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China’s Belt and Road Initiative hit a new high in H1 2025, with USD 124 billion in contracts across 176 deals, surpassing the total for all of 2024. …

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China’s Belt and Road Initiative hit a new high in H1 2025, with USD 124 billion in contracts across 176 deals, surpassing the total for all of 2024. Major energy and infrastructure projects in Africa, Central Asia, and Nigeria fueled the surge. Analysts cite sluggish domestic growth and shifting trade dynamics as key drivers of China’s expanding global footprint.

<a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba’s</a> Taobao Shangou and <a href="/company/meituan">Meituan</a> spent over RMB 20 billion in subsidies across recent weekends, fueling a fresh price war in China’s food delivery market. Taobao Shangou issued more than RMB 12 billion on <a href="https://kr-asia.com/meituan-scrambles-on-super-saturday-as-taobao-shangou-tops-80-million-daily-orders">July 12</a> alone, while Meituan spent up to RMB 4 billion. The surge lifted order volumes but raised concerns over sustainability and fulfillment.

Mercado Libre has launched an official China site to help local sellers expand into Latin America. The portal provides onboarding guides, training resources, policy briefings, and access to certified partners in ERP, logistics, tax, and IP, aiming to build a transparent and reliable service ecosystem.

China cut its US treasury holdings by USD 900 million in May, marking a third straight month of reductions while holding steady as the third largest foreign creditor. Japan and the UK increased their positions to USD 1.135 trillion and USD 809.4 billion, respectively, amid shifting global debt allocations.

Level 2 assisted driving features are now in over 50% of new vehicles sold in China, the highest penetration rate globally. At a recent industry forum, experts said consolidating this lead will require smarter <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> systems, deeper industry collaboration, and a faster shift to higher levels of autonomy to maintain China’s edge in smart vehicle development.

<a href="/company/openai">OpenAI</a> has launched a ChatGPT agent that can reportedly perform tasks like web browsing, form filling, and generating presentations or spreadsheets. Aimed at business users, it marks a major step beyond Q&amp;A by integrating research and task automation.

Crypto-related thefts hit USD 2.17 billion in H1 2025, already eclipsing last year’s total despite surging stablecoin use. A USD 1.5 billion ByBit breach drove the spike, while personal wallet hacks and violent “wrench attacks” are climbing. With losses projected to reach USD 4 billion, analysts warn of escalating threats to crypto security.

Uber will invest USD 300 million in <a href="/industry/ev">EV</a> maker Lucid and deploy more than 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro’s autonomous technology starting in 2026. The rollout will begin in one major US city in late 2026 and continue through 2032, marking Uber’s return to the robotaxi race.

Lovable has raised USD 200 million in a Series A funding round led by Accel, reaching a USD 1.8 billion valuation. Existing investors 20VC, ByFounders, Creandum, Hummingbird, and Visionaries Club also participated. Founded in 2023, the company builds no-code tools for app and website creation, joining a wave of “vibe coding” platforms attracting investor attention.

<a href="/company/meituan">Meituan</a> said it had <a href="https://kr-asia.com/meituan-scrambles-on-super-saturday-as-taobao-shangou-tops-80-million-daily-orders">no choice but to join the subsidy-fueled price war</a> it claims is being led by <a href="/company/jd">JD.com</a> and <a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a> in China’s on-demand delivery market. Executive Wang Puzhong called the competition “irrational” and said Meituan acted to avoid appearing weak, but warned that surging order volumes don’t necessarily equate to sustainable business value.

Spacely AI has raised USD 1 million in seed funding to accelerate product development and launch a 2D-to-3D automation engine designed to reduce manual design work. The round was led by PropTech Farm Fund III, with participation from Wannaporn Phornprapha (P Landscape), Ted Poshakrishna Thirapatana (UTC Holdings), and Mek Srunyu Stittri (formerly from GitLab).

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Despite early traction in hardware, the startup is focused on building a full-stack robotics system that unites the “brain” and “body” of machines.

More than a hardware play: Robot Era’s founder sets the record straight on the company’s true ambitions

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Challenges remain, but the NEV maker sees significant upside in expanding its commercial vehicle business beyond China.

As China’s commercial vehicle market slows, Gecko Motors shifts gears abroad for growth

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China’s BRI investment hits record high

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