Morning News

# Source: Wall Street Insights

## Market Overview

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was arrested, with geopolitical risks boosting the strength of U.S. Treasuries, precious metals and the Japanese yen. Investors appeared unfazed by concerns that the tense situation could bring an end to the three-year bull run in U.S. equities, as the three major U.S. stock indexes posted across-the-board gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped the 49,000 mark intraday for the first time ever, before paring some gains but still closing at a record high. Small-cap stock indexes led the upward charge. Amazon and Tesla spearheaded the rally among large-cap tech stocks. Chevron surged more than 5%, after Donald Trump stated that major U.S. oil companies would invest in Venezuela.

Amid rising risk aversion, U.S. Treasury yields saw a broad-based decline. Following the release of lackluster ISM data, the 10-year Treasury yield edged further downward, dropping 4.3 basis points.

The U.S. dollar retreated, erasing gains driven by short-term safe-haven demand. The Japanese yen strengthened by 0.3%, briefly approaching the 156 level against the greenback.

Bitcoin staged a sharp rally, climbing back to around the $95,000 mark. Ethereum broke above the $3,200 threshold for the first time in a month.

Precious metals soared, with spot gold jumping over 2.5% and spot silver surging 5%. New York silver futures even spiked nearly 10% intraday. London copper futures hit $13,000 per ton for the first time ever. Crude oil reversed early losses to end higher, with WTI crude oil rebounding more than 3.6% from its intraday low.

During the Asian trading session, it marked a strong start to 2026. The Shanghai Composite Index reclaimed the 4,000-point level, setting a new record for the longest winning streak in 33 years. Stocks related to brain-computer interface (BCI) technology triggered a wave of limit-up moves. The Hang Seng Index fluctuated and closed slightly higher, while Kuaishou saw its share price jump over 11%.

## Top News

1.  China's RatingDog Services PMI came in at 52 in December, remaining in expansionary territory, though new export orders slipped back into contraction.

2.  Li Qiang emphasized strengthening the dominant position of enterprises in innovation, and promoting the accelerated iteration and upgrading of new technologies and products such as robots and drones through expanded application.

3.  Nicolás Maduro made his first court appearance in the United States, pleading "not guilty" to charges including drug trafficking. Donald Trump warned Venezuela's "acting president": She must obey the United States, adding that "if she fails to do the right thing, things could end up worse for her than they did for Maduro". When asked whether the U.S. would launch operations in Colombia, Trump replied: "That sounds like a good idea." Venezuela's acting president stated that she has invited the United States to participate in formulating a cooperation agenda.

4.  The U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI for December unexpectedly recorded its sharpest contraction since 2024, weighed down by inventory pressures.

5.  NVIDIA unveiled its next-generation Rubin platform, which cuts inference costs by 10 times compared with the Blackwell platform, with shipments scheduled for the second half of the year. NVIDIA's "in-house developed" autonomous driving vehicles are on the horizon, as the company released its first chain-of-thought reasoning VLA (Vision Language Action) model.

6.  1X, a robotics startup backed by OpenAI, showcased its household robot at CES, priced at $20,000.

7.  Qualcomm launched a comprehensive robotics technology suite to support embodied intelligence ranging from household robots to full-size humanoid robots. The company also rolled out a new, more affordable version of its X2 laptop processor, designed to accelerate the operation of AI software.

8.  Driven by red-hot demand for AI, Samsung and SK Hynix plan to raise DRAM prices by 60%-70%. Robust demand for AI servers propelled Hon Hai's Q4 sales volume to surge 22% year-on-year, exceeding expectations, with December sales alone jumping 31.8%. After Goldman Sachs sharply raised its target price, TSMC's U.S.-listed shares rose nearly 3% in pre-market trading.

9.  Elon Musk announced a "mass production timetable", sparking a collective limit-up rally in brain-computer interface stocks.

10. Zhiyuan Robotics shipped more than 5,100 units in 2025, with projected shipments expected to "reach tens of thousands of units" in 2026.

## Market Closing Quotes

### European and U.S. Stock Markets

- S&P 500: +0.64%, closing at 6,902.05 points

- Dow Jones Industrial Average: +1.23%, closing at 48,977.18 points

- Nasdaq Composite: +0.69%, closing at 23,395.822 points

- Europe STOXX 600 Index: +0.94%, closing at 601.76 points

### A-Shares

- Shanghai Composite Index: Closed at 4,023.42 points, up 1.38%

- Shenzhen Component Index: Closed at 13,828.63 points, up 2.24%

- ChiNext Index: Closed at 3,294.55 points, up 2.85%

### Bond Market

- U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield: Fell 3.34 basis points to 4.1573%

- U.S. 2-Year Treasury Yield: Fell 2.05 basis points to 3.4528%

### Commodities

- COMEX Gold Futures: +2.96%, closing at $4,457.60 per ounce

- COMEX Silver Futures: +7.63%, closing at $76.430 per ounce

- WTI Crude Oil Futures (February contract): +1.74%, closing at $58.32 per barrel

- Brent Crude Oil Futures (March contract): +1.66%, closing at $61.76 per barrel

# Details of Top News

## Global Highlights

China's RatingDog Services PMI stood at 52 in December, remaining in expansion territory, though new export orders slipped back into contraction. China's service sector activity maintained expansion in December 2025, extending the current expansionary phase to three consecutive years. However, after a brief rebound in November, new export orders re-entered the contraction zone due to a decline in new export business volume. Enterprises' optimism about their operating prospects over the next year improved, climbing to the highest level in nine months.

Li Qiang: Strengthen the dominant position of enterprises in innovation, and promote the accelerated iteration and upgrading of new technologies and products such as robots and drones amid expanded application. According to Xinhua News Agency, he emphasized that this year marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. He expressed hope that enterprises would seize opportunities, forge ahead with innovation, strive for greater development, and inject strong momentum into the steady and sound economic growth. Government departments at all levels should strengthen coordination and cooperation to form a synergy in work, and press ahead with all tasks as early and solidly as possible. Efforts should be made to deepen reforms in key areas, improve service efficiency, optimize the business environment, and continuously stimulate the inherent driving force for economic development.

Maduro made his first court appearance in the United States and pleaded "not guilty" to charges including drug trafficking. Maduro faces four charges from the U.S. Department of Justice, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism. In court, he claimed to be a decent and innocent man, stressed that he is still the President of Venezuela, and rejected all U.S. charges. The judge ordered Maduro to appear in court again on March 17. Maduro's son, who was listed as a co-conspirator by the U.S., warned that the case sets a dangerous precedent, stating that no country is safe if kidnapping a head of state is normalized.

Trump warns Venezuela's "acting president": Must obey the United States, "if she doesn't do the right thing, she could end up worse than Maduro"! After U.S. troops raided Caracas and took control of Maduro, Trump warned Venezuela's acting president Rodriguez that she must cooperate with the United States, otherwise she would face a "higher price" than Maduro. Earlier, Rodriguez declared that Maduro is the only president and refused to recognize the U.S. military operation. Trump also stated that Venezuela may not be the last country the United States intervenes in, and reaffirmed that "we absolutely need Greenland".

Will the U.S. launch operations in Colombia? Trump: That sounds like a good idea. After the U.S. military's surprise attack on Venezuela, Trump issued another threat, saying that "Colombia operation sounds good". Colombia urgently deployed 30,000 soldiers on the border and entered a state of maximum combat readiness, leading to a sudden escalation of tensions in Latin America.

Venezuela's acting president says she invites the United States to participate in formulating a cooperation agenda. According to CCTV News, Venezuela's acting president Rodriguez sent a letter to the United States on January 4, reaffirming her belief in pursuing peaceful coexistence and emphasizing the establishment of international relations based on sovereign equality and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. The letter invited the United States to jointly formulate a cooperation agenda and called for peace and dialogue rather than war. Earlier, on the early morning of the 3rd, the United States launched a military operation against Venezuela, raided the capital, forcibly took control of President Maduro and his wife, and transferred them out of the country, triggering strong condemnation from many countries.

Venezuela launches a nationwide manhunt for those who supported the U.S. attack; senior UN officials point out that the U.S. military attack violates international law. UN Deputy Secretary-General DiCarlo stated at an emergency meeting of the Security Council that the Venezuelan government has characterized the U.S. operation as a military aggression, which seriously violates the UN Charter and poses a threat to regional and international peace and security. UN Secretary-General Guterres expressed deep concern that the unstable situation in Venezuela may escalate, its potential impact on the region, and the possible precedent it may set for inter-state relations. U.S. representatives argued at the meeting that Trump has no intention of occupying Venezuela and has given Maduro diplomatic opportunities.

U.S. December ISM Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly recorded the sharpest contraction since 2024, dragged down by inventories. The U.S. ISM Manufacturing Index edged down slightly from 48.2 to 47.9 in December, remaining below 50 for ten consecutive months. New orders contracted for the fourth consecutive month, and export orders remained weak; employment declined for the 11th consecutive month, though the rate of decline slowed down. The Prices Paid Index stayed at 58.5, 6 percentage points higher than at the end of 2024. The overall index was mainly weighed down by the accelerated pace of inventory reduction. Analysts said that as customer inventories are also at a low level, factory demand is expected to improve in the coming months.

NVIDIA unveils next-generation Rubin platform, with inference costs 10 times lower than Blackwell, scheduled for shipment in the second half of the year. The Rubin platform delivers 3.5 times the training performance and 5 times the AI software running performance of Blackwell, while reducing the number of GPUs required for training Mixture-of-Experts models by 4 times. Jensen Huang stated that all six Rubin chips have passed key tests demonstrating their on-schedule deployment readiness. NVIDIA said the platform is now in full production, with cloud service providers such as Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Oracle Cloud set to be the first to deploy it.

The ChatGPT moment for Physical AI is here! NVIDIA's "self-driven" autonomous vehicles are on the way, with the release of the first chain-of-thought reasoning VLA model. NVIDIA announced the open-sourcing of its first reasoning VLA (Vision-Language-Action) model, Alpamayo 1. Designed to create vehicles capable of "thinking" of solutions in unexpected situations, the model adopts a 10-billion-parameter architecture and generates trajectories and reasoning processes using video input. Jensen Huang stated that the first vehicles equipped with NVIDIA's technology will hit the market soon.

AI server demand remains robust; Hon Hai's Q4 sales surge 22% year-on-year, exceeding expectations, with a 31.8% jump in December alone. Hon Hai's sales in December reached NT$862.86 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31.8%; its Q4 revenue rose 22.07% year-on-year to NT$2.6 trillion, higher than the average analyst expectation of NT$2.4 trillion. The performance growth was mainly driven by two major product lines: "Components and Others" and "Cloud and Network".

After Goldman Sachs sharply raised its target price, TSMC's U.S.-listed shares rose nearly 3% in pre-market trading, while its Taiwan-listed shares recorded the largest intraday gain in eight months. TSMC's Taiwan-listed shares soared 6.9% at one point, hitting a new high and driving the Taiwan Capitalization Weighted Stock Index above the 30,000-point mark. In U.S. pre-market trading, TSMC's shares also rose nearly 3%, but closed with a gain of less than 1%. Earlier, Goldman Sachs raised TSMC's target price by 35% to NT$2,330. The report noted that TSMC is expected to invest approximately $150 billion in capacity expansion over the next three years, while its profit margin continues to improve. The bank emphasized that artificial intelligence has become the "engine driving TSMC's growth for many years to come".

Musk releases "mass production schedule"; brain-computer interface stocks collectively hit daily limit-ups—is the commercial inflection point here? With Musk clearly announcing the schedule for Neuralink devices to start mass production in 2026, the brain-computer interface (BCI) industry may be on the verge of a crucial turning point from "medical experimental products" to "mass consumer goods". The market is re-evaluating the broad application prospects of BCI in medical rehabilitation, AI interconnection, and humanoid robot collaboration. Morgan Stanley predicts that the overall market size will soar to $320 billion by 2045.

Zhiyuan Robotics shipped more than 5,100 units in 2025, with projected shipments expected to "reach tens of thousands of units" in 2026. Deng Taihua, founder, chairman, and CEO of Zhiyuan Robotics, revealed on December 22 last year that the company's sales revenue reached the level of tens of millions of yuan in 2024, and is "likely to exceed 1 billion yuan" in 2025. He predicted that Zhiyuan Robotics' shipments and sales revenue will continue to grow several times in 2026, entering a faster stage of commercial development.

## Selected Research Reports

Goldman Sachs' top 10 tech industry trends for 2026: Apple's "foldable" device to boost the market, the rise of ASICs, and a trillion-dollar optical communication feast. Goldman Sachs believes that AI server shipments will witness explosive growth in 2026, with ASIC chip penetration rate expected to rise to 40%, driving 800G/1.6T optical module shipments to surge more than threefold year-on-year. Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone is expected to serve as a strong catalyst for the smartphone market. Meanwhile, AI-driven hardware upgrades, autonomous driving, satellite communication, and other fields will also see structural growth opportunities, reshaping the supply chain and investment landscape.

Dalio: The AI boom is in the early stage of a bubble; the Federal Reserve may further inflate the bubble. Dalio stated that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has now entered the early stage of a bubble. In 2025, the U.S. stock market significantly underperformed non-U.S. stock markets and gold assets. Investors preferred allocating to non-U.S. stocks over U.S. stocks, and also showed a greater inclination to hold non-U.S. bonds. The new Federal Reserve Chair and the Federal Open Market Committee are likely to tend to lower nominal and real interest rates. While this move will support asset prices, it will also further inflate the bubble.

## Domestic Macro

Xi Jinping held a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. According to Xinhua News Agency, China has always placed China-South Korea relations in an important position in its neighboring diplomacy, and its policy toward South Korea has maintained continuity and stability. China is willing to work with South Korea to firmly grasp the direction of friendly cooperation, adhere to the purpose of mutual benefit and win-win results, promote the China-South Korea Strategic Cooperative Partnership to move forward along a healthy track, effectively enhance the well-being of the two peoples, and positively contribute to regional and global peace and development.

He Lifeng pointed out at the China-South Korea Business Forum that China and South Korea should strengthen economic and trade ties and create a new situation of win-win cooperation. According to Xinhua News Agency, He Lifeng stated that under the strategic guidance of the important consensus reached during the mutual visits of the two heads of state, China and South Korea should actively promote the upgrading of economic and trade cooperation and continuously create a new situation of win-win cooperation. China will unswervingly expand high-level opening-up and welcome enterprises from all countries, including South Korean ones, to invest and start businesses in China and share development opportunities. Lee Jae-myung expressed that South Korea is willing to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with China to bring more well-being to the two peoples.

An average annual increase of 15% to 20% in the next two years! Goldman Sachs calls for overweighting Chinese stocks. Goldman Sachs believes that the upward momentum of Chinese stocks will mainly come from two aspects. Firstly, enterprises benefiting from AI expansion and the "anti-involution" campaign will see substantial improvement in profitability, with profit growth rates expected to reach 14% and 12% in 2026 and 2027, respectively. Secondly, the revaluation of the valuation system is expected to bring about an approximate 10% increase in valuations, as Chinese stocks are currently still trading at a significant valuation discount.

# Domestic Companies

MiniMax May Set Its IPO Price at the Upper End of the Guidance Range and Close the Subscription Early. According to media reports, Chinese AI firm MiniMax is reportedly planning to price its Hong Kong IPO at the upper end of the indicative range (HK$165 per share), aiming to raise over HK$4.2 billion. Strong subscription has attracted cornerstone investors including sovereign wealth funds. With overseas revenue accounting for over 70% of its total, the company demonstrates high growth potential. The IPO is intended to consolidate its position in the global AI competition.

A Rare Scenario for Moutai: "Instant Sell-out" and "Break Below IPO Price" Coexist. The Feitian Moutai priced at 1,499 yuan has been sold out within seconds on the iMoutai app for four consecutive days. However, the wholesale price of bulk Feitian Moutai has fallen below the guidance price to 1,490 yuan. Analysts believe that behind this rare price inversion is a strategic transformation driven by Moutai: expanding direct sales to squeeze channel profits and making affordable Moutai accessible to the general public, which is turning Moutai from a "luxury item + investment product" back into a "high-frequency daily necessity".

Kuaishou Surges 12% as Keling Gains Overseas Popularity and Motion Control Features Go Viral. Kuaishou's AI commercialization potential is accelerating, driving its stock price to a sharp rise. Everbright Securities stated that its video model "Keling" has gained explosive popularity overseas thanks to its "audio-visual simultaneous generation" function, with daily turnover surging 2.5 times and estimated 2025 revenue exceeding US$140 million. Combined with AI-enabled efficiency improvement in the advertising business, the company's valuation logic is being reshaped under the dual-wheel drive.

# Overseas Macro

US Media: Vance Admits Oil is One of the Reasons for US Military Action Against Venezuela. According to Huanqiu.com, US Vice President Vance claimed that "about 20 years ago, Venezuela seized US-owned oil assets, and until recently, the country has been using these stolen (US) assets to accumulate wealth and fund its 'narco-terrorist activities'". This refers to former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's nationalization of the country's oil industry, which largely shut out foreign companies and redirected profits to social welfare programs.

Trump's Revival of Venezuela's Oil Industry – A US$100 Billion Gamble. The Trump administration plans to revitalize Venezuela's oil industry, but rebuilding the country's oil infrastructure and restoring its production to peak levels is expected to require annual investment of approximately US$10 billion over the next decade, with a total cost potentially exceeding US$100 billion. The industry generally believes that against the backdrop of severely damaged oilfield infrastructure, sluggish global oil prices and unstable political situation, multinational oil giants are likely to adopt a wait-and-see attitude before obtaining clear legal guarantees and favorable terms.

Goldman Sachs Comments on "Venezuela's Political Upheaval": Uncertain in the Short Term, Further Fueling Oil Price Decline in the Long Run. Trump stated that the US will be "deeply involved" in the future of Venezuela's oil industry, leveraging US financial resources and industry technology to restore its former glory in oil production. Goldman Sachs believes that given the degree of infrastructure degradation, any recovery in production will be "gradual and partial". However, if Venezuela's production rises in the long term, combined with production growth in the US and Russia, it will further increase the risk of oil price decline in 2027 and beyond.

Why Venezuela's Oil Still Struggles to Resume Production Quickly After Trump's Intervention? Analyses from HSBC and Goldman Sachs both suggest that the recovery of Venezuela's oil industry is a time-consuming, capital-intensive and uncertain "marathon": even if recovery is achieved, it will take a decade and hundreds of billions of dollars in investment. Most of its so-called "largest reserves" are commercially unviable. The market has become "desensitized" to short-term disruptions, and the global supply surplus (about 2 million barrels per day) is sufficient to buffer the impact; while its long-term production recovery will become a bearish factor suppressing forward oil prices.

Venezuela's Sudden Political Change: Why Did the Oil Market Remain Unmoved and Global Financial Markets Stay Calm? Currently, Venezuela's oil production accounts for only 1% of the global total, and with a surplus in market supply, oil prices have reacted mildly. Investors are more focused on AI fundamentals and interest rate trends, with geopolitical risks only reflected in safe-haven assets such as gold. Analysts point out that unless the supply chain is disrupted, the market has become accustomed to "decoupling" such isolated political shocks and instead focusing on asset rotation in global value depressions.

Venezuela's Defaulted Bonds Skyrocket, Hedge Funds Become Big Winners; Wall Street: There is Still Room for Growth. In early Monday trading, defaulted bonds issued by Venezuela and its state-owned oil company PDVSA surged sharply. Among them, sovereign bonds maturing in 2027 rose 7 cents per dollar face value, an increase of approximately 22%, marking the largest single-day gain since 2023. This pushed the bond price up to 40 cents, doubling from six months ago, but still lower than the potential recovery value that investors believe could be achieved if the country advances debt restructuring.

Will Venezuela Trigger the Next "Gold Rush"? Hedge Fund Tribeca: This is One of the Biggest Money-making Opportunities in History. The political changes in Venezuela are triggering a wave of "gold rush" among hedge funds. The Tribeca Fund, which doubled its returns last year, plans to invest up to 10% of its capital in the country, and its team has already visited the local area for inspection. Despite extremely high safety and legal uncertainties, risk-seeking investors are trying to seize the opportunity before large institutions enter the market, regarding it as one of the "biggest investment opportunities in history".

Fed's Kashkari: The Job Market Has Clearly Cooled, and Interest Rates Are Close to the Neutral Level. He also pointed out that the main risk facing inflation lies in its persistence – the impact of factors such as tariffs on prices may take several years to be fully transmitted; in his view, the risk of further increase in the unemployment rate from the current level also cannot be ignored.

Yellen, Who Has Served as Both Treasury Secretary and Fed Chair, Warns: "Fiscal Dominance" Threatens the US Economy. Former Treasury Secretary and former Fed Chair Janet Yellen warned that the rising US debt is triggering the risk of "fiscal dominance". She specifically pointed out that Trump has publicly pressured the Fed to cut interest rates. This warning was echoed by former Fed officials, who said that the current administration may not realize the severity of the debt crisis. According to the US Congressional Budget Office, the US deficit will reach US$1.9 trillion this year, and the debt-to-GDP ratio will rise to 100% and continue to climb.

AI Drives Storage Prices to Skyrocket! Japanese and South Korean Stock Markets Hit New Highs, Samsung Rises Nearly 5%, SK Hynix Gains Almost 3%. The surging demand for AI computing power and the rebound in storage chip prices have driven the stock prices of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to soar, leading Japanese and South Korean stock markets to hit new highs. Especially in the high-end HBM market, competition between the two sides has intensified. Samsung's breakthrough progress in HBM4 indicates a full-scale escalation of the HBM showdown with SK Hynix. Global tech giants have stationed their procurement teams in South Korea to compete for the limited HBM production capacity of these two Korean enterprises.

Fiscal and Inflation Concerns Linger, Japan's 10-Year Government Bond Yield Climbs to Its Highest Level Since 1999. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield rose as much as 5 basis points to 2.12% on Monday, hitting the highest level since 1999. The Sanae Takaichi government's record-breaking defense budget clearly signals a "reflation" policy. Coupled with concerns over the central bank's delayed actions triggered by the weak yen, selling pressure in the Japanese bond market remains difficult to ease, and market caution continues to rise.

Vietnam's Q4 GDP Grows 8.46% YoY, Driven by Rapid Manufacturing Expansion. Despite facing US tariff pressure, the Vietnamese economy has shown strong resilience, with its Q4 2025 GDP growth rate far exceeding market expectations. The core driver of growth comes from the rapid expansion of manufacturing (with a quarterly growth rate of over 10%) and exports, which confirms its position as a key beneficiary of global supply chain relocation. However, the excessively rapid credit expansion (17.9% year-on-year growth) has triggered liquidity risks, becoming the main hidden concern for the future economy.

# Overseas Companies

Aggressively Betting on AI, Samsung Plans to Double the Number of Mobile Devices Equipped with Gemini to 800 Million Units, Fully Competing Against Apple. Samsung will sharply increase the number of mobile devices equipped with Google Gemini AI from 400 million to 800 million units in 2026, joining hands with Google to launch an "AI counterattack" against Apple. At the same time, thanks to the breakthrough in HBM4 memory technology, Samsung is expected to return to NVIDIA's supply chain, driving its stock price to surge 7% in a single day.

# Industry/Concepts

1.  **Google Industry Chain** | According to Sina Finance, Samsung Electronics is accelerating the expansion of the coverage of Gemini AI. Roh Tae-moon, Co-CEO of Samsung Electronics and head of the mobile business, stated that the company plans to double the number of mobile devices equipped with Google Gemini AI functions this year to gain an advantage in the increasingly fierce global AI competition. Samsung has previously deployed Gemini-related AI functions on approximately 400 million mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, with the target of increasing this scale to 800 million units in 2026.

   **Commentary**: Analysts believe that Google released Gemini 3 in November last year, and this version leads peers in multiple mainstream AI performance indicators. In 2025, Google carried out a "Gemini-centric" architecture reconstruction of its Android 16 system, providing basic support for the large-scale deployment of AI capabilities on Android devices including Samsung and other OEM manufacturers. As one of the world's mainstream Android device manufacturers, Samsung's large-scale deployment can fully leverage Google Gemini 3.0/Nano and other models' support for multi-modal content and edge-side AI capabilities. Samsung's accelerated integration with Google's Gemini ecosystem is expected to drive "10-billion-level" market user penetration of AI-enabled smartphones, wearables and other smart hardware, accelerating the popularization of AI assistants and multi-modal intelligent experiences.

2.  **Solid-State Batteries** | According to D1EV, on January 5 local time, Finnish startup Donut Lab officially announced the launch of the world's first all-solid-state battery with commercial mass production conditions, and plans to debut it at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, USA on the 6th. The core advantage of this all-solid-state battery lies in "comprehensive transcendence" – it breaks the technical bottlenecks of traditional lithium batteries in terms of energy density, charging speed, cycle life and extreme environment adaptability. It can be used in passenger vehicles, as well as electric motorcycles, heavy-duty trucks and even engineering machinery equipment, which is expected to completely revolutionize the electric vehicle industry.

   **Commentary**: The solid-state battery industry is at a critical tipping point, transitioning from "laboratory research and development" to "engineering verification", showing a trend of "semi-solid-state batteries taking the lead, all-solid-state batteries making breakthroughs, and multi-field breakthroughs". Currently, the market is dominated by semi-solid-state batteries (accounting for over 95% of the market), which have taken the lead in commercialization in high-end electric vehicles and energy storage fields. Although all-solid-state batteries are still in the pilot test stage, major manufacturers have set clear timelines, expecting small-batch vehicle loading verification around 2027 and large-scale mass production around 2030. China Merchants Securities believes that solid-state batteries are currently in a critical stage of moving from experimental verification and small-scale testing to pilot test delivery, and the equipment segment is expected to take the lead in substantive implementation, becoming a highly certain segment for new technologies. It is expected that equipment bidding for pilot production lines may start at the end of 2025 to the beginning of 2026, followed by continuous catalysts such as pilot line testing, mid-term review, vehicle loading commissioning and mass production line bidding, with broad future market space. According to China Merchants Securities' estimates, the global all-solid-state battery equipment market size will reach 59.216 billion yuan by 2030, with a CAGR of 103% from 2024 to 2030.

3.  **Mini Programs** | According to CNCN, WeChat Mini Programs officially launched the "AI Application and Online Tool Mini Program Growth Plan". It provides comprehensive support including cloud development resources, AI computing power, data analysis, commercial monetization and traffic incentives. The incentive period of the growth plan covers the entire year of 2026 (from January 1 to December 31, 2026), helping developers quickly transform their ideas into profitable AI mini program products.

   **Commentary**: Analysts believe that compared with the months-long development cycle of apps, mini programs have the advantage of ultra-fast launch; mini programs feature rapid social dissemination, and high-quality products are likely to form word-of-mouth communication through WeChat chat forwarding, Moments and official accounts; the conversion rate within the mini program ecosystem is much higher than that of traditional apps. The WeChat team stated that it will continue to focus on ecological infrastructure construction to help developers turn their ideas into reality. With the continuous upgrading of the Hunyuan model, more advanced AI capabilities will be integrated into the mini program ecosystem. In the future, the integration of AI with vertical scenarios will become closer, spawning more innovative applications. WeChat's launch of the AI Mini Program Growth Plan marks that the mini program ecosystem is becoming the "first stop" for rapid verification and independent development of AI applications. By providing comprehensive resource support, WeChat not only lowers the development threshold, but also builds a complete path from creativity to commercialization for developers, which is expected to usher in explosive growth of AI mini programs in 2026.

4.  **Vanadium Flow Batteries** | According to Jiemian News, China's largest vanadium flow battery energy storage power station – the Three Gorges Group's Jimsar Vanadium Flow Energy Storage Power Station in Xinjiang – recently achieved full-capacity commissioning and operation. With a rated power of 200,000 kW and an energy storage scale of 1,000,000 kWh, the power station is expected to increase the utilization rate of the supporting photovoltaic power station by more than 10% annually, and can generate up to 230 million kWh of clean electricity.

   **Commentary**: Analysts said that as the preferred solution for long-duration energy storage technology, vanadium flow batteries, relying on their core advantages such as intrinsic safety, long cycle life, and flexible decoupling of power and capacity, have moved from the technology demonstration stage to the era of large-scale application, becoming a key technology supporting the construction of a new power system. The global installed capacity exceeded 16 GWh in 2025, and it is expected to form a 100-billion-level market by 2030.

5.  **Environmental Protection** | Recently, the State Council issued the *Action Plan for Comprehensive Solid Waste Management*. The *Action Plan* requires that in accordance with the principles of reduction, recycling and harmlessness, special rectification should be carried out in depth, closed-loop management should be strictly implemented, and a comprehensive solid waste management system featuring source reduction, process control, end-use utilization and full-chain harmless management should be built. Priority should be given to the treatment of solid waste closely related to people's lives and production safety, the long-term mechanism for comprehensive management should be accelerated, and the growth momentum of solid waste should be resolutely curbed.

   **Commentary**: The *Action Plan* proposes that by 2030, remarkable results will be achieved in the special rectification of solid waste in key areas, the historical stock of solid waste will be effectively controlled, the high incidence of illegal dumping and disposal will be curbed, the annual comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste will reach 4.5 billion tons, the annual recycling of major renewable resources will reach 510 million tons, and the capacity and level of comprehensive solid waste management will be significantly improved.

6.  **Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)** | According to The Paper, the BCI implantation technology of Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University has achieved another breakthrough. China's first and the world's second fully implanted, fully wireless and fully functional ("triple-full") BCI product successfully completed its first clinical trial. A 28-year-old patient who has been paraplegic for 8 years for the first time controlled a wheelchair and browsed web pages with his mind through the implanted BCI system... This technological breakthrough marks that China has ranked among the world's top tier in the field of BCI.

   **Commentary**: Kaiyuan Securities believes that the BCI industry is in a high-growth accumulation period driven by multiple factors such as technological breakthroughs, policy support and expectations of robot ecosystem synergy. According to data from Precedence Research, the global BCI market size is expected to grow to approximately US$12.4 billion by 2034, with a CAGR of 17% from 2025 to 2034. Driven by the recent expectations of Neuralink's large-scale mass production and technological breakthroughs, the BCI industry has attracted increased attention.

7.  **Commercial Aerospace** | Learned from the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Commercial Rocket Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Commercial Rocket Company") recently underwent industrial and commercial changes, with its registered capital increased from 1 billion yuan to 1.396 billion yuan. Among them, the capital contribution of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as "CASC") increased from 510 million yuan to 906 million yuan, an increase of 77.6%.

   **Commentary**: Established in 2024 and headquartered in Shanghai, China Commercial Rocket Company is committed to building a world-class new type of commercial rocket with high reliability, high performance, high efficiency and low cost, and providing global customers with "one-stop" launch services covering rocket selection and procurement, plan coordination, license processing, insurance arrangement and full-chain support at the launch site. In recent years, against the backdrop of the booming development of global commercial aerospace, China's aerospace "national team" has also launched a layout, establishing commercial rocket companies and commercial satellite companies at the same time.

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