China

At an August 17 plenary, Premier Li Qiang identified insufficient domestic demand, sectoral difficulties, and external uncertainty as China's three main economic challenges, while calling for new policy measures to be introduced promptly. The meeting readout specified no new fiscal, monetary, or regulatory tools, and the only formally documented follow-up action was a PBOC and SAFE notice expanding nationwide cross-border fund pooling for multinational companies. An NDRC work meeting on faster rollout of policy-based financial instruments was reported without amounts, eligibility rules, or a delivery deadline.

China's Ministry of Finance reported first-half 2026 general-public-budget tax revenue grew 5.3% year-on-year, driven by a 6% rise in domestic VAT, a 13.1% increase in individual income tax, and a 97.3% surge in securities-trading stamp tax. Growth accelerated steadily across the half, from 0.1% in January-February to 5.3% by June, supported by higher industrial producer prices, stronger corporate profits, and increased stock-market turnover. Two agencies reported differing growth rates — 4.9% from the State Taxation Administration and 5.3% from the Ministry of Finance — because each covers a distinct accounting perimeter, not because the figures contradict one another.

The People's Bank of China conducted capped overnight reverse-repo operations of 349 to 566 billion yuan per day on August 14, 17, and 18, while recording zero seven-day reverse-repo volume on each date. Official PBOC statements, including a July press conference explanation, confirm the seven-day reverse-repo rate remains the main policy rate and that the overnight tool is designed for adjusting ultra-short-term liquidity. An analyst at Orient Securities has suggested the pattern could signal a structural shift, but no official PBOC communication supports that conclusion.

King Abdullah II arrived in China on August 18, 2026 for a state visit including scheduled meetings with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and Chinese business leaders, with cooperation agreements expected across green energy, tourism, and civil aviation. The visit builds on a bilateral trade relationship worth approximately 5.8 billion dollars in 2023 and a strategic partnership established in 2015. Jordan entered the talks with a stated goal of enlisting China's influence toward a two-state solution on Palestine, though no joint statement or Gaza-specific Chinese commitment had been published as of the reporting cutoff.

China's NDRC and NEA have published the 15th Five-Year Plan for Oil and Natural Gas Development, establishing a 2030 domestic supply target of 440 million tonnes of oil equivalent — approximately 4.8% above the 420 million tonnes recorded in 2025. The plan also sets infrastructure targets including 220,000 kilometres of long-distance pipelines and natural gas reserves exceeding 13% of national consumption, though it provides no separate crude oil and natural gas output figures, no annual milestones toward the 2030 goal, and no company-specific investment allocations. Readers will find a precise account of what the plan commits to and what it leaves unspecified.

Unitree Robotics begins trading on Shanghai's STAR Market on August 19, 2026, having priced its IPO at 150.80 yuan per share and raised approximately 6.1 billion yuan in gross proceeds from 40.4 million new shares. The robotics company's 2025 revenue reached 1.7 billion yuan, up from 392 million yuan in 2024, with gross margins expanding to 60.13 percent. Proceeds are earmarked for robot model research, robot-body development, new product lines, and a manufacturing base, though the final allocation of funds exceeding the original 4.2 billion yuan plan was not disclosed.