A股持續走低，深成指跌超1%，創業板指跌1.27%，滬指跌0.28%。

On Aug. 17 NBS spokesman and chief economist Fu Linghui told a State Council press briefing that faster build-out of county-level commercial systems and extension of logistics and information networks into rural areas are boosting consumption in lower-tier markets. Jan–Jul rural consumer goods retail sales accounted for 13.4% of total retail sales of consumer goods, up 0.2 percentage point year‑on‑year.

Paramount-Skydance on Monday asked a U.S. judge to require about a dozen states suing to block its $110bn acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD.O) to post a $1.88bn bond to cover costs from the delayed close. The company says it would incur $7m of delay costs per day if the merger fails to close by Sept. 30. The states’ challenges are expected to be tried in March; Paramount-Skydance warned that by the time trial concludes and final briefs are filed it will have paid $1.3bn in non-recoverable ticking fees to WBD shareholders.