State media maintained coordinated Spring Festival coverage through Xi's inspection tours and traditional celebrations, with humanoid robots at the CCTV gala marking a technological element in the festivities. The DeepSeek narrative evolved from yesterday's market impact to deeper examination of its founder's background and regional implications, with BBC Chinese profiling Liang Wenfeng's transition from finance to AI.
Military themes surfaced through PLA's power infrastructure development near the India border and Eastern Theater Command's festival messaging. Economic concerns emerged in reports of "consumption downgrade" among urban youth during festival preparations.
By afternoon, coverage shifted to international technology competition, with EU's plans to favor European companies in tech contracts and analysis of US-China AI development differences. The day concluded with attempts to downplay reports about China's withdrawal from the Cambodian canal project.