In the first half of 2026, China's cosmetics full-channel transaction value reached RMB 611.41 billion, up 4.35% year-on-year. Online channels grew 5.74% to RMB 380.89 billion, with livestream e-commerce accounting for 57% of online sales. Offline channels rose 2.13% to RMB 230.52 billion, marking the first simultaneous growth in years. Department store counters fell 14% to about 38,000, while shopping mall foot traffic rebounded strongly. The high-end segment (above RMB 400) saw 3.31% growth, but mid-range and low-end markets contracted.
Sun Hung Kai Properties has named the retail portion of the International Gateway Centre (IGC) above the West Kowloon terminus of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail as Stage IGC. The five-storey complex spans over 600,000 sq ft with about 240 shops ranging from hundreds to 10,000 sq ft. Targeting office workers, young families, rail and airport passengers, and arts enthusiasts, the mall will have 30% dining space. The first phase soft opening at year-end will feature about 40 shops on the ground floor. Hong Kong's retail sales value rose 11% in the first half of 2026.
Kyushu Railway Company announced on July 28 that all regular railways and the Kyushu Shinkansen in the Kyushu region have been suspended due to a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture. The Japan Meteorological Agency reported the quake struck at 4:27 p. m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers, with a maximum seismic intensity of 7. The suspension covers all rail services in the region.
China's photovoltaic industry suffered severe losses in the first half of 2026, with 22 of 26 listed companies reporting losses totaling RMB 18.3 billion to RMB 21.4 billion. In response, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association released a group standard for cost accounting, unifying calculation methods across the silicon, wafer, cell and module chain. The standard defines three cost tiers—cash, production and full cost—and requires integrated firms to use stepwise full-cost transfer, prohibiting below-cost internal pricing. It provides a quantitative basis for identifying below-cost sales and supports regulatory price monitoring.
The Guanggu AI Film and TV Content Creation Center has officially launched, jointly established by five parties including Guanggu Transportation Investment Group and local cultural and arts bodies. The center aims to break the dilemma of 'local stories monetized elsewhere' by leveraging AI technology. The Guanggu area hosts over 800 AI companies with a combined industry scale of Rmb 60 billion, and 385 cultural enterprises above designated size generated over Rmb 130 billion in revenue in 2025. However, less than 3% of the approximately 142,000 AI short dramas added monthly on Douyin have a strong original literary foundation. The center will address content gaps by connecting Hubei's rich online literature resources with AI production capabilities.
Green City won a residential-commercial land plot in Guangzhou's Liwan District after 50 rounds of bidding, paying RMB 1.686 billion, a premium of 40.97% over the starting price of RMB 1.196 billion. The plot has a land area of 17,642.74 square meters and a floor area of 68,810.33 square meters, with a floor area ratio of 3.9. Five developers participated in the auction. The final floor price was RMB 24,501 per square meter.
The tech talent market is undergoing structural changes marked by AI experience paradoxes and declining junior hiring. By September 2025, employment for developers aged 22-25 fell nearly 20% from the end-2022 peak. Meanwhile, embodied intelligence surged: in the first half of 2026, financing reached RMB 93.5 billion, up fivefold year-on-year, with 322 deals (up 137%). Job demand for embodied intelligence roles rose 57% in spring recruitment, and average monthly pay hit RMB 62,000. Senior talent with relevant experience is prized, while entry-level positions shrink as AI replaces routine work.
As of end-June 2026, the bank wealth management market had RMB 33.66 trillion in outstanding products, up 1.11% from the start of the year and 9.75% year-on-year. There were 51,200 products, up 10.58% from the start. New products raised RMB 39.21 trillion. Investors earned RMB 305.2 billion, with an average annualized return of 2.05%. Wealth management subsidiaries held 92.63% of the market, with their scale up 13.46% year-on-year.
L'ÉCOLE School of Jewelry Arts, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels, will hold the exhibition 'Golden Hands: Rebirth of Iron Age Gold Ornaments' from August 4 to October 7, 2026, at Richemont Twin Villas in Shanghai. The exhibition focuses on an experimental archaeology project recreating the Montans torque, a Celtic gold torque from over 2,000 years ago discovered in 1843 in southern France. It will display a 24K gold replica, tools, and materials, alongside workshops and courses on jewelry craftsmanship.
The China-Europe Railway Express has surpassed 130,000 cumulative trips, transporting over $520 billion in cargo, with a loaded container rate of 100% for 46 consecutive months. Since 2016, annual trip growth has averaged over 30%, and monthly trips now equal the full-year level of 2016. By June 2026, the southern corridor recorded a 78% year-on-year increase, with over 340 trips. The service covers 53 major product categories and over 50,000 varieties, boosting inland Chinese cities and European logistics hubs.
In June 2026, MLCC shipments from Murata, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Taiyo Yuden reached a five-year monthly high, driven by AI demand. The shift of consumer-grade X5R capacity to AI-grade X6S/X7R squeezed supply of mid-to-high capacitance MLCCs (1uF-22uF), pushing inventory below 30 days for mainstream parts. Distributors raised prices by 20% to 25%, while spot prices surged to two to three times normal levels, creating a market with weak end demand but strong channel pricing.
Lazy cleaning online market reached RMB 18.7 billion in 2025, growing sixfold in two years. Brands are fragmented: top five hold only 17.3% of sales. High repurchase rates for oil stain cleaners (98.7%) and scale removers (94.3%) contrast with abandonment rates of 28.6% for pot bottom masks, 22.5% for disposable toilet brushes, and 18.5% for magic silicone brooms. However, 58.9% of consumers think advertising is exaggerated. Chemical safety concerns affect 17.5% of those aged 18-23 and 35.9% of those 24+. Among non-buyers, 75% fear chemical residue, and 96.4% would buy with certification. Overall, 69% prioritize safety, and over 90% prefer natural ingredients.
NVIDIA last week notified AIC partners of a comprehensive price adjustment for the RTX 50 series graphics cards, leading to a 15% to 25% price increase across the lineup in China. The adjustment, the first such broad move since 2000, was driven by rising GDDR7 memory costs. Some RTX 5060 Ti non-reference models saw overnight increases of nearly 2,000 yuan.
On July 24, 2025, Google reported Q2 results with cloud revenue up 82% year-on-year and further raised capital spending. Its shares fell the next day. Enterprises are scrutinizing AI spending returns; one platform spent $1,200 in a two-hour demo and 70% of code came from AI tools. Frontier model prices vary up to 100x. Chinese models GLM-5.2 and Kimi K3 launched with scores close to overseas models. US debate on restricting Chinese open-source models continues. North American top five cloud providers' 2025 capital spending reached $411.5 billion, projected to hit $1.02 trillion by 2027, up 32%. Google's Q2 capital spending was 115% of operating cash flow, free cash flow turned negative. Chip companies finance AI labs for chip orders; Nvidia's investment could reach $100 billion. TSMC has no such plans. Global semiconductor capital spending to double to $341.7 billion by 2028. Chinese models account for over 30% of US enterprise calls on open platforms.
Apple has postponed the launch of its smart glasses to 2027, with internal debate over three technology paths: a camera-free audio-only device, a camera limited to AI analysis, or a full-featured model similar to Meta Ray-Ban. Privacy concerns are central, highlighted by cheating incidents using smart glasses in exams and Meta's legal troubles over data handling. Restrictions are spreading globally, from exam halls to hospitals, challenging the device's path to mainstream adoption.
The Asuka-Fujiwara Capital site in Nara Prefecture was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site on July 26. However, extreme heat with temperatures reaching 37-38 degrees Celsius kept many visitors away from the outdoor ruins. In contrast, the indoor Shijin no Yakata facility, featuring replicas of the Suzaku mural and free admission, attracted crowds seeking relief. The Ishibutai Kofun also drew visitors, who appreciated the refreshing mountain breeze compared to the hotter Tokai region.
In the second quarter of 2026, the number of public fund fixed-income plus products expanded to 1925, managed by 152 firms, with total assets of RMB 3.55 trillion, up 94 funds and RMB 0.37 trillion from the previous quarter. Secondary debt bond funds dominated with 827 funds accounting for RMB 2.37 trillion, or 66.67% of the total. The top 10 fund houses managed RMB 1.79 trillion, representing 50.28% of the market. The number of funds with over RMB 10 billion in assets grew from 68 to 78.
Mainland Chinese buyers purchased 9,776 private residential units in Hong Kong in the first half of 2026, with total transaction value reaching a record 107.1 billion HKD. The number of transactions rose 25% from the second half of 2025. Per transaction averaged about 10.97 million HKD. In the primary market, 4,704 units were bought for 61.45 billion HKD, up 25% and 22% year-on-year respectively. Secondary market transactions totaled 5,072 units worth 45.65 billion HKD, up 24% and 31% year-on-year.
A report from Research And Markets projects the global health information technology market will grow from $480.49 billion in 2025 to $961.26 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 14.9%.
Nippon Professional Baseball team owners and the players' association held direct negotiations on March 28, 2026 in Tokyo, discussing business expansion including the addition of baseball lottery tickets. The rare meeting included active players and covered declining baseball participation and enhancing international value.
Splatoon: Tuji Dui launched on Switch2 on July 23, earning a Metacritic aggregate score of 81 and a user score of 9.3, the highest among Nintendo games. The user score ties it with several classics for second place on Metacritic, with Expedition 33 currently in first. The game shifts from online multiplayer to a single-player adventure, and one media outlet gave it 9/10.
As of end-Q2 2026, there were 2,548 sponsored funds across 143 institutions, with total AUM of RMB 3.75 trillion, up 9.01% from Q1. Over 80% of the 141 new products were equity technology themed. The number of billion-level sponsored funds rose to 55. GF Fund led with the largest total AUM, while Fullgoal Fund saw the biggest quarterly increase.
Dongguan has released a dedicated AI server industrial policy and a 'Computing Power Island' core carrier. The plan targets the city's entire server industry chain output value to exceed 500 billion yuan by 2030, with 1-2 chain leaders worth 100 billion yuan and 3-5 backbone firms valued at 10 billion yuan. Over five years, 100 billion yuan will be invested to develop the 9,000-mu island. In 2025, Dongguan's server output approached 600,000 units with industry chain value near 100 billion yuan, producing one in ten Chinese servers. 95% of components are sourced within a one-hour industrial circle.
In the first half of 2026, online contracted sales of new homes (ordinary residential, excluding villas) in 35 key Chinese cities totaled approximately 520,000 units. The 90-120 square meter segment accounted for 40.7% with 212,000 units, while the 120-140 square meter segment reached 24.2% (126,000 units), up 3.3 percentage points year-on-year, the highest in five years. Combined, these two segments represented about 65% of total sales. Among the 35 cities, 12 saw over half of sales from units above 120 square meters, with Changsha and Jinan exceeding 70%.
The National Development and Reform Commission said on July 28 that the China-Europe Railway Express has become a vital bridge for international trade, covering 53 major cargo categories and over 50,000 varieties. In June 2026, a European heat wave with temperatures above 40°C triggered a surge in air conditioner demand. Chinese manufacturers Midea and Gree switched from sea to rail, cutting transport time from 40 days to about 15 days, creating a fast track for China-Europe trade.
A 2026 Chaoshan-dialect film sparked interest in local tea brand Yibei Chaocha, which sponsored 100 cups. The tea industry is embracing regional flavors, with giants like Heytea and Nayuki developing Guangdong ingredients such as oil plum, guava, and yellow peel. Data shows small fruits like prickly pear and guava are surging in use, while Thai milk tea revives at around RMB 20 per cup, but Hong Kong milk tea remains sluggish due to high caffeine and sugar. Heytea plans to test a new Hong Kong-style milk tea in select Guangdong stores. Tai Ben Niu introduces topping milk tea, and specialty drink standardization advances with smart machines.
Japanese shogi player Tetsuro Itodani has published a new book titled "The Evolution of 'Eating' – Cultured Meat, Insect Cuisine, 3D Food Printers," which traces the history of human dietary development from ancient times to the future. The book covers key milestones such as rice cultivation, the introduction of New World crops like tomatoes and potatoes, and modern preservation technologies like canning and refrigeration. It also explores how adventurous eating in Japan's past led to today's diverse cuisine and looks ahead to emerging food technologies.
A shipment of 3,750 tonnes of green ammonia produced in Da'an, Jilin province, has been transported overland to Lianyungang in Jiangsu and then shipped to South Korea, setting a record for the largest single-batch export of green ammonia in China and globally. The ammonia comes from the world's largest single-unit green ammonia facility with an annual capacity of 180,000 tonnes. Powered by wind and solar resources in western Jilin, its carbon emissions are more than 90% lower than those from traditional coal-based ammonia production.
On July 27, the A-share electronic fabric sector surged, with Sinoma Science & Technology and Honghe Technology hitting their daily limit up. The sector faces supply constraints due to long delivery times for imported weaving machines and gaps in domestic equipment quality, limiting capacity expansion. Meanwhile, demand from AI servers is rising, prompting customers to secure supplies with deposits.
The brain-computer interface industry has accelerated over the past decade, driven by capital and policy support. Some products are expected to enter commercialization by 2026, marking the first year of commercial semi-invasive devices. The global brain-computer interface market is projected to grow from $24.1 billion in 2025 to $121.1 billion by 2035, with leading firms exploring technology frontiers and small and medium enterprises focusing on commercialization.