Daily Buzz: 3 July 2026

Top News

Russia Launches Massive Attacks Across Ukraine

Russia launched one of its most massive one-day attacks on Ukraine with an eight-hour barrage of 500 drones and 70 missiles that killed at least 27 people, injured 91 and set residential apartment blocks alight. Neighboring Poland scrambled jets and put ground air defense systems on high alert. Finland temporarily closed its airspace. The Kremlin said the assault deployed "long-range precision air, land and sea-based weapons and attack drones," targeting military and energy facilities. The Russian strikes are believed to be in retaliation for Ukrainian long-range drones that have targeted energy sites in Moscow and other areas.

Venezuelan Quake Survivor Pulled From Rubble After Eight Days

A 44-year-old Venezuela carpark security guard was pulled from below 9 meters of rubble eight days after deadly twin earthquakes struck the country, buoying search and rescue efforts even as hopes of finding survivors fades with time. The survivor's condition was reported to be good. The multinational rescue mission took 70 hours. The death toll from the disaster rose to nearly 2,300, with tens of thousands still missing in Caracas and along the northern coastline.

Beijing Opens Global Digital Conference

The Global Digital Economy Conference kicked off in Beijing on Thursday, focused on AI, robotics, advanced industrial technologies and global standards. About 1,000 people from 40 delegations are participating in the four-day event, which includes exhibitions of new technologies and products.

Top Business

Tesla Deliveries From Shanghai Plant Rise Amid Domestic Industry Gains

US electric carmaker Tesla said global deliveries of Models 3 and Y of vehicles made at its mega-factory in Shanghai rose 24 percent in June from a year earlier to 89,091, led by rising sales in Europe. The increase followed ⁠a 39 percent gain in May. For the second quarter, the company said combined domestics sales and exports from the Shanghai plant rose by a third.

Retail sales of Chinese new energy vehicles in the first three weeks of June rose 11 percent from May, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Xiaomi said June was its third consecutive month of 30,000 deliveries but gave no comparative figure for a year earlier. In the first half, the company said deliveries rose by a third to 180,000 units. Hangzhou-based Leapmotor remained the best-selling new energy vehicle startup in June, far ahead of competitors as sales nearly doubled to 93,376. Nio and Xpeng Group placed second and third, followed by Geely Zeekr, GAC Hyptec, Aion, Deepal, Li Auto, Aito and Xiaomi. Among traditional automakers, Dongfeng Motor's premium electric model Voyah sold 14,223 vehicles last month, up 41 percent from a year earlier.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese electric vehicle makers surged on Thursday, with BYD, the China market leader, rising 8.07 percent, Leapmotor gaining 1.22 percent and Xiaomi up 4.44 percent.

Global consulting firm AlixPartners, in its latest report, predicted that only seven of China's 30 Chinese electric vehicle makers will break even or achieve profitability by 2030. Intense competition in the industry will likely accelerate consolidation in the next several years, the report said, with less successful players expected to exit the market or become acquisition targets.

Unitree Robotics Gets Green Light for Shanghai IPO

Unitree Robotics' application for an IPO in Shanghai has been approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The startup plans to raise about 4.2 billion yuan (US$613 million) from listing on the tech-focused Star market board. For the first half of this year, Unitree said it expects profit, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, of up to 283 million yuan.

Apple Chases China-Made Chips, a Move Fraught With Political Friction

Amid a global shortage of memory chips that is forcing smartphone prices higher, Apple is reportedly in talks to buy supplies from Chinese semiconductor companies ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies, Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported. No agreements have been sealed yet. Apple recently raised the prices of Macs, iPads and other devices, citing the soaring cost of memory. One fly in the ointment is the Trump administration's efforts to restrain China's emergence as a dominant rival in technology. ChangXin and Yangtze Memory are already on a US Defense Department blacklist because of alleged ties to China's military. Apple isn't legally required to get US approval to buy chips from Chinese companies but would be banned from doing so if the two chipmakers are added to a separate US Commerce Department blacklist. Apple has reportedly been lobbying the Trump administration to prevent that from happening.

OpenAI Proposing a 5 Percent Stake for US Government

OpenAI, developer of ChatGPT, has discussed giving the US government a 5 percent stake, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, as AI firms face growing scrutiny in Washington over potential misuse of advanced models. The report said the company has suggested that other AI companies follow suit. The US government has historically avoided state ownership of companies, except in instances of headline bailouts. Last month, President Donald Trump said he was exploring options to give the public a stake in leading AI companies, responding to concerns that individual Americans aren't benefiting from the AI boom. OpenAI last week delayed a full public launch of its GPT-5.6 at the US government's request.

Meta Weighs Unit to Sell Excess AI power

Meta Platforms is planning a cloud-computing business to sell excess AI computing capacity to outside customers, Bloomberg reported. The service, tentatively called Meta Compute, could let clients rent computing power or access Meta's own AI models and third-party systems.

Economy & Markets

China, US Set Framework for Reciprocal Cuts in Farm Tariffs

China and the US have set target guidelines on expanding agricultural trade, agreeing in principle on products to be included in a reciprocal tariff-cut framework, the commerce ministry announced. Spokesman He Yadong also said China and Canada are in close communications on trade issues after signing a bilateral economic and trade roadmap in January. The comments came after Canada's trade minister said Ottawa would discuss further tariff reductions on canola, peas and seafood when ministers from the two countries meet in the autumn.

Property Sales of China's Top 100 Developers Show Signs of Rebound

A long decline in sales at China's leading property developers slowed in the first half as signs of a recovery in big cities help overcome a continuing slump in the rest of the country. Sales of the top 100 builders rose 14 percent from a year earlier to 1.6 trillion yuan (US$234 billion), Yicai reported, citing data from think tank China Index Academy, an industry think tank. Three developers, including Poly Developments, China Overseas Land and China Resources Land, had sales topping more than 100 billion yuan. China's biggest metropolises accounted for almost 46 percent of revenue at the top 20 builders.

China's Londian Wason Seeks IPO in New York

Shenzhen-based copper foil maker Londian Wason Energy Tech filed for an initial ​public offering in the US on Thursday, seeking to ‌capitalize on growing demand from electric-vehicle makers. The news followed an announcement from South Korea's SK Inc that it is selling its 30 percent stake in Londian Wason. SK is the second-largest shareholder. The stake is valued at about 1.5 trillion won (US$9.7 billion), based on Wason's corporate value.

US Jobs Growth Slows Sharply

US nonfarm employers added a far-below-expected 57,000 jobs in June, with the unemployment rate slipping to 4.2 percent. The so-called "participation rate," a measure of working-age population either employed or looking for work, fell to a 50-year low. The weak jobs data eased concerns that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates despite higher inflation caused by the Middle East conflict.

Chinese Airlines Cut Fuel Surcharges on Domestic Flights

China's airline will cut fuel surcharges on domestic flights as global oil prices decline. The new surcharges will drop to 100 yuan (US$15) from 150 yuan for tickets on routes of more than 800 kilometers and fall to 50 yuan from 80 yuan for shorter trips.

LME May Ease Rules to Boost HK Metals Warehousing

The London Metal Exchange is considering easing warehouse rules to make Hong Kong a more viable metals storage hub, Reuters reported. Hong Kong became an LME warehouse location in July 2025 but held only 24,665 metric tons of metal in May, compared with 483,381 tons in Singapore, 280,646 tons in South Korea and 265,345 tons in Taiwan.

Corporate

Ant Group Expands Investment in Robotics

Alibaba affiliate Ant Group, which operates mobile-app Alipay, is stepping up its foray into humanoid robots, leading a 500 million yuan (US$74 million) funding round in robotics startup Zeroth this week, CNBC reported. It's the 12th robotics investment for the company in the last 18 months. Since regulators nixed a proposed giant Ant IPO in 2020, the company has launched a healthcare services app and released its own AI models. In 2024, it established humanoid robot subsidiary Robby Ant that has developed an in-house robot.

BYD Nears Decision on Second Car Production Site in EU

BYD, China's largest electric car maker, is close to a decision on taking over an existing European auto plant to speed up its expansion on the continent, Reuters reported, citing Alfredo Altavilla, BYD's special adviser for Europe. He said target plants are in Spain and France. Chinese automakers have increasingly moved into European manufacturing to circumvent EU tariffs on vehicle exports from China and to expand overseas sales amid a weaker car market at home. BYD sales in Europe last year jumped 270 percent and doubled in the first five months of this year. BYD already has an assembly site in Hungary.

Separately, BYD Energy Storage signed an agreement with Greenvolt Power to jointly develop Poland's largest energy storage project. Construction on the 600-megawatt project is scheduled to begin in the third quarter, with operation to come online at the end of 2027.

Guanggang Gas Signals Higher Interim Earnings

Guanggang Gas said its first-half profit may rise as much as 138 percent from a year earlier, the first company on Shanghai's Star market to issue an interim earnings forecast. The industrial gas supplier signaled revenue of up to 1.5 billion yuan (US$221 million) and net profit attributable to shareholders of up to 280 million yuan. The company said is benefiting from higher prices for helium, used in chipmaking, which have risen because of traffic closures through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

CATL Reports 2,000 Battery-Swap Stations

Chinese battery-making giant Contemporary Ampere Technology (CATL) said its battery-swap project had 2,000 stations in operation at the end of June, covering 180 cities across 31 Chinese provinces. Battery swap station numbers are targeted to reach 3,000, with concentration along expressway routes.

Xiamen Tungsten Unit Halts Output After Tailing-Supply Cut

A Xiamen Tungsten subsidiary has largely halted production after CMOC Group, also known as China Molybdenum, suspended supplies of tailings used to recover tungsten concentrate. Luoyang Yulu Mining, 60 percent owned by Xiamen Tungsten and 40 percent by CMOC, depends on molybdenum tailings as its main raw material. CMOC told Yicai the suspension related to government mining regulations.

Adult Tech Firm Debuts Budget Female Companion Robots

Adult product brand Chunshuitang launched a line of lifelike female companion humanoid robots, undercutting major competitors on price. The robots feature integrated body-warmth systems, simulated facial expressions, visual sensing, localized memory and sexual capabilities. Pre-orders have opened on major Chinese e-commerce platforms JD.com and Tmall.