Daily Buzz: 14 January 2026

China Rebukes New Iran-Linked Tariffs, Trump Ramps Up Rhetoric

Chinese officials rebuked the Trump administration's announcement of 25 percent import tariffs on any country doing business with Iran. China is among countries that trade with Iran. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said tariff wars have no winners and China will firmly protect its legitimate and lawful interests. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said "protectionism harms the interests of all parties." Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the Research Center for the Belt and Road at Lanzhou University, said the latest US tariff measures solidity the international image of the US as a country "arbitrarily abusing power and provoking geopolitical conflicts."

OPEC member Iran is a major oil exporter. Crude oil prices rose 2.5 percent after the tariff announcement.

US President Donald Trump told Iranian protesters in a social media post that "help is on the way" and they should keep protesting. He also said "all meetings with Iranian officials" have been canceled. Global Times, citing Reuters, said estimates of those killed has approached about 2,000 since unrest erupted across Iran more than two weeks ago over the skyrocketing cost of living. Trump has threatened military intervention against the Islamic Republic. Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said in an online post that it is the US and Israel who are the "main killers" of the Iranian people.

'We Choose Denmark,' Greenland Prime Minister Says

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said if the choice comes down to control by Denmark or by the US, the Arctic island chooses the Danes. "The time has come to stand together," Nielsen told a Copenhagen press conference. The island has been part of Denmark for more than two centuries. It won home rule in 1979 and has been seeking full independence. However, US President Trump's vow to take control of Greenland, by force if efforts to buy it fail, has rattled both the islanders and Danes. Trump says the US needs Greenland to prevent Russia or China from taking control of it. The foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark are due to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington today.

US Treasury Secretary Reportedly Sour on Powell Probe

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has told associates privately that he is unhappy with the Trump administration decision to criminally investigate Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, CNN and Axios reported. Bessent is concerned that the decision will have a negative impact on markets. The decision triggered bipartisan criticism in Congress amid fears of eroding confidence in central bank independence. The probe is related to controversy over the Fed's US$2.5 billion renovation of its historic headquarters in Washington. Powell said the investigation is payback from President Donald Trump for his opposition to deeper interest rate cuts, adding that he won't be cowed by political intimidation.

Top Business

China Extends Polysilicon Import Tariffs

China will extend tariffs on imports from the US and South Korea of polysilicon used in solar panels for another five years, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday. Effective immediately, imports from South Korea will continue to face anti-dumping duties ranging from 4.4 percent to 113.8 percent, and US products will remain subject to tariffs of between 53.3 percent and 57 percent. In addition, China will also maintain existing polysilicon anti-subsidy tariffs of up to 2.1 percent on the US. China is the world's biggest producer of solar-related products.

SK Hynix to Invest US$13 Billion to Expand Chip Output

South Korea's SK Hynix, one of the world's biggest maker of memory chips, announced it will invest 19 trillion Korean won (US$13 billion) to build a new advanced packaging plant in the city of Cheongju, as it expands production to meet the surging global demand for high-bandwidth memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications. The plant will focus on packaging related to combining multiple memory chips into a single, high-density unit to improve performance and energy efficiency, while reducing overall size.

Which Way Is the Wind Blowing? China AI Will Tell Investors

When the weather can't make up its mind, a new AI model in China can help stock market investors make up theirs. The China Meteorological Administration announced the development of an artificial intelligence model designed to analyze the impact of weather patterns on financial markets, potentially a tool in climate risk management, Xinhua reported. The model, called Shangji, or Stock, was jointly developed by the state agency and Fudan University in Shanghai. Its core function is to assess how meteorological factors influence asset pricing, identifying industries highly sensitive to weather conditions, such as wind and solar power, petrochemicals, construction and agriculture. The model is also aimed as a risk control tool for banks and insurers. The team that developed the model are working on the addition of bond and futures markets.

Economy & Markets

Rocket Stocks in China Hit a Speed Bump

Several Chinese companies tied to commercial rocket production cautioned investors to slow down after a recent rally in share prices, saying irrational speculation is driving investment too far ahead of short-term industry prospects, Bloomberg News reported. Investor reaction was mixed. Huanyu Communication Technology shares closed down 18.3 percent, and Goldwind Science & Technology declined 3.4 percent. China Spacesat rose 4.17 percent. Among the companies issuing warnings were China Aerospace Times Electronics Technology, CICT Mobile Communication Technology and Leiki Defense Technology. Fu Zhifeng, chief investment officer at Shanghai Chengzhou Investment Management, told Bloomberg it appears that regulators want to cool speculative fever. Shares of industry players have surged since December as Chinese companies began launching reusable rockets and as the government stepped up its program for low-altitude satellite constellations to challenge Elon Musk's Starlink project.

GigaDevice Shares Rise in Market Debut

Shares in Beijing-based designer GigaDevice Semiconductor surged 37.5 percent from their offer price in their first day of trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday, following an oversubscribed initial public offering that raised HK$4.68 billion (US$600 million). The company was already listed in Shanghai and is among a host of mainland technology companies raising money through share sales in the city. Investors have flocked to the new listings, betting that China's vow to become self-sufficient in technology will produce profits.

China Stands Firm on Rare Earths

China, the world's largest producer of rare earth elements vital in carmaking, electronics and other advanced industries, reaffirmed its commitment to maintain stability in the global supply chain after Group of Seven finance ministers at a meeting in Washington agreed to reduced dependence on China for the minerals. China's foreign ministry said, "China's position has not changed."

Shanghai Rolls Out Measures to Encourage Spending

Shanghai has unveiled a new package of measures aimed at spurring consumer spending. The measures encourage financial institutions to develop products tailored to spending in areas such as holidays, night life and the anime culture. Authorities said they will provide interest-rate subsidies for consumer lending. Shanghai also said it plans to streamline auto loans by easing application requirements and setting reasonable lending benchmarks. Credit support will be expanded to include larger purchases, including home renovation and energy-efficient household appliances.

US Banks Kick Off 4Q Reporting Season

Major US investment banks kicked off the fourth-quarter reporting season with JP Morgan posting a 7 percent rise in revenue to US$47 billion, though profit fell 7 percent to US$13 billion related to its takeover of the Apple Card loan portfolio. The bank forecast 2026 net interest income of about US$103 billion. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will report earnings this week. US banks are mounting a campaign to deflect President Donald Trump's demand that they cap credit card interest rates – a major source of income – at 10 percent for a year.

Corporate

Alibaba's Qwen Tops Global Downloads

Alibaba's Qwen family of artificial intelligence models recorded 700 million downloads on the Hugging Face AI platform so far this month, making it the most popular open-source AI system worldwide, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Qwen team. Hugging Face data show that Qwen overtook similar large language models from Meta, DeepSeek, OpenAI, Mistral, Nvidia, ZhipuAI, Moonshot and MiniMax in December. In 2023, Alibaba was the first major Chinese tech company to open-source its Qwen models, which cover both text and multimodal tasks and support 119 languages.

Defu Dumps Plan to Acquire Luxembourg Copper-Foil Maker

Defu Technology, a maker of thin copper foil vital in production of printed circuit boards, said it's scrapping its 174 million euros (US$200 million) plan to acquire Circuit Foil Luxembourg from Volta Energy Solutions after the Luxembourg government put unacceptable conditions on the sale. The restrictions limited the Jiangxi-based company to only a minority stake, with no veto power over management decisions. Defu said it instead plans to buy a 51 percent stake in Huiru Technology, a Chinese supplier of electrolytic copper foil. No price was disclosed.

Zonsen PepLab Signs Licensing Pact with Novartis

Chinese biopharma company Zonsen PepLib Biotech said it has secured a licensing deal with Swiss-based multinational Novartis to develop a new peptide-based treatment. The Zhuzhou-based company said the agreement includes an upfront payment of US$50 million, with further payments tied to development and sales targets and royalties. The company's peptide drugs are aimed at cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Diageo Said to Be Considering Sale of China Assets

UK-based liquor maker Diageo is looking at possible sale of China assets as it seeks to streamline its portfolio, Bloomberg News reported. In November, the maker of Johnnie Walker and other spirits, flagged a double-digit decline in China sales. The company has a 63 percent stake in Sichuan-based Swellfun, which distributes popular mainland distilled liquor called baijiu. Diageo earlier said it will sell its 65 percent stake in East African Breweries, ending direct holdings on the continent.

Tesla Launches HarmonyOS App Beta

Tesla launched a beta version of its mobile app for Huawei's HarmonyOS, marking a deeper integration with China's smartphone ecosystem. The app is now available for testing on Huawei's AppGallery platform. The current version introduces a range of functions tailored for Huawei devices, including monitoring of real-time charging, remote charging start and stop, and trip planning. The app also allows Huawei smartphones to function as remote-control digital car keys.

China Car Sales in Europe Forecast to Continue Growth

Sales of China-made electric vehicles in Europe are expected to maintain an annual growth rate of 20 percent in the next two years, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, told Yicai. His comments came after China and the EU agreed first steps in resolving a dispute over EU tariffs imposed in 2024 on Chinese new energy vehicles, which the trading bloc said were necessary to protect the European industry from lower-priced imports. Despite tariffs, Chinese automakers captured a record 13 percent of Europe's electric-vehicle market in November, according to researcher Dataforce.

Xpeng Plans Supply Chains in Europe, Southeast Asia

Chinese startup Xpeng Motors plans to establish independently operated local supply chains in Europe and Southeast Asia this year, following the launch of car manufacturing sites in both locations, Yicai Global reported.