Real-time News

April 22 – The Third High-Level Meeting of the Global Forum on Shared Development Actions was held in Beijing. Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Wang Yi emphasized that China is willing to work with all parties to leverage the implementation of global development initiatives as a platform to pool broad development resources, build a solid foundation for development, adhere to the path of peaceful development, create an open development environment, and continuously move towards the lofty goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind. China will take proactive measures, deepen cooperation, and always act as a promoter and contributor to global development, working with all parties to create a new landscape for global development through pragmatic actions.

Kazakhstan's Energy Minister: Kazakhstan does not intend to reduce oil production due to the suspension of exports to Germany.

The yield on Japan's 30-year government bonds rose 2.5 basis points to 3.580%.

On April 22, the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China issued RMB 15.5 billion of 2026 treasury bonds through a public tender to institutional investors in Hong Kong. The issuance was well-received, with an oversubscription rate of 4.6 times. The bonds included: RMB 5 billion in 2-year bonds with an interest rate of 1.32%; RMB 5 billion in 3-year bonds with an interest rate of 1.36%; RMB 4.5 billion in 5-year bonds with an interest rate of 1.50%; and RMB 1 billion in 15-year bonds with an interest rate of 2.08%.

The yield on Japan's 20-year government bonds rose 2.5 basis points to 3.240%.

Kazakhstan's Energy Minister: Kazakhstan's oil exports to Germany will resume once the technical conditions are met.

Kazakhstan's Energy Minister: There are no plans to transport oil to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline in May.

Market news: SK Hynix will invest 19 trillion won to build a new chip factory. The advanced packaging plant will begin construction in April.

On April 22, Li Ning (02331.HK) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, Li Ning's retail sales (excluding Li Ning YOUNG) across the entire platform achieved mid-single-digit year-on-year growth. In terms of channels, offline channels (including retail and wholesale) achieved mid-single-digit growth, with retail (direct operation) channels achieving low-to-low growth of 10%-20%, and wholesale (franchisee) channels achieving low-single-digit growth; e-commerce virtual store business achieved high-single-digit growth.

On April 22nd, at the 20th China Investment Annual Conference, in response to the question of whether recent investment in artificial intelligence (AI) is overheated, Kwong Tze-ping, Founding Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, stated that AI is a revolutionary technological advancement, not a short-term trend. Currently, AI is in the early stages of a very long technological cycle, and its future remains promising. He noted that many unresolved technical problems are still in the early stages of this cycle, worthy of attention and investment, such as the generalization capabilities of embodied intelligence.

On April 22nd, Futures News reported that, according to foreign media, as the Malaysian government announced a phased increase in biodiesel blending ratios, over 70% of blending facilities are ready to implement B15 biodiesel using existing equipment. Economic Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir stated that the government has held meetings and conducted site visits to assess the readiness of facilities for implementing B15 biodiesel blending. On April 14th, the government agreed to increase the biodiesel blending rate from B10 to B15, starting with B12, following the West Asian crisis, to secure the country's diesel supply. This move aims to reduce over-reliance on imported fossil fuels and external markets, while supporting economic restructuring by accelerating the transition to renewable energy.

On April 22, Australian Prime Minister Barnes called for de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East and stated that the government would work to ensure Australia's fuel supply. Speaking at a press conference in Sydney, Barnes said that this is an extremely volatile and unstable time for the world, one that cannot be avoided, and Australia is no exception. He reiterated his call for de-escalation in the Middle East and pledged to work to secure Australia's fuel supply. He said the Australian government, in cooperation with BP and Viva Energy, has secured four shipments of diesel fuel. He will meet with leaders of Australian states and territories on April 23 to discuss fuel security. Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen stated at the press conference that these diesel supplies would arrive in Australia in late May or early June and would serve as an "additional buffer" in the national reserves.

ECB Governing Council member Kazak said there is no need to rush to deal with energy prices driven up by the war with Iran.

According to the Financial Times, senior European Central Bank policymakers say the ECB has “ample” capital to wait before raising interest rates.

New Zealand Prime Minister Lukeson: Japan is an important fuel supplier to New Zealand and will continue to be so.

On April 22, Hu Jinglin, Director of the State Taxation Administration of the People's Republic of China, met with Daniel Egorov, Head of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, in Beijing on April 21. The two sides held in-depth exchanges on topics such as the digital transformation of tax administration, BRICS tax cooperation, and the establishment of a tax administration cooperation mechanism under the Belt and Road Initiative. During the meeting, Director Hu Jinglin and Head Egorov jointly signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the State Taxation Administration of the People's Republic of China and the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation."

On April 22nd, Baidu Union officially launched the "Nebula Project" at its conference, opening up its Orion AI engine to the entire industry. MCP service revenue is shared with developers, and manufacturers can directly integrate it according to industry-specific modules. Xiaomi, Honor, and Vivo, among other mobile phone manufacturers, have already joined. Baidu Orion is a universal AI search service solution open to partners. Relying on Wenxin Assistant, through Master Agent and multi-skill orchestration, it can call upon Baidu search and services in e-commerce, tourism, and health, achieving a closed loop from information acquisition to task delivery.

Futures News, April 22nd - According to foreign media reports, data released by the Petroleum Institute of Japan (PAJ) on Wednesday showed that as of the week ending April 18th, Japan's commercial crude oil inventories were 8,867,118 kiloliters, a decrease of 34,864 kiloliters from the previous week's 8,901,982 kiloliters. Due to changes in Japan's petroleum product supply structure, the PAJ has suspended the release of weekly inventory details for gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and diesel. The operational capacity utilization rate of Japanese refineries in the week ending April 18th was 74.90%, compared to 75.90% the previous week. The designed capacity utilization rate of refineries was 68.40%, compared to 67.80% the previous week. Before the oil supply disruptions caused by the US-Israel-Iran conflict, Japanese refinery operating rates had exceeded 80%.