Morning Brief

In his New Year Eve speech to the top political consultative body, President Xi Jinping reiterated that China’s economy is expected to grow at 5% in 2025. Experts widely anticipate a similar growth target in 2026. Chen Zheng, Vice President and China Policy Analyst at CITIC Securities gives us his perspective on whether this is achievable and what the engines of growth will be.

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Perak is Malaysia’s sixth largest state economy, contributing just over five percent of national GDP.  It is not a traditional growth engine, nor a default destination for capital.  Yet the composition of that economy is changing. Adam Mohamed Rahim, Equity Research Analyst, RHB Research Sdn Bhd tells us what is the investment strategy to adopt for the state and the top equity buy ideas.

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As part of our industry outlook series, today we explore the trends that defined the property sector last year. Amy Wong Siew Fong, Executive Director of Research & Consultancy at Knight Frank Malaysia walks us through the sector’s 2025 performance as well as the key things to look out for in 2026

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PAS looks set to take the lead in Perikatan Nasional following the resignation of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and several other senior leaders. But who will step up to guide the coalition, and can they keep the party united ahead of GE-16? For analysis, we speak with Dr. Lau Zhe Wei, Assistant Professor with the Department of Political Science, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)

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The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is back in discussion to replace the Sales and Service Tax (SST) tax regime. Could this signal that GST will be reintroduced eventually? We speak to Dr. Veerinderjeet Singh, Senior Advisor on Tax Policy, KPMG in Malaysia to discuss the potential return of GST.

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Three Fed rate cuts and geopolitical tensions have meant volatile Fixed Income markets in the US. We ask Ang Beng Kuan, Head of Investment Strategy, Opus Islamic Asset Management for his 2026 outlook and if Malaysia will continue to see strong demand for MGS and GII after a record RM22.6bn inflow.

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2025 was a challenging year for Malaysia's SMEs, as businesses grappled with higher operating costs, global trade uncertainty, and expanded compliance requirements. Chin Chee Seong, National President of the SME Association of Malaysia, reflects on the year that was and looks ahead to 2026 which brings with it the expansion of the SST framework, new digitalisation incentives and others.

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Global e-commerce is entering a more demanding phase with platforms having to deal with higher costs, tighter margins, tougher competition, and growing pressure to show not just scale, but sustainability. Poonam Goyal, Senior Equity Research Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence  tells us how companies intend to navigate this landscape and the companies better able to deal with the challenges ahead.

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Starting January 2026, Malaysia will implement a Self-Assessment Stamp Duty System, moving the process fully online via MyTax, intended to simplify payments, improve transparency and broaden compliance. Kellie Allison Yap, Partner in the Tax & Customs Practice Group at Zaid Ibrahim & Co discusses what this all means to taxpayers.

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Malaysia’s tourism sector is rebounding strongly despite competition across ASEAN intensifying. MATTA President Nigel Wong discusses the outlook for this industry, with the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 targeting 47 million international visitors, coming into focus, as well as what the industry must fix now to sustain growth beyond 2026.

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