China in March 2026: the most important developments in economy
China's economy in March 2026 was marked by a push into artificial intelligence by its largest technology companies. Chinese firms, including MiniMax, showed new products at the MWC 2026 event in Barcelona. Tencent reported a 16% rise in annual net profit and announced a major increase in AI spending. Alibaba reorganised its AI operations under its CEO, missed quarterly earnings expectations, set a target of $100 billion in cloud and AI sales within five years, and unveiled a 5-nanometer AI chip design on 24 March. On 20 March ByteDance agreed to sell its Moonton gaming studio to Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group for over $6 billion.
On 5 March China set its 2026 growth target at 4.5% to 5%, the lowest in decades, with a budget deficit target of around 4% of GDP. Factory activity returned to growth in March at its fastest pace in a year, and China overtook the European Union as the world's largest net exporter of cars. The US opened Section 301 trade investigations into several partners, including China, and China opened two investigations into US trade barriers on 27 March.
Nvidia stopped production of chips for China, then resumed making H200 chips on 17 March, and Beijing reportedly approved their sale the next day. On 20 March US authorities charged the co-founder of Super Micro Computer and two others with conspiring to smuggle billions of dollars of Nvidia chips to China; the company's shares fell about 30 percent. China said it was reviewing the $2 billion sale of Manus to Meta and barred its co-founders from leaving the country.
Foreign companies gave mixed signals. Volkswagen plans to cut 50,000 jobs, BMW's profit fell 11.5%, and Skoda will stop selling cars in China this year, while Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and BASF executives reaffirmed their commitment to the market. BYD said its profits were hit by the price war in China's electric vehicle market. Amid the conflict involving Iran, Cosco suspended Gulf bookings, resumed shipments on 25 March, and sent two ships through the Strait of Hormuz on 30 March on a second attempt.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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