Just as US and Chinese officials resumed trade negotiations in London, China's state-run People's Daily did something unusual: it ran a rare front-page interview with Huawei's founder, Zhengfei Ren. Although a rather peculiar timing, but not likely a coincidence

Takisawa Machine Tool, a subsidiary of Japan's Nidec Corp., is leveraging its parent company's extensive sales networks and industrial connections to expand its presence in China's rapidly developing automation and humanoid robotics market. The move is designed to boost sales of Takisawa's high-precision lathes and machining tools in a competitive landscape dominated by both Japanese and Chinese firms

In a continued push to stimulate domestic demand, China is set to release an additional CNY138 billion (approx. US$19 billion) in the second half of 2025 to fund subsidies for its nationwide "old-for-new" consumer trade-in program. The policy covers a wide range of household and consumer electronics, including home appliances, kitchen and bathroom equipment, smartphones, and automobiles

South Korea's Dongjin Semichem has licensed its OLED material patents to major companies, including Germany's Merck and Japan's Idemitsu Kosan, highlighting its technological prowess and strong patent portfolio

The Semiconductor Assembly Test Automation and Standardization Research Association (SATAS), spearheaded by Intel Corporation in Japan, announced on June 19, 2025, that it has begun constructing a pilot semiconductor back-end production line at Sharp Corporation's Kameyama facility in Mie Prefecture. In addition to equipment installation, SATAS has initiated environmental preparation work for several buildings within the site

Samsung and SK Hynix are advancing vertical channel transistor (VCT) technology through 4F² DRAM prototypes as a transitional step toward 3D DRAM, while Micron is bypassing VCT entirely to focus directly on true 3D DRAM development, signaling a strategic divergence in next-generation memory architectures

The rapid growth of the global generative AI industry has sharply increased electricity demand, straining national power grids and energy security worldwide. South Korea faces particular challenges in maintaining a stable power supply amid rising consumption. President Lee Jae-myung's recent energy policies addressing this issue have drawn significant attention domestically

Chinese automakers are moving to align with government directives by planning to mass-produce vehicles equipped exclusively with domestically developed and manufactured automotive chips starting in 2026, as Beijing pushes to reduce its reliance on foreign semiconductor technologies