The Chinese stocks closed lower on Monday as the latest Middle East developments added more uncertainty to the market, said China Global Television Network (CGTN) analyst Timothy Pope.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 2.06 percent to 3,913.79 points, with the Shenzhen Component Index closing 3.48 percent lower at 14,522.85 points.
The drop was influenced by the strikes traded between U.S. and Iran, which have fueled the doubts about the interim agreement they signed a few weeks ago, according to Pope.
"The Shanghai Composite Index was down more than 2 percent and the Shenzhen Component was off 3.5 percent. The market was already taking profits on tech stocks, and the latest Middle East developments have added to the uncertainty and made a return to a sustained rally look a little bit unlikely for the moment - the Shanghai Composite is already looking a little bit range-bound around 4000 points," the analyst said.
However, several important economic benchmarks will be released in a few days and are expected to further shape market outlook.
"For the week ahead, the markets are going to be waiting on a lot of big-ticket Chinese economic data. The second quarter GDP numbers will be out mid-week. Ahead of that, we should also see the trade data - which is expected to continue pretty strong - and fixed asset investment and retail sales data as well - which have been fairly soft recently and will be closely watched for whether or not things there are improving," Pope noted.
China stocks fall due to uncertainty in Middle East situation: analyst
China on Tuesday released the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for promoting the development of its electronic information manufacturing industry, laying out a comprehensive strategy to enhance global competitiveness of some key sectors.
The plan was jointly released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the National Development and Reform Commission.
The plan provides that by 2030, the operating revenue of the enterprises above a designated scale in China's electronic information manufacturing industry will have exceeded 30 trillion yuan (about 4.5 trillion U.S. dollars), with a number of advanced technologies and products emerging in fields such as integrated circuits, advanced computing and consumer electronics,
The industry will also have world-class enterprises that can compete on the global market by 2030 and its research and development investment intensity is expected to reach 3.5 percent by that time.
"By 2030, China's electronic information manufacturing industry will have played a pivotal role in the global industrial landscape, with a substantial increase in fields where it takes the lead or runs neck and neck with others. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), the industry will continue to promote innovative development in a number of key areas," said Li Hongwei, chief engineer with China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute.
The plan lays out 17 tasks around four areas -- consolidating the industry's foundational capacity, boosting the competitiveness of complete electronic equipment and systems, helping the industry foster new growth drivers, and enhancing the industry's capacity for sustainable development.
These tasks include accelerating the innovation and application of smart sensors, consolidating the development foundation of the photonics industry, accelerating the innovative development of consumer electronics, and strengthening the hardware foundation of artificial intelligence, among others.
Li said that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China's consumer electronics industry will experience deeper integration with AI, helping drive the development of some key technologies and products.
"As AI is more and more deeply integrated into the consumer electronics industry, new product categories such as AI phones, AI computers, AI glasses and AI toys keep emerging. This will accelerate the iterative upgrading of key technologies and products in the field of consumer electronics terminals, including edge-side large models, AI chips and high-bandwidth memory," he said.
China releases plan to enhance global competitiveness of electronic information manufacturing industry
