Real-time News

February 7 - Xu Yiding, a member of the Party Committee and Vice President of the Agricultural Development Bank of China, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

February 7 - It was learned on February 7 local time that Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mousavi stated that the Iranian military remains on high alert and any threat, aggression, or miscalculation against Iran will be met with a decisive, swift, and regrettable response.

On February 7th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the United States and Russia might reach a bilateral agreement affecting Ukraine without Kyiv's involvement. Zelenskyy said, "Given the potential risks, the Ukrainian delegation expressed the position that if there is any bilateral agreement between Russia and the United States, the clauses related to Ukraine cannot contradict the Ukrainian constitution." He appeared to be referring to the territorial issue. Zelenskyy indicated that Kyiv had received signals that Washington and Moscow might sign bilateral documents, including those related to economic cooperation. He said, "Intelligence indicates that Russia has proposed the so-called 'Dmitriev Plan' to the United States, totaling approximately $12 trillion." He added that Kyiv had also seen some indications that a potential US-Russia bilateral document might include clauses related to Ukraine.

February 7th - According to the official WeChat account "Pudong Release," the groundbreaking ceremony for the Zeiss Greater China Headquarters Complex was held in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone on the afternoon of February 7th. The new complex represents Zeiss's largest single infrastructure investment in China to date, with a planned construction area exceeding 50,000 square meters.

February 7th - Driven by the widespread application of artificial intelligence and computer chips across various sectors of the economy, the semiconductor industry is poised to reach $1 trillion in revenue for the first time this year. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), total semiconductor sales are projected to reach $791.7 billion in 2025, with a further 26% growth expected in 2026. SIA CEO John Neuffer stated that the semiconductor market's breakthrough of the trillion-dollar mark is happening much faster than anticipated, a positive sign for the entire business world. The huge demand for new data center computers is generating substantial profits for Nvidia, Micron Technology, and other chipmakers, allowing the industry to continue exceeding growth expectations. Neuffer noted that previous forecasters believed the industry might take another four years to reach a trillion-dollar scale.

On February 7th, Tang Wenkan, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, stated that Shanghai's confidence in the field of artificial intelligence stems from four major advantages: industrial cluster collaboration, mega-city scenarios, a large-scale talent supply, and a complete industrial and financial system. Going forward, Shanghai will focus on three key areas for continued optimization. First, further strengthening the industrial chain. In Shanghai, good models have no shortage of computing power, good applications have no shortage of corpora, and good products have no shortage of chips. Shanghai possesses nearly 10% of the nation's computing power, operates the nation's first public corpus platform, has launched 138 registered large-scale models, and achieved breakthroughs in multiple intelligent computing chips. In recent years, Shanghai has issued 1 billion yuan annually in computing power vouchers, corpus vouchers, and model vouchers, continuously implementing a series of initiatives including "Speeding Up Shanghai's Models, Gathering Power in Shanghai's Models, and Accelerating Intelligent Development of Models," and the AI4S "100 Teams, 100 Projects" program. Particularly in the field of embodied intelligence, nearly 40 humanoid robots from Shanghai have moved from the laboratory into daily life, empowering the real economy. Last year, Shanghai Zhiyuan ranked first globally in humanoid robot shipments.

February 7 – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the conclusion of its investigation into the anomaly surrounding SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The investigation confirmed that there were no injuries or damage to public property, and the FAA has approved the Falcon 9 rocket's return to service. The rocket will proceed with its scheduled launch of the latest crewed Dragon spacecraft mission.

February 7th - According to State Grid Corporation of China, on February 6th, Zhang Zhigang, Chairman and Party Secretary of State Grid Corporation of China, and Zhang Wenfeng, General Manager and Deputy Party Secretary, held talks at the company headquarters with Jiang Yi, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Huadian Corporation, and Ye Xiangdong, General Manager and Deputy Party Secretary. Both sides stated that, focusing on the "15th Five-Year Plan" development, they will deepen pragmatic cooperation, promote the development and transmission of clean energy from large-scale clean energy base projects such as the "Shagohuang" area, promote the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, accelerate the construction of a unified national electricity market, and promote high-quality development of energy and power.

A Ukrainian security official said: "Ukrainian drones attacked a Russian factory that produces missile fuel components."

February 7th - According to sources, the EU is exploring new sources of defense funding after a €150 billion ($177 billion) loan program was oversubscribed. The sources indicated that discussions are still in the early stages, as the European Commission is still disbursing funds for existing loan programs. They also stated that officials expect the fund to have billions of euros remaining due to discrepancies between national applications and final contracts. However, the sources indicated that once the funds run out this spring, the Commission will assess the process and study the feasibility of another round of financing, which may include a second loan program.

February 7th - According to posts by Tesla executives online, Tesla (TSLA.O) is hiring to support founder Elon Musk's recently announced plan to become the largest solar module manufacturer in the United States. These posts indicate that the company is implementing Musk's new vision of building a 100-gigawatt domestic solar power project. Furthermore, sources familiar with the matter revealed that the company is evaluating multiple locations across the United States with plans to begin solar cell production. One component of this plan is expanding the capacity of its factory in Buffalo, New York. This factory could potentially reach a capacity of 10 gigawatts, equivalent to the power output of 10 nuclear power plants. In the long term, another option is to build a second factory in New York State. Arizona and Idaho are also under consideration.

February 7th - According to the National Development and Reform Commission, my country's overall social logistics costs have steadily declined for several consecutive years, reflecting a continuous improvement in economic efficiency. The latest calculations show that in 2025, the ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP in my country will further decrease to 13.9%, reaching the lowest level since statistics began. The transportation structure continues to optimize, with the shift from road to water and rail transport accelerating, leading to improved overall transportation efficiency and lower logistics costs. In 2025, the proportion of waterway freight turnover will continue to remain above 50%; the national railway multimodal transport volume will increase by more than 130% year-on-year. Bulk commodities and long-distance transportation are shifting to more economical and greener methods, significantly reducing trunk line transportation costs.

Ukrainian President Zelensky: I have proposed the possibility of holding a trilateral summit to discuss thorny issues.

Ukrainian President Zelensky: Ukraine is prepared to respond in kind if Russia agrees.

Ukrainian President Zelensky: The United States hopes that Ukraine and Russia will end the war before summer.

Ukrainian President Zelensky: Prisoner exchanges with Russia will continue.

Ukrainian President Zelensky: The United States has once again proposed measures to ease tensions in the energy sector.

Ukrainian President Zelensky: Bilateral agreements between Russia and the United States regarding Ukraine must not violate the Ukrainian constitution.

Ukrainian President Zelensky: No agreement has been reached on the fate of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

On February 7th, Beijing lawyer Huang Guigeng sued Beijing Baidu Netcom Technology Co., Ltd. for defamation, seeking damages of one million yuan, in response to Baidu's (09888.HK) AI automatically generating false criminal information. The first instance trial of the case was held on February 6th at the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing. Baidu responded by stating that AI illusions are an unavoidable stage in product development, and that Baidu does not constitute direct or indirect infringement.