Daily Buzz: 22 January 2026

Trump Makes Stunning Retreat on Greenland

Trump US President Donald Trump defused the crisis he created over Greenland in a surprise announcement that he and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte reached a framework agreement related to the future of the Arctic island. He also withdrew punitive tariffs due to be imposed on eight European countries and dropped threats to use force to acquire the island that is under Danish control. His announcement came hours after a belligerent speech at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland. Trump later told CNBC that the framework deal involves including Greenland in the US Golden Dome missile defense system and giving the US minerals rights on the island, which has the world's eighth-largest reserves of rare earth elements vital in industrial production. Asked how long the deal will last, Trump said "forever."

A NATO spokesman said the deal is aimed at "ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold – economically or militarily – in Greenland." The agreement comes after major European allies, in a rare, sharp rebuff to Washington, mounted a wall of opposition to Trump's earlier rhetoric about a takeover of Greenland by any means necessary. The dramatic climbdown triggered a relief rally on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 index chalking up a 1.2 percent gain after heavy losses a day earlier.

Starmer Set to Visit China to Revive 'Golden Era' Ties

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is scheduled to visit Beijing next week, marking the first trip to China by a British leader since 2018. The visit aims to revive a "golden era" of economic cooperation through a revamped business dialogue, Reuters reported. Top executives from major British firms, including HSBC, British Petroleum and Jaguar Land Rover, are expected in his entourage. China is the UK's fourth-largest trading partner, accounting for about 5.5 percent of total British trade. China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a Wednesday press conference that amid current turbulence in the world, it is in the interests of both countries and the world for China and the UK, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, to strengthen exchange and cooperation.

'If We're Not at Table, We're on the Menu'

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, fresh from a visit to China, told the World Economic Forum in Davos that the "old order is not coming back" and smaller economies like Canada that sit outside the big power axis need to act together to prevent becoming the victims of power plays. "We need to act together because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu," he said. "The world is in the midst of a rupture, not a transition." He didn't mention US President Donald Trump by name in his address. Trump, who has said on occasion that Canada should become America's 51st state, responded to Carney's speech by saying, "Canada lives because of the US. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make statements."

Shanghai to Open Airspace to Consumer Drones

Shanghai will open "free-to-fly" zones in the city for consumer-related unmanned aerial vehicles from February 1, as part of China's push to develop low-altitude commerce, the South China Morning Post reported, citing ThePaper.cn. Under the new guidelines, registered aerial vehicles will be allowed to fly in certain "suitable airspace" covering about 46 percent of the city. Three parks, including the Shanghai Botanical Garden, have been designated as "experience zones" for drone flights. Low-altitude is defined as airspace below 1,000 meters, and aerial vehicles include drones, electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles such as flying taxis, and other aircraft used for logistics, tourism, agriculture and emergency services.

Top Business

Huawei Hits Out at EU Tech Restrictions

China tech giant Huawei rebuked EU plans to phase out use of components and equipment from suppliers in critical sectors that it considers "high risk" -- a category that the US has used to blacklist Huawei and its Chinese rival ZTE. Revisions to the EU's Cybersecurity Act follow a rise in cyber and ransomware attacks, triggering concerns about foreign interference and Europe's reliance on non-EU technology suppliers, CNBC reported. The measures include sectors such as cloud services, surveillance equipment, drones and semiconductors. The EU hasn't singled out any companies or countries by name. A Huawei spokeswoman said, "A legislative proposal to limit or exclude non-EU suppliers based on country of origin, rather than factual evidence and technical standards, violates the EU's basic legal principles of fairness, non-discrimination, and proportionality, as well as its World Trade Organization obligations."

Moore Threads Predicts Narrower Loss

Moore Threads, a leading Chinese maker of graphics processing units, said it expects to show that its loss in 2025 narrowed to between 950 million yuan (US$132 million) and 1.06 billion yuan. The company, in a preliminary earnings statement, attributed the shrinking deficit to surging demand for high-performance chips in the AI sector and the successful mass production of its flagship MTT S5000 card. Despite achieving market-leading performance, Moore Threads acknowledged its heavy spending on research and development eats into profits as it seeks to close a technology gap with global industry giants. Since its December 5 debut on the Shanghai STAR market, the company's stock has been subject to volatile trading. After a 425 percent surge on its first day and a peak of 941.08 yuan, the share price closed at 627.3 yuan on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalization of 294.8 billion yuan.

Nvidia Boss Plans Trip to China

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang plans a trip to China later this month, apparently to try to smooth the path for use of his company's H200 chips by mainland AI companies, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. His last visit was in July, when he was drumming up business for the less advanced H20 chip. In both cases, the visits follow US approval for export of the Nvidia chips to China. Beijing has not said whether the H200 chips will be welcome as the nation strives to become self-reliant in semiconductors and end reliance on foreign suppliers

Economy & Markets

IMF Raises China Forecast, Shanghai, Beijing Outpace National Growth

The International Monetary Fund raised its 2026 economic growth forecast for China to 4.5 percent from 4.2 percent, citing a reduction in US tariff rates under a trade truce and Beijing's economic stimulus measures. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, chief economist at the IMF, told Yicai Global that the trade shock at the height of 2025 trade tensions between the US and China "is fading and that provides some support to economic activity going forward."

Separately, both Beijing and Shanghai reported their municipal economies last year expanded 5.4 percent, beating the nationwide growth rate of 5 percent. In Shanghai, three pillar industries -- artificial intelligence, integrated circuits and biomedicine – grew a combined 9.6 percent last year to top a value of 2 trillion yuan (US$280 billion).

China Futures Exchanges Intervene Amid Price Volatility

The Shanghai Futures Exchange said it is raising margin trading requirements and widening daily price limits for gold, silver, copper and aluminum futures contracts in an effort to rein in risk amid a sharp rally that has sent prices to records. Margin trading is the practice of buying shares with money borrowed from brokerages. Regulators have taken action across capital markets this month to keep exuberant investors from driving prices to a breaking point. The actions have included limiting "flash trading," where algorithms are used to execute trades in split seconds.

The Guangzhou Futures Exchange intervened for the sixth time in a month amid volatile swings in the price of its futures contract on lithium carbonate. In the latest move, the exchanged widened the daily trading range to a maximum gain for 11 percent from the previous 9 percent. That means prices can rise higher without triggering a trading halt. Previous interventions have involved capping new positions and raising fees. Surging demand for lithium batteries and fears about supply shortages have cause futures prices to double since the start of November.

China Achieves Breakthrough in 6G Trials

China has reached a major 6G milestone by completing initial technical trials on the next generation of mobile communications technology. As the second phase of testing begins, the aim is for speeds 100 times faster than currently available on the internet, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said yesterday.

Separately, the ministry highlighted 2025 as a landmark year for advanced manufacturing and AI. Integrated circuit production jumped 27 percent, output of industrial robots jumped 28 percent and sales of new energy vehicles rose 28 percent. Looking toward the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), it said the government will prioritize "industries of the future" through specialized pilot zones and increased state-backed investment.

Biwin Cites Rising Memory-Chip Prices

Chinese giant Biwin Storage Technology, which specializes in research, design, packaging and testing of memory chips, said chip prices are likely to continue rising in the first half of 2026 on tighter supplies and higher demand from AI applications. The company said monthly capacity at its advanced packaging and testing site in the southern city of Dongguan is expected to reach 5,000 wafers by the end of 2026 and 10,000 wafers by the end of 2027. Biwin said US-based SanDisk has raised the prices of its raised NAND flash chips by as much as 50 percent since November 2025. Rising memory prices are expected to lift the company's revenue and profit, it said. The firm added that shipments of higher-value products for emerging AI cutting-edge applications are increasing, improving its product mix. It said inventories are currently adequate after proactive stockpiling.

Corporate

Harbour BioMed Takes Stake in Spruce Biosciences

Shanghai-based Harbour BioMed has acquired a stake in US-based Spruce Biosciences in a sign that Chinese drug developers are moving beyond one-time licensing deals with foreign pharma, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a company statement filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange. Harbour said it exercised warrants issued under a licensing agreement with Spruce, giving it about a 3.8 per cent holding. The purchase right was granted when Harbour subsidiary HBM Alpha Therapeutics signed a licensing agreement last year giving Spruce marketing and development rights to its early-stage treatment for rare hormone disorders. "This marks a significant milestone, moving us beyond a traditional licenser-licensee relationship to a truly strategic partnership," Wang Jingsong, founder and chief executive of Harbour, said in the statement.

FAW, Geely Lead Carmaker Forecasts of 2026 Sales

FAW Group and Geely led 11 automakers in 2026 sales forecasts, both targeting 3.5 million vehicles, Yicai Global reported. Startup Leapmotor predicted the biggest jump in sales with a forecast of 68 percent growth to 1 million cars. Aggregate sales forecasts of the 11 carmakers, both new energy and traditional fuel manufacturers, show a rise of 19 percent to 23.8 million vehicles. The carmakers' optimism contrasts with more restrained forecasts of slower domestic demand this year from trade associations and industry researchers. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturer has predicted total vehicle sales in China will rise 1 percent this year, the slowest pace in six years.

Shanghai Electric Forecasts Profit Surge

Shanghai Electric said on Wednesday it expects to show a sharp rise in full-year net profit for 2025, citing steady growth in its core businesses and improved operating efficiency. The Shanghai-based industrial group forecast profit will rise between 47 percent and 76 percent from a year earlier to between 1.1 billion yuan (US$158 million) and 1.32 billion yuan, according to a stock exchange filing. Shanghai Electric also said net profit excluding non-recurring items turned positive during the period, reversing a year-earlier loss.

Yuexiu Capital to Pare Citic Securities Stake

Guangzhou-based Yuexiu Capital Holdings said it plans to reduce its 8.5 percent stake in brokerage Citic Securities by 1 percent and invest up to 1 billion yuan (US$140 million) to buy more shares in utility operator Beijing Enterprises Holdings, raising its stake from the current 4.4 percent. It said the reallocation of its portfolio will be transacted over this year and next.

Skyworth Plans Solar Spinoff

China's Skyworth Group, which designs, manufactures and sells smart household appliances, said it plans to spin off its solar business and distribute shares to minority shareholders as part of a broader restructuring, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. Shares in Skyworth jumped 38 percent on Wednesday. The company currently owns 70 percent of Skyworth Photovoltaic and plans to list the unit. Shareholders will receive 0.37 shares of Skyworth Photovoltaic for each Skyworth share they hold.