Daily Buzz: 2 September 2026

Shein's Trading Debut Stumbles, Shares Edge Lower

Shares in Chinese global online discount fashion retailer Shein stumbled from the start in their debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday, though they recovered from steeper losses to close down just 0.12 percent from their offer price. The HK$13.6 billion (US$1.7 billion) IPO was problematical for investors more smitten with AI companies going public. Amid headwinds, Shein scaled down the size of the share offer to a value three-quarters below its value just four years ago. The company failed in earlier attempts to list in London and New York, amid concerns about its business model. Its dependence on fast delivery of small duty-free parcels was undermined this year by the US and EU levying duties on such packages. Shein has also come under scrutiny by EU regulators for its business practices and sales of illicit goods, resulting in fines. On Monday, France said it is imposing a new per-garment fee on ultra-fast fashion items, aimed at Shein and Chinese rivals Temu and AliExpress. US authorities are conducting a national security review of Shein Global's purchase of American clothing retailer Everlane in May for US$80 million.

Separately, shares in Beijing-based Mech-Mind Robotics, which also debuted in Hong Kong in Tuesday, fell 1.9 percent from their offer price after an IPO that raised HK$2.4 billion. The company makes robots that integrate vision, brain and hand capabilities.

Chinese, Russian Presidents Meet at Central Asian Summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. Xi said bilateral relations will strengthen as both nations face a world undergoing change at a pace not seen in a century, rife with unpredictable factors in the international order. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization bears the mission of maintaining regional stability and promoting regional development, he said. Putin said Sino-China relations have become a global model for relations between countries, and Russia will foster stronger cooperation in trade, energy, industry, transportation and technology.

Flare-Up in US, Iran Attacks Sends Oil Prices Surging Again

The US launched new airstrikes on Iranian targets on Tuesday, dashing hopes that an exchange of fire over the weekend – the first in a month – might not continue. Oil prices surged. The US attacks came after two tankers trying to exit the Strait of Hormuz were struck by Iranian projectiles and after US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the weekend attacks didn't signal a return to full-scale war. However, Trump is stepping up his rhetoric against Iran, warning that if Tehran retaliates against the latest strikes, it will be "hit again at a much harder and higher level." The Fars news agency in Iran said the US "will regret its new attacks." Global Brent crude futures surged about 5 percent in New York to close at US$94.65 a barrel.

Separately, oil trading is moving into the realm of ordinary retail investors, with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange offering a new futures contract this week, CNBC reported. The CME contract covers 10 barrels of US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude, a smaller contract than prior ones covering 100 barrels and 1,000 barrels, making it accessible beyond institutions and wealthy investors.

Germany Blames Russia for Drone Attack on Leipzig Airport

Germany said an investigation determined that Russia was behind a drone attack last month at Leipzig/Halle Airport. One undetonated explosive device was found near Ukrainian cargo planes, a second one collided with a cargo aircraft and a third was found near the airport 10 days later. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the Leipzig attack followed the "well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe." The Russian embassy in Berlin said the allegation was "absurd."

Warming Antarctic Releases Trapped Mercury

Climate change is accelerating the release of toxic mercury trapped in Antarctic ice for thousands of years, posing new risks to the region's fragile marine ecosystem, according to a study by researchers from Peking University. The study found that mercury accumulation in sediments around the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the fastest-warming areas on Earth, has risen significantly in the industrial era. Mercury accumulation rates in the region are now about twice the global average for continental shelves. Rising temperatures are causing glacier melt, unlocking mercury deposits, which researchers said have increased 550 percent since industrialization. Experts said the direct impact on human health remains limited because most commercial seafood is not sourced from affected Antarctic waters.

Top Business

Nio Narrows Loss as Deliveries Surge

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio reported a loss of 528 million yuan (US$77.8 million) for the second quarter, narrowing sharply from a 5-billion-yuan loss a year earlier but widening from a 332-million-yuan loss in the first three months of the year. Revenue missed analysts' estimates despite a 69 percent surge in revenue to 32 billion yuan on a 49 percent surge in deliveries to 107,658 vehicles. Compared with the first quarter, revenue grew 26 percent and deliveries climbed 29 percent, reflecting stronger sales momentum across its product lineup. Nio expects the growth trend to continue in the third quarter, forecasting deliveries of up to 111,000 vehicles, which would be nearly a 28 percent gain from a year earlier. The company also projected quarterly revenue of about 33.3 billion yuan, which would be a 50 percent gain.

China Auto Sales Rebound in August as Exports Surge

China's auto market had a broad recovery in August, driven by national subsidies on trade-ins, new model rollouts and strong growth in exports. BYD took the lead in new energy vehicles, selling 440,300 units, up 18 percent from a year earlier. Exports of new energy cars surged 136 percent to 189,500 units. Chery delivered 280,128 vehicles, up 15 percent, propelled by a 52 percent surge to 196,984 exports, with a 70 percent jump in new energy vehicles to 120,909. SAIC's proprietary brands logged 273,000 sales, up 18 percent, with overseas sales rising 58 percent to 139,000. Geely posted 270,194 sales, up 8 percent, with new energy vehicles rising 19 percent to 175,877 units. Its electric-car arm Zeekr said deliveries more than doubled to 36,981 vehicles, bringing the eight-month total this year to 250,000 units.

Leapmotor topped the electric-vehicle startup sector with global deliveries surging 81 percent to 103,129 units. XPeng delivered 39,107 units, up 4 percent, and Li Auto reported a 32 percent increase to 37,679 units. Nio delivered 35,836 units, up 14.5 percent, and electric carmaker Xiaomi said deliveries exceeded 30,000 vehicles for a fifth month.

Bucking the upward trend, Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, a Huawei-led group of electric-car models from Seres, Chery, BAIC and two other carmakers, had a 5.6 percent drop in August deliveries to 42,101 vehicles. The decline was largely caused by retail channel bottlenecks during an intensive cycle of new launches and market adjustments as the brand pivoted toward higher price tiers.

CXMT 'Breakthrough' in Chip Memory Reported

Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has begun producing advanced high-bandwidth memory in small quantities, the Information reported. Its HBM3E memory is aimed at AI chipsets, with production to expand next year. The report said the development is a breakthrough for the company. Alibaba Group's T-Head and Beijing-based Cambricon Technologies are testing the memory with their processors, it said. High-bandwidth memory is a type of computer memory that stacks memory chips vertically to transfer data much faster while using less power.

Economy & Markets

Global Bond Yields Jump on Inflation Concerns, but Not in China

Bond yields rose across Asia, the US and Europe as renewed fighting in the Middle East sent oil prices surging and inflation concerns mounting. The 10-year US Treasury bond yield moved to a 20-month high of 4.788 percent. Japan's benchmark 10-year bond yield jumped more than 6 basis points to 3 percent for the first time since 1996, and its 2-year government debt bond yield touched a 31-year high of 1.81 percent. The UK 10-year government bonds yield rose more than 9 basis points to 5.234 percent, the highest since the global financial crisis in 2008, while the yield on 30-year debt surged to its highest since 1998. German and French government bond yields also rose to their highest levels since 2004. Rising bond yields raise borrowing costs for governments, companies and consumers and tend to push stock markets lower. Major equity markets in the US, Europe and Asia fell.

China, however, has been immune to rising bond yields, amid some pressure to cut interest rates to spur a weak economy. The yield on its 10-year government bond was trading at 1.69 percent on Monday, near its lowest in a year, the South China Morning Post reported. Li Xianglong, an analyst at Great Wall Securities, told the newspaper that "China's bond market will trade on its own logic."

BeOne Gets Favored Status in Latest US Drug Agreement

Sino-US cancer drugmaker BeOne is one of nine pharmaceutical makers included in a new group of drug companies added to Washington's most favored nation designation announced by US President Donald Trump to lower prescription drug prices for Americans. The new agreements bring the total to 26. The agreements are expected to reduce costs for drugs that treat numerous costly, chronic and rare diseases. BeOne was the only China-related drugmaker added to the list, which will expand access to its Tevimbra cancer drug in the US. BeOne, which was founded in China originally under the BeiGene name, has its principal headquarters now in the US state of Massachusetts but retains a large business presence in China.

China Ends Tax Exemption on Earnings From Foreign-Funded Companies

China's tax authorities announced an end to a 32-year income tax waiver on dividends and bonuses paid by foreign-invested companies to foreigners, imposing a 20 percent individual tax rate on those earnings, effective immediately. Xinhua news agency said the change is needed to unify the nation's tax system. The waiver was initially enacted to attract foreign capital during the nation's period of opening-up to the world, said Liu Yi, a scholar at Peking University, but the time has come to put those investments on an equal footing with other earnings.

RatingDog Puts China's Manufacturing Sector in Expansion

China's manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace in August as output, new orders and exports all accelerated, according to S&P Global's RatingDog survey of China general manufacturing purchasing managers. Its index rose to 51.5 in August from 50.9 in July, staying above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction. The figure was higher than a similar index released this week by the National Bureau of Statistics that showed manufacturing still in contraction, though the two surveys don't cover exactly the same realm of companies. RatingDog found output rose at the fastest pace in three months, driven by stronger demand and capacity expansion, while new orders quickened on the sharpest rise in new export business in six months. Manufacturing input costs rose, and output prices dropped.

Corporate

Wingtech Wins Court Order Freezing Nexperia Assets

Shenzhen-based chipmaker Wingtech secured a Chinese court order freezing up to 2.14 billion yuan (US$318 million) of Chinese mainland assets held by its Dutch chipmaking subsidiary in a continuing battle over control of Nexperia. Wingtech was stripped of control over the company last year by Dutch authorities, triggering a dispute that drags on and has strained relations between China and the Netherlands. The court decision gives Shanghai-listed Wingtech fresh leverage in its effort to regain control of Nexperia, which it acquired from Dutch electronics giant Philips in 2018, though it doesn't resolve the broader ownership fight, Reuters reported.

Chinese Phone Makers Raise Prices on Higher Chip Costs

Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor and other Chinese smartphone makers raised prices by 20 percent, effective immediately, on higher costs of memory chips, Yicai reported. Increases of between 200 yuan (US$30) and 1,000 yuan affect major models. Smartphone memory chip prices soared more than 80 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, according to intelligence firm Counterpoint Research.

Galactic Energy Launches Reusable Carrier Rocket Into Orbit

Galactic Energy, a privately owned Chinese aerospace company, successfully launched its reusable, liquid-propellant carrier rocket Pallas-1 Y1 into its planned orbit on Tuesday, Yicai reported. The company plans to test first-stage vertical landing and sea-land recovery in pending missions to lower costs and improve efficiency.

Nvidia Invests US$3.5 Billion in MediaTek Bonds

Nvidia said it has invested US$3.5 billion in convertible bonds issued by Taiwan's MediaTek, an example of how the US tech giant is helping finance businesses building products and infrastructure around its technology. MediaTek is adopting Nvidia's NVLink Fusion platform, allowing customers to develop custom AI chips that can connect to Nvidia-powered AI systems and data centers.