※ Global Morning Briefing summarizes global news delivered by Seoul Economic Daily.
Hybrids Only the Start as EU Barriers Spread to Chemicals, Machinery and Wind Power
The European Union is accelerating work on a new trade rule that would let it block Chinese goods from entering the bloc entirely in extreme cases. The move raises the pressure on Beijing a step further, following the EU's decision to curb hybrid vehicle imports.
EU leaders asked the European Commission at a summit in Brussels on the 15th to draw up such a plan by year-end, Bloomberg reported.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that if unfair practices are confirmed, measures that close the market completely are possible, calling it an extreme but very powerful tool. The South China Morning Post reported that the EU is considering what it called a "kill switch" that would allow it to quickly push Chinese companies out of the bloc's market. France and Germany proposed the mechanism, and after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented it as an option, a majority of member states backed it.
The Commission has begun analyzing trade statistics to determine whether the cap on Chinese hybrid vehicle imports — set at 350,000 units a year from 2027 — can be extended to other industries. Safeguards that impose quotas or tariffs on products facing import surges are under discussion, with chemicals, machinery and wind turbines cited as candidates for protection. Von der Leyen said chemicals and machinery need swift protection, and France and Germany, among others, voiced support.
Behind the push is a trade imbalance. The EU's trade deficit with China reached a record $34.8 billion (about 46.37 trillion won) in September, and Chinese exports rose 36% from a year earlier. China's trade surplus this year is expected to exceed the $1.2 trillion (about 1,600 trillion won) it posted last year.
In Europe's chemical industry, BASF has launched a restructuring, and Lanxess will cut about 550 more jobs. Germany, long cautious, has shifted as well. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told parliament on the 14th that he would no longer stand by and watch the damage.
From Poorest Fishing Town to World's No. 3 Innovation City: How CATL Remade Ningde
Ningde, a small city in China's Fujian province, has ranked third in the world in an innovation assessment by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The result drew attention because the home city of CATL, the world's largest battery maker, edged out Eindhoven in the Netherlands, home to ASML.
In the innovation intensity rankings of WIPO's recently released 2026 Global Innovation Index, Ningde placed third behind San Jose in the United States and Cambridge in Britain, according to local media including Shangguan News on the 16th.
The indicator divides the total volume of innovation activity — patents, research papers and venture capital investment — by population. Boston, Oxford and San Diego followed, while Eindhoven ranked eighth. Daejeon, home to LG Energy Solution and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), came in 10th.
Ningde was a coastal city that remained near the bottom of Fujian province in gross domestic product through the 2000s. The trend shifted when city officials persuaded Chairman Zeng Yuqun, a native of the area, to bring CATL there in 2011. The local economy surpassed 100 billion yuan (about 20 trillion won) in GDP in 2012 and grew to about 425.1 billion yuan (about 84.7 trillion won) last year. Industrial value added from batteries and electric vehicles accounted for 78.8% of that growth.
The weaknesses are also clear. Most research and development takes place inside CATL, so results bypass academic papers and move straight to patents and commercialization, and the city has no comparable elite university. Venture investment is also led by CATL, leaving a shallow independent startup ecosystem. Eindhoven took about 30 years to break free of dependence on a single company, restructuring its industry around ASML and NXP after Philips downsized.
Chinese technology outlet 36kr said Ningde's rise to third place reflects CATL standing at the peak of an industry boom, and stressed that the city should take to heart the lesson that it took Eindhoven about 30 years to escape a structure dependent on one company.
Tesla Unveils Flying Roadster
Tesla has completed a successful first public demonstration of the new Roadster, a sports car billed as a flying automobile. Chief Executive Elon Musk declared that the flying car has become reality.
The demonstration took place on the 15th at SpaceX's test site in McGregor, Texas. The two-seat Roadster, fitted with gas thrusters, climbed halfway up a circular track that rose like a roller coaster, then used its thrusters while inverted to slow down and settle onto the ground. It then accelerated toward five vehicles parked side by side, including a large truck, leaped while venting gas, cleared them with a 360-degree rotation and landed. Musk joked that success could not be guaranteed but fun was certain, though nothing went wrong. For safety, the run was conducted autonomously without a driver.
Performance figures were also disclosed. The car went from a standstill to 60 miles per hour (about 97 kilometers per hour) in 0.81 seconds, meeting its earlier sub-one-second target, with a top speed of more than 230 mph (about 370 kph). Musk predicted it could eventually exceed Mach 0.5. Attitude-control thrusters and a main rear thruster let it fly like a rocket, and a powerful suction system holds the body so tightly to the ground that it can corner while hanging upside down, according to the company. Musk acknowledged, however, that it is unclear whether such a car could legally be driven on all roads.
Mass production begins in 2028, and the actual product will be a car driven by a person. Musk said it would be Tesla's only manually driven vehicle over the long term. The Roadster debuted in 2008 as the world's first electric sports car, and a new version unveiled in 2017 drew $50,000 (about 67 million won) reservation deposits, but it has drawn criticism for going unreleased for nine years.
Samsung, SK and Micron Not Enough: Apple Turns Toward China
With the memory chip supply crunch continuing, Apple Chief Executive John Ternus has left open the possibility of adopting Chinese memory. Congress opposes the idea on a bipartisan basis, but Apple says it will review every option.
In an interview with Time magazine published on the 15th, Ternus described constraints in the memory sector as an absolute crisis and said the company has to keep every possible alternative in mind. He added that he had also met with officials in the Trump administration to confirm they were working on the problem together.
In the first half of this year, Apple held talks to buy chips from ChangXin Memory and Yangtze Memory, both on a U.S. Defense Department blacklist, judging that supply from Samsung Electronics (005930), SK hynix (000660) and Micron alone was not sufficient. At the time, then-CEO Tim Cook personally asked administration figures including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to reduce the political fallout from such deals.
The backlash was fierce. Micron lobbied officials including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, arguing that Chinese firms should not be allowed to supply leading U.S. technology companies such as Apple. Senators from both parties also sent Cook a letter demanding a pledge not to use products from the two companies. Even so, Apple is reported to be testing ChangXin Memory chips. Ternus, a hardware specialist, took the helm at Apple on the 1st of last month and has faced a choice between securing supply and bearing political costs from the outset.
Space Fills U.S. University Coffers: Best Returns in Five Years
Major U.S. universities posted their strongest endowment returns in five years, lifted by investments tied to Elon Musk's SpaceX and artificial intelligence. SpaceX's record initial public offering is cited as the key factor behind the results.
Harvard University's endowment returned 27.1% in fiscal 2026, which ended in late June, The Wall Street Journal reported on the 15th.
Harvard's endowment grew to $68 billion (about 90.6 trillion won). The University of North Carolina did better at 37.8%, with about half of that coming from its SpaceX investment. Washington University in St. Louis returned 37.3%, and Stanford University 31.7% at its main investment vehicle. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by contrast, managed only 10.3%, underscoring wide gaps among schools.
Harvard disclosed that it directly held $2.2 billion (about 2.93 trillion won) in SpaceX shares as of late June, equal to half of its listed-equity investments.
Tax law changes under the Trump administration, however, will raise the rate applied to net investment income at some university endowments. Harvard estimated the change would add $300 million (about 399.7 billion won) a year in costs.
