Chinese AI Hits 46% US Usage 🧠 China Lands Reusable Rocket 🚀 Battery Recycling Hits 99.6% 🔋

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2026-07-13 | subscribe | homepage

Welcome back to China Insights Weekly. Here are some of the key highlights for this week’s edition:

• AstraZeneca deepens its China pipeline, with a USD 1.7 billion kidney-drug pact

• Chinese automakers take 12% of Europe, overtaking Japanese rivals in May

• CXMT challenges the DRAM incumbents, with 11% of global wafer capacity

• Cross-border travel sets a record, as visa-free arrivals accelerate

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🚀 Headlines

Chinese AI models reach 46% of US usage on OpenRouter (link)

U.S. companies are increasingly adopting Chinese AI models as cost pressures rise. Since February, their share of tokens used by U.S. firms through OpenRouter has stayed above 30% each week and peaked at 46%, versus an 11% average during the previous 12 months. Chinese models cost 60–90% less than leading U.S. systems while nearing frontier performance. As of May, a reported 80% of U.S. startups relying on open-source AI had shifted to platforms such as DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi and GLM. In June, AI startup Lindy moved all traffic from Anthropic to DeepSeek, saving millions. The cost-performance gap is turning Chinese open-source models into a practical default for more U.S. companies.

AstraZeneca pens USD 1.7 billion kidney drug discovery pact with Chinese long-time partner CSPC (link)

AstraZeneca has paid CSPC Pharmaceutical USD 30 million upfront to co-discover two kidney-disease siRNA candidates using CSPC’s extrahepatic delivery platform. The deal includes up to USD 540 million in development milestones and USD 1.2 billion tied to sales. AstraZeneca may take global rights, while CSPC retains China rights for one asset. The collaboration combines AI molecular design with automated screening and extends China’s biotech licensing boom. It follows AstraZeneca’s USD 1.2 billion upfront obesity pact with CSPC this year, worth up to USD 18.5 billion, as well as two earlier chronic-disease collaborations. Farxiga generated USD 2.2 billion in Q1 2026, underscoring the kidney market’s importance.

China successfully lands “SpaceX-style” reusable rocket for first time (link)

On July 10, China launched and recovered the first stage of an orbital-class rocket for the first time. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation landed the Long March 10B booster on a shipborne net during its maiden flight from Wenchang in Hainan. The 63-metre, two-stage vehicle delivered a satellite to orbit, while its kerosene-and-oxygen first stage returned vertically six minutes after separation. In reusable mode, it can lift 16 tonnes to low Earth orbit, and the booster is due to fly again by year-end. The milestone advances China’s broader commercial-space push as several domestic launch companies work to rival Falcon 9’s cadence.

Chinese automakers surpass Japanese market share in Europe, BYD leads Chinese NEV exporters with 34.2% share (link, link)

In May, Chinese automakers surpassed Japanese rivals in European new car registrations for the first time, taking a 12% market share. The top five Chinese groups, BYD, SAIC, Geely, Chery and Leapmotor, sold 138,410 vehicles, up 65% year-on-year, versus 130,424 for Japan’s top six, down 3.1%, as Chinese gains came almost entirely from battery and plug-in hybrid EVs. Total European registrations rose 3.6% to 1.15m units. BEVs held 20% market share and plug-in hybrids 9.7%. Chinese firms are expanding local production, BYD in Hungary, Leapmotor with Stellantis in Spain, to mitigate EU tariffs.

In June, BYD led China’s NEV exports with 170,897 units, up 98.8% year-on-year, for a 34.2% share. Tesla China followed with 36,171 units. Over January–June, Chery ranked second with 290,301 NEVs, Geely third with 275,417 (+601.4%), and Tesla China fourth with 228,994. Including combustion vehicles, Chery led June passenger-car exports with 187,768 units, ahead of BYD and Geely. For the first half, Chery exported 931,557 passenger vehicles, up 70.9%, securing a 21.9% share.

CXMT’s rise breaks 3-firm global DRAM memory monopoly (link)

Hefei-based ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s state-backed memory-chip champion, is now the world’s fourth-largest DRAM producer. It holds 11% of global wafer capacity and is projected to reach 15% by 2028. After a decade of RMB 37 billion in losses, the company reported RMB 33 billion (USD 4.8 billion) in Q1 2026 net profit, while Apple is testing its chips for China-market devices. CXMT plans to raise RMB 29.5 billion in an IPO that could value it at RMB 3 trillion. Although barred from EUV tools and still behind in high-bandwidth memory, its profits and IPO proceeds could fund a multiyear HBM push. The rise also validates Hefei’s state-led venture-capital model, which supplied critical early funding.