State media continued their saturation coverage of Xi Jinping's AI governance vision, with People's Daily, Xinhua, CCTV, and others publishing coordinated commentaries on 'understanding Xi's AI thousand-mile horse metaphor' and action plans from the World AI Conference. This narrative, building since July 13, dominated the entire day, leaving little room for other domestic stories. External outlets diverged: Secret China reported on floods in Jilin and Heilongjiang, a car crash in Chengdu, and a piece on Japanese war orphans. SCMP covered China's asteroid defense test and Yunnan's mineral strategy. BBC Chinese reported on North Koreans discovering K-pop. DW Chinese covered US 'punishment' of Iran and Lai Ching-te rejecting 'Chinese Taiwan'. Hong Kong Free Press reported on Hong Kong's sex law reforms. The editorial split mirrored previous days, with state media maintaining a unified technological optimism frame while external sources highlighted disasters, regional tensions, and social issues.
