Daily Buzz: 2 February 2026

China's President Calls for Push Into 'Future Industries'

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged policymakers to accelerate the development of "future industries," as Beijing seeks technological leadership in the world and new growth engines at home. Speaking at a Communist Party Politburo group study session, Xi said a new wave of scientific and industrial transformation is gathering pace, with frontier technologies emerging rapidly and reshaping global competition. He called for China to take a forward-looking and coordinated approach to cultivating industries with strategic potential. The term "future industries" typically covers areas including advanced chips, new display technologies, aerospace, low-altitude commercial aviation, advanced materials and biomedicine.

ADAspace Off and Running in Global Race for Orbital Computing

Wang Yabo, vice president of China commercial aerospace startup ADAspace, told a conference in China last week that the company's ambitious plan to develop a 2,800-satellite space computing network has successfully gotten underway with the deployment of several satellites using Alibaba's Qwen-3 large language model -- the world's first general purpose AI model to be operated in orbit. The system can process data and return it to Earth in two minutes or less. The first tests in space included so-called "real inference tasks" in contrast to passive benchmarking or post-mission analysis, indicating the system is integrated with onboard processors and satellite sub-systems to enable near-real-time data processing without relying on constant downlinks to ground stations. ADAspace said the technology will benefit self-driving vehicles, drones and robots across land, air and sea. Chinese firms are competing against Elon Musk, among others, in a global race to develop massive space-based, high-speed computing power using the cheaper costs of solar energy outside the Earth's atmosphere.

Iran Warns of Regional War if US Attacks

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that a US attack on his country would spark a regional war and Iran is not afraid of US scaremongering. US President Donald Trump, in response, said if Iran doesn't reach a nuclear agreement with the Washington, the world will soon see whether the warning is accurate. "Why wouldn't he say that? Of course, you can say that," Trump said. "But we have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world, over there, very close." The US military has moved an aircraft carrier and warships to the Middle East. Despite the harsh words, Trump earlier said both nations are in talks. The US wants to end what it says is Iran's nuclear weapons development and limit ballistic missile production. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and says its missile program is non-negotiable.

Separately, Iran said an explosion in an eight-story residential building that killed one person in its southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday was caused by a gas leak, easing anxieties of a US attack. The semi-official Tasnim news agency denied social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander had been targeted in the Bandar Abbas explosion. A separate gas explosion in the city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border killed four people, according to the Tehran Times.

Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 32 in Gaza

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 32 Palestinians, including children, and injured 31 on Saturday, the highest one-day death toll in more than two months, CNN reported, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Since a ceasefire came into effect last October, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed. Israel said the latest strikes were aimed at Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.

The Rafah crossing at Gaza's border with Egypt is scheduled to being reopening today after the remains of the last hostage in Gaza were released to Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement. The crossing is a key gateway to Gaza. Palestinians needing medical attention are expected to be the first beneficiaries of the looser border restrictions.

Top Business

BYD Suffers Fifth Straight Month of Lower Sales

BYD, which unseated Tesla last year as the world's top seller of new energy vehicles, suffered its fifth straight month of sale declines in January, Reuters reported, citing a Sunday stock market filing. The automaker, which is ramping up efforts to expand overseas, said sales fell 30 percent from a year earlier, amid tough domestic competition and weak mainland consumer spending. BYD sold 210,051 vehicles globally last month. About half of those sales were plug-in hybrids, and about half were exports. Production in the month was down 29 percent, extending a decline that began last July. On the mainland, BYD last month launched upgraded versions of several plug-in hybrid models with long-range batteries. The company said in January that it is aiming for overseas shipments of 1.3 million vehicles this year. Its new electric car plant in Hungary is scheduled to begin operations this year. The company also has plants in Brazil and Thailand, with factories planned in Indonesia and Turkey.

Chipmaker Wingtech Projects Wider Loss for 2025

Shanghai-based chip company Wingtech, which has been in a running dispute with its Dutch subsidiary Nexperia, said it may post a 2025 loss of between 9 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) and 13.5 billion yuan in 2025, exceeding its 2.8 billion yuan loss in 2024. Wingtech blamed the Dutch government's takeover of chipmaker Nexperia for the expected poor earnings, the South China Morning Post reported. The September takeover was a knock-on effect from new US restrictions placing subsidiaries of Chinese companies on the same trade blacklist as their parents. Wingtech said in its preliminary earnings statement that its authority over Nexperia continues to be "temporarily restricted." The battle between parent and subsidiary began over management disagreements and spread to wafer shipments from Nexperia to Wingtech, threatening the global supply chain in automaking. The takeover is the subject of a lawsuit pending in the Dutch judicial system.

China's CSPC Signs AstraZeneca Deal Valued at Up to US$17.3 Billion

UK pharma giant AstraZeneca said it will license experimental weight-loss drugs from China's CSPC Pharmaceutical and collaborate on other projects, paying a US$1.2 billion upfront fee and promising further payments of up US$17.3 billion if development and sales milestones are met. The newly licensed drug candidates include CSPC's SYH2082, a "clinical-ready" product, and three other pre-clinical products in its injectable weight-management portfolio. It's the largest deal to date for Hong Kong-listed CSPC, which is based in Hebei Province. AstraZeneca said investment in China's pharmaceutical sector are key to supporting the company's target of launching 20 new medicines by 2030.

China-Listed Chip Makers Signal Strong Earnings Growth

China's listed semiconductor companies are poised to report strong profits for 2025 amid rising demand and prices for chips, and government initiatives to develop national self-sufficiency in chipmaking, the South China Morning Post reported. In preliminary earnings reports, graphics processing unit designer Cambricon Technologies said it expects net profit of up to 2.2 billion yuan, (US$316 million) -- its first year of profit. Moore Threads forecasts a narrowing of its loss to 1 billion yuan on a 247 percent rise in revenue. MetaX is predicting its loss will narrow by half to up to 798 million yuan. Hangzhou-based Great Microwave Technology said it may show up to 145 million yuan in profit on heavy demand from customers in the specialized integrated circuits market, and Biwin Storage projected up to a 520 percent surged in profit to 1 billion yuan. China Micro Semicon forecasts a doubling of profit and GigaDevice Semiconductor said it expects earnings to grow 46 percent.

Economy & Markets

China Factory Activity Contracts

China's factory activity fell in January after ending a record-long contraction in December, according to National Bureau of Statistics figures released on Saturday. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.3 in January from 50.1 in December. The 50-mark divides expansion from contraction. The index for non-manufacturing activity fell 0.8 percentage point to 49.4. The figures coincide with the first month of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), under which the government has pledged to boost economic stimulus, including more incentives to address weak consumer demand. At the same time, Beijing has committed to continue industrial upgrading and to end oversupply in some sectors. China reported 5 percent growth for 2025.

New Home Prices Rise, Resale Prices Narrow Decline

Average prices of new homes across 100 Chinese cities rose in January and declines in the resale market declined, Reuters reported, citing China Index Academy, a mainland property research firm. The improvement in the slumping residential real estate market comes after government initiatives to try to stabilize the sector. New home prices rose 0.18 percent from December, slowing from a gain of 0.28 percent gain in December in larger cities that include Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chengdu. Prices in lowest-tier cities, however, continued to decline. In the existing home market, sales fell 0.85 percent in January, narrowing from a decline of 0.97 percent a month earlier. Home sales are likely to slow this month because of the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday that begins mid-month, then pick up in March, the research firm said.

Bitcoin Continues Downward Trajectory

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value, was trading just above a nine-month low of US$77,000 this morning, continuing a steady decline that accelerated over the weekend, Reuters reported. Bearish sentiment was most recently stoked by fears that Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell when his term expires in May, may tighten liquidity in the financial system. Cryptocurrencies are beneficiaries of a large Fed balance sheet that greases money markets. Bitcoin has lost about a third of its value since a record high last October. CoinDesk.com said the cryptocurrency probably has more room to drop.

Corporate

Kuaishou Video Platform Fined by Chinese Regulators

Beijing-based Kuaishou Technology, which operates China's second-largest short-video platform, said its Kuaigou Technology unit was fined 26 million yuan (US$3.7 million) for multiple violations and misconduct in its live-streaming practices by the State Administration for Market Regulation. Regulators have announced they will crackdown on misbehavior across the internet sector, including false or misleading advertising and improper content. Kuaigou said in a statement that it accepts the penalty and will comply with regulations.

Pop Mart to Base European Regional Office in UK

China toy maker Pop Mart, creator of the Labubu doll frenzy, has chosen London for its European headquarter and said it would open seven more UK shops and 20 across Europe. The toothy grin, pointy-eared Labubu dolls have become collectors' items since going viral on social media 18 months ago. Pop Mart is among a group of Chinese companies expanding overseas to counter weaker mainland spending.

Xiaomi, Ford Deny Report of Joint Venture Talks

Chinese electric carmaker Xiaomi and US car giant Ford Motor denied a Financial Times report that they held talks exploring a joint venture to manufacture new energy autos. Last week, US Republican Congressman John Moolenaar sent a letter to Ford warning about possible risks, following a report that the company might be interested in forming a venture with BYD, China's largest electric carmaker. He also expressed concern about reports that Ford's planned US$3 billion data center in the US might use batteries from China's Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world's biggest maker of batteries for electric cars.

Kangtai, Walvax Project Higher Earnings

Shenzhen-based vaccine maker Kangtai Biological said it expects its overseas income last year surged more than 859 percent to 98.8 million yuan (US$14.2 million) from 2024. That followed a Chinese industry report that vaccine shipments to 85 countries rose 53 percent to US$324 million, even as prices for the injections fell. Walvax Biotechnology, based in Yunnan Province, said it expects its overseas revenue grew 35 percent last year.

Schroders, Octopus Announce New China Deals

UK money manager Schroders said it will work with Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) to help develop an investment platform in Europe for battery energy storage systems. In another UK-related deal announced during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to China last week, Octopus Energy announced the formation of a joint venture with China's PDG Power to trade renewable energy.