Category: 3. Business

The first battery energy storage facility in Rochester could be coming to Brighton.

Ithaca-based Grid Connected Infrastructure, or GCI Energy, is proposing a 100 megawatt facility off Brighton Henrietta Town Line Road. That’s roughly the energy required by 100,000 houses.

A public hearing on the project resumes Tuesday before the town board.

“This is a large one,” Brighton town Supervisor Bill Moehle said of the proposed facility. “And the location is particularly well suited … from an infrastructure perspective, because there are two significant transmission lines that go right through that area right at the end of Mortimer Avenue.”

The city of Syracuse has pushed its consideration of a 10-megawatt facility into next year, as neighbors and city officials have raised questions about potential fires. A battery facility in Warwick, Orange County, caught fire last week. Warwick instituted a moratorium on any new installations after the same facility caught fire in 2023. Such projects are raising concerns in dozens communities statewide leading some to table or halt development, also citing environmental concerns.

The 18-acre site in west Brighton is near Lynch Woods Nature Park and the Lehigh Valley Trail. The battery cells would be sealed inside 66 tractor-trailer-sized, fan-cooled containers and surrounded by a security fence topped with barbed wire.

In its proposal, GCI officials wrote that the facility would look like a small extension of the nearby substation. It would connect to the power grid, and batteries would charge overnight when people use less electricity, then GCI would sell the stored power back to the grid during the day.

GCI would need about five acres. The company — which also lists offices in Rochester and North Carolina — is offering to let the town use the remaining, mostly wooded acreage, and to make in-lieu-of-tax payments, and a one-time $250,000 cash payment.

“Nothing is final yet,” Moehle said, “but we’ve told them it needs to be more than that, $250,000. And it will be. And we’ve told them that we want the fee title to the rest of the land. And that’s the beauty of incentive zoning. It allows you to really customize a project to meet specific needs in various ways.”

If the project is approved, the town would use that money for park and trail projects in the West Brighton area.

These battery storage facilities are becoming more common across the country, often tied to solar or wind farms but also some are stand alone, like what is being proposed in Brighton. New York state has set a goal of 6 gigawatts of installed energy storage by 2030, aiming to boost grid reliability and renewable integration.

Concerns have been raised about noise from cooling fans. Elsewhere, the issue has been about risk of fires. A series of battery facility fires elsewhere in the state – some of which burned for days – has prompted a number of state fire code changes that take effect in 2026.

Moehle said GCI also would provide training for firefighters and ambulance workers. The research thus far, though, indicates it is best to let a battery fire burn, and does not point to any clear risk to either health or ground water, officials said.

“These fires are extremely rare, but they do happen,” said Martin Plass, director of energy storage testing at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Most often, though, it is not the batteries — which GCI says it can monitor and control remotely — but other external factors, Plass said, like a water leak or a fan overheating and triggering the sprinkler system that leads to short circuiting and arcing.

“The current technology is really lithium ion,” Plass said, with nearly all of the battery cells coming from China. “The U.S. is trying to build up some manufacturing infrastructure for that. But essentially that’s where these cells are coming from. And they build so many, there’s a lot of experience by now with these cells to make them fairly safe.”

If such a facility were to be built at the end of his street, Plass said he would ask two things:

“I would want to know, how loud is it? I would want to know, has that supplier done a large-scale fire test on these containers? And I would want to see that report on that, essentially, to make sure that if a container burns, it doesn’t spread.

“Otherwise I would not be concerned, really.”

Model ID: c1c74c87-edf0-4a7a-baea-793c22f4d07f
Sitecore Context Id: c1c74c87-edf0-4a7a-baea-793c22f4d07f;

Now that you’ve shaken off the dust from 2025, it’s time to look forward to the good tidings Singapore will bring for workers in 2026!

 

From the young to the old, almost every worker stands to benefit from employment support, which NTUC has been advocating over the years: paid traineeships for young entrants, new training allowances for mid-career workers, expanded parental leave and lower childcare fees for working parents, as well as a higher retirement age and increased CPF contributions for older workers.

 

Most of you can also benefit from the CDC vouchers. And let’s not forget the lower-wage retail, administrative, and driver employees who are set to earn higher wages with the Progressive Wage Model.

 

Below, you’ll find the major new work initiatives, NTUC-championed workforce policies, and Government employment schemes coming in 2026, all designed to help boost your career.

 

Support for mid-career workers: Training allowance for part-time courses

 

By now, you should be familiar with the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, an initiative that offers a full-time training allowance of up to $3,000 per month for 24 months.

 

What’s new in 2026? There’ll be a $300 monthly allowance for part-time courses. This way, you have the choice to learn new skills while you work.

 

Singapore jobs outlook 2026

 

Training and upskilling support schemes like the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme in 2026 are crucial if you’re searching for a new job because skills will matter in the coming year.

 

Just take it from the knowledgeable folks at Robert Walters. The leading recruitment agency says that employers are shifting to skills-based hiring and internal mobility. Workers with AI, data, cloud, and cybersecurity skills will have the strongest opportunities, while soft skills such as critical thinking, adaptability, communication, and collaboration will be essential.

 

Support for young workers: Paid traineeship programme

 

Good news for fresh graduates struggling to find a job. The new GRaduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) programme provides structured, paid traineeships of between three and six months across public and private sectors.

 

Nudge your young associates to apply for the up to 800 paid opportunities to gain industry experience and practical, employable skills ahead of full-time work. Trainees will receive monthly allowances of $1,800 to $2,400; a fair sum compared to other internships.

 

Support for older workers: CPF and retirement

 

More CPF for workers aged 55-65

 

From 1 January 2026, CPF contribution rates will rise by 1.5 percentage points to grow your retirement savings. This increase will reach 18 per cent for those aged 55-60, and 12.5 per cent for those aged 60-65.

 

Higher retirement, re-employment ages

 

Your wish to work longer has been granted. From 1 July 2026, you can retire at 64, one year later than the current age of 63. Furthermore, you can be re-employed until 69, which is a one-year extension of the existing 68.

 

Support for working parents: Parental leave and childcare fees

 

Big jump in parental leave

 

If you are considering having another child, this is an ideal time to do so.

 

Parental leave benefits in Singapore in 2026 are at an all-time high—shared parental leave jumps to 10 weeks from April 2026, up from the current six weeks. Keep the leave for yourself or share it with your spouse. Either way, both of you will enjoy more precious moments with the baby.

 

In case you’re wondering about the mummy-and-daddy leave you’re entitled to with this change, let us break it down for you.

 

MOTHER	FATHER
Maternity leave: 16 weeks	Paternity Leave: 4 weeks
Shared Parental Leave: 10 weeks	Shared Parental Leave: 10 weeks
MAXIMUM LEAVE: 26 WEEKS	MAXIMUM LEAVE: 14 WEEKS

Lower childcare fees

 

With childcare fees taking up a huge chunk of your household budget, you’ll be happy to know that preschool fees will be further reduced in 2026.

 

From 1 January 2026, the amount you’ll have to pay at anchor and partner operator preschools drops to $610 and $650, respectively.

 

If you’re looking for an anchor operator preschool, My First Skool is a good choice. The NTUC-run preschool chain promotes holistic learning, focusing on language and literacy, numeracy, world discovery, motor skills, social and emotional development, and creative expression. With over 160 centres islandwide, you’re likely to find one in your neighbourhood or near your workplace.

 

Support for low-income workers: Progressive wages

 

Who doesn’t love a pay rise? Retail workers, administrative staff, and drivers will see higher wages in 2026 with the Progressive Wage Model.

 

From July 2026, administrative staff will receive pay rises: $2,360 for administrators and $2,940 for admin executives. Drivers can earn up to $2,790.

 

From September 2026, retail assistants and cashiers earn $2,565, senior retail assistants $2,820, and assistant retail supervisors $3,100.

 

Support for all workers: Cost-of-living relief

 

The CDC vouchers will be back in January 2026! If you have a choice, consider using the $300 for work-related items, such as laptops or office stationery, at retailers like FairPrice Xtra. We hope even more merchants can come on board, so you’ll have more choices to start the year right.

 

An ongoing effort to uplift Singapore workers

 

Take note of these support measures for the upcoming year, and stay tuned for more worker-specific support programmes and initiatives that NTUC will advocate in 2026!

 

Not an NTUC member yet? Sign up for the NTUC membership and receive training and more workplace benefits today!

The electric vehicle industry has taken a pummeling this year. The Trump administration, as expected, reversed a whole suite of federal policies that promoted or encouraged EVs.

California’s ability to require the sale of EVs: gone. Federal rules about emissions and fuel economy — being rewritten. Federal penalties for car companies that sell too many gas guzzlers: zeroed out. The $7,500 federal tax credit? Kaput.

Meanwhile, automakers delayed or canceled a host of unprofitable EV plans.

The all-electric Ram 1500 REV was canceled before a single one was built. The all-electric Ford Lightning was discontinued despite some glowing reviews. (Both pickups will be replaced with extended-range electric vehicles, which come with both a big battery and a backup gas tank.)

The buzzy Volkswagen Buzz is still available in other countries, but no longer in the U.S. The GM Brightdrop van is no more. The list goes on.

As for sales? “It’s a roller-coaster ride,” says Stephanie Valdez Streaty, who monitors EVs for the data and services company Cox Automotive.

Sales spiked in August and September, during the last weeks that the federal tax credit was available, as buyers rushed to take advantage of the expiring opportunity. Cox estimated EVs hit an all-time high of 11.6% of the new vehicle market in September. Then sales crashed by 50% in October.

But here’s a twist.

“Among U.S. shoppers who are in [the] market for new vehicles, the interest in electric vehicles actually ticked up a bit after the tax credit went away,” says Brent Gruber, who runs the EV practice at consumer insights company J.D. Power.

It’s the EV story you might not have heard this year: Despite the political and product planning whiplash, consumer appetite for EVs has been on a very smooth ride.

Overall, about 25% of new car shoppers are very interested in buying an EV, according to J.D. Power surveys. And with minor fluctuations, “it’s held pretty consistent,” Gruber says, despite what he calls the “turbulence” of this year.

“There’s still a tremendous amount of interest,” he says. “And from an EV owner perspective, we continue to see high levels of satisfaction once people do get into those products.” In fact, EV owners are 94% likely to repurchase another EV for their next vehicle, he says.

BJ Birtwell runs the Electrify Expo, a traveling festival dedicated to EVs. He says EVs have suffered from being politicized, with a lot of right-of-center Americans rejecting them out of hand.

“There’s still a cloud of skepticism around EVs across some parts of the country,” he says. But put a skeptic behind the wheel of a new EV, he says, “and I’ll tell you what I see: Smiles for miles.” Test drives reveal the cars are fun to drive, he says, and a little research can show that charging at home is easier and cheaper than they thought.

An American slowdown 

Still, while Americans remain interested in EVs, it’s undeniable that battery-powered vehicles are taking off more slowly than industry execs expected a few years ago. That’s not just because of the policy reversal; it’s also because of market realities. For example, while charging might be easy at home, it’s a hassle for apartment dwellers who don’t have that option. Meanwhile, vehicle prices — a challenge for the entire auto market — are even higher for EVs. Lower fuel and maintenance costs can’t always overcome that up-front sticker shock, even for people who are hypothetically interested in buying.

This slowdown will have global consequences for the environment and for human beings: It locks in higher carbon emissions and air pollution for years to come.

The legacy automakers, of course, have lost billions of dollars on the EV designs they’ve canceled or postponed. But the delay hurts more than just the big-name auto brands. A whole network of suppliers sell parts to the automakers, and they also bear the burden when plans change.

Ken O’Trakoun of RPM Partners works with auto suppliers in distress. “The whiplash,” he says, “between demand going up and demand receding, it has impacted a number of suppliers.” They made investments in factories to supply automakers for vehicles that either aren’t being made, or are being made at much lower volumes. “It’s pretty disruptive.”

The “ripple effect” from those suppliers “creates impacts on jobs,” Valdez-Streaty notes.

Automakers, too, have laid off or reassigned employees away from battery plants and EV production lines as part of their adjusted timelines.

A clear global trend 

But while automakers are slowing their EV plans down significantly, they’re not giving up on them, either.

Partly that’s because of the enduring consumer interest; as long as there’s a market, the automakers want to serve it. And partly that’s because the automakers are all global companies. They want to be able to sell to the rest of the world, too.

“On a global scale, internal combustion engine cars already peaked back, like, eight or nine years ago,” says Huiling Zhou, U.S. EV analyst for the research group BloombergNEF.

About one in four cars sold worldwide this year was electric, Zhou says — driven by China’s remarkably fast embrace of those vehicles. And China, increasingly, is exporting cars around the world.

That means that the global market for cars that run on gas or diesel is shrinking, while the market for battery-powered cars is expanding — and China is dominating it.

If automakers want to compete around the world, they simply can’t afford to get off the EV roller coaster.

Press Release:
10:44 CET • 29 Dec 2025

News release from Vestas Asia Pacific
Seoul, 29 December 2025

Vestas has received a 390 MW order for the Shinan-Ui offshore wind project in Jeollanam Province, South Korea. The project is developed by Shinan-Ui Offshore Wind, a consortium consisting of Hanwha Ocean, SK Eternix, KOMIPO (Korea Midland Power Co., Ltd.), Future Energy Fund, and Hyundai Engineering & Construction. The project marks Vestas’ first offshore wind order in South Korea, underscoring our commitment to advancing renewable energy globally and supporting South Korea’s clean energy transition.

The order includes 26 V236-15.0 MW offshore wind turbines as well as a 20-year service agreement to support reliable and optimised asset performance.

Purvin Patel, President of Vestas Asia Pacific, commented, “We are proud to partner with Hanwha Ocean on this milestone project in South Korea and introduce our industry-leading V236-15.0 MW offshore wind turbines to South Korean waters. These turbines, featuring world-class technology, are already being deployed in their inaugural European projects, with production ramping up to enable large-scale global deployment. Vestas brings decades of offshore experience and together with our customers, we are committed to driving the large-scale deployment of offshore wind in South Korea and delivering clean, secure and homegrown energy for the country.”

Jong Hyun Son, Head of Eco Energy & Industrial EPC Division, Hanwha Ocean, commented, “Hanwha Ocean will take a leading role in the Korean offshore wind industry through the successful execution of the Shinan-Ui Offshore Wind Project. The Shinan-Ui Project represents Korea’s first utility-scale offshore wind development to fully incorporate global standards, including the latest-generation offshore wind turbines, wind turbine installation vessels, offshore transformer stations, and onshore grid connection systems. We are pleased to partner with Vestas for the supply of cutting-edge wind turbine technology and value the strong local supply chain supporting foundations, cables, electrical components, and transportation and installation works.”

Turbine deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2027, with commercial operations of the wind farm expected to begin in 2028.

Vestas’ flagship offshore wind turbine, the V236-15.0 MW is built on proven, world-class technology and received its type certification in 2023, ensuring safety and quality. Since its launch, Vestas has secured more than 9 GW of firm orders globally, demonstrating its strong competitiveness in the offshore wind market.
 

For more information, please contact:
Megumi Sakuma
Marketing & Communications Manager
Mail: mgskm@vestas.com
Tel: +81 90 6723 5325

About Vestas
Vestas is the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service onshore and offshore wind turbines across the globe, and with more than 197 GW of wind turbines in 88 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled more than 159 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas’ more than 37,000 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.

For updated Vestas photographs and videos, please visit our media images page on: https://www.vestas.com/en/media/images.

We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at www.vestas.com and following us on our social media channels:

China’s manufacturing upgrade plan 2026 is gaining clarity as MIIT formalizes a scenario‑based blueprint for industrial digital transformation. The new guide details how digital tools and platforms should be applied across key production scenarios to enhance efficiency and data‑driven operations. This article examines the guide’s core features and its implications for businesses and investors operating in China’s industrial landscape.

---

China’s top industry regulator is moving to turn industrial digitalization from a policy aspiration into an operational roadmap. In September 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the Scenario-based and Graph-based Reference Guide for Promoting Digital Transformation in Key Industries (2025 Edition; hereinafter, the “guide”), a document that lays out how the Chinese government intends to upgrade the country’s manufacturing base over the coming year and beyond.

MIIT maps specific digital tools to concrete production scenarios in the document, indicating where and how technologies such as industrial internet platforms, intelligent manufacturing systems, and data-driven management tools should be deployed along the industrial value chain.

In this article, we examine the key features of MIIT’s new guide, assess how it could reshape manufacturing operations in the near term, and outline what it means for businesses and investors navigating China’s evolving industrial and regulatory landscape.

Policy context and background

MIIT’s new reference guide lands in a policy environment where the government has become explicit about what it wants China’s next growth phase to look like. Over the past two years, the leadership has increasingly framed industrial policy around the development of New Quality Productive Forces (NQPFs), a concept that, in official explanations, refers to advanced productive capacity driven by innovation and characterized by “high-tech, high efficiency, and high quality,” rather than by factor-heavy, investment-led expansion.

Analytical treatments of the concept generally highlight three core components:

• Technology and innovation as the primary driver;
• The development of future-oriented industrial capabilities; and
• The strengthening of industrial and supply chains, supported by enabling reforms and talent development.

Against that backdrop, industrial digital transformation is being positioned less as a standalone modernization initiative and more as an implementation pathway for NQPFs: particularly in the large, established manufacturing sectors that still account for a substantial share of output, exports, and employment.

Key drivers and objectives of China’s industrial digital transformation blueprint

Productivity enhancement

At the factory and enterprise level, digital transformation is expected to improve productivity by reducing downtime, improving yield rates, strengthening quality control, and optimizing energy and materials use through better data capture and process management.

These gains are incremental rather than spectacular, but they compound, especially when deployed across industrial clusters and supply chains. The significance of MIIT’s scenario-based and “graph-based” framing is that it implies a push for repeatable, scalable deployment models: not just what firms should do, but where digital tools should be applied across production, logistics, maintenance, and management processes.

This move is consistent with China’s broader goal of turning industrial upgrading into a standardized, measurable program rather than a patchwork of local pilots.

Industrial upgrading

Digitalization also supports industrial upgrading in the narrower sense used in Chinese policy: moving toward higher value-added production, higher-end product mixes, and more sophisticated manufacturing capabilities. NQPFs messaging repeatedly links “high quality” outcomes to advanced production factors and improved allocation of those factors (data and software being central to that shift).

For many industries covered by MIIT’s guide (such as robotics, new energy vehicles, medical equipment, lithium batteries, and smart devices), digital transformation is closely intertwined with R&D, product iteration, and compliance with emerging technical standards.

For legacy sectors like steel and petrochemicals, the policy logic is different but complementary: raising efficiency, cutting waste and emissions, and improving consistency and traceability, capabilities that increasingly shape market access and competitiveness.

Supply-side competitiveness amid weak domestic demand

The timing of MIIT’s push also reflects a macroeconomic constraint that China has openly acknowledged: a persistent imbalance between strong supply capacity and weak domestic demand. The 2025 Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) readout highlighted this “prominent contradiction,” underlining policymakers’ concern that insufficient demand and deflationary pressures could weigh on growth even as industrial output remains robust.

In that setting, productivity-led upgrading has a dual function. Domestically, it aims to support growth by improving efficiency and sustaining investment in industrial modernization. Externally, it strengthens export competitiveness by improving cost structure and product quality, an outcome that may be economically useful for China but politically sensitive abroad, given heightened scrutiny around industrial policy, overcapacity, and trade imbalances.

Hence, MIIT’s digital transformation blueprint should be read as part of the same policy mix signaled at the CEWC: stabilize weak demand without reverting to broad-based stimulus, while keeping the strategic focus on innovation and industrial upgrading. Recent reporting on the CEWC has emphasized that China’s leaders intend to maintain proactive fiscal support while continuing to push structural rebalancing, particularly by addressing the supply-demand mismatch and strengthening longer-term growth drivers.

Overview of the 2025 guide

The 2025 guide provides a structured framework for advancing industrial digitalization across China’s manufacturing sector. The guide is intended to support the implementation of the Manufacturing Digital Transformation Action Plan and to accelerate the comprehensive application of next-generation information technologies across industrial value chains.

Broad coverage, but not a one-size-fits-all framework

The guide covers 14 manufacturing industries, spanning both capital-intensive heavy industry and consumer-facing manufacturing. These include steel, petrochemicals, construction machinery, new energy vehicles, robotics, medical equipment, home appliances, beauty and personal care products, lithium batteries, printed circuit boards, smart mobile devices, and others.

Importantly, each industry is treated as a distinct system, with its own production logic, constraints, and digital maturity profile.

For each sector, MIIT provides a dedicated industry scenario map, which decomposes the full industrial value chain into specific, widely recognized business scenarios. In the steel sector, for example, the guide breaks production down across ironmaking, steelmaking, rolling, equipment management, energy management, environmental compliance, quality control, safety, and supply chain coordination—each further divided into dozens of sub-scenarios, such as “blast furnace intelligent control,” “AI-based scrap steel grading,” “predictive maintenance for key equipment,” and “carbon asset management.”

This level of detail makes clear that the guide is not merely descriptive. It is designed to allow enterprises, industrial parks, and local governments to identify precisely where digital intervention is expected, and to benchmark their current capabilities against an implicitly defined national standard.

Scenario-based logic: breaking transformation into operational problems

The guide’s core methodological innovation is its scenario-based approach, which treats digital transformation not as an enterprise-wide abstraction, but as a series of discrete, solvable operational problems. MIIT explicitly frames scenarios as the “basic business units” of manufacturing, arguing that while digital transformation is narrow in scope (“one meter wide”), it is extremely deep in technical complexity (“one hundred meters deep”).

In practice, this means each scenario is defined with:

• A current maturity rating
• A set of core pain points
• The expected transformation value (cost reduction, quality improvement, safety, energy efficiency, or new business models)

For example, in the petrochemical sector, the “crude oil refining plan optimization” scenario highlights challenges such as modeling complex crude blends, coordinating multiple production units, and responding to volatile downstream demand. The guide then links these pain points to specific digital solutions, including process simulation software, optimization algorithms, and integrated production–market data systems.

This framing shifts the conversation from whether firms should “go digital” to which problems they are expected to solve first, and what digital capabilities regulators believe are necessary to do so.

Graph-based architecture: standardizing the building blocks of digitalization

The second key innovation is the graph-based structure, which connects each scenario to a standardized set of digital elements. MIIT refers to this as the “one map, four lists” (一图四清单) framework, consisting of:

• Data elements: such as production parameters, equipment state data, quality inspection data, and energy consumption metrics).
• Knowledge models: including physical and chemical process models, optimization algorithms, rules-based control models, and AI models).
• Tool software: ranging from industrial internet platforms and simulation software to machine vision systems and cloud-based industrial applications).
• Talent and skill requirements: spanning automation engineering, data science, industrial software development, and domain-specific engineering expertise).

Crucially, these elements are decoupled from individual enterprises and presented as reusable, modular components. This design is intended to make digital solutions portable across firms and regions, lowering implementation costs and accelerating replication.

What this means for business and investment decisions: Insights from the steel and medical devices industries

Dimension	Steel	Medical Equipment
Policy objective	Move from incremental automation to system-level industrial intelligence	Use digitalization to build regulatory, compliance, and market access infrastructure
Core transformation focus	Closed-loop control of core production processes	Full lifecycle traceability and software governance
Priority scenarios highlighted by MIIT	Blast furnace intelligent control; steelmaking intelligent control; unmanned casting and pouring; AI-based scrap grading; predictive maintenance	UDI and lifecycle traceability; recall management; software version control; after-sales and predictive maintenance
Underlying problem MIIT is trying to solve	High costs, operational risk, and inefficiencies in capital-intensive production	Fragmented compliance systems, weak traceability, and poor post-market data integration
Role of data	Real-time production, equipment, quality, energy, and emissions data must be integrated across processes	Data must connect suppliers, manufacturers, hospitals, and regulators across the product lifecycle
Main bottleneck identified	Fragmented data architectures and weak cross-process integration (R&D–production–quality)	Lack of interoperability between devices and hospital IT systems; data silos limit model training
Technology implication	Demand for integrated industrial AI and control stacks, not standalone automation	Demand for compliance-grade digital platforms spanning hardware, software, and services
Environmental/regulatory dimension	Carbon treated as an operational and financial variable (carbon assets, footprints, early warning)	Regulation embedded into digital systems (traceability, recalls, cross-border compliance)
Explicit capability gaps acknowledged	Reliance on foreign industrial AI, image recognition, and limits in domestic robotics precision	Dependence on imported chips and high-end control/detection systems
Domestic substitution signal	Strong: industrial AI, machine vision, precision automation	Strong: control systems, embedded software, testing and validation
Key investable themes	Industrial middleware; OT–IT integration; carbon data platforms; domestic industrial AI	Lifecycle management platforms; medical device software governance; interoperability solutions
Business takeaway	Steel digitalization is about operational control and cost structure	Medical device digitalization is about compliance, scalability, and export readiness

Taken together, the steel and medical equipment maps show that MIIT’s digital transformation agenda is highly selective. Capital is being steered toward:

• Integrated, closed-loop industrial intelligence rather than isolated automation;
• Data integration and governance as foundational infrastructure;
• Digital systems that embed regulatory compliance directly into operations; and
• Domestic substitution at critical control, software, and algorithm layers.

For businesses and investors, the guide does not eliminate risk, but it significantly narrows the field of options. It clarifies where regulatory alignment, policy support, and sustained demand are most likely to converge as China pushes its manufacturing base toward productivity-led growth.

How China’s manufacturing model could change by 2026

China’s industrial strategy is unmistakably shifting away from the old paradigm of capacity-led expansion to a model increasingly defined by efficiency, data, and innovation. This transformation has its roots in national policy frameworks, such as Made in China 2025, and the latest push for digital transformation, and it is gaining traction in corporate practice as firms deploy advanced automation, analytics, and intelligent systems across their operations.

At its heart, this shift is about extracting more economic value from fewer resources. Digital technologies (particularly industrial internet platforms, AI, robotics, and advanced analytics) are helping manufacturers improve precision, reduce waste, and accelerate decision-making. For example, industry reports show that by 2025, more than 70 percent of large manufacturing firms in China will have substantially completed digital networking and built demonstrator “smart factories,” laying the groundwork for widespread adoption of data-driven operations.

Differentiated impact across industry segments

The transition is not uniform. Its pace and nature vary by industry:

• Capital-intensive heavy industry: In sectors like steel and petrochemicals, digital transformation is optimising asset utilization, cutting energy use, and strengthening environmental compliance. These gains matter most where margins are tight, and customers are sensitive to quality and traceability.
• Consumer-oriented manufacturing: For industries such as electronics, appliances, and personal goods, digital tools are enabling more responsive production systems that can handle shorter product cycles and more frequent design iterations. This supports China’s broader push up the value chain in consumer markets.
• Strategic emerging sectors: In areas like robotics, AI hardware, and advanced medical equipment, the integration of digital systems is not just about efficiency but about establishing new competitive advantages. These sectors are often more R&D-intensive and are expected to lead the next wave of export-oriented growth.

China’s pivot toward efficiency and data is already reshaping industrial investment patterns and competitive dynamics. While challenges remain (such as uneven digital capability across firms and the need for significant upskilling), this new model sets the stage for sustained productivity growth even as traditional drivers like low-cost labor and capacity expansion become less reliable.

For investors and businesses, understanding this transformation is critical: the winners in China’s manufacturing landscape over the next decade will be those that can align with, contribute to, and capitalize on the data-driven, innovation-led regime that Beijing is actively cultivating.

 

The walls and racks of the Accès-Loisirs Québec warehouse are overflowing with everything from hockey jerseys and skis to tennis rackets, sleeping bags, soccer cleats and even a few guitars. 

Residents head to the building, nestled between a bingo hall and a clothing store in a mall in Quebec City’s Charlesbourg neighbourhood, to find what they need to pick up a new hobby. 

“I have the most beautiful job in the world,” says Pauline Tanguay, general manager of the non-profit. 

Tanguay has been working with Accès-Loisirs since the organization first started in Quebec City 25 years ago. 

“We found a lot of people were getting help with food from organizations, with housing as well,” Tanguay said. “But people were staying isolated at home.” 

To fight that isolation, those behind Accès-Loisirs decided to try to make sports and culture more accessible. 

Every three months, Quebecers from low-income households can go to the centre with proof of income in hand to pick up a piece of equipment for free.

Musical instruments and board games are also available to the households, with items that are harder to find available on loan.

Low-income households can also access cultural events as tickets for local concerts, plays and comedy shows are often raffled off at the centre, Tanguay explains.

“We don’t sell anything here,” Tanguay said. “The people come with their children and there is one for example who plays guitar, the other wants to try soccer, the other hockey…. We hand a full set of equipment to each of them.”

Chloé Garneau-Dupuis has been going to the Accès-Loisirs warehouse for more than five years. The service recently helped her enjoy a weekend skating with her young daughters in Quebec City.

“They grow so fast so to keep up every season isn’t easy,” said Garneau-Dupuis. “When we can put our money elsewhere, it really helps us out as a young family.”

When Garneau-Dupuis’s daughters outgrow the equipment they’ve taken, she brings it back.

Retired doctor Yves Johnson volunteers at the warehouse to clean and restore the used equipment that’s donated by businesses and the public.

“Our goal with the equipment we receive is always to ask ourselves, ‘Would I be happy to get this?’” Johnson said. “My whole life I longed to heal peoples’ pain in the medical field. Now, I look to heal pain in a different way.”

With the price of housing and the cost of living on the rise, Tanguay says she sees more people than ever needing their services — and more and more people with jobs who have issues accessing sports and activities.

“We aren’t proud of the number of people that we receive, because that means somewhere leisure has become inaccessible to a lot of families,” Tanguay said. “We really hope at a certain point the cost of living will go down, because people are [drowning].”

On a more positive note, Tanguay says, the organization has also never seen so many people willing to donate their equipment to those in need.

She is still holding out hope that, someday, initiatives like Accès-Loisirs will no longer be needed.

“But I don’t think that’ll happen tomorrow,” Tanguay admits.

She estimates the non-profit hands out up to 120,000 pieces of equipment every year.

Since Accès-Loisirs first started, Tanguay says her group has also helped other regions adopt similar programs to ensure their residents have access to sports and cultural activities.

“We have to keep in mind that no one is safe from living a low-income situation,” said Tanguay.

The final week of December closes the year with a strong set of practice-shaping insights across GI oncology, spanning rectal, colorectal, pancreatic, esophageal, and biliary cancers. This week’s selection reflects how clinical decision-making continues to evolve at the intersection of intensified multimodality therapy, organ preservation strategies, liquid biopsy–guided precision oncology, and deeper biological understanding of treatment resistance and immune context.

From phase II data supporting non-operative management after total neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer, to refined patient selection for anti-EGFR rechallenge, ctDNA-driven trial interpretation, and real-world optimization of chemotherapy in older patients, these contributions highlight both the progress made in 2025 and the critical questions that remain unanswered. At the same time, advances in translational research—from organoid-based pancreatic cancer modeling to population-specific cancer genomics—underscore the growing importance of biology-driven frameworks to guide future trials and clinical practice.

Together, these ten posts capture a fitting end-of-year snapshot of GI oncology: rigorous, multidisciplinary, and increasingly personalized, with a clear focus on translating innovation into meaningful patient benefit.

Sebastian Adeberg, MD, PhD – Professor and Director, Clinic for Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, UKGM; Marburg Ion-Beam Therapy Centre (MIT), Germany

“Out now Total neoadjuvant therapy followed by non-operative management or surgery in stage II–III rectal cancer (NO-CUT): a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 trial (The Lancet Group).

• 179 pMMR/MSS stage II–III rectal cancer patients treated with TNT
• 26% achieved clinical complete response → non-operative management
• 30-month distant relapse-free survival: 95% with organ preservation
• Low severe toxicity; no treatment-related deaths
• Post-TNT ctDNA showed predictive & prognostic value”

Davide Ciardiello, MD – Medical Oncologist, Division of Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Tumors, IEO, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, Milan, Italy

“Finding new effective strategies in chemo-refractory colorectal cancer is one of the greatest unmet needs.

The CAVE-2 GOIM clinical trial, an Italian, academic, phase II study, evaluated rechallenge with cetuximab alone or in combination with the anti–PD-L1 antibody avelumab in patients with chemo-refractory colorectal cancer without clonal RAS/BRAF alterations on liquid biopsy, assessed using the FoundationOne Liquid CDx extended genomic profiling assay.

The study showed that the addition of avelumab to cetuximab was associated with a numerical, but not statistically significant, improvement in progression-free survival and overall survival compared with single-agent cetuximab. This benefit appeared more pronounced in patients without liver metastases. The most interesting finding was that, regardless of treatment strategy, patients with so-called ‘ultra–wild-type’ tumors—lacking primary or secondary resistance alterations beyond RAS/BRAF—derived greater benefit in terms of objective response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival.

These data support the implementation of liquid biopsy with multigene panels in clinical practice to optimally select patients who may benefit from anti-EGFR rechallenge strategies.”

Read full article here

Catherine Alix-Panabières, PhD – Full Professor of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier, France; Visiting Professor, University of Hamburg, Germany; Working Group Leader, European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS)

(Reposted from the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine – EAPM following Vision Europe 2030, Brussels)

“Voices from Vision Europe 2030: Catherine Alix-Panabières on Liquid Biopsy

At Vision Europe 2030, co-funded by the European Union and held in Brussels, Catherine Alix-Panabières shared powerful reflections on the past, present, and future of liquid biopsy in precision oncology.

Professor Panabières is a pioneer in the field, having co-coined the term liquid biopsy in 2010 alongside Professor Klaus Pantel, who also participated as a speaker at the conference. Drawing on more than 26 years of research, she highlights how collaboration, harmonisation, and shared European expertise are essential to accelerate clinical translation and move liquid biopsy into routine medical practice.

She also underlines the growing impact of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS), now uniting around 100 academic and private institutions across Europe, all working towards improved early cancer detection and more personalised treatments. As Working Group Leader for Dissemination and Education, she stresses the importance of equipping researchers and clinicians with best practices for clinical trials and real-world application.

Her message is clear and optimistic: strong European research networks are key to turning scientific innovation into tangible benefits for patients, shaping a more precise, collaborative, and patient-centred future in cancer care.”

Brice Chanez, MD, PhD – Medical Oncologist, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseille, France

“Very proud to share our latest publication on toxicities associated to FFX in elderly with locally advanced and metastatic PDAC from the Institut Paoli Calmette DataBase:
Keys are

• Early evaluation and geriatric assessement
• Monitoring closely early side effects
• Malnutrition and sarcopenia are very common and a huge challenge
• Toxicities are manageables and survival similar to younger when toxicities are controlled !

Bravo Bérénice
Thanks to Girci To have funded that project”

Read full article here

Nelson Dusetti, PhD – Research Director, INSERM; Pancreatic Cancer & Translational Oncology; Co-founder, Predicting Med

“We are happy to announce that our project ‘PhenoPDAC’ has been selected for the 2025 Proof-of-Concept grant from FRAP Network – Pancreatic Cancer.

The project is led at the CRCM – Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille in close interaction with the Institut Paoli-Calmettes, and aims to establish a proof-of-concept pipeline combining patient-derived organoid-CAF co-cultures, high-content live imaging and transcriptomic analyses, to better capture mechanisms of drug response and resistance in pancreatic cancer.

This work is carried out in close collaboration with Rémy Nicolle and his team at the CRI – Centre de Recherche sur l’Inflammation – INSERM U1149, who bring strong expertise in integrative bioinformatics, image-omics and predictive modeling, building on their previous contributions to the field.

We thank FRAP for their confidence and support, and for their structuring role in fostering high-quality collaborative research, enabling the development of shared tools and approaches for the pancreatic cancer research community”

Giovanni Marchegiani, MD, PhD – Academic Pancreas Surgeon, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and Liver Transplant Surgery, University Hospital of Padova, Italy

“How to determine resectability of locally advanced pancreas cancer?!

Suitable target is a disease-free arterial or venous segment above and below the tumor involvement

‘Reconstructability’ is based on expertise and tumor biology”

Read full article here

Daisuke Kotani, MD, PhD – Medical Oncologist

“Another highlight in 2025: DYNAMIC-III
No statistical significance in escalation for ctDNA+ or de-escalation for ctDNA-. Similarly, our ALTAIR failed to show DFS benefit for ctDNA+. Discussion must continue on utilizing ctDNA as a ‘strong prognostic & scientific tool’ optimally.”

Paolo Manca, MD – Medical Oncologist, Gastrointestinal Tumors

“Can we use an affordable method for ctDNA detection to monitor treatment in mCRC?

We’re excited to share our new manuscript in Clinical Cancer Research (AACR Journals), where we use METER – a low-pass whole genome bisulfite sequencing–based pipeline – to estimate dynamic ctDNA fraction in patients from the first-line VALENTINO trial.

This work was made possible by the work of Marta Paoli and Matteo Benelli, who developed METER, and – needless to say – to my mentor Filippo Pietrantonio, who envisioned this project and provided his constant guidance.”

Read full article here

Jennifer S. Buell – President and Chief Executive Officer, MiNK Therapeutics; Agenus; Tufts University School of Medicine

“A newly published analysis by ESMO – European Society for Medical Oncology by Bengala, Santini, Picone compares botensilimab + balstilimab with current standard-of-care therapies in refractory microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer.

Using reconstructed survival data from landmark SOC trials, the authors report a meaningful overall survival advantage and durability signal for BOT/BAL, despite heavy pretreatment, alongside a distinct toxicity profile compared with cytotoxic and TKI-based regimens. Importantly, outcomes appear strongly influenced by metastatic site, with markedly better survival in patients without active liver metastases—reinforcing emerging biology around immune exclusion and hepatic immune tolerance.

This work provides an independent, mechanism-consistent framework for patient selection, endpoint interpretation beyond early PFS, and future randomized validation. Notably, botensilimab + balstilimab has received compassionate access clearance in France, enabling near-term patient access while randomized studies continue.

Studies like this help move the field toward more biologically informed immunotherapy development in MSS colorectal cancer.”

Read full article here

Dimitrios Chatziisaak, MD – Doctor of Medicine (Dr. med.), MSc, MBA (candidate); Junior Member, Swiss College of Surgeons (SCS)

“Fresh out of the press!!

FLOT or CROSS? The debate continues.

Our new study is now published in the European Journal of Surgical Oncology (EJSO).

We compared the two main therapeutic strategies for esophageal cancer — #FLOT and #CROSS — in two pivotal studies — the #ESOPEC trial and real-world outcomes of the #CROSS regimen.

Key message:

FLOT demonstrates superior survival outcomes in controlled settings and should be considered in fit patients.
At the same time, CROSS remains an effective and well-tolerated real-world option.
Treatment choice matters — and should be driven by tumor location, patient fitness, and toxicity profiles.
Importantly, standardized pCR assessment is critical to meaningfully bridge clinical trials and real-world data.”

Read full article here

You can also read about 10 Must-Read Posts in GI Oncology from the Third week of December on OncoDaily.

British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) is included among the 15 Global Dividend Stocks to Diversify Your Portfolio.

On December 10, Morgan Stanley analyst Rashad Kawan raised the firm’s price target on British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) to 3,050 GBp from 3,000 GBp while keeping an Underweight rating on the shares.

Around the same time, Jefferies took a more constructive stance, naming British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) as its top pick in the global tobacco sector. The firm said its view is driven by growing confidence that the company’s shift toward a smoke-free, products-focused portfolio is sustainable and still not fully reflected in the share price.

Jefferies analyst Andrei Andon-Ionita pointed to several factors supporting the investment case. These include accelerating market share gains in the US modern oral segment and early signs of improvement in volumes and pricing in the US. Vuse business, and a solid outlook for combustibles heading into 2026. He also highlighted the company’s strong balance sheet, which is seen as providing room for continued and meaningful cash returns to shareholders.

Andon-Ionita and his team said they are more optimistic than the broader Wall Street consensus on the strength and durability of British American Tobacco’s growth in modern oral products. That view is most pronounced in the US, where Velo Plus has posted more than 300% growth in both volume and value and has emerged as a leading driver of category expansion. The analyst made the following remark:

“We see further upside from innovation and regulatory enforcement in US eVapor, and also highlight the resilience of the Combustibles business, which continues to deliver robust cash flow and margin expansion despite ongoing volume declines.”

British American Tobacco is a multinational group that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco, and a range of other nicotine products across global markets.

While we acknowledge the potential of BTI as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 13 Highest Paying Monthly Dividend Stocks to Buy and 15 Dividend Stocks With Low Payout Ratios and Strong Upside

Disclosure: None.

By J. Bradley Randleman, MD

Up to 5% of people worldwide have keratoconus. Treating them with corneal cross-linking as early as possible helps stop the progression of permanent vision loss. Unfortunately, there’s no clear protocol for early detection of the disease.

We can perform various assessments and gather imaging data — with a slit lamp, corneal topography and multimodal imaging — but sometimes all that information is more confusing than clarifying, especially in subclinical keratoconus.

It’s thought that an underlying mechanical defect precedes keratoconus development. Epithelial remodeling and anterior and posterior surface elevation have been proposed as early indicators. Corneal curvature and thickness also could be indicative.

So, even with all of those metrics in the age of artificial intelligence, why are we still having difficulty identifying patients with subclinical keratoconus? It’s because none of those metrics are effective for detecting the earliest stages of the disease.

Conventional diagnostic methods are ineffective in subclinical keratoconus

In a systematic review of subclinical and forme fruste keratoconus, most of the corneas appeared normal on slit lamp and had normal topography.

The KISA% index, an algorithm based on topography where 0-60 is considered normal and 100 or higher is considered keratoconus, also isn’t foolproof. In a study of Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute patients with progressive keratoconus, we found that 20% of the diseased eyes were misclassified by KISA%, scoring in the normal range. Other research also has shown that KISA% lacks sensitivity.

Corneal epithelial thickness has been thought to partially or totally mask irregular corneal curvature. If that’s the case, we should be able to see changes in early stages of keratoconus on epithelial maps. However, a 2025 Cole Eye Institute study found no demonstrable difference between the epithelial maps of normal eyes and those with subclinical or manifest keratoconus. There was no difference in any parameter, location or metric. What’s more, epithelial mapping has never once performed well in studies of eyes with early keratoconus that still have normal corneal topography.

A global consensus on keratoconus was published in 2015. It included a very straightforward but controversial statement that posterior elevation abnormalities must be present to diagnose subclinical keratoconus. So, in another 2025 Cole Eye Institute study, we evaluated that statement. We screened over 1,200 papers and found 29 that compared the ability of posterior corneal surface, anterior corneal surface or corneal thickness to identify subclinical keratoconus. We found that less than 14% of that published literature reported posterior elevation or posterior surface changes as the best indicator of the disease. Even when assessed by time period, there was never a range of years in which studies reported posterior surface as better than anterior surface or corneal thickness at differentiating keratoconic eyes.

Assessing corneal biomechanics

Theoretically, we should first see evidence of keratoconus in corneal biomechanics.

Brillouin microscopy imaging is a newer technique to assess corneal biomechanics. It involves shooting beams of light into specific points of the cornea. Shifts in light frequency, measured by spectrometer, indicate the stiffness and strength of corneal tissue at those points.

In an early ex vivo study using Brillouin imaging, researchers learned that keratoconic tissue was significantly softer and weaker in the cone, although tissue outside the cone was the same as in healthy corneas. It was the first proof of focal weakening in keratoconus.

Now at the Cole Eye Institute, we have developed motion-tracking Brillouin microscopy. It’s different from commercially available Brillouin imaging in that it incorporates OCT and ocular tracking. A 2020 in vivo study found that corneas with keratoconus were weaker in the anterior stroma compared with healthy corneas. So, using that information, we now are using motion-tracking Brillouin microscopy to gather data from the anterior cornea and convert it into two-dimensional, color-coded maps.

Our first study of motion-tracking Brillouin microscopy, in 2023, found distinct differences among normal, keratoconic and laser-corrected corneas. While normal anterior corneas were uniformly stiff, there was some loss of stiffness in the laser-corrected corneas and a real focal weakening in the cones. There were no differences in the periphery, however.

Our 2024 study found that motion-tracking Brillouin microscopy could completely differentiate corneas with subclinical keratoconus from healthy corneas. Brillouin imaging outperformed all Scheimpflug tomography metrics. The differences in the focal profiles of these eyes were immediately evident in the Brillouin shift maps.

Localizing further

In 2025, we used motion-tracking Brillouin microscopy to study anterior, middle and posterior depths of corneas with early, subclinical or no keratoconus. Differences in corneal strength were most pronounced in the anterior stroma in eyes with keratoconus and least pronounced in the posterior stroma.

As we’ve studied this data, we’ve noted that the weakest point of the cornea seems to closely correspond with the thinnest point. Even in a normal cornea, that’s where the softest point is. In another 2025 study, when we plotted softest and thinnest points of corneas, we could clearly identify eyes with subclinical and early keratoconus by looking at their mechanical profile within this narrow region of the cornea.

All of this tells us where to look for keratoconus development. We now know where those earliest mechanical changes will be evident. They will be localized to the anterior third of the anterior stroma, specifically at the thinnest corneal point.

We will become even more precise over time, but already we can significantly reduce the area that we need to scan to detect subclinical keratoconus. The more we learn about the underlying mechanics of the disease, the earlier we will be able to treat patients.

Dr. Randleman is Co-Director of Refractive Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute. This article was based on his booth presentation at the 2025 American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.