Daily Buzz: 1 October 2026

China Signals New Initiatives to Underpin Economic Growth

China's State Council, the nation's cabinet, said in a statement that it will adopt a package of policies to strengthen the economy, stabilize the property market, encourage consumer spending and shore up declining infrastructure investment. Policymakers will also look at new measures to promote greater employment opportunities and increase household incomes. Beijing rolled out the first national-level subsidies for home mortgage this week to assist first-time homebuyers. And the People's Bank of China simultaneously cut its one-year "pledged supplementary lending" rate by a quarter point to 1.5 percent and extended coverage under that rate to new infrastructure, including water networks and computing power grids. The central bank also increased the its relending quota for innovative science and technology projects to 1.4 trillion yuan (US$208.8 billion), and expanded the quota for loans to small businesses and the agricultural sector to 4.9 trillion yuan. The largely targeted stimulus program is expected to underpin the government goal of achieving economic growth this year of between 4.5 percent and 5 percent.

Separately, the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou became the third major metropolis to reform its commercial housing sales system. New rules cap what a real estate developer can collect as downpayment for a completed-home sale to 5 percent, compared with 1 percent in Beijing and 3 percent in Shanghai. Land-transfer payments will require a downpayment of no less than 50 percent, with the balance payable within one year.

UK Prime Minister Cites 'Indications' Iran Involved in Air Base Incident

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are "strong indications" that Iran was involved in an alleged plot last weekend to target a UK airbase used by the US bombers. His remarks bring some clarity to a counter-terrorism investigation that has so far left more questions than answers. "We will say more in due course," Burnham said, "but we can confirm our belief that Iran played a part." Iran has strongly denied any involvement. Five men, all British nationals, were arrested on terrorism charges after suspicious vans were reported near the Fairford Royal Air Force base in rural England early Sunday morning, but were later released on bail. US B-1 bombers have been flying from the base for missions against Iran.

Attempt to Crash Dubai-Tel Aviv Passenger Flight Foiled Mid-Air

Passengers and crew on a jet flight to Israel from Dubai foiled a co-pilot's attempt to crash the aircraft, Israeli officials said. In a cockpit struggle, the pilot was stabbed and the jet plunged nearly 4,200 meters in less than 30 seconds.

Passengers and crew entered the cockpit, overpowered the co-pilot and enabled a second pair of Flydubai pilots on board to take over the controls and land the plane safely in Saudi Arabia. Only one of 174 passengers was subsequently hospitalized, suffering from non-critical injuries. Flydubai said in a statement that the underlying reasons for the incident are being investigated and warned against "premature speculation." The pilot is an Indian national and the co-pilot an Omani.

China Warns EU Against Worsening Trade Relations

China's commerce ministry warned in a statement that any restrictions the EU places on Chinese businesses or products will be met with a "firm response." The two sides are scheduled to begin high-level trade talks in Beijing next week. Europe is seeking to reduce the bloc's growing trade deficit with China. EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told Euronews this week that Beijing must deliver "concrete results" by October or face "harsher measures." The commerce ministry said such language "undermines mutual trust" and "disrupts" trade negotiations. The EU's deficit in goods with China is the largest in the world, nearing 1 billion euros (US$1.25 billion) a day.

Bill Gates Slams Idea of Self-Regulation in AI Industry

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, now retired from the company, called the Trump administration's deal with top AI companies for them to self-police AI safety is a mistake. "You can't trust industry self-regulation on this issue," he told a New York Times podcast. "That's really insane." He called AI "the most dangerous thing humanity has ever encountered" and rebuffed the concept that lawsuits can control AI risk. "You're saying someone builds a biological weapon, kills 100 million people and then you sue them?" he said.

Top Business

Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent Advance Ambitions in AI Personal Assistants

Chinese tech giants Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent are pushing deeper into the personal AI assistant arena. Alibaba's Qwen announced at the Apsara Conference last week that it is accelerating development of a personal agent, signaling its intent to transform Qwen from a passively responsive Q&A tool into a personal assistant that proactively delivers services around user needs. ByteDance's Doubao has been internally testing a personal assistant project codenamed Spell since April, with plans to deeply integrate it with Doubao's conversational capabilities. Tencent is developing a standalone app called Handy Bot, while also testing a native AI assistant called Xiaowei within WeChat. The wave of development was triggered overseas, where products like Meta's Muse and Instinct have pushed AI beyond chat tools toward autonomous agents that handle daily tasks for users. However, the path forward is muddied by a certain lack of user trust and possible platform ecosystem barriers. A personal assistant that can genuinely handle daily affairs needs to connect to a large number of third-party services like shopping, transportation, email and payments. Third-party platforms may not be willing to hand over user relationships and transaction entry points to AI agents.

Micron Shoots Past Forecasts With Q4 Net of US$37.7 Billion

US memory chip giant Micron beat market forecasts with a 379 percent surge in net income to US$37.7 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter ended September 3 and a fivefold increase in revenue to US$54.2 billion. The company said it benefited from soaring demand for AI infrastructure and a shortage of chips that's driven prices higher. For the full fiscal year, the company reported revenue of US$133.2 billion and net of US$85 billion. It said capital spending of US$10.8 billion in the fourth quarter will rise to US$11.5 billion in the current-quarter. Sales in its fiscal first quarter are forecast at up to US$63 billion. Micron is the only US-based maker of high-bandwidth memory and is investing US$250 billion to build two new production facilities.

Smartphones With AI Agents Entering China Market

Several smartphones built around AI agents have received network access approvals in China, bringing a new generation of AI-powered devices closer to the mass market. The models include Honor's Magic9 series and StepFun's StepX Neo. Nubia's NaviX Ultra, featuring ByteDance's Doubao phone assistant, received approval earlier this month and went on sale on September 16. Unlike conventional AI phone features such as chatbots and image generation, agentic phones are designed to let users assign tasks to AI systems that can understand requests, operate system functions and interact with third-party apps. The shift could make AI agents a new interface between users and mobile services, potentially reducing the need to open individual apps for tasks such as shopping or ride-hailing. But adoption remains uncertain. China's smartphone shipments fell 4.2 percent year-on-year to about 134 million units in the first half of 2026 as phone prices rose on soaring memory chip costs.

Moonshot Investigating Report of 'Jailbreak' by Kimi Models

Chinese AI developer Moonshot is reviewing the security of two Kimi models after researchers were able to persuade two of its popular models to tell them how to make biological weapons and carry out assassinations. Mindgard, which tests the security of AI systems, told the BBC it discovered in July that Kimi K2.6 and K3 Swarm could evade safeguards put in place by developers when complex instructions were given to see if AI tools ignore guardrails. "Once the 'jailbreak' works, it will talk about any topic, it will even freely offer up recommendations about other topics that are also nefarious," Mindgard founder Peter Garraghan told the BBC.

DeepSeek, Huawei Form Partnership on Ascend Chips

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek said on Wednesday it has partnered with Huawei Technologies to develop programing tools for Huawei's Ascend chips, the latest sign of Chinese tech firms deepening ties as they seek alternatives to the Nvidia ecosystem. DeepSeek said it is open-sourcing infrastructure for Huawei's Ascend platform, including a high-level programming language called TileLang, along with related compute and communication libraries. "To build a new generation of independent, self-controlled graphics processing units software ecosystem, the first priority is establishing a high-level language that is universal, easy to program and still capable of reaching the hardware's full performance potential," DeepSeek said.

Economy & Markets

China Manufacturing, Services Indexes Show Monthly Growth

Two key gauges of China's manufacturing strength improved in September. The official Purchasing Managers' Index released by National Bureau of Statistics rose to 50.1 from 49.8 in August, topping the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction for the first time in three months. The reading largely reflected an easing in weather-related production halts and the global surge in AI investment underpinning tech-related manufacturing. The companion index for the non-manufacturing sector climbed to 50.1 on a pickup in services, with construction at the highest level of this year.

Separately, the S&P Global China Services Purchasing Managers' Index for September rose to 52.1 from 51.5 in August, its highest level in five months, with output and new orders accelerating. New export orders in particular grew at the fastest pace in seven months. The corollary index for the China services sector climbed to 51.6 in September, the fastest acceleration in three months.

Dongshan Precision May Seek Up to US$3 Billion in Hong Kong IPO

Suzhou-based Dongshan Precision Manufacturing, one of China's largest printed circuit board makers, is seeking to raise up to US$3 billion from an initial public offering in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reported. Discussions about the size of the IPO and the timing are continuing. Dongshan is the world's third-biggest supplier of printed circuit boards and the largest maker of AI devices used in smartphones, personal computers, automobiles and Internet of Things equipment. The company has a market capitalization of more than 310 billion yuan (US$46 billion).

Don't Expect Big Discounts on Home Appliances During National Holiday

Chinese home appliance makers are showing little enthusiasm for aggressive discounting during the seven-day National Day holiday period that begins today, Yicai reported. Although consumer spending remains soft, manufacturers are facing rising material costs. Instead, home appliance makers and retailers are showcasing premium products, product upgrades, quality improvements and enhanced customer services. Wang Hongji, head of home appliance research and insights at NIQ GfK China, a market intelligence provider, said higher store traffic may not translate into stronger sales. He forecasts a year-on-year decline of 5.9 percent in television sales, a 3.9 percent drop for washing machines and 9 percent for air conditioners. An air conditioner retailer in southern China told Yicai that "relying solely on low prices to drive volume holds little value for either manufacturers or retailers at the moment."

US Senate Poised to Vote on Ban Affecting Carmakers With Chinese Investment

The US Senate is expected to vote this week on a bill banning companies in which Chinese entities hold more than 15 percent stakes from selling vehicles in America. Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, one of the legislation's sponsors, said negotiations are continuing to exclude German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz from the sales ban. Among the largest shareholders in Mercedes are Chinese automaker BAIC, with 9.98 percent, and an investment fund controlled by Geely chairman Li Shufu, with 9.69 percent. Discussions are also underway that may exempt Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by Geely, from the ban. The legislation could affect British automaker Aston Martin, in which Geely holds a 17 percent stake, and the Lotus brand, which is majority-controlled by Geely. The Senate bill is expected to pass, with strong support for the legislation seen in the House of Representatives, its next port of call.

Nvidia to Extend Partnerships With South Korea Chipmakers for 33 Years

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang pledged to extend his company's partnerships with South Korean AI chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix for another 33 years. At an event in New York, Huang argued against a slowdown in AI development, arguing that as the technology improves, safety will improve along with it. "AI is not alive. AI is not out of control. It's just software. It's no more alive than a pet rock," he said.

Market Closures for Chinese Holiday

Stock markets on the Chinese mainland close today for the weeklong National Day holiday. They will reopen on October 8. This year celebrates the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong stock markets will close today for the holiday but reopen on Friday.

Corporate

New World Reports Loss on Termination of Hong Kong Airport Development

Hong Kong-based property developer New World reported a net loss of HK$26.8 billion (US$3.42 billion) for the year ended June after booking HK$18.3 billion in impairments and provisions tied to the early termination of its flagship 11 Skies mall project in the city. The project involved three office towers and an entertainment complex adjacent to Hong Kong International Airport. The group's revenue dropped 28 per cent to HK$20 billion for the year. The company announced last week that property sales on the Chinese mainland exceeded 1.7 billion yuan (US$240 million), including deals involving the Ningbo Tower and office and retail properties in Hangzhou. Total debt stood at HK$143.3 billion at the end of June.

Midea Claims World First in AI Data Center Cooling

China's Midea Building Technologies unveiled what it claims is the world's first integrated power and cooling system for AI data centers in a market long dominated by US, European, Japanese and South Korean players. The technology integrates power supply, energy storage devices, magnetic bearing chillers and liquid cooling distribution units into a single stack.

Maxim's to Buy Back Shares From Hong Kong-Based DFI Retail

Maxim's Caterers has struck a deal to buy back its shares from DFI Retail Group for US$340 million, plus control of its licensed Starbucks business, according to a stock exchange filing on Wednesday. The deal ends decades of part ownership by the conglomerate Jardine Matheson, which owns DFI Retail, the South China Morning Post reported.

Jardine Matheson bought a 50 percent interest in Maxim's in 1972, before transferring the stake to Dairy Farm, now known as DFI Retail. The deal will see DFI Retail take over operations of more than 1,100 Starbucks outlets across Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Joyoung Denies Alliance With Huawei, Save for Joint Robotics Investment

Chinese small-appliance maker Joyoung hit the 10 percent daily limit on stock gains on the Shenzhen exchange for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, taking its market capitalization to 9.5 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion). The company earlier denied market rumors that it has forged a partnership with tech giant Huawei. The only connection between the two companies is their joint investment in Beijing-based Deep Thinking AI Robot Technology, Joyoung said. The company also disclosed that it holds a stake in Xiangke Intelligent Technology, describing it as a financial investment in the robotics sector.

Yonghui Superstores Wins Court Victory in Dispute with Yujin Trading

Fuzhou-based Yonghui Superstores scored a legal victory in its arbitration enforcement case against Dalian-based Yujin Trading over 3.6 billion yuan (US$542.8 million) in unpaid share-transfer payments. The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court issued a final ruling rejecting Yujin's application to set aside an earlier arbitration award. The dispute dates back to December 2023, when Yonghui Superstores signed an agreement to sell 398 million shares in Dalian Wanda Commercial Management to Yujin for 4.5 billion yuan, with payments scheduled in eight installments. However, Yujin encountered financial difficulties and defaulted on payments after the first two installments.