Weekend Buzz: 14-15 March 2026

Middle East War Enters Third Week, Oil Prices Remain High

Iran is considering allowing a limited number of oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, provided that the oil cargo is traded in Chinese yuan, not the standard US dollar, a senior Iranian official told CNN. Meanwhile, the strait, which normally carries about 20 percent of the world's oil, remains effectively closed, oil prices hover above US$100 and attacks continue.

CBS News reported that the Pentagon is planning to send a contingent of Marines and additional warships to the region. The US and Israel said they struck hundreds of targets in Iran. Trump called Iran's leaders "deranged scumbags" and said it was an "honor" to be killing them. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who hasn't yet been seen in public, was "wounded and likely disfigured" by attacks on Tehran. Iran launched a new round of missiles at Israel, setting off a fire in Tel Aviv. A building in Dubai's financial district was damaged by debris from a drone interception, and Saudi Arabia reported downing multiple Iranian drones.

US President Donald Trump said Russia may indeed be helping Iran "a bit" in the war but said Moscow could in turn say the US is helping Ukraine. He said that's what countries, including Russia and China, do for allies: "Hey, they do it, and we do it." The US eased sanctions on sale of Russian oil already in transit to ease global shortages. A US military KC-135 refueling plane crashed in Iraq, killing all six crew, but the Pentagon said enemy fire wasn't involved

Benchmark Brent crude was trading at US$103.69 late in New York. Wall Street and European stock markets ended in the red, following losses on Asian markets.

China Vice Premier to Meet US Officials in Paris

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Paris on March 15-16.

Meanwhile, Beijing slammed the US for launching fresh unfair-trade investigations into 16 countries, including China. The Ministry of Commerce called the move "typical unilateralism" that violates World Trade Organization rules and disrupts global trade. The US probes are aimed at replacing President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs, recently ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, with punitive duties under a different law that gives the president more authority.

Cuba Acknowledges Talks With the US

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday confirmed speculation that there have been talks with the US aimed at resolving longstanding differences but said resolving them will take a long time to negotiate. The talks began after US President Donald Trump slapped a blockade on oil shipments to Cuba and talked about taking over the country, after the US attacked ally Venezuela and removed its president. The loss of Venezuelan oil has worsened an economic crisis in Cuba. Trump has said he wants to see the end of the communist government in Havana.

Top Business

Cambricon Posts First-Ever Annual Profit on Chip Demand

AI chip startup Cambricon, often called "China's Little Nvidia," posted its first-ever annual profit as demand for semiconductors surged. The company reported 2025 profit of 2.1 billion yuan (US$300 million), turning from a loss of 452 million yuan a year earlier. Revenue surged 453 percent to 6.5 billion. For the fourth quarter, Cambricon profit rose 67 percent to 455 million yuan, while revenue jumped 91 percent to nearly 2 billion yuan. The company announced its first-ever dividend, paying out 15 yuan for every 10 shares.

Beijing-based Cambricon listed on the Shanghai STAR market in 2020, raising US$369 million. The company makes core processor chips and general-purpose graphics processing units for use in AI. Founded by brothers Chen Tianshi and Chen Yunji in 2016, the company says its Siyuan 590 chip matched 80 percent of the performance of Nvidia's A100 chips, with the updated Siyuan 690 chip to be released. The company said it is aiming to more than triple AI chip output this year, pitting it against larger Chinese rival Huawei.

Tesla China Bucks Trend of Slumping Sales

Tesla's mega-factory in Shanghai sold 38,206 vehicles to China buyers in February, a 43 percent surge from a year earlier and an anomaly in a market where domestic electric-car makers posted sales declines. Global sales, including exports, surged 91 percent to 58,600 units. In the Chinese mainland market, Tesla's Model Y was the top market seller, followed by Geely's Xingyuan and Boyue L models ranking second and third, and Xiaomi's YU7 in fourth place. For Tesla, the February figures are a marked change from 2025, when mainland sales fell 5 percent, dropping its market share to 10th from eighth. Tesla China this year has been wooing consumers with low interest financing for up to seven years.

In terms of market share of domestic passenger car sales in first two months of the year, VW joint ventures with FAW and SAIC held about 14 percent, followed by Geely and Toyota's joint ventures with GAC and FAW, according to the China Passenger ⁠Car Association. BYD was in fourth place.

Junshi Biosciences Narrows Loss on Strong Cancer Drug Sales

Shanghai-based Junshi Biosciences narrowed its 2025 net loss to 875 million yuan (US$121 million) from 1.2 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue climbed 28 percent to 2.5 billion yuan. The result was driven by its core product toripalimab, marketed as Tuoyi. Sales of the PD-1 monoclonal antibody in China surged 38 percent to roughly 2.1 billion yuan. Founded in 2012, the biopharmaceutical company focuses on monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins. Toripalimab is currently approved for treatment of various tumors, including melanoma, nasopharyngeal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

China Approves Implantable Brain-Computer Device

China's drug regulator has approved the registration of an implantable brain-computer interface device developed by Shanghai-based Neuracle Technology, marking the world's first commercial approval of its kind and paving the way for clinical use. The system is designed to help patients aged 18-60 who suffer from quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injuries and cannot perform basic hand-grip movements. A coin-sized implant collects brain signals without directly damaging brain tissue. The signals are decoded in real time, allowing users to control a pneumatic glove through their thoughts to grasp objects. According to the company, patients can operate the system independently at home about one month after surgery. The device has completed 36 clinical procedures. Founded in 2011 by researchers at Tsinghua University, Neuracle recently began preparations to list on Shanghai's STAR Market.

Economy & Markets

China Growth in Credit, Money Supply Reported This Year

China reported new yuan loans of 5.61 trillion yuan (US$780 billion) in the first two months of 2026, driven primarily by corporate borrowing. So-called "social financing" rose 8.2 percent to 451.4 trillion yuan. M2 broad money supply stood at 349.2 trillion yuan, a 9 percent increase. Analysts attributed the high M2 growth to robust government bond financing, proactive fiscal spending and a strengthening offshore yuan that is boosting domestic liquidity.

American Auto Associations Urge Ban on China Cars

Major US automotive trade groups urged the Trump administration to keep Chinese carmakers out of the US, expressing concerns that "China's ongoing efforts to dominate global automotive manufacturing pose a direct threat to America's global competitiveness," Reuters reported. US cybersecurity regulations effectively keep nearly all Chinese vehicles out of the American market. The five groups issuing the statement represent automakers, car dealers and parts manufacturers.

US Lowers Fourth-Quarter Growth Figure

US economic growth in the final three months of 2025 was revised down to 0.7 percent from a preliminary figure of 1.4 percent, the government reported. That lowered 2025 growth to 2.1 percent. Consumer spending in the fourth quarter was revised down 0.4 percentage point to 2 percent. The personal consumption expenditures price index for January, the Federal Reserve's primary inflation forecasting tool, rose 2.8 percent from a year earlier.

China Imposes Anti-Dumping Rubber Tariffs

China will impose anti-dumping duties on imports of halogenated butyl rubber, a heat-resistant synthetic rubber, from Japan and Canada after concluding that the products were sold in the Chinese market at unfairly low prices, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. The tariffs, effective immediately, will remain in place for five years. Rates vary by exporter, with Japanese suppliers subject to tariffs of up to 30 percent and Canadian exporters up to 13.8 percent. Authorities said imports from Japan and Canada had caused "material injury" to the domestic industry. The decision follows an investigation initiated in 2024.

Smaller China Banks Drop Deposit Rates to Boost Margins

Second-tier banks in China are paring interest rates on yuan-denominated deposits to shore up declining net interest margins. More than 10 small financial institutions in Shanghai and Yunnan, and Jiangsu provinces are dropping rates on current deposits to 0.05 percent, rates on one-year deposits to 1.15 percent and rates on five year deposits to 1.35 percent, Yicai reported. Net interest margins are a major gauge of profitability, comparing the interest banks pay out on deposits with the money they earn on loans. The reductions mainly affect rural lending.

Deep Dive

Latest Hot Tech Sensation Clamps Its Claws Into Public Fancy

If you look closely at the latest posters for the 2026 Global Developer Pioneers Summit to be held in Shanghai later this month, you'll spot a curious new addition: a bright red lobster.

Corporate

Victory Giant's 2025 Profit Skyrockets Amid AI Boom

Guangdong Province-based Victory Giant Technology, a leader in AI computing cards, reported fourth-quarter net profit soared nearly 174 percent from a year earlier to 1 billion yuan (US$170 million) on a 71 percent jump in revenue to 5 billion yuan. The strong performance helped lift full-year profit 273.5 percent to 4.3 billion yuan. The company said 2025 revenue surged nearly 80 percent to 19.3 billion yuan. Founded in 2006, Victory Giant Technology is capitalizing on strong demand triggered by the boom in AI. The company currently holds a leading global market share in AI computing cards and network switches.

Moore Threads Unveils AI Compute Card

Beijing-based Moore Threads, a startup that makes graphic processing units, said its latest AI accelerator, the MTT S5000, can deliver up to 1,000 floating point operations per second – a measure of computer performance – of dense computing power per card, highlighting the company's push to compete in the rapidly expanding AI hardware market. The card is built on the firm's fourth-generation Pinghu architecture, which significantly boosts AI performance.

China Property Developer Sunshine Vows to Fight Winding-Up

Sunshine 100 China Holdings, a Chinese mainland developer, plans to oppose a winding-up petition filed against it in Hong Kong High Court, the South China Morning Post reported. The petition came from HTI Financial Solutions and Haitong International Financial Products over an unpaid redemption and interest totaling US$205 million. The Hong Kong-listed company, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, develops block complexes, shared-service flats and mixed-use communities. It has defaulted on multiple redemptions since 2021, when a liquidity crisis hit mainland property developers and triggered a continuing market slump.

ByteDance Said Poised to Bypass US Ban on Advanced Nvidia Chips

China tech giant ByteDance, owner of TikTok, plans to develop computing power offshore to gain access to Nvidia Blackwell chips banned by the US for export to China, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Beijing-based company is working with Malaysia-based Aolani Cloud, which acquires the chips from California-based Aivres, which assembles servers using Nvidia chips. If the plan with ByteDance goes through, the hardware could cost US$2.5 billion, the report said.

Stellantis Scouts for Investment From Chinese Carmakers

Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest carmaker is exploring deals with Chinese carmakers to invest in struggling Fiat operations in Europe, Bloomberg News reported. Among the mainland companies approached by Stellantis are Xiaomi and Xpeng. The deals could involve Chinese companies taking stakes in auto brands. Stellantis was created in 2012 by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA. Liaisons with Chinese carmakers already exist. Leapmotor has a joint venture with the company to build vehicles at a Stellantis plant in Spain.