Intel Corp has invested a total of USD67 million in eight Chinese technology start-ups, in an effort to give it an edge in emerging sectors such as next-generation smart devices, robotics and cloud services. The investment comes less than a month after the United States-based multinational pumped more than USD60 million into a Shanghai-based drone maker, Yuneec International Co. Twelve Chinese companies have received a capital injection from Intel this year, including a roughly USD1 billion investment in a mobile chip set subsidiary under the Tsinghua Unigroup. The U.S. company has now invested nearly USD2 billion into more than 140 Chinese companies since 1998. Ian Yang, Intel’s China President, said the country’s increasing demand for innovation, particularly in consumer electronics, had driven the investments. “The growing spirit of grassroots innovation in the country is likely to present more investment opportunities.” Intel’s latest investments in China will focus on smart devices, the Internet of Things, drones, visual reality and data analytics. One of the most eye-catching recipients of Intel’s recent investment is Ninebot, a Tianjin-based short-distance personal electric-vehicle maker which acquired industry leader Segway in April. It plans to use Intel technology in its future vehicle models, the China Daily reports.

The annual bilateral trade volume between China and the United States is expected to double by 2024, according to Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng. In a column published in USA Today under the headline “China-U.S. trade soars, benefiting both nations”, he wrote that “by 2024, the volume of bilateral trade is likely to surpass USD1 trillion”. Bilateral trade in goods hit USD555.1 billion last year, up 227-fold since diplomatic relations were forged in 1979 and a reflection of the integration of China’s economy with the world economy. “China and the U.S. share extensive common interests and mutual demands, with economic globalization and regional economic integration rapidly developing,” said Chen Fengying, Expert on the world economy at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. “As President Xi Jinping visits the United States, history tells us that Sino-U.S. economic cooperation is win-win, and we look forward to a bright future,” Commerce Minister Gao concluded.

Chinese patients will be able to get a second opinion from U.S. medical organizations later this year after a new service is added to the online Citizen Health Platform of Shenzhen, operated by Hong Kong-based Good Health System Group and the Hong Kong Institute of Cell Molecular Medicine (ICMM). Patients will be able to upload their medical records and examination reports and have them translated into English by doctors in Hong Kong or Singapore. They will receive a diagnostic report issued by international teaching hospitals or institutions in the United States within two weeks. So far, four American medical institutions – United Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, UCSF Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center – will collaborate with ICMM for the project. More are expected to sign up in the near future, said Dr. Jiang Zhongyuan, founder of ICMM. “In Hong Kong and overseas, many people seek a second opinion to confirm a diagnosis of cancer or other critical illness,” Jiang said. This could also push Chinese patients to seek follow-up treatment overseas, which could reduce the workload for doctors at busy hospitals. Medical tourism is already booming among wealthy Chinese, the South China Morning Post reports.

A total of 600 major industrial enterprises in Kunshan, Jiangsu province – one of China’s largest manufacturing hubs for the electronics industry – are going to replace human labor with robots within the next five years. The value of the city’s automation and robotics market is expected to reach CNY80 billion by 2020. The city’s government is handing out CNY2 billion in annual subsidies to support local manufacturers who install robots on assembly lines. There are about 80 robot-manufacturing companies in operation in Kunshan, with an output value of more than CNY300 billion annually. The authorities’ ambitious plans for automating the electronics hub have stemmed from concerns over Kunshan’s recent economic slowdown. Kunshan has the highest GDP of all county-level cities in China, but it dropped 1.8% last year. Automation is hoped to help increase the city’s GDP by about five percentage points over the next five years. In Guangdong province competition among robot making companies is rising, as many have been forced to engage in a price war, the South China Morning Post reports.

The United States is expected to be the second-largest destination for Chinese outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&As) this year, with high-tech companies being the most-sought-after targets, experts from Deloitte said. In the first half of 2015, Chinese outbound M&A volume grew by 25% while the value jumped by 70% year-on-year, according to statistics from Mergermarket, a company specializing in corporate financial news and analysis. Deals were largely concentrated in Western Europe and the U.S., with the former attracting half of the deal value due to the depreciating euro. Western Europe accounted for 35 transactions worth USD24.3 billion, while the U.S. took 35 deals totaling USD9.9 billion. A record increase in the M&A value in the European Union is largely attributed to the deal of Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa buying Telefonica UK for USD15.29 billion, according to Patrick W. Yip, national M&A leader at Deloitte. Chinese acquirers in 2014 completed just 67% of their outbound mergers and acquisitions deals, far less than developed-world acquirers, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group.