Top News
China's economy expands despite world trade tensions
China's economy in the second quarter expanded a faster-than-expected 5.2 percent from a year earlier, demonstrating its resilience in a world rattled by tensions arising from US tariffs. In a set of data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, retail sales in June rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier, industrial production expanded by 6.8 percent and investment in fixed assets gained 2.8 percent. China's per-capita disposable income in the first half rose 5.3 percent.
Sheng Laiyun, deputy head of the bureau said the economy is making steady progress despite pressures. "This is a hard-won achievement, especially given the sharp changes in the international environment and increased external pressures."
Nvidia poised to resume chip sales to China
Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said in Beijing on Tuesday that his company has received assurances from the US government that the company will be allowed to resume shipments of its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China. He said Nvidia will be shipping a new model of graphic processing chip designed to meet regulatory restrictions imposed by the US on exports to China. It's crucial for US companies to be involved in a technology market as dynamic as China's, he said.
Shares in Nvidia, the world's largest chipmaker, jumped 4 percent in New York on Tuesday.
Chinese cargo spacecraft docks with space station
China's Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft successfully docked with the nation's Tiangong space station after launch on a Long March-7 Y10 rocket from a space pad in Hainan Province on Tuesday. The cargo craft is delivering 6.5 tons of supplies to the station.
Sino-Russian friendship
Chinese President Xi Jinping met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Beijing, a day after US President Donald Trump gave Russia 50 days to end the war in Ukraine or the US will impose 100 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil or gas. China is among importers of Russian gas. Xi said China and Russia should bolster mutual support within multilateral frameworks and push the international order in a more just and equitable direction.
Top Business
China adds up cost of natural disasters
Natural disasters across China in the first six months of the year resulted in direct economic losses of 54.11 billion yuan (US$7.55 billion), the Ministry of Emergency Management said on Tuesday. An estimated 307 people were either confirmed dead or missing, and flooding, droughts and heat waves damaged 2.2 million hectares of crops.
Crunch time in Japan-US trade talks
Japan bond yields surged ahead of Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Tokyo on Friday to discuss stalled trade talks as an August 1 deadline to close a deal nears. President Donald Trump has threatened to slap 25 import tariffs on Japanese goods if no deal is forthcoming. Sticking points in the talks include Japanese auto exports to the US and US exports of rice to Japan. Adding to Ishiba's woes is the possible loss of his coalition's majority in upper house elections on Sunday. The benchmark Japanese 10-year bond yield jumped to its highest level in 17 years and 30-year debt hit a record.
Turning a page on urban development
Chinese President Xi Jinping, chairing a meeting of the Central Urban Work Conference, said the nation's cities must enter a new phase of development that focuses on stability and quality of life for residents instead of breakneck growth.
China ships green methanol
China's first large-scale production of green methanol began on Tuesday at Shanghai Electric's demonstration project in Jilin Province. The clean fuel will be transported to the Port of Shanghai for loading onto a vessel bound for France. The project has the capacity to produce 50,000 tons of "clean" methanol with a 65 percent reduction in carbon.
Economy & Markets
US consumer prices rise
US consumer prices in June rose 0.3 percent for an annual inflation rate of about 2.7 percent. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, expanded 2.9 percent. Economists said the figures show that President Donald Trump's tariffs on global trading partners are beginning to impact the cost of goods in the US. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said the central bank won't lower interest rates until it fully gauges the tariff impact on prices. Trump is seeking to force Powell out of office. Yields on US Treasury securities rose to their highest in about a month.
New lending in China increases
China's new loans in the first half totaled 12.92 trillion yuan (US$1.8 trillion), the People's Bank of China said. The majority of loans went to manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, a central bank official told a press conference on Tuesday. Lending to businesses and public entities rose by 11.57 trillion yuan, while loans to households increased by 1.17 trillion yuan. M2, a widely watched broad measure of money supply that includes cash in circulation and all deposits, stood at 330.29 trillion yuan at the end of May, up 8.3 percent from a year earlier.
China's new home prices edge lower
New home prices in June in China's 70 largest cities dropped, with prices in the major cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen falling 1.4 percent from a year earlier. That narrowed 3 percentage points from May, when Shanghai had a 6 percent increase in prices. The nation's housing market has been struggling to climb out of a slump triggered by earlier developer defaults.
Oil refinery, crude production rise
China's crude oil production in June rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier to 4.43 million barrels a day. Oil refinery output in the month climbed 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 15.2 million barrels a day, its highest level in almost two years. The gain was attributed to fewer idled plants and better profit margins. Profit per ton at state-owned refineries soared 155 percent from a year earlier to 1,121 yuan (US$156.40) on lower input costs.
Corporate
Ganfeng Lithium forecasts narrowed loss
Chinese battery-minerals giant Ganfeng Lithium, the world's second-largest lithium processor, said it expects its net loss in the first half to narrow to between 300 million yuan (US$41 billion) and 550 million yuan from 760 million yuan a year earlier.
Vanke predicts wider loss
Struggling property developer China Vanke said it expects its first-half loss to widen to between 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) and 12 billion yuan, despite clearing short-term offshore debts. The company blamed the poor performance on fewer projection completions and tighter profit margins. Vanke reported a 2024 loss of 49.5 billion yuan.
Dizal's lung cancer drug on US fast track
Shanghai-based Dizal Pharmaceutical received US Food and Drug Administration designation for fast-track approval of its oral lung-treatment drug Sunvozertinib. The accelerated pathway allows drugs for serious or life-threatening conditions to be approved based on early evidence of benefit.
AgiBot, Unitree secure China Mobile order
Chinese startups AgiBot and Unitree received a combined 124 million yuan (US$17 million) order to supply robots to China Mobile, the first order of its size so far in China. Shanghai-based AgiBot will supply full-sized, bipedal humanoid robots, while Unitree will provide smaller robots.
BMW, Momenta team up
BMW Group China formed a partnership with Momenta, a Chinese autonomous driving firm, to develop intelligent driving-assistance systems. The collaboration will launch a "navigation-on-autopilot" system in upcoming models.