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The Public Security Bureau of Hongkou District, Shanghai, China, recently solved a case involving cross-border illegal settlement and illegal foreign exchange trading using virtual currency, arresting 9 criminal suspects and involving an amount of over 200 million yuan. The suspects, including a person named Li, established a technology company at the beginning of 2024 to seek illegal profits, building two platforms online: "Cross-Border Fund Exchange" and "Virtual Credit Card Issuance and Settlement." They solicited customers both online and offline, illegally conducting exchange and settlement services for virtual currency and cross-border funds, profiting through transaction fees, service fees, card issuance fees, withdrawal fees, and other means.Investigators stated, "The uniqueness of this case lies in the fact that the criminals developed two apps and publicly solicited customers on such a large scale, which has never been seen before. The platforms built in this case are themselves a closed-loop illegal financial service system, with all transactions settled internally on the platform. This mode of crime has a higher degree of scale, a longer chain, and is more deceptive." Reports indicate that on the "Cross-Border Fund Exchange" platform, the criminal gang collected customers' virtual currency overseas and exchanged it for foreign currency, forming a "fund pool," and then realized cross-border settlement through fabricated contracts, achieving the exchange and transfer of virtual currency to RMB. On the "Virtual Credit Card Issuance and Settlement" platform, the criminal gang "cooperated" with several overseas private banks to issue virtual credit cards to customers, who could use the card for consumption, but the repayment process had to be settled in virtual currency; the gang exchanged virtual currency for foreign currency overseas, relying on false cross-border settlements to complete clearing with overseas card merchants.

The Ministry of Commerce responds to the U.S. considering an additional 7.5% tariff on China.

According to Bloomberg, the Chinese AI model company Z.AI (智谱, 2513:HK) listed in Hong Kong and MiniMax Group (100:HK) are facing record short-selling bets. Data shows that MiniMax's short position has accounted for about 20% of its free float, while Z.AI is around 6%. These positions have risen to high levels ahead of the two companies' upcoming earnings reports, reflecting investors' increasing concerns about the intense competition in the Chinese AI sector.After both companies completed high-profile listings earlier this year, their stock prices have retreated from historical highs, but short-selling activity has further intensified. Market attention is focused on the escalating competition among domestic large model manufacturers and the resulting pressure on profit prospects and valuations.

On August 24, consumers discovered that the "SKhynix Flagship Store" homepage had published a notice of termination of operations, intending to voluntarily cease operations on September 9, 2026, with all products removed from the store. As of August 25, the Taobao platform could no longer directly search for this store. Public information shows that the store previously mainly sold SK Hynix brand consumer solid-state drives, and the operating entity was Tianjin Hailisi Technology Co., Ltd. Tianyancha information indicates that this company was registered in July 2020, with a registered capital of 1 million yuan, and its business scope includes technical services, electronic product sales, etc. Public business information has not yet shown any equity, controlling, or direct affiliation with SK Hynix headquarters or its China region.SK Hynix's China region stated that after verification, the "SKhynix Flagship Store" is not directly operated by the company. Regarding the reasons for closing the store, the operation of other related e-commerce stores, authorization situations, and historical order warranty arrangements, they stated that they are currently verifying internally and with relevant parties. This store closure incident has once again sparked speculation about SK Hynix's contraction of its consumer storage business. In January of this year, there were rumors in the market that it planned to stop producing consumer storage devices and exit the consumer DRAM and NAND business. On January 14, a relevant person from SK Hynix publicly denied this, stating that the company is currently not discussing or planning to exit the consumer product business.

According to a report by ZDNet Korea, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plan to continue investing in equipment for NAND flash production lines in China until next year to strengthen local production bases. Since the first half of this year, Samsung has been advancing V9 NAND conversion investments at the Xi'an X2 production line, which features an advanced process with approximately 280 layers stacked, and is expected to achieve a monthly production capacity of 40,000 to 50,000 wafers. To stabilize mass production, the company has confirmed a supplementary investment plan, focusing on additional etching process equipment, with related procurement orders expected to be clarified around the end of the year, and the supplementary investment planned to be executed starting in the second half of next year.SK Hynix has been advancing equipment investments related to NAND product upgrades at its Dalian Plant 2 since the third quarter of this year, with a discussed scale of approximately 30,000 wafers per month. Key manufacturing equipment will begin arriving next month, with plans to complete deployment by the first half of next year. The Dalian plant is an asset acquired after SK Hynix took over Intel's NAND division in the second half of 2020. In 2022, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the expansion of Plant 2, but equipment investment was temporarily halted due to market conditions; this investment is now being restarted.Industry insiders point out that the above arrangements aim to gradually expand advanced NAND capacity within China to meet the rapid growth in demand for high-end storage in fields such as artificial intelligence servers.

The China Payment and Clearing Association issued the "Self-Regulatory Convention for Intelligent Agent Payment Applications," which regulates the behavior of member institutions in initiating and executing payment instructions using large models and other artificial intelligence "intelligent agents" in payment scenarios. The convention requires banks, non-bank payment institutions, clearing institutions, and others engaged in intelligent agent payment applications to adhere to the principle of "who provides the payment service is responsible," and to implement cybersecurity, data security, and privacy protection.The convention proposes the establishment of "Know Your Agent (KYA)," a hierarchical management system for intelligent agents, and a full-link identity transmission mechanism, strengthening model robustness and traceability, anti-money laundering and anti-fraud controls, and setting stricter authorization and risk control measures for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and minors. The convention will be implemented from the date of its release.

On August 24, recent news reported that some banks in Hong Kong have initiated a source of funds declaration procedure for certain existing mainland investment clients, setting deadlines of August 20 (services may be suspended if not submitted) and September 12 (services may be terminated if not submitted).Previously, in response to requirements from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, some banks have begun to require new mainland account investors to confirm that their source of funds comes from legitimate overseas channels. This source of funds confirmation procedure targets existing mainland investor accounts, primarily focusing on long-term "inactive accounts." It is understood that some licensed institutions in Hong Kong, including HSBC Hong Kong and branches of Chinese banks in Hong Kong, have indeed implemented such measures recently.

On August 24, according to Caixin, the National Development and Reform Commission released the "Measures for the Administration of Foreign Investment (Revised Draft for Public Comment)" and is publicly soliciting opinions from society, from August 21 to September 20, 2026. The "Draft for Comments" expands the definition of investors from enterprises to domestic enterprises, other organizations, and individual residents, and clarifies that reinvestment by investors abroad also falls under foreign investment.In the section on foreign investment regulation, regarding the classification and regulatory division of foreign investment, the procedures for approval and filing, and other matters, investors must obtain foreign investment approval documents or filing notices before implementing foreign investments. For individual residents newly included as investors, the approval authority is the National Development and Reform Commission, and the filing authority is the provincial development and reform department of their registered residence or habitual residence.

According to DIGITIMES, the NB supply chain has reported that brand manufacturers are significantly returning to production in China, with "returning to China for production" becoming a new trend. Brands such as HP, ASUS, and Acer have recently noticeably reduced their originally planned capacity shifts to Southeast Asia, with production focus returning to Chongqing or Kunshan in China, and increasing orders to Chinese ODM or EMS manufacturers and the proportion of private label products. This involves production lines at Quanta, Inventec's Thailand factories, and Compal, Wistron’s Vietnam factories, which may be affected by customer transfers. Lenovo, Dell, and Apple, on the other hand, remain relatively unchanged.The supply chain indicates that after the U.S. equivalent tariffs were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the impact of substitute tariffs is smaller, and the production costs for NB in Southeast Asia are on average $9 higher per unit than in China. The gross profit margin for brand manufacturers per unit of NB is mostly between 3% to 10%. Based on a low-priced model with an average price of about $300, the $9 difference is close to or even exceeds their profit, resulting in unprofitable shipments. Local Chinese governments are also demanding increased production due to reduced tax revenues, or they will reclaim past subsidies, creating a pull for returning production.Relevant ODM personnel stated that they will respect customer decisions, and if they cannot take on a single product, they will shift production locally to servers and other product lines such as networking. Lenovo is more cautious due to its diversified layout, with limited relocation; Dell has not significantly returned due to the high proportion of U.S. government orders; Apple targets the high-end market and promotes automation, with the main reason for relocating MacBook production from Shanghai being the pandemic-related supply chain disruptions, and its plans in Vietnam remain unchanged to date.

On August 21, China Merchants Yonglong Bank issued a notice to customers, stating that it is cooperating with the latest risk management and account compliance guidelines from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission to conduct a comprehensive optimization and review of investment accounts for mainland investors. Upon verification, all investment accounts held by relevant customers (including wealth management, securities, and/or paper gold passbook accounts) as of May 22, 2026, have no asset balance, and there have been no investment transaction records in the past 12 months, which have been classified as "zero balance non-active investment accounts."To maintain normal account operations, the bank requires customers to submit the "Non-Active Investment Account Declaration" as soon as possible. Customers can complete the submission through the pop-up in the personal account section of the China Merchants Yonglong Bank mobile app; joint account holders or those who have not registered for the mobile app can call the customer service hotline for guidance, and each joint account holder must submit separately. The main content of the declaration includes confirming the accuracy of personal information, the legality of the source of funds, that the account has not been closed or suspended due to suspicious documents, and timely notification of any changes in information.The bank reminds that if customers fail to complete the submission in a timely manner, new investment transactions (including buying stocks, subscribing to wealth management products, etc.) will be suspended accordingly; if the submission continues to be delayed, it is expected that starting from November 2026, relevant "non-active investment accounts" may be closed. Once an account is suspended or closed, no new securities or wealth management product investment transactions can be conducted.

According to The Information, citing two NVIDIA employees, NVIDIA plans to ship a small batch of a Groq technology-based LPU (Language Processing Unit) to Chinese customers before the end of the year, with several Chinese customers already placing orders. The report states that this chip does not require a downgrade in specifications and can be used with processors available in the Chinese market through software adjustments.NVIDIA subsequently denied the report, stating it is "incorrect," and that the company currently has no LPU sales in China, nor is there a "China-specific LPU" in the product roadmap. In March of this year, Reuters also cited informed sources reporting that NVIDIA was preparing to sell Groq chips in China, to which Jensen Huang later stated in an interview with Punchbowl that the report was "completely wrong," clearly indicating that Groq chips would not enter China. It is recommended to rely on official statements.

Zhang Feng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Council of the China Electronics Society and Chairman of the China Humanoid Robot and Embodied Intelligence Hundred People Association, released the "2026 Humanoid Robot Industry Development Report" at the 2026 World Robot Conference. The report analyzes from various dimensions including industry overview, development trends, technical services, industrial chain, and product application scenarios, with a focus on comparing the development situations of China, the United States, Germany, South Korea, and Japan.The report presents four core findings: technological innovation has entered a new stage of "cluster emergence," with continuous enhancement in environmental perception, planning decision-making, and motion control capabilities; the industrial chain has achieved a dual leap in quality and efficiency, now possessing the manufacturing capability of the entire industrial chain from key chips and components to complete machines; industry applications have entered a stage of comprehensive rollout, transitioning from small-batch production to normalized deployment and large-scale application; and the ecological construction has formed a new paradigm of "four-in-one" standard, talent, international cooperation, and innovation infrastructure.The report points out that in the first half of 2026, China's humanoid robot shipments have exceeded 40,000 units, further increasing its global share to 97%. Humanoid robots are seen as an important carrier of embodied intelligence and are expected to play a greater role in scenarios such as production manufacturing, warehousing logistics, emergency rescue, home services, and healthcare.

The China Gold Association issued a stern statement regarding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's inclusion of certain domestic gold enterprises in the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" (UFLPA) entity list, which led to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) suspending the qualified delivery status of related enterprises. The association stated that the U.S. "forced labor" accusations lack factual basis and are an attempt to politicize human rights issues and promote trade protectionism.The LBMA, without sufficient factual verification, accepted false information and suspended qualifications, harming the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese gold enterprises and disrupting the stability of the global gold market. The association stated that the Chinese gold industry chain has the ability to withstand external risks and will work together with the industry to protect rights, strengthen compliance self-discipline and traceability system construction, and support the Chinese government in taking necessary countermeasures, urging the U.S. to lift sanctions and calling on the LBMA to correct related decisions.

China has begun to relax import restrictions on NVIDIA's H200. ByteDance and Tencent have each received about 10,000 H200 in recent weeks, and several other tech companies may soon be approved for similar quantities.The United States had previously approved several Chinese companies to purchase H200, but the transactions had been stuck in the Chinese approval process. Now, chips are finally starting to enter the mainland in batches, but it is far from a complete opening.Beijing currently only allows a small number of H200 to enter the mainland, hoping that companies will deploy more chips in overseas regions such as Hong Kong. Mainland procurement still requires separate approval. This approach allows leading AI companies to continue using NVIDIA to train cutting-edge models while also leaving market space for domestic chips like those from Huawei.

According to Bloomberg, citing informed sources, China's Ministry of State Security recently requested some government-related agencies to uninstall the Windows 10 Shenzhou Internet Security Government Edition operating system, advancing the planned end of support originally set for February 2027 by several months. This operating system was developed by a joint venture between Microsoft and China Electronics Technology Group, established in 2016, aimed at ensuring Windows 10 meets the security requirements of the Chinese government.The report states that the new directive comes just weeks before a planned summit between Chinese and U.S. leaders, catching some government agency staff by surprise. As China gradually removes overseas technology products from its government procurement whitelist, this early discontinuation will further reduce reliance on U.S. technology. Shenzhou Internet Security has not publicly responded to this matter.

The Shanghai Intermediate People's Court has published typical cases, analyzing whether "traffic personnel" involved in telecommunications network fraud related to virtual currencies constitute accomplices in fraud. From February 2022 to April 2023, the defendants, for the purpose of profit, assisted upstream fraudulent activities by "draining traffic," using online virtual phone software to lure victims into related scam groups, ultimately causing 30 victims to be defrauded of more than 2.34 million yuan (the same currency hereafter) by an overseas fraudulent organization. The overseas fraudulent organization transferred funds into the suspects' trading accounts via virtual currency.The Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court pointed out that in telecommunications network fraud cases, "traffic personnel" may constitute accomplices in fraud or illegal use of information networks depending on specific circumstances. The key lies in determining whether they have formed a clear criminal intent connection with the upstream fraudulent organization and whether there is stable cooperation and division of labor. In judicial practice, when assessing the criminal responsibility of "traffic personnel," factors such as their role in the criminal chain, the degree of organizational management, connections with upstream criminals, methods of profit, and abnormal behavior should be comprehensively considered. Actions that only provide general online services and do not form a conspiracy to commit fraud should be distinguished from "draining" actions that knowingly participate in the implementation of fraud.

To implement the decision-making deployment of the "14th Five-Year Plan" regarding the "steady development of digital renminbi" and to further enhance the inclusiveness of digital renminbi services, continuously responding to the public's demand for safe, convenient, and efficient digital renminbi services, the People's Bank of China has added Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, Bohai Bank, Shanghai Bank, Hangzhou Bank, Huishang Bank, Changsha Bank, and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank as operational institutions for bank-related digital renminbi services, and has connected to the central bank's digital renminbi system.The newly added institutions will commence digital renminbi operations after completing business and technical preparations. Currently, the number of operational institutions for digital renminbi services has expanded to 30. In the next step, the People's Bank of China will orderly promote the expansion of operational institutions according to market-oriented and rule-of-law principles, further stimulating the enthusiasm and creativity of market entities, and building an open, inclusive, and fair competitive environment for the development of digital renminbi.

According to Reuters, the U.S. government plans to send letters to more than 30 countries that signed the "Joint Statement on the Partnership for Artificial Intelligence Opportunities," asking them to choose sides in the U.S.-China AI competition.The U.S. has threatened that if they participate in the China-led AI framework, they will be excluded from the U.S.-led "AI Alliance."

According to Reuters, Apple has trained a large language model for the Chinese market in collaboration with Alibaba. This move is different from Apple's previous strategy of relying on third-party models.Insiders revealed that Apple's AI toolkit, Apple Intelligence, is expected to launch in China in the coming months after an iOS update.