The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) held a symposium in Beijing on July 13 with representatives of science and technology workers from central state-owned enterprises (SOEs). SASAC is the State Council body that owns China's largest state enterprises; central SOEs run the country's telecom carriers, aerospace primes, defense contractors and materials producers. SASAC directed the firms to "resolutely shoulder the mission of high-level technological self-reliance," take on more national-level research projects, and raise the share of basic research in total R&D spending. Basic research is the early-stage work that produces new methods and materials rather than immediate products; SASAC also told the firms to deepen collaboration with universities, research institutes and industrial chain partners.

China's June 2026 exports reached $412.39 billion, up 27% year-on-year, per customs data. Imports rose 36% to $286.76 billion, producing a $125.62 billion trade surplus, and China sold 32 billion integrated circuits worldwide in June. Caixin said integrated circuit and automatic data processing equipment export volumes grew only slowly or declined even as their values surged, making headline AI export growth mainly a price effect. Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics, told Reuters that surging semiconductor prices, not domestic demand, are pushing up import values. June imports from South Korea rose 85% year-on-year, and imports from Taiwan rose 41.1%.