Shanghai Lujiazui Financial Breakfast – February 17, 2026

• The “Hard Technology” team showcased impressive performances at the 2026 Spring Festival Gala, featuring robots that left the audience in awe.

• The AI boom contributed to a successful close for the Hong Kong stock market in the Year of the Snake, with MiniMax surging nearly 25%.

• Alibaba released the open-source Qwen 3.5 model on New Year’s Eve, boasting performance comparable to Gemini 3, with token prices dropping to as low as 0.8 yuan.

• The demand for GLM-5 has surged, prompting Zhipu to launch a “Computing Power Partner” recruitment plan.

• The RMB continues to strengthen, evolving from a trading currency to an asset currency.

• OpenClaw’s founder has joined OpenAI, vowing to develop an AI assistant that even mothers can use.

• The ongoing surge in chip prices has resulted in storage giant Kioxia expecting to raise prices by 50%.

• Due to the Presidents’ Day holiday, U.S. stock markets were closed on Monday.

Highlights from the Spring Festival Gala

On February 16, the 2026 Spring Festival Gala featured a “robot army” that captivated the audience. Humanoid robots from Magic Atom performed alongside artists in the segment “Creating the Future.” Yushu Technology showcased several humanoid robots in the performance “Wu BOT,” demonstrating skills such as swordplay and acrobatics. Songyan Power’s robots participated in the skit “Grandma’s Favorite.” Galaxy Universal Robots featured in the New Year’s microfilm “The Night I Remember Most.”

Hong Kong Stock Market Update

February 16 marked the last trading day for Hong Kong stocks in the Year of the Snake, with the market closing early. The Hang Seng Index rose by 0.52%, reaching 26,705.94 points, while the Hang Seng Technology Index increased by 0.13%. AI application stocks saw significant gains, with Haizhi Technology Group rising nearly 30% and MiniMax climbing close to 25%, marking a cumulative increase of over 413% since its listing. Due to the Chinese New Year holiday, the Hong Kong stock market will be closed from February 17 to 19 and will reopen on February 20.

OpenAI’s Strategic Shift

A major personnel change occurred in the AI sector as OpenAI confirmed the addition of Peter Steinberger, the founder of the open-source agent OpenClaw. His goal is to create a personal AI agent that is user-friendly for everyday people. This shift indicates a strategic pivot for OpenAI from focusing solely on large model parameters to fostering collaboration and ecosystem development among agents.

Alibaba’s New Model Launch

Alibaba has released its next-generation model, Qwen 3.5-Plus, which rivals Gemini 3 Pro and is now regarded as the strongest open-source model globally. This model represents a significant leap from a pure text model to a native multimodal model, achieving a breakthrough from Agent frameworks to Agent applications. It features a 60% reduction in deployment memory usage, with maximum inference throughput improved by up to 19 times, and the API price is as low as 0.8 yuan per million tokens.

Financial Developments in Japan and Beyond

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement addressing China’s “inappropriate comments” regarding Japan’s security policy at the Munich Security Conference, leading to diplomatic exchanges. The Chinese Embassy in Japan labeled Japan’s claims as distorted and unfounded.

In Zhejiang, new guidelines have been released to accelerate the high-quality development of specialty markets, planning to select 50 markets for pilot transformation by 2026.

Several financial regulatory agencies have appointed new deputy directors born in the 1980s, signaling a generational shift in leadership.

Box Office and Crime Control Updates

According to Maoyan Professional, six new films will be released today for the Spring Festival, with pre-sales reaching 589 million yuan as of February 16. “Fast Life 3” leads the pre-sales, followed by “Silent Awakening” and “The Escort: Winds of the Desert.”

The Ministry of Public Security is intensifying efforts to combat smoking-related crimes through a new policing model that leverages big data.

Monitoring by the National Energy Administration revealed significant increases in charging volumes at highways during the Spring Festival, with a record 15.28 million kilowatt-hours on the first day of the holiday.

Market Trends and Economic Indicators

In Hong Kong, the housing price index increased by 7.33% in the Year of the Snake, marking the highest growth in nearly eight lunar years, with the Kowloon district seeing the most significant rise.

Since the beginning of 2026, cryptocurrency prices have continued to decline, with predictions indicating an 82% chance that Bitcoin will fall below $65,000 this year.

Technological Advancements and Corporate Developments

ByteDance has reported that its technical support for the Spring Festival Gala focused on four areas, including enhancing robot performance and user interaction via its app.

Apple announced the introduction of advanced video features for its podcast service this spring, allowing users to switch between viewing and listening modes.

SpaceX and its wholly-owned subsidiary xAI are participating in a confidential Pentagon competition to develop voice-controlled drone swarm technology.

Amidst rising demand for GLM-5, Zhipu has initiated a recruitment plan for computing power partners to enhance their network.

Global Economic Insights

The U.S. stock market remains closed for Presidents’ Day, while European indices showed mixed results. The German DAX fell by 0.46%, while the French CAC40 rose by 0.06%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index closed down by 0.24% due to disappointing GDP figures, while the SENSEX30 in India increased by 0.79%.

Indonesia’s stock market faced turbulence, prompting the President to demand accountability from financial regulators following significant market losses.

Final Thoughts

The outlook for the global economy remains cautious, with concerns over inflation and economic stability influencing market behavior. Analysts are closely monitoring developments in major economies, including Japan and the U.S., as they navigate post-holiday adjustments and regulatory shifts.