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In the first half of 2026, China's total export value exceeded $2.1 trillion, a new record. The growth rate was 17.6% for the period, with June recording a 27.0% year-on-year increase. Data from various indicators suggest that the Chinese economy's dependence on exports has reached its highest level in nearly three decades.
China's goods exports in 2025 totaled nearly RMB 27 trillion, up 6.1% year on year, with ASEAN accounting for 17.64% of total exports. Chinese firms are expanding across ASEAN in electronics, new energy vehicles, digital economy, cross-border logistics, and solar. Singapore remains a top regional headquarters choice despite high costs, with companies like Global Transport and Logistics serving 2,600 multinationals and setting up regional hubs. The city-state offers an international headquarter scheme with a 10% preferential tax rate, while a global minimum tax of 15% applies to large firms.
Five Chinese government departments have jointly launched the 2026 new energy vehicle (NEV) rural campaign, the first nationwide initiative under the 15th Five-Year Plan for agricultural modernization. The campaign features 155 models, up 31 from 2025. In 2025, sales of NEVs under the rural campaign reached 9.43 million units, about 24 times the 2020 level, spurring over 1 trillion yuan in rural consumption. The program aims to shift from simply selling cars to building an ecosystem, addressing charging infrastructure and promoting green mobility in rural areas.
On July 26, two Chinese-built 10,000-vehicle capacity ro-ro ships, the Panamanian-flagged GLOVIS Leader and the Maltese-flagged GLOVIS Nova, simultaneously berthed at Shanghai Nangang Port to load domestically produced commercial vehicles for export. The newly delivered GLOVIS Nova completed loading 7,738 new energy vehicles, setting a new record for single-voyage commercial vehicle loading at a domestic port.
Volkswagen Group reported H1 2026 operating profit of 5.931 billion euros, down 11.6% year on year, with operating margin narrowing to 3.8% from 4.2%. Net profit after tax dropped 30.7% to 3.1 billion euros. Global deliveries fell 6.3% to 4.1 million vehicles, while China deliveries plunged 25.9% to 971,000. The company faces mounting challenges from geopolitical risks, trade conflicts, and intensifying competition, particularly from Chinese automakers whose European market share reached 12.0% in May 2026, surpassing Japanese brands. Volkswagen plans to reduce its global annual capacity to 9 million vehicles and streamline its product lineup.
The U. S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rejected Tesla's exemption request and ordered the recall of nearly 20,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from model years 2017 to 2023 due to low-beam headlight brightness exceeding standards. A Tesla self-inspection in 2024 found that some headlamps had a maximum intensity of 230.1 candela in the 10-degree to 90-degree elevation range, nearly double the 125-candela standard. NHTSA noted that Tesla tested 50 headlamps with a defect rate close to 100% and only covered one of eight required driving scenarios, deeming the appeal insufficient.
SAIC Motor's MG brand launched the MG 07 pre-sale on July 29, offering five trims from 125,900 RMB. The model features a 845km battery from CATL, a 650km semi-solid-state battery, 800V architecture, 5C fast charging, Momenta R7 lidar autonomous driving, mCDC intelligent electromagnetic suspension, and HeatMatrix active cooling motor. SAIC has invested nearly 190 billion RMB in R&D with over 24,000 patents. The vehicle targets the 120,000-160,000 RMB segment. A flash marketing campaign will open 100 pop-up stores in 59 cities.
A US Tesla owner reported that their vehicle with FSD v14.3.5 suddenly braked at a green-light intersection at about 80 km/h, throwing items from the passenger seat. The system misidentified a non-emergency ambulance without lights or siren. Phantom braking complaints have increased; the US NHTSA received hundreds of such reports in 2022. FSD v14's average critical disengagement distance is 732 miles, still far from the 10,000-mile target for unsupervised operation.
BYD reported that orders have been strong following the launch of its flash charging technology and a series of new vehicle models. The company is accelerating production capacity expansion to meet rising consumer demand. In cutting-edge technology, BYD continues to focus on core consumer needs, launching products and technology solutions that are both market competitive and user valuable.
SAIC Motor ranked 125th on the 2026 Fortune Global 500, up 13 places from a year earlier, with consolidated revenue of US$91.301 billion for fiscal 2025. The Chinese automaker, now on the list for the 22nd consecutive year, sold 4.507 million vehicles in 2025, up 12.3% year-on-year, and reported total revenue of RMB 656.24 billion, up 4.6%. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 10.11 billion, rising sharply. In the first half of 2026, SAIC sold 2.045 million vehicles, the only Chinese automaker to exceed 2 million units in the period.