APAC Roundup
Xi's upbeat NYE address; Biren IPO; BYD; Chinese power equipment ATHs; Singapore data
Upbeat news out of China setting the tone for the first trading day of 2026.
Xi’s New Year’s Speech (BBG)
President Xi Jinping highlighted China’s achievements in artificial intelligence and the chip industry in a triumphant New Year’s Eve speech as he called for more confidence in the country’s development path in the year ahead.
The speech was Xi’s most upbeat New Year’s Eve address in recent years, coming after his government overcame a multitude of challenges to underscore China’s status as a rising global superpower.
In a further sign of Xi’s confidence in handling relations with Washington, the Chinese leader on Wednesday did not highlight “external uncertainties” as a challenge in his outlook for the new year as he had done for 2025. Instead, he noted that 2026 marks the start of the government’s 15th Five-Year Plan and called for a focus on high-quality development.
Some alarm over Xi’s “unstoppable reunification” comment. However, it reads less threatening when read in context. Official English transcript:
Not long ago, I attended the opening ceremony of the National Games, and I was glad to see Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao coming together in unity and acting in unison. We should unswervingly implement the policy of One Country, Two Systems, and support Hong Kong and Macao in better integrating into the overall development of our country and maintaining long-term prosperity and stability. We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a bond of blood and kinship. The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable!
Biren (6082.HK) +76%
After MetaX and Moore Threads, Biren is the third of China's "Four little dragons" in AI GPUs to go public.
Biren raised HK$5.58 billion by selling 284.8 million H shares at HK$19.60 each, the top of a marketed range.
Institutional demand was nearly 26 times the shares on offer, while the retail tranche was oversubscribed about 2,348 times.
BYD Hits Sales Goal, Set to Topple Tesla as Biggest EV Maker (BBG)
Chinese power equipment: ATHs for Harbin Electric +6% and Wasion Holdings +4.7%
CQME (2722.HK) +4.4%
Foreign Affairs piece tables a US-China issue list for this year (FA)
Wu Xinbo is the Dean of the Institute of International Studies and Director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.
His essay published on 31 December 2025 should be seen as laying out a neat summary of issues for discussion between the US and China in the coming year, rather than a realistic outline of a comprehensive deal.
Trump is scheduled to visit Xi in China in April. Xi is likely to visit Trump in the United States.
China will host then host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Nov 2026 and the United States will host the G-20 summit in Dec 2026.
We would not dismiss Mr Wu as a mouthpiece of the CCP as commentary out of Shanghai is known to have more “leeway”. The feedback from Taiwan is that Mr Wu’s essay leaves out recent asks re Taiwan and that the positions on Taiwan are impossibly far apart. They are likely to be parked in favour of narrower agreements on other issues this year.
Singapore economy grew 5.7% in Q4 2025, manufacturing sector expanded by 15% (CNA)
We should see construction demand forecasts for 2026 later this month from the Building and Construction Authority. They will also release the actual construction numbers for 2025.
We will be reporting on the Soilbuild EGM on Monday, 5 Jan. In Kuala Lumpur next week and expect to meet with folks in power, construction and manufacturing.