2025 GDP growth on target; Births keep declining; China-Canada new strategic partnership; Davos; Premier Li meets MiniMax CEO
NATO has lost the meaning of its existence, and this transatlantic security alliance no longer serves the long-term interests of its member states 北约已失去其存在的意义，这个跨大西洋安全联盟不再符合其成员国的长远利益 - Ambassador Cui Tiankai last week.
Today’s top items:
1. 2025 GDP hits target - The official 2025 GDP growth rate was 5%, landing perfectly in the “around 5%” target zone set by the government last year. Q4 year over year GDP growth of 4.5% was the slowest quarterly growth since 2022, retail sales grew at the slowest pace in three years, and real estate development investment fell the most since they started keeping track in 2025. But there are still no signs the government is so concerned that they will release any meaningful “stimulus”. Perhaps in part because exports are still booming, and accounted for nearly 1/3 of the 2025 growth?
2. State Council Executive Meeting - Premier Li held the weekly executive meeting last Friday. According to the readout the “meeting heard a report on the progress of the …