Beijing to further cultivate 5G, AI industries

Beijing will develop highend, precision and sophisticated industries with stronger efforts to achieve a modern economic system, Mayor Chen Jining said.

An action plan for the development of the 5G industry will be implemented, Chen said in his government work report delivered at the ongoing annual session of the municipal people's congress.

The city will also strive for steady progress in the building of the 5G telecommunications network, the mayor said, noting that 5G commercialization accelerated in 2019, which was evidenced by the "5G+8K" video broadcasting of the International Horticultural Exhibition and FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Last year, Beijing opened 503 km of roads for intelligent connected vehicles. Demonstration roads for 5Gbased long-distance autonomous driving tests will be built this year.

The city will prioritize the integrated circuit industry and focus on advanced design and manufacturing of general and specialized chips.

The mayor also noted that Beijing will build an AI-based open-source innovation platform and introduce more application scenarios related to healthcare and government services using the technology.

Asian equities rallied and safe-haven assets such as gold and the yen retreated Thursday as investors breathed a sigh of relief that tensions between the US and Iran were easing.

Traders rushed back into regional markets, tracking a positive lead from Wall Street, after the two sides dialled down their rhetoric following days of heightened tensions caused by the US assassination of Iran's top general last week.

Iran on Wednesday launched missile attacks on US targets in Iraq but there were no casualties and the strikes appeared intended to make a statement rather than kill.

Tehran later said it had "concluded" the attacks for now, while Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the country does "not seek escalation or war".

Donald Trump announced that "Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world".

"With President Trump delivering a benign White House address, and in the absence of any further Iranian retaliation, this geopolitical fracas could fade away," said

AxiTrader's Stephen Innes.

Oil prices, which spiked briefly to four-month highs Wednesday soon after the Iranian attack, dropped back below their start point on the softer tone from both sides, while markets rallied.

The Nasdaq hit another record while the Dow and S&P 500 enjoyed big gains.

And the positive mood continued into Asia. Hong Kong jumped more than one percent, Shanghai and Sydney each piled on 0.9 percent, while Tokyo went into the break two percent stronger.

Seoul and Taipei also added more than one percent, Singapore and Manila both rose 0.3 percent and Jakarta was up 0.5 percent.

The rush to riskier investments saw safe-haven gold sink more than one percent, having broken $1,600 for the first time since 2013, while the yen lost around 1.4 percent against the dollar since its Wednesday highs.

Oil prices edged up Thursday on bargain-buying.

"Assuming Iran-US tensions continue to simmer rather than boil, markets are likely to refocus on the global growth outlook and on trade, with the interim US-China trade deal expected to be signed on 15 January," said National Australia Bank's Tapas Strickland.