Daily Buzz: 25 September 2026

Chinese President Says Competition With US Should Not Be a Wrestling Match

Chinese President Xi Jinping, arriving in Washington for a summit with President Donald Trump, said the world's two most powerful countries have the responsibility to ensure that artificial intelligence remains under human control and to manage its development for the benefit of all. In opening remarks after arriving at the White House, Xi also said he is ready to work with Trump to steer the "giant ship" of Sino-US relations on a steady course toward the future. He said China keeps its door open, welcoming US companies to invest and do business, and he hopes Chinese companies receive reciprocal treatment in America. Bilateral competition should be healthy and not a wrestling match where one side wins and the other loses, he said. "We can certainly find the right path for our two great countries to get along on this planet we both call home," he said. Ahead of formal talks, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a bilaterial truce in the 2025 trade war, due to expire in November, will be extended two months, allowing additional time to resolve outstanding issues.

OpenAI Agent Hacks Australia's National Healthcare System

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said an OpenAI agent hacked into Australia's national healthcare database in the first reported case of AI hacking a government portal. He told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that the rogue agent accessed files of the Medicare system, which covers all Australian residents for hospital treatment and visits to private physicians. The hack reportedly occurred when an OpenAI agent conducting researching into healthcare spending circumvented blocks to find answers in areas it had no authority to access, Albanese said. OpenAI said the incident occurred in June but the company was only made aware of it in August and informed the Australian government on September 10. That notification was sent to a public mailbox and didn't reach relevant officials for five days, Albanese said, calling the notification process flawed.

Separately, OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman and his Anthropic counterpart Dario Amodei, rivals in business, joined forces to urge the UN Security Council to take a lead in the quest for global standards governing the rapid development of AI models. Amodei, addressing the body by video link, said failing to take action could result in AI becoming "a risk to humanity as a whole." Altman, appearing in person, said global standards should cover "measuring capabilities, assessing risks, determining whether safeguards are sufficient and preserving meaningful human oversight."

Israeli Prime Minister Condemns 'Global Anti-Jewish Conspiracy'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a fiery speech to the UN General Assembly, decried what he called a "global anti-Jewish conspiracy" and lashed out at rising criticism of his nation's treatment of Palestinians. He called the dozens of delegates who walked out during his speech "cowards" and defended Israeli military campaigns in Iran, Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East as necessary for the nation's survival. Israel has come under withering criticism from other world leaders at the UN this week for Jewish settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and for its refusal to allow full and free access for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

Hours earlier, in a recorded video message, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN that Israeli policies threaten "the very life and existence of the Palestinian people." He said Palestinians are being subjected to "killing, destruction, starvation and attempts at displacement, as well as a genocidal war" in Gaza. Abbas spoke remotely because the US refused him a visa to attend the UN session in New York.

US-Iran Talks Plod Along With No Breakthrough Apparent

US-Iranian negotiations in New York are exploring a phased plan to end the seven-month war, which would include Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington lifting its economic blockade of Iran and its freeze on Iranian assets, Reuters reported. The biggest obstacle to success of the talks is that both sides are reluctant to be the first to cede current leverage in the conflict, sources said. A senior Iranian official was quoted as saying, "One way forward would be to solve the crisis in stages. The first would be to end the blockade and reopen Hormuz." That approach would require the US to accept a temporary fix, after an earlier, more comprehensive understanding collapsed in July. Oil prices rose, with global benchmark Brent crude futures closing in New York at US$106.60 a barrel.

Top Business

InnoCare Signs Deal With Eli Lilly Valued at Up to US$3.25 Billion

Beijing-based biotech company InnoCare Pharma announced it signed a research collaboration and licensing agreement with US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly to jointly develop new drugs targeting five areas of research. The deal could be valued at about US$3.25 billion if all milestone targets are met, plus deliver future royalties on sales of drugs. InnoCare specializes in development of drugs for the treatment of ⁠cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company reported first-half profit of 246 million yuan (US$37 million) on revenue of 1.1 billion yuan.

Tencent to Shut Down QClaw AI Assistant

Tencent's AI agent assistant QClaw will officially cease operations at midnight on December 24, with users able to back up configurations, memories and conversations or migrate to Tencent's WorkBuddy. New subscriptions or renewals are halted immediately. QClaw, one of the so-called "lobster matrix" products, was launched by Tencent earlier this year, based on the OpenClaw open-source ecosystem. The move signals Tencent's shift in AI Agent products, abandoning the open-source approach to concentrate resources on its proprietary office platform.

Morgan Stanley Internal List of 100 Investment Deals Leaked

A Morgan Stanley employee accidentally leaked a confidential internal document listing more than 100 investment deals the firm is pitching mostly in Asia, including candidates for initial public offerings from China to South Korea, Bloomberg News reported. The list also includes names of private equity firms and pensions funds backing various deals.

Economy & Markets

Hong Kong Poised for Largest-Ever Issue of Digital Green Bonds

Hong Kong is moving forward with a multi-currency digital green bond issuance valued at up to HK$20 billion (US$2.6 billion), which if completed would be the world's largest digital bond transaction to date. The bond will be issued in US dollars, Hong Kong dollars, euros and the offshore yuan. The Hong Kong government is currently holding investor meetings this week, with the issue rate potentially to be set as early as Monday. The government's earlier green bond issues have been used to support environmentally friendly, low-carbon projects.

US Bond Yields Rise to Multi-Decade Highs

US Treasury yields traded at multi-decade highs on Thursday, as investors bet the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates again this year to rein in persistently high inflation. The yield on the 30-year bond hit a 22-year high of 5.501 percent, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield surged to 5.223 percent, a level not reached since June 2007. UK, German and Japanese bond yields also rose. The rise in borrowing costs, affecting governments, companies and consumers, reflects fiscal, economic, geopolitical and inflation concerns, analysts said. Wall Street stocks markets closed flat to lower.

Wild Trading in Shanghai-Listed ShenGu Draws Regulatory Scrutiny

A more than 1,700 per cent share-price surge by ShenGu, a maker of centrifugal compressors, in the five days after it first listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange last week prompted regulators to close some trading accounts suspected of engaging in speculative trading, the South China Morning Post reported. The newspaper said the stock's meteoric rise highlights the risk of speculative trading by individual retail traders, who chase rumors, hot-stock trades or companies in industries deemed of national strategic importance, taking advantage of rules that set no daily limit on share trading for five days following a stock's listing debut. The exchange's 10 percent daily limit on share gains or losses comes into effect after that. ShenGu shares fell by 10 percent on Thursday. ShenGu's compressors are used in energy and chemical production, and it also makes pumps that can be used in nuclear power plants.

Zhen Ding Prices Overseas Convertible Bond Issue

Taiwan-based Zhen Ding Technology Holding, the world's largest maker of printed circuit boards, priced its sixth overseas convertible bond issue to raise NT$25.2 billion (US$800 million), with the issue seven times oversubscribed. The zero-coupon bonds, which are to list on the Singapore Exchange, carry a conversion-to-share price of NT$550.13, representing a 12.5 percent premium. Proceeds will be used to bolster working capital and fund advanced product technology development.

Luxury Brands Expand Online Presence

Global luxury brands are increasing investment in online flagship stores in China, with digital sales rising as much as 35percent in the first quarter, according to investment bank Bain. More than 100 overseas brands have chosen Alibaba's Tmall as their first e-commerce platform in China, including niche premium labels such as Eight Sleep, Helen Kaminski and Ami Paris. Gucci has expanded its Tmall flagship store to 3,000 goods, adding ready-to-wear, watches, jewelry and household products.

Corporate

BYD Launches New Sedan Under Premium Denza Brand

Denza, Chinese carmaker BYD's premium brand, launched the all-new Z9S electric sedan in three models, priced from 255,800 to 325,800 yuan (US$38,000-US$49,000). The vehicle features the second-generation Blade Battery and flash-charging technology, and has a range of up to 1,100 kilometers. It supports 5-minute basic charging and a full charge in 9 minutes, with stable charging even in extreme cold. The Z9S is equipped with the e3 vehicle intelligence control platform, DiSus-A air suspension, God's Eye 5.0 driver-assistance system and AI agents Didi Xia and Diva Smart.

JNBY Partners With Italian Handmade Footwear and Leather Goods Firm

Hangzhou-based fashion group JNBY signed a partnership deal with Marsèll, an Italian high-end handmade footwear and leather goods brand, under which it will exclusively manage all of Marsèll's operations on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Founded in Italy in 2001, Marsèll has had limited distribution in the Chinese market. JNBY was the first Chinese fashion brand to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, with a portfolio spanning womenswear, menswear, childrenswear and home lifestyle categories. However, it has lacked standalone footwear and leather goods lines.

China's 'Lipstick King' Faces Slower Sales Growth

China's so-called "Lipstick King" Li Jiaqi, who has been a prominent face of livestreaming in the beauty and cosmetics sector for a decade, is facing weaker consumer spending, slowing growth and AI avatars replacing human livestreamers, Reuters reported. Li has sold billions of dollars ‌worth of products to more than 100 million followers since he began livestreaming in 2016. "Growth may not be as explosive as it was four or five years ago," said Li, but he said the sector remains stable.

Separately, Chinese online, inexpensive cosmetic brand Uhue said it is exiting the domestic market this week. The brand rose rapidly after entering the market in 2019 with affordable lip glosses, eyebrow products and eye shadows, relying on influencer recommendations on the RedNote platform and livestreaming sales on Douyin. Its exit highlights the stress on viral cosmetics brands that don't have strong supply chains and can't sustain shifts in consumer preferences.

Sanxing to Provide US Data Center With Transformer Gear

Ningo-based Sanxing Medical Electric, a supplier of smart power meters, said it won a US$132 million contract to supply transformer equipment for the energy storage system of a data center in the US. The buyer wasn't identified. It marks a milestone in the company's efforts penetrate the American market as part of a global expansion. Sanxing's transformers are primarily used in grid distribution, industrial applications, renewable energy and infrastructure. In March, the firm secured 117 million euros (US$133 million) in orders from Dutch distribution network operator Enexis Netbeheer.

Bentley Launches First Fully Electric Model

Luxury car brand Bentley unveiled two versions of its first fully electric vehicle, the Torcal SUV, with a price starting of 173,300 pounds (US$229,000). Chief Executive Frank-Steffen Walliser said the lower price is aimed at attracting younger customers. Bentley said the Torcal's 113 kilowatt-hour battery gives it a range of up to 600 kilometers, and it can recharge from 10 percent to 80 percent in less than 20 minutes. The higher-performance Torcal S model has a top speed of 162 miles per hour and acceleration from zero to 60 miles an hour in 2.8 seconds.

China Advances Long-Acting Hypertension Vaccine

China's HJY Biotech said its experimental, long-acting hypertension vaccine has reached preset end-points targets in Phase I trial and will move to Phase II trials. Pretrials of the injection shows the vaccine lowering blood pressure in animal up to six months. The vaccine is part of a global race to develop longer-lasting hypertension treatments that could replace daily pills.