Daily Buzz: 30 January 2026

Starmer, Xi Evoke Warm Ties, Seek Areas of Mutual Interest

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, said China is a "vital player on the global stage" and the UK is seeking a "more sophisticated relationship." In turn, Xi said engagement between both countries is "unavoidable" despite past "twists and turns" in bilateral relations. The two leaders announced they will work together to stop migrant-smuggling networks and will pursue mutual interests in areas such as green technologies, pharmaceuticals and education services. During the visit, British pharma giant AstraZeneca announced it will invest US$15 billion to expand medicine manufacturing, research and development. Starmer's visit to China is the first by a UK leader since 2018 and comes amid increasingly strained relations with the US, Britain's biggest trading partner and strategic ally.

Where's AI Going? Look Skyward

China plans to launch space based AI data centers over the next five years, Reuters reported, citing Chinese mainland broadcaster CCTV. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp said it will "construct gigawatt-class space digital-intelligence infrastructure," according to a blueprint for the current Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). The goal is a challenge to Elon Musk's SpaceX program, which has similar deployment plans. Musk earlier said celestial supercomputers will be significantly cheaper to operate because solar energy to generate them will be fivefold more powerful in space than on Earth. The orbital data centers will "integrate cloud, edge and terminal (device) capabilities" and achieve "deep integration of computing power, storage capacity and transmission bandwidth," the Chinese report said.

Separately, Musk's vision of data centers in space gained momentum amid indications that the US founder of Tesla plans to merge his SpaceX and xAI businesses, bringing rockets, Starlink satellites and the Grok AI chatbot under one roof, Reuters reported.

Gold Frenzy Collapses a China Trading Platform

China's gold fever has led to the collapse of major gold trading platform JWR in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, leaving tens of thousands of retail investors with combined losses of more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion), according to the South China Morning Post and Chinese mainland financial news outlet Yicai. The platform's implosion came after retail investors rushed to take profits after weeks of soaring gains on record gold prices, creating a liquidity crunch and leaving the metals-trading platform unable to meet redemptions. Authorities in Shenzhen said a task force has been set up to probe JWR business practices.

In New York, profit-taking knocked gold from its latest record high after a 24 percent increase this month alone. The precious metal in late afternoon trading was down 1.5 percent at US$5,384.90 after clawing back earlier losses as high as 5 percent. Silver prices were down 1.8 percent.

US Says Russia to Halt Attacks on Ukraine Cities During Bitter Cold

US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed not to attack Ukrainian cities for a week due to "extraordinary cold" weather. The Kremlin hasn't confirmed the agreement. Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent week have left millions of people without heating or electricity during sub-freezing temperatures.

Top Business

Strong China Sales Escalate Apple Quarterly Revenue

Apple reported revenue in the fourth quarter surged 16 percent from a year earlier to US$143.8 billion on what Chief Executive Tim Cook called "staggering" demand for the new iPhone 17 series. IPhone revenue soared 23 percent to a record. The results, which exceeded analysts' forecasts, were lifted by strong sales in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which surged 38 percent to US$25.5 billion. Cook said the increase there was "frankly much greater than we thought we would see," driven by consumers upgrading older models or switching from other brands of smartphones. The company reported US$42.10 billion in net income.

Starbucks China Posts 11 Percent Rise in Revenue

Starbucks China in its fiscal first quarter ended December 31 posted an 11 percent increase in revenue to US$823 million from a year earlier after Chinese private equity firm Boyu Capital Investment took a 60 percent in the operations at a cost of US$4 billion in November. Same-store sales rose in the latest quarter, with a 5 percent increase in transaction volume and a 2 percent rise in average purchases. The total number of stores in China increased 4 percent to 8,011. Globally, Starbucks revenue rose 6 percent from a year earlier US$9.9 billion, but profit plunged 62 percent to US$293 million on higher operating costs.

Muyuan Foods, Han's CNC Near IPO Finish Line

Muyuan Foods, China's biggest pig breeder, said it is aiming to raise as much as HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) in an initial public offering in Hong Kong, Reuters reported. In another hefty Chinese IPO nearing trading debut, Han's CNC Technology, a maker of equipment for printed circuit board, announced it's hoping to raise HK$4.8 billion going public in the city. Shenzhen-based Muyuan said proceeds of the sale will be used to upgrade breeding, smart farming techniques, nutritional feedstock and biosecurity. The offering comes amid a glut of pork on the market. Final pricing is scheduled for February 5, with shares to start trading the next day. Han's CNC said it plans to use proceeds from its share sale to strengthen research and development, and expand manufacturing capacity. Final pricing is set for February 4, with the trading debut scheduled for February 6. A third, smaller IPO by Chinese mainland health-care provider Distinct Healthcare Holdings opened orders in a share sale seeking to raise up to HK$316 million.

The Sky-High Cost of AI Development

Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft are in talks to invest up to US$60 billion in OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, according to The Information, a US technology-focused business publication. Nvidia, an existing investor, is looking at investing US$30 billion. Microsoft, another longtime backer, is considering US$10 billion, and Amazon would join the club with up to U$20 billion. The report came a day after Japan's SoftBank investment giant was said to be considering an increased investment of US$30 billion in OpenAI, after pouring US$41 billion into the company in December. AI technology development is very costly, depending on ever increasing rounds of enormous investment, often entwining major players in the industry.

Economy & Markets

Chinese Mainland Stock ETFs See Rising Funds Outflow

The outflow of funds from broad-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking China's mainland stock markets doubled this month from a year earlier to 738 billion yuan (US$106 billion) as regulators stepped in to cool an overheated market, Yicai reported, citing financial information provider Wind. The average daily trading volume of stock ETFs hit record highs in some trading sessions in January. State-backed firms led the sell-off. Sovereign wealth fund Central Huijin Investment slashed its holdings in nine leading ETFs by nearly 87 billion shares, valued at close to 360 billion yuan, since December 31.

Russia's Lukoil Agrees to Sell Foreign Assets to Carlyle

Russian oil giant Lukoil, under US sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, agreed to sell foreign assets valued at about US$22 billion to US private equity firm Carlyle, Reuters reported. The second-largest Russian oil producer's sale will include operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, but not its assets in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic.

Indonesia Stocks Stanch Worst Plunge in 30 Years

Indonesian stocks staged a modest rebound after their worst two-day plunge in three decades, triggered by MSCI's warning of a possible market downgrade, Bloomberg News reported. The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index tumbled as much as 10 percent on Thursday before triggering a 30-minute trading halt. MSCI, an index compiler, expressed concerns about the market's transparency, the limited amount of stock available for trading and dominance in the market by a handful of wealthy individuals. The recovery came after Jakarta stepped in to try to allay investor fears with pledges to double the free-float requirement of listed companies to 15 percent.

Corporate

AIA, Aegon Open Insurance Industry Shanghai Firsts

AIA, the largest publicly traded life insurance group in the Asia-Pacific, and Dutch-based Aegon opened the first wholly foreign-owned insurance asset management companies in Shanghai this week. AIA Insurance Asset Management was established by subsidiary AIA Life Insurance, while Aegon Asset Management Shanghai was directly initiated by Aegon. Zhang Mengjiao, chairwoman of the new Aegon business, said she was deeply impressed by the short six months it took to get regulatory approval, which she described as "Shanghai speed" – a nod to the city's earnest efforts to become a global financial hub.

Samsung Triples Profit but Loses Top Spot to SK Hynix

Samsung Electronics, South Korea's largest company by market capitalization, said operating profit more than tripled in the fourth quarter to a record 20.1 trillion won (US$10 billion), on a 24-percent surge in revenue to 93. 8 trillion won. The results beat analysts' forecast as soaring demand for AI memory chips escalated earnings. However, in annual profit for 2025, longtime rival chipmaker SK Hynix outpaced Samsung for the first time ever, with operating profit of 47.2 trillion won, compared to Samsung's 43.6 trillion won, CNBC reported. SK Hynix focuses almost solely on memory chips, while Samsung's operations also span consumer electronics like smartphones and TVs. Last year, Hynix got the jump on Samsung in the high-bandwidth memory segment – the specialized chips used in AI processors and servers – when it grabbed the majority of Nvidia orders for the chips.

Toyota Remains World's Largest Automaker

Japan's Toyota Motor retained its position as the world's biggest automaker for a sixth year running in 2025, with record global sales of 11.3 million vehicles. Despite US tariffs on its exports to the American market, Toyota sales in the US jumped 14 percent. In China, Toyota's sales inched up 0.2 percent amid stiff competition in the world's largest car market. Germany's Volkswagen remained in second place, though sales slipped 0.5 percent last year to 9 million vehicles.

Pudong Development Bank Undergoes Shareholder Change

BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding has become the second-largest stakeholder in Sino-French fund manager AXA SPDB Investment Managers after its takeover of AXA Investment Managers. AXA SPDB is a joint venture with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved the transaction, which leaves Pudong Development Bank with a 51 percent stake, followed by BNP Paribas Asset with 39 percent. The venture and its subsidiaries had assets under management of more than 450 billion yuan (US$64.7 billion) at the end of last year.