The German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz reported a decline in second-quarter passenger car sales on Wednesday, even as its sales of electric vehicles (EVs) surged by more than 50 percent.

Chinese automaker XPeng Motors on Wednesday launched sales of a new electric model in Israel, its local importer Freesbe said in a statement.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on Wednesday that it will continue to apply an appropriately accommodative monetary policy, following the latest quarterly meeting of its monetary policy committee, where the committee deliberated on the policy direction for the coming months.

The US' real goods deficit widened sharply by 18.7 percent to $100 billion in May, the second-largest since the US administration's reciprocal tariffs were imposed in April 2025, according to official data.

US companies are reportedly increasingly adopting Chinese-built artificial intelligence (AI) models as they expand AI-powered tools and products.

Cross-border freight transported via the China-Laos Railway has exceeded 20 million tonnes since the line opened in December 2021, marking another milestone for this international rail corridor, local railway authorities said on Wednesday.