Daily Buzz: 29 September 2026

White House Publishes List of Product Affected by Lower China-US Tariffs

The White House released a list of products affected by an agreement with China to lower tariffs on US$30 billion in goods in each direction. It showed reduced levies on 77 categories of Chinese goods, including fireworks, Christmas ornaments, toys, home appliances and sports equipment. On the Chinese side, lower tariffs will affect 1,600 categories of American goods, including meat, seafood, grains, dairy products, medical devices, coal and timber. More than 90 percent of the covered products will be exempt from all tariffs earlier imposed on each other and will enjoy most-favored-nation treatment, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.

SpaceX Starship's Orbital Debut Deploys Satellites Before Being Cut Short

SpaceX's Starship rocket reached Earth orbit for the first time on Monday. The mega-rocket deployed 26 third-generation Starlink satellites despite a failure in one of its three engines that led to the flight being cut to three hours from a scheduled 10. The Super Heavy booster that lifted the Starship upper stage into space returned to a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk's aerospace and defense company is developing reusable rocketry, which will lower launch costs and allow for more frequent commercial missions.

UK Releases Airfield Bomb Suspects on Bail

British police released on bail five suspects under investigation for a plot to attack an airbase used by US bombers for some operations against Iran. US President Donald Trump criticized their release. The five men, all British nationals from London in ‌their early 20s, were detained early on Sunday after police were alerted by a local farmer about three suspicious vans driving towards the Fairford RAF base in rural England. The incident is being investigated by UK counter-terrorism police for possible links to Iran, which has denied any involvement.

Israel Prime Minister Makes Secret Trip to UAE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the United Arab Emirates on a secret trip to discuss the situation in Iran with UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. An Israeli source told CNN that the two countries have deepened their cooperation during the Iran war. The New York Times has reported that Sheikh Mohammed warned Israel of a pending Hamas operation days before militants from the group stagged an attack on Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. The Wall Street Journal reported that there were at least three Egyptian warnings conveyed to Israel just days before the attack. The disclosures have tarred Netanyahu ahead of October 27 Israeli elections.

Embattled Serbian President Resigns

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has resigned after more than a year of student-led protests and growing public discontent over allegations of government corruption. He is planning to run as his Progressive Party's candidate for prime minister when elections are held. Support for his pro-Moscow administration began crumbling after the government was blamed for renovation failures in the collapse of a major railway station roof that killed 16 people in 2024. Vučić's term as president was due to end next year and he is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third term.

Swiss Voters Reject Referendum to Isolate the Nation From NATO

Swiss voters, by a 70 percent majority, rejected a referendum proposal that would have tightened the definition of the nation's neutrality, curbing cooperation with NATO. The proposal was promoted by the far-right Swiss People's Party. Switzerland is not a member of NATO but has been a partner in the defense bloc's opposition to Russia for 30 years.

Top Business

Shein Posts Q2 Profit, but Margins Decline on Higher Costs

Chinese discount fashion platform Shein, in its first earnings report as a listed company, said second-quarter net income more than tripled from a year earlier to US$2.4 billion, turning from a loss of US$99 million in the previous three months. However, adjusted profit fell 67 percent from a year earlier to US$228 million, with its margin falling to 2.1 percent from 6.2 percent as the Middle East conflict pushed up jet fuel and freight costs. Revenue edged up 0.9 percent to US$11.1 billion. Sales in the EU, its biggest single market, dropped 14 percent as new customs charges on its delivery parcels came into effect. For the first half, net rose 112 percent to US$2.3 billion on a 1 percent revenue gain to US$20 billion. In a statement, the company said the trading environment in the first six months was "challenging," amid economic uncertainty, geopolitical complexity and shifting trade policies in countries where it operates. Consumers are becoming more selective as inflation squeezes buying power – a trend Shein said it expects to continue. The company reported 549 million orders in the first six months, and said it is shifting to higher-priced items.

The company, which originated in China but is now based in Singapore, sources most of its goods from the Chinese mainland. It listed on the Hong Kong exchange on September 1. Its shares have since sunk 28 percent from their offer price amid concerns of slowing growth. Shein has run afoul of EU regulators and drawn fines on several occasions for its business practices on the continent.

Leading AI Experts Warn of 'Intelligence Explosion'

Twenty-two leading AI researchers, including Turing Award winners Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, and senior figures from OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Meta, published a joint paper warning that automation of AI research and development could trigger an "intelligence explosion" that outpaces human control. The paper, released through Cambridge University's AI Science and Policy Program, cites data showing AI already handles 26 percent of Anthropic's research and development and more than 80 percent of its approved code. The authors call for mandatory government oversight, including resident inspectors at major AI labs and authority to pause unsafe work, warning that the window for action may close once the intelligence explosion begins.

US President Donald Trump is set to host leading technology executives at the White House today for discussions on AI policy. Attendees will include Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Greg Brockman, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. The meeting comes as major AI companies have urged a slowdown in frontier AI development, while Trump has dismissed safety concerns as a hoax.

Nio, Geely Deepen Commitment to Battery Charging, Swap Businesses

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio and Geely announced a deal related to their battery-swapping and charging businesses. Under the agreement, Geely will acquire a 30 percent stake in Nio Power, the company's battery-swapping and charging unit, and Nio will acquire a 10 percent equity stake in Geely's smart-charging subsidiary Haohan Energy. Geely will contribute its 100 percent equity in its battery-swapping subsidiary Yiyi Power, plus 640 million yuan (US$82 million) in cash. The transaction values Nio Power at about 16 billion yuan. The companies also agreed to co-develop unified swapping standards. NIO Power aims to have 10,000 battery swap stations in operation by 2030, while Geely plans to expand its network to over 22,000 charging stations by the end of 2027.

Middle East Oil Exports Expected to Show September Recovery

Exports by major oil producers in the Middle East this month are estimated at 12.8 million barrels a day, the highest level since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28. According to data from Kpler, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been shipping 7.4 million barrels a day through the Strait of Hormuz, largely due to Saudi Arabia is shifting exports from the Red Sea, now blockaded by Houthi rebels in Yemen, to a port on the Persian Gulf. However, total Middle East exports remain roughly 6 million barrels a day below prewar levels. The continuing stalemate between the US and Iran has left the price of global benchmark Brent crude above US$100 a barrel. Brent closed at US$105.28 in New York.

Huawei to Focus on Four Remaining Brands After Seres Reorganization

Chinese tech company Huawei, which has handed the reins of its Aito brand to partner Seres, will pour more resources into the four younger marques of its auto alliance, executive director Yu Chengdong said on Monday, as the group launched its first new vehicles since the shakeup, under the Luxeed RX brand. Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance developed the Luxeed in partnership with carmaker Chery, the Stelato brand with BAIC, the Maextro with JAC and the SAIC with SAIC Motor. Under the reorganization with Seres, which came at Seres' request, Huawei will be relegated to a technology-empowerment role. The Aito has been the most successful of the alliance brands, accounting for 208,000 of 330,000 overall sales in the first eight months of this year.

Apple Sells 1.3 Million iPhone 18 Pro Models in First Week in China

Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro series sold 1.3 million units in its first week on the Chinese market, up 15 percent from the comparable start of sales for the previous-generation iPhone 17 Pro series. The strong sales came despite a higher price driven by rising memory chip costs. The official starting price for iPhone 18 Pro is 9,999 yuan (US$1,487), a 1,000-yuan increase from the 17 series.

Economy & Markets

China's Optical Communication Stocks Tumble

Shares of leading companies in China's optical communications sector plunged on Monday amid reports the US Congress is considering legislation to restrict federal procurement of Chinese optical modules and concerns that Oracle's invocation of "force majeure" over power supply issues at its US data centers will delay procurement timelines. On the Shenzhen exchange, Zhongji Innolight shares fell 9 percent, Eoptolink Technology tumbled 8.1 percent and TFC Communication was down 8.6 percent. In Shanghai, Hengtong Optic-Electric, also hurt by a 6.6 billion yuan (US$988 million) private share placement, plunged 10 percent. FiberHome Technologies and Yangtze Optical Fibre & Cable both lost 10 percent.

Kinwong Electronic Shares Begin Trading Today in Hong Kong

Shares in Shenzhen-based printed circuit-board maker Kinwong Electronic begin trading today in Hong Kong after a HK$5.1 billion (US$616.7 million) initial public offering. The company said it sold 73 million shares at HK$69.88 each. Sixteen cornerstone investors include Zhongji Innolight and Han's CNC Technology. Kinwong said it will use proceeds from the sale to expand and upgrade production capacity for higher-value products demanded by AI.

Chinese Industrial Profit Growth Slows

China's industrial profits slowed their pace of growth for a fourth consecutive month in August, expanding 4.2 percent from a year earlier, as manufacturers cope with sluggish consumer demand and rising energy costs. It was the weakest month of growth since last November. In the first eight months of this year, profits at large industrial firms climbed 15.7 percent, after a 17.6 increase in the January-July period. Expansion continues to be led by the boom in AI demand for chips and computing equipment. Yu Weining, chief statistician at National Bureau of Statistics, repeated government pledges to bolster domestic demand and "optimize" supply chains.

China Chipmaker Shares Drop on Possible Nvidia Sales to Alibaba, ByteDance

Shares in Chinese chipmakers Biren Technology and Cambricon fell on Monday on a news report that China may allow Alibaba and ByteDance to buy Nvidia's new RTX Pro 5500 chips. That report, on the US website The Information, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has reportedly asked some companies to detail their purchase plans for the high-end Nvidia graphics processor released this month, signaling an intention to approve them. Washington still bans the export of Nvidia's most powerful AI chips to China. The RTX Pro 5500, built on older-generation processes, is intended mainly for graphics and simulations, though it can support AI services. Biren shares in Hong Kong tumbled 8.2 percent, and Cambricon shares in Shanghai fell 6.6 percent.

China Shifts Focus for State-Owned Companies to Value Creation

Chinese companies under the direct control of the central government will be assessed less on revenue and more on value creation under a new five-year plan, the state-assets regulator told a Monday press briefing. The plan calls for a 5 percentage-point increase in added value by 2030, with about 2 trillion yuan (US$276 billion) invested in railways, highways, ports and waterways, airports, power grids, and oil and gas pipelines.

China's Beef Prices Rising Amid Reductions in Cattle Herds

China's beef prices have climbed to their highest level in more than two years, with the industry forecasting prices will continue rising into next year, Yicai reported. "Since early August, prices have increased five or six times, and another increase is expected in the next few days," beef wholesalers at Shanghai's Xijiao International Agricultural Products Trading Center told Yicai. Wholesale beef shank, for instance, has risen to about 90 yuan (US$13.40) a kilogram from nearly 80 yuan. A wholesaler at Xijiao International said the main driver of the price increase is the severe losses suffered by cattle farmers in recent years, which led many to slaughter breeding cows. Cattle inventory has been falling steadily since 2024, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.

Corporate

VW, Gotion to Invest US$3.7 Billion in Electric-Car Battery Plants

Volkswagen and its Chinese partner Gotion High Tech, China's fourth largest maker of electric-vehicle batteries, plan to invest US$3.7 billion to set up three battery production lines in Europe and North Africa, according to a filing with the Shenzhen stock exchange. The jointly owned factories will have the capacity to produce 37.5 gigawatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries. One gigawatt-hour is capable of powering 20,000 pure electric cars, with a range of up to 500 kilometers. The plants will be built in Spain, Slovakia and Morocco.

Honor Magic9 Debuts With Alibaba's Qwen Intelligence

Honor unveiled its flagship Magic9 series in Beijing on Monday, the first smartphone line to run on Alibaba's Qwen Intelligence, as competition in AI handsets shifts from chatbots to system-level agents. Honor's new Yoyo assistant can execute tasks of more than 100 steps, with 92 percent accuracy. Alibaba, which rolled out the solution at its cloud conference last week, said it won't build phones itself.

Amicro Heads Toward IPO in Hong Kong

Zhuhai-based Amicro Technology, a Xiaomi-backed chipmaker, is preparing to start taking subscriptions next week for a Hong Kong initial public offering seeking to raise more than US$100 million, the South China Morning Post reported. No prospectus has yet been filed. The company's shares are expected to start trading in mid-October. Amicro earlier received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to sell up to 91 million shares. The company's products are used in household and commercial cleaning robots.

Momenta, Dongfeng-Stellantis Venture to Partner on Smart Driving Systems

China's Momenta, which develops intelligent driving technologies, is linking up with the new Dongfeng Motor joint venture with Stellantis to develop advanced smart driving assistance. The partnership will leverage the Momenta R7 world model in pending models for Peugeot and Jeep. The vehicles will be launched across China, Europe and other global markets. Stellantis formed the venture with Wuhan-based Dongfeng in August to better compete against Chinese rivals.

Tesson Acquires Times Huazhi in China New Energy Sector Consolidation

Hong Kong-based Tesson Holdings announced a cash-and-share takeover of Times Huazhi New Energy Technology, which operates electric car charging stations in Shanghai and Fuzhou, in a deal valued at 98.4 million yuan (US$14.7 million). Tesson is principally invested in the production and sales of lithium-ion power batteries. Its board said the acquisition is highly complementary to the group's existing business and will help consolidate its position in China's new energy infrastructure sector.

Tongding Interconnection to Raise Stake in Heben Electromechanical

China's Tongding Interconnection Information, a maker of optical and electrical cables, announced it plans to acquire a further 14.3 percent stake in Nanjing-based Heben Electromechanical Equipment Technology from Hua Hao for 100 million yuan (US$15 million), raising its holding to 69.3 percent. Heben makes power electronic components and mechanical and electrical equipment.