Daily Buzz: 13 August 2026

Tencent Revenue Beats on Games, AI Ads but Profit Weak

Chinese multinational conglomerate Tencent reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue on strong domestic gaming sales and AI-driven advertising, but profit fell short of analysts' estimates as the tech giant ramped up capital spending on AI. Revenue rose 11 percent year from a year earlier to 204.78 billion yuan (US$30.36 billion), while net profit edged up only 0.7 percent to 56 billion yuan. Domestic gaming revenue jumped 17 percent to 47.3 billion yuan, accelerating from 6 percent growth in the first quarter. Tencent said titles including "Delta Force" and "Valorant" drove the increase. International gaming revenue declined 0.8 percent because of the stronger Chinese yuan. Capital spending rose to 52.8 billion yuan from 31.9 billion yuan in the first quarter, and the company signaled that will increase in the second half of the year. Tencent's businesses span cloud computing, digital payments, music and video streaming and online healthcare. It is a competitor of ByteDance and Alibaba, with AI products that include Yuanbao chatbot and the WorkBuddy office assistant.

Separately HK-listed Tencent Music Entertainment reported a 32 percent drop in first-half profit from a year earlier to 4.6 billion yuan (US$682 million), although profit adjusted to disregard a large one-time gain last year grew 5.6 percent to nearly 5 billion yuan. In the second quarter of this year, net profit edged up 2.6 percent to 2.5 billion yuan. Half-year revenue rose 6.5 percent to 16.8 billion yuan, largely driven by an 11.5 percent jump in music-related services to 14 billion yuan. Music membership revenue expanded 7.4 percent to 9.4 billion yuan.

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, a Proponent of Reform, Dies

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji died, aged 98 in Beijing. His official obituary called Zhu's life "a revolutionary, fighting and glorious one." Born in Changsha and educated as an electrical engineer at Tsinghua University, Zhu was mayor of Shanghai before being elevated to senior positions in Beijing. He served as premier from 1998-2003 and was considered a leading figure in China's policies of reform and opening up to the world. He had a reputation as a tough but pragmatic administrator.

Foxconn Posts Record Quarterly Profit, Revenue

Taiwan's Hon Hai Technology, more commonly known as Foxconn, said second-quarter profit rose 35 percent to a record T$60 billion (US$1.9 billion) and revenue jumped to an all-time high of T$2.53 trillion. The world's largest maker of contract electronics for companies like Apple and Nvidia, said profit in the first half rose 27 percent to T$109.9 billion on a 35 percent rise in revenue to T$4.65 trillion. Foxconn Chief Executive Michael Chiang stated the company continues to expand its market share in AI server racks, driven by strong demand from cloud service providers. With Nvidia's Vera Rubin racks entering mass production in the third quarter, revenue in that segment is expected to grow in the double-digits this year, he said. Shipments of high-performance networking products are moving ahead and full-year revenue from 800G and higher switches is expected to double. Foxconn employs 900,000 people globally in factories operating in China, the US, Mexico, Vietnam and other countries.

Beijing Hit With Torrential Rain in Aftermath of Typhoon Dolphin

Thousands of people were evacuated from areas at risk of flooding and landslides in Beijing and surrounding areas as the remnants of Typhoon Dolphin continue to dump torrential rain on areas of northern and central China. Forecasters warned the Chinese capital could receive up to a third of its average annual rainfall. Dolphin was the strongest typhoon to hit China so far this year. Neighboring Hebei Province was also on alert for mountain flooding and landslides, Chinese media reported.

Israel Accused of Igniting Wildfires in Southern Lebanon

The Israeli army is intentionally dropping flares in southern Lebanon to spark fires and burn forests and cropland, the Guardian reported, citing local firefighters and residents. The head of civil defense in the Nabatieh region, Hussein Fakih, reported one instance when Israeli drones prevented firefighting efforts. The Israel military has occupied a large swathe of southern Lebanon since war there resume in tandem with the US-Israeli war on Iran. Southern Lebanon is a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah militias. A ceasefire signed in June has mostly curtailed fighting in the region.

Top Business

WeRide Q2 Loss Narrows, Revenue Rises

Leading Chinese autonomous driving firm WeRide narrowed its loss in the second quarter to 401 million yuan (US$59 million) from 406 million yuan a year ago on an 82 percent increase in revenue to 232 million yuan. Overseas earnings accounted for 40 percent of revenue. Its self-driving fleet size overseas doubled to 400 vehicles operating in 12 countries Research and development costs rose 36 percent to 434 million yuan, and operating expenses increased 9 percent to 533 million yuan. During the quarter, WeRide announced robotaxi commercial partnerships in Madrid, Zurich and Copenhagen. In the Middle East, the company expanded driverless operations to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and its Riyadh operating zone was extended to airport terminals and surrounding central business districts.

Horizon Robotics Unveils Upgraded Horizon SuperDrive (HSD) 2.0

Smart driving chip and software provider Horizon Robotics announced a major upgrade to its autonomous driving system, Horizon SuperDrive (HSD) 2.0. The updated system enhances the model's physical world understanding predictive modeling and decision-making to enable complex actions like multi-point U-turns on narrow roads. Currently, only Tesla's full self-driving system and Horizon's HSD 2.0 deliver that level of capability. To date, Horizon has shipped over 10 million Journey chips across more than 40 automotive partners. HSD 2.0 is already being adopted by brands like Chery, with future rollouts planned for Volkswagen models in China.

AgiBot, Xmov Partner to Deploy Interactive Humanoid in Shanghai

Robot maker AgiBot and Xmov Technology teamed up to enhance the AgiBot X2 robot, combining AgiBot's core technology with Xmov's embodied interactive intelligence to deliver a more seamless human-robot interaction experience. To showcase its capabilities, the companies deployed the robot in areas of Shanghai's Xuhui District, where it interacted with residents in sites like community canteens, senior centers and youth programs.

Gap, Bucking a Tough Retail Market, Plans Expansion in China

US apparel retailer Gap plans to open 50 new stores in Chinese mainland this year and return to Hong Kong by year's end, the South China Morning Post reported. The expansion comes in a highly competitive market and slower consumer spending, where brands such as Zara and H&M are scaling back store numbers. China e-commerce company Baozun took over Gap's operations on the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau in 2023. For the first quarter, Gap reported growth of 20 percent in same-store sales in China.

Shanghai Plans Massive AI Computing Clusters

Shanghai plans to build 100,000 computing clusters of AI graphics processing units as it expands capacity for AI applications and large language models. The city's economic and information technology authorities have unveiled a development plan for the software and information services industry through 2030, calling for a massive intelligent computing cluster program. The city aims to create a tiered system combining large and small clusters with edge computing. Shanghai targets an industry value of 4 trillion yuan (US$590 billion) by 2030.

Economy & Markets

Londian Shares Rise in New York IPO Debut

Shares in Chinese copper foil maker Londian Wason New Energy Tech debuted on the New York Stock Exchange with an opening surge of 18 percent above their offer price after a US$94.3 million initial public offering. The company's listing is one of few Chinese firms to go public in the US in recent years. The stock closed trading up 0.85 percent at US$24.97. Copper foil is a key component used in lithium-ion battery that power electric vehicles and AI infrastructure.

China Auto Exports Surge in July, Offsetting Weak Domestic Sales

China's auto exports surged in July, with shipments topping 1 million vehicles for a second straight month as new-energy vehicles continued to drive overseas growth. China exported 1.04 million vehicles in July, up 81.3 percent from a year earlier, while domestic passenger-car sales fell 24.7 percent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. New energy vehicles accounted for over 50 percent of car exports for the second consecutive month, surging 146 percent to 553,000 units. In the first seven months of the year, exports rose 67 percent to 6.1 million vehicles, with new energy cars doubling to 2.9 million and traditional fuel-powered vehicles rising 362 percent to 3.2 million.

Yangtze Memory Becomes World's 3rd Biggest NAND Chip Supplier

China's Yangtze Memory Technologies landed among the top three global suppliers of NAND flash memory suppliers for the first time after capturing a 14 percent share of shipments in the second quarter, according to market research firm Counterpoint. South Korea's Samsung led with 25 percent, followed by SK Hynix at 22 percent.

Shein Said Poised to Begin Taking Orders for Its IPO in Hong Kong

Global online discount fashion retailer Shein is planning to begin taking subscriptions next week for its initial public offering in Hong Kong, seeking to raise a reported US$2.8 billion and value the company at US$35 billion, the South China Morning Post reported. The global vendor, founded in China but now headquartered in Singapore, earlier attempted to go public in New York and London but was thwarted by regulatory scrutiny. Pricing for the shares hasn't been disclosed. The company said in its prospectus that it had US$99 million loss in the first quarter, turning from a year-earlier profit of US$395 million. Shein's fast-delivery model has suffered a setback in Europe and the US by government removals of duty-free access for small parcels.

US Inflation Eases, Damping Rate-Rise Expectations

US consumer prices in July rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent, for a 3.4 percent gain from a year earlier as forecast, mitigating expectations that the Federal Reserve will be forced to raise interest rates because of high oil prices triggered by the Iran war. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.2 percent, for a 2.5 percent annual gain. Both figures eased from June.

China's Sea Legend to Open 'Ice Silk Road'

Chinese container company Sea Legend Shipping will launch an Arctic shipping route named the "Ice Silk Road" this week, sailing along Russia's Northern Sea Route from China's coastal city of Ningbo to the Felixstowe port in the UK, the Financial Times reported. The route may help ease the escalating cargo bottleneck in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea caused by the Iran war. The continuing melting of Arctic sea ice makes the northern route viable. The new route will shorten the transit time from China to European ports by up to half during the summer season. Last year, there were a record 23 container ships using the Arctic route.

Corporate

Ford to Shift Lincoln Production to US From China

US auto giant Ford said it plans to move production of some Lincoln models ‌from China to the U.S. in 2030, Reuters reported. The company said autos imported from China are subject to hefty duties.

Chief Executive Jim Farley said the decision was made as soon as Trump administration tariff policies became clearer.

Honor Unveils World's First 'Robot Phone' Starting at 9,999 Yuan

Electronics device maker Honor officially launched the Honor Robot Phone on Wednesday, marking the arrival of the world's first smartphone equipped with robotic embodied intelligence. The device features an industry-first "four-degrees-of-freedom" titanium alloy gimbal, integrating a compact motorized camera system directly into the device. It also features the industry's first system-level agent architecture, enabling multi-modal perception, proactive task execution and intuitive human-device interaction. The 12 gigabyte + 512 gigabyte version is priced at 9,999 yuan (US$1,482), while the 16 gigabyte + 1 terabyte version costs 12,999 yuan. Pre-orders opened on Wednesday, with official sales starting on August 18.

Former Qwen Head Starts His Own Tech Company

Lin Junyang, former technology head of Alibaba's Qwen AI agent, has started a Shanghai company called Pragmatik Labs to develop next-generation agents spanning digital and physical worlds, Yicai reported. A recent fundraising round values the startup at US$2 billion. Participants included Tencent, Gaorong Ventures and the Shanghai Future Industry Fund.

Nvidia Reportedly Poised to Invest in China Optical Companies

Nvidia reportedly plans to invest US$2 billion for a strategic stake in Zhongji Innolight, a Chinese maker of optical transceivers that enable high-speed data transmission in AI data centers through fiber-optic cables. Innolight listed in Hong Kong last month with a US$6.8 billion IPO. In addition, Nvidia also reportedly plans to become a cornerstone investor in the Hong Kong IPO of Eoptolink, a Chengdu-based maker of optical models. Both Chinese companies said they are unaware of the market speculation.

ModelBest Intelligent Tech Seeks Chinese Mainland Listing

ModelBest Intelligent Technology, a Chinese AI large-language model company, is seeking an initial public offering on a Chinese mainland stock exchange, with Citic Securities acting as "tutoring" broker, according to China Securities Regulatory Commission data. The company was incubated at Tsinghua University's Natural Language Processing Laboratory in 2022. Earlier market reports said ModelBest completed a new round of financing last month, with cumulative financing in the first half exceeding 5 billion yuan (US$740 million).

Aureka Biotech Raises US$100 Million in New Investment

Shanghai-based Aureka Biotechnologies, a Chinese AI biotech company, secured US$100 million in a recent fundraiser to build next-generation biological foundation models. Investors included Singapore venture capital firm Granite Asia, HighLight Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.

The proceeds will be mainly used to research and train next-generation biological foundation models, Yicai reported. Founded in 2023, the company aims to build infrastructure that integrates AI models, agents, digital biotechnology and experimental platforms to reshape the drug discovery process. So far, it has raised US$200 million.

Dolby Partners with Hisense, IQiyi to Launch New Standard

Dolby Laboratories has partnered with China's Hisense and iQiyi to introduce Dolby Vision 2, its next-generation imaging standard. The technology debuts on two flagship Hisense TV models, with broader rollout across additional Hisense lines and other TV brands expected soon. IQiyi becomes China's first streaming platform to support the upgraded format. Dolby Vision 2 enhances picture quality for any light environment, delivers a truer cinematic feel by eliminating unwanted judder and "soap opera effects," and adds pro-level settings for display fine-tuning.