Hong Kong: HKEX launches 5-year China government bond futures

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), which runs the special administrative region’s bourse, launched the Five-Year China Government Bond (CGB) Futures contract on Aug 3, marking the first and only CGB futures instrument available in the offshore market.

The product’s underlying asset is a five-year China government bond issued on the Chinese mainland. Each contract is valued at 500,000 yuan ($74,040) and is settled in renminbi. To encourage participation, HKEX is offering a 50-percent discount on trading fees, lowering the cost to 2.5 yuan per contract through July 30 next year.

Macao: Upgraded bus services for cross-boundary commuters

To support educational cooperation and improve cross-boundary transit, Tong Qin Hao — a government-subsidized commuter program launched by the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone to facilitate point-to-point cross-district bus services in Macao and on Hengqin — rolled out upgraded services on Monday.

Two new routes, with six trips, have been added, while seven existing routes, with 12 trips, have been adjusted to better serve students and faculty members of the Macao-Hengqin International Education (University) Town.

Eligible commuters can travel on the cross-boundary routes for free, while domestic routes cost 3 yuan per trip.

Macao: AI creation competition draws 690m online views

An offline sharing session of a public artificial intelligence creation competition was hosted at Guangzhou Library on Aug 6. As one of Guangdong province’s flagship mass-participation events, the contest has seen a sustained surge in public engagement.

The competition is also the nation’s first barrier-free, fully inclusive mass AI creation contest, with cumulative online viewings reaching 690 million as of Aug 6 and more than 2,700 submissions completed, attracting over 10,000 in-person participants.

Shenzhen: Tech powerhouse’s GDP up on AI trade boom

Shenzhen released its first-half 2026 economic results on July 24, with GDP reaching 1.98 trillion yuan, up 5.8 percent year-on-year.

The output of high-tech products recorded rapid growth, with those of 3D printing equipment, industrial robots and lithium-ion batteries jumping 58.1 percent, 43.9 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively. High-tech exports surged 26.4 percent, driving foreign trade. Imports and exports of artificial intelligence-related goods like computer components and electronic elements reached 1.28 trillion yuan — up 50.1 percent. High-tech investments climbed 27.4 percent, outpacing overall investment.

Zhuhai: City’s economy grows in H1, exports surge

Zhuhai recorded a 5.2-percent year-on-year increase in its GDP for the first half of 2026, reaching 238.9 billion yuan, according to official data released on July 29. The performance ranks Zhuhai fourth among cities in the Pearl River Delta in terms of economic growth.

Zhuhai’s “4+3” pillar industrial clusters stood out, posting 75.94 billion yuan in value added with a 9.7 percent year-on-year increase, contributing more than 90 percent to its economic growth. High-tech product exports surged 68.9 percent, of which integrated-circuit and lithium-battery exports soared 280 percent and 64.9 percent, respectively.

Foshan: FAW-Volkswagen seals 2b yuan project in Foshan

An FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co project in Foshan was signed on July 29 at a matchmaking event with central State-owned enterprises organized by Guangdong province in Beijing, involving total investments of 2 billion yuan.

The project will leverage Foshan’s existing full vehicle manufacturing plant to carry out intelligent upgrades to production lines, along with technical updates for supporting battery cell lines. Upon completion, it will expand and improve local auto parts, lithium-battery supply and smart-manufacturing sectors, strengthening the city’s new energy vehicle cluster.

Huizhou: Nuke power plant’s second phase goes into operation

The second phase of Huizhou’s Taipingling nuclear power plant went into operation on Aug 3, marking the full completion of the project’s first-phase works.

The plant is operated by China General Nuclear Power Corp, which plans to build six Hualong One units at the site, with a total investment of about 120 billion yuan. The two units in the first phase are expected to generate over 18 billion kilowatt-hours per year — enough to provide power for nearly 2 million people and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 16.63 million metric tons per year.

Dongguan: Work on global laminates giant’s second factory starts

Construction work on Dongguan-based Shengyi Technology Co’s second factory at Songshan Lake, with a total investment of 5.2 billion yuan, began on July 28.

The first-phase production line is due to start operating in September next year. The project will focus on fields like high-frequency high-speed materials for artificial intelligence servers, smart-car electronic substrates and high-end packaging substrate materials.

When completed, the project will have an annual production capacity of 48 million square meters of high-performance copper-clad laminates and 100 million meters of commercial adhesive sheets.

Zhongshan: Three-year action plan to lift low-altitude economy

Zhongshan unveiled a three-year (2026-28) action plan on July 20 for high-quality development of the low-altitude economy, outlining 17 key tasks in infrastructure, industry, application scenarios and supporting services.

By the end of this year, the city aims to establish over 10 demonstration scenarios and 100 drone takeoff and landing sites, and expand the low-altitude industry to more than 5 billion yuan.

The goal is to have more than 30 special application scenarios set up by 2028 with two hub-type, low-altitude takeoff and landing sites, citywide coverage and an industry output surpassing 20 billion yuan.

Jiangmen: City takes big step forward in smart logistics sector

Jiangmen has rolled out its first batch of functional autonomous logistics vehicles in partnership with three self-driving firms as the city strives to become a smart logistics demonstration hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Led by Jiangmen Cultural Tourism Transportation Group, together with Neolix, Rino.ai and Zelos — three companies developing high-level self-driving technology — the project will leverage the local bus station network, passenger transport capacity and brick-and-mortar retail outlets to build a unified autonomous delivery service system.

Jiangmen also aims to tackle urban “last mile” delivery hurdles, integrating public transport’s social benefits with the commercial potential of smart logistics.

Zhaoqing: Six-lane expressway boosts travel within GBA

A planned 135-kilometer bidirectional six-lane expressway, with an investment of 26 billion yuan, will connect Zhaoqing and Qingyuan cities in Guangdong province.

Starting at Qinglian Town, interfacing with the Guanglian Expressway, the route passes through Yangshan, Huaiji, and Guangning and ends at Binheng Town, linking up with the Zhaoqing-Gaoming Expressway, which is currently being built.