Daily Buzz: 2 April 2026

NASA Successfully Launches First Manned Moon Mission in 54 Years

NASA successfully launched its first manned trip to the moon since 1972, a 10-day trip that will circumnavigate the moon but not land there. The Artemis II mission will take humans to the dark side of the moon for the first time in their furthest penetration into deep space. It's a prelude to a planned manned lunar landing on the moon by 2028, and comes after the first moonwalk in 1969 and subsequent landings that ended in 1972. The astronauts, three Americans and one Canadian, will be conducting tests that include technologies for a future base station on the moon. The 21st century space race has shifted from 1970s US-Russian rivalry to a US-China competition to land humans on the moon. China is hoping to land an uncrewed craft at the moon's south pole later this year, with plans to put astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030.

Trump Says War Objectives 'Nearly Completed," Gives No Withdrawal Timetable

In a live address to the nation, President Donald Trump said US objectives in the war against Iran are "nearly completed," but gave no timeline for withdrawal of US involvement. He said if there is no deal with Iran, the US will hit Iran's electricity-generating plants and oil infrastructure in the next 2-3 weeks -- targets thus far avoided – and "bomb Iran back to the Stone Age." He said the US is "winning big" in the war, after destroying Iran's navy and air force, and "blown to pieces" military installations. He said Iran's "violent, thuggish regime" has been changed to "more reasonable" leaders and the nation has been "eviscerated, a bully no longer." He said the US has no need of Gulf oil and said Western countries that have refused to join in the war should "build up delayed courage, take the Hormuz Strait and protect it" after the US did all the hard work.

On high gasoline prices in the US, the president said they are short-term and will rapidly return to normal once the war ends. His remarks came after Reuters/Ipsos and CNN polls this week found two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the war and want it to end quickly. Gasoline prices in the US, a sensitive issue for consumers, have plowed through US$4 a gallon, a dollar higher than before the war and the highest price in four years.

Ahead of the speech, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a letter to the American public, laid out historical grievances with Washington but said Iran harbors no hostility toward the American people. Iran, which denied Trump claims that it has sought a ceasefire, said any end to the war must include guarantees against future attacks.

Japan's stock market, which was trading during the speech, was down 1.3 percent within an hour of Trump's speech. Shanghai and Hong Kong markets opened lower. Benchmark Brent crude futures for June delivery rose 5 percent to US$106 a barrel. (updated at 10am)

Musk Initiates Potentially Largest IPO in the World

Elon Musk's SpaceX, a major partner with NASA, confidentially filed for an initial public offering expected to be the largest in world history, CNBC and Bloomberg News reported. Sources said the company will seek to raise US$75 billion in a June share sale, valuing the company at US$1.75 trillion. Confidential filings are used by companies to submit financial information to market regulators for initial review without having to reveal it yet to the public. SpaceX, which develops reusable rockets and ultimately has eyes on humans landing on Mars, took over Musk's xAI unit in February, creating the most valuable private company ever.

Top Business

SAIC Motor Profit Surges Sixfold After Year-Earlier Asset Cleanup

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp reported 2025 profit skyrocketed sixfold to 10.1 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) from a year earlier on a 4.6 percent rise in revenue to 656.2 billion yuan. The dramatic profit gain reflects a 2024 provision of 7 billion yuan related to asset impairment involving its joint ventures, which include SAIC-GM. Beyond that lowered baseline, SAIC's core operations last year underwent a big structural shift. Sales of self-owned brands like MG, IM and Roewe rose 22 percent to 2.9 million vehicles, accounting for two-thirds of total company sales, a 5 percentage point increase. Full-year exports and overseas sales hit 1.07 million, up 3 percent. The MG brand alone sold over 300,000 units in Europe, cementing its position as the best-selling Chinese brand on the continent. Shanghai-based SAIC is China's largest state-owned automaker. While historically reliant on highly lucrative domestic joint ventures with Volkswagen and General Motors, the automotive giant is now pivoting toward new energy vehicles and aggressive global expansion to maintain its competitive edge in a fiercely contested market.

Stellantis Explores Canadian Car Venture With Leapmotor

US-based Stellantis is discussing the possibility of manufacturing electric vehicles in Canada in partnership with Chinese carmaker Leapmotor, Bloomberg News reported. If realized, it would be the first Chinese automobile investment in Canada since Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed in January to reduce import tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Carney said at the time that he wanted to attract new Chinese investment. The possible new joint venture would utilize an idled Stellantis plant in Ontario. The Trump administration earlier warned Canada of hefty new tariffs if the northern neighbor became a backdoor for Chinese vehicles sales in the US, where they are currently banned.

Alibaba Urges Responsible AI Development

Alibaba Group has teamed up with the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to release a white paper calling for stronger safeguards in the development of artificial intelligence, as autonomous AI agents gain wider adoption. The report outlines rising risks as AI systems increasingly execute complex tasks and independently allocate resources. It proposes three guiding principles for the industry: self-discipline, altruism and collaboration. Alibaba said security must become a foundational requirement rather than an optional feature, warning that growing use of AI agents is exposing vulnerabilities, particularly in code generation and tool execution. To address that, the company said it has embedded security measures across its full-stack AI ecosystem, spanning chips, cloud computing, models and applications. It has also trained its Qwen models on millions of real-world vulnerability samples to improve built-in safety.

Economy & Markets

China Airlines Raising Fuel Surcharges

China's domestic airlines are set to sharply increase fuel surcharges from April 5, driven by rising global oil prices. Xiamen Airlines and China United Airlines, the budget carrier under China Eastern Airlines, said surcharges for flights under 800 kilometer will rise to 60 yuan from 10 yuan, while those for longer routes will jump to 120 yuan from 20 yuan. Other carriers, including Spring Airlines and China Southern Airlines, are expected to follow suit. The hike reflects a surge in jet fuel costs, which typically account for over 30 percent of airline operating expenses. The higher fees mean passengers will pay as much as 170 yuan in combined taxes and surcharges per ticket. The announcement has triggered a wave of early bookings.

Asian Factory Activity Slows on Surging Fuel Costs

New data on Asian business activity in March pointed to factory slowdowns amid surging fuel costs and Iran war uncertainties. The S&P Global index of Japanese purchasing manufacturer fell to 51.6 in March from 53.0 in February, with input prices rising at their fastest rate since last August. The 50-mark separates activity expansion and contraction. Similar indices for Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines also dropped. The S&P Global Rating Dog purchasing managers' index for China slipped to 50.8 from 52.1 percent, although the official government index released a day earlier showed factory activity rising to 50.4 from 49, its fastest pace in a year. South Korea was the exception, with its factory activity expanding at the fastest pace in four years, led by strong demand for semiconductors.

China Expands Quotas for Domestic Financial Institutions

China raised the investment quotas for domestic financial institutions that are approved to invest in offshore securities by US$5.3 billion, responding to growing demand for offshore assets and elevated trading premiums in funds they operate. The investment quotas stood at US$176 billion this week. Seventy-eight financial institutions received new quotas, with securities and fund entities the biggest beneficiaries.

China State-Owned Company Profits Slip 2 Percent

Profits of China's state-owned and state-controlled companies in the first two months of the year fell 2 percent to 626.6 billion yuan (US$91 billion) from a year earlier, with aggregate revenue ticking up 0.2 percent to 12.6 trillion yuan, the Ministry of Finance reported.

China Sets Internet of Things Target for 2028

China has set a 2028 target for the core Internet of Things industry to exceed 3.5 trillion yuan (US$506 billion), according to a newly released plan. The number of connect terminal is set to increase to 10 billion by that year. The Internet of Things refers to vehicles, appliances and other physical objects that are embedded with sensors, software and network connectivity, allowing them to collect and share data via the internet.

Corporate

China Shipbuilder Reports 10 Crude-Carrier Orders

China State Shipbuilding (CSSC), the world's biggest shipbuilding conglomerate, said it will build 10 very large crude carriers for China Merchants Energy Shipping in a deal valued at 8.6 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion). The vessels will be constructed at a subsidiary shipyard in the northeastern city of Dalian, with deliveries scheduled between 2028 and 2030. The vessels will run on conventional fuel but can be upgraded to dual-fuel propulsion systems. China Merchants Energy Shipping is the world's largest owner of very large oil vessels by fleet size. Hong Kong-listed CSSC subsidiary, the.group's financial leasing and shipbroking arm, reported 2025 profit rose 8.1 percent to 1.98 billion yuan on a 0.2 percent rise in revenue to 4 billion yuan and 10 new shipbuilding orders.

Technology Glitches Affect Baidu Robotaxis, Apple

A system glitch hit Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxis in the city of Wuhan, causing multiple vehicles to stall and passengers to be temporarily stranded. The problem highlights one of the risks in self-driving cars that depend on computer control fed by electricity. Separately, a temporary software issue related to a system update led some Chinese iPhone users to unexpectedly activate Apple Intelligence, a feature under select Beta testing. The problem has been fixed. The official China launch of Apple Intelligence still awaits regulatory approval.

Xiaomi Hires Former Tesla China Executive

Xiaomi has hired former Tesla China executive Kong Yanshuang to strengthen its electric vehicle sales operations as tit seeks to gain ground in the competitive market, according to Jiemian News. Kong was previously Tesla China's regional general manager and played a key role in building the company's sales network and brand presence. Her arrival comes as Xiaomi accelerates its automotive push following the launch of its latest SU7 model. The company said orders for the new vehicle exceeded 15,000 within 34 minutes of release and topped 30,000 by March 23. Xiaomi President Lu Weibing said the company delivered more than 410,000 vehicles in 2025, with cumulative deliveries surpassing 600,000 as of February 2026. Xiaomi is targeting 550,000 deliveries for 2026.

QBoson Raises Funds for Quantum Computing Development

Chinese quantum technology startup QBoson raised 1 billion yuan (US$145 billion) in its latest fundraising round, led by Beijing Financial Holdings Group, ICBC Capital and China Merchants Bank International. The Beijing-based company said the proceeds will be used to overcome barriers to practical quantum computers and establish a pilot production line for quantum computing chips, Yicai reported. QBoson, founded in 2020, was among the earliest Chinese companies to focus on practical application of quantum computing.

Chinese Solar Module Makers Raise Prices

Leading Chinese makers of solar power modules raised their prices ahead of the April 1 elimination of the government's rebate on exports. The companies have been operating in an industry plagued by oversupply and rising prices of raw materials like silver. Trina Solar increased the price of modules between 8.1 percent and 8.5 percent. Jinko Solar raised prices of some specialty products up to 40 percent. InfoLink said prices may be higher but the market for solar products has not followed suit yet.

Meitu Hits 100 Million Overseas Users, AI Surge Drives Record Profit

HK-listed Meitu, an AI photo and video-editing app, reported overseas monthly active users surpassed 100 million in 2025, helping drive net profit up 65 percent to a record 965 million yuan (US$134 million). It said the main growth catalyst was the rapid adoption of AI agents that boosted global paid subscription rates. Core products including Meitu XiuXiu, BeautyCam and Wink have consistently secured No.1 rankings across multiple countries and regions on the App Store throughout the year.

Jereh Secures 5th US Contract for Gas Turbine Generators

Jereh Oilfield Services, a Chinese provider of oilfield engineering services, said it won a US$341 million contract to provide gas turbine generators for US data centers. The buyer wasn't disclosed. The deal is the fifth of its kind with US clients since November amid rapid growth in AI data computing. The value of the latest deal is equal to about 18 percent of the Yantai's 2024 revenue. The company has yet to report 2025 earnings.