Category: Flash News

On May 18th, the 28th General Assembly and 93rd Annual Meeting of the International Committee on Large Dams held a special seminar on “Construction of Integrated Water, Wind, Solar and Storage Bases” in Chengdu, Sichuan. The attending experts exchanged and discussed the exploration and experience of the development and construction of the integrated water, wind, solar and storage base in the Yalong River basin under the background of global green and low-carbon transformation. Deng Chao, Director of the Sichuan Provincial Energy Bureau, said that Sichuan has inherent advantages in the integrated development of water, wind, and solar energy. Currently, four integrated water, wind, and solar energy bases are being planned and constructed, including the upper and lower reaches of the Jinsha River, the Yalong River Basin, and the middle and upper reaches of the Dadu River. Xinhua News Agency

On May 18th, the Pakistani meteorological department announced on the 17th that the highest temperature in many parts of Sindh province reached 48 ℃ that day. At a hospital in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, the emergency department has seen 1400 to 1500 new patients per day in recent days, with most patients experiencing symptoms such as diarrhea, all of which are associated with rare heatwaves.

On May 18th, today, reporters saw at a gold retail store in Shenzhen’s Shuibei that the surrounding areas of major gold counters were crowded with consumers who came to purchase. Affected by the recent decline in international gold prices, the market gold price has dropped from 792 yuan/gram last weekend to the current 756 yuan/gram, a decrease of over 4%. The person in charge of a gold shop told reporters that some new styles and small weights of gold jewelry are quite popular among consumers. Affected by the decline in gold prices, sales of some bracelet accessories have even increased. In addition to consumers who purchase gold, there is also a portion of consumers who see a downward trend in gold prices and choose to recycle and monetize their gold jewelry. (CCTV Finance)

On May 18th, the leader of the Darfur region in Sudan, Minawi, announced that the Sudanese Armed Forces and local armed forces allied with them had taken control of the strategic location of Atrun, located on the border between Sudan, Libya, and Chad. (CCTV News)

On May 18th, Xiao Gang, former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, stated at the 2025 Tsinghua Wudaokou Global Financial Forum that in the first quarter of this year, from the perspective of overall technology investment by financial institutions, while maintaining stable growth, they are also more meticulous in their budgeting. Among them, the securities industry had the highest investment intensity in financial technology among all financial sub industries in the first quarter. On the one hand, it is related to the relatively small base of the securities industry in the past. In the past few years, the banking industry invested more, while the securities industry invested relatively less. On the other hand, since last year, especially in the first quarter of this year, the securities industry has increased its investment intensity.

On May 18th, companies such as Morgan Stanley Investment Management, AQR Capital Management, Bank of America, and Franklin Templeton are betting that the situation may eventually shift towards stocks that benefit developing markets. Michael Hartnett, a strategist at Bank of America, referred to them as the ‘next bull market’. AQR predicts that in the next 5 to 10 years, their annual returns in local currency will approach 6%, surpassing the 4% increase in US stock prices in US dollars. The S&P 500 index has performed averagely this year, while similar indices in emerging markets have risen by 10%, igniting market hope that the stark pattern of over 400% surge in US stocks and only a slight 7% increase in emerging market stocks over the past 15 years may come to an end. The underlying factors include the weakness of the US dollar, severe fluctuations in the S&P index, and doubts about the safe haven status of US bonds. As the Trump administration launches a trade war, investors are increasingly looking beyond the United States. Franklin Templeton investment strategist Christy Tan said she strongly recommends emerging market bonds as a substitute for US Treasury bonds, “We believe that the US market is no longer unique for the time being

On May 18th, the working groups 4A, 4B, and 4C under the fourth research group (SG4) of the International Telecommunication Union’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) held their meetings in Shanghai from April 23rd to May 16th. The focus of this meeting was on hot topics such as the division of new frequencies for satellite services, improvement of rules and procedures for satellite service areas and authorized use, fair utilization of satellite radio frequencies, direct connection of mobile phones to satellites, coexistence and development of high and low orbit satellites, sustainable development of space, satellite communication manuals, standardization of 5G and 6G satellites, and satellite Internet of Things. More than 400 papers were submitted by various countries, forming a large number of outcome documents. The 38 papers submitted by the Chinese delegation were all adopted. The outcome documents of the meeting were reviewed by three working groups, resulting in one revised proposal, three new project proposals, three revised reports, and one revised manual. They were submitted to the SG4 meeting for approval, and the remaining outcome documents will be further studied and improved in subsequent working group meetings. Several experts from our country have served as co chairs of sub working groups and drafting group chairs on important issues such as the revision of space business rules and procedures, direct connection of mobile phones to satellites, etc., further enhancing their participation in the research of international rules for satellite business.

On the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2025 and the 160th anniversary of the establishment of the International Telecommunication Union, a reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily learned that Shanghai Mobile has launched the “Ten Gigabit Park Computing Network Upgrade Action”, taking the lead in carrying out the pilot construction of the “Ten Gigabit Optical Network”, creating a 1ms Pujiang Computing Power Optical Network, and jointly establishing the “AI Cooperation Alliance” with iFlytek, SenseTime, Step Leap Star, Huawei, Kupas, Mu Xi, and others. Shanghai Unicom has launched the “Dual 10 Gigabit Community Carnival”, and at the same time, the integrated intelligent computing hub of the Yangtze River Delta has been officially launched, with Qingpu as the core node and Lingang as the collaborative node, to build a development pattern of “integrated collaboration and radiation of computing resources in the Yangtze River Delta region”. Shanghai Telecom has released “AI Home Smart Screen” and “Smart Cloud Edition” government and enterprise products for households. (Reporter Huang Xinyi)

On May 18, Kweichow Moutai will hold the 2024 annual shareholders’ meeting on May 19. On May 18, shareholders and “Mao friends” from all over Kweichow Moutai gathered in Moutai Town. The meeting reported that there were a large number of people on the scene, and many shareholders have participated in the on-site shareholders’ meeting for more than ten consecutive years. Previously, because the number of registered participants exceeded the capacity of the original venue, Kweichow Moutai has planned to adjust the venue of the on-site shareholders’ meeting to the Maotai Convention Center. It is reported that Maotai International Hotel has been fully booked, and there is a long queue at the check-in counter with five channels. (Securities Times)

On May 18th, Xiao Gang, former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, stated at the 2025 Tsinghua Wudaokou Global Financial Forum that China’s digital economy continued to maintain a good development trend in the first quarter of this year. The core industries of the digital economy have shown good growth momentum, with a growth rate of over 10% (double-digit growth). From the perspective of regional distribution and total number of enterprises, the leading trend is evident in the eastern region. In the first quarter of this year, A-share listed companies in the core industry of digital economy in the eastern region contributed more than 90% of the country’s revenue and net profit. Xiao Gang analyzed that this year in the field of digital finance, most financial institutions have begun to integrate big models such as DeepSeek. After DeepSeek promoted AI equality, many small and medium-sized financial institutions have the conditions and capabilities to apply AI big models, which has brought great changes to the entire financial industry. By continuously applying various AI models represented by DeepSeek, financial institutions have further innovated the digital finance development ecosystem, improving financial efficiency and customer experience. Regarding the future development of digital economy and digital finance, Xiao Gang suggests further promoting the deep integration of digital economy and real economy. Firstly, we need to further improve the ecosystem of the digital economy industry, cultivate a cooperative ecosystem of “technology industry finance” in a virtuous cycle, and further eliminate some constraints on digital economy consumption; Secondly, we need to accelerate the construction of a governance loop for generative AI financial applications, refine the implementation details of financial scenarios, and focus on risk management of AI technology abuse; The third is to build a high-quality financial data market, explore and improve a series of theoretical basis and practical paths such as data element ownership, pricing, valuation, transaction circulation, and entry into the balance sheet.