Top News
US freezes assets of four officials at war crimes tribunal
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is freezing the assets of two judges and two prosecutors of the International Criminal Court, citing their involvement in decisions to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli officials and to authorize an investigation of US personnel who served in Afghanistan. The Hague-based court, founded in 2002 under a multinational treaty, is the world's first international war crimes tribunal. Neither the US nor Israel recognizes the jurisdiction of the court. Among its more controversial decisions, the court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.
War and peace: Ukraine's future walks a tightrope
The bottom line for Russian agreement on a Ukrainian peace deal is a takeover of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, no Western peacekeeping forces and no Ukrainian membership in NATO, Reuters reported, citing experts on Russia. If Russia's terms aren't met, Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to continue the war, the news agency said. The Kremlin has balked thus far on US President's Trump proposal for a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Meanwhile, Russia unleashed its biggest drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in several weeks, prompting Zelensky to say that he doesn't think Moscow wants peace.
Palestinians fleeing Gaza City as Israeli troops begin ground offensive
Thousands of Palestinians are attempting to flee Gaza City, the enclave's most populous city, after the Israeli military began the first stage of a major offensive aimed at occupying the whole of Gaza. UN Secretary-General António Guterres renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire to avoid "death and destruction." Gaza City residents described relentless bombardment.
Top Business
Sinopec profit drops on lower global oil prices
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., China's biggest oil refiner, reported first-half net profit fell 40 percent from a year earlier to 21.5 billion yuan (US$3 billion) on an 11 percent drop in revenue to 1.4 trillion yuan. Sinopec attributed the weaker performance to a sharp decrease in international crude oil prices, which were 15 percent lower from a year earlier at an average six-month price of US$71.70 a barrel. Additionally, the company reported a sluggish gross profit margin from the chemicals market. In the first half, oil and gas production rose 2 percent to 262.8 million barrels.
Company chairman Hou Qijun said in a statement that the company's outlook remains strong.
DeepSeek releases upgraded AI model
Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek on Thursday released DeepSeek-V3.1, an upgraded model with hybrid inference structure, faster thinking speed and stronger agent capability. Notably, DeepSeek said it's designed to work with upcoming China-developed AI chips. The company said it raise the price for use of the model starting September 6, reflecting booming demand in China.
Hangzhou-based DeepSeek catapulted from obscurity to global fame in January when it unveiled an open-source, large language model that rivals OpenAI's GPT chatbot but sells at a much lower cost. The more anticipated upgrade is the company's coming DeepSeek R2 model.
VNET posts second-quarter loss
VNET Group, one of China's largest providers of data-center services, missed analysts forecasts in second-quarter earnings, sending its Nasdaq-traded shares down 8 percent. The company, which houses data centers for companies like Alibaba, turned to a net loss of 11.9 million yuan (US$1.7 million) from a profit of 63.7 million yuan a year earlier on increases in interest costs and income taxes. Revenue rose 22 percent to 2.43 billion yuan. The company's wholesale data-hosting service was the main driver of growth, more than doubling in revenue to 854.1 million yuan, while the retail end of the service was little changed. The company said it is maintaining its July forecast of 2025 revenue of up to 9.4 million yuan.
China's power demand surges
China's electricity use in July climbed 8.6 percent to 1.02 trillion kilowatt-hours as heat waves increased air conditioning and industrial production remained strong, according to the National Energy Administration. Household power use rose 18 percent; manufacturing use was up 4.7 percent. In the first seven months of the year, power consumption rose 4.5 percent to 5.86 trillion kilowatt-hours.
Separately, the coal-rich province of Shanxi, which comprises 27 percent of China's national production, reported a 7.2 percent increase in raw coal output in the first seven months of the year to 756.4 million tons. Coal accounted for an estimated 59 percent of electricity generation last year.
Economy & Markets
Market attention riveted on Wyoming mountain resort
The US Federal Reserve's annual international economic policy symposium of central bankers, policymakers, economists and academics held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is always a closely watched event by investors and governments around the world. This year the summit has taken on a sharper edge because of hostility between the Fed and the Trump administration over interest rates. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will kick off the meeting on Friday morning with a speech expected to shed light on the direction of US rates, which affect global markets and economies. Trump has been seeking to force Powell from office because of his refusal to lower interest rates until the full effects of US import tariffs on inflation can be fully assessed.
China leads Asia in ETFs
China has overtaken Japan to become Asia's largest market for exchange-traded funds, with assets under management reaching US$611.7 billion in July, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Japan stood at US$610.9 billion. As of August 20, China's ETF market totaled 4.84 trillion yuan (US$665 billion), up more than 1 trillion yuan since the start of the year. The boom reflects a rise in approved ETF approvals, strong inflow of investment and growing retail adoption of low-cost, liquid instruments. Analysts said they expect China to drive Asia's ETF expansion over the next decade, with regional assets possibly topping US$8 trillion by 2035, surpassing Europe.
Smart-car supplier Banma seeks IPO in Hong Kong
Shanghai-based Banma, an Alibaba-backed supplier of cockpits and other technology for smart cars, has filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, CNBC reported. No date or amount for the share sale was announced. Alibaba owns 45 percent of Banma and will hold 30 percent after the sale. Shanghai automaker SAIC is also an investor in Banma.
Corporate
Robot maker AgiBot unveils ambitious production plans
Shanghai-based robotics startup AgiBot said it plans to ramp up production to deliver up to 5,000 robots this year and hundreds of thousands of general-purpose robots in the next three years. Founder Peng Zhihui said the humanoid robot industry is fast moving toward becoming a mass-market star like smartphones and cars in China were in in past years. In July, AgiBot acquired Swancor Advanced Materials, whose shares on Shanghai's STAR market have jumped 12-fold this year.
Bio-Thera signs licensing agreement with German pharma company
Guangzhou-based Bio-Thera Solutions said it signed a licensing agreement with pharmaceutical company STADA Arzneimittel that gives the German company the rights to sell its BAT1806 arthritis injection drug in Europe and certain regions in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Payments to the Shanghai-listed company will total about 136 million euros (US$158 million), plus a percentage of sales, it said in a stock exchange filing.
Meta pauses, for now, recruitment drive for top AI talent
Intensive rivalry for AI engineers and scientists in recent months has touched off a global poaching spree for top talent, but Meta confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that it is pausing recruitment amid what it calls an "organizational restructuring." Meta's AI recruitment recently reportedly involved dangling salaries as high as US$100 million in front of top talent.
UK blocks China company from takeover
The UK blocked the proposed acquisition of graphene-related assets owned by Versarien Plc by a joint venture involving China's Boundary Innovative Materials Technology, citing national security concerns. Boundary Innovative, founded last year in China's Anhui Province, specializes in development of silicon-carbon anode materials for lithium batteries used in electric vehicles and electronics products. Graphene is a supermaterial – extremely light and strong – made from a single, honeycomb-shaped layer of carbon atoms. It has been hailed as the advanced material of the future, which could make chips 10 times faster and allow batteries to charge five times faster.
China food delivery wars, Latin-style
The hot competition in China's food delivery services has moved to a courtroom in Brazil. Just months after debuting their food-delivery platforms in the Brazilian market, a subsidiary of Chinse ride-hailing company Didi, called 99Food, filed a copyright-infringement suit against a subsidiary of top China food delivery platform Meituan, called Keeta. Didi claims Meituan pinched its app logo and design colors. Meituan responded by claiming that the colors and logo design have been associated with its company for 14 years. Didi launched 99Food in April, integrating the app with its local ride-hailing and digital payment services. In May, Meituan announced it will invest US$1 billion in Keeta's expansion in Brazil.
Vuitton opens Nanjing Store for beauty products
French luxury-goods brand Louis Vuitton opened its first stand-alone beauty store in China in Nanjing's luxury Deji Plaza to introduce its new cosmetics and beauty line. Deji is the only Nanjing mall to have French glitterati Hermès, Chanel, Vuitton and Dior under one roof. In June, Vuitton opened an iconic cruise ship-shaped store in downtown Shanghai.