China

118 Articles

Robotics and Automation

XPeng’s Robotics Unit Raises More Than $900 Million to Accelerate IRON Humanoid Production

XPeng’s robotics unit has raised more than $900 million at a valuation exceeding $6.3 billion, alongside plans to spin it off as an independent subsidiary and prepare for large-scale production of the IRON robot by the end of 2026.

2026-08-24

Electric Cars

BYD Opens Orders for the Great Han with a Range Exceeding 1,000 Kilometers and a Starting Price of $37,200

BYD has opened pre-orders for the Great Han, the first D-segment flagship sedan in the Dynasty family, with a CLTC range of up to 1,008 kilometers and a starting price of 249,900 yuan. The car supports charging its Blade Battery 2.0 from 10% to 70% in five minutes using 1,500-kilowatt technology.

2026-08-24

Cybersecurity

Supply Chain Attack Turns Car Infotainment Units into Proxy Network Nodes

The MoYu group used a legitimate update application belonging to a Chinese provider for Android-based head units and deployed the JarService malware, which exploits the devices in a proxy network and for advertising fraud. Kaspersky says DoFun fixed the issue after being notified, while the initial compromise mechanism remains unclear.

2026-08-22

Consumer Electronics and Technology

RayNeo iO Review: AI Glasses Focused on Continuous Memory and Translation

RayNeo iO is a lightweight pair of glasses weighing 34 grams, with a transparent display and an “all-day smart memory” function that records audio information, summarizes it, and turns it into reminders and tasks. The glasses also support real-time translation, an autocue, and converting recordings into text, but they depend on a phone and do not include a camera.

2026-08-22

Cybersecurity

U.S. Government Laboratory Investigates Potential Security Risks of Chinese LiDAR Sensors

Idaho National Laboratory is conducting a security review of Chinese LiDAR sensors that may be used by electric and autonomous vehicles in the United States, amid legislative pressure to ban them. The investigation focuses on the possibility that the sensors could be exploited to disable vehicles or collect detailed data about their surroundings.

2026-08-21

Energy and Green Technologies

LG Energy Solution’s Michigan Plant Shifts from Automotive Batteries to Energy Storage

LG Energy Solution has begun producing LFP cells at its Michigan plant to supply Tesla’s energy storage systems, while continuing to manufacture NMC cells for Toyota vehicles. The shift reflects slowing growth in the electric vehicle market compared with rising demand from artificial intelligence data centers and power grids.

2026-08-21

Space and Space Technologies

Landspace Targets Re-launching the Recovered Zhuque-3 Stage Within Six Months

China’s Landspace plans to test relaunching the recovered first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket within six months, after it successfully landed vertically following the rocket’s second flight. The achievement marks the first ground recovery of an orbital rocket stage by a Chinese company, but a long series of tests remains before repeated operations can begin.

2026-08-21

Electric Cars

Tesla Recalls Nearly 3 Million Vehicles in China Over Difficulty Using Emergency Releases

Tesla is recalling 2,975,910 vehicles in China after the market regulator concluded that the manual door-opening mechanism for emergencies is difficult to locate and operate after crashes. The company will address the issue with warning labels and an over-the-air software update, without making mechanical changes to the door mechanism.

2026-08-21

Electric Cars

Geely Tests a Solid-State Battery with a Density of 500 Wh/kg Ahead of a Limited Trial in 2027

Geely says its new electric solid-state battery could reach an energy density of 500 watt-hours per kilogram, with real-world testing beginning ahead of a pilot deployment scheduled for 2027. However, the company has not disclosed the cell chemistry or the timing of large-scale commercial production, and its claim of a lifespan of up to one million kilometers is not yet supported by published independent data.

2026-08-20

Robotics and Automation

Waymo Opens Zeekr Ojai Robotaxi to Everyone in Three U.S. Cities

Waymo has opened the Ojai autonomous vehicle, built on a Chinese Zeekr car, to all riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix after a free early-access period. The company uses vehicles imported from China, but replaces the Chinese connectivity and sensing systems with components and software of its own design before operating them in the United States.

2026-08-20

Electric Cars

Huawei Unveils the G9 SUV and Showcases Four Vehicles and a New Product at One Conference

鸿蒙智行 unveiled the 享界 G9 sport utility vehicle, introduced a new version of the 问界 M6, and announced the presale of the 智界 RX, while showcasing the 享界 V8 and Huawei Pura X View phone. The G9 starts at 429,800 yuan, while the 智界 RX starts at 299,800 yuan.

2026-08-20

Space and Space Technologies

China Prepares to Launch Chang’e-7 Mission to Search for Water Ice at the Moon’s South Pole

China is preparing to launch the Chang’e-7 mission on August 23, in a multi-vehicle mission to study the Moon’s south pole and conduct an on-site search for frozen water in permanently shadowed craters. The mission will deploy scientific and operational technologies paving the way for the Chang’e-8 mission and the International Lunar Research Station planned by China.

2026-08-20

Artificial intelligence

Why “Japanese AI” Alone Is Not Enough: Sakura and Sakana AI Present a Practical Approach to Sovereignty

Interviews with Sakura Internet and Sakana AI conclude that building a completely domestic AI ecosystem is neither possible nor rational, and that the practical solution is to control data, operations, and models while diversifying sources of dependence. The approach includes running foreign models inside local infrastructure or adapting open models through post-training to meet Japanese requirements.

2026-08-18

Artificial intelligence

GLM-5.3 Model Arrives on the API at $1.40 per Million Input Tokens

z.ai has made its GLM-5.3 model available through an API at the same price as the GLM-5.2 model, with a lower cost for cached inputs. This gives developers a new option for experimenting with coding tasks and software agents, while the timing of the model weights release and licensing remains unspecified.

2026-08-18

Startups

Anthro Energy Begins Building Kentucky Plant to Produce Materials That Could Support Solid-State Batteries

Startup Anthro Energy has begun building a plant in Louisville, Kentucky, to produce enough electrolytes for batteries powering more than 300,000 electric vehicles, with operations scheduled to begin in 2028. The plant aims to provide a U.S. source of materials free from restrictions associated with foreign entities of concern, while potentially supporting solid-state battery manufacturing.

2026-08-18

Space and Space Technologies

Landspace Successfully Recovers Zhuque-3’s First Stage During Its Second Orbital Launch

The first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket landed vertically after its second launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, while the second stage placed the Honghu 03 satellite into orbit. The achievement marks China’s second recovery of an orbital booster and the third successful landing of an orbital booster on legs worldwide, after SpaceX and Blue Origin.

2026-08-18

Artificial intelligence

Qwen3.8-27B Brings Advanced AI Models Closer to Local Operation

Alibaba’s open Qwen3.8-27B model offers multimodal capabilities, coding, and software-agent functions in a size that can run locally after being compressed to about 17 gigabytes. Despite strong performance indicators, its high token consumption and slow inference impose a practical trade-off between quality and speed.

2026-08-17

Energy and Green Technologies

What Does China’s New Five-Year Plan for Coal Mean for Climate Action?

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for coal, covering 2026–2030, retains coal as a pillar of energy security but pledges to reach peak coal consumption during the period without specifying a target year. The plan urges coal companies to improve efficiency and develop clean energy and chemicals, making it closer to a reorganization of the sector than a clear plan to phase it out.

2026-08-17