Flash News

TREE NEWS update: The UK government has asked Meta and Google to appear before the Business Committee. The request names both companies directly, though the committee has not yet set a hearing date. No further details on the scope of testimony were provided.

TREE NEWS reports: Panda bond issuance reached 213.98 billion yuan in the first eight months of the year, which said the country’s financial markets ran smoothly over the period. Another 29 overseas institutions entered China’s interbank bond market. Panda bonds are yuan-denominated debt sold onshore by foreign issuers.

TREE NEWS update: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing that China consistently opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council. He was responding to a question about the impact of US sanctions on Iran.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Emergency Management, General Administration of Customs and National Medical Products Administration adjusted the catalogue of precursor chemicals requiring export licences, adding methyl 1-phenethyl-4-oxo-3-piperidinecarboxylate and ethyl 1-phenethyl-4-oxo-3-piperidinecarboxylate to Part One of Annex 1. Exports of Part One chemicals to the United States, Mexico and Canada, and of Part Two chemicals to Myanmar, Laos and Afghanistan, now require permits, effective from the announcement’s publication date.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Commerce and State Administration for Market Regulation issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the light industry and textile sector, calling for faster development of vertical large models and dedicated AI agents covering the full supply chain. The plan deploys online surface-defect detection, self-optimizing process parameters and predictive maintenance in appliances, furniture, food, ceramics, paper and textiles, and promotes generative AI design in footwear, apparel, home textiles and jewelry.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with two other government departments, issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the light industry and textile sectors. The plan sets a target of more than 30 trillion yuan in combined revenue for above-scale enterprises by 2030, with tasks covering industrial innovation, supply-demand alignment, and intelligent and green transformation.

TREE NEWS update: Jiang Changfeng, chief accountant of the Northeast Branch of China Oil & Gas Pipeline Network Corporation (PipeChina), has turned himself in and is under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission team stationed at PipeChina said. He is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law. The disciplinary review is being conducted by the CCDI/NSC team at PipeChina, while the supervisory investigation is handled by the Tongchuan City Supervisory Commission in Shaanxi Province.

TREE NEWS update: Finland’s presidential office said on the 21st that the governments of Finland, Norway and other countries, together with European Union institutions, issued a joint international initiative calling for stronger global governance and international cooperation on frontier artificial intelligence. The initiative urges that AI technology remain under human control. No further details were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Finland’s presidential office said on the 21st that the governments of Finland, Norway and other countries, together with European Union institutions, issued a joint international initiative calling for stronger global governance and international cooperation on frontier artificial intelligence. The initiative urges that AI technology remain under human control.

TREE NEWS update: Ding Xiangqun, party secretary and director of China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration, met Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan on September 21. The meeting also included Treasury Secretary Christopher Hui, HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue and SFC chief executive Julia Leung. The two sides exchanged views on economic and financial development in the mainland and Hong Kong, deepening connectivity between their financial markets and consolidating Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre.

TREE NEWS update: China’s National Development and Reform Commission will accelerate the rollout of the Satellite Navigation Regulation, policy research deputy director Li Chao said at the NDRC’s September press conference. The move supports a goal of pushing the BeiDou industry past 1 trillion yuan within five years, alongside work on chips, key components and fusion algorithms, and integration with AI and satellite internet.

TREE NEWS reports: The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is leading an investigation into whether Binance knowingly allowed trading that violated US sanctions on Iran. The probe comes months after reports first revealed a Justice Department investigation into the exchange’s Iran-related compliance. No charges have been announced.

TREE NEWS update: China’s National Narcotics Control Commission Office issued a warning notice on the risk of diversion of dexmedetomidine and tartaric acid for drug manufacturing. The notice was published by Xinhua on the same day. No further details were provided.

TREE NEWS update: Crypto super PAC Fairshake is targeting Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio with $30 million in spending. The move comes days after the Senate blocked the crypto industry’s Clarity Act. The Ohio campaign marks a direct electoral push against a sitting senator following the failed legislation.

TREE NEWS reports: Kraken co-CEO David Ripley said Europe takes a more pragmatic approach to crypto regulation, with the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework providing clear market rules, while the US environment is more adversarial. Ripley noted the CLARITY Act has advanced slowly over several years and warned the US risks ceding financial innovation leadership to the EU if it keeps delaying crypto legislation. Kraken obtained a MiCA license from the Central Bank of Ireland in June 2025, allowing it to serve all 30 EEA member states.

TREE NEWS reports: Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from mBridge, a cross-border central bank digital currency platform backed by China. The project had drawn scrutiny from US policymakers. No reason for the exit was given.

TREE NEWS update: X has sued two UK-based Bitcoin influencers, accusing them of running six coordinated accounts to extract at least $278,000 from its now-defunct Creator Revenue Sharing Program. The lawsuit alleges the accounts operated as a bot army to inflate payouts from the program, which X has since shut down.

TREE NEWS update: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to suspend approvals of all data center permit applications until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) completes an audit. Abbott said data centers must bear the cost of protecting the state’s grid and water resources and complete audits by ERCOT and the Texas Water Development Board before TCEQ will issue any permits.

TREE NEWS update: Bank of Russia Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said the country’s crypto industry may meet the conditions to operate legally by the end of 2026, with regulation proceeding on schedule. Large-scale secondary rules are being drafted and fine-tuning of internal rules is expected to finish by end-2026. Sberbank plans to launch a bitcoin and crypto wallet and digital asset custody services in December.