☕️ Good morning friends, 

if one of your friends leaves you standing in a club or bar this weekend without a word: don’t take it personally.

In Bangkok, this has become almost a polite norm among Gen Z and millennials. Drop by briefly, have a drink, a conversation, and then quietly disappear—no marathon of hugs or long explanations.

No worries though: at asiabits, we keep it old school. We hope you’ll stay until the end, because right at the bottom you’ll find our new “Quiz of the Week” — from now on, a little game every Friday to kick off your weekend.

With that in mind: have a great weekend. 👋

China inflation data weighs on sentiment: Consumer prices rose 0.8% year on year, the highest level since February 2023. As long as domestic consumption and broader inflation fail to gain clear momentum, equity rallies remain driven mainly by tech and export winners rather than a broad-based economic recovery.

Record results from Samsung, Micron and peers underscore the memory supercycle.

• Samsung blows past expectations: Q4 operating profit topped 20 trillion won (~$15bn) for the first time, with revenue hitting a record 93 trillion won (~$70bn). Semiconductors now generate more than 80% of group profits.

TOP BIT

🇻🇳 Vietnam’s turbo growth, following the Korean playbook

Vietnam delivers: 8% GDP growth in 2025, a booming stock market, and official entry into the ranks of upper-middle-income economies.

But behind the shiny facades of new mega stadiums and airports, cracks are emerging. The country is heavily reliant on a handful of giants and struggles with a risky dependence on China.

Details

🏗️ Concrete Boom: Vietnam is building at breakneck speed. Infrastructure spending jumped 27% to $32bn. For 2026, another 34% budget increase is planned. The goal: 10% growth—at almost any cost.

🏦 “Chaebol,” Vietnamese-style: Vietnam’s stock market rose 37%. But nearly three-quarters of those gains came from just three stocks tied to the Vingroup empire. Without that single conglomerate, the rally would have been a modest 11%.

🚧 The Vin Fail: The fragility of the model showed in a $67bn railway project. Vingroup pulled out after the state refused to provide interest-free loans covering 80% of the cost.

🇨🇳 China’s Shadow: Vietnam’s trade deficit with China widened by 40%. The country increasingly acts as a final-assembly hub for Chinese components to bypass U.S. tariffs.

📉 The Power Puzzle: Electricity consumption grew by only about 5%. Historically, energy demand should rise much faster. That raises doubts about how much of the growth reflects real production.

HCMC as a Lifeline?

Vietnam is trying to break out of its rigid model. Resolution 260 turns Ho Chi Minh City into a test lab for a more modern growth path:

• Bureaucracy Bypass: HCMC can now approve mega-projects independently, without waiting for slow approvals from Hanoi—aimed at clearing the investment backlog.

• Logistics over Assembly: With the new Cái Mép Hạ Free Trade Zone, Vietnam wants to move from being a “gatekeeper for Chinese parts” to an independent global logistics hub.

• The Transit-Finance Loop (TOD): The city builds metro lines, keeps 100% of the land-value gains around stations, and reinvests them directly into infrastructure.

🥡 Takeaway

Vietnam is growing fast, but prosperity and value creation are largely booked by foreign corporations. More than 77% of export value comes from foreign firms, while exports by domestic companies recently fell by 6%.

For now, Vietnam is a highly efficient host for foreign capital rather than an independent economic powerhouse. The 10% growth target for 2026 is a risky bet. Long-term success hinges on whether reforms like those in HCMC can reduce dependence on global multinationals and conglomerate giants.

📊 All details & data: The Economist, The Business Times, Saigon News

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NUMBER OF THE DAY

That’s how many bankers in Singapore are being upskilled for AI.

🤖 Bootcamp over layoffs: DBS, OCBC and UOB have set a clear goal for the next one to two years: not cost-cutting, but productivity gains across local teams. Agentic AI tools now complete in minutes what used to take a full workday.

🏦 State and banks in lockstep: Government, regulators and industry bodies are working closely together. New AI applications are aligned early with the MAS and paired with national reskilling and training programs.

Watch: Singapore is trying to turn AI into a career upgrade, not a layoff trigger. Other financial hubs are still stuck in the job-loss debate, but here the playbook is to retrain first and automate second.

MARKET BIT

🇨🇳 China reviews Meta’s $2bn Manus deal

🔍 Deal under scrutiny: China’s Ministry of Commerce is reviewing Meta’s >$2bn acquisition of Chinese AI agent startup Manus for potential violations of export and overseas investment rules.

🧠 Technology in focus: At the core is whether Manus’ know-how and staff relocation to Singapore should have required a Chinese export licence.

🌏 Rare US acquisition: The deal is one of the few cases in which a US tech group is buying a high-profile AI startup with Chinese roots, making it politically sensitive.

🧳 “Singapore-washing”: Manus moved its team and technology to Singapore in 2025, a common step for Chinese startups seeking to reduce geopolitical risk.

⚠️ Leverage for Beijing: The review could lead to conditions, delays or, in an extreme case, a block—echoing Beijing’s approach in the TikTok case.

Background

Although Manus’ agent software is not considered “core strategic technology,” Beijing fears the signal effect: startups could relocate to sidestep regulation. The deal may become a test case for how far China’s export controls will extend to code, talent and data going forward.

👉🏻 Full Story: Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg

ONLY FOR YOU

We’ve compiled our best insider tips for your China trip across 33 pages. 🧡

So you can get the most out of a visit to the Middle Kingdom.

And just for you, enjoy 30% off with code “Asiabits88”.

STARTUP OF THE DAY

 🇨🇳 Manus

🤖 Manus in the spotlight

For over $2 billion, Meta is acquiring Manus, a Chinese-founded AI startup now headquartered in Singapore.

Launched in March 2025, Manus calls itself the world’s first “general” AI agent, handling tasks like coding, market research, design, and data analysis. The startup recently surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

• The founders: Xiao Hong (“Red”), CEO of Butterfly Effect, and Ji Yichao (“Peak Ji”), Manus’ chief scientist, are both seasoned tech entrepreneurs.

Impact of the acquisition: Manus will continue to operate as a standalone product, now with Meta’s support to scale faster. At the same time, Meta says the deal will fully cut Manus’ ties to China, shutting down Chinese operations and relocating employees.

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HIGHLIGHTS 

🚢 India & Germany set to finalise $8 billion submarine deal: India and Germany are close to finalizing an $8 billion deal for joint submarine manufacturing. For the first time, India would receive full technology transfer, enabling domestic manufacturing instead of imports. The project would modernise India’s ageing submarine fleet, strengthen its presence in the Indian Ocean, and reduce reliance on Russian equipment.

💻 China halts orders for Nvidia H200 chips: Chinese tech firms are being asked to halt orders for Nvidia’s H200 AI chips amid ongoing uncertainty over Beijing’s approval. The US chipmaker is demanding full upfront payment from Chinese buyers, with no refund or cancellations. Chinese semiconductor experts are urging caution, warning against overreliance on US chips, even as demand remains strong and domestic alternatives lag behind.

🍺 Kenya firm challenges Diageo’s $2.3 billion sale to Japan’s Asahi: A Kenyan beer distributior has filed a lawsuit to block Diageo’s $2.3 billion sale of its stake in East African Breweries (EABL) to Japan’s Asahi Group. The legal challenge, related to an ongoing competition dispute, has already impacted Diageo’s shares, which dropped by over 2%. If completed, the deal would represent a significant Japanese move into Africa’s beer industry.

COUNTRY READS

🇨🇳 Alibaba’s Amap introduces AI-powered 3D “Flying Street View” to explore venues and support local businesses. More on this.

🇻🇳 Vietnam spends nearly $2B on meat imports as pork prices soar before the Lunar New Year. More on this.

🇰🇷 South Korea moves to cut reliance on Japanese materials after China’s export curbs, boosting domestic production. More on this.

BITS TO DO

✅ Meet your new favourite side dish — spicy Chinese cucumber salad.
✅ Stay fit and fierce with a K-pop dance workout.
✅ Pre-register now for the Tomorrowland 2026 in Thailand.
✅ Attend a three-day yoga retreat on your next visit to Cambodia.
✅ Get ready for your next China trip with our asiabits China Guide.*

^{*Buy now and receive 30% with the code: Asiabits88. Thank you :)}

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