Daily Buzz: 28 January 2026

UK Prime Minister Arrives in Beijing, Trade Tops the Agenda

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer begins a three-day visit to China today aimed at resetting bilateral trade ties. He will be seeking, like Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carnery in a trip to China a week earlier, to diversify from the US market, the nation's largest trading partner, amid tensions with the Trump administration. However, Starmer told Bloomberg News before he left London that it's not a matter of being forced to choose between the US or China, saying he will maintain close ties with the US on security and defense but "sticking your head in the sand and ignoring China ... wouldn't be sensible." The Chinese newspaper Global Times on Monday touted Beijing's credentials as a reliable trading partner because China advocates a free, multilateral trade system. China is Britain's fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade last year valued at about US$141 billion. However, China accounts for only about 0.2 percent of direct foreign investment in the UK, a figure Starmer will be hoping to increase. He's the first British leader to visit the Chinese mainland in eight years.

India, EU Sign 'Mother of All Deals' in Trade

India and the EU signed a trade agreement they called the "mother of all deals" on Tuesday, capping two years of negotiations. The deal will gradually remove almost all tariffs on each other's imports. For its part, the EU will cut tariffs on 99.5 percent of goods imported from India over seven years, though some agricultural products are exempt. The deal is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032. India will be slashing tariffs on imports of EU cars and alcohol, among other items. The agreement is seen as another shift in global trade as countries hedge their bets amid tariff and other trade tensions with the Trump administration. Washington and New Delhi have yet to agree on a trade deal, with India still under 50 percent US tariffs – half related to its Russian oil purchases. The EU recently signed a landmark trade agreement with the South American bloc of nations called Mercosur, and India last year signed a major trade deal with the UK.

Cancelled China-Japan Flights to Hit Lunar New Year Holiday

China has cancelled scheduled flights on 49 air routes between China and Japan, the China news service ecns.com reported. Global Times, citing aviation industry information provider Umetrip, reported that about 45 percent of all flights to Japan had been cancelled as of Monday, with Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Dalian, and Guangzhou showing the highest number of cancellations. China has been urging its residents to avoid travel to Japan since October, when remarks related to Taiwan made by then incoming Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi were condemned by China. The raft of cancelations will cover the nine-day Spring Festival holiday, which begins February 14 – a big travel season for Chinese people. The Japan National Tourism Organization said numbers of mainland visitors in December dropped 45 percent from a year earlier.

Doomsday Clock Is Ticking, Anthropic Issues AI Warning

The so-called Doomsday Clock, created by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in 1947 amid global nuclear tensions, has been moved to 85 seconds to midnight this year – it's closest ever to the hour that represents the time when human activities make the Earth uninhabitable. "Humanity has not made sufficient progress on the existential risks that endanger us all," said Bulletin President Alexandra Bell. "Every second counts, and we are running out of time." She cited risks from nuclear weapons, climate change and "disruptive technologies."

Separately, Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei, the architect behind the powerful AI large language model Claude, warned in an essay published this week that super-human intelligence poses a "real danger" that could cause damage to civilization if countermeasures aren't taken now. He wrote: "I believe we are entering a rite of passage, both turbulent and inevitable, which will test who we are as a species. Humanity is about to be handed almost unimaginable power, and it is deeply unclear whether our social, political and technological systems possess the maturity to wield it." Two years ago at a tech forum, he said he wasn't certain there are any limits to artificial intelligence.

Top Business

Anta Sports to Acquire Largest Stake in Puma

China's Anta Sports said it will buy a 29.06 percent stake in Puma from the French Pinault family for 1.5 billion euros (US$1.8 billion), making it the biggest shareholder in the German sportswear maker. Hong Kong-listed Anta, one of the world's biggest sportswear companies, said in a stock exchange filing that it will pay 35 euros per share in cash for 43 million Puma shares. The deal comes as Puma seeks to recover from losing market share to rivals Nike and Adidas, and to increase its sales in China.

China Bans Dementia Drug Made by India's Sun Pharma

China's pharmaceutical regulator order a halt to the import and sale of a drug to treat dementia and Alzheimer's made by India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. The National Medical Products Administration said a recent inspection found shortcomings in the company's production and quality-management processes related to rivastigmine hydrogen tartrate capsules. The US Food and Drug Administration last year issued a warning related to the drug.

Economy & Markets

China Industrial Profits Post First Annual Gain in Four Years

Chinese industrial profits rose 0.6 percent last year, the first annual gain since 2021. That followed data from the Bureau of Statistic showing profits for December alone increased 5.3 percent from a year earlier, turning from a 13 percent drop in November. The higher profits reflect government efforts to quell price wars in sectors such as autos and solar panel, to streamline and upgrade the industrial sector, and to promote overseas expansion. For 2025, profits at state-owned companies fell 3.9 percent, profits at foreign-invested companies rose 4.2 percent, and profits at privately-owned firms were flat. The data cover companies with annual revenue of 20 million yuan (US$3 million) or higher.

Jingdong Property Files for IPO in Hong Kong

JD.com property arm Jingdong Property filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong. No financial details were given. The company said in an exchange filing that it provides a platform for developing and managing infrastructure, primarily for logistics parks. It reported assets under management of 121.5 billion yuan (US$17.5 billion) as of last September. Revenue in the first nine months of 2025 rose 21 percent to 3 billion yuan, and the firm's net loss narrowed to 159 million yuan. Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Haitong International Capital are the joint sponsors for the IPO.

Shanghai, Hong Kong Deepen Gold Trading Ties

Shanghai and Hong Kong signed an agreement to strengthen cross-border gold trading to support Hong Kong's ambition to become an international gold trading hub. The deal aims to establish a cross-boundary gold trading and clearing framework, and expand physical gold storage capacity in the city to more than 2,000 tons within three years. The agreement comes as the global gold price remained at above a record US$5,100 an ounce.

Corporate

BYD, Exxon Mobile Strengthen Partnership

China's largest electric carmaker BYD said it will strengthen its partnership with US oil giant Exxon Mobil in development of hybrid technology. The two companies signed an agreement this week to explore customized product research and development, and collaborate on applications of advanced materials. Last year BYD launched an engine oil jointly with Exxon Mobile.

Yong Jie to Purchase Arconic Plants in China's mainland

Yong Jie New Material said it plans to acquire the Chinese mainland assets of assets of US industrial giant Arconic. The deal is valued as high as US$242 million. The assets include a plant in Qinhuangdao that produces aluminum cans and lithium-battery materials, and 95 percent of a factory in Kunshan that makes heat-management brazing materials for autos. The two factories, originally Alcoa-owned aluminum manufacturers, were bought by Arconic in 2016.

Chinese Shoppers Give LVMH a Sales Bump

French luxury-goods maker LVMH reported slightly higher fourth-quarter sales, helped by a bump from Chinese consumers. Global sales edged up 1 percent to 22.7 billion euros (US$27.1 billion), with Chinese shoppers, both on the Chinese mainland and traveling abroad, accounting for almost a third. Sales in Asia, including China, rose 1 percent.

StepFun Raises Funding for AI Development

Chinese AI startup StepFun, which works closely with Geely Automobile, has secured 5 billion yuan (US$719 million) of funding for product development. Investors in the fundraising included Tencent, Ximing Venture partners, SSCI Leading Private Equity Fund Management and China Life Private Equity Investment. StepFun was founded in 2023 by a former executive from Microsoft.

Guotai Junan Predicts 2025 Profit May Treble

Hong Kong-listed Guotai Junan International forecast its 2025 net profit would surge up to 293 percent to as much as HK$1.38 billion (US$170 million). The securities firm, an arm of Guotai Haitong Group, one of the Chinese mainland's largest brokerage firms, said the increase reflects income gains across its corporate finance, wealth management and trading operations.