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People's Daily Online, Beijing, April 7 (Reporter Sun Boyang) Data released by the State Administration for Market Regulation show that in 2025, the advertising business revenue of national public institutions and enterprises above designated size will exceed 2 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 2050.21 billion yuan, "double" the revenue scale in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 16.8%.

Data released by the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that digital intelligence technology has become the core engine of industrial growth. Internet advertising business revenue was 1.35743 billion yuan, an increase of 34.6% over the previous year, accounting for 66.2% of advertising business revenue. From the perspective of advertising publishing, Internet advertising revenue was 1.25184 billion yuan, accounting for 89.1% of the advertising revenue of various media.

Data shows that there are more than 1,400 business entities with advertising business income of more than 100 million yuan, and the total profits and taxes have grown steadily. The advertising business revenue of leading Internet platforms grew by more than 36.1%, becoming an important force driving the development of the industry, and the scale and efficiency of operating entities increased simultaneously.

The data also shows that the development of the eastern, central and western regions is more balanced, with advertising business revenue in 19 provinces across the country exceeding 10 billion yuan. Among them, the revenue of the four provinces and cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang totaled 1.40418 billion yuan, accounting for 68.5% of the country's total, which was 5.5 percentage points lower than the end of the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. The regional development is more balanced.

The relevant person in charge of the State Administration for Market Regulation said that my country's advertising industry has maintained rapid development, which reflects the positive expectations of enterprises and market consumer confidence, and provides professional support for the construction of a modern industrial system.

People's Daily Online, Beijing, April 7 (Reporter Sun Hongli) According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, the person in charge of the Department of Trade in Services of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the development of service trade from January to February 2026 and said that from January to February, my country's total service import and export volume was 1.14307 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year decrease of 3.9%. Among them, exports were 442.49 billion yuan, an increase of 4.7%; imports were 700.58 billion yuan, a decrease of 8.7%. The service trade deficit was 258.1 billion yuan, 86.52 billion yuan smaller than the same period last year. It mainly presents the following characteristics:

The proportion of imports and exports of knowledge-intensive services has increased. From January to February, the import and export of knowledge-intensive services was 486.27 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.2%, accounting for 42.5% of the total service import and export, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the same period last year. Among them, the export of knowledge-intensive services was 248.23 billion yuan, an increase of 2.4%; the import of knowledge-intensive services was 238.04 billion yuan, a decrease of 8.4%.

Travel, other business services and transportation rank among the top three in terms of scale. From January to February, travel import and export reached 362.59 billion yuan, a decrease of 11.8%, making it the largest field of service trade in my country; of which exports were 60.96 billion yuan, an increase of 22.5%, and imports were 301.63 billion yuan, a decrease of 16.5%. The import and export volumes of other commercial services and transportation were 272.32 billion yuan and 212.23 billion yuan respectively.

It is reported that according to the new version of the "International Trade in Services Statistical Monitoring System" jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in January 2026, new statistical methods will be adopted from January to February 2026 for the compilation of service import and export data, mainly involving seven fields including transportation services, other commercial services, financial services, construction services, telecommunications computers and information services, personal culture and entertainment services, and processing services.

People's Daily Online, Beijing, April 7 (Reporter Du Yanfei) Data released today by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange show that as of the end of March 2026, my country's foreign exchange reserves have continued to stabilize at more than 3.3 trillion US dollars, and gold reserves have increased for 17 consecutive months.

Data show that as of the end of March 2026, my country's foreign exchange reserves were US$3,342.1 billion, a decrease of US$85.7 billion from the end of February, a decrease of 2.5%.

"In March 2026, affected by factors such as the global macro-environment, monetary policies and expectations of major economies, the U.S. dollar index rose and the prices of major global financial assets fell. The combined effect of exchange rate conversion and asset price changes and other factors led to a decrease in the scale of foreign exchange reserves that month." The relevant person in charge of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said that my country's economic operation is generally stable and making progress, and high-quality development has achieved new results, providing support for the maintenance of basic stability in the scale of foreign exchange reserves.

Wen Bin, chief economist of Minsheng Bank, believes that since the beginning of this year, my country's export performance has far exceeded expectations, with a year-on-year growth rate of 21.8% from January to February. This is not only a reflection of the strength of foreign trade, but also the result of the diversification of my country's export market and the upgrading of the export commodity structure. In the context of oil prices affecting the global production and supply chain, my country's advantages in new energy manufacturing and the entire industrial chain have become more prominent. In terms of cross-border capital flows, as my country's service industry access continues to expand, institutional opening up steadily deepens, and the level of cross-border investment and financing facilitation continues to improve, foreign direct investment will maintain smooth operation; the valuation advantages and allocation value of RMB assets are highlighted, and securities investments will continue to inflow at a reasonable scale.

Gold reserves are an important part of the diversified composition of international reserves. Reserve asset data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on the same day showed that as of the end of March 2026, my country's gold reserves were 74.38 million ounces, an increase of 160,000 ounces from the end of February, marking the 17th consecutive month of increasing gold holdings.

Industry insiders said that the People's Bank of China's continued increase in gold holdings will help diversify the foreign exchange reserve asset portfolio and ensure the safety and liquidity of foreign exchange reserves. At the same time, gold is a widely accepted means of final payment in the world. The People's Bank of China's increase in gold holdings enhances the credit of the sovereign currency and creates favorable conditions for steadily and prudently promoting the internationalization of the RMB.

The World Gold Council stated that in today's world situation, the role of gold as an effective portfolio diversification tool and uncertainty buffer tool has emerged.

People's Daily Online, Beijing, April 7 (Reporter Hao Shuai) According to the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation, recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation released data showing that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the State Administration for Market Regulation vigorously promoted the development of "one-stop" services for quality infrastructure, organically integrating measurement, standards, certification and accreditation, inspection and testing and other elemental resources. Various quality infrastructures have been built across the country. There are 2,984 "one-stop" service platforms for infrastructure, which have served more than 5.2 million enterprises, solved about 380,000 technical problems, and saved enterprises about 5.47 billion yuan. They have achieved positive results in serving the park economy, regional development, and improving the quality of the industrial chain and supply chain, and have formed a series of service models and experiences that can be replicated and promoted.

In terms of serving the park economy, various localities have directly embedded quality technical services into industrial parks, allowing enterprises to obtain professional support such as measurement, standards, inspection and testing, certification and accreditation without leaving the park, significantly reducing the cost and time cost of obtaining quality services, and promoting the overall improvement of the development level of the park. In terms of serving regional development, the "one-stop" service platform systematically integrates quality infrastructure element resources in the region to provide all-factor and full-chain services for upstream and downstream enterprises in key regional industrial chains. While lowering the service threshold for enterprises, it drives relevant technical institutions and industrial chain enterprises to gather and settle, and promotes the cultivation of regional industrial clusters with strong quality competitiveness. In terms of service industry chain supply chain quality linkage improvement, the "one-stop" service platform focuses on the common quality technology needs of specific industry chains, promotes the integration of measurement, standards, inspection and testing, certification and accreditation and other elements into key links of the industry chain, builds a chain quality collaborative service model, and supports the significant improvement of the quality level of enterprises in the chain and the supply chain resilience.

In 2025, based on summarizing local practices, the State Administration for Market Regulation will promote the extension of "one-stop" services to the new generation of information technology industry, issue special technical guides, organize experts to conduct research, guidance and assistance on 5G, big data, artificial intelligence and other industries, and provide various big data centers and computing power centers with precise services such as measurement testing, standard development, inspection, testing and certification to help the efficient operation of new digital infrastructure. In the next step, the State Administration for Market Regulation will accelerate the construction of a quality infrastructure public service platform, promote the upgrading of quality infrastructure services from "one-stop" to "integrated", and promote the construction of a good industrial ecosystem with quality management collaboration, quality resource sharing, and complementary technological advantages.

People's Daily Online, Beijing, April 7 (Reporter Zhao Zhuqing) Recently, the Yellow River Delta National Agricultural High-tech Industrial Demonstration Zone (hereinafter referred to as the Agricultural High-tech Zone) welcomed a special group of "new farmers" – 92 graduate students from Qingdao Agricultural University officially settled in the National Saline-alkali Land Comprehensive Utilization Technology Innovation Center. Under the guidance of more than 50 instructors from 12 colleges including Agricultural Sciences, Resources and Environment, and Food Science and Engineering, they will move their laboratories to the fields to carry out scientific research on the frontline of saline-alkali land management.

"Move the talent training position to the front line of scientific research on the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land." Zhao Jinshan, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and President of Qingdao Agricultural University, said at the move-in ceremony. Du Guangxuan, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Huangjiao Agricultural High-tech Zone, regarded this move as an important measure for the school and the local government to jointly shoulder the mission of being the "biggest person in the country".

For a long time, there has been a “wall” between university scientific research and industrial needs. The purpose of this move is to break this boundary: students will form interdisciplinary teams in the fields of saline-alkali land biological breeding, production capacity improvement, ecological restoration, etc., and implement the project organization model of "revealing the list and taking charge" and "the subject comes from the front line, and the results go to the front line". The Nonggao District has equipped teachers and students with scientific research experimental platforms, field test bases and "one-stop" living facilities.

"It is necessary to completely break the 'wall' between the campus and the park, allowing students to find projects in the fields and test results on the front lines of industry." Zhao Jinshan put forward three hopes for the first batch of settled students: to care about their country and become "new farmers" with feelings; to be brave in innovation and become capable "scientific research pioneers"; to integrate knowledge and action to become responsible "pillars of the future."

From the campus classroom to the saline-alkali wasteland, these young students with scientific research missions taking root on the front line are the living "seeds" of school-site collaboration to empower national food security. In the future, Qingdao Agricultural University and the Yellow River Delta Agricultural High Zone will rely on the national innovation platform to jointly promote the "four chains" of education chain, talent chain, industrial chain, and innovation chain, cultivate a large number of agricultural science and technology talents who can be retained, used, and perform well for the country, write papers on the land of the Yellow River Delta, and leave the results on the front line of saline-alkali land management.

Orban: "One man can't stop ten thousand people"? 26 countries gathered in Kiev, but no good news came out. Zelenskiy’s request was rejected by the EU.

EU meeting

On March 31, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Karas led many foreign ministers and diplomats to visit Ukraine, held an EU informal foreign ministers' meeting in Kiev, and commemorated the fourth anniversary of the "Bucha massacre" and reiterated support for Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Zelensky attended the meeting and held talks with Karas and others, focusing on discussions on 90 billion euros in loans to Ukraine, pressure on Russia and negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.

The atmosphere of this meeting was very strange. On the one hand, the EU promised to provide 90 billion euros in loan assistance to Ukraine, but on the other hand, the EU was unable to give Ukraine a clear funding time. On the one hand, the EU expressed support for Ukraine's entry into the EU, but on the other hand, the EU refused to clarify Ukraine's timetable for joining the EU. On the one hand, the EU claims to support providing assistance to Ukraine, but on the other hand, about half of the foreign ministers of EU member states who participated in the meeting did not attend.

Zelensky and Karas

This is an informal EU foreign ministers' meeting, but as a member of the EU, Hungary's Foreign Minister Szijjarto explicitly refused to visit Ukraine and attend the meeting. The US "Political News Network" also pointed out that about half of the EU member states either did not participate in the visit, or only sent diplomats instead of foreign ministers.

Zelensky and Karas focused on the issue of the EU passing 90 billion euros in aid to Ukraine as soon as possible, but Karas also said in an interview that the EU "has some obstacles" in providing 90 billion euros in loan assistance to Ukraine and passing the 20th round of sanctions against Russia, and "cannot announce any good news." At the same time, she also said that the EU will provide Ukraine with another 80 million euros in aid from the proceeds of Russia's frozen assets, but it is currently unable to give a clear date for Ukraine to join the EU.

From the above information, it is almost easy to see that the EU's commitment to Ukraine is more of a commitment than actual assistance.

EUR

So why is this situation happening now?

First, there are the EU’s institutional knots and the equal sharing of responsibilities and powers. Major financial and diplomatic matters of the EU require the unanimous consent of all members, and any country's objections can directly block the process.

When the EU proposed this 90 billion euro loan aid plan at the end of 2025, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and other countries firmly disagreed. Later, the EU conducted separate negotiations with these countries and promised that the loan did not need to be provided by these countries, which prompted the proposal to be passed without objection within the EU.

However, in February 2026, news suddenly came out that the Ukrainian section of the Russia-EU "Friendship" oil pipeline was bombed. Ukraine claimed that Russia had attacked the pipeline, and Russia claimed that Ukraine had destroyed the pipeline. In view of the situation where both sides insist on different opinions, Hungary and Slovakia, as the biggest victims of this incident, naturally do not believe Ukraine's rhetoric.

Orban and von der Leyen at EU summit

Therefore, the two countries directly announced that if Ukraine does not repair the oil pipeline as soon as possible, the EU will not pass the 90 billion loan assistance plan for Ukraine. Faced with threats from both countries, Zelensky chose to be tough and refused to repair the pipeline.

So we see now that the EU is in trouble over the 90 billion euros in loan assistance to Ukraine. To put it bluntly, the fundamental reason for the failure of the European aid plan to Ukraine is the EU's institutional shortcomings. Hungary and Slovakia have stayed out of the EU's aid to Ukraine, but they can control the overall decision-making to satisfy their own interests.

Secondly, there is a serious imbalance of interests within the EU. Hungary and Slovakia are highly dependent on Russian oil. Now that their oil pipelines have been blown up, the EU has failed to provide effective solutions to these two countries. Instead, it has blindly pressured the two countries to pass aid plans for Ukraine. This kind of "parents" who do not solve the problem but instead put pressure on the victims will naturally be opposed and disgusted by Hungary and Slovenia.

In addition, what everyone is more concerned about is that since other EU countries want to assist Ukraine so much, why don't they provide peer-to-peer assistance themselves? This question is a good one, but it also ignores the reality.

It is not that EU member states have provided point-to-point assistance to Ukraine, and they have continued to do so. It can be said that a large part of the assistance Ukraine has received so far has been provided by individual countries to assist Ukraine.

Regarding this 90 billion euro loan assistance, the EU chose collective action for a very practical reason, that is, to avoid uneven responsibility. EU member states range from large to small, and some have a positive attitude towards Ukraine and some have no interest in Ukraine. If EU countries are allowed to provide this loan assistance to Ukraine on their own, then large countries such as Germany and France will bear more, while Hungary, Slovakia and other small countries and countries that have no interest in Ukraine will bear less.

Conflicts within the EU

In addition, this 90 billion euros of aid to Ukraine is mandatory from the EU in the form of low-interest loans or interest-free loans. If member states are allowed to provide it on their own, there may be different loan interest rates, different loan amounts, different aid times, etc., which will make Ukraine unable to make financial planning at all.

Therefore, the EU must allocate loan quotas according to the GDP of member states in a mandatory low-interest or no-interest manner. All member states are forced to provide loan assistance to Ukraine on time, according to the quota, and at accurate interest rates. This can ensure that the Ukrainian regime can continue for a long time.

Finally, the EU as a whole has two sides to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The reason why the EU rejected Zelensky's request for a clear timetable for EU entry is largely due to the EU's overall dual understanding of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Zelensky

For example, German Chancellor Mertz has publicly stated that it is absolutely impossible for Ukraine to join the EU in 2027. Ukraine must meet the "Copenhagen standards" (democracy and rule of law, anti-corruption, economic transformation, etc.) before it can join the EU.

The European Commission's report clearly stated that Ukraine has lagged behind in reform areas such as anti-money laundering and national risk assessment and will not be able to meet the standards in the short term.

Countries such as Hungary clearly oppose Ukraine's rapid accession to the EU, believing that accepting Ukraine in a state of war is tantamount to "introducing conflict into the EU" and poses security risks.

France and other core EU countries are also cautious about Ukraine joining the EU and are considering letting Ukraine complete reforms and end the war before discussing a timetable for EU accession.

Russia-Ukraine conflict

To put it bluntly, although the EU supports Ukraine joining the EU, it also understands that Ukraine in a state of war will only bring more trouble and division to the EU, which is by no means a good thing.

Therefore, this time the 26 EU countries gathered in Kiev and failed to come up with a piece of good news, this is not accidental but inevitable.

Vietnam, a Southeast Asian country, has elected a new senior leadership team, which heralds the basic end of the power transition initiated by the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. A key change in the leadership structure of the Vietnamese party and state this time is that the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Su Lin also serves as the president of the country, which means that the "four carriages" power structure that Hanoi insisted on in the past has been broken. This not only consolidates To Lam's position as Vietnam's most powerful leader, but will also have a profound impact on this rapidly developing country.

The first session of the 16th National Assembly of Vietnam opened on Monday (April 6). A new senior leader has been elected. They are: President Su Lin, Prime Minister Lim Hing, and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Min. Among them, Su Lin is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Lim Hung is a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Minister of Organization of the Central Committee, and Tran Thanh Min is a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and will serve as the Chairman of the 15th National Congress from May 2024. According to Vietnamese regulations, the current standing secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, Chen Jinxiu, also belongs to this level of leaders.

Toulin is the first person to hold the top leadership positions of the Party and the country through the normal leadership election process within the Viet Cong Party, rather than by appointing a successor. The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam is the most powerful person, and the President is the ceremonial head of state. This situation of holding two positions is very rare in Vietnamese history. Former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong once held these two positions at the same time (October 2018-April 2021), when Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang suddenly passed away in office. Su Lin briefly held these two positions after Nguyen Phu Trong's death in July 2024, but resigned from the position of President of Vietnam more than two months later.

Toulin's dual role could weaken the institutional checks and balances that Vietnam's leadership insists on. The leadership core of Hanoi's party and government has long adhered to the "four carriages" structure, namely the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the president of the country, the prime minister of the government and the chairman of the National Assembly. In September last year, the Communist Party of Vietnam promoted the permanent secretary of the Central Secretariat to the same level. It seems that it may have been preparing for changes in the power structure at that time, because even if the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the president of the country are served by one person, the familiar "four carriages" structure can be maintained in form.

The last president of Vietnam was Liang Qiang, who had a military background. He and Su Lin, who came from the public security system, seemed to have reached a subtle power-sharing agreement. This arrangement maintains a relative balance between the two major forces in Vietnam. Now Su Lin holds two positions means that the two parties have reached a certain tacit understanding in private. According to earlier media reports, if Sulin succeeds in serving as president of the country, the military will use this to demand greater autonomy in the promotion of senior officers, and they will also negotiate "safeguards" to limit Sulin's power.

The 68-year-old Su Lin was re-elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam on January 23. He took over this key position in August 2024 after the death of Nguyen Phu Trong. Since then, he has been performing his duties with a "mission-oriented" attitude, leading major changes in Vietnam's domestic and foreign affairs, and has attracted much attention from the outside world. Internally, he drastically reduced the number of provinces, cities, ministries and commissions, laid off more than 100,000 civil servants, and changed the administrative unit from a three-level province-county-township system to a two-level system of province-township, aiming to "downsize" the system and speed up development. He is also focused on improving economic performance and promoting private sector growth, aiming to move Vietnam away from a labor- and export-led economic model.

In the field of diplomacy, unlike his predecessors who left international affairs to other leaders in the past, Su Lin has always taken the lead and placed himself at the forefront of diplomacy. After serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, he visited dozens of countries intensively and led the establishment of the highest-level diplomatic relations with many countries such as France, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. This shows that while Hanoi maintains its main traditional partners, it also pays attention to achieving a strategic balance among major countries around the world. Through a series of high-profile visits, To Lam exerted huge influence and established himself as Vietnam's de facto international spokesperson, projecting himself as a pragmatic and decisive leader.

Now that Surin has greater political space to pursue his own agenda, this will obviously lead to faster, more coherent and decisive policymaking, and a greater chance of pushing forward difficult reforms at a critical moment. In his inauguration speech, Sulin admitted that his first priority is to maintain peace and stability, because this is the basis for achieving rapid and sustainable growth. "Our goal is to improve people's lives and allow everyone to share in the fruits of development."

To Lam set goals and visions for Vietnam at the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam: striving to achieve an average annual growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) of 10% or more from 2026 to 2030, and per capita GDP of approximately US$8,500 by 2030. Successfully achieve the goal of building a modern industrial upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income developed country by 2045. This is significantly higher than the unfulfilled growth target of 6.5% to 7% from 2021 to 2025, and is said to be a strong signal reflecting Sulin’s urgency and willingness to reform.

Some people believe that if we look at the leadership’s ambitions and Vietnam’s development potential that has not yet been fully unleashed, there are still opportunities for rapid growth, but there is little room for mistakes. At the same time, we must avoid the politicization of growth targets, otherwise it may affect Vietnam’s economic stability and sustainability. However, Vietnam's economic growth in the first quarter of this year was 7.8%, lower than the 8.4% in the previous quarter and lower than the growth target of at least 10%.

Hanoi's new leadership structure comes as the effects of the war in Iran are already being felt. Vietnam imports 87% of its oil from the Middle East, but it has not established a complete strategic oil reserve system. Currently, domestic oil reserves can only support energy needs for about 20-30 days. Such weak reserves make Vietnam highly vulnerable to long-term energy disruptions and could pose serious challenges to its ambitious economic growth plans. Vietnam has adopted a series of energy rationing measures and used emergency funds to subsidize fuel prices. Some think tank figures make no secret that the Iran war is a severe test for Vietnam's energy security and foreign policy adaptability.

At the same time, after U.S. President Trump returns to the White House, he will impose a high tariff of 46% on Vietnam, which threatens its export-dependent economy. Although the agreement signed in October last year to reduce the tax rate to 20% seems to have alleviated the urgent needs of the Hanoi authorities, the record trade surplus with the United States may still anger Washington. This means that the fragility of Vietnam's export-oriented economic growth model is an urgent problem that needs to be solved.

In short, with the emergence of Vietnam's new senior leaders, the power change initiated by the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam will come to an end. They will promote ambitious reforms and higher growth goals, which may leave a mark in the history of Vietnam's reforms.

Kim Dotcomb, founder of file-sharing site Megaupload and Mega, shared his thoughts on social networks. He said the EU would abandon a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine after Russia warned it would review its stance on Kyiv's EU membership.

Dotcom wrote: "Good luck getting that 90 billion euros. Russia will win in this conflict. In my humble opinion, it has already won."

He noted that Russia opposed Ukraine joining the alliance because "the EU is increasingly looking like a military alliance." On April 4, Dmitry Medvedev, Vice Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, stated on his social platform that it is time for Russia to give up its tolerant attitude towards its neighbors (including Ukraine) joining the EU.

Medvedev pointed out that Brussels is seriously considering establishing a complete military component within the EU against the background of numerous conflicts within NATO. According to him, this changes the world situation, because now the EU is no longer just an economic union, and in the near future may become a complete military alliance that is extremely hostile to Russia.

On March 19, the EU summit failed to approve a 90 billion euro military loan to Ukraine. Hungary and Slovakia vetoed the decision. They defended their position by saying that Ukraine had stopped the supply of Russian oil through the Friendship pipeline.

Previously, European Commission members said it was impossible for Ukraine to join the EU before 2027.

In addition, the media also reported the latest war situation between Russia and Ukraine. On the night of April 5, the on-duty air defense system in Russia intercepted and destroyed 87 Ukrainian drones. The Russian Ministry of Defense issued this statement.

The attack lasted from 22:00 Moscow time on April 4 to 8:00 Moscow time on April 5. According to the ministry, the Ukrainian armed forces used aircraft-type drones. Some air targets were neutralized in border areas of the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions. Drones were also destroyed in the Leningrad, Penza, Tambov, Orel, Voronezh, Tver, Kaluga, Ulyanovsk and Nizhny Novgorod oblasts, as well as in Crimea and the Republic of Moldova.

As Leningrad Oblast Governor Alexander Drozdenko said, the air defense system destroyed 19 Ukrainian Armed Forces drones over the Leningrad Oblast. After the attack, damage to a section of the oil pipeline was discovered near the port of Primorsk. Work is currently underway on site to safely burn out the closed pipeline. The Russian regional chief stressed that there were no casualties.

Previously, a drone attack injured a company employee in Samara Oblast.

U.S. and Israeli warplanes were still circling overhead, and air strikes covered almost the entire territory of Iran. But if you are walking on the streets of Tehran, the capital, you will definitely doubt your eyes.

There is no panic here, no panic buying. Supermarket shelves are packed to the brim, street cafes are still fragrant, and everyone is even having dinner and chatting as usual. Why are Iranians so calm in the face of the clouds of war? Because this country is showing a cohesion that makes people gasp.

Qalibaf, Speaker of Iran’s Islamic Parliament, recently revealed a set of horrifying statistics. He publicly announced on social media that in less than a week, about 7 million people across the country actively registered and were ready to take up arms to defend the country. You know, Iran’s total population is only over 90 million.

These 7 million people are only reserve forces. Counting Iran's original 1 million active and reserve troops, if it really comes to a life-and-death moment, Iran can pull out a huge team of nearly 8 million people in an instant. Even if some of these 7 million people are engaged in logistics and transporting supplies, this kind of mobilization efficiency of all people as soldiers is enough to deter any opponent.

An even more shocking scene happened overseas. According to common sense, normal people would hide outside during the war, but the Iranians are staged an epic and most powerful retrograde. At the border crossing between Türkiye and Iran, a large number of Iranians doing business and working overseas are rushing home like crazy.

After some people settled their wives and children abroad, they resolutely turned around and returned home. There was even a scene in front of the CCTV camera: a young man who had overseas residence status and had been living in Europe for 12 years even gave up the comfortable life in Europe and rushed directly into the camera and shouted: I want to return to Iran to defend the country! Iranians will never abandon their motherland and just run for their own lives!

At the rear, ordinary people also fought hard. People rummaged through the boxes and took out all the belongings at the bottom of the boxes. Donate gold and silver jewelry, bracelets and earrings, or even your own wedding ring. Farmers in remote villages and towns are more practical and directly take their cattle, sheep and livestock to support the country.

Although the water supply of some cities in southern Tehran was cut off by the explosion, rescue workers struggled to clear the scene among the rubble, and residents looked at the destruction of their homes with tears, but they turned around and jumped into the wave of national support. This bloody spirit has even crossed national borders, arousing strong resonance among people of the same faith in surrounding areas.

In the Indian-controlled Kashmir area, local people are also spontaneously supporting. The women took off their gold and silver jewelry without hesitation, and some families even donated their ancestral bronze vessels. A 9-year-old girl resolutely took out her favorite piggy bank, and another girl donated the gold earrings full of emotional memories left to her by her grandmother.

Speaker Qalibaf publicly stated that the country is ready to shed blood and sacrifice. We are not warlike people, but whenever we need to defend our homeland, each of us will become a warrior on this land. In the face of ruins and crises, this national resilience that would rather die than surrender may be their real trump card.

After the war between the United States and Israel lasted for more than a month, the world's attention has focused on the Strait of Hormuz: Is the Strait open? How many ships pass here every day? These questions affect every nerve of the global financial market.

Recently, a quietly released research report attracted worldwide attention.

·Cover of "Research Report on the Strait of Hormuz". (Citrini Research official X platform)

This "Strait of Hormuz Survey Report" comes from Citrini Research, an independent research organization in the United States. The lead author is quite mysterious and is code-named "Analyst No. 3" within the agency.

Completely different from his colleagues who sat in the office looking through second-hand data and piecing together satellite images, this analyst chose an extremely "hard-core" research method – he personally flew to the Strait of Hormuz to count ships, look at waterways, and chat with local fishermen and crews.

"Analyst No. 3" revealed a surprising discovery in the report: Under the current tense situation in the Strait of Hormuz, the automatic identification system (AIS) data of ships published by commercial platforms may miss about 50% of the actual passing ships on any given day.

He analyzed that the main reason for underreporting is that more and more ships actively turn off their AIS transponders or submit false identification information to avoid tracking. However, the estimate of "Analyst No. 3" has not been independently verified by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) or other official agencies.

In addition to the on-site findings, "Analyst No. 3" also recorded the thrilling moments of inspection and detention he encountered along the way in his report, word for word. The first reaction of many people after reading the report is: "This is not like a financial macro analysis, but more like a battlefield reconnaissance log."

The person who sent this "Analyst No. 3" into the dangerous situation was James Van Gillen, the founder of Citrini Research.

·Citrini Research announced that it will send analysts to the Strait of Hormuz for on-site investigation. (Citrini Research official X platform)

"This matter,

I can tell my grandchildren about it forever.”

Before departure, "Analyst No. 3" planned a four-day research trip in the office in Manhattan, New York: first, he met with shipbrokers and commodity traders in Dubai, then went to Fujairah to observe idle oil tankers and bombed oil storage depots, then entered Oman's Musandam Province, and finally managed to board the ship close to the coast of Iran.

Fujairah was chosen because it is the only port among the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates that is on the Arabian Sea rather than the Persian Gulf. It is located about 140 kilometers south of the exit of the Strait of Hormuz. Because of their geographical location outside the strait, both Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi have laid oil pipelines that bypass the strait to transport crude oil directly to Fujairah for export, making it a strategic backup export node in the case of a strait blockade.

·A four-day research trip planned by Analyst No. 3. (Citrini Research official X platform)

In addition to meticulous itinerary planning, "Analyst No. 3" is also proficient in four languages ​​including Arabic. For this trip, he was equipped with a Pelican protective case (a high-strength protective transport case with a low-profile appearance), which contained US$15,000 (approximately RMB 109,000) in cash, a pair of smart video sunglasses, a set of marine beacons, gimbals, microphone equipment and a Xiaomi mobile phone with a large zoom. Seemingly well-prepared, trouble quickly ensued from the moment they crossed the Omani border.

·The equipment carried by "Analyst No. 3". (Citrini Research official X platform)

Before entering Oman, a senior official wearing a robe and expensive perfume took him into a back room and questioned him about his personal information and even his religious beliefs. "Analyst No. 3" lied that he was a tourist, but was still forced to sign a commitment prohibiting photography and intelligence collection. Fortunately, when officials opened the protective box for inspection, they found no gimbal, microphone set and smart video sunglasses.

"Analyst No. 3" thought he had passed the test, but he didn't know that the real test was yet to come. After arriving at the hotel in Hassab, the capital of Oman, he found that due to the war, only three guests were staying in hundreds of rooms, and the beach was "empty." He looked around for a boat to go out to sea, but was rejected time and time again by fishermen, tour guides, and hotel employees. Finally, he met a local named Hamid by a small canal. "Analyst No. 3" asked Hamid to take him overseas with a wad of cash.

Just when everything seemed to be turning around, at 9 o'clock that night, agents from the local Criminal Investigation Bureau knocked on his door, took him to the police station, searched him, put him in solitary confinement, and repeatedly tested whether he was a foreign spy.

In the end, "Analyst No. 3" was returned to the hotel, thinking that the investigation was going to ruin. Subsequently, he reported the mission failure to Citrini Research headquarters through encryption software, and the headquarters also advised him to give up.

But a few minutes later, a sense of mission came over him, and he sent Hamid a message: "What if we insist on going to sea?" The other party replied: "Whatever, we are not afraid of the police!"

Early the next morning, Hamid drove a 40-year-old dilapidated speedboat without GPS to carry Analyst 3 out of the port.

Hamid's boat deliberately passed another ship at high speed, evading Oman's coast guard, and then quietly sailed along the coast toward Iran. The sea surface was bumpy, and a patrol drone hovered above the two men's heads. They could even hear the hum of the drone's propeller. The speedboat speeds towards the fishing village of Kumzar. Kumzar Fishing Village is a fishing village in the northernmost part of Musandam Province in Oman. It faces Iran across the Strait of Hormuz. The straight-line distance is less than 50 kilometers. It is one of the inhabited settlements closest to Iran in Oman.

After arriving at the fishing village of Kumzar, "Analyst No. 3" sat on the ground and ate bread with the fishermen, and learned secrets that satellites could never capture: four to five oil tankers pass quietly every day with their identification systems turned off, and the actual shipping volume far exceeds the public data; Iran has built a "toll station" in the Strait of Hormuz. All approved ships must divert the waterway between Qeshm and Larak islands (both islands belong to Iran), submit ownership, cargo manifest and crew information, and pay a toll (cash or cryptocurrency) to pass.

Towards the end of the investigation, "Analyst No. 3" decided to risk being spotted by a drone and jump into the strait for a swim just 18 kilometers away from the Iranian coast. However, this risky move caused trouble: on the way back, the coast guard intercepted them, took him to the port prison specially designed for smugglers, and confiscated his mobile phone. He was later released and returned alone to the empty hotel bar where he drank 11 beers. He wrote in the report: "I can tell my grandchildren about this for a lifetime."

The conclusion of this trip subverted all predictions: Although the conflict is escalating, shipping volume in the Strait is picking up. On April 2, he personally counted 15 ships passing through, compared with two to five ships per day two weeks ago. Iran has not completely blocked the strait.

The description in the report by "Analyst No. 3" gives people a real sense of the situation – drones draw circles overhead, and oil tankers glide by like ghosts in the distance. The report also revealed that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz cannot be viewed in black-and-white binary terms. The world is much more complex than what any investment bank report describes.

He wrote at the end of the report: "This conflict is not a simple 'two-sided confrontation', but a multi-party game. Who will be the winner in the end will not be determined by military victory, but by the reorganization of the world's multi-polar pattern."

"Outliers" in the financial circle

After this 32,000-word report was released, it was quickly reprinted and interpreted by many financial media around the world. Subsequently, data from Bloomberg provided strong evidence: a total of 21 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz that weekend, setting the highest traffic volume since this round of war, indirectly verifying the report's judgment that "the traffic volume exceeded expectations."

As the report attracted attention, people's attention focused on the organization behind the report: Citrini Research and founder Van Gillen.

·James Van Gillen (Citrini Research official website)

The 33-year-old Van Gilen is an out-and-out "alien" in the financial circle – he is neither an elite on Wall Street nor does he come from a financial family. Before becoming an investor, he worked as an EMT in Los Angeles and has degrees in biology and psychology.

At the end of 2022, Van Gilen emerged on Wall Street. At that time, the market was still immersed in the carnival of technology stocks, but he publicly shorted Silicon Valley Bank, warning that this seemingly stable institution hid huge risks.

In March 2023, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed suddenly, and its bankruptcy case became the second largest bank bankruptcy case in U.S. history. Van Gilen's "prophecy" attracted the attention of Wall Street. Someone asked him why he challenged the judgment of the entire market. He said: "The standard of judgment depends entirely on whether your idea is excellent, not your origin."

In 2023, Van Gielen founded Citrini Research on the blogging platform Substack. Today, this small organization with only 10 employees has more than 170,000 paid subscribers on the platform, ranking first among financial institutions on the platform.

But this is just a prelude. What really turned him from a "niche star on Wall Street" to a global focus was a 7,000-word report released in February 2026 – "The Global Intelligence Crisis in 2028."

According to the deduction of the report, AI will replace white-collar jobs at an exponential rate in the future, a large number of highly skilled talents will be unemployed, consumption power will collapse, and the economy will fall into deflation.

The sentence in the report that makes Wall Street executives the most uneasy is: "Many of what people call 'business relationships' are just 'frictions' with a friendly mask." The report believes that when AI agents become everyone's all-round stewards, those business models built on information asymmetry and human inertia will be uprooted. For example, the processing fees of Visa and MasterCard will be unacceptable "friction costs" in the eyes of AI.

Soon, the report triggered a commotion on Wall Street. On Monday after the report was released, the Dow Jones index plummeted 800 points after the opening, and the S&P 500 index fell more than 1%.

·The big screen of the New York Stock Exchange showed that the Dow Jones Index (DJI) fell by 816.80 points. (New York Stock Exchange)

Afterwards, Van Gilen admitted in an interview that the scenario described in this report had only a 10% to 15% probability of happening in his opinion, and he was "very surprised" by the market's violent reaction. He explained that the purpose of releasing the report is not to create panic, but to try to start a discussion and prepare society for this potential scenario, thereby reducing the probability of it actually happening.

"Battlefield Analyst" in the Investment World

Van Gilen is a low-key person, and there are no photos anywhere on the Internet. In the few public statements he made, he left some impressive quotes.

In response to the market's excessive panic about the report, he said: "Had I known it would cause such a big stock market fluctuation, I would never have made it public for free." As for why he adopted such hard-core on-site investigation methods, his answer was simple and sharp: "Morgan Stanley would not send investment analysts to Fujairah."

The media's evaluation of Citrini Research shows clear polarization. Spain's "Economist" commented that it is "not an investment bank nor a traditional analysis institution, but an independent macro and thematic research institution that focuses on identifying major market trends such as artificial intelligence and energy and converting them into investment ideas." The U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel called it "the company that shocked the market earlier this year with a provocative bearish report on artificial intelligence."

China Securities Journal commented on the on-site research practice of "Analyst No. 3": There are war reporters in the news world, and there are "battlefield analysts" in the investment world. This report was also praised by some financial professionals as "one of the greatest research reports in history" because it "abandoned the practice of most researchers typing on the keyboard in the office, and actually conducted actual investigations like a war reporter."

However, some media also questioned Van Gilen's professionalism because he did not have a financial analyst qualification certificate.

In any case, market data has verified Van Gilen's vision. Since May 2023, his personal portfolio has returned more than 200%. This may indicate that Van Gielen, relying on his own judgment and courage, has already opened a crack in the market with high information barriers.

Producer: Zhang Pei

Editor: Yu Chijiang