China Business Daily

18 July 2026 · 07:20 CST · Daily intelligence brief

This edition draws on 48 reports across 14 Chinese outlets.

At a Glance

  • China’s forex regulator will roll out a policy package easing cross-border investment, including simplified settlement procedures and new QDII quotas, and reported a record 9.2 trillion USD in bank cross-border receipts and payments in H1. Securities Times, 2026-07-17.
  • The NDRC released an AI Cooperation Development Action Plan at the World AI Conference, proposing eight actions from cross-border data flow to affordable computing for developing countries. finance.china.com.cn, 2026-07-17.
  • China will phase in a battery consumption tax from September 2026, with lithium-ion, photovoltaic, and other cells taxed at 2% initially, rising to 4%, while sodium-ion and solid-state batteries are exempt through 2028. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.

Top Stories

Policy

  • China forex regulator to roll out policy package to ease cross-border investment · covered by 3 outlets
  • The State Administration of Foreign Exchange will simplify capital account settlement and payment procedures for foreign-invested enterprises, according to SAFE Capital Market Department Director Xiao Sheng. People’s Daily, 2026-07-17.
  • SAFE will also expand the applicable subject scope of cross-border financing facilitation policies and promote the green foreign debt pilot nationwide. People’s Daily, 2026-07-17.
  • In the first half of 2026, banks’ cross-border receipts and payments on behalf of customers totaled 9.2 trillion USD, a record high for the period, up 21% year-on-year, according to SAFE Deputy Director Li Bin. Securities Times, 2026-07-17.

  • SAFE plans to issue a new round of QDII quotas soon to support residents’ overseas securities investment, Xiao Sheng said. People’s Daily, 2026-07-17.

  • China’s NDRC releases action plan for AI cooperation development · covered by 4 outlets

  • The National Development and Reform Commission released the Artificial Intelligence Cooperative Development Action Plan, promoting cross-border data flow and cross-border trusted data spaces. finance.china.com.cn, 2026-07-17.
  • The plan includes eight actions: high-quality data supply, intelligent computing power inclusiveness, open-source ecosystem sharing, deep AI empowerment, digital talent co-cultivation, rule and standard co-building, security governance cooperation, and AI for good. finance.eastmoney.com, 2026-07-18.
  • The Smart Computing Power Inclusiveness Action aims to provide affordable intelligent computing services to developing countries. Securities Times, 2026-07-17.

  • The plan also encourages co-building an international AI open-source community and sharing of general models, basic algorithms, and tool components. Securities Times, 2026-07-17.

  • China to adjust battery consumption tax in phases · covered by 5 outlets

  • The Ministry of Finance (财政部), General Administration of Customs, and State Taxation Administration jointly issued an announcement: from September 1, 2026, certain batteries (including mercury-free primary cells, Ni-MH, lithium primary, lithium-ion, and vanadium redox flow) will be taxed at 2%, rising to 4% from September 1, 2027. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.
  • Photovoltaic batteries will be taxed at 2% from April 1, 2027, and at 4% from April 1, 2028. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.

  • From September 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028, sodium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries, fuel cells, and certain photovoltaic cells (perovskite, tandem, gallium arsenide) are exempt from consumption tax. finance.sina.com.cn, 2026-07-17.

  • China’s macro policy front-loaded and effective, mid-year review says · covered by 1 outlet

  • On January 15, the People’s Bank of China announced 8 policy measures, lowering interest rates on various structural monetary policy tools and expanding support. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.
  • As of June 20, consumer goods trade-in sales exceeded 1 trillion yuan this year, benefiting 136 million person-times, with a subsidy leverage ratio of 1:10.3. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.

  • This year, 250 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special government bonds were allocated for consumer goods trade-ins, and a 100 billion yuan fiscal-financial coordination fund was set up to boost domestic demand. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.

  • China market watchdog says 99.05% of frozen drinks pass quality check · covered by 2 outlets

  • The State Administration for Market Regulation organized a nationwide food safety sampling inspection of frozen drinks, with a pass rate of 99.05% across 6,415 batches from 581 production enterprises in all 31 provinces. People’s Daily, 2026-07-17.
  • The inspection covered all categories including ice cream, popsicles, and edible ice, testing 32 indicators including food additives and microbiological indexes. industry.caijing.com.cn, 2026-07-17.

Macro

  • Henan province H1 GDP grows 5.0% year-on-year · covered by 10 outlets
  • Henan province’s GDP reached 3.352158 trillion yuan in the first half of 2026, growing 5.0% year-on-year, according to the Henan Provincial Bureau of Statistics and NBS Henan Survey Office. National Business Daily, 2026-07-17.
  • The secondary industry added value rose 5.4%, while the tertiary industry grew 4.9% and the primary industry 4.0%. National Business Daily, 2026-07-17.

  • Nationally, China’s GDP grew 4.7% year-on-year in H1 2025 (reference data released earlier), with high-tech manufacturing value added up 13.3%. finance.china.com.cn, 2026-07-16.

  • Foreign investment in China overall improving, official data shows · covered by 1 outlet

  • In the first half of 2026, high-tech services and high-tech manufacturing foreign capital inflow grew 61% year-on-year, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.
  • Cross-border capital by non-bank sectors recorded a net inflow of 247.2 billion USD in the first half. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.
  • The domestic RMB foreign exchange market transaction volume totaled 22.1 trillion USD in H1, up 5% year-on-year. People’s Daily, 2026-07-18.

Company

  • ExxonMobil Q2 profit forecast up nearly $4 bln; deepens China cooperation · covered by 1 outlet
  • ExxonMobil expects second-quarter profit to surge nearly 40 billion USD driven by higher oil prices, and will release full earnings on July 31. Economic Observer, 2026-07-18.

  • On July 15, the governor of Guangdong Province met with an ExxonMobil global senior vice president to deepen cooperation on the Huizhou ethylene project. Economic Observer, 2026-07-18.

  • Several Chinese Companies Report H1 Profit Outlooks and Regulatory Developments · covered by 4 outlets

  • State Grid Info & Telecom expects H1 2026 net profit of 231 million yuan, down 12.97% year-on-year. National Business Daily, 2026-07-18.
  • Dekeli expects H1 2026 net profit to increase 216.80% to 277.31% year-on-year. National Business Daily, 2026-07-18.
  • Huichen Co’s actual controller and chairman Zhao Long has been criminally detained for suspected illegal disclosure. National Business Daily, 2026-07-18.

  • ST Wenfeng and its controlling shareholder are under CSRC investigation for suspected information disclosure violations. finance.eastmoney.com, 2026-07-17.

  • Zhongji Innolight passes HKEX hearing, poised to become year’s largest Hong Kong IPO · covered by 3 outlets

  • Zhongji Innolight (中际旭创; a Chinese optical transceiver manufacturer) passed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing hearing, potentially becoming the largest Hong Kong IPO this year. finance.eastmoney.com, 2026-07-17.

Tech

  • Dewu App showcases embodied AI at World Artificial Intelligence Conference · covered by 2 outlets
  • Dewu App (得物App; a Chinese e-commerce platform for sneakers and luxury goods) and Qianjue Robot jointly launched the world’s first AI authentication robot at the World AI Conference. www.time-weekly.com, 2026-07-17.
  • The AI authentication system achieves over 99.9999% accuracy compared to human experts and generates a detailed authentication report in five seconds. www.time-weekly.com, 2026-07-17.

  • The system covers 25 categories, over 6,000 brands, and more than 100,000 products, and won the top SAIL Award at the conference. www.time-weekly.com, 2026-07-17.

  • Qifu Technology open-sources auto-modeling agent ModelEvo · covered by 1 outlet

  • Qifu Technology (奇富科技; a Chinese fintech company) announced the open-sourcing of the automatic modeling agent ModelEvo on July 13, aligning with its strategic shift from scale expansion to technology output. Economic Observer, 2026-07-18.
  • ModelEvo standardizes and opens Qifu Technology’s credit risk control modeling methodology, aiming to contribute to co-building AI modeling infrastructure. Economic Observer, 2026-07-18.

Energy

  • China’s concentrated solar power installed capacity ranks second globally · covered by 2 outlets
  • China had 24 operational solar thermal power projects with total capacity of 2.1 GW as of end of June 2026, ranking second globally, according to the China Electricity Council. People’s Daily, 2026-07-17.
  • Another 26 projects with total capacity of 3.2 GW are under construction; unit cost has fallen from about 30,000 yuan/kW to 15,000 yuan/kW over the past decade. People’s Daily, 2026-07-17.
  • The grid price for solar thermal power dropped from 1.15 yuan/kWh to about 0.6 yuan/kWh. People’s Daily, 2026-07-17.

Markets

  • Hong Kong Hang Seng Tech Index drops over 4%, Hang Seng Index down 1.98% at noon · covered by 4 outlets
  • At midday on July 17, the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 4.04% and the Hang Seng Index fell 1.98%. National Business Daily, 2026-07-17.
  • Zhipu AI (a Chinese large-model developer) declined nearly 22%, Meituan fell over 6%, and SMIC and Bilibili both fell over 5%. National Business Daily, 2026-07-17.

  • In contrast, on the previous day’s close (July 16), the Hang Seng Index closed at 25,008.6 points, up 1.33%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index closed at 4,834.44 points, up 1.98%. finance.eastmoney.com, 2026-07-16.

  • China stocks open lower, over 3100 stocks decline; medical, semiconductor shares lead losses · covered by 3 outlets

  • On July 16, the Shanghai Composite Index opened 1.09% lower, the Shenzhen Component Index opened 1.91% lower, and the ChiNext Index opened 2.48% lower. Securities Times, 2026-07-16.
  • Sectors including storage chip concept, MLCC, lithium mine, semiconductor, building materials, and aviation led the declines. Securities Times, 2026-07-16.
  • In Hong Kong, Zhipu AI opened more than 12% lower, while BYD Electronic opened more than 3% higher. Jiemian, 2026-07-16.

Also Reported

Further developments selected for today’s brief; tap a source to read the original.

Sources

48 source articles across 14 Chinese outlets. Each story below lists the outlets that corroborate it; click any source to read the original.

China forex regulator to roll out policy package to ease cross-border investment — 6 outlets

China’s NDRC releases action plan for AI cooperation development — 5 outlets

China to adjust battery consumption tax in phases — 5 outlets

Henan province H1 GDP grows 5.0% year-on-year — 6 outlets

ExxonMobil Q2 profit forecast up nearly $4 bln; deepens China cooperation — 1 outlet

Two Chinese companies hit by regulatory action: chairman detained, ST Wenfeng investigated — 4 outlets

Zhongji Innolight passes HKEX hearing, poised to become year’s largest Hong Kong IPO — 3 outlets

Foreign investment in China overall improving, official data shows — 1 outlet

Dewu App showcases embodied AI at World Artificial Intelligence Conference — 2 outlets

China’s concentrated solar power installed capacity ranks second globally — 3 outlets

Qifu Technology open-sources auto-modeling agent ModelEvo — 1 outlet

Hong Kong Hang Seng Tech Index drops over 4%, Hang Seng Index down 1.98% at noon — 4 outlets

China stocks open lower, over 3100 stocks decline; medical, semiconductor shares lead losses — 3 outlets

China’s macro policy front-loaded and effective, mid-year review says — 1 outlet

China market watchdog says 99.05% of frozen drinks pass quality check — 2 outlets

China’s foreign exchange market remains stable, three data sets show — 1 outlet

Methodology: stories are clustered across Chinese outlets and ranked by breadth of corroboration and recency. Reporting is descriptive only and is not investment advice. Compiled 18 July 2026 07:20 CST.

Intern Steve Lvl 1
Rank Steve today (1–5):
Help Steve improve tomorrow’s brief.
What worked? What missed? What should he watch more carefully?