Chinese regulators are curbing mainland firms from adopting a refinancing structure, known as "1+N", for domestic real estate firms or cross-border borrowers using mainland property as collateral, Bloomberg reported. Sources said that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has in recent months informed some bankers to restrict real estate companies from using the "1+N" offshore loan structure, further reinforcing recent regulatory efforts to tighten oversight of overseas borrowing.

Chinese artificial-intelligence developers are racing to raise money through share offerings or loans, believing they need a bigger war chest to keep up with U.S. competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported. At least six startups that develop AI models are preparing for initial public offerings in Shanghai or Hong Kong through 2027. They are joined by China’s two largest memory-chip makers and three humanoid-robot developers. A flurry of new releases from China has brought local AI models closer to cutting-edge U.S. systems.

Alibaba's AliExpress was hit with a record €550 million ($629 million) fine from the European Union on Monday for ‌failing to tackle sales of illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products on its platform, Reuters reported. The fine was the third issued by the European Commission under the EU's landmark Digital Services Act, which requires very large online platforms to do more to counter illegal and harmful content. The Commission charged AliExpress in June last year with ​failing to comply with a DSA requirement to assess and mitigate the risks of dissemination of illegal products.

China’s economy slowed sharply in the quarter ending June, revealing vulnerabilities in the country’s growth model, which is predominantly propelled by exports with little appetite for domestic consumption, experts say, Al Jazeera reported. Gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter clocked in at 4.3 percent, the country’s slowest rate of expansion in more than three years, and lower than the 5 percent growth clocked in the previous quarter, despite a surge in exports driven by a boom in artificial intelligence and strong demand for Chinese electric vehicles.

Jack Chen has never defaulted on a loan since he began borrowing to cover expenses during his internship days, but his credit report now carries a red flag because of his swelling debt burden, ​and new loan applications are being rejected, Reuters reported. That leaves the 27-year-old telecoms maintenance worker from Jiangsu province facing a default of around 140,000 yuan ($20,685) — equivalent to about a ‌year's wages — across credit cards, online borrowing and a car loan, after his employer cut pay and scrapped a fuel allowance this year.

China’s economy slowed sharply to a 4.3% annualized pace of growth in the April-June quarter, the government said Wednesday, the weakest in over three years, the Associated Press reported. The official data fell short of forecasts and was far below the economy’s strong 5% pace of growth in January-March, despite a surge in exports driven partly by the boom in artificial intelligence, and by robust global demand for Chinese electric vehicles. China has largely shrugged off wider economic impacts from the Iran war as soaring energy prices pushed up global inflation.

China's exports surged in June, buoyed by orders for chips to fuel the global AI boom and automobiles, deepening producers' reliance on overseas buyers as policymakers in the world's No. 2 economy continue to grapple with how to boost demand at home, Reuters reported. The stronger-than-expected trade performance keeps ‌China on track to post a surplus topping $1 trillion for a second straight year, with factories sustaining sales despite slowing growth in major economies and trade frictions with Washington. Exports ‌climbed 27% from a year earlier in U.S.