According to informed sources, due to the Panama side canceling the contract of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. to operate strategic ports at both ends of its canal, the Beijing side has taken broader retaliatory measures, instructing state-owned enterprises to cease negotiations on any new projects with the Central American country.
These anonymous sources pointed out that this development could jeopardize potential investment opportunities worth billions of dollars. In addition, Beijing has also suggested that shipping companies consider bypassing Panama ports and transporting goods through other routes without incurring huge additional costs. Meanwhile, China's customs authorities have also strengthened the inspection of products imported from Panama, with affected goods mainly including coffee and bananas. Although no final conclusions have been made regarding currently ongoing projects, informed sources added that these projects are also at risk of being affected.
This action follows a ruling by Panama's Supreme Court last week. The ruling is seen as a victory for U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign, aimed at curbing China's influence in the strategic infrastructure sector in the Americas. As the second-largest user of the Panama Canal after the United States, China reacted strongly to the ruling and issued a warning earlier this week, stating that if Panama succumbs to so-called U.S. hegemony, it will pay a heavy price.
This retaliatory strategy continues a similar approach taken by Beijing last year. According to previous reports from Bloomberg, after CK Hutchison announced the sale of its global port assets to a consortium led by Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's Terminal Investment Ltd. and U.S. investment firm BlackRock Inc., China criticized the sale as yielding to U.S. pressure. Subsequently, China demanded a halt to new business cooperation with Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's family and CK Hutchison-affiliated companies.
In the current tense situation, Bloomberg News attempted to contact the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which supervises state-owned enterprises, as well as the General Administration of Customs of China, but did not receive a response to its faxed request for comment. CK Hutchison also did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
Although China has gained strategic advantages by investing billions of dollars to build ports globally, it has also triggered security concerns in other countries due to escalating trade frictions. However, it is still difficult to assess how substantial China's retaliatory measures will significantly impact Panama. Despite Beijing's efforts in recent years to weaken U.S. dominance in Latin America, the U.S. remains firmly in the position of Panama's largest trading partner and investor. Considering that Panama's agricultural products account for a very small proportion of China's total imports, and that bypassing the Panama Canal usually means higher costs and delays, its economic impact may be limited.
Regarding the recent market dynamics of JinkoSolar, Gelonghui reported the latest developments on February 4. In response to the abnormal fluctuation where the cumulative closing price deviation of the company's stock reached 30% over three consecutive trading days, JinkoSolar officially released a related announcement. After a comprehensive internal review by the company and written confirmation to the controlling shareholder and actual controller, as of the announcement's release, the company's daily operations are normal without any significant changes, and there are no major matters that should be disclosed but have not been disclosed.
Previously, there were market rumors that Musk's team had recently conducted secret visits to several Chinese photovoltaic companies and had contacted JinkoSolar. In this regard, JinkoSolar conducted rigorous verification and clarification: as of now, the company has not engaged in any form of cooperation with Musk's team, and no framework or formal agreements have been signed between the two parties, nor does the company have any relevant orders in hand. Furthermore, regarding the concept of space photovoltaics, it is still in the preliminary exploration stage of technology, the specific technical route has not yet been determined, and there are no specific projects with practical feasibility for implementation. (Information source: Gelonghui App)
January margin trading data is impressive: new account openings surged by 157.09% year-on-year.
According to a news report from Gelonghui on February 4, the latest statistical results released by China Securities Index show that in January 2026, market investment enthusiasm surged, with the number of new margin trading accounts reaching 190,500. This data shows strong performance, with a month-on-month increase of 29.50% compared to the 147,100 accounts in December 2025; when compared to the 74,100 accounts in January 2025, the year-on-year growth rate is as high as 157.09%.
As of the end of January, the total number of margin trading accounts in the entire market has accumulated to 15,801,600. In terms of fund scale, by the end of January, the total margin trading balance in the entire market rose to 2.72 trillion yuan, a month-on-month growth of 6.87%. Looking at the specific breakdown of data, the margin balance is 2.70 trillion yuan, and the securities lending balance is 16.609 billion yuan. In addition, the total transaction amount for margin trading in the entire market in January reached 6.39 trillion yuan.
In response to the recent actions of the European Commission conducting an in-depth investigation of Chinese wind power companies based on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce recently answered questions from the media. When responding to questions regarding the European side's announcement to initiate this in-depth investigation, the spokesperson elaborated on China's position.
China has closely monitored the developments related to this matter. Recently, the European side has frequently utilized the Foreign Subsidies Regulation as an investigative tool against Chinese companies, particularly escalating the investigation targeting wind power and safety equipment companies to an in-depth investigation, which clearly demonstrates obvious targeting and discrimination. In this regard, China expresses deep concern and strong dissatisfaction.
The European side has overly generalized the concept of "foreign subsidies" in the relevant investigation, with insufficient evidence and extremely opaque procedures. This essentially uses the pretext of maintaining "fair competition" to implement protectionist measures. As early as January 2025, the Ministry of Commerce determined through investigation that the relevant practices of the European side constituted trade and investment barriers. However, the European side has not only failed to correct this but has instead sunk deeper into the wrong path.
The vigorous development of China's wind power and other green industries is rooted in continuous technological innovation, a complete industrial system, and sufficient market competition. Chinese companies have provided high-quality green products for global responses to climate change and made positive contributions. The European side's abuse of investigative means has not only severely disrupted mutually beneficial cooperation between Chinese and European industries but has also undermined the confidence of Chinese companies in investing in Europe, further hindering Europe's own and even the global green transition process.
China consistently advocates resolving differences through dialogue and consultation and opposes politicizing or overly securitizing economic and trade issues. We urge the European side to immediately correct its erroneous actions, exercise caution in using the FSR unilateral investigative tool, and strive to create a fair, just, and predictable market environment for China-Europe cooperation. China will continue to monitor subsequent developments and take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. (From the Gelonghui App)
According to Reuters, in order to respond to the current weak situation in the European market and effectively control costs to ensure profits, Renault has decided to manufacture a brand new small electric vehicle engine in France, using components from the Chinese supplier Shanghai e-drive. A spokesperson for Renault confirmed this strategic adjustment on Tuesday.
In fact, Renault has a precedent for cooperation with Shanghai e-drive. The new Twingo model from Renault uses an engine manufactured and imported by the company. Thanks to the deep involvement of Chinese suppliers and engineers, the R&D work for Twingo was successfully completed in less than two years.
As early as November, Reuters reported that Renault had halted plans to jointly develop rare earth-free high-efficiency motors with the French company Valeo and was considering introducing more competitively priced Chinese suppliers. The specific plans for the production of the new small engine were first disclosed by the French automotive media "Argus."
According to a statement released by the CGT union after listening to management's briefing last week, Renault plans to use its Cléon plant in northern France as the assembly base for the new engine. This plant is expected to launch a brand new production line in early 2027, specifically for the production of this entry-level engine, with a target annual output of up to 120,000 units.
Global automakers are facing increasing pressure from manufacturing and technology costs, prompting Ford (F.N) to partner with China's Geely (GEELY.UL). According to eight individuals familiar with the negotiations, both parties are exploring the establishment of a potential partnership.
In terms of specific cooperation, three informed sources pointed out that both parties are discussing allowing Geely to utilize Ford's manufacturing facilities in Europe for vehicle production in the region. Furthermore, according to two individuals knowledgeable about the negotiations, discussions are also addressing the potential for sharing automotive technologies, including frameworks for autonomous driving technology.
Two sources believe that the negotiations regarding production in Europe are currently the most advanced. According to informed sources, high-level interactions between both parties have been quite frequent: following the meeting between Geely executives and Ford leadership in Michigan last week, Ford also sent a delegation to China this week to further advance discussions.
Five sources who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the discussions revealed that the contact between Ford and Geely has actually been ongoing for several months. However, Reuters has not yet been able to ascertain the full scope of the negotiations, nor is it clear whether an agreement can ultimately be reached, including whether agreements involving the U.S. market are being considered.
In response to this matter, Geely declined to comment. Ford responded that they engage in discussions with many companies on various topics, and these contacts sometimes yield results, while other times they do not.
If this deal is finalized, it will help Ford catch up with global competitors in the fields of connected vehicle technology and autonomous driving, which are also key areas of focus for Tesla and Chinese automakers. Ford CEO Jim Farley has consistently emphasized the need for the company to close the competitive gap with China. In an interview at last year's Aspen Ideas Festival, Farley admitted that China's global leadership in electric vehicles and connected vehicle technology is one of the most humbling experiences of his career.
The current diplomatic situation can be described as tumultuous. Just as the United States strengthens its military deployments in the Middle East and regional tensions escalate, Iran has proposed new adjustments to the meeting originally scheduled for this Friday in Istanbul, Turkey. Tehran not only advocates moving the location of the bilateral contact with the United States to Oman but also explicitly demands that the negotiation topics be strictly limited to nuclear issues. This temporary change regarding the meeting location and agenda undoubtedly adds more uncertainty to the already challenging diplomatic mediation efforts.
According to a report by Reuters, which has been confirmed by the U.S. military, a military confrontation occurred on Tuesday in the Arabian Sea. An Iranian Shahed-139 drone was shot down by the U.S. Navy due to aggressive approaching behavior.
U.S. Central Command spokesman, Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, detailed the situation at the time. He pointed out that the drone was flying towards the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with unclear intentions. To ensure the safety of the carrier and its personnel, an F-35C fighter jet onboard the carrier was launched and shot down the drone as a defensive measure.
At the same time this military friction occurred, diplomatic efforts were being made to arrange nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Meanwhile, as U.S. warships moved towards Iran, President Donald Trump issued a stern warning that bad things could happen if the two sides could not reach an agreement.
The market reacted quickly to this breaking news, with oil futures prices rising by more than $1 per barrel as a result.
In response to this incident, reactions from Iran varied. The Iranian mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the matter. However, the Iranian Tasnim News Agency reported that a drone indeed lost contact in international waters, although the agency did not specify the exact reason for the loss of contact.
Responding to the Global Chip Shortage: Changxin and Yangtze Memory Technologies Launch Historic Expansion Moves
On February 3rd, according to reports from Nikkei Asia, given the current extreme shortage of global memory chip supply, two leading Chinese memory chip companies, Changxin Memory and Yangtze Memory Technologies, are seizing an excellent opportunity to catch up with industry giants and have begun implementing the largest expansion strategy in history.
Insiders revealed that as the leader in the domestic dynamic random access memory (DRAM) sector, Changxin Memory is committed to the expansion of its Shanghai base, with expected new capacity reaching two to three times that of its Hefei headquarters. Relevant internal sources pointed out that the company's factories in Beijing and Hefei are currently operating at full capacity, and in response to the extremely strong demand from domestic enterprises, the company hopes to enhance capacity supply as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, domestic NAND flash giant Yangtze Memory Technologies, located in Wuhan, is also taking active steps to build a third factory locally, with plans to officially begin production in 2027.
Multiple industry executives analyzed that this expansion action will focus on meeting domestic market demand. Although neither company has commented so far, Japanese media analysis indicates that the current supply shortage is expected to continue, providing Chinese enterprises with a crucial development window. By filling supply gaps in mid-range markets such as smartphones and automobiles, companies can not only achieve considerable profits but also accelerate their pace in catching up in high-end technology fields.
Regarding the wind power operations of China Goldwind Technology in the European market, the EU has officially launched a detailed subsidy review process. The EU pointed out that this investigation aims to verify whether Goldwind Technology has received multiple forms of support, including loan financing, tax reductions, and direct subsidies, as the EU is concerned that these potential preferential treatments may distort market competition.