China / Economy
- China stats bureau: Economy maintained steady upward momentum from January to
April.
- China Jan-Apr property investment down 13.7% YoY.
- China’s April oil throughput hits lowest level since August 2022.
- Fitch downgrades China Vanke to “RD”.
- China Vice Premier He Lifeng meets with AMD CEO.
- China foreign ministry: China and Russia will deepen relations to a higher
level during Putin visit.
- Kremlin: Putin to visit China from May 19.
Tech / Corporate
- Apple cuts iPhone prices by 1,000 yuan ahead of 618; Huawei and Xiaomi follow.
- Alibaba to release a “new friend” with broader and deeper capabilities at
Alibaba Cloud Summit on May 20-21.
- Baidu Q1 revenue at RMB 32.08B.
- Tencent Music says acquisition of Ximalaya completed.
- Apple to kick off WWDC on June 8.
- U.S. jury finds OpenAI and Sam Altman not liable in Elon Musk lawsuit over
charitable mission claims.
Samsung / South Korea
- South Korea court partially accepts Samsung Electronics’ injunction request
against union strike.
- Samsung Electronics labor union confirms strike will proceed.
- South Korea court may fine Samsung union about 100M won per day for
non-compliance with court orders.
Iran / Geopolitics
- Trump on Iran: “They’re dying to sign a deal.”
- Senior Iranian source: Tehran will discuss nuclear issue at later stages.
- U.S. source: Trump leaning toward military action unless Iran offers
concessions within days.
- U.S. rejects latest Iranian peace proposal ahead of Situation Room meeting.
- Trump: Postponing planned military attack on Iran scheduled for tomorrow.
Markets
- JPMorgan lowers 2026 average gold price forecast to $5,243/oz from $5,708/oz.
