Stories from Beijing · China

New data indicates a significant downturn in the Chinese automotive market, with retail sales of new energy vehicles dropping 14% and fuel vehicle sales plummeting 53% compared to the same period last year. This trend highlights a cooling period for both traditional and electric vehicle sectors in the region. China's automobile retail industry saw a 26% decline during the first 20 days of April. The China Passenger Car Association reported this drop in sales. The decline follows broader economic difficulties in China, including rising plastic prices affecting the toy and manufacturing sectors. Durian prices in the Chinese fruit market have decreased to within 3% of previous levels. The annual automotive exhibition features a 380,000 square meter venue. Laptop sales in mainland China's online retail market fell 40.5% to 947,000 units during January and February 2026.

Xiaomi has officially unveiled its new MiMo-V2.5 series of Large Language Models (LLMs). This release marks a significant expansion of the company's artificial intelligence capabilities. The rollout follows a period of intense competition in the generative AI sector. Xiaomi has released MiMo-V2.5 with 310 billion parameters and MiMo-V2.5-Pro with 1.02 trillion parameters. Both models feature 1 million token context windows, hybrid attention, and native multimodal capabilities.

China has accumulated significant oil stockpiles in anticipation of potential conflict involving Iran. This strategic move aims to secure energy supplies amidst heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The buildup reflects growing concerns over maritime trade stability and supply chain disruptions.

Asia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports are projected to drop to their lowest levels in six years during April. This decline is driven by a significant loss of cargoes from Qatar, a top global supplier. China is currently managing the resulting shortfall through voluntary import reductions. China's liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports could decrease by an additional 11% in 2026. This follows a previous 11% decline in imports recorded last year.

China is currently installing wind and solar energy capacity at a rate equivalent to five large nuclear power plants every week. China has issued guidance to integrate energy meteorology with climate change mitigation efforts. China has released guidance to establish a seamless energy-meteorology service system by 2027. China aims to reach 88% power forecasting accuracy for solar energy and 86% for wind energy by 2027. Experts from State Grid Gansu Electric Power Company are utilizing supercomputing and advanced algorithms to improve short-term power prediction accuracy. Current efforts include using supercomputing models to simulate dust thickness for solar output predictions during sandstorm weather. The integration of meteorological data with new energy systems is intended to mitigate grid risks and improve clean energy dispatch efficiency.

Xiaomi has launched its new MiMo-V2.5-Pro multimodal AI model, which integrates text, image, audio, and video processing into a single architecture. The Pro version is designed to compete directly with frontier models such as Claude Opus 4.6 and GPT-5. This release marks a significant expansion of Xiaomi's artificial intelligence capabilities in the consumer and enterprise sectors. Xiaomi has introduced the Band 10 Pro featuring a ceramic body to target the premium wearable market.

Middle East oil crises are driving a significant increase in demand for Chinese solar energy products. This shift is reshaping global trade patterns as nations seek energy alternatives amidst geopolitical instability. The trend highlights the growing economic influence of Chinese renewable technology in volatile markets.

China's software sector is projected to surpass 20 trillion yuan in value. This growth highlights the rapid expansion of the nation's digital economy and technological infrastructure. The scale of this industry underscores China's increasing dominance in global software development.

China's youth unemployment rate rose to 16.9% in March, according to Reuters data. This significant increase highlights growing economic pressures and labor market challenges facing the country's younger generation. The figure serves as a key indicator of the broader economic health and social stability in the region. China's average urban unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent in the first quarter.

Reports indicate a significant purge of military and political figures following the detention of Zhang Youxia. The move aims to eliminate remaining corruption within the People's Liberation Army. Five of the seven most members of China's military committee have been eliminated during a purge. The purge reportedly includes President Xi Jinping and another general, effectively removing the entire high command of Chinese defense. The source stated that this process has removed all experienced personnel from the command structure.