Weekend Buzz: 10-11 January 2026

'Like It or Not,' US Steps Up Talk of Greenland Takeover

President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US will "do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not because if we don't, Russia or China will take over Greenland." Washington has been stepping up its rhetoric about taking over the semi-autonomous Arctic territory controlled by Denmark. The US is offering to buy Greenland, a proposal rejected by both Denmark and Greenland, but has not ruled out use of force to annex the island.

Toronto-based Amaroq, a mining company that holds the largest number of mineral exploration licenses in Greenland, told CNBC it has been approached by the Trump administration on potential investment in its projects there. Aaja Chemnitz, who represents Greenland in the Danish parliament, said the island is open for business but the welcome mat doesn't extend to takeovers. Amaroq currently operates the Nalunaq gold mine among other projects in southern Greenland.

Russia Rejects European Troops in Ukraine

Russia denounced a proposal for European troops to be deployed to Ukraine under a peace plan ceasefire, calling it "dangerous" and once again damping hopes for any early end to the four-year war. France and the UK announced their willingness this week to send troops to Ukraine as a stabilization force if a ceasefire were declared. "All such units will be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian armed forces," Moscow said.

Russia attacked western Ukraine with an Oreshnik hypersonic missile overnight, the first use of the powerful weapon in a year. The Kremlin said the strike was in retaliation for an earlier Ukrainian drone attack targeting a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, an accusation debunked by US intelligence.

NASA Astronauts to Return a Month Early, Medical Concern Cited

Four NASA astronauts will return to Earth from the International Space Station more than a month ahead of schedule after an unidentified crew member experienced a serious medical issue. The US space agency canceled a spacewalk by two of the astronauts on Thursday, citing an undisclosed "medical concern" but said the situation is "stable." The crew comprises American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russia's Oleg Platonov.

Top Business

MiniMax Shares Double as HK IPO Froth Rolls Into 2026

Shanghai-based MiniMax, one China's so-called "AI tigers," got off to a roaring start on its first day of trading on the Hong Kong exchange on Friday. The company's shares surged 109 percent from their offer price after an initial public offering that raised HK$4.8 billion (US$610 million) and was heavily oversubscribed. Cornerstone investors in the IPO include Alibaba, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Boyu Capital. Founded in 2022 by SenseTime veterans, MiniMax develops AI models that can process text, audio, images, video and music. The company said it plans to use the proceeds of the share sale for research and development.

Two smaller-profile Chinese mainland companies debuted on the same day. Shares of Suzhou-based Ribo Life Science gained 41.6 percent, and copper-cathode manufacturer Jinxun Resources closed up 26 percent. Hong Kong, which took the global crown for the most IPOs last year, has started off 2026 with a string of successful company debuts that included mainland companies Biren Technology, ZhipuAI, Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor and Edge Medical.

Big Oil Executives Leery About Investment in Venezuela

Oil executives from companies that included ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips were called to a White House meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday to discuss his plan for them to invest at least US$100 billion to rebuild Venezuela's crude industry. Washington has taken over that industry in the aftermath of an attack on the South American country that ousted President Nicolas Maduro.

Shanghai Shares Hit Decade High

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged past 4,100 points on Friday for the first time in a decade, as surging volumes and rising share prices fueled optimism of a full-phase bull market. The index closed at 4,120.43 points, up 0.92 percent, marking its 16th consecutive daily gain, the longest winning streak since 1993. Combined volume on Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges hit 3.1 trillion yuan (US$440 billion), the second-highest level on record. AI-related shares, particularly in media and short-video sectors, rose, along with stocks of commercial space and small metals companies.

Separately, futures trading on Chinese markets last year logged double-digit growth in volume and value, Xinhua news agency reported. Trading value surged 24 percent from 2024 to 766 trillion yuan, while volume rose 17 percent to 9 billion transactions. Chinese futures markets trade 136 commodity and options products.

Beijing to Phase Out Export Rebates on Solar Products

China will begin phasing out all VAT export tax rebates on solar energy-related products in April, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration announced yesterday. Rebates for batteries used in solar panels will be lowered from 9 percent to 6 percent, before being completely abolished next year. Domestic taxes on sales will remain unchanged. The move is an effort to curb industrial overcapacity and stabilize international pricing as domestic manufacturers transition toward higher-value development.

China Eases Terms for Property Project Loans

Chinese regulators have issued new guidelines that allow properties designated as "whitelisted," or stalled in development because of lack of financing, to be eligible for longer loan extensions of up to five years, Cailian Press reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Previously, extensions were capped at half of the original loan term, typically no more than 2.5 years. Banking analysts said the move is aimed at providing breathing room for developers that rely heavily on bank lending, and also offers some limited relief to firms that depend mainly on bond financing. Approved loans for whitelisted projects exceed 7 trillion yuan (US$143 billion).

TSMC Beats Forecasts With 4Q Revenue

Taiwan-based TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, reported fourth-quarter revenue of NT$1,046 trillion (US$33 billion), exceeding market forecasts. Sales of chips to companies that include Nvidia and Apple surged 20 percent from a year earlier on heavy demand from artificial intelligence applications. TSMC releases revenue figures ahead of full quarterly earnings reports that disclose profit.

Rio Tinto, Glencore Resume Merger Talks

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has resumed stalled talks to buy Anglo-Swiss miner Glencore in a merger that would surpass BHP to become the world's biggest mining company with a market value of more than US$200 billion, Bloomberg News reported. The talks resume over a year after earlier negotiations collapsed over valuation disagreements. Both companies are shifting their focus to copper, which has hit record high prices on strong global demand. Rio Tinto is the world's largest iron ore miner, while Glencore is one of the world's biggest producers of coal and base metals.

Economy & Markets

China Consumer Prices Rise, Producer Prices Fall

China's consumer inflation in December accelerated to 0.8 percent from a year earlier, its fastest monthly pace in nearly three years, following a 0.7 percent rise in November. Producer price deflation eased, with factory-gate prices falling 1.9 percent after a drop of 2.2 percent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. The gain in consumer prices largely reflected an 18 percent surge in fresh vegetable prices, while prices for pork and durable goods fell. For all of 2025, consumer prices were flat, compared with a government inflation target of about 2 percent. However gold jewelry prices surged 69 percent in the year.

GF Securities Seeks to Raise Funds for Overseas Expansion

Guangzhou-based GF Securities is seeking to raise HK$6.12 billion (US$780 million) from the placement of new shares and the issue of zero-coupon convertible bonds, the South China Morning Post reported. The brokerage said it will use the proceeds to support overseas operations. Last year, Chinese financial institutions raised over US$10 billion, with most saying the proceeds would go toward overseas expansion and programs to lift international use of the Chinese yuan, a key Beijing policy initiative. Among the 2025 issuers of bonds were China Pacific Insurance, China Citic Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Everbright Bank.

US Job Market in 2025 Weakest Since Pandemic

The US economy added only 50,000 jobs in December, falling short of market forecasts and rounding out the year with the weakest annual labor growth since the coronavirus pandemic. The unemployment rate last month dipped to 4.4 percent from a four-year high of 4.6 percent in November. With downward revisions in previous months' data, nonfarm jobs growth for 2025 fell to 584,000 from 2 million in 2024. The tepid performance reflects in part the 43-day government shutdown in October and Trump administration efforts to slash the size of the federal bureaucracy.

China Analysts More Upbeat on Economy

Confidence in China's economy edged up this month, according to a survey by Yicai. Its January index, based on a poll of 14 leading mainland economists, recorded a reading of 50.3, up from 50 in December. The economists predict that December data will show a 4.9 percent rise in industrial production, a 1.8 percent rise in consumer retail sales and a 2.2 percent drop in fixed-asset investment. All three forecasts are improvements over November figures.

Deep Dive

South Korean Fashion Brands Seek to Replicate 'K-Pop" Success in China

In recent months, a new wave of Korean fashion and lifestyle brands has entered China, hoping to capture the same public attention that made K-pop music so popular on the mainland. Their main target is the generation of consumers born this century.

Corporate

BrainCo Completes Second-Largest Fundraising in Its Sector

Chinese brain-computer interface startup BrainCo completed a 2 billion (US$286.3 million) financing round – the largest fundraising in the global brain-chip sector after Elon Musk's Neuralink, Shanghai Securities News reported. The round was led by Hong Kong-based private equity firm IDG Capital and Walden International, an investment firm founded by Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan. The Hangzhou-based company said it will use the proceeds to accelerate research and development in neural technology to help people with arm and leg disabilities, with autism and Alzheimer's, and with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Xiaomi to Double Spending on Research and Development

Smartphone and electric carmaker Xiaomi said it will double spending on research and development to 200 billion yuan (US$28.6 billion) over the next five years. Chairman Lei Jun said the company is poised to achieve convergence of its in-house chips, self-developed operating system and proprietary AI model into a single device this year, Yicai reported.

Honda China Sales Slide for Fifth Year

Honda's vehicle sales in China fell for a fifth consecutive year in 2025, highlighting mounting pressure on foreign automakers amid China's rapid shift toward electric and smart vehicles. The Japanese automaker sold 645,345 vehicles in China last year, down 24 percent from 2024. Sales have steadily fallen since 2020 amid rising competition from domestic carmakers releasing competitively priced electric models and faster product upgrades. Honda has been slower to transition to electrification.

China Railway Engineering Ordered to Suspend Operations

China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group was ordered by the government to suspend operations for 180 days in what is viewed as a crackdown related to industry compliance and safety standards. No specific reasons for the action were given. The state-owned group, founded in 1950 as a pillar of high-speed rail, highway and water projects in China, will be barred from bidding on new projects during the six months.

United Water-Led Group Wins Saudi Wastewater Contract

China's United Water Technology led a consortium that won the bid for a wastewater treatment project in Saudi Arabia being built with total investment of US$54 million, The contact with the nation's National Water Co includes equipment upgrading operation and maintenance of nine local treatment plants located in northern Saudi Arabia over a 15-year period. The size of the contract wasn't made public.

Mao Geping Teams Up With US Investment Firm

Hangzhou-based Mao Geping Cosmetics said it is partnering with US consumer-good investment firm L Catterton to expand brand marketing globally. Under the arrangement, the two companies will establish an equity-investment fund focused on the global high-end beauty sector, and L Catterton will tap its extensive network to help growth of Mao Geping products.