The 2026 World Cup is set to kick off next month, and this quadrennial event will once again tug at the heartstrings of hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. Co-hosted for the first time by the US, Canada, and Mexico, the tournament will see the number of matches increase by over 62% from 64 in the previous edition to 104 this time, while its duration will be extended from 29 to 40 days.

In April 2026, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) granted the first batch of stablecoin issuer licences to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) and Anchorpoint Financial Limited (Anchorpoint). HSBC is one of Hong Kong’s largest banks and also holds the special status of a note-issuing bank.

The years-long US-China trade war has failed to shift the imbalanced macroeconomic structures of the two nations. Despite the continuous imposition of tariffs by the US since 2018, which escalated further in 2025, the US trade deficit in goods with China persists. The deficit stood at $295.5 billion in 2024 and approached $202.1 billion in 2025 (Source: US Census Bureau).

Data from Hong Kong’s Land Registry shows an approximately 18% year-on-year surge in overall transaction volume of residential units in 2025, with the upward trend continuing into the first two months of 2026. The official price index has risen for eight consecutive months, recording a cumulative increase of more than 10%.

In 2025, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) giant Anthropic collaborated with AI safety evaluation company Andon Labs to conduct a groundbreaking experiment by letting Claude—its own large language model (LLM)—run a mini-store named Claudius to sell snacks and beverages to Anthropic employees.

In April 2026, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued stablecoin licenses to HSBC and AnchorX, signaling the imminent breakthrough of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) stablecoin issuance. This represents a significant milestone, marking the official launch of stablecoins as a critical on-chain financial infrastructure in Hong Kong.

In recent years, some academics have actively advocated a “pro-worker” approach to AI development. Their core argument is not a rejection of technology or AI per se, but rather a challenge to the bias against technological advancement over the past few decades—overconcentration of technological development in automation.

Under the ongoing geopolitical impact, the increasing importance placed by countries on security risks in recent years has caused the global economic and trade landscape to shift from integrated free trade toward fragmentation. Amid this monumental change, China’s economy has demonstrated strong resilience, expediting its upgrade from the world’s factory to a technology powerhouse.