Daily Buzz: 5 March 2026

China Urges Ceasefire in Middle East, War Rages On

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Israeli counterpart this week that military strikes by Israel and the US against Iran must cease, the foreign ministry in Beijing said. "Force cannot truly solve problems," Wang was reported as telling Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar in a phone call. "Instead, it often creates new ones and leaves serious long-term consequences. The real value of military power lies not on the battlefield but in preventing war." Conflicts between nations must be resolved through dialogue and negotiation, Wang said. He has also held phone conversations with the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, Oman and France this week urging efforts toward a ceasefire.

In the Middle East, the war raged on for a fifth day. Israel launched a new wave of air strikes on Iran and escalated its battle against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The US said it torpedoed an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, and Turkey reported the first attack from Iran, with NATO shooting down a missile heading toward its airspace.

President Donald Trump rejected widespread criticism that the US was pressured by Israel into joining it in attacking Iran. He said the US action was precipitated by intelligence that Tehran was within two weeks of having a nuclear weapon. That appeared to contradict statements by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who indicated that Washington involvement was instigated by Israel, which was planning to attack Iran. The mixed messaging comes as the Trump administration goes into damage control amid public opinion polls showing weak support for the US military action. Iran called the joint attack unprovoked, noting that it was negotiating in good faith with the US when war broke out.

PetroChina Takes Top Spot in Market Valuation

PetroChina regained its position as the Chinese mainland's most valuable company with a market capitalization of 2.14 trillion yuan (US$310 billion), as rising global oil prices push up its shares this week. In Shanghai trading, PetroChina rose 0.68 percent on Wednesday to 13.24 yuan, bumping Agricultural Bank of China from the top spot. The bank's shares fell 0.74 percent, giving it a market value of 2.13 trillion yuan. On Monday and Tuesday, PetroChina shares surged to the daily trading ceiling of 10 percent.

PetroChina joined China National Petroleum and China National Offshore Oil in a joint statement on Wednesday warning that the outlook for their operations and Gulf tanker shipping remains uncertain. According to Global Times, up to 50 percent of China's crude oil imports and about 30 percent of its natural gas imports pass through the vital Strait of Hormuz, now effectively closed by Iran. The share prices of the energy giants have risen on the global surge in oil and natural gas prices. But short-term oil price volatility carries significant uncertainty, so investors must pay attention to risks, the companies noted.

Top Business

Is Alibaba's Qwen Suffering a Brain Drain?

Lin Junyang, head of the Qwen large language model team at Alibaba, said he has left the group, without disclosing his reasons or his next move. People familiar with the matter said the departure was sudden and that no replacement has been named. Born in 1993, Lin was a leading architect of Alibaba's transition from China's largest e-commerce company into artificial intelligence. During his tenure, the Qwen series of models parlayed Alibaba to global prominence. His academic work has been cited more than 42,000 times.

He's not the only recent departure. Yu Bowen, who headed post-training for Qwen, ⁠also resigned this week. He is being replaced by former Google senior research scientist Zhou Hao. Qwen's mobile app ranked third behind OpenAI's ChatGPT and ByteDance's Douobao in February. Two months ago, Hui Binyuan, a research scientist focused on coding, left Alibaba. There has been no explanation for the exodus. The company's shares tumbled 3.6 percent on Wednesday.

TikTok Bucks Trend on End-to-End Encryption

Social media platform TikTok said it will not introduce end-to-end encryption, a privacy feature that means only sender and recipient of a direct message can view its content. The feature is used by rivals Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and X, but TikTok told the BBC that end-to-end encryption prevents tech companies and law enforcement from reading messages and stopping harmful content from spreading online. TikTok, which is owned by China tech giant ByteDance, has more than a billion users worldwide. Concerns about its Chinese roots and data protection have often surfaced, ultimately forcing the company last year to divest its control of US operations to an Oracle-backed consortium.

Humanoid Robots a 'Future of Possibilities'

Humanoid robots are set to mark a pivotal year in China's domestic tech landscape, a spokesman for the National People's Congress said on Wednesday. Lou Qinjian, a senior government official who holds a doctorate in computer science, said breakthroughs in both technology and real-world applications are forthcoming as the country strengthens its commitment to innovation and self-reliance in technology. Lou said humanoid robots offer "a future full of possibilities." Research firm IDTechEx forecasts the global humanoid robot market will reach about US$29.5 billion by 2036, with applications moving from industry to daily life.

China released its first-ever national standards for the humanoid robot sector on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported. The directive covers the entire supply chain and full lifecycle of androids and embodied intelligence, a move that industry experts said is aimed at accelerating development, reducing production costs and paving the way for mass commercialization.

Economy & Markets

Asian Markets Fall for a Third Day, Wall Street Turns a Corner

South Korea's stock market, which has been a leader in global market rallies this year, was hit by panic selling on Wednesday. The Kospi index plunged 12 percent in its biggest drop in its 46-year history, after tumbling 7.2 percent on Tuesday. The losses were driven by the same big-cap companies that earlier led the index up as much as 50 percent this year to record highs -- Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Hyundai Motor.

Elsewhere in Asia, a region that sources 60 percent of its oil from the Middle East, stock markets fell for a third day. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.98 percent, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 2 percent to a three-month low. The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo shed 3.6 percent.

However, investor sentiment improved as the trading day moved to Europe and the US. Major markets on Wall Street posted gains on a New York Times report that Iran has signaled a willingness to talk with the US – a claim not verified. Investors were also heartened by President Donald Trump's pledge to stabilize oil tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz. Technology shares drove prices higher. The Nasdaq added 1.3 percent, and the broad S&P 500 stock index gained 0.8 percent. In Europe, the Stoxx600 index was up 1.4 percent. Benchmark Brent crude was up 1.4 percent at US$82.57 a barrel in late New York trading, and gold was up 0.5 percent at US$5,150 an ounce.

Luckin's Major Shareholder in Talks to Buy Blue Bottle

Beijing-based private equity firm Centurium Capital, controlling shareholder of Chinese coffee chain Luckin, is in talks to acquire the global retail business of Nestlé's Blue Bottle Coffee, Yicai reported, citing LatePost. A tentative deal has been signed but not finalized. Chinese news outlet 36Kr valued the deal at something less than US$400 million, a figure below the US$700 million Nestlé has reportedly been seeking. Neither Centurium nor Nestlé has commented on the reports.

China Factory Activity Slows on Holiday Impact

China's factory activity slowed in February as production and shipments were curtailed by the nine-day Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Its index of manufacturing purchasing managers fell to 49 in February, down from 49.3 in January. The 50 mark separates contraction from expansion. The composite purchasing manufacturing index, which includes services as well as factories, slipped to 49.5 from 49.8. A separate non-manufacturing index that covers services and construction, edged down 0.1 percentage point to 49.5. A private survey, however, pointed to a sharp rebound in manufacturing activity last month. The RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI conducted by S&P Global surged to 52.1 in February, its strongest level since December 2020, CNBC reported.

Corporate

China Biopharma Firms Sign Foreign Licensing Deals

Sino Biopharmaceutical has licensed its newly approved anti-fibrotic drug to Paris-based Sanofi, saying the deal is valued as high as US$1.5 billion. The agreement gives Sanofi global development, production and commercialization rights to the drug Rovadicitinib, which is claimed to be the first drug to curb inflammation and fibrosis. Shanghai-based Antengene announced a drug licensing deal with Belgian biopharma company UCB for rights to its ATG-201 autoimmune diseases drug under development. The deal is valued at a maximum US$1.1 billion.

Separately, China's Asieris Pharmaceuticals announced it has received regulatory approval for mainland marketing of Cevira, said to be the world's first non-surgical, non-invasive treatment for cervical cancer.

Xiaomi Tests Humanoid Robots on Car Assembly Line

Chinese electric carmaker Xiaomi said it is trialing its humanoid robots in its vehicle production plants. Two humanoid robots can complete 90 percent in three hours, company President Lu Weibing told CNBC in an interview at the Barcelona world electronics fair. In the future, the robots will be able to "replace humans for certain work" and "accomplish work that humans can't do," he said.

Xpeng Sketches Vision of Self-Driving Cars Within 3 Years

Chinese carmaker Xpeng said it expects to achieve fully autonomous driving within one to three years. Chief Executive He Xiaopeng predicted self-driving cars will become part of daily life. He made the remarks at the launch of the company's second-generation VLA, which is the "brain" of the company's autonomous and intelligent driving systems. The VLA system will be integrated with Xpeng's Ultra and Ultra SE models. Robotaxis using VLA have already begun road testing in China, Yicai Global reported.

Big US Tech Reports Disrupted Gulf Operations

Nvidia, Amazon and Alphabet are among the big tech companies suffering disruptions in operations because of war in the Middle East. Nvidia temporarily closed its Dubai offices, with employees ordered to work from home, CNBC reported. The company also has 6,000 employees in Israel, a target of Iranian missiles. Google, which is owned by Alphabet, said most of its employees in the region are local hires and not US citizens subject to the US State Department evacuation warning to all Americans. Dubai is a regional hub for Google, as is Tel Aviv, which has been hit by Iranian missile strikes. Amazon, which has offices and data centers throughout in the region, said two data centers in the United Arab Emirates and a facility in Bahrain were hit by drones, interrupting some Amazon Web Service operations. Social media company Snap said it has told its employees in its four Middle East offices to work from home until further notice.

Pony.ai Robotaxis Deliver Profitability

Nasdaq-listed robotaxi firm Pony.ai achieved monthly per-vehicle operational profitability in Shenzhen in February and in Guangzhou last November, marking progress in the commercialization of self-driving services. As of February 28, the seventh-generation robotaxi achieved average daily net revenue per vehicle of 338 yuan (US$49) and an average daily volume of 23 rides in Shenzhen. Chief Executive Peng Jun said, "This represents a significant validation of our technological maturity and commercialization strategy. Achieving this milestone demonstrates that autonomous ride-hailing is not only technically feasible but also economically sustainable."

High-Speed Rail Network in Yangtze Delta to Be Extended

China Railway Shanghai Group said it plans to open five new high-speed rail sections in the Yangtze River Delta region this year. The entire system in the delta stretched 15,400 kilometers at the end of last year, with 8,100 kilometers of high-speed tracks.