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BENCHMARKS

NUMBER OF THE DAY

6.7 million USD

That's how much Brazil exported in rare earths to China in the first half of 2025 – a tripling, but just a drop in the billion-dollar market. 

💎 Reserves Without Refineries: Brazil holds the world's second-largest rare earth deposits but has yet to build its own processing or magnet production capacity.

🎯 China's Hedge Strategy: After supply disruptions from Myanmar, Beijing diversifies its raw material sources, with Brazil's mini-exports part of this risk diversification.

🔄 Trade Balance Tilts: Brazil's surplus with China shrank to $12 billion, the lowest since 2019 and just half of 2024's total.

TOP BIT

🚖 Baidu and Lyft Launch Europe’s First China-Built Robotaxis

China’s tech giant Baidu and US mobility firm Lyft are teaming up to bring driverless taxis to Europe. A small fleet of robotaxis based on Baidu’s “Apollo Go” platform—already in daily use across China—will begin trials in a major European city in the coming months. Lyft will handle operations and customer interface, while Baidu supplies the vehicles and technical expertise.

The Details

🧠 Technology: Baidu’s “Apollo Go” platform has completed over 5 million driverless rides in China, using LiDAR, cameras, and AI for fully autonomous navigation.

🌍 Market Entry: The pilot city will be announced soon—insiders say Hamburg is top of the list.

🤝 Strategic Lever: Lyft provides Baidu with European market access and local infrastructure, plus the customer-facing layer.

📈 Growth Model: In China, Baidu plans to expand its robotaxi fleet from around 300 to over 1,000 vehicles, backed by in-house chips and software.

🛒 Consolidation: Lyft’s recent acquisition of European ride-hailing service Free Now complements this joint venture with Baidu.

Why It Matters

• East-West Tech Alliance: A US company running a Chinese autonomous-driving system is a remarkable signal of cooperation in tense geopolitical times.
  

• China’s Push into Europe: After Middle East and Asian forays with Uber, Baidu is now taking the next step into Europe.
  

• Lyft’s European Bet: With Free Now and the Baidu partnership, Lyft is finally mounting a serious challenge to Uber overseas.

Background

Baidu’s robotaxi service “Apollo Go” ranks among the most advanced globally. It already operates in Beijing, Wuhan, and Shenzhen. Lyft, having pulled back from parts of the US market, has rebuilt its Europe strategy through Free Now.

Partnering with Baidu marks a turning point: China is emerging not only as a manufacturing base but as an exporter of autonomous-driving technology.

📊 All Data & Details: CNBC, Reuters, Spiegel

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HEAD OF THE DAY

🇨🇳 Miranda Qu

📱 From blog to lifestyle giant: In 2013 Miranda Qu co-founded Xiaohongshu (“Little Red Book”) and has since grown the social-commerce app to over 200 million monthly users. After a $300 million funding round in 2018 and a $20 billion valuation in 2021 led by Alibaba and Tencent, her net worth stands at about $1.8 billion. Qu owns roughly 10 % and is Asia’s tenth-richest self-made woman billionaire at the age of 37.

In January 2025, the U.S. threat to ban TikTok led to a surge in downloads as millions of so-called “TikTok refugees” switched to Xiaohongshu, pushing it into the Top 3 charts in many different countries and to #1 on both the U.S. App Store and Google Play. Warmly received by Chinese users, this sudden rush made the platform a household name in the West.

👉 Lesson learned: Nail your community’s real needs from day one: Xiaohongshu succeeded by launching as a shopping guide rather than just another social network, then scaling by turning deep user insights into personalized offerings.

MARKET BIT

🔻 Job Shock – Industry Cuts, AI Transforms Workforce

Details

👷 China under the microscope: From IT to solar, jobs are shrinking. Alibaba has cut about 25 % of its workforce since 2023, and the five largest PV manufacturers have eliminated 87,000 positions. Together, this signals the end of a decades-long hiring boom.

🔋 Solar bubble bursts: Overcapacity has doubled global supply and halved module prices. Beijing is urging provinces to shutter production lines running below 30 % capacity and has financed a CNY 50 billion fund to close failing plants.

💻 AI goes global: According to the World Economic Forum, 90 % of companies view AI as their central transformation driver. Office and routine roles are fading, while data and robotics positions are growing at double-digit rates.

🌐 Global chain reaction: Tech layoffs in the US and Europe, cutbacks in South Korea’s chip fabs, and service-provider downsizing in India show automation squeezing labor markets everywhere—and intensifying competition for AI talent.

Why It Matters

• Social stability at risk: Massive job cuts in China’s leading industries affect millions of young workers and test Beijing’s promise of shared prosperity.
  

• Emerging skills gap: AI-driven productivity gains demand reskilling worldwide; failure to adapt workforces threatens growth.
  

• Investor warning: Price collapses, overcapacity, and state interventions reveal the limits of subsidy models—crucial indicators for risk assessments in green and digital markets.

👉🏻 Full Story: Caixin, SCMP, World Economic Forum

TOP READS

🧠 China Presents First Computer with Monkey Brain Architecture: Zhejiang University's "Darwin Monkey" simulates a macaque brain for the first time with 2 billion artificial neurons and 100 billion synapses while consuming only 2,000 watts. The system of 960 neuromorphic chips already masters tasks like text generation and logical reasoning with DeepSeek's AI model and could enable more efficient, brain-like AI systems. Full story.

🚗 VinFast Opens First India Factory for EV Expansion: The Vietnamese manufacturer starts production in Tamil Nadu with planned 150,000 vehicles annually and aims to invest up to $2 billion. The Thoothukudi plant has already received export orders from Sri Lanka, Nepal and Mauritius, while VinFast negotiates with local suppliers about component production in India to reduce dependencies on China. Full story.

📈 Hong Kong Eases Listing Rules for IPO Boom: Starting next week, minimum float requirements for mainland Chinese firms drop from 15 to 10 percent, while institutional investors receive at least 65 instead of 50 percent of IPO shares. The new rules aim to attract more mainland companies through professional pricing and stable prices, after Hong Kong's exchange was already revived in 2025 through numerous Chinese secondary listings. Full story.

OPTIONAL READS

Japan: Record heat and drought threaten rice harvest as dams completely dry up. More on that.

Australia: Foreign student cap rises to 295,000 with focus on Southeast Asia. More on that.

Taiwan: Foxconn sells Ohio EV facility for $375 million to build AI data center. More on that.

FORTUNE COOKIE

Job Opening: Stone Age Performer

Location: Shennongjia Scenic Area, Hubei, China

RESPONSIBILITIES:
– Slip into the role of a Stone Age person
– Wander silently through the forest (only grunts and “woo woo woo” sounds allowed)
– Accept snacks from curious tourists (fruit, provisions, etc.)
– Stay fully in character at all times

REQUIREMENTS:
– No age or gender restrictions – good health is all you need
– Willingness to spend extended periods outdoors
– Comfort interacting with tourists (including being fed)

BENEFITS:
– Pay: 500 CNY / ≈ $70 per day
– Hours: 8 AM to 5 PM
– Insurance: Accident coverage worth 1 000 000 CNY / ≈ $140 000
– Bonus: Internship certificate for students

IDEAL FOR:
– Introverts, extroverts, or quirky personalities
– Nature lovers seeking a break from society
– Fans of raw-food diets or relaxed “forest vibes”

Apply below 👇🏻

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Thomas, Michael & the Team of asiabits