Welcome to the 96th installment of the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, a weekly podcast that brings you the most important business stories of the week from China’s top source for business and financial news. Produced by Kaiser Kuo of our Sinica Podcast, it features a business news roundup, plus conversations with Caixin reporters and editors.

This week: 

• We hear that new U.S. tariffs kicked in during the past weekend and several companies released striking financial statements.
• We analyze why Hong Kong is on the verge of a recession as recent government data showed that in the second quarter, the city’s GDP grew only 0.5 percent more than for the same period last year.
• We chat about former star NBA player Jeremy Lin, who has signed a contract to play with the Chinese Basketball Association team the Beijing Shougang Ducks.
• We note that the man who raped and murdered a Didi passenger last year — triggering national outrage over the safety of the company’s services — was executed on Friday.
• We report that the World AI Conference took place over the weekend in Shanghai, where tech industry leaders like Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Tesla’s Elon Musk mingled with government officials and top scientists to discuss the future of AI.
• We find out that Tesla has won exemption from a 10 percent Chinese tax on automotive sales, sidestepping trade tensions with the U.S. following CEO Elon Musk’s visit to the country.

In addition, we talk with Caixin Global managing editor Doug Young about Baidu’s second-quarter earnings for 2019 and how its sliding revenue affected its business strategies.

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