03/30
2026 Mon.
A new international body, the World Data Organization (WDO), was established in Beijing on March 30, state media Xinhua reported. The organization is a non-governmental, non-profit group formed by institutions and individuals in the global data sector. It aims to "bridge the data divide, unlock data value and drive digital economic growth." WDO will focus on promoting cooperation on data governance and exploring ways to enable secure, compliant and efficient data flows, providing support for global digital economic development, according to the report.
03/27
2026 Fri.
China's Hainan free trade port has recorded strong growth in trade and cross-border travel in the first 100 days since the launch of its new customs regime, state media reported on Friday. Some 7,503 new trading firms were registered during the period, up 65.7% from a year earlier, while 11,773 business entities were approved for "zero-tariff"eligibility, according to CCTV Finance. Total foreign trade exceeded 80 billion yuan US($11.6 billion), up 32.9% year-on-year. Cross-border passenger trips reached 861,000, rising 36.3%, the report said.
03/25
2026 Wed.
Beijing's border crossings handled more than 5 million passenger trips as of March 25, up 13% from a year earlier and hitting the 5 million mark 12 days ahead of last year's pace, state media CCTV said, citing immigration authorities. Inbound traffic rose, with foreign arrivals exceeding 1.4 million, accounting for 28% of total crossings and up 31% year-on-year. Daily inbound foreign arrivals have exceeded 12,000 for 12 straight days since March 13, peaking at 15,000 on March 22. Visa-free and temporary entry permits accounted for about 69% of foreign entries. Authorities expect further growth as newroutes are added and eased entry policies continue to support demand.
Beijing's economy grew 5.4% in 2025, with GDP reaching 5.21 trillion yuan, city data showed on Wednesday. The services sector, which accounted for 86% of the economy, expanded 5.8%, while industrial output rose 6.4%. High-tech investment jumped 40.1%, and the digital economy grew 8.7% to 2.42 trillion yuan in value-added terms, making up 46.4% of GDP. Consumer prices fell 0.1% in 2025, while retail sales dropped 2.9% and property development investment declined 15.5%. Total goods trade fell 11.5%, although exports rose 3.8%.
03/23
2026 Mon.
Philippine port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) said on March 23 it had agreed to sell its 51% stake in Yantai International Container Terminals to Shandong Port Yantai Port Group for 773.2 million yuan (US$112 million), according to a company filing and Chinese media reports. ICTSI, one of the world's larger independent port operators, has held the controlling stake in the Yantai terminal since 2014, when it acquired 51% of the asset as part of a reshuffle of its interests in the northern Chinese port, company filings show.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said China remains the main base of the company's global supply chain, with 80 of its top 100 suppliers located in the country, according to CCTV Finance. Cook made the remarks during a meeting with China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, ahead of the opening of the China Development Forum 2026 in Beijing, which began on March 22. He said Apple continued to attach great importance to the China market and its supply chain, and was studying China's high-quality development plans closely to align its investment and business strategy accordingly.
03/20
2026 Fri.
by LIU Mengran A team under Elon Musk has placed an order with a leading Chinese maker of heterojunction solar equipment, with shipment expected in the first week of May, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The export of semiconductor-like products requires filing and approval from relevant Chinese authorities, and that process is still being advanced, the person said. The source said the solar orders tied to Musk's businesses fall into two categories: one linked to SpaceX for space applications, and the other tied to Tesla for ground-based use. Potential Tesla-related orders are still under discussion and involve several TOPCon equipment manufacturers.
03/18
2026 Wed.
Major Chinese cloud providers, including Alibaba Cloud and Baidu AI Cloud, have raised prices for artificial intelligence-related services, pointing to strong demand for computing power and rising infrastructure costs. Alibaba Cloud said prices for some AI computing and storage products would increase by up to 34%, citing a surge in global AI demand and higher supply chain costs. Baidu AI Cloud announced similar adjustments, with AI compute services set to rise by about 5%–30% and storage products by around 30%, effective April 18. The moves follow Tencent Cloud's earlier shift to usage-based pricing for its agent development platform, with some models seeing price increases of more than 400%. The price hikes come as rapid adoption of AI applications drives demand for computing power, reshaping the cloud sector's business model. Analysts say providers are moving beyond basic infrastructure leasing toward offering platforms for deploying AI agents, with frameworks such as OpenClaw lowering deployment barriers and boosting inference demand. The moves lifted shares of cloud-related companies in China and Hong Kong on Wednesday, with several stocks posting sharp gains.
03/16
2026 Mon.
Home prices in China's 70 major cities saw month-on-month declines continue to narrow in February, while remaining lower than a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. Prices of newly built homes in first-tier cities were unchanged from the previous month, compared with a 0.3% drop in January. Beijing and Shanghai each rose 0.2%, Guangzhou was flat and Shenzhen fell 0.3%. Prices in second- and third-tier cities declined 0.2% and 0.3% respectively, with both drops narrowing by 0.1 percentage point. Of the 70 cities surveyed, prices of newly built homes rose in 10 and were unchanged in seven, nine more than a month earlier. Prices of existing homes in first-tier cities fell 0.1% from a month earlier, with the decline narrowing by 0.4 percentage point. Beijing and Shanghai rose 0.3% and 0.2%, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen dropped 0.5% and 0.4%. On a yearly basis, prices of newly built homes in first-tier cities fell 2.2% in February. Shanghai rose 4.2% from a year earlier, while Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen declined 2.3%, 5.1% and 5.5%. Existing-home prices in first-tier cities fell 7.6% year on year, unchanged from January, while second- and third-tier cities recorded declines of 6.2% and 6.3% respectively.
03/05
2026 Thu.
China has set a 2026 economic growth target of around 4.5%–5%, Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday in the government work report delivered to the National People's Congress. Other targets include keeping the surveyed urban unemployment rate at about 5.5%, creating more than 12 million new urban jobs and limiting consumer price inflation to around 2%. Li said the target was designed to leave room for structural adjustments, risk prevention and reforms at the start of the new five-year planning cycle, while remaining broadly in line with China's long-term growth potential.
