CNBC Daily Open: China shuts down record 670 banks, new worries over oil and AI

BEIJING, CHINA - DECEMBER 22: A woman walks by the headquarters of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) on December 22, 2025 in Beijing, China. Zhang Xiangyi | China News Service | Getty ImagesHello, this is Justina Lee writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC's Daily Open.Beijing has moved to close a record 670 of its banks in a bid to shore up its financial system, amid ongoing concerns over an economic slowdown in the country.Oil traders are concerned about supply disruptions after Saudi Aramco's CEO said that it could take two years to rebuild global oil stockpiles as the Iran-U.S. war drags on. In tech, former Google DeepMind researcher Alex Turner's warning that "misaligned" artificial intelligence could prove more dangerous than China's aggressive development push also exacerbated growing fears over the development of AI.What you need to know todayChina's move to shut down a quarter of its banks is part of an effort to create fewer, larger and better-capitalized institutions, according to Fitch Ratings analysis. Small and rural commercial banks "remain the weakest part of the system" in China, Fitch said, which flagged their "poor asset quality, low cap...