Weekend Buzz: 15-16 August 2026

US Plans to Isolate Iran to a Degree 'Never Seen Before'

The Trump administration says its indefinite US naval blockade on Iranian ports will be complemented by the rollout of a new economic isolation program aimed at Tehran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran will be isolated to a degree "never seen before." Amid widespread media reports of dwindling US munitions stockpiles, Washington has shifted tactics from military strikes to an economic squeeze to try to force Iran to accept its terms for peace and get the Strait of Hormuz freely open again to oil and gas cargos from the Gulf states. A standoff in the six-month war is resulting in thin tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, keeping global oil prices hovering just under US$90 a barrel.

Powerful Earthquake Strikes Indonesian Island

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia's Flores island today at 6am. A tsunami warning was issued but later lifted. There were no reports of casualties, though some buildings collapsed, according to initial reports. Flores is part of an island chain that includes Bali.

Latvia Scrambles Jets in Drone Incursion

Latvia said NATO jets were scrambled to deal with a drone violating its airspace, which it attributed to "Russian electromagnetic warfare." It's not clear if the incident was related to a fire that broke out at a major Russian oil export hub on the Baltic Sea west of St Petersburg after a Ukrainian drone attack. Russia said its military hit Ukrainian port infrastructure in overnight strikes.

Top Business

China's SMIC Raises Wafer Prices on AI Chip Demand

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), the largest foundry on the Chinese mainland, announced an increase in silicon wafer prices after announcing record quarterly revenue of US$3 billion for the three months to June 30. Co-CEO Zhao Haijun said on an earnings call that the price increases come after negotiations with buyers. "Since there's still a big gap between industry-leading wafer prices and SMIC's current prices, we need to negotiate for fairer pricing," he said. AI demand for chips, whose patterns are printed onto wafers, has been escalating globally.

Z.AI Unveils New Model to Compete with Anthropic

Z.AI, the Chinese large-language developer more commonly known as Zhipu, unveiled its latest GLM-5.3 model, claiming it slightly outperforms Anthropic's Mythos 5 at finding software flaws but still trails in converting discovered flaws into working attacks. The company said the new version scored 84.5 percent on CyberGym, a test of whether a model can review code, identify security flaws and confirm that they are real. That was slightly higher than the 83.8 percent for Mythos 5. The results have not been independently verified, Reuters reported. Z.AI said the new model is the highest-ranked open-source model across multiple mainstream benchmarks, with coding and AI capabilities approaching those of Anthropic's Claude Fable 5. It said GLM-5.3 will be released publicly in about two weeks after completing security assessments.

Kweichow Moutai Reports Profit Drop, Revenue Rise

Premium liquor maker Kweichow Moutai reported net profit in the first half fell 2 percent to 44.5 billion yuan (US$6.6 billion). Revenue rose 1.5 percent to 90.7 billion yuan. The Shanghai-listed company said it produced 41,000 tons of its signature Moutai brand, a fiery distilled liquor widely consumed at major celebrations and given as gifts. In the second quarter, net profit dropped 36 percent from the prior quarter to 17.3 billion yuan. Kweichow said it expects continued industry competition and structural adjustment but remains confident in achieving full-year targets. Meanwhile, Zhao Shuyue, former deputy Party secretary of Moutai Group, is under investigation by Guizhou Province authorities for alleged severe violations of law, joining a series of executives probed since 2025.

Apple Said to Be Developing Own AI Model for China, Assisted by Alibaba

Smartphone giant Apple is collaborating with China's Alibaba to develop its own AI model tailored for the Chinese market, Reuters reported. The move is a departure from Apple's past practice of using models from Chinese mainland partners to introduce AI features on iPhones and other company products sold in China. Apple's AI toolkit Apple Intelligence is expected to be officially launched in China in the coming months, alongside updates to the iOS operating system.

Tesla Poised to Unveil New Roadster Design

Tesla plans to unveil a redesign of its Roadster sports car as early as this month, Reuters reported, citing The Information. It could involve a limited-edition Roadster with cold-gas thrusters developed in collaboration with SpaceX, the report said. Tesla originally revealed the next-generation Roadster in 2017 and said deliveries would begin in 2020, but the program has been delayed. The new version could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, or potentially millions, the report added.

Economy & Markets

Yuan Shows Gains for Seventh Week

China's yuan hovered at more than a three-year high against the US dollar on Friday as it headed for its seventh weekly gain. The spot yuan was quoted at 6.7443 mid-morning, Beijing time. The People's Bank of China set the Friday midpoint rate at 6.7878, its strongest since February 2023. The spot rate is allowed to trade within 2 percent either side of the midpoint. A higher yuan makes exports more expensive and imports cheaper.

Yuan Loans Rise 5.1 Percent in Seven Months

China's outstanding yuan-denominated loans in the first seven months of the year rose 5.1 percent to 282.29 trillion yuan (US$42 trillion), according to the People's Bank of China. Reuters calculated from the figures that new yuan loans last month contracted by 340 billion yuan. M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased by 7.7 percent year-on-year in the January-July period to 355.51 trillion yuan.

China Expands Cross-Border Cash Pooling

China's central bank and foreign exchange regulator will expand a cross-border cash pooling program nationwide, allowing eligible multinational companies to better manage yuan and foreign currency funds across borders. Under the new rules, companies applying for cash pooling services must have genuine business needs, sound cross-border fund management frameworks, internal control systems and electronic management platforms. Domestic subsidiaries within a multinational group must have combined annual yuan and foreign currency cross-border payment and receipt volumes of at least 700 million yuan (US$103.8 million). Alternatively, domestic subsidiaries must report combined annual revenue of at least 1 billion yuan, while overseas subsidiaries must generate annual revenue of at least 200 million yuan equivalent.

Panda Bond Issuance Hits Record

Issue of panda bonds – debt sold by foreign institutions in the China market – surged 74 percent from a year earlier so far this year to a record 202.5 billion yuan (US$30 billion), Securities Times reported, citing Wind data. The figure surpassed the total 2025 issuance of 183.6 billion yuan.

Anglo American Signs Iron Ore Deal With China

UK-based global mining conglomerate Anglo American said it has struck a year-long supply deal with China Mineral Resources Group, the state-backed iron ore buyer. Anglo American joins Australin mining giant BHP in completed deals after negotiations dragged on for months. No price was disclosed. China has aggregated iron ore imports under China Mineral Resources Group to give it more clout in negotiating prices amid weaker profits among Chinese steelmakers.

US Slaps Tariffs on Imports of Foreign-Made Drones

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing tariffs of up to 100 percent on imports of drones, depending on size, saying the US is too reliant on foreign suppliers. A 15 percent tariff will be applied to drones from South Korea, China's Taiwan, Japan, the EU and Switzerland. The new tariffs will come into effect in three weeks. The US earlier banned imports of advanced drones, mainly from Chinese mainland, citing national security concerns over military-grade technology.

Separately, a US appeals court on Friday gave leading Chinese drone maker DJI another chance to challenge its inclusion on a Pentagon blacklist of companies allegedly linked to the Chinese military. The ruling didn't remove DJI from the list but sent the case back to a lower court to reconsider one part of the Defense Department's justification for inclusion on the list in 2022. The Shenzhen-based drone maker has been in a long battle in the US to be removed from the list, denying any ties to China's military establishment. A lower court sided with the Pentagon in a 2025 ruling, which DJI appealed.

BOJ Reportedly Eyes September Rate Hike

The Bank of Japan could raise interest rates as early as September, according to sources familiar with the central bank's thinking. Persistent pressure on prices driven by the Middle East conflict, booming global artificial intelligence demand and ongoing yen weakness have combined to mount the most serious pressure on policymakers since Japan ended its ultra-loose monetary policy in 2024.

Bank of China Launches China's First "Token Loan"

Bank of China has introduced China's first "token loan" based on computing power, targeting small and mid-sized companies. The financial product marks a shift in computing power financing, moving from hardware-based lending to credit offerings tailored for AI application-layer firms.

Deep Dive

After Mastering Pixels, AIGC Delves into Physical Laws and Embodied Action

AI has achieved many astonishing leaps in content generation over the last few years, across images, videos and audio, blurring the boundary between the digital and real worlds. This trajectory includes the fast-emerging field leveraging AI to generate digital content (AIGC).

Yet, as visuals grow sufficiently lifelike and audio increasingly natural, a pivotal question arises: Where should AI head next?

Corporate

Pony.ai, Uber Ramp Up Robotaxi Penetration in Europe

Leading Chinese robotaxi company Pony.ai said it and US partner Uber plan to deploy 2,000 Pony self-driving taxis across Europe and expand joint operations in the Middle East. Their first foray into Europe came in the Croatian capital of Zagreb last March. That will be expanded to four more European cities the companies didn't identify in a Friday announcement. The competition to put robotaxis onto European streets and elsewhere is heating up, with major rivals like US operator Waymo, which is backed by Alphabet, and China's WeRide and Baidu Apollo Go.

Air China Reports Increase in July Passenger Traffic

Air China, the nation's largest carrier, said passenger traffic in July rose 11.2 percent from a year earlier on a 4.8 percent increase in capacity. Traffic on domestic routes gained 9.6 percent and on international routes, 17 percent. Passenger load factor rose 4.9 percentage points to 85 percent. Cargo and mail traffic last month rose 7 percent.

LG Partners with Nvidia on AI, Robotics and Mobility

South Korea's LG Group and chip giant Nvidia signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to expand collaboration across robotics, artificial intelligence and mobility businesses. Under the agreement, the companies plan to unveil a next-generation bipedal humanoid robot built on Nvidia's Isaac GR00T platform in the first quarter of 2027. The alliance will leverage Nvidia's AI computing ecosystem with LG's hardware, battery and automotive software technologies.

Trustar Nears Purchase of Alibaba Video Game Brand

Asian private equity firm Trustar Capital, an affiliate of Citic Capital Holdings, is close to reaching an agreement to acquire Alibaba video game brand Lingxi Interactive Entertainment, Bloomberg reported. No final deal has been clinched amid ongoing talks. Earlier reports said Alibaba was considering selling the brand for as much at 9 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion).

Tencent Ranks First Among China Game Publishers, NetEase Has Top Grosser

Tencent ranked first among the 38 Chinese companies in the global Top 100 mobile game publishers by revenue last month, according to Sensor Tower. The 38 companies accounted for a combined US$2.3 billion of July revenue, or 43 percent of global sales. Tencent's "Honor of Kings" title had a 35 percent rise in revenue to US$200 million worldwide. NetEase ranked fourth among Chinese game publishers. Its "Eggy Party" eclipsed its "Fantasy Westward Journey" as the top-grossing mobile game, with aggregate global revenue topping US$770 million.

Beijing Culture Benefits from Box Office Smash Hit

The blockbuster film "Once Upon a Time in Middle East," a movie about a Chinese restaurant during the Iraq War in 2003, has taken the Chinese mainland box office by storm, grossing over 500 million yuan (US$74 million) in just four days. The film's success triggered a four-day rally in shares of co-producer Beijing Culture, despite the company holding only a minor stake.

Want Want Chairman Says 'Operational Crisis' May Lead to Layoffs

The chairman of Want Want, a leading Chinese snack food and beverage company, said earnings in the three months to June 30 failed to meet expectations and indicated that some executives and other employees may be let go because of an "operational crisis." Tsai Eng-meng, in a letter to employees, said the poor performance reflects nearly 30 years of prosperity unaccompanied by innovation and transformation. Hong Kong-listed Want Want's relationships with distributors and customers failed to keep up with changing trends in the market, he said. The company last month issued a warning flagging a 6 percent drop in revenue and a 38 percent decline in profit.