China's General Administration of Customs reported that in July, China's exports rose 17.8 percent year-on-year, with high-tech goods including industrial robots and 3D printers contributing nearly 60 percent of total export growth. Industrial robot exports increased 13.2 percent to 7.34 billion yuan in July, continuing the trend from 2025, the year China became a net exporter of industrial robots. In the first six months of 2026, China's surgical robot exports surged 3.3 times to 480 million yuan, while exports of cleaning robots and intelligent bionic robots totaled 18.09 billion yuan. In AI products, exports of electronic components and computer parts expanded at double-digit rates, contributing 6.9 percentage points to total export growth, and the six most-used large language models on the OpenRouter platform in July were all open-source models developed in China. As for innovative drugs, Chinese companies signed 81 licensing agreements with foreign partners in 20 countries and territories in the first half of 2026, with the total value of these deals accounting for as much as 80 percent of the full-year 2025 deal value, and innovative drugs under development in China accounted for about 30 percent of the global pipeline, ranking China second in the world.
Intuitive Surgical Wins CE Mark for da Vinci SP in Transvaginal Gynecologic Procedures
Intuitive Surgical announced that its da Vinci SP surgical system received CE mark approval in Europe for transvaginal gynecologic procedures, the platform's first such indication globally. The authorization expands the SP system's approved applications in women's health and extends its natural orifice surgery portfolio beyond transoral and transanal procedures, supporting the company's strategy of growing the platform through new indications rather than relying solely on new system placements. The approval could help increase utilization of the existing da Vinci SP installed base across Europe, a key driver of recurring revenue through instruments, accessories and service revenue. During its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, management highlighted that SP procedures surged 61% year over year, driven by expanded indications, new instrumentation and broader adoption, while the company placed 38 SP systems in the quarter, up from 23 a year ago, taking the global installed base to 445 systems. Intuitive Surgical also noted that more than 1,000 peer-reviewed publications support the safety and efficacy of the da Vinci SP platform.
Johnson & Johnson Targets Double-Digit Growth by End of Decade
Johnson & Johnson said it remains on track to grow through biosimilar competition for STELARA and expects its medicines, medical devices and pipeline to support accelerating growth through the end of the decade. Speaking at a Morgan Stanley event, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Joaquin Duato said the company's current guidance calls for 6.5% adjusted operational sales growth and 7.3% adjusted earnings-per-share growth in 2026, with total revenue expected to exceed $100 billion for the first time. Duato said 2027 should be a better year than 2026 and that the company has line of sight to double-digit growth by the end of the decade, with more detail to come at an enterprise business review in early December. John Reed, executive vice president of Innovative Medicine and R&D, said Johnson & Johnson has 12 molecules that have achieved proof of concept and are in Phase III development, and that beyond DARZALEX it has 10 marketed medicines still early in their product life cycles. Capital allocation priorities center on launches such as ICOTYDE, INLEXZO, RYBREVANT, IMAAVY and the OTTAVA robotic surgical system, plus pipeline funding and earlier-stage business development, including the recent acquisitions of Halda Therapeutics and Firefly Bio and a collaboration with an option to acquire Sail. Duato said the company can reach double-digit growth this decade without acquisitions but views M&A as a way to reinforce growth into the following decade.
SS Innovations Launches Sri Lanka's First Robotic Cardiac Surgery Program
SS Innovations International has supported the launch of Sri Lanka's first robotic cardiac surgery program at Kings Hospital Colombo using the SSi Mantra 3.0 surgical robotic system. The program began with a robotic-assisted LIMA takedown performed by SS Innovations founder and Chairman Dr. Sudhir Srivastava alongside Kings Hospital cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Rajitha DeSilva, and Kings Hospital has completed more than 25 robotic procedures in three weeks. SS Innovations reported 224 cumulative SSi Mantra installations across 12 countries at the end of the second quarter, with second-quarter revenue of $13.9 million and robotic procedures up 143% year over year to 2,528. The company's next major corporate milestone is regulatory expansion, as it pursues U.S. FDA clearance and European CE marking for the SSi Mantra system.
