【Macroeconomics and Policy】
Revenue from state-owned land sales in the first two months fell 25.2% year-on-year
On March 19, the fiscal revenue and expenditure for January to February 2026 released by the Ministry of Finance showed that from January to February, the national government fund budget revenue was 536.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 16%. Looking at the central and local governments, the budget revenue of central government funds was 86.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%; the budget revenue of local government funds was 450.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 19.2%, of which revenue from the transfer of state-owned land use rights was 354.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 25.2%. (China News Service)
Oil prices may return to the era of 9 yuan
At 24:00 on March 23, domestic refined oil prices will undergo the sixth round of adjustments, and the increase in No. 92 gasoline is expected to exceed 1.6 yuan/liter again. At present, international oil prices are still significantly higher than the average price during the cycle. According to industry analysts, if international oil prices do not fall significantly, domestic oil prices are expected to continue to increase. Some experts estimate that if the final increase is estimated at about 2,000 yuan/ton, it will be equivalent to an increase of 1.60 yuan, 1.69 yuan, and 1.7 yuan per liter for 92 gasoline, 95 gasoline, and 0 diesel respectively. The price of No. 92 gasoline in Beijing and Shanghai has reached 7.6 yuan/liter. Based on this estimate, the increase in oil prices on March 24 may directly drive domestic oil prices back to the "9 yuan era." (China-Singapore Jingwei)
The National Bureau of Statistics releases unemployment rate data by age group in February 2026
On March 19, the National Bureau of Statistics released unemployment rate data by age group in February 2026. In February, the unemployment rate of the 16-24-year-old labor force in urban areas nationwide was 16.1%, the unemployment rate of the 25-29-year-old labor force, excluding school students, was 7.2%, and the unemployment rate of the 30-59-year-old labor force, excluding school students, was 4.2%. (Interface News)
Bypassing Hormuz paid off! Saudi oil exports recover by more than half
With the Strait of Hormuz nearly closed, Saudi Arabia is rerouting oil to the western port of Yanbu through a 1,200-kilometer (746-mile) pipeline known as the East-West Pipeline. The port is located on the coast of the Red Sea. At the same time, Saudi Arabia quickly assembled a large fleet of oil tankers, which sailed to the Red Sea to load crude oil and are now gathering around the port. According to ship tracking data compiled by the media, the average daily export volume of Yanbu Port over the past five days was about 4.19 million barrels. This already accounts for a large portion of Saudi Arabia's total pre-war exports (about 7 million barrels) and is much higher than the approximately 1.4 million barrels per day previously shipped through the port. Notably, Saudi Arabia is the only oil producer with a reliable alternative route. (Financial Associated Press)
【Industry/Company Data】
The price of gold once plummeted nearly 4%! Why do safe-haven assets fail?
Against the backdrop of the Fed's inaction and ongoing geopolitical conflicts, the price of gold plunged nearly 4% overnight. On the evening of March 18, London spot gold fell below the US$4,900 mark. It fell nearly 4% during the session, hitting a low of around US$4,803 per ounce. As of press time, it has rebounded to US$4841.795 per ounce, up 0.59%. COMEX gold was quoted at $4,840.1 per ounce, down 1.15%. Market views believe that the geopolitical risk aversion support brought about by the Iran conflict strongly offsets the strength of the US dollar and the Fed's tightening expectations, and the gold market has fallen into a rare long-short strangulation pattern. Despite the short-term pressure, most market views still believe that the mid- to long-term trend of the gold market is expected to be positive. (The Paper)
Memory chip price increases are sweeping across the industry chain, and a new round of cost testing has arrived
On March 18, cloud vendors such as Alibaba Cloud and Baidu Smart Cloud simultaneously raised the prices of AI computing power and storage products, with the highest increase reaching 34%. Since the second half of 2025, global memory chips have entered a new round of price increase cycle, and now its chain reaction is continuing to ferment. Recently, OPPO and vivo announced price increases for mobile phones. According to a report by Xinhua News Agency on March 18, South Korea's Samsung Electronics may undergo a large-scale strike, which will add pressure to the already tight supply and demand of storage products. Industry insiders said that memory chip prices will remain strong from 2026 to 2027, and the entire industry chain is facing a new round of cost tests. (China Securities News)
In 2025, battery company profits will exceed the combined profits of 13 car companies
On March 17, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Car Association, said when talking about the current profit situation of China's automobile industry that the profits of vehicle companies are currently being squeezed significantly by battery companies. He cited last year's Fortune 500 data, which showed that Chinese car companies on the list achieved profits of US$14.7 billion, of which CATL alone accounted for US$7.1 billion. He also said that vehicle companies other than batteries only accounted for more than ten percent of profits. He bluntly called the situation "horrible" and said that "there is basically no money." According to media statistics, 13 A-share listed vehicle companies have released performance forecasts or performance reports for 2025. CATL's net profit in 2025 has exceeded the total profits of these 13 car companies. (Interface News)
【City Trends】
Jiangsu’s permanent population shows negative growth
According to the 2025 Jiangsu Province National Economic and Social Development Statistical Bulletin, the province's permanent population at the end of 2025 was 85.18 million. The annual birth rate was 4.2‰, the death rate was 7.8‰, and the natural population growth rate was -3.6‰. Judging from historical data, after the first zero growth of the permanent population in 2024, Jiangsu ushered in the first negative growth of the permanent population in the new century in 2025. (comprehensive)
Zhejiang’s “Special Window for Things That Can’t Be Done” is praised by netizens
Recently, some netizens posted a picture of a service window in Zhejiang. The name of the window is "Dedicated Window for Unable to Get Things Done", but it was collectively liked by netizens. The reporter learned that this window is a "cover-up" service that mainly accepts "difficult and miscellaneous" matters that have not been completed due to policies, historical legacy and other reasons in public security government services, as well as due to system acceptance, material declaration, service procedures, etc. It is understood that since its establishment in May 2018, the window has successfully resolved 3,914 cases of "difficult and difficult diseases" for individuals and enterprises, benefiting more than 8,000 people. (Yue Niu News)
According to foreign trade data at the beginning of the year, Shaanxi’s growth rate leads the country
On March 18, the General Administration of Customs released the latest foreign trade data. In the first two months of this year, the total import and export value of Shaanxi was 121.14 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 69%. The growth rate ranked first in the country and was 50.7 percentage points higher than the national import and export growth rate. Among them, exports were 92.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 85.2%; imports were 28.66 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31.9%. During the same period, the trade surplus was 63.82 billion yuan. (comprehensive)
【Health Tips】
Negative words make you more irritable the more you say them.
In the current era of "mourning culture", you feel relieved after saying many self-deprecating words, and you think it's over. But the latest research in cognitive neuroscience and linguistics believes that language is not just a mirror of emotions, it is also a sculptor of emotions. The human body has a system called the "hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis" (HPA axis), which is the body's central stress system. A 2023 review in "Frontiers in Psychiatry" pointed out that negative self-talk can lead to chronic inflammation through continued activation of the HPA axis. This pathway is highly overlapping with the mechanisms of long-term lack of exercise and long-term sleep deprivation. Not only that, the brain's nerves also have the characteristic of "getting darker as they are drawn" – the more frequently a certain neural circuit is triggered, the more stable it will be and the easier it will be triggered. Suppose you say "I'm so annoyed" 20 times a day. Over the course of a year, your brain will have established a barrier-free highway between "I'm annoyed (language) → irritable (causing emotion)".
Researchers suggest: Starting today, stop saying "I'm so bored"; try saying: "This is kind of interesting." (Popular Science China)
