Category: Flash News

On February 21, Smeglutide, the “magic drug for weight loss” sweeping the world, has the effect of reducing blood sugar, reducing weight and improving cardiovascular health. It is not only popular among weight loss people, but also has become an effective means to treat diabetes. Previous evidence suggests that such drugs require sustained use to maintain their efficacy. However, a recent study found that the one-year discontinuation rate of this type of drug is as high as 40-60%, which may be related to the purpose of use, weight loss effect, and drug price. The study was published on January 31, 2025, in JAMA Network Open, a journal of the American Medical Association. The authors were from Truveta Inc, a US healthcare data platform company, and the University of Pennsylvania.

On February 21st, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an published an article in People’s Daily titled “Implementing More Active Fiscal Policies to Promote Continuous Economic Recovery and Improvement”. It is mentioned that comprehensively grasping the connotation requirements of more proactive fiscal policies. 2025 is the final year of the 14th Five Year Plan. We need to implement a more proactive fiscal policy, continue to make greater efforts and give more awesome, play a good policy “combination punch”, and strive to translate positive factors in all aspects into development achievements. One is to increase the fiscal deficit ratio, increase expenditure intensity, and accelerate expenditure progress. The second is to arrange larger scale government bonds to provide more support for stable growth and structural adjustment. The third is to vigorously optimize the expenditure structure, strengthen precise investment, and pay more attention to benefiting people’s livelihoods, promoting consumption, and increasing momentum. Fourthly, we will continue to make efforts to prevent and resolve risks in key areas, promote the smooth operation and sustainable development of the fiscal system. The fifth is to further increase transfer payments to local governments, enhance local financial resources, and secure the bottom line of the “three guarantees”.

On February 21st, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an published an article in People’s Daily titled “Implementing More Active Fiscal Policies to Promote Continuous Economic Recovery and Improvement”. It is mentioned that we will fully implement the fiscal work tasks for 2025. Vigorously promote scientific management of finance and enhance the efficiency of fiscal governance. Implement the decision and deployment of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on deepening the reform of the financial and tax system, formulate opinions on improving the modern budget system, deepen the reform of zero based budgeting, promote the relocation and decentralization of the consumption tax collection process for some items, and optimize the policy of retaining and refunding value-added tax. Further streamline the financial relationship between the central and local governments. Implement a comprehensive debt policy, accelerate the reform and transformation of local government financing platforms, and effectively prevent and resolve local government debt risks. Intensify financial and accounting supervision, and seriously investigate and punish prominent violations of financial discipline.

On February 21st, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an published an article in People’s Daily titled “Implementing More Active Fiscal Policies to Promote Continuous Economic Recovery and Improvement”. It is mentioned that we will fully implement the fiscal work tasks for 2025. Promote the construction of a modern industrial system and facilitate the smooth transition of new and old development drivers. Efforts will be made to enhance technological innovation capabilities, increase central government investment in science and technology at the local level, and fully support key core technology research and development. Accelerate the promotion of industrial transformation and upgrading, support the implementation of high-quality development actions for key manufacturing industry chains, strengthen support for the transformation of new technologies in the manufacturing industry, deeply implement the reward and subsidy policies for specialized, refined, unique and new small and medium-sized enterprises, and organize the third batch of pilot cities for digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises. Strengthen support for enterprise relief, introduce management measures for the development of government financing guarantees, and alleviate the problem of difficult and expensive financing for small and micro enterprises and other business entities. Establish a sound long-term mechanism for regulating enterprise fees, and resolutely prevent problems such as arbitrary fees, fines, and levies.

① Hang Seng Index Company announces quarterly index review results; ② 07:30 Japan’s January core CPI annual rate; ③ 08:01 UK Gfk Consumer Confidence Index for February; ④ 15: 00 UK January seasonally adjusted retail sales monthly rate; ⑤ 16: 15. Initial value of France’s manufacturing PMI for February; ⑥ 16: Initial value of Germany’s manufacturing PMI for February 30; ⑦ 17: Initial value of Eurozone manufacturing PMI for February; ⑧ 17: 30 initial manufacturing PMI and service PMI for February in the UK; ⑨ 21:30 Canadian December retail sales monthly rate; ⑩ 22:45 US February S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Initial Value, February S&P Global Services PMI Initial Value; ⑪ At 23:00, the final value of the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index and the expected final value of the one-year inflation rate for February in the United States.

On February 21st, in response to the US Embassy in Panama’s statement that it will discuss with Pakistani officials the so-called “avoidance of Chinese influence and control over the canal zone”, Panamanian President Mulino stated at a press conference on the 20th that the US statement of “China controlling the canal” is false information, and the Pakistani side denies such information. Mulino said, ‘We don’t discuss (these) lies.’. Mulino also stated that he has instructed the Pakistani Foreign Minister to reiterate relevant positions when discussing this topic with the US. (CCTV News)

On February 21st, after the Spring Festival holiday, the A-share market continued to fluctuate and rebound. While the profitability of the technology sector remains high, the overall activity of individual stocks is also increasing. In this context, based on comprehensive information from channel institutions and the quantitative private equity industry, the performance of the private equity quantitative index strategy is impressive. Despite the significant structural strength of the market, most mainstream quantitative private equity firms have outperformed their performance benchmarks, demonstrating good market adaptability. Industry insiders indicate that with the increase in market beta since the beginning of the year and the strengthening of overall excess returns from quantitative index growth strategies, the overall asset management scale of the quantitative private equity industry has grown. Considering the overall market trend this year and the increasing recognition of quantitative strategies by investors, the quantitative track is expected to see significant growth in industry scale. (China Securities Journal)

On February 21st, Reserve Bank of Australia Chairman Brock expressed satisfaction with the progress made in inflation so far, but the work is clearly not yet completed. Good progress has been made in inflation, but the board needs to be confident that inflation can continue to return to the target range; The process of inflation decline faces risks and may come to a halt. The central bank’s forecast shows that if monetary policy is relaxed too quickly or significantly, the decline in inflation may stagnate and the inflation level will remain above the midpoint of the target range. Therefore, the board of directors remains cautious about the prospect of further policy easing; No specific action has been taken on interest rates as a pre commitment.

On February 21st, it was reported that since 2025, Hong Kong listed companies have had frequent repurchase activities. According to Wind’s statistics, as of February 20th, 130 Hong Kong listed companies have implemented buybacks since 2025, with a total amount exceeding HKD 30 billion. On the whole, companies that actively implement repurchase are mainly concentrated in the financial blue chip and Internet technology sectors. From the trend of stock prices, most of the stocks with the highest repurchase amounts have performed well. Institutional insiders say that the popularity of Hong Kong stock repurchases has not decreased, which to some extent conveys the optimistic sentiment of the Hong Kong stock market. (China Securities Journal)

On February 21st, Brazilian President Lula stated in an interview that if US President Trump imposes tariffs on Brazil, it will trigger Brazil’s reciprocal policy towards the United States, which could lead to an increase in global inflation rates. Lula said that although the United States is an important trading partner of Brazil, Brazil does not rely on the United States. The trade and diplomatic relations between the two countries are very balanced, and he hopes that Trump will stop his current protectionist policies.