☕️ Good morning friends,

We're currently racing at 350 km/h from Beijing back to Shanghai and are happy that despite all the Cold War rhetoric, alliances like the one in today's Top Bit come about. 🇨🇳🇺🇸🇪🇺

Also in today's issue:

• Hong Kong IPO comeback: #1 globally, +226% issuance volume, 400 companies waiting

• Samsung exodus: Frustration over lack of advancement opportunities drives Korea's startup boom

• China's automakers go all-in on overseas expansion and AI

Enjoy reading! 📰

P.S.: Our team consists of three people who, thanks to AI agents, deliver the output of ten.

Because so many have asked us how that works: Here's the guide. Free, no strings attached.

KOSPI breaks 6,300: Samsung and SK hynix hit all-time highs

South Korea’s benchmark index continues its record run, marking its sixth consecutive day of gains.

The Nvidia effect: Nvidia’s Q4 revenue of $68.13 billion beat analyst expectations, triggering a chip rally in Seoul. Samsung Electronics jumped +7.13%, while SK hynix surged +7.96%. LG Electronics climbed +10.05% after Nvidia named LG as a partner for its “Physical AI” business.

TOP BIT

Huawei joins OpenAI alliance despite US sanctions

In a spectacular policy shift and despite ongoing US sanctions, Chinese tech giant Huawei is teaming up with its sharpest US rivals like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.

Details

Huawei has joined the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) – an alliance to develop open AI standards. Co-founders: OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic.

• Alliance goal: Establishing global open-source standards for the next big wave of artificial intelligence – agentic AI.

Why the alliance matters

Systems like OpenClaw (OpenAI) or Claude Code (Anthropic) mark the transition to tools that can independently code, plan, and execute complex workflows.

• Huawei sees this as a core pillar of its future business model and wants to prevent being left behind on standards.

Huawei has been on US sanctions lists for years. Export controls prohibit global deployment of Huawei's Ascend chips.

Huawei's strategy

The Shenzhen corporation is already a global standard-setter for 4G and 5G. Experts warn that excluding China from important bodies could bring disadvantages for the EU and US, as China now produces the most AI research results.

📊 All details & data: South China Morning Post, Tech in Asia, Nature

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MARKET BIT

Hong Kong’s stock exchange: record profit, No. 1 in IPOs, 400 companies in the pipeline

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) released figures on Thursday that show: the supposedly doomed exchange is alive. And how.

The headline numbers:

• Net profit +36% to HK$17.8 billion ($2.3 billion), second record year in a row

• Revenue +30% to HK$29.2 billion ($3.7 billion)

• Dividend +23% to HK$12.52 per share

• 119 new listings, HK$286.9 billion ($36.7 billion) raised, up 226% year over year

With that, Hong Kong has reclaimed its position as the global No. 1 for IPOs.

What is driving the rally

Trump’s tariff policy has paradoxically played into Hong Kong’s hands. Trading volume on HKEX rose 93% in 2025. Through the Southbound Stock Connect program, which allows mainland investors to trade in Hong Kong, volume even surged 151%.

At the same time, foreign investors are looking for alternatives to the US market and are rediscovering Chinese tech stocks.

The pipeline: more than 400 active listing applications are currently filed with HKEX. Among the largest IPOs in 2025 were CATL, Mixue, and AI companies such as Zhipu AI and MiniMax.

Average first-day gains: around 40%. Next in line as a mega deal is Syngenta. The Basel-based agrochemical group, controlled by China’s Sinochem, is planning an IPO of up to $10 billion in Q2 2026.

Regulators watch closely

The financial regulator SFC has asked 13 IPO sponsors to conduct internal reviews due to “serious deficiencies” in the preparation of listing documents. These sponsors handle 70% of all IPO applications in Hong Kong.

Nevertheless: while all eyes are currently on Korea’s KOSPI rally, Hong Kong is quietly building the comeback of the decade.

👉 Sources: Asia Financial, DealStreetAsia, Caixin Global

HIGHLIGHTS 

🇨🇳 China’s technology surpasses South Korea and Japan: According to an official assessment by Seoul’s Ministry of Science, China further expanded its lead over South Korea in 11 priority sectors and 136 core technologies between 2022 and 2024. Japan was overtaken in the overall ranking for the first time. Beijing has placed science and technology at the center of its national development strategy.

🇰🇷 Samsung frustration fuels Korea’s startup boom: More and more mid-career professionals are leaving Samsung and other chaebols to found their own companies. The reason: generous benefits, but limited promotion prospects. The number of such startups has more than doubled within five years. The Korean government is actively supporting the shift, with a “startup-centered society” as an economic policy goal for 2026.

🇨🇳 China’s automakers go all-in on overseas expansion and AI: Eight major manufacturers, including Nio, Xpeng, Geely, and Xiaomi, outlined their 2026 strategy in open letters to employees. Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng announced plans to become the first company in the world to mass-produce robots, flying taxis, and robotaxis in the same year. Li Auto CEO Li Xiang said Level 4 autonomous driving will be commercially available by 2028 and announced humanoid robots.

🇨🇳 OpenAI exposes Chinese cyber operations: A Chinese police officer uploaded reports on “cyber special operations” directly into ChatGPT. Hundreds of operators, thousands of fake accounts, forged documents, and impersonations of US immigration officials targeting regime critics worldwide. Another account attempted to plan a covert campaign against Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. ChatGPT refused the request.

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