The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee met on July 30 to analyze the economic situation and deploy work for the second half of the year. It called for expanding international trade cooperation and vigorously developing service trade. According to Ministry of Commerce data, China's total service trade imports and exports reached 3.09948 trillion yuan in the first five months of 2026, up 6% year-on-year. Exports rose 15.9% to 1.23046 trillion yuan, while imports edged up 0.4% to 1.86902 trillion yuan, narrowing the deficit to 638.56 billion yuan. The 2025 full-year service trade totaled 8.08231 trillion yuan, up 7.4%.
China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) announced the first batch of 16 proposed support projects under the 'Five-One Batch' project of its Premium Micro-Drama Creation and Communication Plan. The list, released on July 28, 2026, includes 'The Year of the Rabbit: The Long March Side Story,' the only project from Chengdu. The original animation series has amassed over 3.3 billion views online and 18 billion comic views, with Douyin topics exceeding 125 billion. The selection coincides with the 90th anniversary of the Long March in 2026.
The 2026 Xiang Super League opener in Changsha drew over 37,000 fans, highlighting the rising popularity of provincial football leagues such as Yue Super and Su Super. During the 2025 May Day holiday, Su Super events drove 37.6 million tourist visits to key scenic spots in Jiangsu, up 7.2% year-on-year, and 43 billion yuan in tourism consumption, up 6.7%. In August 2025, the State Council issued guidelines targeting a sports industry total value exceeding 7 trillion yuan by 2030, with provinces like Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Hubei introducing supporting policies.
KDDI on January 28 launched Buffmee, an AI app developed with about 30 media and publishing partners including Kyodo News. The app answers user questions using articles and clearly attributes sources, aiming to enhance information reliability and professionalism. Publishers earn revenue based on usage frequency and gain reader exposure. The app is free for basic use, with paid options for exclusive content, and supports searches for popular recipe books and railway magazine data. Future plans include collecting nearby restaurant articles from expired food magazines and direct reading of cited sources. The content pool includes about 150 sources.