Xi and Putin Reaffirm Strategic Partnership and Pledge Closer Coordination as New START Treaty Expires
Holding their first video conference of 2026 on 4 February – a date marking both the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and the 30th year of their bilateral partnership – the two leaders agreed to deepen ties and coordinate positions at the UN, BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, with Putin accepting invitations to visit China twice this year as both countries pledge to defend multilateralism against what they termed ‘the real risk of sliding back to the law of the jungle’.
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Xi Tells Trump Taiwan Is ‘China’s Territory’ and Urges Prudence on Arms Sales Following Record US $111 Billion Package
Holding video talks with Vladimir Putin the same morning – where Russia reaffirmed support for the One China policy and accepted an invitation to visit Beijing in the first half of 2026 – China’s leader then emphasised to his US counterpart that the island question is the most important issue in bilateral ties, urging Washington to exercise caution on military support for Taipei following December’s record US $111 billion arms package.
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Uruguayan President Orsi Leads Largest-Ever Delegation to China, Signs 19 Cooperation Agreements amid Washington’s Regional Pressure
Coinciding with the 38th anniversary of diplomatic ties, Beijing hosted the newly inaugurated Latin American leader’s first Asian trip alongside approximately 150 delegates – the largest such mission in Uruguay’s history – while signing 19 cooperation agreements spanning investment, trade, technology, and environmental protection; the joint statement emphasised multilateralism and opposition to ‘unilateral bullying’ as the two countries expressed willingness to advance China-Mercosur free trade negotiations.
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Central Document No. 1 Maintains 23-Year Focus on Rural Revitalisation, Introducing Normalised Assistance as Post-Poverty Transition Begins
Marking the transition from the five-year post-poverty consolidation period (2021–2025) to permanent monitoring, the annual policy document – the first major directive of the 15th Five-Year Plan – prioritises normalised assistance against poverty relapse, agricultural technology innovation featuring drones and robots, and food security targets of around 700 million tonnes; rural per capita disposable income reached 24,456 yuan (US $3,517) in 2025 with a 6% year-on-year increase, while the urban-rural income ratio narrowed to 2.31:1 from 2.56:1 in 2020.
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Hong Kong Announces First-Ever Five-Year Development Blueprint to Align with China’s 15th National Plan
Following President Xi Jinping’s December meeting with Chief Executive John Lee – during which the central government affirmed Hong Kong’s economic recovery, successful legislative elections, and contribution to national security – the HKSAR announced it will formulate its first strategic five-year document covering finance, healthcare, and youth development, marking a shift toward proactive national integration while maintaining its status as the world’s freest economy with 3.5% GDP growth and 12% goods trade expansion projected for 2025.
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Shipbuilding Industry Maintains 16th Year of Global Leadership with 69% of New Orders and Record Backlog
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology data released on 1 February 2026 shows the sector completed 53.69 million deadweight tonnes of vessels (up 11.4% year-on-year), capturing 56.1% of global completions, 69% of new orders, and 66.8% of the order backlog – which reached a record 274.42 million deadweight tonnes representing three to four years of full-capacity production – while six Chinese firms ranked among the world’s top ten shipbuilders.
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Hong Kong’s Financial Markets Remain Robust amid Global Volatility with Bank Deposits Exceeding US $2.4 Trillion
Recording its fastest GDP growth since 2021 at 3.5% in 2025 with fourth-quarter expansion reaching 3.8%, Hong Kong’s financial system demonstrates resilience despite heightened global uncertainties – including US tech stock selloffs and cryptocurrency declines – as Finance Secretary Paul Chan reaffirmed the city’s position as a safe harbour for capital, with bank deposits rising 12% to 19.4 trillion yuan (approximately US $2.5 trillion) and fund net inflows exceeding HK $380 billion in the first eleven months of 2025.
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Wind and Solar Capacity Surpasses Thermal Power for First Time in China after Record 430 GW Added in 2025
Clean energy investment totalling 7.2 trillion yuan (US $1 trillion) in 2025 contributed more than one-third of GDP growth, while new installations of 315 GW solar and 119 GW wind brought cumulative capacity to 1.84 TW – equivalent to 82 Three Gorges Dams – with non-fossil sources now accounting for 60.4% of total installed power generation, marking a historic structural transformation in the world’s largest electricity system.
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2026 Rural Blueprint Shifts Soybean Strategy from Acreage Expansion to Yield Improvement while Signalling Strong Import Demand
Released on 3 February as the first policy document of 2026 and the opening blueprint for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Beijing’s annual ‘No. 1 Central Document’ shifts soybean strategy from expanding cultivation area to improving per-hectare yields and coordinating domestic production with trade – a pragmatic pivot given that domestic output meets only about 20% of demand, while officials affirmed China will ‘deeply participate’ in agricultural trade and ‘appropriately regulate the pace and scale of imports to protect food security’.
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School of Space Exploration Opens at UCAS, Realising Aerospace Pioneer Qian Xuesen’s 1957 Vision for Interstellar Travel Training
On 27 January 2026, at a ceremony at the ‘Two Bombs, One Satellite’ memorial symbolising early nuclear and space achievements, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences inaugurated an interdisciplinary programme spanning 14 disciplines – from astrophysics to ‘space sociology’ – with backing from over 100 CAS research institutes, while related advances include a six-legged mining robot with 600-newton combined gripping force designed for asteroid and lunar resource extraction, fulfilling a seven-decade ambition for institutionalised interstellar travel research.
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Chinese Acoustic Monitoring Technology Detects 146 Endangered Ganges River Dolphins in Bangladesh’s First Survey Using Real-Time System
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Bangladesh’s Jahangirnagar University deployed China’s ‘Tech Ears’ passive sonar system in a January survey of the Jamuna and Padma rivers, with the technology – originally developed to protect the Yangtze finless porpoise – now enabling accurate population estimates for a species whose near-blindness makes visual monitoring ineffective; the Belt and Road-backed project marks the first deployment of Chinese cetacean conservation technology in South Asia, with plans to expand to Pakistan’s Indus River dolphin protection.
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Li Ziqi Shifts from Video Creator to Cultural Heritage Advocate as Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshops Empower Rural Revitalisation
In her People’s Daily essay published on 4 February, the influencer with over 20 million YouTube subscribers reflected on her transformation from producing viral videos to managing an intangible cultural heritage station that preserves traditional crafts; her journey exemplifies a broader movement of rural content creators using digital platforms to drive economic development, with craftswomen in Beichuan County achieving per capita incomes exceeding 100,000 yuan (US $14,286) through Qiang embroidery promoted online.
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Trade-In Subsidies Drive 2.61 Trillion Yuan in Sales as Beijing Launches 30-Measure Action Plan for Consumer Spending
Issued in March 2025 by the CPC Central Committee and State Council, the comprehensive directive addresses household income, childcare, service industries, and equipment renewal through 30 specific initiatives – with the doubled allocation of 300 billion yuan (US $42.8 billion) in ultra-long special treasury bonds generating 366 million subsidised purchases and pushing new energy vehicle market penetration to 60% of passenger car sales throughout the year.
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