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Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Perspective. I’m Stephanie Li.As Marvel superheroes stumble and Disney princesses falter, a rabbit cop and a fox con artist are rewriting the rules of Hollywood success in China in late 2025.The return of the favorite duo Nick and Judy knocked Avengers off its feat, as “Zootopia 2” roars back at the Chinese box office, breaking multiple records nine years after the original franchise charmed global audiences.The Disney sequel opened to impressive numbers. The animation premiered in China on November 26, day-and-date with North America, and immediately set a new box-office benchmark. According to movie data platform Beacon Pro, the film grossed CNY227 million (USD32 million) on its opening day, becoming the highest-earning imported animated film for a single day in China's box-office history. Industry projections for the film's final China run are now sky-high. Maoyan forecasts a final total of approximately CNY4.25 billion for "Zootopia 2." Should it reach that level, it could put the film on par with "Avengers: Endgame" and position it to challenge the title of highest-grossing imported film ever in China.  The Oscar-winning core team spent nine years crafting the new film, which involved a 700-member production crew, 80 new settings, 76 animal species, up to 140 variations, and crowd scenes featuring as many as 50,000 characters.The sequel picks up right where the original left off. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde reunite as a trusted duo, guiding audiences back into the vibrant metropolis of “Zootopia” for a fresh adventure. Fan-favorite characters such as Flash the Sloth, Mr. Big and his daughter Fru Fru, Gazelle, and Clawhauser return, while a new character – Gary De'Snake – adds an intriguing twist to the story.While its Douban rating is slightly lower than the original’s 9.3/10, the sequel still holds a strong 8.5, showing solid audience support. After watching the film, many viewers praised its fast pace, detailed animation, and the chemistry between Judy and Nick.The popularity of “Zootopia 2” in China extends beyond theaters. As Judy and Nick now become two of China’s most in-demand IP characters once again, over 60 brands, including Luckin Coffee, Miniso, Pop Mart, and SAIC Volkswagen, released “Zootopia 2-themed” merchandise. These collaborations sparked a wave of fan-driven spending both online and offline.Meanwhile, Shanghai Disneyland—the world’s first and only park with a full Zootopia-themed land—is enhancing the sequel’s momentum by updating more than 200 details inside its popular attraction “Zootopia: Hot Pursuit.”Now let’s dig deeper into why “Zootopia 2” achieves such extraordinary feats in the Chinese market.First, nostalgia laid the groundwork. The 2016 original “Zootopia" became a cultural icon in China with engaging plot, beloved characters, and cultural nuances. The sequel capitalizes on this emotional connection, reviving the whimsical Zootopia universe and familiar faces to evoke cherished childhood memories, turning long-time fans into eager patrons.Disney’s localized marketing is then a masterstroke. Coinciding with Shanghai Disney’s ninth anniversary and its milestone of 100 million cumulative visitors, the film creates synergy between theatrical and experiential entertainment. Not to mention the new character, Gary De’Snake, which coincides with the Chinese Year of the Snake.Voice casting reveals similar thinking. Disney brought back Ji Guanlin and Chang Chen as Judy and Nick, signaling that continuity and emotional connection matter more than technical perfection.The market environment further fueled its success. China’s demand for high-quality animation far outstrips supply. Domestic hits are scarce, and recent Hollywood animations underperformed. The “Super Mario Bros” movie grossed just CNY171 million in 2023, while “Inside Out 2” earned CNY344 million in 2024. “Zootopia 2,” with its proven IP and universal appeal, filled this gap, becoming the top choice for diverse audiences.Finally, state-of-the-art technology delivers a visual spectacle. Judy’s fur rendering is 40% more efficient, with realistic translucency in rain; Gary’s scales achieve “microscopic realism,” showing wetness and sand adhesion. Advanced techniques like global illumination and AI-powered virtual production create immersive scenes—color-shifting underwater coral reefs, physics-driven desert sand, and “flying cities” formed by migrating birds—enhancing the film’s allure.The triumph of “Zootopia 2” lies in its ability to resonate deeply. By blending nostalgia, meaningful content, local adaptation, market timing, and technical innovation, it proves animation’s power to entertain and unite. For Chinese audiences, it’s a return to a beloved world, and a testament to what happens when a global IP truly understands its audience.

"Host a great event, revitalize a city" is more than just a slogan. The 15th National Games has reframed it as "Host a great event, activate a circle" — the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) cultural, tourism and consumption circle.1.46 billion views of National Games-related videos, 61.9 million  content exposures of Cantonese cuisine, 10.48 million searches for travel guides... In the first week since the opening of the games, the "event economy" effect in the GBA has already been fully unleashed.The concentrated outbreak of online popularity is continuously transforming into tangible transaction volume. Data from Douyin shows that since November 1, Gross Merchandise Volume in Guangzhou and Shenzhen have both risen by over 130% year-on-year.Meituan Travel data also shows flight bookings to Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai rose 26% year-on-year, while Qunar reported venue-area hotel surges, such as a 125% jump for hotels near Shenzhen’s Longgang District, home to the Universiade Center.The games gives "sports+" real substance, integrating intangible cultural heritage, local cuisine, and "guochao" (China Chic) IPs, creating event-culture-commerce synergy. This fueled 2,800 licensed products selling out instantly, generating 680 million yuan.Star athletes further amplified regional demand: national swimming icons Sun Yang and Pan Zhanle’s showdown in Shenzhen lifted Longgang’s hotel popularity 24% month-on-month, while Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha’s table tennis matches in Macao drove a 52% year-on-year surge in the city’s hotel bookings.Leveraging on the games’ rising popularity, ticket stubs have also transformed into a city-wide benefits package, rather than one-time passes. Spectators can use stubs for free subway rides, free and discounted tickets at over 100 tourist attractions across the region, 60% off at Guangzhou Tower, among other catering and shopping discounts, extending the consumption journey of 5 million visitors across 24-hour city life.But what's truly impressive is GBA's cross-border connectivity that makes the one-hour economic circle possible. For the first time in National Games history, events are held in Hong Kong and Macao, and it’s also the first time three regions’ consumption policies are bundled. The seamless flow of people, vehicles, and payments makes cross-city event attendance as common as cross-district commuting. The data — over 18 million tourists in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in seven days, and hotel bookings surging by up to 125% — is the best proof of the GBA’s coordinated operation.The 15th National Games has proven more than a sports spectacle—it’s a catalyst for the GBA’s integrated development. What began with reimagined ticket stubs and "sports+" innovation has grown into a model of cross-border collaboration: seamless travel, bundled benefits, and surging consumption that bridges cities and cultures.As the GBA builds on this momentum, the Games’ legacy will lie in turning temporary excitement into lasting habits—making cross-city experiences, cultural exchanges, and shared economic opportunities a daily part of life for millions.From the simultaneous torch relay across four cities to the cross-border layout of events, from the extensive selection of torchbearers to the diverse formation of volunteer teams, "National Games for All" has become a tangible, perceptible, and accessible real-life experience for GBA residents.Cross-border integration and convergence have elevated the value of the National Games, transcending sports beyond itself. The 15th National Games is drawing to a successful close, but the GBA’s story is far from over. It is a new starting point for the GBA’s development narrative, and also a fresh chapter in China’s sports journey.

The 15th National Games, co-hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, has garnered widespread attention not only for its sports events but also for a surprising cultural phenomenon: the playful public debate surrounding its official mascots, “Xiyangyang” and “Lerongrong.”Designed as Chinese white dolphin, a Grade 1 National Key Protected Species, with their names symbolizing joy, harmony, and unity, the pair has sparked a viral online discourse where netizens affectionately dub them "Greater Bay Chickens"—a lighthearted misinterpretation rooted in their round silhouettes and pink-and-white color scheme, which evoke Cantonese culinary staples soft-boiled chicken and soy sauce chicken.In an interview with China Daily, Liu Pingyun, also the creative mind behind the Beijing Winter Olympics’ “Bing Dwen Dwen,” said the designing team was really worried about ending up with a mascot that people would link to food. So we went with Chinese white dolphins—thinking, surely dolphins wouldn’t get mistaken for something edible?”Guess what? They’ve simply underestimated the imagination and humor of Cantonese people. When statues of "Xiyangyang" and "Lerongrong" popped up on Guangzhou's streets to hype up the National Games, locals were quick to joke: "It has a chicken's tail, wings, beak, and comb, so why not a chicken?”This unexpected meme has transcended mere entertainment, becoming a window into how regional cultural elements can intersect with event economics to drive widespread engagement. What initially began as a casual online joke has evolved into a cultural touchpoint, bridging the gap between a national sports event and everyday public experience.Despite the fact that the "comb" actually features the three symbolic colors—red, purple and green, which represent Guangzhou’s kapok flower, Hong Kong’s bauhinia, and Macao’s lotus, let's be real—the internet only believes what it wants to believe. Well, who can blame them? After all, Cantonese are all about food!The design also incorporates scientific accuracy: the pink-hued “Lerongrong” mirrors the natural color change of Chinese white dolphins when active, while the white “Xiyangyang” represents the species’ resting state, adding a layer of educational value to the cultural symbol.Beneath the humorous public reaction lies a meticulously crafted design that embodies the unity and uniqueness of the Greater Bay Area. This deliberate choice reflects the games’ mission to celebrate regional integration while showcasing distinct local identities.The cultural histories of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao each possess unique characteristics. Hong Kong and Macao showcase a vibrant fusion of Eastern and Western cultures, according to the lead designer.Despite these distinctions, the three regions share common foundations such as language, the appreciation of Chinese culture and a unique maritime heritage from their locations along the Maritime Silk Road. While preserving their distinctiveness, the regions demonstrate a marvelous integration, embodying the cultural essence of the GBA, Liu Pingyun said.Originally from Jiangxi province, Liu relocated to Guangzhou in 2000 to study for his master's degree, and then to Macao in 2018 to pursue a doctorate. Subsequently working at the school of visual arts design at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, where he now serves as the dean, he has spearheaded numerous design projects, including the creation of the widely acclaimed Beijing Winter Olympics mascot “Bing Dwen Dwen.”Now as the popularity of the "Greater Bay Chickens" continues to rise, with related online topics racking up over 500 million views and search volume surging by 300%—poised to become the most explosive cultural and sports IP in the Greater Bay Area this year, they have also translated into substantial economic impact, particularly for GBA manufacturing and cultural industries.Official data revealed that the event has attracted 33 licensed manufacturers and 44 retailers from across the country. As of Wednesday, a total of over 2,800 licensed products spanning 20 categories, ranging from plush toys and blind boxes to cultural souvenirs, have been approved, setting a new record in terms of both quantity and variety compared to previous editions. The total market value of launched licensed products has exceeded 680 million yuan.Dongguan, known as China’s "toy capital," has emerged as a key production hub: factories in Liaobu and Chashan towns have developed over 1,500 types of authorized products, leveraging the city’s industrial expertise to meet soaring demand.This collaboration between event organizers and local manufacturers has not only boosted short-term sales but also strengthened the region’s reputation as a leader in cultural product development. It demonstrates how a single cultural symbol can activate a full industrial chain, from design to production and market distribution.Beyond commercial success, the mascots serve as a catalyst for promoting intangible cultural heritage and regional traditions. The games have integrated local cultural elements into event experiences, such as wooden clogs from Dongguan’s Shilong town—given as gifts to athletes to symbolize "ascension"—and handcrafted drums from Xinchang. Plans to incorporate regional delicacies like goose rice noodles further highlight the games’ role as a platform for showcasing Lingnan culture.By linking a national sports event to grassroots cultural practices, the mascots have fostered a deeper sense of cultural pride and accessibility. They allow audiences, both local and national, to connect with regional traditions through a familiar and beloved symbol.Unlike rigid promotional symbols, the adorable mascots evolved into a shared cultural reference, bridging the gap between formal sports events and everyday life.Either a happy coincident or a meticulous plan, the “dolphin-or-chicken” hype serves as another model of successful event economics that is not merely about infrastructure investment but about creating cultural touchpoints that resonate with diverse audiences—whether through humor, nostalgia, or emotional connection.As digital platforms continue to reshape audience engagement, the ability to blend cultural authenticity with online trends will be key to unlocking the full economic potential of future large-scale events.

Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Perspective. I’m Stephanie Li.For decades, public universities have dominated China's higher education system. But recently, a new crop of elite, heavily funded research universities in China is shaking up the country’s higher-education landscape, attracting top students with admissions standards that now rival or exceed those of many of the nation’s most prestigious legacy institutions.As results from the 2025 Gaokao, China’s national college-entrance examination, roll in, a cohort of recently established universities including Westlake University, Fuyao University of Science and Technology(FYUST), and Ningbo Eastern Institute of Technology(EIT) posted minimum cutoff scores that surpassed those of traditional top-tier schools.This new wave of research-focused private universities is challenging the status quo, bringing innovation that aligns with China’s key scientific research goals. Their unique approach to running schools not only attracts top talent but also redefines the potential of Chinese higher education.These schools are part of a new form of philanthropic endeavor among Chinese entrepreneurs that is focused on promoting China’s national strategy of “scientific self-reliance” through education. Now why have these institutions suddenly gained close attention from parents and high school graduates as strong rival of top public universities such as Tsinghua and Peking universities?At the core of their impact is a breakthrough in governance—one that addresses the bureaucratic inefficiencies long plaguing public institutions. Unlike traditional private colleges—long dismissed as "profit-focused alternatives"—these new schools use a board-of-trustees model pioneered by Westlake University.The board, made up of donors, academics, and public figures, serves as the top decision-making body: it oversees budgets and appoints leaders, giving the institutions greater autonomy to act quickly on societal and industrial needs.Public universities rarely get this kind of freedom to cut through red tape and focus on emerging scientific research fields. Their disciplinary focus also ties education closely to national scientific research strategies—a sharp contrast to traditional universities, which tend to cover too many areas.China has approved the establishment of several similar universities in key economic hubs in recent years, includingWestlake University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, which concentrates solely on science, engineering, and life sciences; Eastern Institute of Technology, founded in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, by semiconductor magnate Yu Renrong, which zeroes in AI, integrated circuits, intelligent manufacturing and mathematics, and Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology and Greater Bay University in Dongguan, that leverage their proximity to Huawei to strengthen programs in communications and robotics.Wang Shuguo, inaugural president of FYUST and a veteran of prestigous public institutions, notes that private schools "are as dynamic as private enterprises, with stricter accountability to student demands." This flexibility let FYUST launch majors in intelligent manufacturing and new materials—directly matching China’s advanced manufacturing objectives.FYUST, initiated by glass tycoon Cao Dewang and the Heren Charitable Foundation that donated 10 billion yuan ($1.38 billion) to launch the school, not only touts global faculty and cutting-edge laboratories, but also generous financial aid, charging just 5,460 yuan (US$762) in annual tuition fees, while EIT’s inaugural students will receive full scholarships valued at 96,000 yuan.At EIT’s recent open day, assistant professor Huang Yuanlong said that undergraduate students could join top Chinese research teams as soon as they enroll. “The batteries used in future electric vehicles may come from our solid-state battery lab,” he said.By aligning courses with growing industries like AI and integrated circuits, these universities build talent pipelines for China’s scientific research frontlines. Their "small but elite" talent development model is equally transformative, blending education, research, and industry.Westlake University enrolls fewer than 100 undergraduates annually, keeping its student-to-faculty ratio below 10:1, far lower than the 15:1 average at top public universities.FYUST goes even further: its ratio hovers around 5:1, and it offers an 8-year bachelor-master-doctor track. This mirrors global elite practices, nurturing talent for long-term scientific research.This targeted approach also avoids wasting resources, letting schools dive deep into critical areas. FYUST, for example, has already partnered with Haier and FAW Group to build joint labs, turning classroom knowledge into industrial innovation.People’s Daily reported in March that the domestic semiconductor industry faces a talent shortfall of 300,000 people. Data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security indicates a gap of over 5 million AI professionals, with a supply-to-demand ratio of just 1:10.Crucially, these universities act as "catfish" to spur reform in public institutions. Still, concerns linger. Many traditional private universities still struggle to fill enrollment quotas.The founders’ willingness and capacity for sustained investment would be crucial to the universities’ future, industry experts noted. There’s still a long way to go for the investors. Today, as China aims to become a global technology power, these research-oriented private universities are more than just additions to the system—they’re catalysts for reshaping it.The rise of private universities comes as China’s higher education sector faces demographic headwinds. This year’s national college entrance exam had 13.35 million registrants, down from a record 13.42 million last year and the first decline in nearly eight years.But only 9.54 million births were recorded last year, pointing to empty lecture theaters down the track. This year, private colleges in Guangdong province left thousands of seats empty, while Yunnan province had to lower admission cutoffs by 30-40 points. High tuition fees and lingering perceptions of "inferiority" hold them back.Against that backdrop, the rise of institutions like FYUST and EIT is more than just a personal experiment by the tycoons, because its offers a revealing case study of China’s higher education reform.The success of these “catfish” proves a mindset shift can drive change, and people need to stop seeing private universities as profit centers and start viewing them as public service providers. By combining flexible governance with a focus on key scientific research, they may just bridge the gap between academia and industry, nurture future talent, and push China’s higher education to be more innovative and relevant.

Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Perspective. I’m Stephanie Li. Today, we’re shining a light on an event that’s been the backbone of China’s foreign trade for nearly seven decades: the 138th China Import and Export Fair, better known as the Canton Fair.Let’s kick things off with a staggering statistic: This year, over 207,000 buyers from 217 global markets arrived in Guangzhou—a “millennium-old commercial hub”—to take part. Since 1957, the Canton Fair has never missed a beat, even through global disruptions. But what keeps it relevant after 69 years? To answer that, we first need to tap into Guangdong’s millennium-long legacy of cross-border commerce.Rewind to ancient times: Guangdong was the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, with Xuwen Port (dating back to the Qin and Han dynasties) as one of China’s earliest official gateways for global trade. By the Tang and Song dynasties, it housed the Shibo Si （市舶司）—the Imperial Maritime Trade Supervisorate, China’s first formal system for managing foreign commerce. Later, in the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou’s “Thirteen Hongs” became the epicenter of Sino-Western trade. Openness is deeply woven into Guangdong’s DNA.Fast forward to 1957: The first Canton Fair opened to bypass Western economic sanctions against China. Back then, it focused on agricultural goods and everyday staples. Today, it’s an epicenter for high-tech, smart, and green innovations. This year, over 32,000 enterprises exhibited—including, for the first time, more than 10,000 high-caliber firms labeled “high-tech” or “specialized & innovative.” So, what’s the Canton Fair’s secret to staying vibrant? Let’s talk innovation. This year, it launched its first-ever dedicated “Smart Medical Zone,” showcasing medical robots and AI-powered diagnostic tools. It also introduced “modular booth construction”—think of it as “trade-show Lego”—cutting costs for businesses and slashing carbon footprints.As for the exhibits, over 1 million new products are on display, from AI+AR glasses that translate 89 languages in real time to bionic crawler robots that clean skyscrapers. More than 60% of these new items leverage cutting-edge technology.But the fair isn’t just about gadgets; it’s about forging real connections. Its global network keeps expanding: This year, it added 18 new partners (like Brazil’s Federation of Foreign Trade Chambers), bringing the total to 227 across 110 countries. Even amid U.S. tariff shifts, American buyers—including retail giants like Target—still rely on the fair to stock their shelves. And let’s not overlook the small touches that make a big difference. This year, the fair added on-site tax refunds for overseas buyers, mobile “ASK ME” foreign-language help desks, and even Bluetooth+Beidou+5G navigation to find booths in a flash. Self-service kiosks can help you get a visitor badge in just 30 seconds. There’s even a “Canton Fair Music & Food Festival” to share Cantonese delicacies and folk art—because doing business should feel like making friends.At the 137th Canton Fair earlier this year, "intelligence" emerged as a standout feature, with service robots stealing the spotlight at one point. By showcasing a diverse range of products, from embodied robots to educational and entertainment robots, the fair presented a concentrated display of China’s latest developments in service robots and the status of its upstream and downstream industrial chains. The fair also offered a glimpse into the profound transformation underway in Guangdong’s foreign trade.Throughout its changes over the millennia, especially in the new era, the underlying logic of Guangdong has remained consistent, with greater emphasis on innovation and openness.From ceramics to OEM (original equipment manufacturing) products, and then to high-tech products; from the original "new trio" to the current new "new trio"—the evolution of Guangdong’s export products maps out a clear path of industrial upgrading. It has gradually transformed from a "contract manufacturer" passively accepting orders into a "rule-setter" that proactively participates in and even leads industry development.A thousand years ago, merchant ships docked at Fanfang, the foreign quarter in ancient Guangzhou, to complete tangible transactions; a thousand years later, global merchants gather at the Pazhou Exhibition Center, seeking the latest products and reliable partners at the Canton Fair.From "selling to the world" to "buying from the world," and further to "linking with the world," the core of Guangdong’s foreign trade story has always been about doing business, making friends, and pursuing development. Guangdong has walked this path for a thousand years and will continue to move forward firmly, as a bridge between China’s past and the world’s future.

Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Perspective. I’m Stephanie Li.Not long ago, China’s "new trio" of exports – new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar panels – turned "Made in China" into a label for green manufacturing. Today, artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative pharmaceuticals emerged as the new "new trio", marking a pivotal transition for China’s economy that powered by technological breakthroughs. To anyone tracking China’s rise, these three sectors are no longer just market darlings, but have formed the backbone of its high-quality development and hold the key to redefining Chinese assets on the global stage.Technology companies now make up over a quarter of China's A-share market as the country steps up support for sci-tech innovation, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) Chairman Wu Qing announced at a recent press conference. The market cap of tech stocks is significantly higher than the combined market cap of the banking, non-bank financial, and real estate sectors, Wu said. This signals a clear paradigm shift: robots, AI, and innovative drugs have officially taken over as the new growth engines of China’s economy.The rise of the new "new trio" is no accident. Globally, technological competitiveness has become the cornerstone of national strength, while domestically, the land-finance growth model has run its course, with AI breakthroughs taking the wheel to drive on the lane of new productive forces. Each of these three sectors fills a non-negotiable niche: Robotics serves as the "physical engine" of smart manufacturing, addressing labor shortages and boosting efficiency. AI acts as the "digital brain," supercharging everything from factory operations to drug R&D. Innovative pharmaceuticals stand as the "value core" of life sciences, safeguarding public health while generating high returns to fund further innovation.Let’s examine the market dynamics. In the robotics sector—particularly humanoid robots, viewed as the next transformative smart terminal after computers, smartphones, and new energy vehicles—A-share leader Inovance Technology boasts a market cap exceeding 200 billion yuan. Sanxie Motor surged by more than 785% on its debut trading day, while unlisted players like UBTECH and DeepRobotics have also become darlings of capital.In AI, multiple enterprises already hold a market cap of over 100 billion yuan. The colloquial “Ji Lian Hai" refers to Cambricon, Foxconn Industrial Internet, and Hygon—firms focusing on AI computing chips and infrastructure. Their order books and profit margins hit record highs in H1 2024. Meanwhile, “Yi Zhong Tian" denotes Eoptolink, Zhongji Innolight, and Tianfu Communication, whose optical modules are in high demand for high-speed data transmission in large AI models, driving simultaneous growth in both earnings and stock prices.For innovative drugs, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is approaching a 500 billion yuan market cap, with WuXi AppTec, Hansoh Pharma, and Innovent Biologics each exceeding 100 billion yuan, with their business models shifting from "capital-intensive investment" to "profit-generating operations."In a global perspective, China’s position in these three sectors is evolving from "catch-up" to "leadership." Robotics leads the pack, ranking among the global first tier as it boasts a complete industrial chain, the world’s largest market, and advanced localization of components, though high-end servo motors still rely on imports as Japanese firms control 60% of the servo market.AI is in "overall catch-up, with leadership in specific applications"—excelling in computer vision and speech recognition, but facing gaps in core chips (NVIDIA dominates 80% of the global market) and framework ecosystems.Innovative pharmaceuticals are moving from "follow-up" to "catch-up," with overseas transaction volumes surging, a sign of international recognition for R&D capabilities, yet challenges remain in target discovery and basic research translation.But these bottlenecks are far from dead ends; they’re precisely the arenas where China’s strengths will come to the fore. The solution is clear: Unlock cross-sector data to unleash AI’s full potential; speed up approvals for life-saving technologies; build more computing hubs and train interdisciplinary talent; implement "regulatory sandboxes" to allow room for innovation experimentation, avoiding "one-size-fits-all" policies that restrict development; and join global tech standard-setting to ensure China’s voice is heard.The shift from the old "new trio" to the new "new trio" reflects the intrinsic logic of China’s industrial upgrading. While challenges lie ahead, the performance of leading enterprises, supportive policy rollouts, and tangible technological breakthroughs all indicate that capital is casting a "vote of confidence" with real investment.For international investors and collaborators, this is likely the masterplan for the upcoming wave of tech-driven expansion. Leveraging its vast market expanse, targeted policy impetus, and robust industrial ecosystems, China’s new "new trio" stands poised to transmute present-day trials into triumphs of tomorrow.

Stephanie: Hey everyone, and welcome to this edition of CBN x ASEAN Watch. I’m Stephanie, your host, and today we’re taking you to the ongoing China-ASEAN Expo. Entering its 22nd edition this year, the old-line China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) for the first time set up a 10,000-square-meter pavilion dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI), underscoring the ever-expanding and deepening cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).The expo opened on Wednesday in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi province in southern China. This year, it boasts an exhibition area of nearly 160,000 square meters, with over 3,200 enterprises from 60 countries participating.Joining me today is Sharon and Jiaying, our ASEAN correspondents who are now at the very location of the expo in Nanning. Hi, Jiaying.Jiaying: Hi, Stephanie, and hello to our listens. Can you guess where I am now? Yes, I’m at the AI Pavilion, the absolute spotlight of this year’s China-ASEAN Expo.The AI pavilion is the largest single-theme hall in the expo's history. It hosts nearly 200 tech firms, from industry leaders to innovative startups, showcasing about 1,200 innovative products and technologies, ranging from consumer-grade smart devices to industrial-grade solutions, forming a complete innovation chain.Stephanie: Wow, this is so exciting! How is the AI pavilion like? Jiaying: Of course. On opening day, the AI pavilion quickly became a major draw for visitors. I’ve been talking with some of the exhibitors, and they are very excited to be here with their latest AI products. Take a listen.(In Chinese: Staff from InMyShow Digital Technology Group, a Guangxi-based MCN company that incubate online influencers, introduces their latest AI digital avatars that support Chinese as well as the languages used in all 10 ASEAN member countries.)Stephanie: What are some of the “hardcore” AI products that impressed you? And how do they serve ASEAN clients?Jiaying: Major tech giants such as Huawei, Alibaba, iFlytek, Unitree Robotics and Qi-Anxin Group are prominently featured in the AI pavilion, where they showcased their advanced products.(iFlytek staff: We have recently launched a multilingual AI model specifically designed for the 10 ASEAN members. This model has significant enhancement in capabilities, including language understanding, machine translation, knowledge question-and-answer facilities and text generation. In 2024 we sold approximately 15,000 smart devices in ASEAN countries, generating total revenue of about 13 million yuan.) Stephanie: Thank you, Jiaying, for bringing us the vibe of the AI pavilion.As an important open platform for China-ASEAN cooperation, the expo has tightly embraced the new era of AI.The theme of this year's expo, "Digital Intelligence and Innovation Empower Development – Leveraging China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 New Opportunities for an Even Closer China-ASEAN Community with a Shared Future," highlights the role of technology in boosting bilateral trade and cooperation.Cambodian Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Vongsey Vissoth said that the theme underscores "the urgent need" for cooperation in building a region that is both prosperous and peaceful by leveraging digital technology and innovation, as well as promoting trade and investment.At this year’s edition, ASEAN members have also been actively engaging with the expo's emphasis on AI. The AI pavilion is also presenting the latest scientific and technological achievements from many ASEAN members, including Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand.Now let’s talk to Sharon. She’s been covering the ASEAN Zone.Sharon: Hi Stephanie. The ASEAN Zone at the dedicated AI pavilion has been warmly welcomed by ASEAN members, including the Brunei Innovation Lab, Indonesian Telematics Society, Malaysian Global Telecom Group, Myanmar Computer Industry Association, and Thai Mitr Phol Group, which showcase smart agriculture technologies, remote communication equipment, and scientific and technological innovation projects from ASEAN countries.For example, the Indonesian Telematics Society - a non-profit dedicated to information, communication and broadcasting technology - has showcased Indonesia's cutting-edge products. Sarwoto Atmosutarno, the organization's president, said the firm has collaborated with Chinese tech leaders like ZTE and Huawei. It now boasts 31 member units, all actively applying AI and building data centers and cloud services.Meanwhile, Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology has been organizing Vietnamese enterprises to exhibit high-tech projects at the Vietnamese Commodities Pavilion.Stephanie: Collaboration between China and ASEAN members through platforms such as this expo is crucial for sharing knowledge, resources, and best practices in AI.This partnership not only strengthens economic ties but also promotes technological advancements that can address common challenges faced by the region.Sharon: Exactly. With the demand for AI solutions ever increasing, the debut of these products at the expo serves as a catalyst for further cooperation and innovation, paving the way for a more integrated and technologically advanced future for both China and ASEAN.I was talking with the Vice President of the Laos Chamber of Commerce, and he told me that Guangxi is a strategic location to implement China-ASEAN cooperation in AI.(Thanousone Phonamat, vice president of Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry: This morning I had the opportunity to attend the Ministerial Round Table on AI with high level officials from China and ASEAN. After discussion between ASEAN member countries and China, the conclusion from theChina side is that Guangxi is located in very strategic location. It’s the gateway for collaboration between ASEAN and China.I’ve also come to Guangxi many times. We work with quite a few technology companies. Every time we come, we see that Gangxi’s technology development is quite fast, because I also travel to cities in China, like Shenzhen or Shanghai, and I found that it's not too big different. We are happy to be close to Guangxi as we share similar culture, similar food, and our communication is easier and we are very happy to cooperate with the Guangxi government and Guangxi businesses, for our AI development. )Stephanie: Thanks Sharon for sharing your observations at the expo. Official data show that bilateral trade volumes have consistently risen, with China remaining ASEAN's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for the past five years.By enhancing trade frameworks and embracing AI, China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation is set to become even more dynamic and deliver even greater win-win outcomes.And that’s our program today. Thanks for listening and until the next time!

After engaging in a months-long price war of instant retail, two of China’s “Big Three” delivery platforms - Alibaba and Meituan - are again wrestling on a different ring as they unveiled new initiatives targeting each other’s turf.Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group Holding on Wednesday released a major update to its navigation platform Amap, adding a new artificial intelligence-powered feature allowing users to leave a ranking for local businesses just like on Dianping, an app by rival Meituan.Now when you open Amap to find a nearby restaurant, this new "Street Stars” ranking is going to pop up—not just any list, but one weighted by your actual behavior and Alipay's credit score. This seemingly small change is quietly rewriting the rules of how we discover and choose local businesses, as users can review restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions, and others using the new Amap ranking. Alibaba also promised to offer over CNY1 billion of incentives to support the spending of 10 million customers on car rides, dining, and other services.Alibaba set up the Amap “Street Stars” project in June and has since been making secret progress, covering over 1.6 million offline service providers in more than 300 Chinese cities, including over 870,000 restaurants, 230,000 hotels, and nearly 50,000 scenic spots.Amap “Street Stars” is based on users' behavior trends rather than their likes or favorites, values returning customers, and will never be commercialized, said Guo Ning, chief executive of Amap.Interestingly, Alibaba linked the feature to Amap rather than its Taobao Flash Buy, which market analysts attributed to the former's mapping and navigation data.Alibaba’s move isn't just another marketing push—it's a full-on assault on Meituan's most profitable territory: in-store services. Let's put things in perspective. China's local services market is predicted to hit CNY35.3 trillion by 2025, with only 30.8% of that happening online. So there's massive room to grow. Alibaba's strategy here is cleverly layered. Let's break it down. First, traffic. As one of the most popular map apps in China, Amap hails national utility with 700 million monthly active users. Every time someone searches for directions, that's a chance to nudge them toward a nearby café or shop. It's like turning every car ride or walk into a potential shopping trip.Then there's the tech angle. By tying in Alipay's credit system, they're filtering reviews through a trust layer. So a five-star rating from someone with a solid credit score matters more than a random anonymous review. Add AI to eliminate fake comments, and suddenly you've got a more reliable recommendation engine.And let's not forget the ecosystem play. That CNY1 billion subsidyworks hand-in-hand with Ele.me's delivery services, creating a loop: find a place on Amap, go there, or get it delivered via Ele.me, avoiding Meituan's stronghold in food delivery and hitting where Meituan is vulnerable: trusted recommendations.The numbers back up why Alibaba's doubling down. Their local services arm grew 12% last fiscal year to CNY67 billion. Even better, losses are shrinking—down to CNY2.3 billion in Q4. They're getting more efficient, which gives them the cash to invest here. And who can blame them? Meituan once saw 43.3% profit margins in in-store services. Alibaba certainly wants a piece of that.But Meituan isn’t sitting idle. On the same day, Meituan’s Dianping platform relaunched its “Premium Delivery” service, promising 30-minute delivery from top-rated restaurants featured in its “Must Eat” list and “Black Pearl” guide.Dianping said it would "restore" its quality food delivery service by using a self-developed business-to-business AI model to analyze users' demand based on a vast amount of review data, filtering non-genuine reviews to provide a reliable reference for decision-making, with consumer-facing AI agents set to launch within a week. It will also issue 25 million large-denomination "quality takeout" consumption coupons. The effect of Dianping's new project remains to be seen because its users tend to dine in, while restoring the food delivery business requires guiding users to order food on the app, analysts pointed out.Meituan "suffered grievously" in the last round of the food delivery war with JD.Com and Alibaba's Ele.me. Its net profit plunged 89% to CNY1.5 billion in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, while its revenue rose 12% to CNY91.8 billion, it said in its first-half financial report released on Aug. 27.Meituan's strength has always been its network effect—more restaurants mean more riders, which brings more customers. But that doesn't protect them in in-store services, where fake reviews have long been a problem. Alibaba's "never commercialize" promise for its rankings hits right at that trust issue.Now, Alibaba is building a "home delivery + in-store" and "long-distance + nearby" ecosystem. But to challenge Meituan's Dianping—with its deep content and user habits—Amap needs more than traffic and data. It will need a richer content ecosystem and stronger merchant partnerships. The more intriguing fact is that this AI-driven battle is rewriting the rules of local services, shifting trust from subjective reviews to real behaviors, moving decision-making from users to machines, and refocusing businesses from traffic chasing to value creation.The endgame here won’t be endless app wars. It’ll be a showdown between super AI assistants—the one that truly understands what consumers want, and the one that delivers better experiences and more choices for both businesses and consumers. That’s where the future of local services will be decided.

Imagine the frustration. For years, Alexei, a small business owner from Moscow, has wanted to attend the Canton Fair in Guangzhou to source new products. Each time, the process was the same: a lengthy application process, the wait for visa approval, and the constant worry that a minor error could derail his entire trip. The dream of easily exploring Chinese markets or even taking his family to see the Great Wall felt distant.But things are about to change. In a significant policy shift, China has announced a trial program that addresses this very challenge. As of September 15, 2025, the door to China will swing open for Russian citizens, marking a new era of travel and cooperation.Russian passport holders can stay in China for up to 30 days without a visa starting from Sept. 15 this year to Sept. 14 next year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.The introduction of the China visa-free for Russians policy is more than just an administrative update; it’s a game-changer for tourists, entrepreneurs, and families alike, sparking an immediate surge in searches for flights from Moscow on Chinese online travel sites.Moscow to China flight searches almost doubled within half an hour after the visa waiver was announced, soaring by as much as four times at one point, according to travel agency Qunar. Russia was among China's top three sources of international tourists this summer, with such visitor numbers expected to soar once the new policy kicks in."China's main sources of inbound tourism are Japan and South Korea, but the number of Russian visitors is rapidly growing, and they are particularly fond of traveling to Sanya on the southern tropical island of Hainan," a deputy general manager of travel agency Spring Tour told media. He expects that lower-tier cities and unique tourist destinations will also grow in popularity with this trial visa-free policy.Over the summer holiday, the top 10 destinations in China for Russian tourists were Beijing, Shanghai, Sanya, Guangzhou, Harbin, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Zhangjiajie, Chengdu, and Hangzhou, according to Trip.Com data.Cross-border tourism has significantly benefited in recent years as bilateral ties continue to deepen. Chinese mainland residents made 1.04 million trips to Russia last year, up 209 percent from the previous year, while the number of Russian tourists traveling to China surged 115 percent to 1.5 million, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.Evgeny Kozlov, First Deputy Head of the Moscow Mayor's Office and Chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, told the 21st Century Business Herald in a previous interview that the city has made various efforts to attract Chinese tourists. Moscow has opened accounts on most popular Chinese social media platforms, including Douyin, WeChat, Xiaohongshu, and Weibo, and it was the first Russian city to have an official page on Trip.Com.In 2024, Moscow held large-scale Chinese Spring Festival celebrations for the first time, with over 300 events taking place from February 9 to 18. Chinese-language signs have also been installed at Moscow's airports and major scenic spots. There have been over 100 restaurants in Moscow specializing in Chinese cuisine, Kozlov noted.China's trial visa-free policy for Russian citizens is "amazing news" that will change Russians' approach to travel in China, said the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RST), Xinhua reported, adding that tourist numbers are expected to surge significantly.The policy could boost tourist flows from Russia by 30 to 40 percent, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia said.Alexander Bragin, director of the Association of Travel Aggregators, said that the number of search queries for flights and accommodation in China has doubled after the announcement of the pilot visa-free policy.According to data from Russia's Federal Security Service, 836,600 Russians visited China for tourism and private purposes in the first half of 2025, up 38.5 percent from the same period a year earlier.As China expands its visa-free access to a growing list of countries, the nation is repositioning itself to be a more open and accessible destination for global travelers. Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that “China attaches great importance to activating exchanges between the peoples of the two countries,” highlighting the people-centric philosophy behind the policy.At its core, this policy is a testament to the robust and deepening partnership between China and Russia. For years, the two nations have been aligning on multiple fronts, and simplifying travel is a logical next step in solidifying this relationship.By removing a significant barrier to entry, the policy encourages more frequent interaction not just at the governmental level but also among ordinary citizens and business leaders. This fosters a sense of goodwill and mutual understanding that paper agreements alone cannot achieve. It is a practical contribution to the "comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era" that both countries have cultivated, which have set a model for the world on building new-type international relations.Besides the visa-free policy, there have been a lot going on in terms of cultural exchanges between the two neighboring countries. For instance, a China-Russia people-to-people and cultural exchange event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War was held on Wednesday. The event was co-hosted by China Media Group and All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.It is one of the hundreds of events launched within the framework of the 2024-25 China-Russia Years of Culture that kicked off in May last year. Cultural events have been and will be held in 51 Chinese cities and 38 cities in Russia over the two years.Other recent initiatives include the movie Red Silk, coproduced by Chinese and Russian filmmakers, that is currently showing in Russia and achieving great box office success, and a new version of the opera Eugene Onegin, created by artists from the two countries, that has just debuted in China.China is not only paying great attention to the cultural events between the two sides to ensure their success but is also committed to making its people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Russia sustainable in the long run, so as to strengthen the bonds between the two peoples.History shows that it is the mutual trust, mutual respect, mutual learning and mutual understanding realized through people-to-people and cultural exchanges that is the requisite for any substantial engagement between major countries and a defining characteristic of the healthy and sustainable development of Sino-Russian relations.

Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Perspective. I’m Stephanie Li.On August 26, Guangzhou inaugurated its first in-city duty-free store in Tianhe District, drawing throngs of shoppers. Notably, Shenzhen also rolled out its first in-city duty-free outlet on the very same day—a synchronized move that marks a pivotal step in enhancing outbound travel convenience for residents of the two Pearl River Delta megacities, offering them streamlined access to duty-free shopping prior to international trips.This milestone follows a key policy push: in August 2024, five central government ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, jointly released the Notice on Optimizing Policies for In-City Duty-Free Stores. The notice announced the approval of 8 new in-city duty-free locations nationwide, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen each securing one slot—underscoring the central government’s strategic focus on leveraging duty-free commerce to stimulate high-end consumption and fortify the two cities’ roles as regional economic hubs.Authorized by the State Council, in-city duty-free stores are situated in urban cores and cater exclusively to travelers departing China. Their competitive edge over traditional port-based duty-free shops is stark: unlike port stores, which tie shoppers to tight customs clearance timelines, in-city outlets offer unparalleled flexibility. This allows consumers to browse and purchase a diverse range of duty-free goods at their leisure, eliminating the rush often associated with last-minute airport or port shopping and better aligning with modern travelers’ demand for convenient, stress-free retail experiences.What sets Guangzhou and Shenzhen’s new stores apart is their deep integration with each city’s unique cultural and industrial identities—a deliberate design choice that transforms them from mere retail spaces into showcases of local character. As a global hub for electronics innovation, Shenzhen’s store features an extensive lineup of “Made-in-Shenzhen” products, such as cutting-edge smartphones and panoramic cameras. This not only highlights the city’s technological prowess but also provides an international platform for local high-tech brands to reach outbound travelers, strengthening Shenzhen’s reputation as a leader in global tech manufacturing.In contrast, Guangzhou’s store doubles as a gateway to Lingnan culture. Infused with design elements that pay homage to Guangzhou’s nickname, the “Flower City,” the outlet includes a dedicated atrium zone for experiencing Lingnan traditions and Chinese time-honored brands. This cultural integration serves a dual purpose: it enriches the shopping experience by connecting consumers to local heritage, and it positions Guangzhou as a city where commerce and culture intersect—an essential trait for building a globally appealing international consumption center.Regulatory guidelines for in-city duty-free shopping are clear and targeted. Eligible shoppers include all travelers (Chinese and foreign alike) departing China via air or international cruise within 60 days. For Guangzhou and Shenzhen residents with upcoming outbound trips, the process is straightforward: they can shop at the in-city stores using valid 60-day outbound flight/cruise tickets and entry-exit documents. Importantly, purchases are not available for immediate pickup; instead, goods are held at dedicated duty-free collection points in the departure isolation areas of ports, ensuring compliance with customs regulations and seamless transport abroad.Early indicators of success are already evident. Since Shenzhen’s store entered a trial operation phase on August 23, it has become a hotspot for “prospective international students”—a demographic with significant demand for duty-free goods like electronics and skincare. Their enthusiastic spending has sparked an immediate “in-city duty-free shopping boom,” signaling strong initial consumer interest and validating the policy’s relevance to key traveler groups.The launch of these stores carries far-reaching implications for both cities’ economic recovery and long-term competitiveness. Data from the first half of 2025 underscores their growth potential: Shenzhen’s ports handled 130 million inbound and outbound passengers, a year-on-year increase of 16.2%, while Shenzhen Airport recorded a passenger throughput of 32.57 million, up 10.9% year-on-year. This surge in cross-border travel creates a massive pool of potential duty-free consumers, directly fueling the stores’ viability and their ability to drive consumption growth.The initiative is a multi-faceted catalyst: it will accelerate the development of the duty-free economy, boost inbound tourism-related spending, and crucially, redirect domestic consumers’ overseas purchases back to China.Additionally, by integrating consumption with culture and tourism, the stores will enhance both cities’ international profiles and competitiveness—key goals in their quest to become globally influential international consumption centers.Looking ahead, these in-city duty-free stores will play a dual role: they will complement existing high-end commercial districts, filling a gap in pre-travel duty-free access, and serve as “new consumption landmarks” that accelerate Guangzhou and Shenzhen’s progress toward their long-term urban development goals.

Stephanie: Hello everyone, I'm Stephanie Li. Today's episode dives into how Chinese enterprises are reshaping Southeast Asia's e-commerce landscape.Joining me is our ASEAN correspondent Sharon Hu, whose on-the-ground reporting brings fresh insights. Sharon, let's start with those staggering growth numbers you mentioned earlier.Sharon: Absolutely, Stephanie. A report released by DBS Group of Singapore and Cube, a market research company, shows that from 2012 to 2024, the annual sales of e-commerce in Southeast Asia increased from USD4 billion in 2012 to USD184 billion in 2024—that's a 45 times jump! What's fascinating is how this mirrors China's own e-commerce boom a decade ago.Stephanie: That's exactly what struck me. In Jakarta for example, street vendors were using Lazada's logistics for deliveries, just like how Taobao revolutionized rural China, but faster. How much of this do you attribute to Chinese companies' influence?Sharon: A significant chunk. Take Lazada—Alibaba's investment didn't just pour money in, but instead they brought AI algorithms that personalize shopping. During last year's Double 12 shopping festival, 46% more users interacted with their AI tools. I’ve been talking with Liu Teng, who owns a cross-border e-commerce business in Xiamen that also provide relevant services, which I believe will give us an insider look at this trend.Stephanie: Great! Small and medium sized enterprises are often the unsung heroes in these ecosystem shifts.Sharon: Exactly. Liu entered Southeast Asia three years ago, mainly selling cosmetics, and what's interesting is their strategy. Instead of just listing products on platforms, they also have Chinese customers who want the full package—product plus setup. Basically every day, there’re Chinese merchants approach Liu for advice on how to expand business into Southeast Asia, from local policies and legal compliance, to on-the-ground operational strategies. Due to the robust demand, Liu established a 20-member local team in Malaysia, acting as a liaison between Chinese enterprises and local influencers to boost sales in live-streaming e-commerce, and assisting them to handle procedures such as registration, tax, and product certification.Stephanie: That's brilliant. Let's talk infrastructure. As I've always said, logistics is the backbone—you can't have e-commerce without reliable delivery.Sharon: And here's where the ecosystem support comes in. Many Chinese delivery giants, including Alibaba’s Cainiao, SF Express, ZTO, and Best Express, have set up overseas warehouses in Southeast Asia, which cuts delivery Tim es to under 48 hours. In the first half of this year, JD Logistics has added three new self-operated overseas warehouses in Malaysia and Vietnam.Stephanie: Payment systems are another frontier. It reminds me of Alipay's early days in China, overcoming cash habits through convenience. How are they cracking that market?Sharon: Through partnerships. For payments, they rely on global payment platforms such as the Hangzhou-based PingPong to handle cross-border transactions, which has been working with major e-commerce sites,  such as Amazon, TikTok Shop, Lazada and Shopee in Southeast Asia. And PingPong isn't replacing local payment apps—they're integrating with them, offering real-time currency exchange for sellers. Data shows that the penetration rate of e-payments in the region has exceeded 50%. In 2024, mobile payment based on QR code technology in Thailand accounted for approximately 55% of e-commerce transactions, and the proportions in Malaysia and Indonesia were even higher. It's a perfect example of how larger Chinese platforms are enabling smaller players to thrive.Stephanie: That's the ripple effect we often miss. Big companies build the highways, and SMEs drive the traffic. What's their growth look like?Sharon: Liu said they only started testing the waters of product exports in Southeast Asia three years ago. Back then, he could hardly imagine that one day, he would not only be able to create a top-selling product across all Malaysian e-commerce platforms, but also lead more Chinese enterprises to achieve one successful live-streaming sales feat after another on Southeast Asian platforms. They're now expanding into Indonesia, using TikTok Shop's live streams to demo their products. It's localization at every step.Stephanie: And TikTok Shop is another game-changer. I remember when live-stream commerce took off in China, skeptics thought it wouldn't work elsewhere. But research finds 75% of Southeast Asian consumers are more willing to buy products out of online influencers’ recommendations. And I believe that's a cultural shift, not just a business model.Sharon: You're spot on. TikTok creator studios in Southeast Asia are training local influencers in Chinese-style live-stream techniques: product demos, limited-time flash sales, even the way hosts interact with viewers. It's localization with Chinese DNA.Stephanie: As we wrap up, let's look ahead. With projections hitting US$410 billion by 2030, this is just the beginning. What excites me most is how this collaboration is elevating the entire region's digital economy. It's not one-way—Southeast Asia's unique challenges are pushing Chinese firms to innovate, too.Sharon: Well said. This isn't just Chinese companies reshaping Southeast Asia—it's a mutual evolution.Stephanie: Thanks for sharing your insights, Sharon. And for our listeners, stay tuned as we explore more on the fascinating cultural and business exchange between China and ASEAN. Until next time!

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programToy maker Pop Mart posts over 360% rise in profit in H1 as Guochao trend accelerates global expansion;Xiaomi reports 75% leap in Q2 profit as EV business gains momentum.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours Shares in Chinese toymaker Pop Mart reversed course to rise Wednesday, a day after the company posted a near-400% surge in net profit, driven by booming global demand for its LABUBU dolls.Pop Mart jumped 12.5 percent today in Hong Kong to close at HKD316, with a market cap surpassing HKD400 billion, both setting new highs. Shares in Pop Mart have risen more than 200 percent in the last year, resulting in a market valuation of HKD424.4 and making the company worth more than Barbie-maker Mattel, Nerf-seller Hasbro, and Hello Kitty-owner Sanrio combined.The LABUBU-maker on Monday released its financial results for the first half of 2025, reporting a 362.8 percent jump in net profit, reflecting the rise of China's Guochao trend and its intellectual property incubation capacity.Adjusted net profit reached CNY4.71 billion, while revenue stood at CNY13.88 billion, up 204.4 percent year-on-year, extending the strong momentum from the previous two quarters.Revenue from China stood at CNY8.28 billion, up 135.2 percent; Asia-Pacific (excluding China) revenue was CNY2.85 billion, rising 257.8 percent; revenue from the Americas surged to CNY2.26 billion, up 1,142.3 percent; and revenue from Europe and other regions rose 729.2 percent to CNY480 million.The company, best known for creating the global sensation LABUBU, has also seen explosive sales growth across other in-house products with intellectual property rights. In the first half of 2025, 13 artist IPs each generated more than 100 million yuan in revenue.Thanks to its distinctive appeal and unique style, LABUBU, a member of The Monsters family, with a revenue topping CNY4.8 billion, was one of the world's most popular IPs in the first half of 2025.Pop Mart founder and CEO Wang Ning said Wednesday that the firm was well-positioned to hit its 2025 revenue target of CNY20 billion, adding that reaching CNY30 billion this year “should also be quite easy.” Pop Mart also said it will roll out a miniature LABUBU this week that can be clipped onto phones.As one of the leading representatives of China's rising pop toy industry, Pop Mart established four regional headquarters in April for the first time, underscoring its deepening globalization strategy. The company attributed its growing market presence to continuous improvements in operational effectiveness and business efficiency in China.In the first half of 2025, Pop Mart opened its first stores in landmark locations such as Cambridge in the UK and Bali in Indonesia, continuing its push into iconic global destinations. Pop Mart will expand into markets including the Middle East, South Asia, Central and South America, and Russia, Co-Chief Operating Officer Justin Moon said on today’s earnings conference call.As of June 30, the company was operating 571 stores across 18 countries, including 40 new physical outlets and 105 new Robo Shops, according the company.HShares in Chinese toymaker Pop Mart reversed course to rise Wednesday, a day after the company posted a near-400% surge in net profit, driven by booming global demand for its LABUBU dolls.Pop Mart jumped 12.5 percent today in Hong Kong to close at HKD316, with a market cap surpassing HKD400 billion, both setting new highs. Shares in Pop Mart have risen more than 200 percent in the last year, resulting in a market valuation of HKD424.4 and making the company worth more than Barbie-maker Mattel, Nerf-seller Hasbro, and Hello Kitty-owner Sanrio combined.The LABUBU-maker on Monday released its financial results for the first half of 2025, reporting a 362.8 percent jump in net profit, reflecting the rise of China's Guochao trend and its intellectual property incubation capacity.Adjusted net profit reached CNY4.71 billion, while revenue stood at CNY13.88 billion, up 204.4 percent year-on-year, extending the strong momentum from the previous two quarters.Revenue from China stood at CNY8.28 billion, up 135.2 percent; Asia-Pacific (excluding China) revenue was CNY2.85 billion, rising 257.8 percent; revenue from the Americas surged to CNY2.26 billion, up 1,142.3 percent; and revenue from Europe and other regions rose 729.2 percent to CNY480 million.The company, best known for creating the global sensation LABUBU, has also seen explosive sales growth across other in-house products with intellectual property rights. In the first half of 2025, 13 artist IPs each generated more than 100 million yuan in revenue.Thanks to its distinctive appeal and unique style, LABUBU, a member of The Monsters family, with a revenue topping CNY4.8 billion, was one of the world's most popular IPs in the first half of 2025.Pop Mart founder and CEO Wang Ning said Wednesday that the firm was well-positioned to hit its 2025 revenue target of CNY20 billion, adding that reaching CNY30 billion this year “should also be quite easy.” Pop Mart also said it will roll out a miniature LABUBU this week that can be clipped onto phones.As one of the leading representatives of China's rising pop toy industry, Pop Mart established four regional headquarters in April for the first time, underscoring its deepening globalization strategy. The company attributed its growing market presence to continuous improvements in operational effectiveness and business efficiency in China.In the first half of 2025, Pop Mart opened its first stores in landmark locations such as Cambridge in the UK and Bali in Indonesia, continuing its push into iconic global destinations. Pop Mart will expand into markets including the Middle East, South Asia, Central and South America, and Russia, Co-Chief Operating Officer Justin Moon said on today’s earnings conference call.As of June 30, the company was operating 571 stores across 18 countries, including 40 new physical outlets and 105 new Robo Shops, according the company.GBA expressGuangdong Province on Tuesday revealed a 21-point action plan to promote high-quality development of the province's commercial space industry from 2025 to 2028. The action plan supports enterprises investing in the satellite constellations for civil and commercial applications, offering a "green channel" for project approval and coordination support for satellite frequencies and orbital resources. Financial support of 10 percent of total investment will be provided, with a maximum of CNY2 million per node and an annual cap of CNY10 million per enterprise, according to the plan.Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) on Wednesday posted its best-ever half-yearly revenue and profit for the first six months of the year following a stock market boom. The city's bourse operator reported that its revenue and other income soared 33 percent year on year to nearly HKD14.1 billion, boosted by record high volumes in the money market, equity market, and higher investment income. Profit, meanwhile, jumped 39 percent to stand at about HKD8.52 billion between January and June.  China's southern tech hub Shenzhen saw its foreign trade hit CNY2.58 trillion in the first seven months of this year, topping all Chinese mainland cities, the local customs said yesterday. Private firms contributed CNY1.8 trillion of the total.Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi hired Bank of America, CICC, and JPMorgan to work on a second listing in Hong Kong before mid-February, which could raise between USD200 million and USD300 million, media reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.Luxshare Precision Industry has filed for a secondary listing of shares in Hong Kong, with CITIC Securities, Goldman Sachs, and CICC as joint sponsors. The Shenzhen-listed Apple supplier reportedly aims to raise over USD1 billion.Industry and company newsChinese smartphone and electric carmaker Xiaomi reported second-quarter adjusted net profit surged 75 percent from a year earlier to CNY10.8 billion on a 31 percent increase in revenue to CNY116 billion. The Hong Kong-listed company said revenue from smartphones fell 2 percent to CNY45.5 billion on price reductions. Global shipments of 42 million phones ranked the company third in the world, after Samsung and Apple, with a 15 percent market share.Ping An Healthcare reported first-half profit surged 137 percent to CNY134 million from a year earlier on growth driven by expanding corporate customers and the successful adoption of artificial intelligence. Revenue rose 19.5 percent to CNY2.5 billion. Revenue from the smart EV, artificial intelligence, and other new initiatives segment reached CNY21.3 billion in the second quarter on a doubling of deliveries of 81,300 vehicles.  BYD inked a deal with Finnish auto dealer Veho Group to upgrade its sales and service network layout in Finland. The Chinese car giant plans to establish new retail outlets in Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, and other cities.China's collection of stamp duty on securities in July trading doubled from a year earlier to CNY15 billion and rose 29 percent from June, according to the Ministry of Finance. The surge coincided with bullish stocks markets, where volume across Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing exchanges topped CNY2 trillion for a sixth straight day on Wednesday.Asia-Pacific highlightsMeituan today launched its international food delivery platform Keeta in Doha, Qatar, as it further expands in the Middle East, the Chinese on-demand service giant said. Meituan forayed into the Saudi Arabian market last September and now is available in 20 Saudi cities.Japanese investment company SoftBank will invest USD2 billion to take about a 2 percent stake in ailing US chipmaker Intel amid reports the US government is in talks to buy up to a 10 percent stake.  

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programChina's summer box office surpasses CNY10 billion, led by domestic films;Japan prepares to approve first yen-backed stablecoin.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours China's summer box office revenue has surpassed CNY10 billion as of Monday, with homegrown titles dominating the season's top earners.According to ticketing platforms Maoyan and Beacon, domestic films currently occupy four of the top five slots.Leading the charge is "Dead To Rights," a film about the Nanjing Massacre during World War II, which has grossed CNY2.6 billion since its July 25 release. It is the only summer release to top the 2-billion-yuan threshold so far, and now ranks as the year's third-highest earner overall in China.The film has received a rating of 8.7 out of 10 on review platform Douban and won widespread critical acclaim. Director Feng Xiaoning has hailed it as "a new high point for Chinese cinema," while audiences have described screenings as harrowing yet profoundly moving. This year's summer slate has been shaped by the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Alongside "Dead To Rights," themed releases include historical drama "Dongji Rescue" and documentary "Mountains and Rivers Bearing Witness."Animation has also been a breakout category. "Nobody," a spinoff from the acclaimed "Yao-Chinese Folktales" animation series, ranks second on the summer chart, raking in more than CNY1 billion since its Aug. 2 release. It has become the highest-grossing two-dimensional animated film ever released in China.Other strong performers include "The Lychee Road," a bittersweet drama set during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) which has grossed more than CNY670 million, and "The Legend of Hei 2," the sequel to a 2019 animated hit and now at nearly CNY450 million. Universal's "Jurassic World Rebirth" is the highest-ranking imported film, currently in fourth place with more than CNY560 million earned to date.China's summer moviegoing season runs from June 1 through Aug. 31 and is traditionally one of the country's most lucrative film periods. Analysts note that local hits have revitalized what began as a sluggish season.GBA expressCathay Group said it would continue to increase investment in the Chinese mainland and hire more staff from the Chinese mainland to meet growing demand. By the end of this year, the Hong Kong flagship airline plans to raise the total number of mainland staff members to 4,000 from 3,000 plus currently. In Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the company has two offices that focus on technology and it hopes to soon expand these teams to about 200 people in total.Dongfeng Motor has listed its 50 percent stake in Dongfeng Honda Engine, its Guangzhou-based joint venture with the Japanese auto giant, for sale to accelerate its new energy vehicle shift. Dongfeng Motor has not yet set a reserve price, with the listing deadline being Sept. 12.Industry and company newsNongfu Spring has become the world’s third-most valuable non-alcoholic beverages brand, following Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The largest bottled water company in China climbed one spot ahead of Red Bull in the annual Non Alcoholic Drinks 50 compiled by the London-based brand valuation agency Brand Finance, with its brand value climbing nearly 34 percent year on year to USD11.1 billion. JD.Com said it has offered social insurance benefits and housing fund to over 150,000 full-time delivery riders from March 1 to today, with an average of CNY2,000 per month. All of its delivery persons can enjoy employee welfare, including annual leave, physical examination, and paid sick leave.Leapmotor is only the second Chinese EV startup to achieve profit in the first half, along with Li Auto, with a net profit of CNY30 million, the firm said today. This is a big turnaround from the net loss of CNY2.2 billion it racked up a year earlier. Revenue soared 174 percent to CNY24.3 billion and deliveries surged two-and-a-half to over 221,660 units.Xpeng Motors has formed a strategic partnership with China Citic Bank, under which the lender’s Guangzhou branch will provide CNY10 billion in credit to support the Chinese EV maker’s business operations and development.Tesla launched the Model Y L on its website in China today, with deliveries expected in September. The Model Y L is a six-seat, longer-wheelbase version of the popular Model Y and is priced from CNY339,000.Sales of German automotive giant Mercedes-Benz Group in China have plunged to the lowest in nearly five years last month, falling over 40 percent to 26,653 units from the previous month, according to industry data.China’s railroads have completed about 712 million passenger trips from July 1 to yesterday, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier, according to China State Railway Group. Meanwhile, the nation’s railway system transported over 2.3 billion tons of cargo in the first seven months of the year, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier.China opened a total of 145 new air cargo routes in the first half of this year, among which 117 were international air cargo routes, marking a year-on-year increase of 58.1 percent, according to data from the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP). Asia-Pacific highlightsJapan's Financial Services Agency is poised to approve the issuance of the first yen-denominated stablecoin as early as this autumn. Tokyo-based fintech firm JPYC will register as a money transfer business within the month and will lead the rollout. The cryptocurrency will be valued on a 1-to-1 ration with the yen. JPYC plans to issue up to JPY1 trillion of stablecoins within three years.Nio will expand to Singapore, Costa Rica, and Uzbekistan this year and next in partnership with local dealers, the Chinese EV startup said today. The Shanghai-based carmaker plans to introduce models from its Nio, Onvo, and Firefly brands in these new markets.Chinese lithium battery and chip supplier Azure said yesterday that it plans to invest USD83.9 million to build an LED chip packaging factory in Malaysia to better meet overseas demand and hedge against shifting international trade and tariff risks.Australia's third-largest iron ore exporter Fortescue Group had completed a record syndicated term loan worth CNY14.2 billion. The financing drew strong participation from leading banks in China, Australia and other global markets, marking the first syndicated yuan-denominated loan by an Australian company, FMG said.Lenovo Group is setting up a regional headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the PC giant said today. The new factory there is expected to start trial producing laptops, desktops, mobile phones, servers and other hardware next year.

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programShanghai Composite Index hits 10-year high on Monday, with gross A-shares market cap surpassing CNY100 trillion;China’s economy remains steady despite July data dip.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours The Shanghai Composite Index surpassed 3,740 points and reached an intraday high of 3,745 on Monday, marking a ten-year record since August 20, 2015. Since hitting a low of 3,040 points on April 7, 2025, the benchmark index has risen by 22.72 percent. Notably, during the same period, the Shenzhen Component Index gained nearly 30 percent, while the ChiNext Index soared by 47 percent. Meanwhile, as of 10:34 am on Monday, China's total A-share market capitalization has surpassed CNY100 trillion, setting a new record and marking the first time in A-share history to break the threshold. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.85 percent at 3,728 points today, while the Shenzhen Component Index jumped 1.73 percent to end at 11,835 points, with total turnover topping CNY2.8 trillion. Hong Kong stocks also opened higher for the week, as the southbound capital accelerates its flow into the city’s stocks market. Last Friday, investors in the Chinese mainland set a new record for the highest single-day net inflow of HK$35.876 billion.Regarding individual companies, Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) leads the A-share market capitalization rankings with CNY2.19 trillion, followed by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) with CNY2.02 trillion. And, the A-share market capitalizations of Kweichow Moutai, PetroChina, Bank of China, and CATL all exceeded CNY1 trillion.Pan Helin, member of the Expert Committee on Information and Communication Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), told the 21st Century Business Herald that the latest market rally, which began at the start of the year, reflects the concentrated emergence of China's efforts in advancing technological innovation.He noted that breakthroughs in areas such as artificial intelligence, large models, and digital transformation have boosted the global appeal of Chinese assets. This, in turn, has drawn overseas capital inflows and fueled the prosperity of China's stock market.Several of China’s key economic indicators slipped last month due to the difficult external environment and adverse weather at home. Industrial production rose 5.7 percent in July from a year ago, slowing from June’s 6.8 percent, while retail sales of consumer goods rose 3.7 percent, compared with 4.8 percent in the prior month, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed. From January to July, fixed asset investment rose 1.6 percent, down from 2.8 percent in January to June. NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said while the economy is stable overall, further efforts will be made to maintain the continuity and stability of policies, and to enhance their flexibility and foresight.GBA expressMonday marked the fifth anniversary of the opening of the new passenger inspection area at Hengqin Port in Zhuhai, which has seen 75.64 million inbound and outbound passenger trips in the past five years, as a core hub for personnel exchanges, economic and trade cooperation, and livelihood integration between Guangdong and Macao, as well as a vital gateway for the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, CCTV reported. Data shows that so far this year, the average daily passenger flow at Hengqin reached 76,946, a 1.88-fold growth compared to before the new passenger inspection area was launched in 2019. UK-based consumer goods multinational Unilever began operation at its new food-production center in Guangdong Province to strengthen its supply chain on the mainland. The company's brands include baby food, bottled water, breakfast cereals, dairy products, ice cream, instant noodles and soft drinks.Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxi service completed 20,000 kilometers of "safe driving" in Hong Kong road tests, the Chinese company said on Saturday, earning it the go-ahead to expand to another area of the city. City officials approved robotaxi road tests to expand to a technology hub in the southern part of the city.Industry and company newsHuawei topped China's phone market in the second quarter, followed by Vivo and Oppo, according to data released by IDC today. Global smartphone shipments rose 1.4 percent to 297 million units last quarter from a year earlier. The report also showed the scale of China's AI public cloud service market expanded 55 percent to CNY19.6 billion last year from the year before, with Alibaba Cloud and Baidu AI Cloud jointly ranking first by market share, followed by Tencent Cloud and Huawei Cloud.JD.Com's first offline catering brand 7Fresh Food Mall is in talks to open new stores in over 10 Chinese cities to expand its services nationwide, media reported today, citing the Chinese retail giant. 7Fresh Food Mall opened its first mall in China's northeastern Harbin in June.Great Wall Motor has launched production at its factory in Brazil, the Chinese carmaker's first plant in Latin America. The plant will produce Haval H6 fuel and hybrid SUV models, the Haval H9 SUVs, and Poer pickup trucks, with an initial annual capacity of 50,000 units that will eventually reach 100,000 units, according to Great Wall.China's summer box office, including presale, surpassed CNY10 billion as of 2.28 p.m. today, according to data from ticket info tracker Maoyan. Chinese movie Dead to Rights is leading the summer box office earnings ranking with a market share of nearly 26 percent.China recorded over 64.7 million air passenger trips in July, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier, of which nearly 7.1 million were on international routes, up 16 percent in the period, CCTV reported, citing the CAAC. Air passenger trips rose 5.6 percent to about 440 million in the first seven months from the same period last year.Asia-Pacific highlightsWeRide will receive a strategic investment from Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading all-in-one app that covers services from ride-hailing to package delivery, the Chinese self-driving tech startup said. The deal is part of a partnership aimed at fast-tracking the roll out and commercialization of Level 4 robotaxis and shuttles across Southeast Asia. Guangzhou-based WeRide has tested or operated its vehicles in 30 cities worldwide and currently has autonomous driving permits in China, Singapore, France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A direct air cargo route for fruits and vegetables from Urumqi in China's northwest Xinjiang to Dubai launched on Aug. 16, with the inaugural flight moving over 18 tons of melons, tomato products, grapes, dried apples, and others, Xinhua reported.Zhaowei Machinery & Electronics, which supplies robotic parts to Tesla, said it will invest as much as US$100 million to build a factory in Thailand to expand overseas operations. Shares in the Shenzhen-listed firm have risen about 80 percent this year.

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programA-share market is poised for sustained bull run;Tencent’s stock soars to 4-year high on strong Q2 performance.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours The signs of a bull run are slowly but steadily emerging in China's A-share market, underpinned by ongoing structural reforms and sustained long-term capital inflows. The Shanghai Composite Index rose for an eighth straight session on Wednesday, climbing to close at 3,683, its highest since December 2021. On Thursday, the benchmark index opened higher, hitting 3,700 points in early tradings, before heading down to close 0.46 percent lower.Nevertheless, investor enthusiasm is surging on both the institutional and retail fronts. The combined trading value at the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses topped CNY2.15 trillion and CNY 2.28 trillion in the latest two sessions.July also witnessed a record monthly number of new mutual fund launches, reflecting rising interest among households in equity assets as returns from traditional savings and wealth management products continue to decline. Total assets under management in public mutual funds have now exceeded CNY34 trillion.Insurance companies are also ramping up their presence in the A-share market. The number of public disclosures triggered by insurers' equity holdings surpassing the 5 percent threshold has already exceeded last year's total. Analysts said insurers are increasingly focusing on companies from the emerging industries and advanced manufacturing sectors, supporting China's shift toward high-quality development.Retail investor participation is also rising. Nearly 14.6 million individual trading accounts were opened in the first seven months of 2025, a 37 percent year-on-year increase, according to data provider Wind Info.Furthermore, foreign investors have been steadily increasing their exposure to Chinese equities, including A-shares and Hong Kong-listed stocks. Net foreign inflows totaled US$2.7 billion in July, more than double the level in June, according to a recent report by Morgan Stanley.Analysts said the macro environment is becoming increasingly favorable for Chinese equities. Expectations of a weaker US dollar and potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve are improving the outlook for emerging markets. The narrowing interest rate differential between China and the United States could further accelerate foreign capital inflows.Hong Hao, chief investment officer at Lotus Asset Management, said the upward momentum of Chinese stocks will sustain for a long time if the US dollar's weakness proves to be a multiyear trend. Also, the Chinese market has been increasingly resilient in the face of negative tariff headlines.Given the current favorable liquidity conditions in the Chinese market and the fear-of-missing-out sentiment, any corrections in the A-share market are likely to be quickly absorbed by buyers, he added.GBA expressAliExpress has upgraded its logistics hub in Dongguan, Guangdong province, into the Alibaba-owned marketplace’s first fully automated cross-border logistics park, media reported. The enhancement is expected to shorten package transit times by as much as six hours.Industry and company newsShares of Tencent Holdings climbed to the highest at HKD600 today in more than four years after the Chinese internet giant reported a strong financial performance in the second quarter of the year. Net profit widened 17 percent to CNY55.6 billion in the period, while revenue climbed 15 percent to CNY184.5 billion, both significantly beating market expectations. Th company reported double-digit growth in most segments. Gaming was a key driver, with mainland revenue rising 17 percent and international sales up 35 percent on the success of titles including "Honor of Kings" and "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile." Tencent has been increasing investment in AI. Capital expenditure in the latest quarter surged 119 percent to CNY19 billion, which was mainly spent on AI-related infrastructure.  Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global has invested in China's unmanned delivery vehicle company Neolix, although the amount is unknown, media reported citing people familiar with the matter. Neolix has deployed over 7,500 autonomous vehicles across more than 280 cities.RayNeo and Ant Group said today they have allied to launch the RayNeo X3 Pro AI glasses, the world’s first full-color smart payment glasses, enabling “just look and pay” without needing a voice assistant or entering an amount on Ant's Alipay.China's newly-added yuan-denominated loans rose CNY12.87 trillion in the first seven months of the year, according to data released by the PBOC yesterday. Of the total, CNY680 billion were household loans.China's data sector reached CNY5.86 trillion by the end of 2024, up 117 percent from the end of 2020, the National Data Administration told a press conference on Thursday. The number of data-related Chinese firms exceeded 400,000 as of the end of last year.China has allocated CNY188 billion from its 2025 ultra-long special treasury bond funds to support equipment upgrades across major economic sectors, the National Development and Reform Commission said on Wednesday. The funds will support about 8,400 projects, leveraging more than CNY1 trillion in total investment. Asia-Pacific highlightsLeading Australian wine producer Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) reported a 15.5 percent increase in its annual profit on Wednesday, amid a stabilization of exports to the major Chinese mainland market. The winemaker posted underlying net profit after tax of AU$470.6 million for the year ending June 30, according to the company. The Penfolds range delivered another strong result, reflecting a successful return to China for the Australian country of origin portfolio and continued positive momentum in a number of other key Asian markets, said TWE CEO Tim Ford.Bangkok’s Iconsiam shopping mall is hosting a Charming Shanghai Week event from Aug. 8 to 15, featuring a full-scale recreation of Shanghai’s famed Yuyuan Lantern Festival in Thailand for the first time. The event celebrates the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand.

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programChina launches a 1-percentage point personal consumer loan interest subsidy to boost spending;Shanghai Composite Index recorded a near 4-year high on multiple boosts.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours China has unveiled an interest subsidy for personal consumer loans to boost domestic consumption, with a CNY3,000 cumulative subsidy limit per borrower at designated lending institutions.Residents can receive the subsidy if they use personal consumer loans (excluding credit cards) issued by designated institutions from Sept. 1 this year to Aug. 31 next year, but need to use the funds for consumption and transactions musts be traceable, according to a policy document jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration yesterday.Eligible purchases include single transactions below CNY50,000, with single transactions of CNY50,000 or more allowed only if related to autos, elderly care and childbirth, education and training, sightseeing, home furnishing and decoration, electronic products, and healthcare, the document said.Such subsidies can directly reduce residents' consumer credit, enhance their willingness and ability to use financial leverage to spend more, improve living standards, and stimulate effective financing demand from lenders and residents, industry experts noted.According to the document, 1 percentage point of the annual interest on loans will be subsidized, not exceeding 50 percent of the contractual interest rate. The central government will cover 90 percent of subsidy funds, with provincial governments providing the rest.Six big state-owned banks, 12 national joint-stock lenders, and five consumer lenders will serve as qualified lending institutions.Meanwhile, eight categories of eligible service sector businesses, including catering and accommodation, health care, elderly care, childcare, housekeeping, culture and entertainment, tourism and sports, will also benefit from a similar subsidy plan that rebates loan interest of 1 percentage point for no more than a year, said the finance ministry.To qualify for the subsidy, loans must be extended between March 16, 2025 and December 31, 2025, provided that the loans are used for improving consumption infrastructure or service supply capacity. The maximum loan amount eligible for subsidies per operator is CNY1 million.GBA expressAs the countdown ticks down for the 15th National Games, 400,000 tickets for the Hong Kong competition region are set to go on sale in phases beginning August 28 with a real-name registration system. The initial batch includes tickets for the beach volleyball, men's handball, men's under-22 basketball, and rugby sevens that will be held in the city, with remaining events released in phases starting at the end of September. There will be 5 million tickets on sale in batches for most of the competitive and mass participation events at the National Games and the National Special Olympic Games, including the events in Guangdong and Macao.Hong Kong’s capital markets continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience, emerging as the world’s top destination for IPOs in the first seven months of 2025. Christopher Hui, Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and the Treasury, said on Tuesday the number of IPOs in Hong Kong this year has already surpassed its annual fundraising totals for each of the past three years, with 53 new listings raising HK$127 billion, a staggering sixfold year-on-year increase. Hong Kong’s exceptional performance comes as global IPO markets saw only a modest 10 percent growth in capital raise in the first half of 2025, with deal numbers declining 5 percent worldwide, Hui noted.Margin trading balance on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets, which is a key gauge of market sentiment and leverage levels, topped CNY2 trillion yesterday for the first time in a decade, official data show. Margin financing in Shanghai was about CNY1.021 trillion, while that in Shenzhen came in at roughly CNY983.9 billion.Industry and company newsChinese stocks extended winning streak on Wednesday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closing up 0.48 percent, a record high since December 2021. The index has risen 10 percent so far this year. The Shenzhen Component Index also jumped 1.76 percent today, while the tech-focused ChiNext Index soared 3.64 percent. Total turnover of both the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses hit CNY2.15 trillion, surpassing the CNY2 trillion threshold again since February. China's summer box office, including presales, topped CNY9 billion as of 15:06 today, led by Dead To Rights,  Nobody, and The Lychee Road, according to film data tracker Beacon.Tencent Music's shares soared over 15 percent today, after the music streaming arm of Tencent said its revenue climbed 18 percent to CNY8.4 billion and adjusted net profit widened 33 percent to CNY2.6 billion in the second quarter.CATL, the world's biggest maker of electric vehicle batteries, has rolled out a repair service for its batteries using cell-to-pack technology to reduce expenses for car owners and seek a new growth driver. Replacing a battery typically costs around CNY100,000, while the new repair costs can be as low as CNY10,000.China has announced its first batch of nine pilot projects for liquefied green fuels as part of efforts to meet its 30/60 environmental targets. The projects, which use renewable energy to produce e-fuels, include five for methanol, three for ammonia, and one for ethanol, according to the National Energy Administration's recent notice. Eight are located in northeastern China, known for abundant renewable resources, while one is in the country’s economically developed east.Ingka Group, parent of Swedish retail giant Ikea, has invested in Shanghai-based Re-Mall Environmental Protection New Material, a Chinese recycler of consumer packaging waste. Ingka, which operates 39 Ikea stores and 10 shopping malls under the Livat brand on the Chinese mainland, said the investment is a commitment to tackle the global waste problem.Nine Chinese mainland universities and research institutes, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Fudan University, together with five Hong Kong universities and one from Macao jointly initiated a life science open alliance today to promote the technological innovation and integrated development of the life science industry, according to the Chinese Ministry of Education.Asia-Pacific highlightsChinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair the tenth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Anning, Yunnan from August 14 to 15, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry announced on Wednesday. The Informal Discussion Between the Foreign Ministers of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand will be held on the sidelines of the LMC Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the spokesperson said.Agriculture ministers of China, South Korea and Japan held their fourth trilateral meeting in South Korea's western port city of Incheon on Monday, the first since its last edition in China in 2018. The meeting focused on issues including food security, animal diseases, and sustainable agriculture, according to a joint statement.U.S. tariff rhetorics won't significantly alter global trade, as America's expanding fiscal deficit will sustain its import demand, David E. Sumual, chief economist at Bank Central Asia, Indonesia's largest private bank, said in a recent interview with the 21st Century Business Herald. Sumual said lower production costs in Southeast Asia, coupled with exchange rate factors, will prompt the U.S. to increase consumer goods imports from the region. Sumual noted ASEAN's local currency settlement (LCS) has expanded, with intra-ASEAN trade settled in local currencies reaching 25 percent in 2024, up from 10 percent in 2019, reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar. He believes with growing China-ASEAN trade, LCS may advance faster in ASEAN+3, and the Chinese yuan will be the best choice for regional currency diversification.

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programBeijing’s home viewing jumps after lifting curbs on suburban house buying;China will extend tariff suspension on imported U.S. products.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours Recent policy adjustments in major Chinese cities are fueling expectations that more policy fine-tuning and easing measures are likely in the coming months to support the real estate sector's steady recovery. Sales offices of property projects under development in Beijing outside the Fifth Ring saw a significant increase in traffic over the past weekend. Even during the hottest hours, many homebuyers went out to view properties.Beijing on Friday announced it would lift the limits on the number of home purchases outside the Fifth Ring for local residents to boost the local property market, effective Aug. 9. The Fifth Ring road is a ring-shaped expressway surrounding the city’s central urban area. The ring has a radius of around 16 kilometers, with the center being Tiananmen Square. The home purchase restriction on non-residents is still valid though.Suburban areas are the main focus of homebuyers in Beijing. In terms of transaction volume, apartments outside the Fifth Ring accounted for 80 percent of the city’s new home sales and over 50 percent of second-hand house sales in the first seven months of the year, according to data from the China Index Academy.Easing home-buying curbs will certainly have positive effects on Beijing’s property market, said Yan Yuejin, deputy director of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute. However, if the number of second-hand home listings in the city is not reduced, the recovery in new house demand would still be constrained, he added.Official data showed that Beijing’s property market experienced a recovery in sales in the first half of the year, but the market slid again in July. New home sales plunged 30 percent from a year earlier and 28 percent from June last month, while pre-owned house sales dropped 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively.Shanghai's housing market showed signs of recovery in July. Newly-built home prices averaged CNY71,353 per square meter, up 7.2 percent year-on-year, albeit with a soft decline month-on-month, according to property consultancy Centaline Shanghai.Among China’s four first-tier cities, Guangzhou is the only one that has fully lifted home purchase restrictions. Meanwhile, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen still retain curbs for their core urban areas, with conditional relaxations in suburban areas.While China's real estate sector is undergoing structural transformation, there are policy tools available to manage the transition, experts noted. The central government has emphasized the importance of meeting housing demand and preventing systemic risks — a dual focus that is likely to shape upcoming policy moves across major cities.They added that the latest development may point to a trend of calibrated policy easing, especially in top-tier cities, and demonstrate stronger policy objective to stabilize the country's property market.China will continue to suspend 24 percentage points of additional duty rate on imports from the United States within 90 days starting from 12:01 p.m. Tuesday, while retaining the remaining additional tariffs of 10 percent on those articles, Xinhua reported today, citing the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council. Also, China’s commerce ministry announced Tuesday that it has continued to suspend or removed export-control measures on some U.S. entities from Tuesday, in line with the consensus reached during the high-level China-U.S. economic and trade meeting in Stockholm, per another Xinhua report. GBA expressChina Resources Longdation plans to establish a center at its Wan Chai headquarters to source high-quality gerontechnology as well as elderly-friendly products from the mainland. Hong Kong Lawmaker Peter Douglas Koon Ho-ming, also the chairman of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, said the center could handle maintenance and after-sales services for mainland age-tech products, which are significantly more affordable than those in Hong Kong.The Greater Bay Area Cultural and Sports Center in Guangzhou, marked its debut operation with a men's basketball competition on Sunday. The center includes a stadium with 60,000 seats, an indoor arena that can accommodate 20,000 people, and a water sports center equipped with a 50-meter standard swimming pool and diving pool, which can accommodate 4,000 people, along with related supporting facilities.Industry and company newsChina sees 13.278 million new market entities set up in the first half of 2025, led by culture, sports, and entertainment companies, which posted an impressive 17.5 percent year-on-year increase, latest data from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) revealed on Tuesday. A total of 4.346 million new private enterprises were established, up 4.6 percent year-on-year, while foreign-funded entities grew by 4.1 percent to 33,000.Car production in China jumped 13.3 percent in July from the year before to 2.591 million units, while vehicle sales soared 14.7 percent to 2.593 million autos, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. New energy vehicle production in China surged 26.3 percent in July from a year earlier to 1.243 million units, while electric car sales soared 27.4 percent to 1.262 million autos. NEV sales accounted for almost half of all new car sales at 48.7 percent.China Earth Group denied the online rumor that the Chinese company will co-develop the world's first rare earth-backed Chinese yuan stablecoin with the People's Bank of China and Ant Group, reminding investors of potential risks. Ant Group denied the news yesterday.Shanghai Clearing House yesterday announced it has dropped the requirements for agreement commitment documents for overseas central banks and similar institutions to open accounts to further optimize China’s bond market.Asia-Pacific highlightsUnionPay is scheduled to debut in Brazil in 2025, local media reported. On Brazilian soil, the Asian country's institution intends to operate credit cards and integrate with PIX. The operation will be enabled by fintech Left, which is working to connect the Chinese company to banking networks, vending machines and ATMs in the country.Singapore's economy grew slightly faster than initially estimated, prompting the government to upgrade the city state's growth forecast for this year. Singapore’s GDP rose by 4.4 percent year-on-year in the April-June quarter, government data showed on Tuesday, ahead of an advance estimate of a 4.3 percent gain released last month. The trade ministry raised its GDP growth forecast for 2025 to 1.5-2.5 percent from 0-2 percent, saying it largely reflected a better-than-expected first half performance.Cambodia's trade with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries reached nearly USD23 billion in the first seven months of 2025, up 15.7 percent over the same period last year, said an official report on Monday.

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programChina sees positive price trends in July amid demand pickup;“ChatGPT moment” for robots is likely to arrive within 3 years, said Unitree’s Wang Xingxing.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours China reported positive signs in terms of both consumer and producer prices last month, as government policies to boost domestic demand continued to take hold.The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, climbed 0.4 percent in July compared with the previous month, reversing a 0.1-percent drop in June and exceeding the average seasonal pace of 0.3 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Saturday.On an annual basis, the CPI was unchanged in July, while the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.8 percent -- a rising streak for three consecutive months.NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said these positive trends were driven mainly by higher prices for services and industrial consumer goods, while emphasizing the effective role of policy measures in expanding demand.China has intensified moves to bolster domestic economic circulation this year, including stronger fiscal support for consumer goods trade-ins nationwide and strengthened focus on key service sectors such as elderly care and childcare and digital consumption.Saturday's data also revealed improved signs in the industrial sector. The producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 0.2 percent from a month ago in July -- an improvement considering the 0.4 percent-drop recorded in June, while also marking the first month-on-month narrowing since March. Compared with a year earlier, the PPI slid by 3.6 percent in July, the same as in June.Dong attributed the improving PPI performance in part to optimized market competition order, ongoing industrial shifts and unleashed domestic demand potential.GBA expressAs of the end of July, the number of local companies registered in the Hong Kong SAR exceeded 1.5 million, and the number of non-Hong Kong companies registered in the city surpassed 15,000, both hitting record highs, John Lee Ka-chiu, chief executive of the HKSAR, said on Sunday. From January 2023 to July 2025, InvestHK assisted 1,333 companies in setting up or expanding operations in the region and created more than 19,000 new jobs. The agency also attracted HK$174 billion in first-year direct investment, Lee said.Chinese mainland insurers have stepped up their holdings in Hong Kong-listed companies during the first half of the year. Public announcements showed that 13 out of the 19 major increased shareholding cases reported by mainland insurance companies so far this year have targeted companies trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange. According to the latest report released by the Insurance Asset Management Association of China, 63 percent of the surveyed Chinese mainland insurers will expand their investment in Hong Kong stocks this year.Ab&B Bio-Tech soared as much as 169 percent in its trading debut in the Hong Kong SAR, after retail investors flocked to the Chinese mainland vaccine maker’s initial public offering. The stock climbed to as high as HK$34.64 per share on Monday morning, more than double its HK$12.90 IPO price, which was set at the low end of the marketed range.  Industry and company newsThe "ChatGPT moment" for robots could arrive within the next two to three years, said Wang Xingxing, CEO, CTO and founder of Chinese robot startup Unitree in his speech on Saturday's 2025 World Robot Conference. Wang noted that in the first half of this year, China's humanoid robot industry saw significant growth and gained worldwide attention. Including both complete machine manufacturers and component manufacturers, companies in the sector posted average growth of 50 to 100 percent. Unitree's humanoid robot G1, priced from CNY99,000, has become one of the most widely shipped humanoid robots worldwide, he added.  Nvidia and rival AMD have reportedly agreed to give the US government 15 percent of their revenue from chip sales to China, under an arrangement to obtain export licenses for the semiconductors. Separately, Nvidia's chips pose security concerns for China, said an article posted on WeChat by Yuyuan Tantian, an account affiliated with CCTV. "When a type of chip is neither environmentally friendly, nor advanced, nor safe, we as consumers certainly have the option not to buy it," the article concluded. The company was recently summoned by the Cyberspace Administration of China for “serious security issues” concerning its H20 chips.Tech titan Huawei will reportedly announce this week a major advance in AI inference, the technology that runs the models. The breakthrough could reduce China's reliance on high-bandwidth memory technology, a critical bottleneck in the performance of AI models, boosting large-model inference speeds.China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers, said first-half net income rose 5 percent from a year earlier to CNY84.2 billion. Telecom revenue rose 0.7 percent to CNY467 billion. The company said it expanded its customer base to over 1 billion mobile users, including 599 million 5G network customers.CATL announced on Monday that it has temporarily suspended mining operations at its Yichun project in East China’s Jiangxi province following the expiration of the mining license on August 9. CATL is currently applying for a renewal of the permit and will resume production as soon as it is approved, the battery giant said. Asia-Pacific highlightsThis summer, two-way tourism between China and Southeast Asia is booming, fueled by China's visa-free policies and Chinese tourists' enthusiasm for Southeast Asia travel. China was Malaysia's largest source of tourists outside ASEAN in the first five months of this year, with about 1.81 million visitors, up 38.8 percent year-on-year. Vietnam hosted 1.95 million Chinese tourists in the period, while Cambodia saw a 50 percent jump in Chinese tourists, topping 280,000. China has been the top source of tourists for Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia for three years, contributing over a quarter of their tourism revenue. Meanwhile, Southeast Asian visitors to China also surged this year. At Kunming airport, arrivals from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore rose 406 percent, 119 percent and 273 percent respectively, compared with 2019.Global trade is estimated to expand 0.9 percent this year from a year earlier, up from the 0.2 percent contraction predicted in April but below the pre-tariff projection of 2.7 percent, the WTO said in its latest update released on Aug. 8. Higher international tariffs will slow trade growth to 1.8 percent next year, according to the new prediction. This compares with a 2.5 percent increase forecast in April. WTO added that Asian economies are projected to remain the largest positive driver of world merchandise trade volume growth in 2025, although their contribution in 2026 will be smaller than predicted in April.

While much of China swelters under scorching summer heat, Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is drawing visitors with a refreshing contrast, offering a chilly escape with a comfortable 23-degree-Celcius coolness.As the northern hemisphere enters its hottest months, China's "Ice city” is welcoming another heat waves of tourists not just from the rest of the nation, but even from ASEAN countries. Data from Harbin Orange Vacation Travel Service show that the company received a total of 1,300 summer vacationers from Southeast Asian countries in June."May, June, September and October are the peak months for inbound tourism from Southeast Asia," said Wang Hongxin, the company's general manager.  The footsteps of Southeast Asian tourists have knocked on the summer gate of the "Ice City”. The company received over 60 summer vacation groups from Southeast Asian countries in June, marking a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, according to the manager. Bookings for September have already exceeded 100 groups and over 2,000 visitors, with some reservations extending into the end of 2026, he added.With the increasing popularity of Harbin, the customer base is also expanding. In addition to traditional customer sources such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, Wang finds emerging markets such as Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Laos are also rapidly increasing this summer.The country’s expanded visa-free policy also allows visitors from afar to enjoy their journey with peace of mind. Since February 2024, Singaporeans have been able to stay in China visa-free for up to 30 days, as against 15 days earlier. Malaysia and Thailand have also established mutual visa exemption policies with China, making spontaneous trips a reality.Travel agencies reported that the number of group bookings for flights from Singapore to China in the first half of 2025 matches the total for all of 2024.Data from the Harbin immigration station show that in July, a total of 61,000 inbound and outbound passengers were inspected at Harbin Airport, an increase of nearly 10,000 compared with the number in June and a year-on-year increase of 19.3 percent. Among them, the number of inbound foreign passengers was nearly 10,000, with a year-on-year increase of 15.9 percent."Visitors from Southeast Asia and other regions can now reach Harbin more easily with continuous increase in charter flights, significantly reducing time spent traveling," Wang said. Bringing winter into summer, Harbin Ice and Snow World Park remains a popular destination even though it is no longer the official ice and snow season. Its indoor pavilion, maintained at -10 C, features nine themed areas and 19 attractions that blend urban culture, artistic creativity and ice-themed innovations.Visitors can explore ice sculpture exhibits, displays on the history of the Asian Winter Games and European-style streetscapes. Simulated snowfall, a giant slide and figure skating performances add to the immersive experience.Yet, Harbin has much more to offer. For some, an authentic experience with China's bathhouse culture is worth the trip. In northeastern China, bathhouses are more than places to relax — they are social hubs. The tradition of "scrubbing "in bathhouses, where guests are meticulously cleaned and massaged, is quite an exotic “adventure” for those living in tropical regions.Watching Siberian tigers casually pacing in Heilongjiang Northeast Tiger Forest Park, touching ice sculptures in the Ice and Snow World, and eating “guobaorou” (crispy fried pork in sweet and sour sauce), these all become the most vivid "Harbin memories" of ASEAN tourists.After enjoying their time in Harbin, many vacationers extend their itineraries to areas further north, such as Yichun and Mohe. A chartered tourist train, named "Yichun", offers guests an extraordinary experience aboard one of the best-quality trains dedicated to sightseeing in the country. Bookings for the tourist train have been scheduled until the end of 2026.From the forest oxygen bar in Yichun to the exotic streets and lanes in Harbin, these guests from afar are measuring the diverse charm of Heilongjiang with their footsteps.These Mandarin-, Cantonese-, and Hokkien-speaking tourists in Southeast Asia, have then shared their experiences in English on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu, TikTok and YouTube, broadening the appeal to non-Chinese-speaking communities.Local travel agencies are even hiring students from ASEAN who have stayed and loved the city, while travel agencies are also busy going abroad to market the city and secure business orders. Southeast Asian customers not only asked about winter tours, but also expressed interest about our summer offerings, said the manager of a Harbin-based international travel agency.Harbin has ignited a fervor for ice and snow tourism on Chinese social media this winter, since the opening of the 41st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival on Jan 5. Then in February, the 9th Asian Winter Games marked yet another major ice and snow celebration in all of Asia.The city greeted over 90 million visitors in 2024-2025 winter season, with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Indonesia being the top 5 sources of international arrivals. From January to June this year, Harbin welcomed 87 million tourist visits, indicating an all-time travel season for the city.Harbin, once known globally as a winter wonderland, is now redefining its allure under the summer sun—proving that its charm is no seasonal fluke, but a year-round symphony of contrasts. This "Ice City" has unlocked a new chapter, where the warmth of its hospitality meets the cool of its summers, and where every footstep from Southeast Asia leaves not just a memory, but a bridge between latitudes.

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programChina's foreign trade rises 3.5% in first seven months of 2025;China’s NEV penetration rate surpassed 54% in July.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours China's foreign trade has maintained a growth trend in the first seven months of this year, with total imports and exports reaching CNY25.7 trillion, up 3.5 percent year-on-year. The growth rate accelerated by 0.6 percentage points compared with the first half of the year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Thursday.Of the total, exports reached CNY15.31 trillion, up 7.3 percent. While imports declined by 1.6 percent to CNY10.39 trillion, the decline narrowed by 1.1 percentage points compared with the first half of the year.In July alone, China’s exports expanded 7.2 percent, while imports jumped 4.1 percent compared to a year ago, beating market forecasts. The country's trade value grew by 6.7 percent to CNY3.91 trillion last month, customs data showed.Notable data include mechanical and electrical products trade, which now accounts for 60 percent of exports, with exports of automatic data processing equipment and parts, integrated circuits and automobiles all growing, highlighting the initial results of China's efforts to promote new quality productive forces.Looking at the data by country and region, ASEAN remained to be China's largest trading partner, with total trade reaching CNY4.29 trillion, up 9.4 percent, accounting for 16.7 percent of China's total foreign trade. The EU was China's second-largest trading partner, with trade totaling CNY3.35 trillion, up 3.9 percent, making up 13 percent of total trade. The US ranked third, with trade amounting to CNY2.42 trillion, down 11.1 percent, accounting for 9.4 percent of the total.During the same period, China's total imports and exports with countries in joint construction of the Belt and Road reached CNY13.29 trillion, an increase of 5.5 percent.GBA expressHong Kong flagship carrier Cathay Pacific reported a 1 percent increase in first half profit to HK$3.7 billion on a 9.5 percent growth in revenue from a year earlier. The airline said it is exercising an option with Boeing to buy 14 more 777-9 jets and warned that the outlook for cargo transport remains uncertain.CaoCao Chuxing opened up 7.4 percent today after the Chinese ride-hailing firm announced a deal with Hong Kong-licensed Victory Securities to tokenize its green mobility assets under the city’s regulated real-world asset tokenization.IQiyi is reportedly seeking to raise US$300 million for a listing in Hong Kong this year, media reported citing anonymous source. The Netflix-style streaming service, owned by Baidu, has begun discussions with global banks about a second listing in the city, the people said. IQiyi’s US stock rose as much as 6 percent but pared gains to close little changed in New York.Industry and company newsChina's car sales rose 10 percent to more than 12.7 million units in the first seven months from a year earlier, with those of new energy vehicles (NEVs) jumping 30 percent to over 6.47 million, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association. In July, retail sales of NEVs reached 1 million units, up 14 percent year-on-year, with the NEV market's retail penetration rate reaching 54.7 percent.Chinese drone maker DJI launched a robotic vacuum cleaner series yesterday, expanding its tech expertise beyond aerial devices. The ROMO series features sweeping and mopping capabilities, starting at CNY4,699.ByteDance has expanded its 2026 campus recruitment program by about 25 percent from a year earlier, driven by a growing shortage of tech talent. The tech giant recently launched its latest annual hiring campaign, aiming to recruit over 5,000 graduates across eight categories, including R&D, product management, and operations.Asia-Pacific highlightsThailand and Cambodia on Thursday signed an agreement on border issue after an extraordinary meeting of the General Border Committee, according to a Thai representative, Xinhua reports.The China-Laos Railway has transported over 14 million tons of import and export goods, amounting to more than CNY60 billion, since its opening in December 2021, according to Kunming Customs on Wednesday. The railway's cross-border freight volume exceeded 3.43 million tons with a value surpassing CNY15.4 billion in the first seven months this year, both of which are record highs for this period.The magnitude of bilateral trade decline seen in dollar-denominated terms between China and Australia continues to narrow, as GAC data show that bilateral trade saw a negative growth of 9.7 percent in July year-on-year, the fourth consecutive month of improvement. In terms of Chinese goods exports to Australia, there was a positive growth of 2.3 percent in July, up from 0.3 percent in June.