In Depth: Province’s Grassroots Soccer League Scores Consumption Goals

Nvidia summoned: China’s internet regulator called in Nvidia Corp. executives on Thursday to explain what it called “security risk issues” with the U.S. semiconductor giant’s computing chips. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) asserted that Nvidia’s H20 has a backdoor vulnerability because of the tracking and remote shutdown technologies built into the chip. Nvidia created the H20 specifically for the Chinese market, designing it to comply with U.S. export restrictions. In its announcement on the summons, the CAC pointed out that American lawmakers had called for advanced chips exported from the U.S. to be equipped with tracking and location functions.

AI action plan: China has launched an ambitious action plan to accelerate the commercialization of artificial intelligence (AI) across its economy. The initiative calls on government bodies and state-owned enterprises to take the lead in creating new drivers for growth. The State Council, which approved the AI+ Action Plan at a Thursday meeting, vowed to optimize China’s AI innovation ecosystem by strengthening the supply of computing power, algorithms and data, along with greater policy support, a focus on talent development and the construction of an open-source ecosystem.

Consumption boosters: On Thursday, China’s cabinet approved a new policy to subsidize interest payments on personal consumer loans and loans to service-sector companies, the latest in a series of government efforts to bolster flagging domestic consumption. The decision, announced after a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang, underscores Beijing’s intensifying effort to use fiscal firepower alongside monetary tools to stimulate growth. By directly lowering borrowing costs for households and small businesses, leaders aim to unlock spending potential.

CATL earnings: Chinese battery titan Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.’s (CATL) (300750.SZ) net profit jumped 33% year-on-year in the first half in a sign that its overseas expansion is paying off. In its semi-annual report released Wednesday, CATL booked 30.5 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) in net profit on 178.9 billion yuan in revenue, which was up more than 7% from the same period in 2024. The company attributed its profit growth to the rapid development of the global electric vehicle and energy storage markets. CATL reported a significant boost in overseas revenue in the first half, which accounted for 34.2% of its total. That’s up from 30.3% in the first half of last year.

Manufacturing PMI: China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for July showed factory activity shrank for the fourth straight month, highlighting the struggling economic recovery. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported Thursday that the manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3. That’s down from 49.7 in June. Official PMI subindexes showed shrinking total demand, declining new export orders and continued sluggishness in the job market in the manufacturing sector. The nonmanufacturing business activity index was also down from the previous month. The decline in both sectors brought the composite PMI output index down to 50.2, indicating a slowdown in economic growth.