Unitree, the world’s biggest humanoid robot maker, has made a spectacular entry on to China’s stock market, with its shares surging by more than 600%. The Chinese company’s robots have gained global fame via viral videos of them performing martial arts, running at Olympic speeds and serving as backup dancers for pop stars. Two Unitree robots in a fighting demonstration at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on Wednesday. Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images Shares in the business, officially known as Yushu Technology Co, rose to as high as 1,100 yuan…
Tag: Business
China’s economy showing signs that slowdown may be extending
China’s economy is showing signs of extending a slowdown with a slump in industrial output and retail sales in July, adding to pressure on Beijing to intervene with measures to support activity. After the world’s second largest economy posted one of its lowest quarterly growth readings on record in the three months to June, the latest figures suggest it continued to falter in July. Factory output grew 4.5% from a year earlier last month, compared with 5.3% in June, official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on…
Chinese EV sales surge to new high in Europe putting tariffs under scrutiny
Imports this year now account for 14% of the market amid claims vehicles are being dumped in the EU and UK Chinese electric car sales have risen across Europe to a record high driven by strong demand and low tariffs in the UK and a surge in buyers in Italy. Against a backdrop of claims that Chinese carmakers are “dumping” state-subsidised vehicles in the EU and UK to gain market share, the figures will give impetus to calls for quotas and higher tariffs to protect European manufacturers. Continue reading… The…
Trump administration reportedly drafting ban on Chinese datacenter components
The Trump administration is reportedly drafting a ban on US imports of new models of Chinese datacenter components, in the latest sign US authorities are scrambling to respond to the rapid development of AI technology in China. Four people familiar with the matter told Reuters that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which oversees the US telecommunications industry, is developing a measure to bar imports of new Chinese optical transceivers, which allow data to travel over fiber-optic cables at the speed of light within datacenters. Officials hope to publish the measure…
Stock market turmoil sheds stark light on the opaque AI economy
Even for the rollercoaster world of AI, last week was particularly volatile as investors scrambled to keep up with developments that threatened the dominance of the largest western chipmakers. It began with a double whammy. On Monday, the Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT floated on the Shanghai stock market, soaring by 466% in value to 3.3tn yuan (£365bn). That same day, it was reported that China had developed its own tools to carry out deep-ultraviolet lithography, a technique essential to the computer chip supply chain over which the Dutch company ASML…
BMW to cut ‘as many as 8,000 jobs’ under pressure from Chinese rivals
BMW is planning to cut as many as 8,000 jobs in Germany, according to reports, in the latest sign of Europe’s largest carmakers reducing costs under pressure from Chinese rivals. The Munich-headquartered company has started a voluntary redundancy programme agreed with employee representatives, a BMW spokesperson said on Wednesday. The company and its works council had agreed a severance programme targeting the administration and development divisions, the spokesperson said. Production operations are excluded. BMW’s total workforce is about 160,000. Germany’s carmakers have come under intense pressure in recent years with…
Mass job cuts loom at VW as profits fall steeply on China sales slump
Carmaker expects to sell 3% fewer vehicles this year as it pushes through a programme that could eliminate 100,000 roles Volkswagen has reported a steep fall in profits and cut its revenue forecast amid a sales slump in China, as the German carmaker pushes through a brutal cost-cutting programme that includes axeing up to 100,000 jobs. VW said it expects sales revenue to fall by up to 3% this year, a reversal of a previous forecast for a 3% increase on last year’s €321.9bn (£275.3bn), because of a sales slump…
Democratic lawmakers propose bank funded by China tariffs to boost US manufacturing
Democrats in the US Congress have laid out plans for what they say would be the “boldest” bid to revitalize the country’s industrial heartlands since the second world war – using revenue raised by tariffs on China. A bill introduced this week would create a new bank to strengthen domestic manufacturing, provided with up to $15bn in funds each year. The bill, led by US representatives Ro Khanna, Tom Suozzi and Debbie Dingell, is entitled the Industrial Bank for American Manufacturing Act. “This is one of the boldest industrialization proposals…
AliExpress fined record €550m by EU for failing to stop sale of illegal and fake goods
The Chinese online retail platform AliExpress has been fined a record €550m (£470m) by the EU over its failure to stop illegal goods including harmful clothing, cosmetics and kitchen gadgets being sold through its site. The European Commission fine is the biggest imposed by the bloc under the Digital Services Act (DSA), legislation that came into force in 2024 to protect consumers from illegal goods, deceptive or addictive marketing techniques. Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said: “The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys,…
China ‘strongly dissatisfied’ with nationalisation of British Steel
China’s government has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the decision to nationalise British Steel this week, 15 months after the UK government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs. On Thursday, British Steel was brought under public ownership to protect “the future of steel production”, the government announced. The Department for Business and Trade said the move was essential to maintain steel production at the company’s site in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, to protect the company’s future and UK supply chains.…