Economy/Resources - 4. page

Rents on China’s major commercial streets fell for another year in 2025, with declines accelerating compared to the previous year, according to new data released by the China Index Academy.

The report, which tracked 100 major commercial streets across 15 key cities, showed rents dropped 0.81 percent year-on-year in 2025 — a steeper decline than the 0.42 percent fall recorded in 2024, widening the gap by 0.39 percentage points. In the second half of 2025 alone, average rents on these streets stood at RMB 24.05 yuan per square meter per day (approximately USD $3.29), down 0.47 percent from the first half of the year, with the pace of decline also quickening.

The China Index Academy identified three main reasons behind the sustained downturn. First, growth in restaurant and dining revenues has slowed significantly, putting pressure on rents since the food and beverage sector has long been a cornerstone of commercial street activity. Second, large, experience-oriented shopping malls have drawn foot traffic away from traditional street-front retail areas. Third, many commercial streets have deliberately cut rents to retain tenants and maintain occupancy rates — a strategy of trading price for volume.

By comparison, major shopping malls fared somewhat better. Their average daily rent was RMB 26.99 yuan per square meter per day (approximately USD $3.70) in 2025, falling only 0.34 percent year-on-year — less than half the rate of decline seen on commercial streets — suggesting that malls are proving more resilient.

The report noted that a small number of landmark commercial streets in prime urban locations, as well as those with strong cultural or tourism appeal, have held up better, benefiting from relatively stable foot traffic and consumer spending power.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), February 23, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202602230260.aspx

Robots took center stage at this year’s China Central Television (CCTV) Spring Festival Gala, performing martial arts, participating in comedy sketches, and dancing alongside human performers. In one standout segment “Martial Bot,” robotic masters sparred with human performers, executing backflips and nunchaku routines that demonstrated impressive balance and force control. While the spectacle thrilled audiences and buoyed investor sentiment in robot-related stocks, industry analysts say the display masked deeper structural problems facing the sector.

According to financial media outlets Caijing and Lanjing Technology, each of the four participating robotics companies — Unitree Robotics, Galaxy General, Magic Atom, and Songyan Power — invested close to 100 million yuan (approximately $13.7 million USD) for the appearance. Despite the massive national exposure, analysts argue the return on investment is nearly impossible to quantify, as humanoid robots remain largely confined to what they describe as the “laboratory” of technology, capital, and commerce.

Tech platform Huxiu noted that the gala amounted to a “high-cost attention competition,” and that the industry’s real challenges are cash flow, scalable validation, and customer trust. Research conducted at the end of last year found that most embodied AI manufacturers are already struggling with insufficient orders, with real market demand unable to absorb projected 2025 production capacity.

According to IDC data cited by the Wu Xiaobo Channel, global humanoid robot shipments stand at just 13,000 to 18,000 units. Unitree founder Wang Xingxing predicted “tens of thousands” of units could roll off production lines in 2026 — a negligible figure relative to China’s 1.4 billion potential consumers.

Analysts draw a sobering comparison to China’s electric vehicle industry, which took roughly 30 years from its 1992 designation as a national priority to achieving a 35% market penetration rate in 2023. Robots, they suggest, face a similarly long road — and are unlikely to leap from their first steps directly into a sprint.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), February 19, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202602190157.aspx

The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China released its 8th member enterprise survey on February 10 in Beijing, covering 1,427 Japanese-invested companies operating in China between July and December 2025 across manufacturing, services, and other sectors. The findings paint a cautious picture of Japanese business sentiment in China.

Only 1% of surveyed companies said China’s economy had “improved,” while nearly half believed it was “deteriorating or will continue to deteriorate” — a proportion largely unchanged since the first survey three years ago. Just 17% of companies planned to increase investment in China, while over 40% said they would reduce or entirely halt investment. Most firms opted to maintain existing operations while cutting costs, and some were evaluating a phased exit from the Chinese market.

Key pressures cited included falling product prices, rising labor costs, weak domestic demand, geopolitical instability, and institutional uncertainties around customs and tax enforcement. Some firms also flagged concerns about policy transparency, regulatory consistency, and personnel safety.

Industry observers noted the broader implications. A Jiangsu-based business association member said that shrinking Japanese investment would affect supply chain stability, particularly in technology cooperation and order reliability. A Zhejiang investment consultant emphasized that Japanese firms collectively maintain a presence worth hundreds of billions of dollars (~$100+ billion USD) in China, and their potential withdrawal could deprive numerous Chinese upstream and downstream firms of critical orders.

A Shenzhen-based executive pointed to deepening sector ties — in automotive, electronics, precision manufacturing, chemicals, and retail — noting that while some factories like Canon’s Zhongshan plant have closed and Sony has scaled back certain operations, these represent business-line adjustments rather than full exits.

A Shandong scholar linked the conservative investment trend to rising geopolitical friction, including Japan’s stance on Taiwan and shifting U.S.-China relations, along with a broader multinational trend of diversifying production to Southeast Asia and India. He concluded that future foreign investment flows into China will hinge on improvements in market access, policy stability, and the overall business environment.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 20, 2026
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shangye/jingji/2026/02/20/china-japan-investment-withdrawal/

China’s cyberspace authority has initiated a month-long crackdown on online content that promotes anti-marriage and anti-childbearing attitudes, as Beijing intensifies efforts to address the country’s declining birth rate. The Cyberspace Administration of China announced the “Clear and Bright: 2026 Creating a Joyful and Harmonious Spring Festival Online Environment” campaign on February 12th, targeting what authorities consider harmful online content.

The campaign focuses on four major areas of concern. First, it aims to eliminate content that deliberately stirs negative emotions, including promoting views against marriage and childbearing, inciting gender conflicts, and amplifying fears about marriage and fertility anxiety. Authorities will also crack down on ostentatious displays of wealth disguised as Spring Festival shopping comparisons and fan club activities that pit celebrities against each other.

Second, the campaign targets low-quality content generated by artificial intelligence, including illogical or hollow material, classic works altered with vulgar or violent content, and fabricated family conflict narratives designed to attract traffic. Third, authorities will combat disinformation, including false rumors about Spring Festival travel, public safety incidents, fabricated government announcements, and conspiracy theories related to holiday events.

Finally, the initiative addresses illegal activities such as online gambling promotions disguised as sports betting analysis, sexually suggestive content posted under dating or social networking pretenses, and fortune-telling services that promote feudal superstitions under the guise of fate-changing services.

The cyberspace authority emphasized that platforms must establish dedicated teams to monitor and remove illegal content during the Spring Festival period. Violating websites, accounts, and multi-channel network agencies will face strict penalties, with typical cases to be publicly disclosed to demonstrate enforcement effectiveness.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), February 13, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202602130044.aspx

A smart rail transit line in Shaanxi’s Xixian New Area — once promoted as a flagship urban transport upgrade — was shut down after just 33 months of operation. Despite a 705-million-yuan (US$102 million) investment, ridership remained well below break-even levels and operating losses continued to grow, prompting authorities to terminate service and dismantle the infrastructure. The case reflects a broader national pattern in which newly built rail systems in several cities have been suspended, left idle, or halted due to weak demand.

Zhuhai Tram Line 1 in Guangdong Province illustrates the challenge. Built at a cost of about 1.5 billion yuan, it operated for fewer than four years before closing and is now being dismantled. Average daily ridership reached only a small fraction of projections, requiring significant public subsidies. A similar situation occurred in Tianshui, Gansu Province, where inspectors criticized a tram project as unrealistic and debt-driven after revenues failed to cover operating costs. Several BYD SkyRail projects have likewise stalled amid tighter regulations and financing constraints.

Many of these projects share underlying weaknesses: routes often disconnected from major residential and employment centers, and planning prioritized funding opportunities and development branding over practical transportation needs. When measured against real travel demand, these systems have struggled to justify their costs, resulting in financial strain and early shutdowns.

Source: NetEase, January 30, 2026
https://www.163.com/dy/article/KKI9GL7H0556818Z.html

China’s National Energy Administration recently released data showing that the country’s total electricity consumption reached a historic milestone in 2025, surpassing 10 trillion kilowatt-hours for the first time.

In global terms, this figure is striking: China’s annual electricity use is more than double that of the United States and exceeds the combined total consumption of the European Union, Russia, India, and Japan. The scale underscores China’s position as the world’s largest electricity consumer.

China has built the world’s most comprehensive and largest energy system, with total energy production accounting for more than one-fifth of the global total. Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the country’s energy self-sufficiency rate has remained above 80 percent, with over 90 percent of incremental energy demand met through domestic supply. Extensive ultra-high-voltage (UHV) transmission infrastructure allows China to transmit clean energy from resource-rich western and northern regions to major demand centers in the east and central regions, addressing longstanding regional imbalances. To date, China has completed 24 UHV direct-current transmission projects, providing west-to-east transmission capacity of 340 million kilowatts, with foreign media projecting continued expansion of UHV corridors through 2050.

Source: People’s Daily, February 5, 2026
https://www.peopleapp.com/column/30051371789-500007341668

China’s individual income tax revenue grew 11.5 per cent in 2025, significantly outpacing growth rates for value-added tax, corporate income tax, and consumption tax, according to Ministry of Finance data. Analysts attribute this surge primarily to stricter enforcement and a targeted crackdown on unreported foreign income, which has emerged as a key driver of revenue growth.

Recent cases publicized by Chinese tax authorities revealed substantial amounts of unreported overseas earnings, with back-tax payments ranging from 1.7 million yuan (approximately $234,000) to 6.987 million yuan (approximately $962,000). Experts note that since 2017, China has participated in the Common Reporting Standard for tax purposes, enabling authorities to systematically track citizens’ overseas financial accounts.

Beginning in late 2024 and continuing through 2025, numerous individuals with foreign income received notices from tax departments requiring self-examination or audits. Tax bureaus in Hubei, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Shanghai simultaneously announced cases involving unreported overseas income. Late last year, authorities urged residents to review their foreign earnings from the past three years and file proper declarations, warning that non-compliance would result in tax collection enforcement.

This intensified scrutiny comes amid China’s ongoing economic slowdown and mounting fiscal pressure on local governments. Experts predict that enforcement will strengthen further this year. Last year’s efforts primarily relied on notifications and voluntary reporting, with much of the data and declarations remaining incomplete and imprecise. As tax authorities acquire more comprehensive data and develop systematic methodologies, analysts expect increasing numbers of people will take overseas income reporting obligations more seriously. The enhanced enforcement represents a significant shift in China’s approach to capturing tax revenue from citizens’ global earnings.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), February 9, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202602090108.aspx