CPCA data: China Oct fuel-vehicle retail sales fell 45% YoY; pure-fuel vehicles fell 51% YoY while conventional hybrids rose 28% YoY. Within fuel segment, domestic brands -46% YoY, mainstream joint ventures -46% YoY and luxury -37% YoY — all sharply hit by high oil prices. Oct NEV retail fell 13.7% YoY; domestic NEVs -15% YoY, mainstream joint ventures +69% YoY, luxury NEVs -45% YoY; domestic A00 EV retail dropped markedly after subsidy cuts. Domestic-brand Oct retail was 1.21 mln units (-22% Yo

Gulf M&A activity cooled sharply: Q3 deal value involving Gulf companies fell to about $5bn, the weakest quarterly total since 2022 and down from $69bn a year earlier. Since the start of Q4, regional deal value has declined by more than 90% YoY. Market participants point to disruptions from the Iran war and the prospect of tougher U.S. merger scrutiny under a shifting U.S. political backdrop; 2025’s surge—highlighted by a roughly $55bn Electronic Arts transaction—made the current slowdown look like post-boom normalization rather than a market exit. Activity remains above the five‑year average and Wall Street banks are still expanding local teams. Lumina Capital Advisers partner James Jarvis said corporate boards paused deals early in the conflict to reassess business impacts, delaying M&A and divestitures.

The Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Safety Commission issued a 15th Five-Year Plan to ensure drug safety and promote high-quality pharmaceutical development, outlining multiple regulatory reforms. It will deepen clinical-trial review and approval reforms for innovative drugs and support R&D. The plan calls for reforming review and approval procedures for supplemental applications for domestic and overseas chemical drug production and offering front-end support for major change filings on local chemical drugs. Shanghai will seek pilot programs for dossier-based review of generics to accelerate first-to-market generics, streamline post-approval change processes, pilot continuous manufacturing technologies, and optimize temporary import procedures for clinically urgent medicines.