China's housing market showed signs of improvement in January as home price declines in 70 large and medium-sized cities generally narrowed from the previous month, official data showed on Friday. In the four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen -- prices of newly built homes edged down 0.3 percent month on month in January, while prices of second-hand homes slipped 0.5 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Meanwhile, across 31 second-tier cities, the average month-on-month price declines were 0.3 percent for new homes and 0.5 percent for resold homes, while prices in 35 third-tier cities fell 0.4 percent for new homes and 0.6 percent for resold homes.

China's outstanding inclusive loans for small and micro businesses in 2025 totaled 37 trillion yuan (about 5.3 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of the fourth quarter, which was up 11 percent year on year, according to data released by the National Financial Regulatory Administration on Thursday. Specifically, outstanding inclusive agriculture-related loans were at 14.2 trillion yuan by the end of the fourth quarter, an increase of 10.3 percent year on year, the data shows. By the end of the quarter, the total RMB and foreign-currency assets of China's banking institutions had climbed to 480 trillion yuan, up 8 percent year on year. The data also shows that the non-performing loan ratio of the country's commercial banks was 1.5 percent by the end of the fourth quarter.

China will announce the final ruling on its anti-dumping investigation into rapeseed imports from Canada before March 9, 2026, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said at a regular press conference on Thursday. Given the complexity of the case, the investigation period has been extended, the ministry said. It will fully consider Canada's reasonable concerns within the framework of relevant rules, and make an objective and fair final ruling based on the facts and evidence.

The economic and trade teams of China and the United States have maintained close communication at various levels through their economic and trade consultation mechanism, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. The economic and trade teams of both countries have timely exchanged views on implementing consensus reached by the two heads of state at their Busan meeting and the outcomes of economic and trade consultations in Kuala Lumpur, as well as addressing each other's concerns in economic and trade fields, spokesperson He Yadong said at a regular press briefing.

China will impose countervailing measures on certain dairy products imported from the European Union (EU) for a period of five years starting on Friday, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. According to the final ruling announced by the ministry, company-specific duty rates range from 7.4 percent to 11.7 percent. At the request of China's domestic industry, the ministry launched a countervailing investigation on Aug. 21, 2024. This investigation was carried out in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations, as well as relevant World Trade Organization rules, following principles of fairness, impartiality, openness and transparency, a ministry spokesperson said, adding that the ministry widely solicited views from interested parties and fully safeguarded their rights.

The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, on Thursday announced that it will conduct a 1-trillion-yuan (about 144 billion U.S. dollars) outright reverse repo operation on Friday to maintain ample liquidity in the banking system. The operation will have a fixed quantity and be carried out through interest-rate bidding, with winning bids determined at multiple price levels. It will have a tenor of six months, or 182 days, according to the central bank. Outright reverse repo operations -- a tool the central bank introduced in October 2024 to manage liquidity in the national banking system -- are conducted each month with a tenor of no more than one year.

China's State Council Food Safety Office and State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) have instructed local authorities to tighten the quality and safety oversight of infant formula, following a recent precautionary recall of Nestle products. In response to the recall, which was triggered by the detection of an emetic toxin produced by the Bacillus cereus bacterium in certain batches of infant formula, the two authorities have urged Nestle China to complete the recall of specific batches sold on the Chinese mainland, the SAMR said in a statement. To date, no confirmed cases of poisoning linked to the consumption of infant formula contaminated with the toxin have been reported in China, according to the statement.

China is set to launch a nationwide campaign to ignite consumer spending during the record nine-day-long Spring Festival holiday beginning Sunday, in a concerted push to funnel festive goodwill into robust economic momentum at the start of the new year, officials and economists said. The campaign, targeting the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar, includes consumer goods trade-ins, a prize invoice pilot program wherein consumers with valid purchase invoices above a set threshold can enter a lottery to win cash prizes and enhanced services for overseas tourists, to help domestic consumers and international travelers enter the festive spirit and enjoy great deals, they added.

China's newly installed solar and wind power capacity exceeded 430 million kilowatts in 2025, an increase of 22 percent year on year, hitting a record high, National Energy Administration (NEA) data showed on Thursday. This surge propelled the cumulative grid-connected capacity of wind and solar power to 1.84 billion kilowatts, accounting for 47.3 percent of the country's total installed power capacity and surpassing thermal power for the first time. Meanwhile, solar and wind power accounted for 22 percent of the nation's total electricity output in 2025, according to the NEA.

China's top economic planner, in coordination with other government departments, has unveiled measures to ensure stable supply and prices of daily necessities and assistance to people in need ahead of the Spring Festival. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Wednesday that efforts will be made to ensure sufficient supply by strengthening agricultural production and streamlining logistics for fresh produce. To stabilize prices, the NDRC said it will ensure the timely release of government vegetable reserves and strengthen market supervision to prevent hoarding and price gouging. Support for low-income groups will be enhanced, including temporary subsidies linked to price increases, according to the commission. The NDRC said that China has a solid foundation for market stability, with sustained grain output and sufficient production of meat, eggs and vegetables.

China will work to improve the nationwide allocation of electricity and further optimize cross-regional power trading, according to guidelines released recently. The measures aim to basically establish a "unified national power market" by 2030, according to the guidelines issued by the General Office of the State Council. The market is expected to be fully in place by 2035, the guidelines say. The power market will feature smooth and orderly operations, unified and efficient trading rules, and a fair sharing of benefits, according to the guidelines. As part of its efforts to build the market, China will develop spot markets that better reflect prices and balance supply and demand, alongside mid to long-term markets that ensure safe and stable electricity supply.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) directly administered by the Chinese central government have formed an embodied intelligence industry consortium in an effort to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI). Under the guidance of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, the consortium brings together central SOEs alongside private companies, universities and research institutes. It will focus on five priority areas: strategic high-value application scenarios, high-quality datasets, key and core technologies across the industrial chain, coordinated development within the broader industry ecosystem, and the links between industry and finance to support the real economy.

China on Wednesday released consumer price index (CPI) data compiled using 2025 as the base year, with the National Bureau of Statistics rolling out the latest base-year update to better reflect changes in consumption. The update is a routine practice and a common approach for price index compilation internationally. Under China's statistical system, the CPI and producer price index (PPI) base years are updated every five years. Starting this year, China now compiles and releases price indices based on 2025, according to a bureau official. The CPI tracks changes in prices of a representative "fixed basket" of goods and services frequently consumed by residents. As consumption patterns evolve alongside economic and social development, the basket and comparison base must be adjusted to better reflect the latest market realities, the official said.

Nighttime tourism demand in China has shown steady growth. From January to October 2025, such expenditures accounted for 32.9 percent of total daily tourism spending, with the proportion of nighttime transactions reaching 28.3 percent, the report said. In September 2025, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued a notice pledging to launch pilot programs for new forms, models, and scenarios of consumption. As part of these efforts, the notice emphasized the need to innovate and diversify services consumption scenarios, explicitly including the development of nighttime culture and tourism consumption hubs as a key initiative.

China's core consumer inflation remained stable in January, official data showed on Wednesday, pointing to a gradual recovery in domestic demand, even as headline price growth eased due to base effects from last year's Chinese New Year and lower energy costs. The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.2 percent year on year in January, while core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.8 percent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The headline CPI growth moderated from the 0.8-percent gain in the previous month, largely because of base effects linked to the timing of the Chinese New Year and a sharper fall in energy prices, NBS statistician Dong Lijuan explained.

Chinese local authorities have allocated 2.05 billion yuan (about 295.23 million U.S. dollars) in funds to directly benefit the public through the distribution of consumption vouchers, subsidies, and cash envelopes during the nine-day Spring Festival holiday, an official said on Wednesday. The move is part of a consumption promotion campaign during the Spring Festival holiday. The campaign features activities across six areas, including dining, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping and entertainment, Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping told a press conference.

China saw signs of improvement in factory-gate prices in January 2026, with the decline in its producer price index (PPI) continuing to narrow, official data showed Wednesday. The PPI, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 1.4 percent year on year in January, narrowing by 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. On a monthly basis, the PPI rose 0.4 percent in January, 0.2 percentage points higher than the increase recorded in December, according to the NBS data.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 1.4 percent year on year in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.2 percent year on year in January, official data showed on Wednesday. The headline CPI growth moderated from the 0.8-percent gain in the previous month, largely due to base effects linked to the timing of the Chinese New Year and a sharper fall in energy prices, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Last year's Spring Festival fell in January, pushing up food and some service prices and leaving a higher comparison base. As a result, food prices fell 0.7 percent from a year earlier in January 2026, subtracting about 0.11 percentage points from the CPI, NBS statistician Dong Lijuan explained.

China's 10 top provincial regions by gross domestic product (GDP) accounted for 62.2 percent of the country's overall economic growth in 2025, according to recent data released by all such regions. The 10 top-performing regions, including Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shandong, helped boost the national growth rate by 3.1 percentage points, the data shows. Their combined GDP totaled approximately 85.5 trillion yuan (about 12.3 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025.

China's central bank on Tuesday said it will continue implementing a moderately loose monetary policy, pledging to support stable economic growth and guide prices toward a reasonable recovery. In its report of the monetary policy implementation in the fourth quarter of 2025, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it will calibrate the strength, pace and timing of policy measures in response to evolving domestic and global economic and financial conditions, as well as market developments. Last year, the PBOC rolled out a package of monetary and financial measures, stepping up countercyclical adjustment to bolster the real economy and ensure the stable operation of financial markets, according to the report.

Multiple Chinese authorities have jointly issued guidelines to bolster the information and communication sector, aiming to support the development of low-altitude infrastructure. The guidelines, which were released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other government departments, establish that ground mobile communication network coverage for low-altitude public air routes across the country should be no lower than 90 percent by 2027. They also mandate the development of at least 10 standards for information infrastructure and the cultivation of typical low-altitude application scenarios in fields such as urban governance, logistics and transportation, and culture and tourism.

On the site of a former steelworks, a new kind of factory is humming. This facility, owned by Shougang Group, one of China's largest steelmakers, sees carbon-rich industrial tail gas, once simply vented as a pollutant, now piped into fermentation tanks. There, microbes transform it into a high-protein powder used for animal feed. This operation is more than a recycling project. It is a flagship example of China's strategic bet on bio-manufacturing, an emerging sector that uses biological processes to make goods, ranging from chemicals and materials to medicines and fuels. This shift is part of China's broader agenda to open up new areas for economic growth, as the country plans to build a new massive tech-intensive sector within the next decade.

The Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing stock exchanges on Monday announced a package of measures to optimize refinancing rules to support high-quality listed companies. The move aims to better support the innovative development of high-quality listed companies, accommodate the refinancing needs of sci-tech enterprises, enhance the flexibility and convenience of refinancing, and refine oversight throughout the process. For well-performing companies with standardized governance and information disclosure, as well as strong market recognition, the exchanges will streamline the review process to improve refinancing efficiency.

The People's Bank of China on Monday announced that it has authorized the Bank of China's (BOC's) London branch as a renminbi (RMB) clearing bank in Britain. The central bank announced the decision in a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of England. Drawing on a century of expertise in cross-border finance and its well-established RMB clearing network, the BOC continues to strengthen supportive infrastructure for the internationalization of the renminbi, according to the BOC. It said that in the future, further efforts will be made to promote the development of London's offshore RMB market while pursuing continued innovation in areas such as trading, investment, financing, and clearing and settlement.