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NEWS IN CHINA

• Wang Yi Meets Cambodian Deputy PM:  China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, met with Cambodia’s deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Prak Sokhon, in Yunnan Province’s Yuxi. He emphasized the enduring "ironclad friendship" between China and Cambodia that has withstood international turbulence. Wang highlighted China's close monitoring of the tense Cambodia-Thailand border situation and its mediation efforts, including the foreign ministers' meeting in Anning and shuttle diplomacy by special envoys, which led to a ceasefire agreement between the two nations' militaries. He congratulated the parties, noting that the truce aligns with the shared wishes of the Cambodian and Thai peoples and regional expectations.​Wang urged gradual steps toward lasting peace, comprehensive ceasefires, normalized interactions, rebuilt mutual trust, improved relations, and regional stability. He encouraged flexible dialogues between foreign and military officials to foster understanding, supported ASEAN's role with offers of aid for observer missions and humanitarian supplies for displaced border residents, and called for enhanced protection of Chinese citizens and projects in Cambodia.​ Both sides affirmed progress in building an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future under their leaders' guidance, with Cambodia praising China as its most reliable partner and pledging adherence to the one-China principle.
  
  

• Shanghai-Taipei City Forum Signs New Pacts: The 2025 Shanghai-Taipei City Forum was held  in Shanghai under the theme "Technology Changes Life.” Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng and Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an were tasked with delivering opening speeches.​ Gong called the forum a vital cross-strait platform that has endured challenges across the strait. He pledged to share AI expertise for better urban governance, public safety, and daily services and invited “compatriots” from Taiwan to visit Shanghai. Additionally, he promised to provide exceptional services to create a conducive environment for Taiwanese businesses and youth. Concurrently, Chiang’s speech emphasized dialogue over conflict, shared Taipei's tech improvements for residents, and pushed people-first innovation.​ The cities signed MoU's on water governance and vocational training exchanges, while their sports bureaus swapped marathon invitations. Finally, the platform’s three sub-forums discussed topics like medicine and technology, rail transit, and elderly care cooperation.
  
  

• China Mandates World’s First EV Energy Caps: China's State Administration for Market Regulation announced a world-first mandatory energy consumption standard for electric passenger vehicles, effective 2026.​ The regulations direct automakers to ensure that models meet strict kWh/100km limits scaled by vehicle weight. This mandates that a two-tonne EV cannot exceed 15.1 kWh/100km, prompting technical upgrades to boost average range by about 7%.​ The caps factor in current pure EV consumption data, model specifics, technical feasibility, and cost controls, aiming to elevate efficiency amid China's dominant EV market. 
  
  

• China Expels Three Top PLA Officers from NPC: China's National People's Congress Standing Committee expelled three senior military officials from their legislative seats, in Beijing’s latest anti-corruption sweep. This, along with their absences from key events like July's PLA anniversary and October's Fourth Plenum, has confirmed speculations about their fates. Admiral Wang Renhua, whom Xi recently promoted to lead the Central Military Commission’s courts and prisons after earlier postings at the Jiuquan rocket base, has been stripped of his National People’s Congress delegate status, along with Lieutenant General Wang Peng, director of the CMC training department, and General Zhang Hongbing, political commissar of the People’s Armed Police, following decisions by their respective military representative congresses.​ Regardless, all three remain Central Committee members amid Xi's intensifying anti-corruption sweep in the PLA.
  
  

• China Sets Active Fiscal Policy for 2026: China held its National Fiscal Work Conference in Beijing on 27th and 28th December, 2025. The meeting reviewed 2025 achievements and outlined priorities for 2026, guided by Xi Jinping Thought and the Central Economic Work Conference.​ Finance Minister Lan Fodan highlighted key successes from the past year. These included active policy measures that supported major projects and expanded new initiatives. The efforts also boosted basic research and tech upgrades for small and medium enterprises. Additional progress was achieved in the spheres of employment support, preschool subsidies, hidden debt resolution, and reforms like zero-base budgeting.​ The conference asserted that  China plans an increasingly proactive fiscal policy for 2026. This involves larger spending, better use of bonds, efficient transfers, structural adjustments, and financial coordination. These are aimed at expanding demand, improving the economic structure, driving growth, and stabilizing jobs, businesses, and markets.​ Other priorities include boosting domestic demand through consumption and investment, advancing sci-tech and industry integration, promoting urban-rural and regional coordination, as well as supporting green development.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

• Museum’s response to Mi Fu Exhibit being a forgery creates buzz on Weibo: The Jiangxi Provincial Museum said the Mi Fu Three Letters in Running Script, shown in a Huang Tingjian anniversary exhibition, is an original loaned item. They further stated that all procedures involved in acquiring it followed strict national guidelines. Many users interpreted this wording as evasive rather than reassuring.​ Netizen reactions focused on the difference between “original” and “genuine,” with repeated riffs on “original not equating to genuine” and jokes about an “original counterfeit.” Several commenters argued that the museum is effectively saying, “We borrowed it properly, ask the Palace Museum if it’s real,” casting the provincial museum as a scapegoat. Others called 2025 the “Year One of museum incidents,”  asking for nationwide investigations and claiming that museums everywhere are now “on edge.” Some commenters lamented a wider “age of distrust” and questioned whether cultural institutions still have credibility, while a smaller group criticized online sleuths and insisted that only professional authentication can settle the controversy.

INDIA WATCH

• Chinese Media reports on Zepto filing an IPO: Chinese financial media, Sina, reported that India’s quick-commerce platform Zepto has confidentially filed for an IPO, positioning itself as one of the most anticipated listings in India’s markets next year. ​ The article outlines that originally founded in 2021, Zepto now offers over 45,000 products, competing directly with Zomato-owned Blinkit and Swiggy’s Instamart. These companies follow a 10-minute  model, which delivers groceries, electronics, and daily necessities to India’s expanding urban middle class. The article stated that the IPO move follows a record fundraising cycle in Indian capital markets and that Zepto’s last round in October 2024 raised 450 million USD and valued the firm at 7 billion USD.​ The article concluded that by filing confidentially, companies (like Zepto) can keep the contents of their application documents confidential before officially launching the IPO. 

Prepared By

Kanav Aggarwal

Kanav Aggarwal is an undergraduate student majoring in International Relations and minoring in Literary and Cultural Studies at FLAME University. He is Passionate about geopolitics, defence strategy, and international security. Through his studies and research experience, he aims to deepen his understanding of global power dynamics and contribute analytical insights to the team’s ongoing projects.