs. ByteDance is also investing in memory chip technologies.

Billionaires' Bulging Bankrolls

The world's richest 500 people added a record US$2.2 trillion to their wealth in 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The gains increased collective net worth to US$12 trillion, equivalent to just over half the value of China's entire economy. Eight billionaires, including Tesla's Elon Musk, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Oracle's Larry Ellison and Alphabet co-founder Larry Page, accounted for a quarter of the gains.

Tubby Tabbies Targeted

Fat cats can't escape the trend toward slimming down. Shenzhen-listed drugmaker Huadong Medicine said Chinese regulators have agreed to review a marketing application from its Zhongmei unit for an obesity injection for felines. There are an estimated 71 million cats in Chinese city and about 28 percent are classified as overweight, according to a pet industry report. Clinical trials, the company said, reduce feline body weight 9.3 percent after application of the drug pribopeptide for six weeks.

Economy & Markets

Chinese Stock Markets Cap a Stellar Year

It was a banner year for Chinese stock markets, led by investment in technology-related stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 18 percent in 2025, closing at a nearly 18-year high of 3,968.84. The Shenzhen Component Index gained 30 percent, and the tech-heavy ChiNext Index surged 50 percent, outperforming all major mainland markets. Market volumes remained high, with daily trading value frequently exceeding 1 trillion yuan (US$143 billion). Market capitalization of Class A shares rose to a record of nearly 109 trillion yuan. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed out 2025 with a 28 percent surge, its best performance since 2017. Its technology index was up 23.5 percent. Hong Kong took the global crown for the most IPOs in 2025.

MiniMax Announces Details of Hong Kong IPO

Shanghai-based MiniMax, a startup focused on generative artificial intelligence, kicked off its Hong Kong initial public offering with the announcement of 25 million shares priced at about HK$165 each, indicating an aim to raise up to HK$4.2 billion (US$538 million) to support growth. The company said 5 percent of the share sale will be reserved for individual investors, with the rest earmarked for institutions. MiniMax said it is seeking to start trading on January 9, the South China Morning Post reported. That date would be a day after Chinese rival Zhipu is planning to start trading shares in its HK$4.4 billion IPO. MiniMax was founded in 2022 by former SenseTime veteran Yan Junjie. The company, which develops large multimodal AI models capable of processing text, audio, images and video, is backed by investors that include tech giants Alibaba and Tencent.

China Factory Activity Snaps Slump With Monthly Rise

China's factory activity expanded in December for the first time in eight months, beating analyst expectations and ending the longest slump on record, according to data released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics. Its official index of purchasing managers in manufacturing rose to 50.1, edging up above the 50-mark threshold that separates expansion from contraction. That was a gain from the November reading of 49.2. The non-manufacturing index, which covers services and construction, increased to 50.2 from 49.5.

The Midas Touch of 2025

Gold, silver and platinum hit record highs last year as investors sought a safe port amid a declining US dollar, and global trade and geopolitical tensions. Gold rose 65 percent in its best performance since the 1979 oil crisis. Silver surged 155 percent, and platinum added near 115 percent. The US dollar index dropped 10 percent, and Bitcoin had its worst year since 2022, ending below US$90,000.

Corporate

OYMotion, Radical Enter Robotic Partnership

Shanghai-based robotic hand developer OYMotion entered a 100 million yuan (US$14.3 million) humanoid robot venture with Radical, a Shenzhen-listed automotive supplier. The deal includes a 160 million yuan investment in OYMotion. Founded in 2002, Radical, a component supplier for major Chinese automakers such as SAIC, GAC and Geely, has adopted a "automotive + robotics" dual strategy. OYMotion is contributing expertise in dexterous hands, AI models and new brain-computer interface technology.

Trip.com Tests Waters for Stablecoin Payments

Shanghai online travel group Trip.com has started to allow some users on its overseas platform to pay for prepaid hotel and flight bookings with the stablecoins Tether and USD Coin, both dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies. The first moves into digital currencies comes as Beijing keeps its domestic ban on foreign crypto-related use, the South China Morning Post reported. The People's Bank of China said in November that stablecoins don't meet the Chinese mainland's anti-money-laundering requirements.

Pony.ai Exceeds 2025 Robotaxi Target

Autonomous driving firm Pony.ai said it has exceeded its 2025 target of deploying 1,000 robotaxis, with 1,159 fully self-driving vehicles now operating in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The Guangzhou-based company was listed on the Hong Kong stock market last year. It reported revenue of US$25.4 million in the third quarter. The company is also expanding overseas, especially across the Middle East.

Geely's Caocao to Acquire Two Companies

Geely-backed ride-hailing firm Caocao said yesterday it will acquire StarRides and Geely Business Travel, combining them with its wholly owned units upon completing the deal. The move aims to build a one-stop, tech-driven mobility platform, company Chief Executive CEO Gong Xin said.

Some Labubu Dolls Plunge in Resale Price

Pop Mart International's hit Labubu dolls have fallen in price up to 88 percent on resale platforms in China on increased supplies. The version three of Monsters Big Into Energy toys have fallen to 540 yuan (US$77) from a peak of 4,522 yuan, according to secondhand platform Poizon. Pop Mart created an international trend frenzy with the creation of its furry toys.