China’s Government Work Report sets the 2026 economic growth target at 4.5%–5%. The report outlines key development objectives, including maintaining urban surveyed unemployment around 5.5%, creating over 12 million new urban jobs, keeping CPI growth near 2%, aligning resident income growth with economic expansion, ensuring basic balance in international payments, and targeting grain output of around 1.4 trillion jin. These targets reflect a policy focus on sustaining medium-to-high growth while fostering new quality productive forces and advancing economic restructuring.

Housing security measures will be strengthened, with efforts to revitalize existing commercial housing through multiple channels. The government will enhance housing support for newlywed and first-time parenting families and assist multi-child households in upgrading their housing. Policies will be tailored to local conditions to control new supply, reduce inventory, and optimize housing availability. Authorities will explore various approaches to repurpose existing commercial properties, encouraging acquisitions for affordable housing projects. Additionally, the "guaranteed housing delivery" white-list mechanism will be further utilized to mitigate debt default risks, and reforms to the housing provident fund system will improve the supply of social housing.

China's artificial intelligence core industry scale exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025, with over 6,200 enterprises operating in the sector. The rapid expansion highlights strong growth in embodied intelligence and computing infrastructure, positioning AI as a core engine for upgrading China's real economy and powering the digital economy.

Hybrid wealth management products attracted over 10 billion yuan in early 2026. Wind data shows that more than 60 new flexible allocation hybrid products were launched between January and March 5, raising nearly 15 billion yuan, significantly higher than the same period in 2025. Against a backdrop of declining interest rates and falling returns on pure fixed-income products, wealth managers are adopting "low-volatility + steady enhancement" strategies and differentiated equity-linked structures to boost client interest. Meanwhile, yields on cash management products have declined collectively, with the average seven-day annualized return on RMB cash products dropping to 1.299% as of February 27.

Public fund firms conducted over 900 million yuan in self-purchases of their own products in early 2026. By March 5, 42 fund companies had made 77 self-investments totaling 910 million yuan. Equity-focused products accounted for more than 80% of these purchases: stock funds attracted 313 million yuan (34.40%), while equity-biased hybrid funds saw 371 million yuan (40.77%). These moves signal institutional confidence in market bottoms and guide investors toward long-term allocation value.

IDC forecasts the global intelligent robot hardware market will approach $30 billion by 2026. China is expected to lead the embodied intelligent robot segment, with its market size surpassing $11 billion and accounting for over one-third of global share. This trend indicates that "physical AI" is emerging as a major global investment theme following generative AI.

Iran has dismissed rumors about blocking the Strait of Hormuz and refused to negotiate with the U.S. Amid escalating Middle East tensions, Iran's foreign minister stated the country is prepared for potential U.S. ground force attacks. Geopolitical risks have kept risk aversion elevated in international energy markets.

Major global stock markets declined over the past week. In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.93%, the Shenzhen Component dropped 2.22%, the CSI 300 lost 1.07%, and the CSI 500 declined 3.44%. The Hang Seng Index fell 3.28%. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 fell 3.01%, 1.24%, and 2.02%, respectively. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 dropped 5.49%, the KOSPI plunged 10.56%, the FTSE Straits Times Index declined 2.94%, and the S&P BSE SENSEX fell 2.91%. In Europe, the FTSE 100, CAC 40, and DAX decreased 5.74%, 6.84%, and 6.70%, respectively.

Government bond yields showed mixed movements. The 1-year Chinese government bond yield fell 3.10 bps to 1.29%, the 5-year yield decreased 0.84 bps to 1.53%, while the 10-year yield rose 0.57 bps to 1.78%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield increased 18 bps to 4.15%.

Fund indices experienced broad declines. The Wind All-Fund Index fell 1.35%, the Wind Equity Fund Index dropped 2.35%, and the Wind Hybrid Fund Index declined 2.19%. Specific categories saw sharper drops: ordinary equity funds fell 2.66%, equity-biased hybrid funds lost 2.70%, and flexible allocation funds decreased 2.05%.

Commodity markets saw gold retreat 1.27% and silver plunge 9.21%, while ICE Brent crude surged 28.06%. The U.S. dollar index rose 1.34%, while the yuan remained stable against the dollar, with USD/CNY and USD/CNH rising 0.62% and 0.53%, respectively.

"Fixed-income plus" and pure fixed-income funds dominated the bank wealth management substitution market, accounting for nearly 70% of product counts and over 90% of scale. Among these, 396 fixed-income plus funds and 113 pure fixed-income funds raised a combined 97.911 billion yuan. Cash management funds, though fewer in number, demonstrated strong scale efficiency, highlighting their role as liquidity management tools.

Bank wealth management subsidiaries led financing activities, with 561 institutions participating, accounting for 77.49% of all entities and 95.939 billion yuan in raised capital. These subsidiaries showed notable performance advantages in fixed-income plus products, with some ranking at the top of the industry. Regional rural commercial banks displayed flexibility in achieving yield breakthroughs in specific product categories. Overall, institutions with strong investment research and product design capabilities are consolidating their market positions as net-value transformation deepens and investor risk preferences stabilize.

Huatai Securities notes that falling cash management yields near 1.3% may drive capital toward "fixed-income plus" and hybrid products. Wealth management subsidiaries are using tiered operations and differentiated fee incentives to attract long-term funds from savings to investments, providing stable incremental capital to equity markets.

UBS Securities remains optimistic about the AI robotics sector, expecting accelerated localization across the supply chain—particularly in hardware components like precision reducers and dexterous hands—as China's AI core industry surpasses 1.2 trillion yuan. Chinese firms with full-industry-chain advantages are poised to capture significant market share in the projected $30 billion global hardware market.

Goldman Sachs views the 910 million yuan in fund self-purchases as a clear confidence signal. After recent adjustments, equity asset valuations appear attractive, and the firm expects growth-style stocks centered on technological innovation to lead gains in March and the second quarter, supported by expectations around the 15th Five-Year Plan.

Citi economists highlight concerns over crude oil prices amid Middle East tensions. The stalemate between Iran and the U.S., along with shipping security risks in the Strait of Hormuz, could sustain a crude price premium of $5–10 per barrel. Despite Iran's denial of blockade plans, geopolitical uncertainty remains a tail risk requiring hedging in global asset allocation for the first half of 2026.