Hong Kong stocks closed with the Hang Seng Index up 0.07% and the Hang Seng Tech Index down 0.9%. The AI sector slid: Zhipu (02513.HK) fell more than 13% and Huahong Hongli (01347.HK) dropped about 8%.

South Korean officials said on the 18th that US Forces Korea commander Xavier Brunson visited the South Korean defense ministry to discuss trimming the scale of US-ROK joint exercises. The large Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises were scheduled for the 17th–27th. On the 16th, Trump posted on social media that he had asked the Pentagon to sharply reduce the size of US-ROK exercises.

At Geely Auto's 2026 mid-year results briefing on the 17th, vice chairman Gui Shengyue said the large-scale management reshuffle is a strategic organizational evolution. He characterised Li Shufu stepping down as board chairman and An Conghui's succession as a de-familyisation move that shifts Geely from a founder-driven growth phase to institution- and team-driven governance, reducing reliance on individual authority, strengthening organisational systems and talent pipelines, and increasing transparency and more scientific management — a change he said should remove internal promotion ceilings and help deliver stronger shareholder returns.