Even as countries around the world move to curb the flood of Chinese goods, China’s export machine continues to steam ahead, the New York Times reported. The country posted a trade surplus of $112.5 billion in July, according to data released on Friday by the General Administration of Customs. It was the third straight month in which China’s exports exceeded its imports by more than $100 billion — a staggering sum that puts the country on pace to surpass last year’s record $1.19 trillion trade surplus. In July, China’s exports rose 23.9 percent in U.S.

A Chinese municipal borrower said that it has enough funds to repay 1.08 billion yuan (RM660 million) in offshore notes due next week, after people familiar with the matter said that a plan to refinance that debt with a new bond sale had been delayed, Bloomberg News reported. Luoyang Shangdu City Investment Holding Group Co was scheduled to price a 364-day yuan-denominated offshore bond last Friday to help repay the notes but the deal was postponed due to disagreements with investors over pricing, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private.

A private gauge showed China’s manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace in July, remaining in expansion territory and broadly echoing the official factory survey, which signaled a contraction, the Wall Street Journal reported. The RatingDog general manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 50.9 in last month, down from 51.7 in June, according to a statement released Monday. The result was better than the official gauge, which dropped to 49.2 in July, from 50.3 in June. The 50 mark separates expansion from contraction.

China's factory activity unexpectedly slowed in July, the first such contraction in five months, weighing on the pace of broader growth for the world's second-largest economy, the Associated Press reported. The official manufacturing purchasing managers index, or PMI, fell to 49.2 from 50.3 in June, China's National Bureau of Statistics said Friday, worse than what economists had expected. The sub-index on new orders fell to 48.5 in July — the lowest since 2023 — from 51.2 in June, while the sub-index for production fell to 49.9 from 51.4.

One of the most surprising outcomes from a whiplash year of tariffs may be that China has emerged in a position of relative strength, with significantly lower tariffs than last year. The Trump administration last week imposed a new tariff rate on Chinese exports of 12.5 percent, similar to rates for dozens of other countries, as it works to resurrect the tariffs struck down in February by the Supreme Court, the New York Times reported. Chinese exports are still subject to other duties, including from Mr. Trump’s first term, and more tariffs could be on the way.

The European Union will fund seven artificial intelligence gigafactories across the bloc ​with €10 billion ($11.5 billion), the European Commission said ‌on Thursday, as the EU steps up efforts to close the technology gap with the U.S. and China, Reuters reported. The Commission said ​that it aims to attract at least €20 billion in ​private investments for the projects. The total ⁠was increased from five planned gigafactories to seven following ​strong interest from EU countries.

China's market regulator will meet with solar industry representatives on Friday to provide ​guidance on pricing compliance and the ‌implementation of industry cost-accounting standards, local media outlet Cailianshe reported on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The meeting is aimed at curbing what ​authorities describe as irrational competition in ​the sector, the report said, which has ⁠been hit by a protracted price war ​driven by excess capacity. China's market regulator is renewing ​a crackdown on what it calls "involution-style", or cutthroat, competition.

China said the U.S. had committed to cap replacement tariffs on Chinese goods at 20%, staking out a limit on further increases after President Donald Trump imposed a new levy, Bloomberg News reported. The Commerce Ministry disclosed the commitment for the first time Monday, saying Washington had made it during bilateral trade talks. By pointing out that the current replacement tariff is 12.5%, Beijing appeared to signal that the U.S. has 7.5 percentage points of room for additional increases before reaching the stated ceiling. The Trump administration's new tariffs came as the U.S.

For decades, founders and investors in China’s technology firms used tax-haven shell companies to list overseas and keep billions of dollars in offshore centers. The loophole allowed China’s superrich to bypass strict capital controls and avoid government oversight of their wealth. Now, the party is ending. In a series of new rules and laws, China is reordering the wealth landscape, seeking to better control how money leaves the country, with effects rippling beyond its borders, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Poolin Technology Pte. Ltd., the Singapore-based company that once ran one of Bitcoin's largest mining pools, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 22, Decrypt.com reported. The filing, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, covers Poolin alongside two U.S. affiliates, Lonestar Dream Inc. and Lonestar Taproot LLC. Court documents list roughly prepetition obligations of more than $100 million against less than $10 million in assets.