CX Weekly Briefing: Youth Jobless Rate Jumps

Here is a week’s summary of major news topics from China, spanning finance, business, and geopolitical developments:

Increasing youth unemployment is a growing concern in China. In July, the surveyed urban unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds rose sharply to 17.8%, an increase of 3.3 percentage points from the prior month and 0.7 points higher than the same period a year ago. This is the second-highest reading since a new reporting method was introduced last year, which excludes current students. Meanwhile, the overall urban unemployment rate ticked up to 5.2%, unchanged from a year earlier. The spike primarily coincided with an influx of new graduates entering the job market. [para. 3]

Global financial institutions, such as Bridgewater Associates LP, reduced investments in major U.S.-listed Chinese firms during the second quarter. This included cutting stakes in big internet companies such as Alibaba, JD.com, Baidu, PDD Holdings, and Nio. Several of these Chinese technology companies have recently faced domestic price wars that negatively affected their profitability. Additionally, the strong performance of stocks listed on China’s mainland has contributed to the reduction in U.S.-listed holdings by foreign investors. [para. 3]

China’s fiscal revenue reached over 2 trillion yuan ($278 billion) in July, which is a 2.6% increase year-on-year—the largest rise in 2025 to date. For the first seven months, cumulative fiscal revenue reached over 13.5 trillion yuan, a slight uptick of 0.1% compared to the previous year, marking the first year-to-date growth in 2025. July’s boost was mostly fueled by a 5% increase in tax revenue, while nontax revenue fell for the third consecutive month by 12.9%. This return to tax revenue growth breaks a trend of year-on-year declines observed since late 2023. [para. 3]

Onewo Inc., the property-service spinoff of China Vanke, has been actively reducing its financial reliance on its cash-strapped parent to mitigate risks from the ongoing property downturn. In the first half of 2025, Onewo reduced revenue from Vanke to 6.5%, down from over 10% a year prior. During this period, revenue increased by 3.1% to 18.14 billion yuan and net profit rose by 5.4% to 838 million yuan, a significant rebound after last year’s drop. However, collection risks remain heightened, with Vanke-related receivables rising 6.4% and total trade receivables increasing by 22.4% to over 8 billion yuan as of June’s end. [para. 3]

Tesla launched a six-seat version of its Model Y SUV in China at 339,000 yuan, set for September 2025 delivery, amidst fierce competition from domestic EV makers. Despite new rollouts, Tesla’s sales in China dropped 13.7% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2025 (432,000 units sold), now ranking sixth among new-energy vehicle sellers with 5.3% market share. [para. 3]

Baidu’s advertising revenue dropped 15% in the second quarter, marking five consecutive quarters of decline, which accelerated as the company focused on artificial intelligence. Overall revenue decreased 4%, and profit from core business fell 34% to nearly 4.8 billion yuan. Nevertheless, Baidu’s AI push grew app monthly users by 5% and increased average user time by 4%. [para. 3]

China’s “new type” energy storage capacity—primarily lithium-ion batteries—soared 110% to 101 gigawatts by June, representing nearly 60% of total energy storage capacity. This jump was largely spurred by regulatory changes ending guaranteed purchase policies for new renewable projects. [para. 3]

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, released its new large language model DeepSeek-V3.1, promising faster, more efficient answers and improved tool use. Earlier in the year, DeepSeek had already attracted global tech industry attention by achieving top-tier results with comparatively fewer resources. [para. 3]

Anti-corruption probes continue to claim high-profile figures in China. Former Chinese Navy chief of staff Li Hanjun was removed from the National People’s Congress and is under investigation, making him the latest in a series of at least 16 generals ejected since 2023. Similarly, Deng Chi, deputy director of Heilongjiang’s public security bureau, became the fifth top provincial police official in recent years to face a graft probe. [para. 3]

Looking internationally, China prepares to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, with leaders from over 20 countries, including Russia, Iran, and India, and major international organizations. The event is poised to be one of China’s most significant diplomatic events of 2025. [para. 3]