Daily Buzz: 24 February 2026

China Calls on US to End Unilateral Tariffs

China's Commerce Ministry on Monday said it is doing a "full assessment" of Friday's US Supreme Court ruling that struck down President Donald Trump's 2025 "reciprocal" global tariffs and urged Washington to lift all "unilateral tariff measures." Trump lambasted the court ruling and immediately imposed new 15 percent across-the-board tariffs on all imports, invoking a different, never-before used US statute. "US unilateral tariffs violate international trade rules and US domestic law, and are not in the interests of any party," the ministry said. "Cooperation between China and the US is beneficial to both sides, but fighting is harmful." The state-run Global Times quoted Gao Lingyun, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as saying the US tariff decisions are "highly arbitrary" and are being wielded as a "political weapon." At first glance, China would appear to benefit from the tariff chaos because US duties on its goods are much higher than 15 percent.

Elsewhere, South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said there are concerns about the new tariffs across car, chip and battery industries. And the EU said it will accept no increases in tariffs and put on hold a vote to ratify a trade deal struck last year. Beginning today, US Customs said in a message to shippers that it will halt collection of tariffs now banned by the court decision.

China, Other Nations Issue Warnings Amid Mexico Violence

The Chinese Embassy in Mexico joined a host of other nations telling expatriates and tourists in Mexico to "remain vigilant" as violence erupted across the country after Mexican special forces, using intelligence assistance from the US, killed drug cartel kingpin Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes while attempting to arrest him. Reports of gunfights in the streets in Jalisco and other areas of the country also prompted the US, Canada, Australia, UK and India to urge expatriates and tourists to stay indoors.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Kim Reaffirmed as Leader

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was reaffirmed in the top post of general secretary at the Workers' Party congress in Pyongyang. The state-run KCNA news service said North Korea has "radically improved" since Kim took over from his father in 2011. He is expected to announce the next phase of the country's weapons program during the current party congress, which meets every five years.

Epstein Scandal Claims Another UK Heavyweight

Peter Mandelson, former UK business minister and one-time ambassador to US, was arrested by police on suspicion of misconduct in public office, a day after King Charles's younger brother Andrew was arrested on similar charges. The two cases relate to sensitive government information allegedly passed on to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while both men were in official government roles. Mandelson was fired as US ambassador last September after revelations of his association with Epstein, who committed suicide while on prison for child sex-trafficking. The unfolding scandal has weakened the Labor government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Top Business

Unitree Robots Perform Martial Arts at Temple of Heaven

Unitree robots that wowed millions of TV viewers during the CCTV Spring Festival Gala last week, were back to entertain with more kungfu. On Monday, the company released a 40-second video of 50 Unitree G1 humanoid robots in a precision martial arts performance at the iconic temple site. The robots looked so sci-fi that Unitree tagged the video "not AI-generated." On e-commerce sites like JD.com, the same robot models from four firms that performed on the gala were put up for sale, with prices ranging from 9,848 (US$1,425) to 699,849 yuan.

CapitaLand Slips Into the Red on China Property Slump

Singapore-based CapitaLand Investment, one of Asia's largest property companies, turned to a second-half net loss of S$142 million (US$112 million) from a year earlier profit of S$148 million, dragged down by its exposure to China's property slump, Business Times reported. For the full year, the valuation of China assets fell 5 percent, with offices and business parks hardest hit, said Chief Financial Officer Paul Tham. The valuation on its CapitaMall Westgate in the Chinese city of Wuhan was lowered to 1.7 billion yuan (US$240 million) at the end of 2025 from 1.9 billion yuan a year earlier. China's property market has been in a downward spiral since 2021, when a liquidity crisis caused some Chinese developers to default on debt.

Separately, the South China Post reported that shop rents in China have slid to 2018 levels as weaker consumer spending continues to weigh on the retail sector. In the second half of 2025, average rents across 100 major commercial streets in 15 key Chinese cities fell to 24 yuan (US$3.50) per square meter a day, according to a report published by independent real estate research firm China Index Academy.

Economy & Markets

Asia-Pacific Investors Dismiss Tariff Ado, Wall Street Drops

Asia-Pacific stock markets, the first to open after the weekend kerfuffle over new US tariffs, appeared to shrug off trade confusion and posted gains on Monday. South Korea's Kospi index jumped 0.65 percent to a new record, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.5 percent on bets that the new US tariff regime may actually benefit Chinese exporters. Investors resumed interest in big tech companies. Alibaba shares rose 3.5 percent, Tencent climbed 3 percent and Semiconductor Manufacturing International was up 5 percent. However, large-language model startups Zhipu and MiniMax tumbled as profit-takers moved in after huge recent rallies. China and Japan resume trading today after holidays.

European and US markets that follow the Asian trading day weren't so sanguine. The broad S&P index in New York fell 1 percent, and the Stoxx600 in Europe was down 0.5 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.1 percent on concern about how Anthropic's new AI code security tool will affect the software industry. IBM shares plunged 13 percent. Gold futures were trading up 3.3 percent at US$5,248.80 in late trading, and Bitcoin was down 4.2 percent at US$64,543.

PayPal Share Plunge Attracts Takeover Interest

PayPal, the digital payments pioneer whose co-founders included Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, is attracting takeover interest from potential buyers after its shares plunged 46 percent in a year, Bloomberg News reported. Its shares jumped 5.8 percent on the speculation. Founded in the late 1990s, PayPal has had to compete with an array of newer digital payment systems, including Apple Pay and Google Pay. PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002 and spun off into a separately listed company in 2014.

Corporate

Harbour BioMed Enters Licensing Agreement

Shanghai-based Harbour BioMed announced it has signed a deal with venture capital syndicate Solstice Oncology, giving Solstice exclusive rights to develop and market its clinical-stage, anti-tumor antibody drug HBM4003 outside of China. The deal is valued at more than US$1.2 billion and pairs a traditional licensing agreement with an equity stake, the company said on its website. The drug is in Phase II testing for use against melanomas and colon cancer.

Geely Car Unit Issues Recall

Geely-owned Volvo Cars issued a recall for 40,000 of its flagship electric EX30 SUVs because their battery packs risk overheating, Reuters reported. The move is viewed as a setback for the Swedish carmaker's reputation for safety.

Phone maker Honor to Unveil Its First Humanoid Robot

Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Honor will launch its first humanoid robot and "robot phone" at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that opens on March 1. Chinese phone makers like Xiaomi and Vivo are also branching out into humanoid robots. In 2025, Honor's smartphone phone sales rose 9 percent to 71 million units, with overseas sales for the first time outpacing domestic sales with a 47 percent increase.

Concord New Energy Signals Profit Decline

Hong Kong-listed renewable energy firm Concord New Energy said it expects 2025 profit to tumble more than 80 percent from a year earlier profit of 800 million yuan (US$116 million). In a filing with the Hong Kong exchange, the Singapore-based company cited limited grid absorption capacity in China damped sales, while competition in market-based electricity trading drove down average electricity prices. The company said it has cut its full-time workforce by 30 percent. The company is engaged globally in the investment and operation of wind and solar power, and energy storage projects.