Weekend Buzz: 11-12 April 2026

'Make-or-Break' US-Iran Talks Set to Begin Amid Distrust on Both Sides

US President Donald Trump said the next 24 hours will decide whether peace talks scheduled this weekend in Pakistan are leading to an agreement or whether the US will begin all-out strikes on Iran that he earlier warned would result in the death of Iran's civilization. "We're loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made. If we don't have a deal, we'll be using them," he told US media, saying an end to Tehran's nuclear program is the overarching issue." Pakistan, which brokered a two-week ceasefire to allow for negotiations, described this weekend's high-level talks as a "make or break" point for achieving a permanent ceasefire in a war entering its seventh week.

Ahead of the talks, scheduled to begin today in Islamabad, Iran said the inclusion of Lebanon in the ceasefire "must be fulfilled before negotiations begin." Israel has continued its war against Iran ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, claiming the ceasefire doesn't cover that conflict. The dispute over the Lebanon war has kept the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for Gulf oil and gas, largely closed to tanker traffic. Israel and the Lebanese government are scheduled to meet in Washington for talks on Tuesday, but the meeting doesn't include Hezbollah or involve a ceasefire. The war in Lebanon has killed more than 1,500 people, including many civilians. That heaviest attack in the war this week killed more than 300.

Ahead of the US-Iran talks, benchmark Brent crude oil futures remained below US$100 a barrel, trading late in New York at US$94.26. Wall Street markets ended mixed.

NASA Moon Mission Returns to Earth Successfully

NASA's Artemis II moon mission ended successfully, with the Integrity capsule carrying four astronauts splashing down in the Pacific Ocean today. The crew were all reported in "excellent shape." The 10-day trip carried humans to their furthest-ever distance into deep space and laid the groundwork for the first manned landing on the lunar surface since 1972.

Top Business

Alibaba Confirms 'Mystery' AI Model Is Its HappyHorse

Alibaba confirmed that a "mysterious" AI model that appeared anonymously on the benchmarking platform Artificial Analysis earlier this month is its HappyHorse 1.0 video model, part of its new Alibaba Token Hub, or ATH, initiative aimed at next-generation AI interaction models. HappyHorse climbed to the top of blind-test rankings for both text-to-video and image-to-video generation. The appearance of the model had sparked intense speculation about the source. ATH is a new Alibaba business group set up last month and led by Chief Executive Eddie Wu.

Separately, Alibaba's Cloud unit and Baidu Venture led a 2 billion yuan (US$290 million) investment in startup ShengShu as part of an industry shift to a new AI format. The pivot is from chatbots and large language models built primarily on texts to a format that focuses on "general world models" that tap multimodal data such as vision, audio and touch. The new AI technology seeks to build a bridge across the separate domains of digital games and AI-generated video, and the physical world of self-driving vehicles and robots. ShengShu, which was founded three years ago, is developing the AI video generation Vidu tool series.

China New Energy Car Sales Slump 21 Percent

China retail sales of electric and hybrid cars in the first quarter plunged 21 percent from a year earlier to 1.9 million vehicles, capped by a 14 percent decline in March, the China Passenger Car Association reported. The slump largely reflects the halving of a government tax exemption on new energy vehicle purchases that came into effect on January 1.

Separately, German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz said first-quarter sales fell 6 percent, as revenue gains in Europe and the US couldn't offset a 27 percent plunge in China sales. Rival Porsche said deliveries in the first three months of the year slumped 15 percent, with China shipments falling 21 percent. The companies continue to face stiff competition in the Chinese mainland market, where domestic automakers in the premium segment are turning out advanced smart-driving vehicles at lower prices.

China Foreign Traders Hard Hit by Middle East Disruptions

China's foreign trading companies are suffering a blow from logistics disruptions related to the Iran war, Yicai reported, adding to existing problems of declining demand, escalating costs and the strengthening of the Chinese yuan, which makes exports more expensive. Freight forwarders shipping to the Middle East are slowly resuming operations after the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that has been slow in reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf. "Middle East routes are operating on a limited basis and have not returned to normal levels," Federico Falcone, senior vice president of sea logistics at Kuehne & Nagel China, told Yicai. The disruptions in the region have driven up fuel prices, insurance premiums and operating costs. Ding Yandong, a Chinese foreign trader, said this traditional peak season of purchasing is producing "hardly any inquiries at all." Zhang Yan, head of an international exhibition company based in Zhejiang Province, said his firm has canceled scheduled exhibitions in Dubai and Saudi Arabia this year.

Economy & Markets

China's Producer Prices Rise for First Time in 41 Months

China's producer prices, or what wholesalers pay at the factory gate, rose 0.5 percent from a year earlier in March, ending 41 months of deflation in a sign that spiking global oil prices are impacting production costs. However, for the first quarter, which includes two months prior to the start of the Iran war, producer prices fell 0.6 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. Consumer inflation came in at 1 percent, slowing from a year-on-year rise of 1.3 percent in February. Core prices which exclude volatile items like fresh food and energy, rose 1.1 percent in the month. Consumers prices were largely shielded from rising oil prices by a cap on pump prices, which held inflation from gasoline in March to 3.8 percent. China is also beginning to allow refiners like Sinopec to tap commercial inventories held in processing plants and storage facilities.

War Takes Its Toll on US Consumer Prices, Sentiment

US consumer prices in March rose 0.9 percent, pushing the 12-month inflation rate to 3.3 percent, led by higher energy prices triggered by the war in Iran. Gasoline prices surged 21 percent. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy, edged up 0.2 percent for the month and 2.6 percent for the year. American consumers are rattled by higher prices, according to the widely watched monthly consumer confidence survey conducted by the University of Michigan. This month, the headline number on sentiment plunged 10.7 percent from March to a record low, and respondents said they expect consumer prices to be up 4.8 percent a year from now. Such inflationary expectations often lead to people buying today because they fear prices will be higher tomorrow.

US Considers Further Bans on Chinese Telecom Giants

The US Federal Communications Commission is considering new restrictions that could ultimately force Chinese telecoms operators out of the American market. The commission said it is looking at measures that would bar Chinese carriers from operating data centers in the US and ban US companies from connecting to Chinese protocols. China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, which are already on a US national security-risk list, could be affected.

Hong Kong Property Market Booming in Q1

Hong Kong's real estate market is booming again, with primary private residential transactions in the first quarter hitting a value of HK$62.8 billion (US$8 billion), a 94 percent increase. Property prices rebounded 12 percent from their 2025 lows. This surge was largely driven by the government's removal of property-cooling measures.

New Development Bank Issues Panda Bonds

Shanghai-based New Development Bank, the lender created in 2014 by China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa, said it issued 7 billion yuan (US$1 billion) in Panda bonds in China's interbank bond market. Panda bonds are yuan-denominated debt securities issued by overseas entities in China, a financing channel for international institutions. The issue raises the bank's presence in the Panda market to a cumulative 87.5 billion yuan. The bank was founded by the so-called Brics group of nations as an alternative to Western development institutions and to provide resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the bank's 13 member nations.

Deep Dive

AI Takes Center Stage as CMEF 2026 Showcases the Future of Healthcare

Medical AI has taken center stage at the Shanghai China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF). Many exhibitors displayed new products and China-specific products to navigate the country's complex healthcare system.

Grassroots Entrepreneur Zhang Xue Puts Global Vroom in China's Motorcycle Industry

Zhang Xue overcame the poverty of his roots to make a superbike that has set the racing world abuzz.

Corporate

Changan Auto Posts 44 Percent Drop in 2025 Profit

Changan Automobile reported net profit in 2025 dropped about 44 percent to nearly 4.07 billion yuan (US$562.4 million), with operating revenue rising 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 164 billion yuan. Notably, the overseas business segment achieved a gross profit margin of 19.5 percent, significantly higher than that for the domestic market and indicating a principal driver for overall profitability at the Chongqing-based company. The automaker highlighted its strong commitment to innovation, with 12.6 billion yuan, or 7.7 percent of total revenue, dedicated to research and development last year.

Manycore Tech Begins Sale of IPO Shares

Hangzhou-based Manycore Tech, a developer of spatial design software, began sale of shares in a Hong Kong initial public offering aimed at raising about HK$1.02 billion (US$130 million). The company priced the shares at between HK$6.72 and HK$7.62 each, with 90 percent earmarked for institutional investors and the rest going to retail investors. The sale closes on April 14, with an April 17 trading debut target. Manycore said proceeds from the sale will go toward upgrading products and expanding into the broader landscape of embodied artificial intelligence and AI world models. Manycore is one China's so-called "Six Little Dragons" that include AI developer DeepSeek, Unitree Robotics and neurotechnology company BrainCo. The company reported 820 million yuan (US$120 million) of revenue last year and a net loss of 428 million yuan.

Brazilian Court Removes BYD From 'List of Shame'

A Brazilian labor court has issued an injunction removing Chinese automaker BYD from the government's "list of shame," which records companies accused of employing workers in slave-like conditions, Reuters reported. The removal will remain provisional pending a final ruling. The issue dates back to a 2024 case where a BYD contractor allegedly hired 163 Chinese workers under contracts requiring them to hand over their passports, allow the bulk of their wages to be sent directly to China and pay a US$900 deposit that could only be recovered after six months of work. The case, publicized by Brazilian media, claimed the workers were housed in "degrading conditions." BYD consistently denied any knowledge of the hiring practices.

Samsung Reportedly Restructuring China Operations

South Korea-based Samsung Electronics is adjusting operations in China to focus on core businesses of mobile phones and memory storage, The Paper reported. Other segments of the company face possible consolidation or complete withdrawal. A source close to Samsung confirmed the restructuring plans, saying the company's home appliance and monitor businesses will gradually be phased out of the Chinese market.