The Belt 
A self-driving system can see a car, a pedestrian, a red light. What it struggles with is time. XPeng says its second-generation VLA model fixes exactly that, trading a static 3D view of the world for a moving 4D one. XPeng’s assisted-driving system reading a complex road scene. (Source: CheDongXi) From 3D space to 4D … Read more
Thirteen carmakers turned in their August scorecards on 1 September, and the split between China’s new-force brands could hardly be sharper. At the top, Leapmotor crossed 100,000 deliveries for a second straight month. At the bottom, four ecosystems slipped. The through-line for European readers: Chinese electric vehicle exports are climbing off the same momentum. August … Read more
🇦🇺 Australia, 2026-08: Chinese brands took 31.5% of the market (27.2% excl MG). BYD holds a clear second, and Geely, Zeekr and Omoda Jaecoo all more than tripled year on year.
Mech-Mind listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 1 September, backed by a cornerstone book that reads like a global asset roster: Baillie Gifford, which once held Tesla and Nvidia, led the round, joined by Taikang, Jane Street, BYD’s Golden Link, Invus, Ghisallo, Ruihua, Australia’s NGS Super and EasTone, together subscribing 186 million dollars, … Read more
Hikrobot, the robotics arm of Hangzhou Hikvision, posted 4.03 billion yuan of revenue in the first half of 2026, up 28.3 per cent and 8.6 per cent of the group total, growing faster than Hikvision itself as factory and logistics automation become a steady engine. The parent’s scorecard Hikvision’s half-year revenue rose 12.0 per cent … Read more
Ruison Technology plans a private placement of up to 784 million yuan, with the net proceeds funding a high-precision, high-speed six-axis robot plant, an R&D and headquarters upgrade, and debt repayment. The raise extends a push from system integration toward proprietary robot hardware. From Panasonic partner to own arms Founder Sun Zhiqiang started in 1995 … Read more
From 1 September, China charges a 2 per cent consumption tax on lithium batteries, rising to 4 per cent in September 2027, while sodium-ion, solid-state and fuel cells stay exempt through the end of 2028. The levy ends an 11-year tax holiday for an industry that now dominates global lithium supply. A rush to beat … Read more
NIO co-founder and president Qin Lihong says the range-extender wave that swept Chinese large SUVs is losing steam, and pure electric is set to take more than half the market as charging and battery tech cross a tipping point. A NIO pure-electric large SUV, a segment shifting from range extender to battery (Source: LeiPhone) The … Read more
On 5 August, SAIC Motor and General Motors signed a renewal in Shanghai that extends their venture, SAIC-GM, by 20 years to 2047, the longest renewal among major China joint ventures and a signal of how both sides now value the partnership. Signing of the SAIC-GM joint venture renewal in Shanghai (Source: LeiPhone) A symbolic … Read more
Black Sesame Technologies has delivered the first batch of its Aura Devkit to collaborative robot maker AUBO, the two companies said, deepening a tie that now spans project bids, joint research and commercial supply. Black Sesame Aura compute module from the SesameX embodied-AI platform (Source: Gasgoo) A car chip moves into the robot The Aura … Read more