Zhejiang's live‑commerce transaction volume reached 673.4 bln yuan in 2025, with the province hosting about 70% of China’s leading MCN agencies. As of 1H this year, live‑economy related companies in Zhejiang exceeded 170,000.

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday July ICT product exports rose 140.6% YoY to $53.4 bln, a July record, driven by strong AI-related chip demand. Imports climbed 37.3% YoY to $18.3 bln, producing a $35.1 bln trade surplus. By product, semiconductor exports jumped 178.8% YoY to $41.0 bln and have expanded for 17 consecutive months; computer and communications equipment rose 353.9% to $4.9 bln; mobile phone exports increased 62.6% to $1.6 bln. By destination, exports to China and Hong Kong combined rose 194.7% YoY; to the US +187%; to the EU +202%; to Vietnam +115.7%; to India +128.2%.

SMIC co-CEO Zhao Haijun said at the company earnings meeting that Chinese internet companies have materially ramped hardware investment beyond SMIC’s prior forecasts; customers’ expected future volumes are far above earlier projections. Demand tied to data-center circuit boards and compute modules, and supporting chips — including logic, BCD power devices and optical-module transceivers — is outstripping supply.