Daily Buzz: 22 June 2026

Top News

US-Iran Talks on Permanent Peace Plan Flounder on Day One

The first round of face-to-face talks in Switzerland between the US and Iran on a final peace agreement got off to a shaky start on Sunday after Iran said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz to protest Israel's continuing deadly attacks in southern Lebanon and US President Donald Trump in Washington threatened to take over the strait and even kidnap the Iranian negotiating team unless the waterway is opened. However, before the Iranian delegation walked out of the talks in protest at his remarks, both sides reached a draft agreement over the US lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports, a precondition to more contentious talks on Iran's nuclear program. Pakistan and Qatar are mediators in the negotiations.

Iran and the US last week signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt hostilities, including in Lebanon, for 60 days to allow for talks on a permanent peace settlement. Iran accuses Israel of breaching the initial accord by killing more than 30 people in Lebanon since it came into effect last week. Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the US delegation in the talks, tried to downplay friction, saying progress has been made. "These things are always a little bit messy," he said. Benchmark Brent crude futures rose when oil trading resumed Sunday evening in New York, priced at just above US$81 a barrel.

Separately, Israeli strikes in Gaza, which is under a US-brokered ceasefire agreed to last October, killed at least six people, including an Al Jazeera cameraman and at least one child, according to health officials and rescuers. An estimated 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began.

'Summer Davos' to Convene, With Focus on Scaling Up Innovation

The annual World Economic Forum meeting in China, known as "Summer Davos," will meet from June 23-25 in the northeastern city of Dalian, with 1,700 people from around the world expected to attend. The theme of this year's event is "Innovating at Scale." Agenda topics will include the next phase of China's economic trajectory and how to translate advanced technologies into real economic benefits. Gao Weiqi, an official with China's National Development and Reform Commission said the gathering will focus on frontiers such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy, biotech and quantum computing.

Will UK Prime Minister Resign or Fight On?

Speculation swirled in the UK on Sunday that Prime Minister Keir Starmer may announce a timetable for his resignation as early as today, as his support among Labour Party colleagues erodes since popular rival Andy Burnham decisively won a seat in Parliament in a by-election days earlier. The outgoing major of Manchester sought to return to Parliament expressly to challenge the unpopular Starmer for leadership of the party. The prime minister was said to be assessing his future, though he has publicly maintained he will stay on and fight any leadership battle.

Crimea Suspends Gasoline Sales to Civilians

Crimea suspended gasoline sales to civilians on Sunday as Ukraine ramped up attacks on fuel depots on the Black Sea peninsula. Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of occupied Crimea, said overnight strikes killed four people. Fuel, he said, would be sold only to government agencies for an unspecified period of time.

Rightwing Candidate Leads Colombia Presidential Runoff Election

Abelardo de la Espriella, a Trump-endorsed far-right lawyer, looked set to win a presidential runoff election against Iván Cepeda, a left-wing senator and human-rights activist. De la Espriella has secured just under 50 percent of the vote, with nearly 95 percent of ballot boxes counted. The campaign was framed by debate over how to stop mounting violence related to drug cartels, illegal mining and armed militias. De la Espriella has vowed a return to full-scale military confrontation with armed groups, abandoning President Gustavo Petro's strategy of seeking a negotiated disarmament that was crafted by Cepeda.

Top Business

Leapmotor Warns of Future Glut in Self-Driving Chips

Leapmotor founder Zhu Jianming warned that the push by Chinese automakers to develop their own chips for autonomous vehicles could lead to a future supply glut. He issued the warniies like Huawei and automakers BYD, Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto are developing their own self-driving chips. Currently, all Leapmotor models deploy Qualcomm chips. However, Zhu said the company might consider developing its own chips if it attains a scale of production comparable to world leader Toyota Motor. Leapmotor sold 596,600 new energy vehicles last year, of which 67,000 were exports. It is aiming to sell 1 million cars this year, including overseas sales of 150,000.

China General Nuclear Begins Work in Massive Solar Project

China General Nuclear Power has begun construction on the world's largest concentrated solar power plant, which will be capable of generating up to 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. The project is located in the western province of Qinghai and covers about 3.7 million square meters, Yicai reported. The solar collection area and the thermal storage capacity will be the largest in the world. The project will use mirrors to reflect sunlight onto towers filled with molten salt, converting solar radiation into high-temperature heat, which in turn will produce steam to drive turbine generating thermal energy. The project is expected to save 320,000 tons of standard coal use a year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 860,000 tons, the company said.

Fuyao University Sparks Profit Debate

Fujian Fuyao University of Science and Technology raised eyebrows recently when its president Wang Shuguo said in an interview that all schools in the university would gradually generate enough revenue to cover costs. The private university was founded last year by Cao Dewang, the president of Fuyao Glass, a leading auto glass manufacturer. Wang's interview sparked widespread debate on whether universities should prioritize profits. Responding to criticism, Wang said the university does not put profit-making first but encourages all schools to conduct research that could increase revenue.

Japan to Increase Visa Fees

From July 1, the Japanese government will quintuple single-entry tourist visa fees to 15,000 yen (US$93), with multiple-entry visas also rising fivefold, to 30,000 yen. Japan's foreign ministry said the higher fees are in response to inflation and the weaker yen, noting that many city hotel taxes are also being raised.

Economy & Markets

LME to Launch Steel Futures Based on Shanghai Contract

The London Metal Exchange will launch a futures contract based on the steel hot rolled coil Shanghai contract in October, with a settlement price benchmarked on the Shanghai Futures Exchange's contract. The move will enable global investors to directly reference and adopt Chinese steel prices for hedging and trading, The deal between the Shanghai exchange and the London market was signed at the recent Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai. The Shanghai contract is the world's largest for plate steel by trading volume, averaging about 700,000 lots a day and providing reference pricing across the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and South America. The London exchange is the largest metals trading market in the world.

China to Set Up Liquidity Facility to Boost Yuan Usage

The People's Bank of China announced it will establish a new liquidity facility for overseas central banks and official institutions as a step toward boosting global demand for yuan assets. Under the facility, overseas central banks, monetary authorities, international financial organizations and sovereign wealth funds will be able to obtain yuan liquidity from the central bank through repo transactions using Chinese government bonds and other high-grade bonds as collateral.

Brexit, 10 Years On

Ten years to the month after the Brexit referendum pulled Britain out of the EU an EU think tank poll found that two-thirds of respondents across 15 countries in the continental bloc favor or lean toward a return of the UK. France and Spain have long said they would support Britain's readmission. In separate polling this month, about 57 percent of those surveyed in the UK said leaving the EU was a mistake. Return notwithstanding, both polls showed support for closer ties.

Corporate

Sam's Club Procurement Chief in China Resigns

Walmart China said Zhang Qing, chief merchandising officer for its Sam's Club operations on the Chinese mainland, is quitting for personal reasons. Neil Maffey was named acting procurement chief. Zhang's departure comes days after the State Administration for Market Regulation scolded Walmart China executives over a series of food safety issues at Sam's Club stores and told them to rectify the shortcomings. However, there is no indication that Zhang's departure is related to the issue. Yicai quoted an unidentified source as saying, "Food safety issues have begun to emerge from time to time, bringing significant pressure to retail procurement and product management" amid fierce market competition.

Uroica Precision to Expand Into Rocket Engine Components

Uroica Precision Information Engineering, a Chinese supplier of mine safety equipment, said it plans to invest 1 billion yuan (US$148 million) to build a factory to manufacture rocket engine components to tap growing demand from satellite launch providers. The new facility will be located in the eastern province of Shandong, with annual capacity to produce 120 sets of core rocket engine parts. It will deploy 3D printing technology. The company also announced it plans a 1-billion-yuan private share placement to fund the project.