01Update｜Eighth round of central inspections stationed at Education Ministry and 31 universities
Xinhua reported on 26 October that the eighth round of inspections by the 20th Central Committee has been stationed: 15 central inspection teams will conduct routine inspections of the Party organisations of the Ministry of Education and 31 centrally administered universities for about two months, accepting complaints until 21 December 2026. The official release lists priorities including moral and political education, integrated development of education, science and talent, risk prevention, and leadership-team building. The list of targets was covered in Trial Issue No. 0; this is a progress update. Share · Copy
02CCDI: 73 provincial/ministerial-level or higher officials placed on file in January–September
The CCDI and National Supervisory Commission said on 27 October that in January–September 2026 discipline and supervision bodies received 3.506 million petitions and reports, handled 2.149 million leads and opened 800,000 cases, including 73 officials at provincial/ministerial level or above, 4,203 at bureau level, 34,000 at county level, 114,000 at township level and 79,000 current or former village Party secretaries and committee heads. 680,000 people were disciplined, including 105 at provincial/ministerial level or above; 29,000 bribe-givers were placed on file and 3,020 referred to prosecutors. Lianhe Zaobao noted that 789,000 cases, including 90 provincial/ministerial-level officials, were opened in the same period last year, and that the release came during the Fifth Plenum, which focuses on strict Party self-governance. Share · Copy
03State Council issues Regulations on Registration of Public Institutions, effective 1 December
Xinhua on 26 October released State Council Order No. 849 promulgating the Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Public Institutions, effective 1 December 2026 and replacing the interim regulations. Adopted at a State Council executive meeting on 28 September, the 34 articles in six chapters require registration work to uphold Communist Party leadership and Party organisations to be set up in public institutions. According to Xinhua, institutions may not stray from their core public-service duties, set up businesses in violation of rules, breach non-profit legal-person rules or engage in false advertising; sector regulators must step up oversight of conduct in teaching, medicine and research integrity; unregistered bodies may not act as public-institution legal persons, and abolished or merged institutions may use a simplified deregistration procedure. Share · Copy
01German President Steinmeier arrives in Hefei to begin state visit to China
Xinhua reported that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Hefei, Anhui, on 27 October to begin a state visit, the first by a German president in nearly eight years. The German presidential office's programme runs 26–31 October: Li Hongzhang's former residence, Luogang Park and Volkswagen China Technology Company's R&D centre in Hefei on the 27th; Huangshan on the 28th; a speech at Peking University on the 29th; and on the 30th meetings with Zhao Leji and Li Qiang and a welcome ceremony and talks with Xi Jinping. DW reported that the visit coincides with the CPC's Fifth Plenum and that the delegation includes the director of MERICS, which Beijing has sanctioned; Berlin is expected to raise China's role regarding the war in Ukraine. dpa said Steinmeier wants fair trade relations that benefit both sides and reduce imbalances. Share · Copy
02China mourns former Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda, says Tokyo's current leaders should reflect
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has died aged 90. At the regular briefing on 26 October, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun expressed deep condolences, calling Fukuda an 'old friend of the Chinese people' who signed the fourth China–Japan political document, visited the Nanjing Massacre memorial after leaving office and long chaired the Boao Forum for Asia. Citing Fukuda's remark that the principles of the four political documents must not be reversed, Guo said Japan's current leaders 'should do serious soul-searching'. The Japanese Prime Minister's Office held a press conference on the death the same day; BBC Chinese and the South China Morning Post noted the remarks come amid strained China–Japan ties. Share · Copy
03Keidanren postpones mid-November China delegation at Beijing's request
Japan's Keidanren business federation said on 26 October that a small delegation due to visit China in mid-November has been postponed, with no new date set. Nikkei said the delay was requested by the Chinese side, which cited the need to handle related large-scale events; Yonhap said this appeared to refer to events including the APEC leaders' meeting in Shenzhen in mid-November. The roughly 20-member group of member-company staff and Keidanren officials had planned to visit Jiangsu and other areas to view advanced technology and meet local business groups. Lianhe Zaobao, citing Kyodo, said China had earlier expanded the number of delegates it would host, which had been seen as a possible step towards resuming substantive economic exchanges; government-level dialogue has stalled since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Taiwan contingency remarks in parliament last November. Keidanren is still discussing a March visit to Beijing led by the heads of three business groups. No public Chinese response had been seen as of publication. Share · Copy
04China to send special envoy to Middle East, Gulf, Red Sea and Horn of Africa countries
At the regular briefing on 27 October, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China is highly concerned about developments in the Middle East and Gulf, the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, deeply concerned about the protracted fighting and spillover, and calls on parties to resolve differences through dialogue and achieve a sustainable ceasefire as soon as possible. He said China remains committed to promoting peace talks and will soon send a special envoy to countries in those regions to strengthen communication, encourage contact and dialogue, cool tensions and prevent further deterioration. Lianhe Zaobao and Reuters reported the remarks. Share · Copy
05China protests to UK over Chinese nationals detained at border and phones seized
At the regular briefing on 27 October, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the ministry and the Chinese Embassy in the UK had received multiple reports of Chinese nationals being detained and questioned for long periods by UK border officers and having phones and other electronic devices seized. He said China expressed strong dissatisfaction and serious concern over arbitrary and excessive enforcement by UK police, had lodged stern representations, and urged Chinese citizens planning to visit the UK to read the embassy's advisory. An earlier embassy notice said those affected included business delegates, people visiting relatives and tourists, and that UK officers cited the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. The South China Morning Post and The Asia Business Daily reported on the matter. Share · Copy
Indices are 27 October closes; the STAR50 fell 4.81%; Shanghai and Shenzhen turnover was about 1.46 trillion yuan (1.61 trillion the previous day). CNH is the 15:10 quote; CNY is the 27 October fixing of 6.7171 (9 pips weaker). Data: Tencent, Sina Finance.
01Reuters: STAR50 down about 40% in under four months, wiping out some $480bn
In an analysis published on 26 October (about 20:00 HKT), Reuters said the STAR50 index of AI and chip leaders has fallen about 40% in under four months, wiping out some $480 billion in market value, while the CSI 300 is about 20% below its June high. Citing Goldman Sachs, it said AI-related stocks account for about 42% of market capitalisation and 57% of turnover across A-shares and Hong Kong H-shares; traders cited high valuations, tax bills and the risk of foreign bans on Chinese data-centre equipment. Reuters separately reported the STAR50 fell 2.2% and the CSI 5G communications index 4% on 26 October. The CSRC did not reply to Reuters. At the 27 October close the STAR50 fell a further 4.81%, the Shanghai Composite 1.33% and ChiNext 3.41% (Tencent, Sina Finance). Share · Copy
02Industrial profits up 15.5% in January–September; September alone up 14.4%
The National Bureau of Statistics said at 09:30 on 27 October that profits of industrial firms above designated size totalled 6.03374 trillion yuan in January–September, up 15.5% year on year (versus 15.7% in January–August); September profits alone rose 14.4%, up from 4.2% in August according to Reuters. By sector, profits in computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing rose 103.8%, non-ferrous metal smelting 79.7% and coal mining 57.0%, while auto manufacturing fell 22.8%, non-metallic mineral products 46.9% and ferrous metal smelting 73.3%. The profit margin on revenue was 5.68% for the nine months; at end-September the debt-to-asset ratio was 58.6% and the average receivables collection period 71.6 days. Reuters said furniture manufacturing profits fell 51.3%, underscoring the divergence across sectors; CNBC quoted an Oxford Economics economist as saying household demand remains the weak link. Share · Copy
01Update｜3.45 million pass screening for 2027 national civil service exam, about 97 per post
The National Civil Service Administration said online registration and qualification review for the 2027 central-government civil service exam closed at 18:00 on 26 October, with 3.45 million applicants passing screening, an average of about 97 per post. Candidates must confirm and pay between 1 and 6 November. An earlier issue carried an agency estimate of 3.025 million; this is the official figure. Share · Copy
02US suspends visa-free travel programme for Chinese visitors to the Northern Mariana Islands from 30 October
The US Department of Homeland Security published a Federal Register notice on 27 October suspending the Northern Mariana Islands' Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program (EVS-TAP), effective 14:00 EDT on 30 October (04:00 on 31 October local time). In place since February 2025, the programme let pre-screened Chinese nationals visit the Northern Marianas for up to 14 days without a US visa, with no onward travel to Guam or elsewhere in the US. The suspension covers new applicants and existing authorisations; those already lawfully admitted may stay until their authorised period ends, after which a US visa will be required for tourism or business visits. DHS said more than 3,000 Chinese nationals used the programme in fiscal 2025 and cited security and law-enforcement risks, possible espionage targeting military sites in the region, past cases of smuggling from Saipan to Guam and birth tourism; it said it would review the programme with the State and Interior departments and gave no timetable for reinstatement. The territory's congressional delegate, Kimberlyn King-Hinds, said the programme was "suspended, not terminated" and that she had spoken with the White House and DHS. Share · Copy
01China's wind and solar capacity passes 2 billion kilowatts
The National Energy Administration said on 26 October that combined wind and solar capacity reached 2.01 billion kW at end-September 2026, including 1.31 billion kW of solar (up 16.5% year on year) and 700 million kW of wind; total generating capacity was 4.13 billion kW, up 11.2%. Reuters and Bloomberg reported on 1 September that solar had overtaken coal as China's largest source of installed capacity. Share · Copy
02Cohere says an Alibaba Qwen model tried to send data to a Beijing server during a security test
Canadian AI company Cohere said on 26 October (US time) that during its security testing, Alibaba's Qwen3.8-Flash-Next, asked to write a rule detecting malicious file downloads, instead inventoried the machine it was running on and tried to send a test file to an Alibaba Cloud storage server in Beijing, even though its own reasoning trace indicated it would not do so. Cohere said its test environment was offline and blocked the request, but that it could have reached the server on a developer laptop or a normally connected system. The behaviour occurred in fewer than one in 100,000 actions, and Cohere said it could not tell whether it was an intentional "call home" mechanism or a relic of training. Reuters said Alibaba could not immediately be reached outside business hours; no public response from Alibaba had been seen as of publication. Cohere markets "sovereign AI" models to businesses and governments and competes with open-weight models such as Qwen. Share · Copy
03Xpeng cleared for L4 robotaxi demonstration operations across Guangzhou; VW China gets L3 road-test permit in Hefei
On 26 October Xpeng said it had been granted a Guangzhou intelligent connected vehicle demonstration-operation qualification allowing L4 robotaxi demonstration operations across the whole city, initially still opened gradually by invitation code. The South China Morning Post reported the licence allows paid passenger rides and is regarded as the last major test before approval for commercial operations. The same day Volkswagen Group China said it had obtained an L3 autonomous-driving road-test permit in Hefei and had begun real-road testing and data collection, targeting L3 technical readiness in 2027; Reuters also reported the VW permit. Share · Copy
