Real-time News

August 20th - The 2026 edition of the National Essential Medicines List has been officially released. To better implement the policy requirements of the "Opinions on Improving the National Essential Medicines System" and the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of the Allocation and Use of Essential Medicines in Public Medical and Health Institutions," the National Health Commission issued a notice today guiding medical and health institutions to prioritize the allocation and use of essential medicines, promoting equitable access and rational use of essential medicines. Local health administrative departments at all levels should guide medical and health institutions within their jurisdictions to improve the evaluation mechanism for drug supply catalogs, continuously optimize and standardize drug use structures, and promote seamless drug use coordination between different levels of medical and health institutions.

Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Moderna (MRNA.O) from $39 to $89.

On August 20, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, held a strategic dialogue with Wi Sung-rak, Director of the National Security Office of the Republic of Korea, in Seoul. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on regional security issues. Wang Yi elaborated on China's principled position on regional and Korean Peninsula issues, pointing out that we should be vigilant against the rhetoric and actions of Japanese right-wing forces that attempt to reverse the course of history, and that the resurgence of Japanese militarism will never be allowed. The fundamental way to resolve the tensions on the Korean Peninsula lies in eliminating the root causes of the problem and urging the United States to abandon its hostile policy towards North Korea. He hoped that all parties would do more to restart dialogue and restore mutual trust, and welcomed the prospect of the Korean Peninsula moving towards peaceful coexistence between North and South Korea, ultimately achieving a peace mechanism and lasting stability on the peninsula.

On August 20th, Futures reported that while the market is currently in the traditional off-season for gas consumption, end-user procurement remains cautious, but expectations for winter restocking are already building within the industry. Many participants have begun planning pre-emptive stockpiling. However, this year's market environment differs significantly from previous years: pipeline gas continues to divert demand, overseas disturbances are recurring, and domestic liquefied petroleum plants face rigid costs. Whether aggressively stockpiling or adopting a wait-and-see approach, both approaches involve real-world market risks. From a baseline scenario, the market is likely to maintain a range-bound trading pattern from the end of August to September. As restocking activities gradually materialize, there is a possibility of a slight price increase, but the upside potential is limited. Overall, the market is in a critical phase of transition from the off-season to the restocking season, lacking sufficient fundamental support for either a sharp rise or a deep decline. Costs are forming a price floor, while demand is constraining upward movement; therefore, volatility will be the main theme during this period.

On August 20th, the Swedish central bank kept its interest rate unchanged at 1.75% for the 12th consecutive month, the lowest level in the EU, and reiterated its readiness to tighten monetary policy this year should a war with Iran trigger accelerated inflation. In a statement, Swedish central bank governor Erik Thedéen and other policymakers said, "The possibility of a rate hike later this year remains." In June, they stated that there was a 50% chance of a 25 basis point rate hike in 2026. The Swedish central bank stated, "If the unexpectedly high inflation this summer is only the beginning of a larger and more persistent rise in inflation, the Swedish central bank will adjust its monetary policy towards a tighter stance."

On August 20, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, at the Blue House in Seoul. Wang Yi stated that China is an important force for maintaining peace in the world and has consistently advocated for the political resolution of international and regional conflicts through dialogue. China is also a prominent stabilizing factor in the world, providing valuable certainty. Furthermore, China will become the world's largest market and is willing to share development opportunities with all countries, especially its neighbors. Embracing China is embracing the future, and walking alongside China is walking alongside opportunities. He hoped that South Korea would firmly adhere to its friendly policy towards China and, taking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea next year as an opportunity, promote greater progress in the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership, contributing to the development of both countries and regional peace and prosperity. Currently, global economic fragmentation is intensifying, and trade protectionism is on the rise. China and South Korea should play an exemplary role, complete the second phase of negotiations on a free trade agreement as soon as possible, and take concrete actions to promote regional economic integration and advance inclusive economic globalization.

On August 20th, JPMorgan analyst Jay Kwon predicted that SK Hynix (SKHY.O) may allocate at least 180 trillion won (approximately US$130 billion) for additional shareholder returns by 2027, equivalent to 16% of its current market capitalization. This amount does not include the announced 40 trillion won share buyback and write-off plan. Kwon believes this will help support the share price after the recent sell-off. JPMorgan not only emphasized the scale of the buyback but also pointed out that SK Hynix has removed the de facto restrictions on shareholder returns. While SK Hynix previously planned to allocate up to 50% of its cumulative free cash flow from 2025-2027 to shareholder returns, it has now expanded this to "more than 50%." It should be noted that the 180 trillion won figure is a forecast based on adjusted shareholder return criteria and future cash generation capabilities, and not the amount officially announced by SK Hynix. Kwon stated, "We believe the worst is over," adding, "We expect medium-term equity sentiment to improve and recommend investors increase their holdings."

On August 20th, Baidu announced at its AI Day open day that its Baidu App's Wenxin Assistant has been upgraded to Task Engine 2.0. This new engine allows for the autonomous planning and execution of tasks based on user goals, covering scenarios such as finance, education, and office work. Data shows that in June, Wenxin Assistant's daily active users increased by 83% year-on-year, and the average daily number of conversation rounds more than doubled.

On August 20th, Yu Chengdong, Huawei's Executive Director, Chairman of the Product Investment Review Committee, and Chairman of the Terminal BG, officially launched the rugged SUV Xiangjie G9 at the HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility New Product Launch Conference. It debuts Huawei's all-terrain TuLing platform and features an 800V fully active disconnectable stabilizer bar. This vehicle is also the first model to be approved for L3 autonomous driving road test licenses with a maximum speed of 120 km/h in the industry.

On August 20th, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued the "Shanghai Urban Renewal and Housing Development '15th Five-Year Plan'". The plan proposes encouraging various financial institutions to strengthen credit support for urban renewal projects and innovate financial products. It also calls for improving housing finance-related policies, leveraging the role of the urban real estate financing coordination mechanism, and expanding and improving the efficiency of the "whitelist" of projects under the mechanism. Furthermore, it emphasizes deepening the reform of the housing provident fund system, expanding its coverage and usage, and continuously deepening the integrated cooperation of housing provident funds in the Yangtze River Delta region. Finally, it calls for increasing financial support for residents' housing consumption to better meet their reasonable housing purchase credit needs.

On August 20th, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued the "Shanghai Urban Renewal and Housing Development '15th Five-Year Plan'". The plan proposes to accelerate the construction of a new model for real estate development, steadily and orderly promote the construction of basic systems related to real estate development, financing, and sales, strictly implement the pre-sale fund supervision system for commercial housing and the project development company system, and strengthen the whole-process management of real estate project development. It also aims to standardize market order and improve the level of the real estate service industry. Furthermore, it calls for increasing efforts to cultivate professional and large-scale housing rental enterprises and improving the classified supervision system for housing rentals. The plan also emphasizes accelerating the improvement of the housing supply system, comprehensively considering population structure, family size, and changing trends to scientifically and rationally determine the housing supply scale, spatial layout, and product structure of each district. It aims to adapt to the diversified housing needs of families with multiple children by increasing the supply of improved housing with better layouts, higher quality, and better amenities. Finally, it aims to deepen and improve the linkage between housing and land, increase the supply of high-quality residential land in the main urban area, establish a land supply mechanism for new town residential land supply that is compatible with population influx, and optimize indicators such as residential land plot ratio, building height, and the allocation of affordable rental housing.

On August 20th, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued the "Shanghai Urban Renewal and Housing Development '15th Five-Year Plan'". The plan proposes to further expand the coverage of old residential community renovation, simultaneously address housing safety hazards, achieve full coverage of renovation for public housing and post-sale public housing communities, and gradually expand to mixed-use and early commercial housing communities, incorporating them into the renovation plan in batches according to the principle of "check-up first, then renovation". The plan aims to improve the renovation level, enrich the renovation content, guide resident participation and self-governance, and jointly maintain the renovation results. It supports the independent renewal of old housing. The plan also promotes the orderly upgrading of old elevators and the installation of elevators in existing multi-story residential buildings. Furthermore, it continues to promote energy-saving renovations of existing residential buildings.

On August 20th, the Shanghai Municipal Government General Office issued the "Shanghai Urban Renewal and Housing Development '15th Five-Year Plan'". The plan proposes accelerating the transformation of urban villages, making full use of special loans for urban village transformation and local government special bonds, and increasing fiscal investment. It also calls for accelerating relocation and land clearing, and actively promoting diversified resettlement methods such as housing vouchers. By the end of 2026, the overall transformation project of urban villages will be fully launched and the renovation and upgrading will be fully completed. By the end of 2027, the preliminary renovation of the overall transformation project will be fully completed. Simultaneously, the implementation of planned development projects will be promoted. The plan also calls for accelerating the renovation of old housing units, implementing the renovation of non-standard employee housing through demolition and reconstruction, old city reconstruction, and functional replacement, and actively improving the collection of public housing tenancy rights and the relocation and renewal pathways. By the end of 2026, efforts will be made to fully complete the renovation of the remaining approximately 20,000 square meters of small-beam and thin-slab houses. By the end of 2030, efforts will be made to basically complete the renovation of non-standard employee housing, achieve positive results in the renewal of non-standard lane houses, apartments, and garden houses, and promote the implementation of a number of urban renewal projects that combine improvement of people's livelihoods with protection and development.

August 20th - According to data from online platforms, as of now, the total box office revenue for 2026 (including pre-sales) has exceeded 26.5 billion yuan, with over 670 million moviegoers and over 96 million screenings.

The Swedish central bank stated that if the unexpectedly high inflation this summer is the start of a larger and more persistent rise in inflation, it will adjust its monetary policy to a tighter stance.

On August 20, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference. A reporter asked, "The President of Ecuador is currently visiting China. Could you please introduce the economic and trade cooperation between China and Ecuador, and what are your expectations for the economic and trade outcomes of this visit?" Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong stated that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, political mutual trust between China and Ecuador has been increasingly consolidated, and pragmatic cooperation has yielded fruitful results. Since the China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement came into effect more than two years ago, bilateral trade has grown rapidly, reaching US$9.83 billion in the first half of this year, with a year-on-year growth rate exceeding 20%. China has become Ecuador's second-largest trading partner. The two sides have also carried out fruitful cooperation in infrastructure and energy and mineral sectors. China is willing to work with Ecuador to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, make good use of mechanisms such as the Joint Economic and Trade Commission, promote the upgrading of China-Ecuador economic and trade cooperation, and continuously deepen and solidify the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Ecuador.

The Swedish central bank stated that there is considerable uncertainty at present, and vigilance is needed regarding developments. Besides the Middle East war, several other risks could affect the outlook for inflation and economic activity.

The Swedish central bank: The possibility of a rate hike later this year remains.

The Swedish central bank kept interest rates unchanged as expected.