ByteDance, the Chinese technology company behind TikTok, stated in its latest corporate discipline report that the company had fired 103 employees, including contractors and interns, for various violations at work. Of these, 11 employees are under criminal investigation, one for embezzlement, and five for bribery. The charges against the remaining five have not been disclosed. The report highlighted frequent cases of confidential company information being leaked, and included a recent incident involving an intern who sabotaged an AI training model. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Gaode Map, also known as Amap, a widely used Chinese web mapping and navigation app, launched the industry’s first online cycling map of China on Monday, featuring 110 premium cycling routes. Users can search for “China cycling map” on Gaode to view premium cycling routes nearby and start their ride with a single click. The cycling map is a digital platform jointly developed by the China Cycling Association and Gaode, offering route recommendations, navigation broadcasts, social interaction, and activity tracking features. In April, Gaode introduced a cycling safety warning service based on the Beidou satellite navigation system, which monitors users’ rides in real time and provides alerts through navigation voice prompts. [IThome, in Chinese]

China on Monday filed an official complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the European Union’s decision to levy additional tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports, as significant differences remained in the months-long discussions between the two sides. In a statement published by China’s Ministry of Commerce, the EU’s final ruling on anti-subsidy measures was criticized as “an abuse of trade remedy measures and a form of trade protectionism in the name of countervailing.” Since September, Beijing and Brussels have been jointly pushing to reach an agreement on so-called price undertakings — which involve a minimum price commitment by exporters and often specify a volume floor; however, no major progress has been achieved in the discussions. The EU has sent a team of officials to Beijing to hold more talks, Bloomberg reported, citing the bloc’s incoming trade chief, Maros Sefcovic. [China’s Ministry of Commerce, in Chinese, Bloomberg]

TSMC will receive its first ASML’s most advanced High NA EUV (High Numerical Aperture Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography machine by the end of 2024, according to Japanese media outlet Nikkei Asia. Each High NA EUV machine costs over $350 million and will enable semiconductor makers to produce smaller chips. Although High NA EUV offers finer resolution than the current standard EUV, chip manufacturers still need to make further design adjustments to produce more advanced chips. Major semiconductor manufacturing companies are investing significant funds to develop advanced packaging technologies, aiming to integrate more chips into the packaging to further enhance chip performance. TSMC’s rival Samsung will install its first High NA EUV lithography machine in the first quarter of 2025, sources said. [Nikkei Asia]

Huawei’s Chairman of the Consumer BG Yu Chengdong announced on Chinese social platform Weibo that the “strongest Mate in history” will be revealed in November, as the Chinese tech giant gears up to unveil its latest flagship phone. Given a new product launch is generally expected to improve upon what’s gone before, social media users have largely viewed Yu’s comments as meaningless, prompting teasing responses. “Right now, you are the youngest you’ve ever been,” someone joked in the comments section of the Chinese media outlet IThome. Recently, one netizen posted images claiming that Huawei Mate 70 smartphones have already arrived at offline distributors, but that no one dares to unbox them due to a supposed fine of at least RMB 500,000 ($70,370) for unauthorized early unboxing. Huawei has not yet responded to this matter. [IThome, in Chinese]

Honor CEO Zhao Ming posted on the Chinese social platform Weibo to reflect on the past four years of the company’s independence from Huawei and the challenges faced, following the launch of the Honor Magic 7 series flagship phones on Wednesday night. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the Honor Magic 7 Pro features a 200MP telephoto lens, a 6.82-inch quad-curved AMOLED LTPO screen, a 5,850 mAh battery, 100W wired fast charging, and MagicOS 9.0 based on Android 14. “Honor’s strong global presence has been driven by the unwavering dedication of our 14,000 employees and the encouragement of all our customers,” Zhao said. The company has invested about 10% of its revenue in R&D (research and development) each year, he added. In November 2020, Honor broke away from Huawei due to U.S. sanctions on Huawei. [Zhao Ming Weibo, in Chinese]

Huawei is currently accelerating production of the Mate 70 series in preparation for its launch in November, supply chain sources told Chinese media outlet Star Market Daily. The production volume of Mate 70 components in November is expected to be around 50% higher than in the same period for the Mate 60 series, the report said. On June 21, Yu Chengdong, Chairman of Huawei’s Terminal Business Group, said that the Huawei Mate 70 series will be the first smartphone to officially feature HarmonyOS NEXT, a self-developed operating system that only supports HarmonyOS native apps. As of the end of June, the Huawei Mate 60 series, launched last August, has reportedly surpassed 10 million units in sales. [Star Market Daily, in Chinese]

Xiaomi on Tuesday unveiled what it claims to be the four-door car with the highest speed and horsepower in the world at a pre-sale price of RMB 814,900 ($114,200), making it a strong competitor to Tesla’s Model S Plaid and the Porsche Taycan Turbo. The new SU7 Ultra has three electric motors to make for a combined 1,548 horsepower and has a maximum torque of 1,770Nm, giving it an acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 1.98 seconds, superior to existing offerings from the likes of McLaren and Ferrari. This also means the sports car, a luxury version of its first EV model the SU7, is capable of travelling 350 kilometers per hour, comparable to that of China’s high-speed trains. The Chinese technology giant also announced that the SU7 Ultra prototype had set a record lap time of 6:46.874 minutes at Germany’s Nurburgring racetrack. Scheduled for launch next March, the high-performance sports car uses carbon fiber in abundance to lower weight and provide strength, while it also features a larger-than-usual carbon-ceramic braking system for greater temperature resilience. [TechNode reporting, Reuters]

Xiaomi on Tuesday debuted its latest flagship phones in China, the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Pro, which are the world’s first smartphones to feature Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. The Xiaomi 15 series is the first smartphone to use Qualcomm’s next-gen custom Oryon CPU mobile platform, which is Qualcomm’s fastest CPU (Central Process Unit) to date, featuring two super cores with a clock speed of up to 4.32GHz and six performance cores at 3.53GHz. Xiaomi plans to invest over RMB 24 billion ($3.37 billion) in research and development this year, according to CEO Lei Jun, with a focus on technologies such as AI, operating systems, and chips. Notably, the Xiaomi 15 custom edition offers 20 color options and can be customized through the Xiaomi Mall platform. It is priced at RMB 4,999 ($702). [TechNode reporting]

Intel announced in Beijing that it will expand its Chengdu packaging and testing facility, making the capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province its supply chain base. The facility will package and test chips and work to improve support for Chinese customers. Intel remarked that “Chengdu, as a key city driving high-quality development in the western region, offers a friendly business environment.” The company has been based in Chengdu for over 20 years, participating in the local ecosystem and community development. According to Wang Rui, president of Intel China, “The expansion of the Chengdu facility marks a milestone for Intel in deepening cooperation with the industry.” [Intel China, in Chinese]

Porsche has begun hiring new engineers for its research and development team in China, aiming to strengthen software development for “digital cockpit” infotainment systems and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), sources told 36Kr on Oct. 25. The report did not specify how many positions Porsche plans to add to its China R&D team, which currently has about 50 employees. However, sources described it as the second hiring drive since 2022, when the division was established mainly for local testing of export models. They added that the automaker aims to improve the voice recognition capabilities of its in-car system and begin research and analysis for ADAS. Meanwhile, the German luxury car brand plans to move the location from the Pudong area in Shanghai to the city’s Jiading district, where its main owner, Volkswagen, is also located, according to the report. [36Kr, in Chinese]

The Shenzhen Qianhai Development Zone announced new progress on Tencent’s new headquarters project, Penguin Island, located in the Dachan Bay area of Qianhai. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of this year, and construction of the landmark headquarters building will begin in early 2025. Construction of Tencent’s new headquarters in Shenzhen Qianhai began in mid-2021, backed by an investment of RMB 31.9 billion ($4.47 billion). The project spans 809,000 square meters of land with a total built-up area of 2 million square meters and will accommodate 75,000 office staff. The Tencent headquarters, situated at the center of Penguin Island, features four spiraling towers designed to resemble a high-speed engine, earning it the name Technology Engine. Public facilities, including a technology exhibition hall, cultural center, and sports center, will be open to the public upon completion. The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2026. [Shenzhen Qianhai, in Chinese]

Chinese electric vehicle battery maker SVOLT has suspended the construction of two plants in Europe, after facing financial issues and struggling to remain operational amid increased competition from giants CATL and BYD at home, financial media outlet Caixin first reported on Oct. 24. Construction of a facility in the German state of Saarland, which was initially planned for assembling battery modules and packs from imported cells with an annual capacity of 24 gigawatt hours (GWh), has been suspended indefinitely several people close to the company told Caixin. This comes after the Chinese firm confirmed in May that it had stopped the building of another cell production facility for Europe in Lauchhammer, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Berlin, due to the loss of a significant customer, among other reasons. Meanwhile, a separate report from Nikkei said last week that the battery supplier, backed by Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor, plans to shut down its European and German subsidiaries by next January. [Nikkei, Caixin, in Chinese]

Chinese phone brand Oppo on Thursday launched its annual flagship smartphone, the Oppo Find X8 series, featuring inverted periscope zoom technology, a lightweight design, and advanced snapshot functions. While retaining a large sensor and aperture for enhanced image quality, this inverted periscope zoom technology tackles the industry’s issue of heavy camera modules that are thick and protruding, Oppo’s Chief Product Officer Liu Zuohu said at the launch event. It achieves a slim profile of 7.85mm and a weight of 193g, he added. The Find X8 Pro model offers a quick capture button design located in the lower right frame of the device. The button enables the “Shadowless Capture” function, allowing users to easily capture different moments by simply pressing the shutter without needing to switch modes. [Oppo Weibo, in Chinese]

On Thursday, Chinese tech company iFLYTEK announced at the 2024 Global 1024 Developer Event that its voice recognition technology has achieved coverage of dialects in all prefecture-level cities across the country, supporting 201 dialects from 288 cities in China. During the event, iFLYTEK also introduced its Spark Multilingual Model for the first time, which supports nine foreign languages: English, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. The company also showcased various application scenarios for its Spark Multilingual Model, including in-car voice interaction, intent understanding, and real-time search. Additionally, iFLYTEK claimed that the new version of its Spark 4.0 Turbo Model surpassed OpenAI’s GPT-4o in mathematical and coding capabilities. [iFLYTEK, in Chinese]

On Wednesday, China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong met with Apple CEO Tim Cook in Beijing, where they exchanged views on Apple’s development in China, network data security management, and cloud services, according to a post by the government body on the Chinese social platform WeChat. Jin stated that he hoped Apple would continue to deepen its presence in the Chinese market, increase its investment in innovation, and grow alongside Chinese companies to share in the benefits of high-quality development. Apple is willing to seize the opportunities presented by China’s opening up and will continue to increase its investment in the country to support the high-quality development of industrial and supply chains, Cook said. [Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in Chinese]

Huawei’s most advanced AI accelerator chip, the Ascend 910B, may have been manufactured by TSMC, a source familiar with the matter has disclosed to Reuters, after the tech research platform TechInsights took apart the product. If TSMC is found to have been involved, it may have breached US export controls, with its possible involvement prompting the US Department of Commerce to initiate an investigation into the issue. Due to US sanctions on Huawei, TSMC has been prohibited from manufacturing chips for the Chinese tech giant since September 2020. In a statement on Monday, TSMC announced that it had proactively contacted the US Department of Commerce regarding the matter. “We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time,” the company said. TechInsights, which has not yet published its report, declined to comment. [Reuters]

Beijing News on state-owned channel Beijing TV, revealed that Xiaomi has taped out China’s first smartphone system-on-chip (SoC) using the 3nm process. Explaining the expected price hike of Xiaomi’s upcoming flagship phones, Wang Teng, deputy general manager of Xiaomi China’s marketing department, cited the adoption of the 3nm chips in a comment on Weibo, China’s ubiquitous social media platform. Yesterday at the 2024 Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, Qualcomm announced the Xiaomi 15 series will be the first smartphone to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. The Xiaomi 15 series will be launched at the end of this month, said the company. [TechNode reporting]

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger hopes to meet with Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong to discuss cooperation measures in the foundry sector, as the American semiconductor company seeks to establish a foundry alliance with Samsung to catch up with TSMC, South Korean media outlet Maeil Business reported on Monday. In the second quarter, TSMC held a 62.3% share of the global foundry market, while Samsung had 11.5%, according to market intelligence platform Trend Force. Notably, TSMC captured a 92% market share in advanced process technologies such as 3nm and 5nm. The report claims that if the foundry alliance between Intel and Samsung is established, it would mean extensive collaboration in areas including process technology exchange, production facility sharing, and research and development. [Maeil Business, in Chinese]

Chinese automaker Chery Auto is planning to launch a pilot testing scheme for its all-solid-state batteries in 2026, and mass produce them in 2027, in an effort to boost EV range to 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) on a single charge. China’s biggest car exporter expects the batteries to achieve an energy density of 400 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) this year and reach 600 Wh/kg in 2025, Gao Xinhua, executive vice-president of the company said at its global innovation conference on Oct. 18. Peer GAC Group came out with a similar target of 2026, while Changan, another state-owned Chinese automaker, and CATL, China’s biggest battery supplier, have pinned initial commercialization of solid-state batteries to their 2027 calendars. Japan is by far the pioneer of the emerging technology, which uses a solid electrolyte instead of liquid electrolytes to have a theoretically higher thermal stability and energy density than existing batteries, with Toyota and Nissan aiming for volume production by 2028. [Chery announcement, in Chinese]

BYD said on Sunday that it has signed an exclusive partnership contract with Black Myth: Wukong, a move that could create buzz for the electric vehicle major thanks to the huge success of the hit Chinese action game. As part of the global strategic collaboration agreement, BYD will work with Game Science, the developer behind Black Myth: Wukong, to create digital records for heritage assets, according to an announcement. The two companies will first head to the northern Chinese province of Shanxi, the setting for Black Myth: Wukong, to capture and record data on cultural relics and heritage sites using scanning technologies under the guidance of local museums. More plans for heritage documentation will be released to help preserve cultural heritage for future generations, the companies said. Game Science reached 12th place in Steam’s top publisher rankings and earned $1 billion with the success of China’s first triple-A game, according to a recent update on Gamalytic, a Steam statistics platform. [TechNode reporting, BYD announcement, in Chinese]

Nokia has laid off around 2,000 employees, about 20% of its workforce in China, and plans to cut another 350 jobs across Europe to reduce costs, Reuters sources say. A Nokia spokesperson confirmed the European layoffs but did not comment on those in China. As of December 2023, Nokia had 10,400 employees in China and 37,400 in Europe. Last year, Nokia announced plans to cut up to 14,000 jobs to save between 800 million and 1.2 billion euros by 2026. Once its second-largest market, China has seen contract values with Nokia and Ericsson drop sharply since 2019 due to Western bans on Huawei technology, the report said. [Reuters]

Boss Zhipin, a leading Chinese recruitment platform, recently launched the dating app KanZhun, which provides users with matchmaking and wedding ceremony services. Although KanZhun focuses on socializing with strangers, it does not allow users to choose their own chatting partners. Instead, the main interface of KanZhun randomly displays 10 user cards with their profiles per day. If a user likes a particular card, they must complete their own profile and send a request to the other party. Messaging can only proceed if the other party agrees. Boss Zhipin’s second-quarter earnings report stated that it achieved revenue of RMB 1.917 billion ($270 million), marking a year-on-year increase of 28.8%. [My Drivers, in Chinese]

CATL has selected Hong Kong as the base for its sixth research and development facility outside of mainland China and Germany. It happened at a time when the Asian financial hub unveiled a fiscal stimulus package aimed at boosting the adoption of electric vehicles. The Chinese battery giant said on Tuesday the center, located in the Hong Kong Science Park, will house as many as 200 scientists and engineers, with plans to start 75 R&D projects and work with local universities. The opening comes one day ahead of the Hong Kong administration announcement of a HK$750 million ($97 million) budget to finance the purchase of electric vehicles by local taxi and bus fleets. City leader John Lee also unveiled a plan to facilitate the availability of 200,000 parking spaces with EV chargers by mid-2027. CATL last December announced it will invest more than HK$1 billion ($128 million) to make Hong Kong its international headquarters. [TechNode reporting, South China Morning Post]

Aion, the electric vehicle unit of Chinese automaker GAC Group, has partnered with Momenta for the supply of a Level 2+ advanced driver assistance system, a major client win for the autonomous vehicle startup after previous deals with auto majors including BYD. GAC, a longtime manufacturing partner of Toyota and Honda in China, and Momenta, backed by several car giants including General Motors, Toyota, and SAIC, will together push for a wide release of the Navigated Driving Assist (NDA) function on Aion-branded EVs.

The two companies claimed future production models will be capable of navigating by themselves in complicated and challenging traffic environments, enabled by end-to-end neural networks, a technology advocated by Tesla that takes raw sensor data as input and produces control actions as output. The all-new Aion V crossover, Aion’s first global model presented at the ongoing 2024 Paris Motor Show, will incorporate Momenta’s artificial intelligence algorithms, and its parent is targeting 500,000 overseas sales by 2030.

A growing number of cars models from major automotive groups will now use or have implemented Momenta’s technology for assisted driving functions such as automated overtaking and lane changing, including the Toyota bZ3X crossover, Mercedes-Benz’s CLA class, and SAIC’s IM Motors lineup. Eight-year-old Momenta, headquartered in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, in June received approval for a public listing on Nasdaq from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. [TechNode reporting, Momenta release, in Chinese]

Chinese tech firm DJI on Tuesday unveiled the DJI Air 3S dual-camera drone, which starts at RMB 6,988 ($982) and includes a 50MP 24mm main camera with a one-inch sensor and a 48MP 70mm telephoto lens. The new model supports 4K/60fps HDR and 4K/120fps video recording, along with a 10-bit D-Log M color mode. Both cameras feature a new panorama function, allowing users to select their desired subject and customize the capture of multiple photos to create a panoramic image. For nighttime photography, the Air 3S is also DJI’s first drone equipped with forward-facing LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology, combined with a downward-facing infrared ToF (time-of-flight) sensor and three pairs of vision sensors on the body. This technology enables the Air 3S to automatically identify and circumvent obstacles during its flight and return paths at nighttime. [DJI Weibo, in Chinese]

In a promotional video on Weibo Tuesday, Tencent announced it will launch a mobile version of Pokémon UNITE on Nov 7. Pokémon UNITE is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena video game jointly developed by Tencent’s TiMi Studio and The Pokémon Company, a Japanese brand management company responsible for franchise production, publishing, marketing, and licensing. The game features 5v5 battles between players. Pokémon are classed as attacker, agility, balance, defense, and support types. In the game, players need to assist each other, capture wild Pokémon, and level up their Pokémon to defeat other Pokémon. [Pokémon UNITE Weibo, in Chinese]

Geely and Volvo’s joint Lynk & Co brand said on Monday it will begin selling its first all-electric sports utility vehicle, the 02, in Europe at a time when incoming tariffs from the European Commission could raise the price of Chinese electric vehicle imports. The compact SUV starts from €35,495 ($38,800) with a driving range of 445 kilometers (277 miles) on a single charge and a battery pack that can be charged from 10% to 80% in 15 minutes at a 4.5C rate of more than 400 kilowatts. For now, the all-electric will be produced in China and shipped to Europe, making it subject to an extra duty of 18.8% on top of an existing tariff of 10%, a practice that would become definitive for five years starting November. The 02 will be sold in China later on under the name of Z20 with a price range of RMB 170,000 and 200,000 ($23,885-$28,100). [Bloomberg, Lynk & Co announcement, in Chinese]

Leaked images of what could be a long wheelbase version of Audi’s A5 Sportback have appeared online ahead of the car’s launch due early next year, showing the SAIC collaboration becoming wider, longer, and lower. The German luxury carmaker expects the long-awaited, China-made sportback, renamed A5L and equipped with assisted driving technologies from Huawei, to offer consumers in China ample cabin space, Chinese media outlet Mingjing Pro reported. The A5L could be a rare gas-powered luxury vehicle to feature advanced driver assistance capabilities for highway and urban driving in the B-class segment, in which vehicles are usually longer than 4.5 meters in length, company sources told National Business Daily. Audi and SAIC, a long-time partner of Volkswagen in China, announced in May that they would co-develop a platform for EVs for the Chinese market. [Mingjjing Pro, National Business Daily, in Chinese]

Chinese game developer Game Science has risen to 12th place on Steam’s top publisher rankings, surpassing renowned companies such as CD Projekt Red, FromSoftware, and Larian Studios, according to the Steam statistics platform Gamalytic. The rankings are based on game revenue on the Steam platform, with data showing that Game Science’s revenue has exceeded $1 billion. The top 12 publishers on Steam are: Valve, Krafton, EA, Ubisoft, Xbox, Bethesda, Sega, Activision, Bandai Namco, Rockstar, 2K, and Game Science. Last week, China’s Zhejiang province tax department released an announcement stating that the development cost of Black Myth: Wukong was around RMB 300 million ($42.4 million), and that the authority had provided Game Science with an R&D (research & development) expense deduction of RMB 28 million ($3.96 million). [Gamalytic]

In September, two new Chinese mobile games – Archosaur Games’ Dragon Raja: The Gate of Cassell and LINGXIGAMES’ Ashes of the Kingdom – surpassed RMB 100 million in revenue, according to gaming media outlet GameLook. Within 19 days of its launch in September, Dragon Raja: The Gate of Cassell secured RMB 160 million ($22.6 million) in revenue, while Ashes of the Kingdom reached RMB 100 million ($14.1 million) just five days after its launch in the Chinese market. Based on Dragon Raja, a series of fantasy novels written by Chinese author Jiang Nan, The Gate of Cassell is a card-based role-playing strategic game. Targeted at female players, Ashes of the Kingdom is a card-based narrative game with a female-centered storyline, rich Eastern aesthetics, and a host of handsome ancient male characters. [GameLook, in Chinese]

The ByteDance Doubao team on Thursday released its first AI smart earbuds, Ola Friend, weighing just 6.6 grams each, claimed by the company to be the lightest of their kind. The earbuds are integrated with the Doubao large language model, so that users can interact with Doubao via voice commands without needing to open their phones. Users can touch the earbuds or say the wake word “Doubao Doubao” to interact with the app on their phone. The AI assistant can convey emotions such as happiness and surprise, let users listen and speak simultaneously, interrupt or switch topics during conversations, according to the company. The earbuds come in four colors: white, black, purple, and silver, and are priced at RMB 1,199 ($170). [Doubao, in Chinese]

Spain will pump €133 million ($146 million) into a potential battery production base by automaker Stellantis in partnership with Chinese supplier CATL near the northeastern city of Zaragoza, as the country is looking to become a major European electric vehicle maker. The automaker responded to a Reuters report saying the project, which would create about 3,000 jobs and require an investment of almost €2.5 billion, is still “subject to completion of all regulatory approvals” and not ready to be officially announced. The news comes a year after the two companies signed a non-binding agreement to make low-cost, iron-based batteries for its B-class and C-class passenger vehicles in Europe. CATL has been making lithium-ion batteries at its first European plant in the German state of Thuringia since late 2021. It also expects to complete the construction of a site in Hungary capable of making 100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries within two years, a project that began in late 2022. [Reuters]

Li Auto is planning to open a research and development office in Hong Kong, in the company’s latest move to accelerate the roll out of an in-house designed chipset for autonomous driving, people familiar with the matter told Chinese media outlet LatePost on Wednesday. The electric vehicle maker will initially employ 10 experts at the facility to aid in the design of a circuit architecture and other R&D activities. The company also plans to create an investment strategy associated with chip development and AI training, according to the report. Li Auto is hoping to complete the tape-out for its autonomous driving semiconductor by December, which marks the end of the design phase and the beginning of production, with a new model incorporating the new chip to be rolled out in 2026, sources said. A similar office was set up in Singapore last November to enable the development of silicon-carbide (SiC) chips, which provides high temperature resistance and low power consumption for electric cars. [TechNode reporting, LatePost, in Chinese]

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is on track to sell 50,000 cars in Mexico this year and aims to double that number in 2025, the company’s country head Jorge Vallejo said publicly on Tuesday in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, Reuters reported. The EV giant has been selling the all-electric versions of its Tang sports utility vehicles and Han sedans locally through several dealers since last year, and introduced its first pickup truck, the Shark, to the country in May, TechNode reported. Vallejo added that the company will announce the location of its first plant in Mexico, capable of making 150,000 cars in phase one, by the end of this year, without revealing further details. In February, BYD Americas CEO Stella Li told Reuters that the facility, mainly for the local market rather than for export, will likely be located in central and southern areas of the country, rather than northern Mexico near the US border. [TechNode reporting, Reuters]

Ubisoft on Monday responded to recent speculation about Tencent potentially buying out the French game publisher but provided limited details. Ubisoft stated it “regularly reviews all its strategic options in the interest of its stakeholders and will inform the market if and when appropriate.” This follows a Bloomberg report suggesting that Tencent and the Guillemot family, Ubisoft’s founders, are exploring ways to stabilize Ubisoft and enhance its value. Ubisoft shares fell by 19% last month after delaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows and reporting lower-than-expected sales for Star Wars Outlaws. One option being considered is taking Ubisoft private, according to Bloomberg. Currently, Chinese gaming giant Tencent holds a 10% stake in Ubisoft and 49.9% in Guillemot Brothers Ltd. [Ubisoft statement, in Chinese]

On Tuesday, Chinese social app WeChat began inviting users to beta test HarmonyOS NEXT, an independent operating system developed by Huawei that supports only HarmonyOS native apps. The first batch of devices for public testing includes the Huawei Mate 60 series, Huawei Mate X5 series, and Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2-inch series. Users who have upgraded to HarmonyOS NEXT can be among the first to experience it upon receiving an invitation. This beta version of HarmonyOS WeChat includes messaging, audio and video calls, Moments (social media feed), and QR code payment functions. The technical team said that developing the native version of WeChat for HarmonyOS NEXT feels like creating the first version of WeChat all over again, with many issues requiring hands-on learning with documentation, one Tencent employee shared on the Chinese X-like platform Weibo. [Tencent Weibo, in Chinese]

Mazda Motor Corporation and Chinese partner Changan Automobile will invest RMB 10 billion ($1.4 billion) for the development of smart and electric vehicles in China by 2027, an executive said recently, adding that their joint venture aims to become a leader in a highly competitive industry. Changan-Mazda will launch a new electric vehicle model each year from 2024 to 2027, hoping to triple their annual sales to 300,000 units by 2027, of which 90% will be new energy vehicles (all-electrics and plug-in hybrids), said deputy president Deng Zhitao on Sept. 28. Mazda’s China JV has already begun selling its first EV sedan, the EZ-6, offering seven all-electric and extended-range hybrid variants with a pre-sale price that starts from RMB 160,000. Sales of Changan-Mazda almost halved to 4,331 units in August from a year earlier, while Japanese brands claimed 12.6% of the Chinese passenger car market, down 4.2% year-on-year, according to figures published by the China Passenger Car Association. [TechNode reporting, Nikkei, in Japanese]

Beijing is firmly objecting to the European Commission’s decision to implement additional countervailing duties on China-made electric vehicles ranging up to 35.3% for a period of five years, while pushing for ongoing negotiations with Brussel to establish a price floor on Chinese EVs, according to a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce, who made the comments on Oct. 4. The spokesperson added that both sides have conducted six rounds of technical consultations in 14 days since China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao and EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis held talks on Sept. 19.

The negotiations will continue, the spokesperson added, urging the EU to truly demonstrate its political will and return to the “right track” of resolving trade frictions through consultations. The European Union had said earlier in the day that it had obtained “the necessary support” to adopt the tariffs, but would continue talks with Beijing to explore an alternative solution. Pascal Lamy, the former director general of the World Trade Organization, said last September that he anticipates the EU and China could resolve the trade dispute through an agreement not to sell EVs below a minimum price, known as a “price undertaking.” [TechNode reporting, China’s Ministry of Commerce]

Chinese battery giant CATL is calling for greater effort to make electric vehicle batteries more sustainable, with chief executive Robin Zeng recently claiming that more than half of all new batteries could be produced using recycled lithium globally in 2042. Speaking at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress on Sept. 27, Zeng mentioned that CATL’s battery recycling business has already gained scale, with a current capacity to process 270,000 tons of waste batteries, and is expected to reach 1 million tons in the future. In 2023, CATL recycled a total of 100,000 tons of waste batteries, utilizing these materials to produce 13,000 tons of lithium carbonate, a key component of lithium-ion batteries. The recovery rate for lithium in battery raw materials has reached 91%, while that numbers for nickel, cobalt, and manganese is as high as 99.6%. [Caixin, in Chinese]

China’s passenger car sales are expected to rise 4% in September year-on-year and 10.1% month-on-month to 2.1 million units. An estimate by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said new enery vehicles (NEVs), mainly battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, could expand its market share with a penetration rate of 52.4%, and sales of NEVs could rise 47.3% year-on-year to 1.1 million units. This growth is mainly attributed to increased government subsidies for scrapped vehicles and new product launches beefed up by automakers. China in late July introduced a scheme that doubled incentives to consumers, who by trading in their old cars and buying new EVs and gas-powered vehicles, can receive RMB 20,000 and RMB 15,000 ($2,852 and $2,139), respectively. Beijing has received more than 1 million subsidy applications as of Sept. 14. China’s NEVs outsold traditional internal-combustion engine vehicles on a monthly basis in July, taking them mainstream in the world’s largest auto market for the first time, CPCA figures showed. [China Passenger Car Association, in Chinese]

Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture with SAIC is considering closing a plant in the eastern city of Nanjing where it has been making VW’s popular Passat and Skoda vehicles, a company representative said, according to a recent report by financial media outlet Caixin. SAIC-VW has two plants 80 kilometers (50 miles) apart in the capital city of the eastern province of Jiangsu, and the company said it will shift production of its Passats to nearby factories if it closes one of the two. Another VW Chinese plant in the eastern city of Ningbo that makes Skoda vehicles is also under consideration for closure, Bloomberg reported in Sept. 18, information denied by two sources, as Reuters later wrote. Sales of SAIC-VW fell 4.8% to roughly 678,000 over the first eight months of this year, and the German car giant is also considering closing two factories in Germany in a historic move to reduce costs. [Caixin Global, Bloomberg]

Electric vehicle maker Leapmotor will begin delivering its T03 compact car in September, followed by the availability of the larger C10 sports utility vehicle in October in Europe, a year after Stellantis announced it had acquired a 20% stake in the Chinese startup. The prices of the imported T03 compact crossover and the C10 SUV have more than doubled to €18,900 and €36,400 ($20,990 and $40,633), respectively, from their prices at home. Leapmotor and Stellantis will produce the vehicles via a joint venture, which is 51% owned by the European auto giant, with plans to begin assembling the T03 EVs at Stellantis’ Tychy plant in Poland later this year. This will probably allow the brand to bypass additional European Union tariffs on Chinese EV imports, Reuters reported. [Reuters]

General Motors has fired off its latest salvo in a renewed price war in China with the launch on Saturday of its all-new Cadillac XT5 sports utility vehicle with a special limited-time offer ranging from RMB 265,900 to RMB 335,900 ($37,917-$47,899). This represents a 27%-33.5% price cut from its suggested retail price range of between RMB 399,900 and RMB 459,900 for the brand’s best-selling midsize SUV, which features a large, 33-inch curved ultra-retina screen for in-car entertainment and basic pilot functions such as lane centering assist. The move comes immediately after another temporary cut by the US automaker on Tuesday when its refreshed Buick Envision Plus compact crossover was reduced to a starting price of RMB 169,900 in China compared with the suggested price of RMB 229,900. GM is not the only global automaker that is attempting to defend its market share with an aggressive pricing strategy. Volkswagen on Sept. 10 launched the redesigned Passat, one of its top-selling models, priced from RMB 159,900 until the end of the month, representing a reduction of RMB 17,000 from the original price. [General Motors release, TechNode reporting]

On Thursday, South Korea’s LG Display said it approved the sale of its 8.5-gen LCD (liquid crystal display) panel production line and module factory in Guangzhou, China, to TCL’s LCD unit, CSOT (China Star Optoelectronics Technology), for RMB 10.8 billion ($1.54 billion). The transaction includes LG Display’s 80% stake in its Guangzhou LCD panel plant and 100% of its LCD module plant and is expected to be completed in March 2025, according to LG Display. LG Display explained that this decision aims to enhance its focus on OLED (organic light-emitting diode) operations, where it holds a competitive edge compared to the saturated LCD market. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Xiaomi’s subsidiary brand, Redmi, on Thursday launched the Redmi Note 14 Pro+, featuring the world’s first Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen3 chipset built on TSMC’s 4nm process technology. Equipped with a 6,200mAh silicon-carbon battery, the mid-ranger with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage is priced at RMB 1,999 ($285). The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ introduces the self-developed T1 signal enhancement chip for improved mobile networks and GPS signals, the company said. Last week, market analysis firm Omdia released a list of the top ten best-selling smartphones globally for the first half of 2024, with a Redmi phone being the only Chinese brand to make it into the top ten. In the first six months of 2024, the Redmi 13C sold 11.8 million units and ranked eighth in the global market by sales. [Redmi Weibo, in Chinese]

Chinese automaker Geely plans to build a $168 million assembly plant with an annual capacity of 75,000 cars in Vietnam with partner Tasco Joint Stock Company, as the two companies signed a joint venture agreement deal in Hanoi on Monday. Geely will pay 36% of the total investment of the facility, where Volvo’s parent company plans to make cars under the Lynk & Co and Geely Auto brands initially, while Tasco, a local construction and engineering firm, will shoulder the rest of the cost. Construction is expected to start in the first half of 2025, followed by vehicle delivery to local customers as early as 2026. The Chinese carmaker has established a relatively early and strong presence in Southeast Asia since it acquired a 49.9% stake in Malaysian automaker Proton from conglomerate DRB-HICOM Bhd in 2017. The two companies are building an auto-making hub in west Malaysia to have an annual capacity of 500,000 vehicles by 2035, according to Geely. [Bloomberg, TechNode reporting]

China’s BYD is making preparation to introduce its luxury sports utility vehicle Tang to Japan, with the launch of the premium Han sedan and the popular Qin model also on the pipeline in an increased effort to crack the world’s fourth largest auto market. BYD’s Japanese car dealers will get higher bonuses for the BYD cars they manage to sell compared with luxury models from German’s brands, while hiring of sales employees who previously worked for rivals such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Toyota, sources told 36Kr on Tuesday. BYD began selling the all-electric version of Tang at a sticker price of €72,000 ($80,266) in Europe in late 2022, and rolled out the refreshed Tang EV with a price range of between RMB 219,800 and RMB 269,800 ($31,322-$38,447) at home in April.

The Chinese auto giant sold 137,184 units of the seven-seater last year, while the numbers for the Han and the Qin reached 228,383 and 482,145 units, respectively, including battery EVs and plug-in hybrid variants. BYD’s car exports more than tripled year-on-year to around 300 units to Japan in August, although that was only a fraction of some more established rivals’ volumes, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association, Nikkei reported. It has three models on sale in the country – the Atto 3 compact crossover, the Seal sedan, and the Dolphin hatchback. Japan remained fourth place in global market size by sales volume as of last year, after the US, China, and India. [36Kr, in Chinese, Nikkei, in Japanese, TechNode reporting]

The Five, the latest offering from Tencent Robotics X Lab, was unveiled on Tuesday. The residential robot, created as a general-purpose robot that can coexist safely and harmoniously with people, integrates core capabilities from previous generations, features four-wheels, tactile skin, and hands. Lab tests have shown that The Five can walk, transport objects, handle complex tasks, and interact with humans, according to the company. The biggest difference between The Five and previous offerings is its hybrid design of four straight legs and wheels. This design retains the obstacle-crossing ability of legged robots and the efficiency of wheeled robots, allowing the robot to move faster on flat surfaces. [Tencent Robotics X Lab, in Chinese]

Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong’ made it to first place in the What’s Your Game of the Year 2024 So Far poll on US gaming site IGN. The poll used a head-to-head method, whereby players chose their favorite game over several rounds of game matchups. At the time of writing, Black Myth: Wukong featured in 168,785 duels, and had secured an 89.8% win rate. The other top ten games in contention were Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, Helldivers II, Stellar Blade, Astro Bot, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Hades II, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Dragon’ s Dogma 2. [IGN]

China’s search engine giant Baidu is looking for more than 3,000 fresh graduates to join sectors ranging from LLM algorithm development and engineering to product operations, in a sign that ERNIE Bot creator’s is continuing to bet on artificial intelligence-driven growth. The job openings are to be filled at Baidu’s headquarters in Beijing, as well as in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, according to the official website, with technical positions being the most in-demand in this round of campus recruitment. The company plans to add 235 new employees for the position titled Machine Learning/Natural Language Processing Engineer, one of its most-in demand roles, saying the position is to develop core technologies for large-scale machine learning applications. Baidu said it is opening up the position of LLM Algorithm Engineer to fresh graduates for the first time, hoping they “can be involved in the development of large-scale pre-trained models, as well as the strategic development of the company’s core products.” [Baidu, in Chinese]

Japan’s exports of semiconductor equipment to China in August rose by 61.6% year-on-year to $1.29 billion, according to Japan’s Ministry of Finance. The country last month exported 6,742 tons of equipment to China, an increase of 41% from the previous month, the report stated. Machinery and equipment account for 23.2% of Japan’s total exports to China, with semiconductor equipment making up 11.9% of that. Dutch company ASML saw its chip equipment exports to China grow 21% in the second quarter, reaching 2.3 billion euros ($2.57 billion). ASML’s advanced lithography equipment, including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines, remains essential in the production of semiconductors that are 7nm or smaller. [Business Korea]

TSMC and Samsung are considering building large-scale wafer fabs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the next few years, a move that could boost AI investment and development in the Middle East, according to The Wall Street Journal. Executives from both TSMC and Samsung recently visited the UAE to discuss the possibility of establishing advanced chip manufacturing plants in the country, insiders told the WSJ. The UAE government is likely to provide funding for the construction plan, which will be led by Mubadala Investment Company, a state-owned investment and asset management firm that serves as one of the sovereign wealth funds of the Abu Dhabi government. The proposed factories in the UAE could have a combined cost exceeding $100 billion, the report added. [The Wall Street Journal]

A six-episode mini-drama produced by coffee giant Starbucks streamed on China’s TikTok sibling Douyin last week, showcasing a new method of advertising for global brands in China, where the size of the micro-drama industry reached about $5 billion in 2023. Released with one episode per day, the short drama is set in ancient times, in a society unfamiliar with coffee. It follows a fictional Starbucks employee who travels back to ancient China to opens a Starbucks store, becomes the wealthiest man in the region, and finds romantic partners along the way. The coffee brand showcases new seasonal offerings and its “Zhuanxingsong” delivery service throughout the series, mirroring the strategy of brands such as McDonald’s and KFC that have filmed their own branded dramas highlighting signature menu items. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

China’s on-demand delivery giant Meituan has reportedly shifted its primary operational focus from pursuing GMV to increasing order volume in the second quarter, according to news outlet LatePost, as the company found a 10% to 20% drop in sales due to a continued decline in average transaction value. Meituan hopes to spur users to order more often with cheaper offerings, as the trend of pocket-strapped restaurant spending in the country grows severe. Earlier this month, Wang Puzhong, the chief executive of Meituan’s core local commerce, mentioned that four top-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen — have all seen negative growth in the number of newly opened restaurants. [LatePost, in Chinese]

On Thursday, tech blogger @AdakFengLangJuXu said on a Chinese X-like platform that Huawei might not release the self-developed HarmonyOS NEXT system at the end of the month, despite the Chinese tech giant announcing the autumn product launch event to be held on Sept. 24. However, last week at the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services, Chen Xinxin, a manager of Huawei’s HarmonyOS department, revealed the launch of the HarmonyOS NEXT system at the end of this September. At this autumn launch event, Huawei will introduce a series of smartwatches equipped with the new fitness system TruSense for the first time, including the WATCH GT 5, WATCH D2, and WATCH Ultimate. [IThome, in Chinese]

Eddie Wu, chief executive of Alibaba’s cloud unit, said AI had evolved faster in the last 22 months than at “any historical period,” adding, “yet we remain in the early stages of the AGI transformation.” Wu spoke on Thursday at the 2024 Apsara Conference, where Alibaba Cloud, keen to catch up in AI, launched 100 open-sourced Qwen 2.5 multimodal models and a text-to-video AI solution. According to the company’s introduction, Qwen 2.5 is the latest generation of Alibaba’s open-source large language model, which includes seven versions ranging from 500 million to 72 billion parameters, with “an overall performance improvement of more than 18% over its predecessor.” [Alibaba Cloud, in Chinese]

China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) has made progress in replacing foreign chipmaking technology with homegrown alternatives, despite US export restrictions on advanced semiconductor equipment to China since October 2022, according to Bloomberg and TechInsights. YMTC has shifted to domestic chip equipment suppliers, including AMEC (Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment), Naura and Piotech. While still relying on key tools from ASML and Lam Research, domestic suppliers have been increasingly handing major production processes, the report said. In recent years, YMTC has introduced Xtacking 3.0 and Xtacking 4.0 architectures with 232 layers and high-speed interfaces, enabling them to compete with global leaders such as Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix in the SSDs (solid-state drives) market. However, the latest 3D NAND chips made with Chinese equipment have increased defects and lower yields. [Bloomberg]

TSMC’s Arizona plant is producing its first batch of A16 chips using the company’s 4nm process, with Apple becoming the facility’s first customer, said Taiwan-based independent journalist Tim Culpan. Apple’s A16 chips, first introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022, are currently in trial production at TSMC’s Arizona plant using the same advanced N4P process technology as in Taiwan. The facility is expected to start mass production by mid-2025, with the A16 chips likely to be used in future devices, such as the upcoming iPad or iPhone SE, the report claimed. In April, TSMC announced its plans for 2nm technology at its second fab and plans to build a new third fab in the US to produce more advanced chips, backed by up to $6.6 billion under US CHIPS funding. [TechNode reporting, Tim Culpan]

Xiaomi on Wednesday promoted a new triple-fold smartphone patent, following Huawei’s launch of the Mate XT, the industry’s first triple-fold smartphone, last week. China’s National Intellectual Property Administration’s published patent shows that Xiaomi obtained a design patent related to triple-fold smartphone design having applied on December 21, 2022. The back of Xiaomi’s design features a horizontally arranged camera setup with three cameras and an LED flash, the patent revealed. In August, Xiaomi overtook Apple to become the world’s second-largest smartphone brand after Samsung, according to Counterpoint Research, though the report did not disclose specific sales numbers. [Cailianpress, in Chinese]

Logistics and e-commerce tech giant GoTo has agreed to use Alibaba Cloud services in a strategic partnership deal for five years, with Alibaba committed to retaining its stake in GoTo for the duration of the deal. “This strategic partnership combines Alibaba Cloud’s world-class cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities with GoTo’s extensive ecosystem,” says Selina Yuan, Vice President of Alibaba, according to an email sent to TechNode. The Chinese e-commerce giant reduced its stake in GoTo in 2022 months after the Indonesian company listed in Jakarta, having been one of its first investors. Stock prices have since plummeted by around 80%. The cooperation is the latest effort by Alibaba’s cloud computing unit to seek growth internationally. [TechNode reporting]

China’s e-commerce player JD has acquired all of Walmart’s stake in Dada, according to Dada’s securities filing on Tuesday, bringing JD’s shares in the logistics company to 63.2%. As part of the move, Walmart China CEO Christina Zhu resigned from Dada’s board, a role she began in May 2020. Beijing-based JD became the majority shareholder in Dada when it injected $800 million into the on-demand delivery platform in 2021, three years after Dada received $500 million in funding from Walmart and JD. A month before the sale, US retail giant Walmart exited its entire stake in JD, ending their eight-year partnership at a time when the once-dominant Chinese e-commerce giant struggled to maintain its market share. [SEC filing]

Xpeng Motors plans to expand its offerings with the mass production of its first extended-range hybrid electric vehicle (EREV) model, expected in the second half of 2025, people familiar with the matter told local media outlet 36Kr last week. The large sport utility vehicle, codenamed G01, will be based on Xpeng’s nearly five-meter-long G9 crossover, priced from RMB 200,000 ($28,180), and mass-produced in the company’s second factory in Guangzhou, the company’s headquarters, according to the report. The second phase of the factory, which is under construction, will have the annual capacity to produce components for 300,000 cars, including 100,000 hybrid vehicles, according to a company environmental filing released by the Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau last month. China’s retail sales of all-electric vehicles grew 16% year over year to nearly 3.5 million units from January to August, while the combined number of plug-in hybrids and EREVs increased 75.6% to more than 2.5 million units, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). [TechNode reporting, Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau, 36Kr, in Chinese]

China’s main AI regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), is seeking public comment on a draft version of a new law looking to tackle AI-generated content labeling issues. The draft proposes that social media users should take the initiative to apply dedicated labels to any content that has been generated by AI, while adding that any organization and individuals should not “maliciously” delete or conceal “AI-generated” labels. Platforms will also be tasked with providing tools or services to carry out the clear labeling of such content. Mainstream Chinese social platforms such as TikTok sibling Douyin already require creators to label artificial intelligence-generated content to avoid confusing viewers. The draft is the latest AI-focused regulation in China, and comes months after the government moved to impose new security requirements for generative AI services. [CAC, in Chinese]

Beijing’s Haidian District issued the city’s first food operating license for embodied AI robots this week, with state media outlet People’s Daily saying the license given to EncoSmart signals a major step for advanced AI technology that will soon be applied across the food industry. According to the report, the company plans to pilot such robots with China’s major restaurant chains by year-end as a part of accumulating application scenario data, though no specific brands were named. The two-year-old EncoSmart currently operates fried food services with its first-generation unmanned kiosk robot in the Haidian district of Beijing. [People’s Daily, in Chinese]

Jiyue, a Chinese electric vehicle brand co-developed by automaker Geely and search engine Baidu, on Tuesday launched its second model enabled by an automated driving approach similar to that of Tesla at a price range between RMB 199,900 and RMB 219,900 ($28,166-$30,984). The Jiyue 07 sedan will be capable of navigating on the public roads nationwide later this year, helped by Baidu’s navigation map and equipped with an autonomous driving stack including a dozen ultrasonic radar units, 11 cameras, and nine millimeter-wave radar sensors.

This makes Jiyue the only Chinese carmaker that commits to pursue a so-called vision-based approach, which mainly uses cameras and ditches lidar sensors to achieve semi-autonomous driving functions, according to an announcement. The interior of the five-meter long sedan shows a futuristic design language with a massive 35.6-inch central screen and without shift levers and turn signal switches, like its sibling, the Jiyue 01 crossover. The entry-level Jiyue 07 has a driving range of 660 kilometers (410 miles) on a single charge, while the rear-wheel drive varint of the Tesla Model 3 travels 606 km per charge and integrates seven cameras at a price tag of RMB 231,900. [TechNode reporting, Jiyue release, in Chinese]

China’s giant retailer JD announced it will take two years to realize a 20-month salary per year for retail employees, with the company’s other sectors to follow suit. JD made the announcement on Friday morning on its official WeChat account, marking the fourth pay hike notice the e-commerce giant has issued this year. Procurement, sales, and other “frontline staff” are among those spotlighted by JD’s salary increases, with the group having already had their fixed salaries doubled on the first day of 2024. In July, JD promised it would raise their annual fixed pay again from 16-month to 20-month gradually in the next year and a half. These successive salary increment notices that the retailing company once ranked second by value among e-commerce platforms is dealing with weak domestic consumption and emerging rivals. [JD, in Chinese]

Temu has overtaken eBay as the world’s second most-visited e-commerce website, just two years after its initial launch, data from SimilarWeb shows, as the budget-focused retailer has seen explosive growth with a rapid expansion path into over 70 countries. According to the figures, Temu gets nearly 700 million visits per month via its website portal, with a quarter of those visits coming from the United States, putting Temu behind the top-ranked Amazon which has 2.7 billion monthly visits, almost all from US users. Among the top 20 on SimilarWeb’s visits-based list, Temu is the only emerging e-commerce company. The China-linked retailer is reportedly setting a $60 billion sales goal for this year. [SimilarWeb]

Chinese automaker Chery Auto is considering the likelihood of making vehicles in the UK, which could become the company’s second major production hub in Europe next to its Spanish joint plant, the BBC reported earlier this week. The company has not yet made a final decision, the report added. Chery’s UK head Victor Zhang did not reveal many details about the plan, but pledged the company was determined to take a “localised” approach for the long term for the European market. The news comes after China’s biggest car exporter reached a joint venture deal with Spain’s EV Motors in April to produce its Omoda cars at a former Nissan plant in Barcelona later this year. State-owned Chery overtook peer SAIC as the largest car exporter from China with about 532,000 units in the first half of this year, and said last October it planned to launch sports utility vehicle models from three car brands, including Omoda and Jaecoo, in Europe during 2024-2025. [BBC]

Chinese game developer miHoYo recently completed the registration for an AI model, Glossa, marking a major step in its AI strategy. Although Glossa has yet to be launched and its functions are still under wraps, it has gathered considerable attention in the industry. The term Glossa, derived from Greek and meaning “language” or “annotation,” suggests that it might be used to support intelligent NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in miHoYo’s games. As the developer of hit games such as Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, miHoYo is likely to use Glossa to enhance the efficiency of game content production, including character voiceovers, art design, and dialogue creation. Currently, the company has not disclosed the launch date for the model. [GameLook, in Chinese]

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with a top official from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), as well as representatives from electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors and car manufacturer JAC Motors, during a four-day visit to China on Monday. Sanchez emphasized the advantages of Spain’s automotive industry and exchanged views with the Chinese attendees on cooperation between the two countries, according to a statement published by the government-backed CAAM on Tuesday, without further details. The news comes after Volkswagen-backed Xpeng recently said it has started looking for a site to make EVs locally and set up a data center in the European Union to avoid additional tariffs imposed by local authorities, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 27. The Spanish premier on Wednesday called on European Union members to rethink their plans to apply punitive tariffs to Chinese EV imports after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. [Bloomberg, CAAM statement, in Chinese]

Google plans to exit Samsung Foundry and switch to TSMC by 2025, according to a report cited by Indian tech blog PiunikaWeb from Tech & Leaks Zone. The next two generations of Google’s Tensor processors are expected to use TSMC’s 3nm and 2nm processes, respectively. The current Tensor G4, used in the Pixel 8, is manufactured by Samsung Foundry with its 4nm process but offers minimal upgrades due to using older FO-PLP (fan-out panel-level packaging). The Tensor G5, for Google’s Pixel 10, will be made by TSMC using the 3nm process and advanced InFO-POP (integrated fan-out package on package). The Tensor G6, supporting the Pixel 11 series, will also be produced by TSMC using the 2nm process, the report said. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Alibaba founder Jack Ma said the company faces being overtaken as “expected” in a rare internal memo on Tuesday, at a time when the Taobao maker celebrated its 25th anniversary. “There is no company that can remain No.1 forever in any field, with competition is the only way to make yourself stronger and the industry healthier,” Ma wrote. The anniversary day also marks the e-commerce giant’s first day that investors from mainland China can directly buy its Hong Kong-listed stocks, ending with Alibaba shares up 4.2% on Tuesday trading. In the nearly 1,000-word piece of writing, the currently low-profile entrepreneur listed several socially valuable tasks the company made, namely “helping countless young people start their own businesses,” “creating tree-planting initiative Ant Forest”, as well as “building health code system during Covid period,” which he felt proud of that Alibaba participates in “moving society forward.” [LatePost, in Chinese]

Xpeng Motors has told suppliers it is stepping up production plans for its first electric vehicle model under the budget brand MONA, calling for support to ensure supply chain security after witnessing a significant upswing in order volume for the M03 sedan. That’s according to a letter first revealed by Sun Shaojun, founder of consumer behavior research agency CarFans, on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo on Tuesday, and later confirmed by Xpeng. “The MONA M03 has recently reached over 2,000 orders per day after we received more than 30,000 nonrefundable orders in 48 hours since it was released. We are adjusting our production plan in line with that and sincerely hope partners will keep up with the pace for the sake of capacity increase and timely delivery,” said the Chinese electric vehicle maker in the letter. The M03 sedan went on sale on Aug. 27 at a price range between RMB 119,800 and RMB 155,800 ($16,808-$21,859), with the top-end version featuring an assisted driving system similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, according to the company.[TechNode reporting, Sun Shaojun, in Chinese]

Kuaishou, China’s second-largest short video platform, has launched a campaign with nine well-known film directors to produce nine short films of around three minutes in length using the Kling model, the company’s text-to-video model that is freely available for the public to use. The program explores “co-creation” between humans and AI in the film and television industry, according to Kuaishou, with the company also predicting that the campaign will “fully utilize the ability of the Kling model to simulate the physical world.” Jia Zhangke, the award-winning director behind globally famous movies such as Ash is Purest White, is among the nine directors collaborating with Kuaishou to produce his first AI-generated clips. [Kuaishou, in Chinese]

Samsung is partnering with its foundry rival TSMC to jointly develop the bufferless HBM4, a next-generation AI chip, Dan Kochpatcharin, head of Ecosystem and Alliance Management at TSMC, said during the Semicon Taiwan 2024 forum last week. High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is crucial for AI due to its superior processing speed compared to traditional DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips. Samsung and TSMC will provide customized chips and services requested by clients such as NVIDIA and Google. The bufferless HBM4 will offer 40% greater power efficiency and 10% reduced latency compared to current models, industry analysts have suggested. The two chip giants plan to start mass production of the new chip in the second half of next year, according to the Korea Economic Daily report. [The Korea Economic Daily]

Meituan officially brought its food delivery service to Saudi Arabia under the name KeeTa on Monday, beginning its expansion outside China as domestic growth slowed. For newly registered users, KeeTa sends a 50% off voucher and free delivery coupon that can only be deemed on Monday, the standalone app showed. KeeTa is expected to compete with food delivery giant Delivery Hero-owned HungerStation and local company Jahez in the Saudi Arabian market. In Hong Kong, Meituan’s debut outside mainland China in May last year, KeeTa undertook Deliver as the region’s second-largest food delivery participator in terms of order volume just six months after it launched. [21jingji, in Chinese]

Apple announced at its iPhone 16 series launch event that Apple Intelligence will begin beta testing next month along with its iOS 18.1 system, initially limited to an English language version available to users in the US. Next year, Apple promises to release versions of Apple Intelligence in Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish. “Once Apple Intelligence launches in mainland China, users with previously purchased iPhone 16 series models will be able to activate and use the feature,” online stores in China noted on their web pages. Apple Intelligence offers smart functions such as intelligent text-writing, priority notifications, image creation, photo search, an enhanced version of Siri, customized emojis, and privacy protection. The price range for different iPhone 16 models in China spans from RMB 5,999 ($842) to RMB 13,999 ($1,966). [Apple]

BYD on Monday introduced a redesigned version of its popular sedan the Han, touting the leading performance of its new DiPilot 300 advanced driver assistance system as the launch of Tesla’s Full Self Driving (FSD) software approaches in China. The top-end versions of the mainstream luxury sedan are priced at RMB 235,800 and RMB 225,800 ($33,130 and $31,725) in all-electric and plug-in hybrid options respectively, and are equipped with a Nvidia’s Drive Orin processor and a lidar unit perched on the car’s roof. This will make it the first model under BYD’s Dynasty lineup to function by itself on Chinese expressways and urban roads and able to drive itself into a parking space following software upgrades, which local rivals Huawei and Xpeng Motors have provided to customers. Tesla said on Sept. 5 that it hopes to introduce its most advanced assisted driving tech in China in the first quarter of 2025, and the upcoming version 12.5.2 of its FSD software would bring a three-fold improvement in miles between necessary interventions. [TechNode reporting, BYD release, in Chinese]

Japan will provide subsidies of up to 350 billion yen ($2.44 billion) to 12 development projects for storage batteries – as well as the relevant parts, materials, and devices – led by four automakers and Panasonic, as the country looks to build up its own supply chain. Toyota confirmed it will obtain one of the Japanese government’s grants for the development of prismatic batteries, which are rectangular in shape, as well as next-generation solid-state ones, for a combined annual capacity of 9 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Nissan is aiming to have a capacity of 5 GWh each year to make affordable lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries for its small vehicles starting 2028, while Panasonic’s energy unit said it will build new capacity of 20 GWh by 2030 in a collaboration with Subaru. Japan’s battery giant will also produce cylindrical batteries for Mazda, which is seeking additional volume of 6.5 GWh each year by 2030, according to Automotive News. Six out of the top 10 global battery suppliers were Chinese with a combined market share of 65.3% from January to July, according to figures compiled by South Korean renewable energy consultancy SNE Research. That number for Panasonic, the only Japanese maker that was on the list, declined to 4.3% from 7.1% a year earlier. [Automotive News]

Huawei’s Mate XT, the Chinese tech giant’s upcoming triple-fold smartphone, has seen pre-orders exceed two million units on the company’s official online retail platform, Vmall, since bookings began on Sep. 7. Despite the lack of pricing details, domestic consumer enthusiasm has driven a surge in reservations. Pre-orders on other online sales channels, such as JD.com and Alibaba’s Tmall, are also open for customers, though specific figures for these platforms are not yet available. Last Monday, Huawei announced that it would launch its triple-foldable phone on Sep. 10, the same day (Beijing time) as Apple’s iPhone 16 series launch. [TechNode reporting]

Geely and Volvo’s joint Lynk & Co brand on Sept. 5 launched its first all-electric model featuring an advanced in-car operating system, in a move to expand its product portfolio and enter a segment where rivals from Tesla to China’s Xiaomi have performed strongly. Priced between RMB 196,800 and RMB 288,800 ($27,670-$40,605) for a limited time until the end of October, the Z10 boasts an infotainment system powered by AMD’s laptop graphic chips, which the automaker said has the highest compute power on the market.

This allows vehicle owners to play triple-A high-definition video games such as Black Myth: Wukong, TechNode reported, as well as access a photorealistic, immersive three-dimensional map for real-time navigation. Similar in size to Xiaomi’s SU7 and the BYD Han, the sports sedan has a driving range of 806 kilometers (501 miles), and the company’s proprietary battery pack can add as many as 573 km of additional range after 15 minutes of charging. Lynk & Co reported sales of 169,800 units from January to August, up 44% from a year earlier, with more than 74% of sales in August being plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. [TechNode reporting, Lynk & Co release, in Chinese]

The Netherlands announced an expansion of export controls on chip-making machines last Friday, prompting China’s Ministry of Commerce to express dissatisfaction with the move. On Sep. 6, the Dutch government said it would expand export licensing requirements for ASML’s 1970i and 1980i DUV (deep ultraviolet) immersion lithography tools. China criticized the influence of the US government in pressuring other countries to tighten semiconductor export restrictions under the guise of national security, stating it threatens the global semiconductor supply chain and harms the interests of affected countries and companies, according to a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce. China urges the Netherlands to uphold international trade rules and respect market principles to maintain stability and cooperation in the semiconductor industry, the spokesperson added. [China’s Ministry of Commerce, in Chinese]

Tesla on Thursday unveiled plans to introduce its Full Self-Driving (FSD) advanced driver assistance system in China and Europe in the first quarter of 2025, a move expected to foster competition and drive consumer demand, according to analysts from China’s Citic Securities. Tesla’s plan appears to have been put back, as Reuters reported in May that the US automaker was hoping to bring version 12 of the FSD to China this year. The company now hopes to launch version 13 of the FSD in October with the exact launch date in China dependent on regulatory approval by the authorities, according to a statement issued on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Citic analysts, writing on Thursday, said the imminent FSD launch could create “a catfish effect” on China’s autonomous driving industry, pushing local companies to step up development of FSD-like vehicle features (our translation). [TechNode reporting, Tesla statement]

Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplaces Taobao and Tmall are planning to accept Tencent’s WeChat Pay as a payment method, breaking down the walls between the two Chinese tech giants that blocked each other’s services and links in the early days. “We have always been open to collaborations,” Alibaba told TechNode, adding that they are constantly working to enhance user experience by making shopping “more convenient, enjoyable, and efficient.” Previously, Taobao and Tmall only accepted Alipay, the scan-and-pay app operated by Alibaba-affiliated Ant Group, as one of the key ways beyond bank cards to place orders. The move comes as Alibaba tries to win back market share in competition with rivals like Pinduoduo and Douyin. [TechNode reporting]

Tesla China handed over 86,697 Shanghai-made vehicles to customers in August, representing a 17% growth from a month earlier and marking the brand’s second highest monthly sales this year, data from industry body China Passenger Car Association showed on Monday. The numbers come after the US automaker repeatedly extended the deadline for its 0% financing plan, first available to Model 3 and Model Y buyers in April, from July 31 to August 30 and recently to the end of September, TechNode reported. Year-to-date shipments from the company declined 6% to 587,437 units in China from January to August from a year ago, of which more than half were overseas exports, according to the CPCA figures. BYD sold 370,854 all-electric and plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles over the same period, up 35.3% year on year. [TechNode reporting, China Passenger Car Association, in Chinese]

A former vice president of China’s biggest car manufacturer, Chen Demei, has been arrested for suspected bribery and illicit gains for family and friends, according to a post published by China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate. Chen, who served as a vice president from 2012 to 2023 at SAIC, a long-time manufacturing partner of Volkswagen in China, is the latest high-ranking official at Chinese automakers to be investigated as Beijing continues its anti-corruption efforts in state-owned businesses to increase their economic contribution. In April, An Jin, the former chairman of Jianghuai Automobile Group, previously a partner of Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO, was also announced to have been placed under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and laws.” [The Supreme People’s Procuratorate, in Chinese]

On Tuesday, Huawei shared a video teaser on the Chinese social platform Weibo, introducing the name of its upcoming triple-fold phone, the Mate XT, which will be launched next week on Sep. 10. The Mate XT will be part of Huawei’s Ultimate Design brand, known for its high-end offerings, according to the video. When fully unfolded, the device is expected to feature a large display of around 10 inches. On the same day, Huawei also shared promotional videos of the Mate XT featuring popular Chinese actress Yang Mi and table tennis star Xu Xin. Additionally, several Chinese phone brands, including Xiaomi, Oppo, and Tecno, are developing their own tri-fold devices, with Tecno having recently showcased a prototype. [Huawei Weibo, TechNode reporting]

Intel on Tuesday launched the Intel Core Ultra 200V series, its most efficient x86 processors to date, featuring AI compute and enhanced graphics capabilities. The technology will power the most capable AI PCs on the market, with over 95 consumer designs from more than 25 major manufacturers, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI, and Samsung, according to Intel. In partnership with Intel, Chinese PC maker Lenovo is committed to advancing AI technology and co-developing new AI-capable devices set to launch later this week, said Luca Rossi, the president of the Intelligent Devices Group at Lenovo. With more than 60% of PCs expected to be AI-capable by 2027, Lenovo is committed to providing smarter technology that enhances user experiences, Luca stated. [Intel]

TikTok parent ByteDance on Monday began selling Pico 4 Ultra, its upgraded VR headset, seen as a cost-effective alternative to Apple Vision Pro, in China for RMB 4,299 ($603.9). The original version, Pico 4, came out in 2022, since when the virtual reality arm has undertaken its largest overhaul yet, with job cuts instiged from late last year after ByteDance acquired Pico. The headset is equipped with four environmental tracking cameras, and is compatible with the Android ecosystem, according to Pico’s post on the gadget on its WeChat account. A launch beyond China has not yet been confirmed. In a previous report from tech outlet The Information, ByteDance canceled Pico 5 since Pico 4’s sales fell “far short of expectations,” diverting efforts towards a new version of Pico 4. [Pico, in Chinese]

Chinese AI startup MiniMax has joined the country’s heated video generation model competition with the launch of its text-to-video model, Video-1, which is available to the public through its official website. The tool is capable of producing a video of up to six seconds after inputting a simple text prompt. At least a dozen such models have emerged in China since US startup OpenAI’s Sora model amazed the world in February, illustrating that local artificial intelligence companies are rushing to grab a share of the emerging field. Video-1 currently can only use text to create new videos, according to MiniMax founder Yan Junjie, with functions including image-to-video expected in future iterations. [Yicai, in Chinese]

CATL is planning a massive expansion of its power infrastructure network with a goal to operate 10,000 facilities by 2030 for the public to exchange a depleted EV battery for a fresh one, Chief Technology Officer Gao Huan said on Sunday. In the nearer term, CATL aims to establish 500 battery swap stations in 30 major Chinese cities by the end of next year and gradually expand the coverage, Gao added at the 2024 World Power Battery Conference in the southwestern city of Yibin. The Chinese battery giant, starting this year, has been partnering with Chinese automaker GAC and ride-hailing platform Didi to build battery swap stations for commercial fleets, although there has been no further progress. // GAC said last December that it had operated a network of 1,000 battery recharging facilities in China, including “dozens of” battery swap stations, and in May forged another partnership with EV maker NIO, the country’s biggest player in battery swapping, TechNode has reported. As of July, China’s EV recharging network exceeded 3.2 million charging points, as well as 3,817 swap stations, of which 2,468 are operated by NIO, according to figures from the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Association (EVCIPA). [TechNode reporting, CLS, in Chinese]

China’s market regulator said last week that Alibaba has completed a three-year “rectification” period that started in 2021 when the company was fined a record RMB 18.2 billion ($2.56 billion) for stopping merchants selling on rival platforms. “Alibaba’s compliance and rectification work had achieved good results,” said the statement from the regulator, concluding that fair competition had been effectively restored in China. The massive fine on Alibaba was seen a strong signal by Chinese authorities to the country’s blossoming internet industry. In its response, Alibaba described the official announcement “a new starting point” for the company, and said it will continue with “promoting the healthy development of the platform economy and creating more value for society” in the future. [ThePaper, in Chinese]

Huawei’s autumn product launch event is scheduled for Sept. 10, the same day Apple will release the iPhone 16 series, the Chinese tech giant announced on the X-like platform Weibo this morning. Huawei will launch a range of devices, including a triple-foldable phone and HarmonyOS smart driving vehicles. “Huawei’s most groundbreaking and innovative products are arriving. These are revolutionary creations that others could only dream of but never realized. After five years of dedication and investment, we have turned science fiction into reality,” said Yu Chengdong, the CEO of the Consumer BG at Huawei. Another Huawei post revealed that the flagship SUV of the HarmonyOS smart driving series, the AITO M9 in a five-seat version, will be released at the autumn launch event. [Huawei Weibo, in Chinese]

TikTok owner ByteDance has added French telecom billionaire Xavier Niel to its board. His addition follows the departure of Coatue Management founder Philippe Laffont from the ByteDance board. Besides newly added director Niel, ByteDance’s board currently consists of Neil Shen of Hongshan Capital, William E. Ford of General Atlantic, Arthur Dantchik from Susquehanna International Group, and ByteDance’s chief executive Liang Rubo, its official website shows. Unlike other board members who represent major investors in ByteDance, Niel doesn’t own any stakes in the privately held company, according to tech outlet The Information. An earlier report from the outlet mentioned that Coatue is considering selling its stake in ByteDance, worth billions of dollars, due to the stalled IPO. [The Information]

Apple and OpenAI have reserved the initial production capacity of TSMC’s A16 (1.6nm) process technology due to both companies’ long-term demand for self-developed AI chips, according to Taiwanese media outlet Economic Daily News. The A16 is TSMC’s most advanced process node revealed to date, with mass production scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026. TSMC has previously stated that the A16 will utilize next-generation Nanosheet transistor technology and adopt Super Power Rail (SPR) technology. SPR technology is an advanced backside power delivery solution that enhances power efficiency and performance in semiconductor devices by directly supplying power to the transistors from the backside of the chip. [Economic Daily News, in Chinese]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr on Friday began taking orders for its first sports utility vehicle (SUV), the 7X, which will expand its EV range beyond its current sedans and multi-purpose vehicles to compete head-to-head with Tesla’s best-selling Model Y crossover. Scheduled for launch in September at a pre-sale price of RMB 239,900 ($33,812), the midsize compact crossover can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.8 seconds and travel as far as 780 km (485 miles) on a single charge. The Geely subsidiary expects the Zeekr 7X to be a main driver of growth going forward, as it targets annual delivery of 230,000 EVs and delivered roughly 104,000 units from January to July. By comparison, the long-range Model Y, priced at RMB 290,900 in China, travels 688 km per charge and boasts a sprint time of 0 to 100 km/h in five seconds. Delivery of the car in overseas markets will begin within the next 12 months, as the company expands its footprint in the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.[Zeekr release, in Chinese]

Tesla is planning to introduce at least two redesigned Model Y sports utility vehicles in China next year, including a seven-seater, in what is set to be a significant revamp of its hugely popular crossover especially for the Chinese market, LatePost reported on Thursday. The locally-made seven-seater could feature an extended wheelbase for the first time so as to offer more legroom and add comfort for those behind the front seats, although sources said such details have not been established yet, without revealing further specifics. The seven-seater option of the Model Y is set to go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2025, and the US automaker aims to launch another facelift of the midsize two-row SUV early next year, featuring an updated autonomous driving stack and battery packs. Tesla China has denied rumors that it is producing the seven-seater Model Y at its Shanghai Gigafactory. [LatePost, in Chinese]

China’s Didi will invest RMB 670 million ($94.3 million) in state-backed car tech firm AutoAi for a 16.46% stake, in a move that will also see the ride-hailer become leaner and more focused on its core business by selling off its smart cockpit division. The mobility giant will become the second-biggest shareholder of AutoAi, a company majority-controlled by state-backed digital mapping provider NavInfo, alongside other smaller investors such as Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek, Chinese gaming giant Tencent, and German parts supplier Bosch. That’s according to a regulatory filing released by Shenzhen-listed NavInfo on Wednesday, when the company also announced a further investment of RMB 100 million into its subsidiary.

A team of 300 or so employees, previously responsible for developing in-car digital infotainment systems for Didi’s electric vehicle business, has been incorporated into AutoAi, people close to the deal told Chinese media Caixin. Didi said in a statement that it has been an investor in AutoAi since 2018 and will ramp up its development efforts in the transition to smart mobility. The news comes after Didi sold its EV development assets to Chinese EV maker Xpeng Motors in an all-stock transaction valued at $744 million for a 3.25% stake in Xpeng last August, TechNode reported. Didi reported a net profit of RMB 1.4 billion for the three months ended June 30, compared with the net losses of RMB 267 million and RMB 1.4 billion it booked a year ago and a quarter earlier, respectively. [Caixin, NavInfo filing, in Chinese]

China’s Li Auto said its net profits more than halved year-on-year to RMB 1.1 billion ($151.5 million) in the second quarter, eroded by a lower average selling price as competition between the electric vehicle startup and larger rivals, especially Huawei, remains intense. U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese automaker tumbled 16.1% on Wednesday following the release of the earnings report. Revenue reached a record RMB 31.7 billion in the April-June quarter thanks to strong sales of Li Auto’s extended-range hybrid EVs (EREVs), although the vehicle margin also declined to 18.7% from 21% a year ago and 19.3% a quarter earlier.

The L6 crossover, Li Auto’s cheapest model launched in April at a starting price of RMB 249,800, accounted for roughly a third of its quarterly deliveries of 108,581 units in the three months ended June 30. Meanwhile, rival Huawei said its Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance delivered a total of 106,351 EVs over the same period, and more than 100,900 Aito M7 crossovers were delivered from January to mid-June, making it the top-selling model of all kinds by a young Chinese EV maker. Li Auto also lowered its annual delivery guidance to 500,000 units, down from the 560,000 units previously guided, citing concerns over slowing demand and pricing pressure. [TechNode reporting, Li Auto results]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors is in the early stages of researching where it can build a production facility in the European Union as part of a strategy to reduce future costs caused by tariffs imposed by the European Commission. That’s according to chief executive He Xiaopeng who spoke to Bloomberg on Aug. 22. Volkswagen’s Chinese partner is also looking to establish a large-scale data center on the continent to be compliant with the region’s regulatory framework for data security, before some of its advanced driver assistance features can be made available to European customers.

The comments were made after Brussels announced on Aug. 20 that it will impose five-year import duties on EVs from Chinese automakers, ranging from 17% to 36.3% on top of the existing 10% duty. Cars made by Xpeng are subject to an additional duty rate of 21.3%, as well as those from other producers that were deemed cooperative in the anti-subsidy investigation initiated by the EU watchdog last October. Similarly, Chinese auto giant BYD is establishing regional facilities in Uzbekistan, Hungary, and Turkey, while Chery will make EVs in Spain as early as in the fourth quarter of this year, as they look to sidestep tariffs and keep their car prices competitive. [Bloomberg]

Chinese developer Game Science announced that the action role-playing game Black Myth: Wukong has sold 10 million times on Steam and PlayStation 5. The release date for the Xbox version is still to be confirmed, its development having been postponed possibly due to a memory leak, according to gaming blogger eXtas1s. A memory leak happens when a program keeps using more memory without freeing it up, slowing performance or even crashing the game. The release date for the Xbox version will be announced once the memory leak issue is resolved, eXtas1s claimed in the X post. This information has not yet been confirmed by Game Science. [IThome, in Chinese]

Last week, Chinese game developer Seasun Games unveiled a new gameplay demo of its sci-fi action game Mecha BREAK, making it the first game worldwide to showcase NVIDIA’s ACE digital human technology at Gamescom 2024 in Cologne, Germany. Seasun CEO Guo Weiwei demonstrated this feature by interacting with an in-game mechanic (AI NPC) through conversation, assisting players in customizing their mecha’s appearance and providing combat advice. Guo Weiwei also attended Gamescom’s Microsoft booth, where he was joined by Microsoft Gaming President Phil Spencer for a group photo. Mecha BREAK will be showcased at the 2024 Tokyo Game Show this September, as the company announced at the five-day gaming event. Currently, global pre-registrations for this new game have surpassed 2.7 million, with an estimated launch date set for next year. [GameLook, in Chinese]

NETA Auto said on Sunday that it started sales of the hatchback version of its Neta S mid-size sedan and will begin mass production of a variant featuring a skateboard chassis sourced from Chinese battery giant CATL in the fourth quarter of this year. This will make the affordable EV the world’s first production car model with an architecture that integrates battery cells, transmissions, radiators, and other components into a flat-floored wheeled chassis like a skateboard, the Chinese startup said in an announcement.

The skateboard chassis integrates the so-called CTP (Cell-to-Pack) system, which combines battery cells into packs without modules, significantly reducing the components of the whole pack and lowering the manufacturing cost of EVs, according to CATL, an early investor in NETA. The extended-range hybrid versions of the NETA S offer a driving range of 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) on a full tank and full charge, while the all-electric versions can travel as far as 640 km. CATL’s fast-charging battery, dubbed Shenxing, also gives the hatchback an additional range of 210 km after 10 minutes of charging, with a price range between RMB 159,900 and RMB 209,900 ($22,466-$29,491). [TechNode reporting, NETA announcement, in Chinese]

On August 24, Chinese phone brand Honor confirmed it had secured a new investment from leading Chinese telecommunications operator China Mobile, in what is expected to be the last round of funding before Honor’s IPO. Neither company has disclosed the value of the financing. Honor owns a rich product portfolio, while China Mobile offers channel resources and phone-user resources, the phone company said in a statement. The two parties have diverse cooperation opportunities in both consumer electronics innovation and expansion in the Chinese market, Honor added. In November 2020, Honor was spun off from Huawei due to the pressure of severe sanctions from the US government. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Huawei’s automotive business unit swung to a net profit of RMB 2.23 billion ($313 million) in the first six months of this year, while revenue more than doubled to over RMB 10.4 billion, boosted by surging demand for partner Seres’ electric vehicles. The unit had losses of RMB 7.6 billion and RMB 5.6 billion in the last two years. The numbers were revealed in a regulatory filing on Sunday by Seres, which also announced it would invest RMB 11.5 billion for a 10% share in Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. The wholly-owned subsidiary of Huawei, also called Newcool, is set to absorb its car business unit.

The news comes just days after Huawei, on August 20, struck a similar deal with Chinese state-owned automaker Changan Automobile, marking the spin-off of the tech giant’s Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) business unit for a diversified ownership structure. Seres delivered 222,679 units of Aito-branded EVs, featuring Huawei’s assisted driving technology and HarmonyOS operating system, from January to July, compared with just 31,781 units delivered over the same period last year. This helped boost the gross margin of Newcool to 55.36%, up from 32.13% last year. Seres accounted for more than 60% of Newcool’s revenue in the first six months of this year, according to the filing. [TechNode reporting, Seres filing, in Chinese]

Jack Hergenrother, IBM’s vice president of global enterprise system development, announced at the IBM China System Center (CSL) staff meeting this morning that IBM’s infrastructure division has decided to transfer the R&D (research and development) work of the China system lab to other overseas IBM infrastructure bases and is currently withdrawing all R&D work from China. Hergenrother said the company has made the difficult decision to shift its infrastructure business, which has declined in recent years in China, to other countries closer to customers based on market opportunities. This adjustment involves more than 1,000 R&D employees from different cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Dalian. Last Friday, IBM closed the intranet access rights of its China R&D staff. Those IBM employees went to work as usual before the closing of access rights, and some tech staff were still working overtime, an IBM China lab tech employee said. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili narrowed its loss to RMB 608 million ($83.7 million) in the second quarter, while revenue rose 16% to RMB 6.13 billion. The company aims to break even in quarter three this year. Bilibili paid 5% more in operating costs this quarter compared to the same period last year, due to increased splits with content providers, according to the earnings report released on Thursday. The platform’s average daily active users during the period remained slightly above the 100 million milestone it achieved in the third quarter of last year, but the overall figure was down 100,000 on the previous quarter. The company’s revenue was driven by a 30% increase in advertising revenue and a 13% increase in revenue from its gaming business, of which executives said that e-commerce and home appliances were two of the biggest areas of advertising growth in the quarter. [Bilibili]

China’s Shanxi Province, home to 27 of the 36 ancient architecture locations featured in the game Black Myth: Wukong, has experienced a tourism boom following the game’s release on Tuesday. According to a member of staff at the Xiaoxi Tian shrine in the province, the number of tickets sold on August 20 increased by 300% compared to the same day last year after the game’s filming locations were revealed. Due to the surge in visitors, the tourism site plans to upgrade its smart ticketing system and has added content from the game into its tour guides’ scripts. Black Myth: Wukong has topped the Steam concurrent players charts for three consecutive days, reaching over 2.41 million, 2.35 million, and 2.22 million players, respectively. [IThome, in Chinese]

Chinese search engine giant Baidu posted a slight earnings decline in the June quarter versus a year earlier, landing at RMB 33.9 billion ($4.67 billion). Its ads revenue was down 2% to RMB 19.2 billion, the first drop since the business rebounded in the first quarter of 2023. “Our advertising business is currently facing pressure caused by a combination of external factors and our proactive efforts to accelerate the AI-driven renovation of search,” Robin Li told investors on the firm’s earnings call. Baidu executives warned in May that the company’s advertising revenue may remain weak in the coming quarters. For the three months that ended in June, Baidu’s cloud revenue was up 14% year-on-year to RMB 5.1 billion, with generative AI contributing 9%, up from 6.9% in the first quarter. Li noted that GenAI-related cloud businesses “should have higher standardized margins” than traditional ones. The company’s net profit during the period was up 5.3% to RMB 5.49 billion. [Baidu]

Fortune magazine has released its inaugural Fortune China Tech 50 list, highlighting 50 Chinese technology companies that are impacting the world. Telecoms giant Huawei tops the list ahead of EV and battery behemoth BYD. The list in particular spotlights the rise of CATL, which is ranked third, ahead of Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, Baidu, ByteDance, JD.com, and Lenovo. CATL is a global leader in new energy batteries, known for its cutting-edge work in all-solid-state battery technology. The company expects to begin small-scale production of an all-solid-state battery by 2027. The market analysis firm SNE Research reports that CATL has led the global market in EV battery usage for seven consecutive years and has topped global energy storage battery shipments for three years. The Fortune China list emphasizes “the strong innovation capabilities” that the companies have displayed and states that, “Their success lies not only in specific technologies and products, but also in the innovative spirit and global vision they represent.” [Fortune China, in Chinese]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr said on Wednesday it has obtained a license to test its Level 3 partially autonomous driving system from the government of the eastern city of Hangzhou, two months after getting a similar permit in Shanghai. This would allow Zeekr test vehicles to legally cruise down high-speed roads in two of China’s biggest economic powerhouses on their own, facilitating the company’s efforts to refine its Navigation Zeekr Pilot (NZP) advanced driver assistance system, Its equivalent to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software.

The Hangzhou-headquartered and Geely-affiliated firm also announced it will integrate NVIDIA’s next-generation centralized car computer “Thor” into its first hybrid model, a flagship sports utility vehicle, scheduled for launch in the second half of 2025. The other two new models, the 7X crossover and the Mix van, will go on sale later this year and feature Zeekr’s in-house assisted driving tech, powered by two NVIDIA DRIVE Orin chips that offers a combined 508 trillion operations per second (or TOPS).

Meanwhile, Zeekr is strengthening its partnership with Intel’s Mobileye, whose advanced driver assistance solution is relatively more affordable and allow the firm to more easily comply with data security and privacy requirements in overseas markets, chief executive Andy An said during an earnings call. Shares of the New York-listed EV maker rose 10.7% on Wednesday after posting a record high revenue of RMB 20 billion ($2.8 billion) and a narrowed net loss of RMB 70 million in the quarter ended June 30.

Earlier, rivals BYD and NIO have been allowed to test their EVs with L3 self-driving functionality in Shenzhen and Shanghai, respectively, TechNode has reported. Drivers should be able to put their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road during certain conditions if their cars meet the L3 requirements, according to definitions set by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Most countries including China have not legislated their use, however. [TechNode reporting, Zeekr release, in Chinese]

Xiaomi on Wednesday announced its financial results for the second quarter, reporting a revenue of RMB 88.89 billion ($12.46 billion), a 32.0% year-on-year increase. Adjusted net profit was RMB 6.2 billion (870 million), up 20.1% year-on-year. With 18,290 R&D staff, the company invested RMB 5.5 billion ($770 million) in research and development for the quarter. High-end smartphones accounted for 22.1% of Xiaomi’s shipments in mainland China, while smartphone market share in the RMB 4,000-5,000 ($560 – $700) price range occupied 20.1%. Additionally, the quarter’s revenue from smart electric vehicles ventures reached RMB 6.4 billion ($900 million). [Xiaomi Q2 report]

After launching the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 in March this year, Qualcomm now unveiled its next-gen mid-end mobile platform, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, which is expected to debut with Xiaomi smartphones next month, according to Qualcomm’s announcement. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 brings advanced features such as on-device generative AI, improved mobile gaming, and professional-grade camera capabilities to mid-range devices, the US chip company said. Compared with the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3, the new platform boasts a nearly 20% improved CPU (central processing unit) performance, 40% accelerated GPU (graphics processing unit), over 30% improved AI performance, and 12% overall power savings. Other OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), including Realme, Samsung, and Sharp will also adopt the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 in the coming months. [Qualcomm announcement]

NIO’s massive recharging network for battery swapping can be a profitable model if each completes 60 swaps on average per day, and around 20% of the 2,500 or so facilities are reaching the breakeven point, founder and chief executive William Li said on Tuesday. Li provided more color on the outlook for the company’s multi-billion investment in public infrastructure for electric vehicles, two months after revealing that a NIO battery swap station already offers around 30 swaps per day during an earnings call on June 6.

The EV maker also announced it has partnered with six regional utility providers to share the cost and burden of making new facilities and will set up a factory capable of assembling 1,000 swap stations each year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Among the first several “Power Up partners” are the east China bureau of investment of China Energy Engineering Corporation,as well as a state-owned grid company that serves China’s southern Guangdong province.

The moves are part of an aggressive plan to expand NIO’s network of swap stations to more than 2,300 counties in 27 out of the 34 Chinese provinces by the end of next year, and move further to the remaining areas starting from 2026. Meanwhile, its proprietary fast chargers, also available to users of rivals’ EVs, will be accessible in every one of the 2,844 counties in China by next June, Li told a press conference. [TechNode reporting, NIO release, in Chinese]

Shein has received a total of 25 construction approvals from Guangzhou authorities for its new supply chain hub, according to an announcement published by the planning and natural resources bureau of Zengcheng district, where the hub would be located. The first phase of the project will cover a construction area of not less than 800,000 square meters with a total investment of RMB 3.69 billion, the announcement says, to support the fast fashion giant’s global sales via a one-stop logistics park that will integrate warehousing, stocking, distribution, shipping, and settlement services. Despite moving its headquarters to Singapore, Shein’s operations are still largely rooted in mainland China. The firm reportedly filed for a London IPO in June. [Guangzhou Government announcement, in Chinese]

Chinese lidar maker Hesai could be “close to profitability” in the last three months of this year, co-founder and chief executive Li Yifan told investors on Tuesday, when the company reported a narrower quarterly loss for the April-June period. Net loss for the Nasdaq-listed firm narrowed by 3% year-on-year to RMB 72.1 million ($9.9 million) in the second quarter of 2024, helped by cost-control measures and steady sales growth, while revenue was up 4.2% to nearly RMB 460 million. By comparison, US rival Luminar recorded a quarterly net loss of $130.6 million on revenue that was up 2% to $16.5 million over the same period.

Li also voiced optimism that his company could make a profit in the second half of this year on a non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) basis, which usually excludes irregular or non-cash expenses. Hesai, a maker of lidar sensors for self-driving cars, was among a dozen Chinese companies blacklisted by the US Defense Department for allegedly working with China’s military early this year. However, the Pentagon has decided to remove the Shanghai-based and Nasdaq-listed firm from the blacklist due to a legal challenge, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times. [Hesai results, Financial Times, TechNode reporting]

Chinese short video platform operator Kuaishou reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth in a year in the three months that ended in June, amounting to RMB 30.98 billion ($4.34 billion) in earnings with an 11.6% year-on-year growth rate. Net operating profit was RMB 3.9 billion in the second quarter, more than double from a year prior thanks to a 22.1% rise in advertising revenue, Kuaishou said on Tuesday. E-commerce, one of the company’s business avenues with high gross margins, saw GMV grow 15% from a year earlier to RMB 305.3 billion. On the company’s earnings call, CEO Cheng Yixiao recognized that both e-commerce platforms and merchants are facing the challenge of a short-term slowdown in domestic consumer demand after this year’s 618 shopping festival. By comparison, Kuaishou posted a nearly 39% increase in GMV in the same period last year. Kuaishou also provided an update on its Sora-like Kling model, with the company stating that the tool has generated over 10 million videos since it began beta testing in June. [Kuaishou]

BYD announced on Tuesday that it has started taking pre-orders for its new flagship grand tourer, the Denza Z9 GT, at a lower-than-expected price range of RMB 339,800-419,800 ($47,639-$58,855). The new vehicle is powered by three separate electric motors and comes with styling that has seen it compared to the Porsche Panamera. The electric shooting brake boasts the smallest turning radius of only 4.62 meters (15.2 feet) among D-class cars (generally with a length of 4.5-4.7 meters), meaning less steering effort when a driver makes a U-turn and more advantages during performance driving. BYD also said the Z9 GT performs better than any other competitor in its “moose test,” which involves driving the car fast around sharp turns as if avoiding an animal on the road at a top speed of 93.6 kilometers per hour (58.2 mph). Scheduled for launch in September, the plug-in hybrid version will have a driving range of 1,100 km on one full tank and charge and the all-electric version will manage 630 km. [TechNode reporting, BYD announcement, in Chinese]

Luckin Coffee is planning an expansion plan in the fourth quarter with eyes mainly on Southeast Asian and American markets, media outlet LatePost reported on Monday, more than a year after the Chinese coffee chain opened its first international location in Singapore. Luckin currently operates 38 franchised stores in Singapore, which the report said Luckin saw as its Southeast Asia headquarters as it took the brand to neighboring countries in the next three to five years. Luckin’s overseas expansion is set to extend its competition with Cotti Coffee, founded by former Luckin executive Lu Zhengyao, beyond China’s borders. Despite being founded five years after Luckin, Cotti has made aggressive steps overseas, with more than 7,000 stores across 28 countries, namely the US, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. [LatePost, in Chinese]

China’s NetEase Cloud Music streaming platform suffered a nearly two-hour long service outage on Monday afternoon, an incident that the company attributed to “infrastructure breakdowns.” The crash came after the music streaming service completed a data migration to a newly-built server room in the southwestern province of Guizhou, technical staff from the company told local media outlet iFeng. Hangzhou-based NetEase says it will offer users a free seven-day membership as compensation, which they can claim on Aug. 20. NetEase Cloud Music posted its first annual profit in 2023, and recorded 206 million monthly active users as of last December, with 44.12 million of them paying members. [iFeng, in Chinese]

Chinese developer Game Science launched the AAA game Black Myth: Wukong at 10 a.m. (Beijing time) today on PS5, Steam, Epic, and WEGAME platforms. Following its release, the action role-playing game triggered an unprecedented download frenzy on Steam, with the platform’s data reporting a bandwidth peak of 70 Tbps (terabits per second) shortly after pre-download began. As of the time of writing, the number of concurrent online players on Steam has surpassed 1.3 million. According to the 2024 mid-year Chinese game sales report, Black Myth: Wukong achieved sales of RMB 390 million ($53 million) and 1.2 million copies in just one month of pre-sales, setting a new record for pre-sales in the territory of Chinese-developed PC-end games. [TechNode reporting]

Luckin Coffee on Monday introduced a dedicated Americano for the upcoming release of the game Black Myth: Wukong, offering the originally priced RMB 29 (around $4) beverage at a generous discount for RMB 9.88 for first-day buyers. Created by Game Science, Black Myth: Wukong is currently a hot topic as the Chinese mythology-rooted action role-playing game is set to launch globally on Tuesday, four years after its first trailer was released. Luckin said in an earlier Monday post that it has prepared peripheral products, including game-related cup holders and posters, for those who purchase specific coffee packages. However, a subsequent restocking notice stated that the 3D posters were “being sold quicker than our expectations” and would require around 15 days for restocking. The co-branded move is the latest successful marketing campaign for Luckin Coffee after the Chinese coffee chain’s significant achievement in rolling out an alcohol-infused latte with Moutai in September, which set a record by selling more than 5.42 million cups on the first day of its debut. [Luckin Coffee, in Chinese]

TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei will lead around 100 employees tomorrow to a grand event where the leading chip manufacturer will break ground on its first European 12-inch plant in Dresden, Germany, according to the Taiwanese media outlet Economic Daily News. The facility, with an initial monthly capacity of 40,000 wafers, will introduce 28/22nm planar CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) technology and 16/12nm FinFET (fin field-effect transistor) processes. In August 2023, TSMC, Bosch, Infineon, and NXP Semiconductors announced the formation of the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC), with each firm holding a 10% stake. With a total investment of 10 billion euros, the German plant will operate under ESMC and is expected to start by late 2027. [Economic Daily News, in Chinese]

BYD is aggressively expanding its global production footprint as the Chinese EV giant announced on Aug. 17 that it will open a car manufacturing plant in Pakistan. The new plant will be located in Karachi, the country’s largest city, and begin operations in 2026. The new facility comes in addition to BYD’s expansion plan of existing and proposed factories in at least eight global markets and two years after the electric vehicle giant announced construction of its first overseas plant for passenger cars in Thailand in September, 2022. China’s biggest EV maker has been operating and managing plants in Thailand and Uzbekistan for a few months now with an annual production capacity of 150,000 and 50,000 units, respectively, while pushing for construction of new plants in Hungary, Turkey, Brazil, and Indonesia. The company is also choosing a location for another facility in central Mexico, Americas head Stella Li said in May, in addition to an ongoing plan to build an EV factory in northern Vietnam. [TechNode reporting, Reuters]

Chinese automotive lidar startup Robosense said on Thursday its net loss narrowed by 65.2% to RMB 268 million ($37.3 million) for the first half of this year, while revenue more than doubled year-on-year to RMB 727 million thanks to surging demand. The improved results came as a result of strong sales and reduced costs. The Chinese maker of lidar sensors for self-driving cars delivered roughly 243,400 units of its products to a dozen of auto majors including BYD, SAIC, and Geely over the period, which nearly reached its total for last year of 256,000 units. The Shenzhen-headquartered company, which also makes laser sensors for robots and other equipment, achieved a positive margin of 11.2% for its automotive grade lidar products, up from -35.5% a year ago, generating an overall gross margin of 13.6%.

Chief executive Qiu Chunchao expects the firm to break even for the full year in 2026 mainly on the rising adoption of Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Qiu said delivery of its affordable MX laser sensor is set to begin to clients such as SAIC’s IM Motors and Xpeng Motors in the first half of next year. The component, with 200 meters (656 feet) of range at a competitive price tag of roughly $200, targets Chinese mainstream vehicle models below the price tag of RMB 200,000, a segment that has a single-digit penetration rate for assisted driving tech in 2023. That’s according to a survey compiled by China’s Gaogong Industry Institute. [TechNode reporting, Robosense filing, in Chinese]

Alibaba missed expectations both in revenue and net profit in the second quarter as its domestic retail businesses faced continued pressure from rivals and the macro environment. Total earnings grew 4% from a year earlier to RMB 249.8 billion ($34.8 billion), with China-focused Taobao Tmall Group recording a 1% revenue drop. The tech giant’s cloud computing unit returned to positive growth of 6% during the three month period. According to Alibaba, Taobao and Tmall nevertheless achieved high single-digit online GMV growth and double-digit order growth, and executives emphasized multiple times that the company is aiming for higher monetization rates on its earnings call. Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu, who is also in direct charge of Alibaba Cloud, said he was confident that the unit’s revenue from external customers will achieve double-digit growth largely thanks to “robust demand” for AI. The firm’s International Digital Commerce Group saw revenue up 32% year-on-year, clearly outpacing its domestic e-commerce operations.

Rival JD, in contrast, hit a record high in net profit while recording a 1.2% revenue rise to RMB 291.4 billion. Its earnings were up 7% in the first quarter. The firm’s net profit for the June quarter nearly doubled to RMB 12.6 billion due to improved gross margins from supply chain efficiencies, the company said. JD Retail, the unit where the Beijing-based firm’s main revenue source is rooted, only saw 1.5% earnings growth in the quarter that included China’s second-biggest shopping festival 618. Last quarter, the retail unit recorded a 6.8% rise in net revenues. [Alibaba; JD]

Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor said on Thursday that its refreshed multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) will be the first model in the segment that features Huawei’s most advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and in-house developed operating system HarmonyOS. This will enable the Voyah Dreamer, scheduled for launch on Oct. 12, to autonomously navigate complex urban environments in China with features such as lane switching and overtaking, making it a potential challenger to top-selling models such as BYD’s Denza D9 and the Buick GL8. In the last six months, Stellantis’s Chinese partner sold 15,284 units of the plug-in hybrid van, priced between RMB 339,900 and RMB 639,900 ($47,382-$89,202), less than a third of the total Denza D9 sales during the same period, according to figures compiled by Chinese auto service platform Dongchedi. [TechNode reporting]

Tencent released its second quarter financial report on Wednesday, showing a 9% year-on-year increase in both domestic and overseas gaming revenue. The company’s revenue from games in the Chinese market reached RMB 34.6 billion ($4.8 billion), while revenue from games in the international market was RMB 13.9 billion ($1.9 billion). The report stated that the domestic game revenue growth was primarily driven by increased earnings from VALORANT, the launch of Dungeon&Fighter Mobile, and the revitalization of flagship titles Honour of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite. Another notable title Naruto Mobile reached a new milestone of ten million monthly average DAUs (Daily Active Users) in May, the company said. In the global market, Brawl Stars hit a record high for average DAUs for the quarter and ranked third worldwide among all mobile games in this metric, according to market intelligence platform Sensor Tower. [Tencent Earnings, TechNode reporting]

Self-driving truck technology provider TuSimple said on Thursday that it will create the first animated feature-length movie and video game based on The Three-Body Problem, an award-winning novel already adapted for drama by Netflix and Tencent Video. The surprise crossover collaboration comes after China-linked TuSimple voluntarily delisted from the Nasdaq in February, when it said it is undergoing a transformation that it believes can be better navigated as a “private company than as a publicly traded one.” According to TuSimple’s announcement posted to its WeChat account, it has signed a partnership with Shanghai Three Body Animation Firm, and will leverage the autonomous driving tech it has accumulated in the past years to focus on generative AI applications in media and gaming. The Three-Body Problem project signals the founding of a new GenAI-centered unit within TuSimple, the company says, while highlighting no plan to exit transportation. [TuSimple, in Chinese]

With less than a week to go until the release of the highly anticipated Chinese AAA game Black Myth: Wukong, Game Science producer Feng Ji has called on players to avoid spreading spoilers after some game content videos were leaked online on Wednesday. The tag of “Black Myth Wukong Leak” quickly became a trending topic on Chinese X-like platform Weibo following the sharing of the videos. “Spoilers can greatly impact the immersive experience and sense of role-playing in the game,” Feng emphasized in a Weibo post. The official release date for the new Game Science title is August 20. Several gaming media outlets have posted preview announcements on social media in recent days, stating that they will share their game-play impressions after the review embargo lifts on August 16. [Feng’s Weibo, TechNode reporting]

General Motors’s China operation is reducing its workforce, including staff working on research and development, as part of a broader initiative to reduce costs that could include production capacity cuts and business reorganizations, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday. The Detroit automaker will discuss with local partner SAIC to likely reduce the capacity in their joint plants, while additional job cuts are also under consideration in an effort to focus on making and exporting more premium models, the report added. The news comes after GM lost $104 million in the April-June quarter on its Chinese business, which the company now hopes to return to profitability before its three-decade manufacturing partnership with state-controlled SAIC is set to expire in 2027. GM’s China sales declined by nearly half to 2.1 million units last year from its peak level of 4 million in 2017, and that number was down by more than 50% again to 240,579 units from January to July. [Bloomberg, TechNode reporting]

In the second quarter, shipments of AI PCs reached 8.8 million units, accounting for 14% of total PC shipments, according to market research firm Canalys. On the Windows front, shipments of AI PCs grew by 127% quarter-on-quarter. Chinese PC maker Lenovo ventured into Snapdragon X-powered PCs with its Yoga Slim 7x and ThinkPad T14s, increasing its share of AI-capable PCs among total Windows PC shipments to around 6% for the quarter. “Processor vendors and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) are set to target a wider base of customers through new product category availability across more price points,” said Ishan Dutt, Principal Analyst at Canalys. [Canalys]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr on Tuesday unveiled its refreshed 001 hatchbacks and 007 sedans with a major upgrade for its driving assist technology, or Navigation Zeekr Pilot (NZP). The Geely-owned and New York-listed EV brand said its level 2 autonomous system would enable the cars to navigate by themselves under the driver’s supervision on fixed routes in big cities for daily commuters starting September. This will be followed by another release via over-the-air update to all users by year-end when the cars will be able to carry out some driving functions automatically on most urban streets nationwide, making the system somewhat similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.

Zeekr is also aiming to offer users what it calls a “door-to-door” automated driving experience in all Chinese cities in the second half of 2025, as it looks to revamp the system with more reliance on artificial intelligence neural networks rather than programmers’ coding. Rival Huawei on August 6 boasted about its prowess in this area while Xpeng Motors in July said it expected to provide similar capabilities in the fourth quarter of this year, TechNode reported.

Zeekr’s in-house developed advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) will become a standard feature on all redesigned 007 variants, which also boast the fastest charge in the world and have been launched at a price range of between RMB 209,900 and RMB 299,900 ($29,354-$41,941). Zeekr said its second generation of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery needs only 10.5 minutes to go from 10% to 80% at a 5.5C charge rate.

Meanwhile, the company introduced a new entry-level 001 featuring Mobileye’s chips and software and priced at RMB 259,000, but shifted to Nvidia DRIVE processors for the rest of the 001 variants as part of a strategy to develop its own ADAS. [TechNode reporting]

Chinese electric vehicle brand Zeekr is planning to sell two premium EV models in Japan in 2025 and hopes to open showrooms in Tokyo and the Osaka area ahead of the launch later this year, according to vice president Chen Yu, Nikkei has reported. The news comes after the Geely-affiliated EV maker recently announced entry into some other right-hand-drive markets, including Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore, with the Zeekr 009 van and the X crossover, priced from RMB 439,000 and RMB 200,000 ($61,000 and $27,900) respectively at home. The company is aming to be present in 50 countries and regions by the end of this year, up from its current count of 30, and hopes to sell EVs in South Korea in 2026. Meanwhile, rival BYD in June launched the Seal, its most expensive electric sedan, in Japan at 5.28 million yen ($35,730), a more than 40% markup compared with its price in China. The EV giant sold 1,446 units of its Atto 3 and Dolphin EVs in Japan last year, according to the Nikkei report. [Nikkei]

Douyin Group, TikTok’s China sibling, has said it fired 88 workers in the first half of this year for violating anti-fraud rules, and that another 17 employees were reported to the judicial authorities for suspected criminal offenses. Most of the sacked employees belonged to the short video platform’s e-commerce and local life service units, according to a post on Douyin’s official WeChat account. Such anti-fraud movements are common in China’s tech sector, with the firms regularly reporting the results to the public. Tencent dismissed more than 120 staff for bribery and corruption last year. Douyin said it always maintained a “zero-tolerance” attitude toward fraudulent actions, and would never hire employees involved in such cases. [Douyin Group, in Chinese]

More than 180 China-developed large AI models have received approval from authorities to provide public services, Wang Jingtao, vice minister of the country’s Cyberspace Administration, has revealed. China approved its first batch of large language models to be made available to the general public one year ago, with ChatGPT-like services from Baidu, SenseTime, and Zhipu AI included in the initial list. Wang mentioned at China’s Internet Security Conference, which was held in early August, that a total of 564 million users have registered to use these AI-generated tools. [Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in Chinese]

Neta Auto on Aug 9 announced the debut of its three electric vehicle models in Brazil, becoming the first Chinese EV startup to tap into the largest economy in Latin America and sixth largest automotive market in the world. The brand, known as Hozon Auto in China, has not revealed how much the Neta Aya and X crossovers will sell for in the local market, but has a starting price of RMB 73,800 and RMB 89,800 ($10,280 and $12,509) respectively at home. The company is opening two showrooms in São Paulo and Brasília by the end of this month, when it will also launch the more premium Neta GT sports sedan in Brazil. By the end of the year, Neta expects to have 15 dealerships in total. [Neta announcement, in Chinese]

TikTok has partnered with Amazon to allow users on the short video platform to buy products from the retail giant directly without the need to leave the TikTok app, as the e-commerce rivals look to build a mutually beneficial relationship. Users can buy goods from ads after they link their TikTok accounts to those on Amazon, according to the two companies’ joint announcement. “Users who choose to link their accounts in the US will see real-time pricing, Prime eligibility, delivery estimates, and product details on select Amazon product ads in TikTok as part of the experience,” a TikTok statement says. The move comes months after US retail giant Amazon built a similar collaborative relationship with Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. [TikTok]

On August 11, China wrapped up its best performance at a summer Olympics since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, winning the most gold medals alongside the US at Paris 2024 and gaining 91 medals in total, to the US’s 126. During the 19-day grand sports event, the Chinese team won 40 gold, 27 silver, and 24 bronze medals. Chinese athletes made great achievements in diverse fields, including shooting, diving, fencing, table tennis, swimming, tennis, gymnastics, freestyle bicycle motocross, badminton, and synchronized swimming. Zheng Qinwen’s gold medal was China’s first-ever Olympic gold in women’s singles tennis and made her the first Asian player to win an Olympic tennis singles title. In another notable milestone, the Chinese men’s 4x100m swimming team, consisting of Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Sun Jiajun, and Pan Zhanle, ended a 40-year American gold medal streak in the men’s 4×100m medley relay. [TechNode reporting]

Alibaba has claimed that its open-source large model Qwen2-Math delivers “state-of-the-art” math competency, saying it handles mathematical problems in algebra and geometry with 84% accuracy, and has outperformed OpenAI’s GPT 4o and Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro. The math-centered model, which was trained on Alibaba’s foundation Qwen2 model by feeding it a large-scale high-quality math corpus, is currently only supported in English, with a bilingual version coming soon, according to the tech giant. The Alibaba team has challenged Qwen2-Math with multiple benchmarks including China’s latest GaoKao (college entrance exam) math problems and questions from US math competition AIME, which all proved the model’s proficiency in dealing with advanced mathematical problems. [QbitAI, in Chinese]

Foxconn’s factory in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou has hired at least 50,000 workers in the past two weeks as it prepares for high demand from Apple, with the release of the iPhone 16 series just over a month away, according to Taiwanese media outlet Economic Daily News. The potential stock of the iPhone 16 series may reach 95 million units, the report said, with an expected knock-on effect for iPhone-related supply chains, including at Foxconn, TSMC, and Largan Precision, in the second half of the year. The hourly wages on Foxconn’s production lines have risen to a maximum of RMB 25 ($3.48), and workers who complete three months on the production line can receive a bonus of RMB 7,500 ($1,045), according to a recruitment agent for Foxconn Zhengzhou. An assembly line worker at Foxconn also stated that employees have been working more than two hours of overtime each day since mid-July. [Economic Daily News, in Chinese]

Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor’s plan to build its first European car plant in Italy is at an advanced stage, as the Rome government has been in discussions with the company over the potential purchase of a minority stake in the investment, sources have told Reuters. Some Italian parts makers are also likely to be involved in the potential deal, the report said on Tuesday. The news comes after Dongfeng’s Europe chief Qian Xie told Reuters in April that the group was still in early stage talks with local authorities to build a 100,000-unit plant in the third largest economy in the European Union. Stellantis’ Chinese partner has been selling its premium Voyah-branded electric vehicles in several regional markets including Italy, Denmark, and Norway since December, 2022. [Reuters]

Chinese manufactuer JAC Motor is looking for quality engineers to increase its headcount for quality control from 100 to 300 as part of a goal to launch its first joint electric vehicle model with Huawei in the first quarter of 2025. According to sources cited by financial media outlet CLS, the state-owned carmaker expects the incoming quality assurance specialists and inspectors to have at least eight years of experience in luxury vehicle production, ideally from Chinese joint ventures with international carmakers.

JAC and Huawei are working on a luxury multi-purpose vehicle with an estimated price tag of around RMB 1 million ($140,000), TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said on X back in August, 2023. This was followed by the release of an environmental filing in March saying a new plant owned by JAC is scheduled for completion in 2025 in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, giving them an annual capacity of 35,000 units for the van, as TechNode reported previously. JAC chair Xiang Xingchu confirmed the plan in his speech at this year’s China Auto Forum in Shanghai in July, adding that the new plant was almost completed and that capacity will eventually be expanded to 200,000 units per year, as more models are being planned. [TechNode reporting, CLS, in Chinese]

Tencent’s super app WeChat has added a fresh feature that is designed to send breaking news alerts on top of users’ other official account subscription notifications, in an effort to make the messaging app more competitive in information distribution. Sources of the latest news for the alert mostly come from China’s official state media outlets, with WeChat users able to get international breaking news notices without the need to fully subscribe. According to screenshots shared by beta-test users, news stories including rainstorm warnings in Beijing and updates on conflicts in the Middle East have been displayed on the test channel. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Huawei on Tuesday launched the MatePad Pro 12.2, a flagship tablet for the Chinese market and positioned as a competitor to Apple’s iPad Pro 2024, priced at RMB 4,299 ($599) for the 12GB + 256GB basic version. While both tablets feature a dual-layer OLED panel, the MatePad Pro 12.2 boasts a peak brightness of 2,000 nits and a 144Hz refresh rate, surpassing the iPad Pro 2024’s 1,600 nits brightness and 120Hz refresh rate, according to Huawei. At 508 grams, it’s the lightest 12-inch tablet on the market, with a slim 5.5mm thickness, the Chinese manufacturer added. The tablet is compatible with the new Huawei Star Leap Keyboard and M-Pencil, and includes a hidden slot for storing and charging the stylus directly in the keyboard. Additionally, the device offers a 10,000mAh battery that can last up to 15 hours on a single charge, with 100W fast charging for quick power-ups. [Huawei Weibo]

A team from Alibaba has launched a new video generation tool called Tora, emphasizing its “excellence” in achieving high-motion fidelity, as buzz around OpenAI’s text-to-video generator Sora drives Chinese companies to develop similar AI models. In dozens of video clips posted by the team and produced via Tora, the model’s trajectory-oriented diffusion transformer for video generation ensures that the generated motion follows the specified trajectory drawn in advance. According to the Tora introduction paper, the team said Sora-like models are limited in “effectively generating videos with controllable motion,” while claiming that Tora is the first trajectory-oriented diffusion transformer framework. The work has not yet been finalized, said the paper, noting that Tora would be added to the official Alibaba repository once it has received company approval. [Tora]

Chinese tech giants Huawei and Baidu, along with a range of startups in the country, are stockpiling high bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors from Samsung Electronics amid expected new US restrictions on chip exports to China, according to an exclusive Reuters report. Chinese companies have increased their purchases of AI-capable semiconductors since the beginning of this year, leading China to contribute about 30% of Samsung’s HBM chip revenue in the first half of 2024, sources said. Last week, the US Department of Commerce stated that it is continually updating export controls to protect national security and the technological ecosystem but declined to comment further on specifics related to HBM semiconductors. [Reuters]

Tencent has reportedly joined the latest fundraising round of Moonshot AI, China’s star venture in the current AI wave, according to a Bloomberg report. The over $300 million funding values the Beijing-based startup at $3.3 billion, making the ChatGPT-like Kimi creator the latest AI startup backed by both the country’s tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, after Baichuan, MiniMax, and Zhipu AI. Tencent’s cash injection into Moonshot AI appear to be its wager on the most promising companies to stand out in the busy competition field. The WeChat owner launched its Hunyuan AI model in September 2023 and its Yuanbao app powered by Hunyuan in May this year. [Bloomberg]

Chinese automotive companies had a strong presence on the Fortune magazine’s annual list of 500 top global businesses, with ten of them listed despite the country’s overall economy having been dragged down by slowing consumer demand. Electric vehicle giant BYD rose 69 spots on the 2024 Fortune 500, recording the biggest jump by a Chinese automaker, to rank 143th largest corporation worldwide by revenue. Rival Geely saw its ranking rocket to 185 this year – a 40 spot rise from last year. The Volvo parent is also one of the only two privately owned Chinese automakers on the list this year.

State-owned SAIC was the highest ranked Chinese automaker, although the partner of Volkswagen and General Motors fell 9 spots to 93rd place this year. Peers FAW (129th), GAC (181st), BAIC (192nd), Dongfeng Motor (240th), and China South Industries Group (343rd), parent of Changan Automobile, kept their places on the list. Anhui-based Chery Holding Group, China’s biggest exporter of passenger vehicles by volume last year, entered for the first time at 385. It is also the second year CATL made it onto the list, a rise of 42 spots to 250th place for the EV battery maker, the only Chinese auto parts supplier ranked. There were 133 Chinese companies on this year’s Fortune’s list, down from last year’s 142. [TechNode reporting, Fortune 500]

Prime Minister of Thailand Srettha Thavisin has urged authorities to investigate Temu, amid worries the e-commerce platform may hurt the country’s small- and medium-sized enterprises following its recent launch in the country, Thai media outlets have reported. The PDD-owned low price shopping app debuted in the Southeast Asian country in late July, offering promotions of up to 90% off retail prices and free 90-day returns. According to local outlet The Nation, Srettha used a recent speech to highlight the country’s tax exemption for goods valued at less than 1,500 baht ($42.30), which could mean the Chinese e-commerce platform would pay less tax and that Thailand becomes flooded with low-value goods, as one of the issues that needs to be looked at. [The Nation]

China’s CATL pushed a little deeper into flying cars on August 3 when AutoFlight, a Shanghai-based electric aircraft startup, announced it will raise “several hundred million US dollars” in a fundraising round from the electric vehicle battery giant. CATL will take the slot of Team Global, a technology holding company founded by German-Polish entrepreneur Lukasz Gadowski and an existing and major investor of AutoFlight, making it the second biggest shareholder after Tian Yu, founder of the company, sources told Caixin. AutoFlight will jointly develop new batteries with CATL that will improve the flight range and safety of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL), according to an announcement on Chinese social media platform WeChat. CATL founder Robin Zeng told this year’s World Economic Forum in June that the company’s incoming condensed matter battery would be ready to enable a flight range of between 2,000 and 3,000 kilometers (1,243-1,864 miles) in the next few years. [AutoFlight announcement, Caixin, in Chinese]

On August 4, Tencent announced that its latest first-person shooter, Delta Force: Hawk Ops, will be launched in September, as the development team is entering the final sprint toward release. Set in 2035, Delta Force is a first-person tactical shooter in which players take the role of elite Delta Force operatives on a mission to investigate illegal activities allegedly conducted by the Haavk Corporation in the mysterious Ahsarah region. The title combines three popular shooting game modes: single-player story mission, arena-style combat, and survival evacuation battlefield. Additionally, Tencent’s domestic version of Dungeon and Fighter, which was released in China in May 2024, earned around $251 million in June, making it the highest-grossing mobile game of that month, according to market intelligence platform Sensor Tower. [Tencent Weibo]

Tesla is making a renewed push into the Chinese insurance market with the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary with a registered capital of RMB 50 million ($6.92 million) and its China chief Tom Zhu as the legal representative in Beijing on July 30. The new company, called Tesla Insurance Brokerage (China) Co., Ltd., was established on July 30 and the sole shareholder of the new company is Tesla Insurance Services LLC, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise owned by Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan residents. The latter was originally established back in 2020 by Tesla but the US automaker recently removed the registration of the subsidiary in China, according to Chinese corporate data site Tianyancha.

Tesla will still need to gain approval from China’s financial regulators to start selling insurance products in the country after registration of the business is completed, according to an August 1 report by Caixin. In a similar move, rival BYD last May fully acquired Yi’an P&C Insurance Co, a Chinese insurer that completed bankruptcy restructuring in mid-2022, as the EV giant looks to provide customers with lower-cost EV insurance products, which are normally pricier than those for internal combustion engine cars. [Caixin, Tianyancha, in Chinese]

In the women’s singles table tennis final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chinese player Chen Meng on August 3 defeated her teammate Sun Yingsha 4-2 to win the gold medal. However, some on-site Chinese spectators exhibited surprising behavior, such as booing directed at one of the players during the match, as the fandom culture surrounding table tennis in the country seemingly drove them to support certain individuals rather than Team China as a whole. The incidents sparked widespread controversy on Chinese social media. Some so-called fans used the occasion of the Olympic final to post irrational attacks on Chinese athletes and coaching staff online, prompting the Weibo microblogging platform to take strict measures against such malicious behavior. Weibo removed over 12,000 posts discussing the event and imposed temporary or permanent bans on more than 300 accounts based on the severity of their violations, according to an announcement by the platform. In recent years, the trend of fandom culture in Chinese table tennis has become increasingly apparent, as the younger generation now views table tennis players as idols. [TechNode reporting, Weibo announcement]

China’s mainstream apps, including WeChat, Xiaohongshu, and Taobao, are testing a new national cyber ID system, with a draft rule, proposed by the country’s cyberspace regulators, still in the stage of soliciting public feedback until August 25. The regulation proposes to offer each individual a digital ID based on real-name registration, aiming to “protect personal information security and promote a network trusted identity strategy,” according to the official text. More than 70 apps are participating in the beta test where users are asked to log in via the virtual number, which they get from an official app after finishing steps including ID verification, facial recognition, mobile phone linking, and the setting of an eight-digit password. [Caixin, in Chinese]

In the second quarter, Xiaomi made a comeback to the global top ten best-selling smartphone list after being absent for two consecutive quarters dominated by Apple and Samsung, according to Counterpoint Research’s latest global monthly smartphone sales tracking report. Xiaomi was the only other brand on the list, with its budget-friendly mid-ranger Redmi 13C 4G smartphone taking the eighth spot. In the second quarter, the top ten best-selling smartphones were the iPhone 15 (4.1%), iPhone 15 Pro Max (3.7%), iPhone 15 Pro (3.1%), Samsung Galaxy A15 5G (2.0%), Samsung Galaxy A15 4G (1.8%), iPhone 14 (1.6%), Samsung Galaxy A55 (1.5%), Redmi 13C 4G (1.5%), Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (1.4%), and Samsung Galaxy A05 (1.4%). [Counterpoint Research]

Apple’s revenue was down 6.5% to $14.7 billion in the June quarter in Greater China, the only region where the iPhone maker saw a decline both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. Nevertheless, China is still Apple’s third-largest market behind the US and Europe, and CEO Tim Cook said the company is confident in its prospects in China in the long term. While the markets have responded positively to the potential for Apple’s AI features to provide a growth boost to the tech giant, China and the EU are unlikely to see these features debut soon due to strict regulations around artificial intelligence. “We have to understand the regulatory requirements before we can commit to doing that and commit a schedule to doing that, but we’re very constructively engaged with both [regulatory bodies],” Cook said in an earnings call on Thursday. [TechNode reporting]

A representative from Canon Suzhou’s website stated on Thursday that the company is not conducting layoffs but offering re-employment, according to local media outlet Phoenix Technologies. Employees can choose their options and receive compensation if they meet the criteria, though the exact compensation standards remain unclear, the representative added. Recently, Chinese social media posts claimed that Canon Suzhou had started a new round of layoffs, potentially affecting over a thousand people. The compensation standards for these layoffs, which could reach “N+12” or “2N+12” for employees with indefinite contracts, have ignited extensive discussion and sharing across major social media platforms in China, as these terms appear to be the highest compensation from a foreign company in China. Canon Suzhou, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon established in China’s Jiangsu province in 2001, is one of the company’s largest office equipment production bases outside Japan, with an investment of $185.5 million and over 3,000 employees. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Hundreds of Chinese suppliers gathered outside Temu’s Guangzhou office building for a few days at the end of July to protest, as merchants were growing angry over the e-commerce platform’s after-service sales penalty policy. Videos circulating on social media platforms showed part of the protesters even getting into Temu’s office on the 25 floor, despite strict entry restrictions, with common demand to get back their retention money, which was being deducted on a pro-rata basis by the Pinduoduo sister app in response to post-sale issues. According to Chinese media outlets that had talked to the protest suppliers, Temu has been issuing a large number of fines since March without explaining the specific problems that have been violated in each case, with the maximum penalty reaching five times the declared price of the goods. Fines imposed on sellers have ranged from tens of thousands to millions of yuan. Temu hasn’t officially replied yet. [Securities Times, in Chinese]

Ride-hailing platform Uber Technologies and Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD announced on Wednesday an agreement for adding 100,000 EVs globally, an alliance that is expected to bring down the total cost of EV ownership for Uber drivers and accelerate EV uptake worldwide. The 100,000 units that BYD will offer to Uber drivers will take several years to fulfill and first begin in Europe and Latin America before later expanding to include markets across the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, according to an announcement. The two companies added that they will jointly work on autonomous driving technology to enable BYD vehicles on the Uber platform, without revealing further details. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk commented on X that BYD needs to change course fast otherwise the company would be “in trouble,” seemingly alluding to the Chinese firm’s relatively late start on self-driving technology. [Uber statement, Elon Musk tweet]

Coffee chain Starbucks China and Luckin both experienced a double-digit decline in same-store sales in the June quarter of 14% and 20.9% respectively, sending a signal that consumption headwinds and intensified competition are still dampening the brands’ earnings. Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of US-headquartered Starbucks said China is “one of our most notable international challenges,” citing “unprecedented store expansion” and “a mass segment price war” as reasons for the underwhelming performance in the past year. China contributed $733.8 million in revenue to Starbucks, down 11% from a year prior. Luckin Coffee, which has adjusted its flagship “9.9 yuan a coffee” campaign in scope since February, has seen operating margins turn up 12.5% from a negative figure last quarter. The Chinese coffee chain reported 35.5% growth to RMB 8.4 billion ($1.16 billion) in second-quarter earnings, a growth rate half the figure a year ago. [Starbucks; Luckin Coffee]

American semiconductor company Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 mobile platform for entry-level 5G smartphones on Tuesday, announcing that key OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), such as Xiaomi, will initially adopt the new chipset on their commercial devices before the end of the year. The new mobile platform will bring 5G to 2.8 billion smartphone users in certain regions, providing peak download speeds of 1 Gbps (Gigabits per second), which is seven times faster than the LTE platforms usually found in the same price range, according to Qualcomm’s announcement. “Many people have yet to experience the benefits of 5G, and thanks to Snapdragon 4s Gen 2, Xiaomi can bring 5G connectivity to a broader audience and help reshape the way the world connects and interacts,” said Muralikrishnan B, President of Xiaomi India. [TechNode reporting, Qualcomm announcement]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng Motors said on Tuesday its advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) will be able to work on all Chinese roadways in the fourth quarter of this year. This will include roads within university campuses and corporate compounds and will also cover parking spaces across the country, the company said. The move will provide users with “door-to-door” automated driving experiences in every city in mainland China, though there will be exceptions for restricted areas such as government compounds and high security zones, chief executive He Xiaopeng told a press conference in the city of Guangzhou on Tuesday.

He said the company’s testing fleet has traveled nearly 7.6 million kilometers (4.7 million miles) and covered 2,595 domestic cities, making it the only Chinese automaker that “has invested so heavily or at least several billion RMB each year,” in the technology. He added the iterations of its end-to-end neural networks now come once every two days, an approached advocated by Tesla and meaning that the ADAS learns by mimicking human decisions with large amounts of data and reduces the reliance on explicit coding. Tesla’s Chinese challenger said in January that its Navigation Guided Pilot (XNGP) software was already available to users in 243 Chinese cities. [TechNode reporting, Xpeng release, in Chinese]

Apple released the developer beta version of its iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 for iPhone and iPad users on Tuesday, introducing AI features for the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and Macs and iPads with M1 chips or higher. The new Apple Intelligence features include text proofreading and grammar correction, enhanced Siri capabilities with a new interface design, smart summaries and auto-replies for email, automatic creation of Memories movies in the photo album, and AI-generated summaries of phone conversations. However, shortly after the update’s release it emerged that mainland Chinese iPhone users were unable to use Apple’s new AI offerings, a situation that soon started trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo. Apple’s customer service department told local media outlet Sina Tech that the AI features were not available because the new official version of them has not yet been launched in China. [Caijing, in Chinese]

Meituan’s KeeTa is attempting to lure more convenience stores like 7-Eleven to join its delivery platform in Hong Kong, according to Chinese media outlet Jiemian, as the firm looks to add more merchants and categories as part of its expansion efforts. Competitors such as Foodpanda and Deliveroo both deliver non-food items, which are still not available on KeeTa, the report said, adding that 7-Eleven, which joined KeeTa on July 19, currently supports users to order a range of hot food, snacks, and beverages. KeeTa became Hong Kong’s second-largest food delivery player by order volume last November, less than half a year after it debuted. The platform has reportedly relocated some of its Hong Kong frontline staff to assist its Middle East operations amid an upcoming launch in Riyadh. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

On Monday, Huawei released a preview video of its new foldable phone the Nova Flip on Chinese social platform Weibo, presented by TFBOYS band member Jackson Yee. The company will launch the phone in China on August 5, alongside other products including the new Matebook GT laptop, MatePad Pro 12.2, and MatePad Air 2024 tablets. At competitive prices, Huawei’s Nova series is designed to appeal to younger, fashion-conscious consumers. The Weibo poster for the Nova Flip reveals three key features, including a slim 6.88mm thickness when unfolded, HarmonyOS AI functionality, and a 50MP rear camera with hover selfie capability. The new flip phone will come in four colors: green, pink, white, and black, with a yet to be confirmed price tag. [TechNode reporting; Huawei Weibo]

Huawei is pushing for the wide release of its Advanced Driving System 3.0 in August, a move Richard Yu, chairman of the board of directors of the company’s Intelligent Automotive Solution business unit, said would bring automated driving capabilities “to the next level.” Yu made the comments on Monday in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing where electric vehicle brand Aito announced it had produced its 400,000th EV, two and a half year after it was established by Huawei and its manufacturing partner Seres in December, 2021. Yu said the upcoming version of the company’s advanced driver assistance system will feature a new strategy with “end-to-end artificial intelligence,” an approach championed by Tesla and utilizing sensors on a vehicle to input to a single neural network and produce control actions as output. Yu added that Huawei will continue to use lidar units, a relatively expensive sensor, in addition to cameras and radar to navigate the surrounding environment, and the system’s next great leap in user experience will happen as soon as late October or November. [National Business Daily, in Chinese]

Taobao said it would relax the half-year in operation “refund-only” policy that allows shoppers to get a refund without returning the product, citing as a reason “optimizing the business environment while ensuring consumer rights.” The policy, perceived as being preferential to customers over e-commerce platforms, was a lesson both Taobao and JD.com learned from the policy’s inventor Pinduoduo. Taobao merchants with good operating records will henceforth have more autonomy to deal with shoppers’ refund requests, according to Alibaba. Tmall, the Alibaba-owned retail platform that boasts the most brand merchants, announced it is set to erase its annual seller service fee beginning on Sept. 1, a fee that comes to between RMB 30,000 ($4134.7) and RMB 60,000 a year. [TechNode reporting]

American video game company Blizzard announced on July 28 that the turn-based collectible card game Hearthstone will return to the Chinese market on Sept. 25. All Chinese server players, including new registrations, who log in will receive all the cards missed in 2023 for free, totaling 2,154 game cards. Last January, all Blizzard games on the Chinese server ceased operations due to failed agreement negotiations with Chinese game publisher NetEase. As a result, Hearthstone, which had been shortlisted for the esports event at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, was also removed in September 2023. In April of this year, NetEase and Blizzard announced their reunion by reaching a new game publishing agreement based on over 15 years of cooperation. [TechNode reporting; Hearthstone Weibo]

High-profile Chinese influencer Dong Yuhui has left East Buy, the e-commerce unit of private tutoring giant New Oriental, due to his “career aspirations, commitment to his other endeavors and personal arrangements,” according to a filing by the Hong Kong-listed company on Thursday. The move highlights the complexity that livestreaming companies face when dealing with their top influencers. The filing said East Buy agreed to sell Dong’s venture “Time with Yuhui” to the livestreamer for RMB 76.58 million ($10.56 million). “Time with Yuhui” was founded last December following the company’s firing of CEO Sun Dongxu, which came after Dong’s fans expressed their dissatisfaction with Sun’s management of the star. Michael Yu, the current CEO of East Buy, noted later in a public letter he would pay for the deal for Dong and that, “the company was given to Yuhui [for free].” [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Temu surpassed its 2023 total sales in the first half of this year to reach around $20 billion, according to a 36Kr report, underscoring the Pinduoduo sister app’s surging momentum as it pursues global expansion. Fast fashion retailer Shein, which is also largely rooted in China-based manufacturing, reported generating over $20 billion for the first time in 2022. The report mentioned Brazil was second in terms of downloads for the Temu app in the last 30 days, with more than 5 million downloads, just after the US. However, the eye-catching sales figure still lags behind Temu’s goal to triple its sales to $60 billion globally in 2024. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese sibling, has recently shifted its e-commerce strategy to re-prioritize GMV growth over price competitiveness in an attempt to return to the GMV growth rate of over 50% it enjoyed last year. The move has been triggered by its previous low-price approach hurting sales growth, according to a report in local media outlet LatePost. The report said the growth rate of Douyin’s in-app shopping was down to less than 30% per month in the second quarter despite a more than 60% growth rate in the first two months of 2024. To compete with rival Pinduoduo, since the beginning of the year Douyin has given more traffic to merchants who agree to set lower prices, according to LatePost, but that tactic “may gradually ease” as the short video app now turns its attention back to GMV, the report cited a source close to Douyin as saying. [LatePost, in Chinese]

Tesla will be seeking regulatory approvals in China, Europe, and other markets after the upcoming versions of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software (v12.5 or v12.6) are released “pretty soon,” chief executive Elon Musk told investors during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday. “I think we are likely to receive that before the end of the year, which could be helpful to drive demand in those regions,” Musk added, without revealing further details.

The comments come after a Reuters report in May saying that the US automaker hopes to allow Chinese owners to access the advanced driver assistance system at about $98 per month this year, preparing for the software registration process with China’s top industry regulator. Tesla’s FSD software will be going after a number of similar offerings from Chinese rivals such as Huawei, Xpeng Motors, and Li Auto, which have been trying to improve the availability of their technologies with sophisticated AI algorithms and affordable sensors, TechNode has reported. Tesla’s total revenue increased slightly 2% to $25.5 billion from a year earlier, while automotive sales and total profit dropped for a second straight quarter, as the company is facing more competition both at home and in China. [TechNode reporting]

The National Press and Publication Administration of China (NPPA) on Monday approved 105 domestic games for July, including titles such as Star Valley Project (direct translation) by miHoYo and a mobile version of Tale of Immortal by Lightning Games. Star Valley Project appears to be a simulation management game in development for several years, due for public beta testing in 2025, online sources suggest, though official details have not yet been released. Tale of Immortal is an open-world sandbox game immersed in Chinese mythology and cultivation, where players evolve into immortals and battle mythical beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas (a book of China’s mythical geography and beasts). Released in 2021, the PC version of Tale of Immortal sold 3.9 million copies, making it the second best-selling Steam game from Chinese developers that year. [NPPA, in Chinese]

To comply with US export control policies, NVIDIA is developing a modified version of its AI chip based on the new Blackwell GPU architecture for the Chinese market, with the model potentially named B20, according to an exclusive report from Reuters. In March, the US chip giant unveiled its Blackwell chip series, which is set for mass production later this year. The B200 chip in this series is 30 times faster than its predecessor at tasks such as providing answers from chatbots. NVIDIA will partner with Inspur, a major Chinese distributor, to launch and distribute the new chip B20, with shipments starting in the second quarter of 2025, sources said. Currently, NVIDIA has not yet made a public announcement, and its spokesperson declined to comment. [Reuters]

Volkswagen and Xpeng Motors on Monday announced moves that will expand their partnership to develop a highly modern electrical/electronic architecture not only for VW’s locally focused electric vehicle platform, the China Main Platform (CMP), but also for the global Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB) platform. All battery EVs of the Volkswagen brand in China will be equipped with the so-called China Electronic Architecture (CEA) from 2026, and a master agreement signed Monday “paves the way for potential expansion of collaboration on E/E architecture,” the companies said. This comes a year after Volkswagen revealed plans to launch two VW brand models featuring Xpeng’s autonomous driving technology in 2026 as part of a $700 million deal to buy a 4.99% stake in the Guangzhou-headquartered EV maker, TechNode reported. Xpeng’s revenues from services and others jumped 93.1% year-on-year to RMB 1 billion ($140 million) in the first three months of this year, which the company said was buoyed by its collaboration with the German giant. [Xpeng announcement, TechNode reporting]

Meituan is reportedly set to officially launch in Riyadh in September or October, according to Chinese media outlet NBD, as the food delivery giant looks to replicate its growth in Hong Kong and mainland China in Saudi Arabia. Meituan is in the process of persuading international restaurant operators, local Chinese restaurants, and local cuisine-focused restaurants to join the takeaway service ahead of its launch, the report noted, with the company already sending dozens of staff to the Middle East to support its expansion. Tony Qiu, Meituan’s international business leader, has since earlier this year reported directly to CEO Wang Xing, who took over the running of company’s overseas operations at the beginning of 2024. [NBD, in Chinese]

On July 19, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun unveiled the company’s first small foldable phone, the MIX Flip, at a product launch event in Beijing. At the same time, he also introduced a portable camera kit that pairs with the flip phone to enable instant photo prints. The portable camera kit includes the Mijia pocket photo printer 1S, an interconnectable leather bag with a strap, and a pack of ZINK photo papers (five sheets). When combined with the portable camera kit, the MIX Flip transforms into a retro Polaroid-style camera, allowing users to quickly print captured images as physical photos using the phone’s Snap mode. Before printing, users are able to enhance their photos by applying filters and making edits, the company said. The phone is priced at RMB 5,999 ($825), while the instant photo kit costs RMB 499 ($69). [TechNode reporting; Xiaomi Weibo]

Uniqlo’s chief executive officer in Greater China said the Japanese clothing brand’s “relative competitiveness is growing” in mainland China due to Chinese consumers’ mindset shifting to finding affordable alternatives to branded products after COVID-19. He saw Uniqlo’s potential to become the preferred brand in China. Pan Ning, the Uniqlo executive in Greater China, briefed the above at a time when Fast Retailing, the Japanese owner of Uniqlo, reported declining revenue and sharply falling profit in the region for the three months that ended in May. The company attributed the financial changes to stronger sales performance in the previous year and a slowdown in consumer appetite, especially in mainland China. According to Pan, the Japanese brand is planning to adjust its store opening strategy to be more quality-centered in the future and deepen the integration of physical stores and e-commerce. [Uniqlo; NBD, in Chinese]

Chinese tech giant Huawei has filed a lawsuit in a local Chinese court accusing Taiwan-based chip firm MediaTek of patent infringement, seemingly after negotiations around patent fees broke down. In response, MediaTek stated on July 19 that the lawsuit has no significant impact on the company and they will not comment further about the details. “Differences over patent fees with Huawei began two or three years ago, but MediaTek considered the price was too high,” people familiar with the matter told local media outlet YiCai. According to the outlet’s sources, Huawei is suing MediaTek for patents related to cellular technologies, including 5G, 4G, and 3G, which indicates that Huawei is exploring the possibility of charging both smart device manufacturers and chipmakers for patent licenses in these fields. [YiCai, in Chinese]

Volkswagen on Wednesday launched its first coupe-styled sports utility vehicle, the ID.UNYX, boasting high-tech features such as more diversified choices for infotainment content and a “worry-free” autonomous parking function at a price range between RMB 209,900 and RMB 249,900 ($28,918-$34,429). The actual selling price for early buyers will be reduced to RMB 199,900, as the carmaker knocks the standard RMB 5,000 deposit off of the final price in addition to discounts totaling RMB 10,000 on the original ticket price of the car. The latest member of VW’s electric vehicle ID. series has a driving range of 621 kilometers (386 miles) between charges; Tesla’s rear-wheel-drive Model Y, its main competitor in China priced from RMB 249,900, travels 554 km on a single charge. Volkswagen Anhui, the third joint venture by the German automaker with a Chinese partner, is set to enter 20 cities in the country this year and will expand its sales network to 70 cities by the end of 2025, according to a recent announcement. VW operated two joint subsidiaries with SAIC and FAW for years in China before partnering with Anhui-headquartered JAC Motors in 2017. [VW announcement, in Chinese]

More than 500 million active users play games in China’s super app WeChat on a monthly basis, the company has said, an eye-catching figure that demonstrates the channel’s potential as a driver of advertising revenue for parent firm Tencent. According to WeChat, half of these users live in third-tier cities and the majority are female. Mini-program games, which can be quickly launched within WeChat, now account for 15% of the messaging app’s total advertising revenue, the company revealed on Tuesday. WeChat also noted that more than 80% of mini-game developers are small-scale teams of below 30 staff. At least 240 in-app games have generated over RMB 10 million ($1.38 million) in quarterly revenue in the past 12 months, according to WeChat’s figures. [Caixin, in Chinese]

Huawei’s revenue from its car business unit more than doubled to almost RMB 10 billion ($1.38 billion) in the first half of 2024 from last year’s total of RMB 4.7 billion, thanks to strong demand for partners’ electric vehicles. The growth was mainly attributed to a surge in deliveries of Aito-branded EVs, co-developed with its manufacturing partner Seres, 36Kr reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Little-known automaker Seres reported sales of new energy vehicles, which refers to all-electrics and plug-in hybrids, of roughly 194,200 units in the first six month of this year, compared with 151,798 units for all of 2023. Aito on June 26 announced that it received more than 100,000 non-refundable RMB 5000 ($688) deposits for the M9, a $65,725 luxury sports utility vehicle launched in December. The joint brand achieved the same milestone for its M7 crossover last November, two months after the launch, TechNode has reported. [36Kr, in Chinese]

“9.11 and 9.9, which one is bigger?” Questions as simple as this confuse large language models including OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Moonshot-created Kimi, and ByteDance’s Doubao, according to a post by local media Yicai. Chatbots from China’s Baidu and Tencent generate the correct answer despite using different methods, the former comparing fractional parts after concluding the integer parts are the same and the latter, Tencent’s Hunyuan, concluding that 9.9 is the bigger number by computing that 9.11 minus 9.9 is negative. ChatGPT and Kimi, which both gave a wrong answer to the first prompt, were correct after users clarified: “in terms of numerical value.” AI-powered chatbots are fed by internet data and trained to chat with humans in a natural way so that they can perform text-based knowledge-based tasks. [Yicai, in Chinese]

China’s long-form video platform iQiyi again faced a user backlash over removing the ad skip option from basic membership, as recent discussion prompted iQiyi to respond that basic membership is for users who find ad watching acceptable as the price for access to members-only content at low cost. The Baidu-backed platform said on its official Weibo account, “Consumers can see the difference in price and service between basic and gold memberships on the subscription page before choosing on-demand and purchasing.” In the first quarter, iQiyi saw subscriber service revenue down 13% to RMB 4.8 billion from last year, attributed by the company to “the high base effect in the same period last year.” [iQiyi, in Chinese]

Oppo’s OnePlus brand on Tuesday released the OnePlus Pad 2 alongside other new electronics at a launch event in Milan, Italy. Its new stylus, the Stylo 2, comes replete with faux leather grip, sophisticated pressure sensitivity, swipe control, and a vibrating tip offering a pen-on-paper feel. The company says its new tablet boasts a larger 12.1-inch screen powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, offering enhanced performance over its predecessor. Its screen resolution has been boosted to 3,000 x 2,120 pixels with increased brightness and support for Dolby Vision HDR, while it retains the original’s 7:5 screen ratio and adaptive refresh rate for better battery life. An optional Smart Keyboard adds the NFC (Near Field Communication) function for file sharing with OnePlus phones. Available from July 30, the OnePlus Pad 2 starts at $549.99 for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model, the Stylo 2 costs $99.99 and the Smart Keyboard costs $149.99. [TechNode reporting]

Chinese online retailer JD is launching a monthly promotional campaign that it claims will see branded products worth over RMB 1,000 sell for just RMB 18 ($2.48). The company announced the move on Wednesday, framing it as a way of thanking the e-commerce platform’s customer base. Held on the 18th of every month, the one-day campaign will include high-end items such as alcohol products from Moutai, TCL TVs, and perfume from Bulgari, according to JD. The campaign is JD’s latest move to lure shoppers by slashing prices, though the RMB 18 offers come with a number of conditions, including a tight time window. “The activity organizer has the right to adjust or stop the form of the project based on users’ participation,” the terms and conditions also state. [JD, in Chinese]

A tech blogger, hongxing2020, recently revealed on platform X that NVIDIA is preparing the next-generation RTX 5090D graphics card for the Chinese market, which is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2025. Last December, the California-based chip giant introduced a special edition GeForce RTX 4090D graphics card for the Chinese market to comply with U.S. export regulations. The RTX 4090D offers 11% fewer cores and 10% lower overall performance compared to the original version 4090, as the company must comply with U.S. export control requirements, which mandate that GPUs exported to China have a total processing power below 4,800 points. Based on NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture, the next-generation RTX 5090 graphics card will bring performance improvements, but the modified edition RTX 5090D for the Chinese market is expected to have reduced performance with minimal gains over the RTX 4090D. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Apple is reported to have secured the first batch of production capacity for TSMC’s advanced 2nm process technology, which is expected to enter trial production this week, according to Taiwanese media outlet Commercial Times. The equipment for 2nm process chips was installed in TSMC’s new Hsinchu Baoshan fab in the second quarter, with the chips set to feature in the iPhone 17 series in 2025. Sources indicate that TSMC’s 2nm process may offer a 10-15% performance boost over 3nm and reduce power consumption by up to 30%. Additionally, Apple plans to adopt SoIC (System on Integrated Chips) packaging for its M5 chip in 2025, which will involve stacking multiple chips with different functions to form a compact three-dimensional structure. [IThome, in Chinese]

Taiwan-based chipmaker MediaTek is developing server processors using Arm’s CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit), with plans for production with TSMC’s 3nm process. The company aims to start mass production of the new server chip in the second half of 2025, targeting orders from cloud service providers (CSP). The rapidly emerging AI server market demands high-performance chips from companies such as Nvidia and AMD for high-end models, but their excessive power consumption is driving new demand for low-power processors in areas without significant AI requirements, industry analysis has revealed. This shift has led to increased demand in the mid-to-low-end AI server market, where low-power Arm-based processors are now the focus for major cloud service providers. MediaTek will target CSP giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Meta, positioning its server business as a key priority in its operational strategy. [Economic Daily News, in Chinese]

General Motors’ joint venture with China’s SAIC on Tuesday introduced an Autopilot-style advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), which the company said would enable its Century model, a luxury multi-purpose vehicle, to handle highways. The Navigation on Pilot (NOP) software enables autopilot overtaking, lane switching, and on-ramp/off-ramp driving, making it the “first joint manufacturer” among peers to launch such technology through over-the-air updates in China, according to an announcement.

Developed locally by its Pan-Asia Automotive Technology Center in Shanghai, the Level 2 system still requires the driver to be in full control and relies on a high-definition map. Peer SAIC-Volkswagen in March launched its 2024 Tiguan L with ADAS sourced from Chinese drone maker DJI and featuring more safety-based functions such as collision avoidance. Chinese rivals such as Xpeng Motors and Li Auto are making ADAS technologies for more complex urban environments and without the dependence on precise geolocation information. SAIC-GM reported sales of around 225,600 cars for the first half of the year, an almost 50% plunge from a year earlier. [TechNode reporting, GM announcement, in Chinese]

TikTok is exploring the local life services sector in Southeast Asia as it tries to replicate sister app Douyin’s path in China. According to a recent job posting on the company’s official careers website, its venture into services aims to “make the daily life experience richer, more unique and more innovative.” Chinese media outlet 36Kr quoted a TikTok service provider in Indonesia as saying that some of the short video app’s users are already exposed to discounted meal deals in their TikTok feed as part of an initial beta test in Indonesia and Thailand. In China, Douyin offers group-purchase dining vouchers that users can buy at a discounted price before heading to offline outlets to use them. The Chinese service has now expanded to include a wide spread of vendors covering everything from sightseeing tickets to leisure activities. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Ant Group’s insurance arm said on Monday its partner insurers reported $1.93 billion in claims via its platform in the first half of this year, a 30% year-on-year increase, as users increasingly choose the online insurance brokerage platform thanks to its convenience. With more than 1 billion users on the platform, Alipay’s in-app tool has expanded from e-commerce-related shopping rebates when launched in 2013 to providing a range of insurance offerings including health and travel coverage. It has partnered with 90 insurance companies in China to offer more than 1,000 products, Ant Insurance said in a press release. The Alibaba-affiliated fintech company is also using ChatGPT-like tech to power its insurance services, with AI assisting users in choosing insurance products and streamlining the claims process. “No personal privacy-related data is involved when fine-tuning the insurance-centered model, as the model only needs to understand general patterns in claims processing,” according to Fang Yong, head of claims technology at Ant Insurance. [TechNode reporting]

Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social platform that is increasingly seen as a real-time search engine favored by younger generations, has received financial injections from venture capital firm DST Global in a recent sale of existing shares to current and new investors. The Financial Times first reported the news on Thursday, saying the deal valued Xiaohongshu at $17 billion. Investors that already held stakes in the company, including Hongshan (previously Sequoia China), Hillhouse, Boyu, and Citic Capital, also participated in the new round of funding. Boosted by rising e-commerce and advertising business, the lifestyle platform reportedly earned $3.7 billion in revenue and $500 million in net profit last year, the first time it was profitable since it was founded in 2013. [Financial Times]

E-commerce growth has slowed for China’s two major short video platforms, Douyin and Kuaishou, since the beginning of this year, local tech media LatePost reported on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the two content platforms have still enjoyed double-digit GMV increases of around 20% in recent months, according to the report, which quoted a source close to Kuaishou as pointing to the lack of significant expansion in its overall user base as the main reason that sales growth has dragged. Kuaishou is aware that too many advertisements could discourage short video viewers from placing retail orders in the app, said the report, with the company’s commercialization head Wang Jianwei also taking over the e-commerce business last November in an attempt to find the right mix of engagement and advertising. [LatePost, in Chinese]

Baidu’s shares surged 10.1% to HK$ 95.05 ($12.17) on Wednesday in Hong Kong, its highest price in the past month, after a mainland Chinese taxi fleet operator publicly complained about the company’s autonomous ride-hailing cars becoming a threat to its human taxi drivers. Four taxi drivers at Wuhan Jianshe Automobile Passenger Transport Co., Ltd. have suspended services since April and more are facing a significant reduction in salary, the company said in a letter sent to local authorities on June 20 and circulated on Chinese social networks this week.

The taxi firm blamed a sprawling expansion of Baidu’s autonomous cars, while multiple taxi drivers told media outlet CLS that it had become difficult to get fares in areas of the city where the internet giant had deployed large numbers of its robotaxis. Baidu said in May that its robotaxi service, known as Apollo Go (or Luobo Kuaipao in Chinese) and launched in 2021, had provided 6 million rides as of April 19, while it was aiming for the business to turn a profit by 2025, TechNode reported. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has previously announced that the company will unveil its robotaxi design on August 8, as competition in the sector heats up. [TechNode reporting, CLS, in Chinese]

TSMC, listed in both Taiwan and New York, saw its market value surpass the $1 trillion mark on Monday, becoming the seventh-largest tech company globally by market capitalization, local media outlet Jiwei reported. Ranked by market valuation, the top ten most valuable companies include Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Saudi Aramco, Meta, TSMC, Tesla, and Berkshire Hathaway. Over the past 15 to 18 months, the semiconductor industry has led the stock market due to soaring global chip demand driven by the rise of AI, the report said. Semiconductors have attracted significant investment and government subsidies, notably the US government’s CHIPS Act, which offers companies billions of dollars to establish domestic chip factories. [Jiwei, in Chinese]

The US-listed Chinese electric vehicle trio has made some progress in their push to replace the chips for advanced driving functions inside their cars with home-grown components, following Tesla’s suit in hopes of deriving better computing performance to train their artificial intelligence models. NIO has carried out the tapeout phase for the Shenji NX9031, its first self-developed system on chip (SoC) for assisted driving and conditional autonomous functions, and will integrate the five-nanometer chip into its ET9 executive sedan as planned, scheduled for delivery in early 2025, according to a Monday report by Chinese media outlet 36Kr. The report cited sources as saying the tapeout for Xpeng Motors’ in-house replacement for Nvidia’s DRIVE Orin chips has also started, marking the end of the design process and the beginning of manufacturing. The report added that there is a bit of catching up for Li Auto, which aims for the completion of the tapeout for its in-house advanced driving chip, codenamed Schumacher, by the end of this year. In August 2018, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk revealed the company’s plan to swap Nvidia’s AI system with its Hardware 3.0 chips. [TechNode reporting, 36Kr, in Chinese]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr is looking to enter South Korea by 2026, with plans to open showrooms in Seoul and the nearby province of Gyeonggi by next year, parent company Geely said last week in response to questions from Bloomberg. Under the current plan, the mainstream luxury carmaker will bring the Zeekr 001, its first model featuring advanced driving functions including autonomous parking, to woo local tech-savvy customers. The news comes as peer BYD recently started regulatory preparations in South Korea aiming to launch its first EV locally in the second half of 2024. Zhejiang-headquartered Zeekr, with four models on offer, will launch two new models in China later this year, including a five-seater van, the Mix, as well as a medium-to-large sports utility vehicle, codenamed CX1e, targeting Chinese families. Zeekr chief executive Andy An told investors last month that the New York-listed company would expand its footprint from 25 to more than 50 global markets by the end of the year. [Bloomberg, TechNode reporting]

Bloomberg on Monday claimed to have obtained an internal memo indicating that Microsoft will soon require its Chinese employees to use only Apple devices for identity verification when using work computers or phones. Employees will be restricted to using iPhones in offices starting this September, the report said. As part of Microsoft’s global Secure Future Initiative, this measure aims to ensure that all employees use Microsoft Authenticator, Identity Pass, and other similar applications for identity verification, which will affect hundreds of employees in mainland China. Microsoft made this decision because Android phones in China cannot access Google services such as the Play Store. Employees who previously used Android phones (including Huawei, Xiaomi, and other brands) will receive an iPhone 15 from the company. [Bloomberg]

BYD has reached a deal with the Turkish government to build a $1 billion electric vehicle plant in the country, part of the European Union’s Customs Union, a move that would allow the Chinese EV giant to export vehicles to the bloc without additional tariffs. Scheduled for operation by 2026, with roughly 5,000 new jobs created, the plant will be capable of making 150,000 vehicles a year, the government said on Monday, reported the Financial Times. The move comes after the EU, on July 4, began imposing temporary duties of 27.4% on China-made BYD cars, while that percentage ranged between 29.9% and 47.6% for other Chinese car manufacturers, slightly lower than what Brussels initially proposed. The company is also establishing a Ft 10 billion ($30 million) battery pack plant near Budapest in Hungary that will begin production next year. [Financial Times]

Electric vehicle maker Polestar’s China division is reportedly set to undergo its first major layoff with plans to reduce its workforce by about 30% by the end of September. The move is expected to have a significant impact on its local car manufacturing activities. The brand, owned by Chinese automaker Geely, has already suspended production at a facility in the country’s southwestern city of Chengdu while it also looks to downsize office space at its regional headquarters in Shanghai, local media outlet FEAutoCar reported on July 2, citing sources at the firm. The news comes just months after the Swedish company announced it was looking to reduce about 15% of its workforce globally in January. The company sold fewer than 1,000 cars during the first four months of this year in China, the world’s biggest auto market. [FEAutoCar, in Chinese]

The US chip manufacturer Nvidia will ship over one million new H20 accelerator chips to the Chinese market this year, generating over $12 billion in revenue for the company, according to the latest forecast data from market research firm SemiAnalysis. Due to US export control policies, the export of Nvidia’s advanced AI chips to China has been restricted since 2022. The H20 is a cut-down version GPU that Nvidia specifically launched for the Chinese market based on the H100, but its AI performance is less than 15% of that of the high performance chip. Nevertheless, analysts at SemiAnalysis stated that the H20 chip is now being shipped in volume and is growing in popularity with Chinese customers despite its reduced performance compared with its US counterpart the H100. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

There is a clear need to build AI technology that can be “reviewed, monitored, and traced”, according to the Shanghai Declaration on Global AI Governance, which was released at the country’s largest annual AI event, the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, which ended at the weekend. Released by Chen Jining, party secretary of Shanghai, the declaration came after local tech titans and startups spent July 4-7 showcasing their latest developments and updates on large language models in the city. The declaration called for “companies to comply with the laws and regulations of the countries in which they provide their AI products and services,” while encouraging international communication and cooperation in the field through the “spirit of openness and sharing.” [People’s Daily]

On July 6, the President of VeriSilicon, Dai Weimin, delivered a speech and presentation titled “Opportunities and Challenges of AIGC Chips” at the RISC-V and Generative AI Forum during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2024, held at the Shanghai World Expo Center. Based on current generative AI technology, achieving intelligence on par with or surpassing the human brain requires continuously expanding the scale of model parameters, a trend that necessitates an exponential increase in computational power, according to his speech. “Currently, numerous enterprises worldwide are developing their own AI large-scale models, with over 100 models in the Chinese market alone. The ‘AI-model war’ in the market seems like a chaotic competition and a waste of electricity. By 2028, China will have fewer than ten foundational large-scale models, ideally just five,” he claimed at the forum. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

BYD said on Thursday it has produced its eight millionth electric vehicle, just three months after producing its seven millionth unit globally at its Jinan factory in eastern China in March and three years after reaching its first millionth unit mark in mid-2021. The latest milestone was achieved at BYD’s newly opened factory in Rayong, Thailand, which is capable of producing 150,000 vehicles annually, and happened to be a blue BYD Dolphin hatchback, the most popular EV model in the country. The Chinese EV giant has found initial success in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy with sales of 12,942 units between January and May, capturing roughly 40% of the country’s booming EV segment, according to figures compiled by Autolife Thailand. Smaller Chinese rival Hozon in December began trial production on the outskirts of Bangkok with an output of up to 20,000 units annually, while China’s biggest car manufacturer SAIC has been making gas-powered MG cars in the country with Thai conglomerate CP Group since 2014. [TechNode reporting, BYD announcement, in Chinese]

China’s cross-border e-commerce platforms, including Temu, Shein, and AliExpress, might face tariff hurdles in the EU, according to the Financial Times, which details that the European Commission is set to propose abolishing the current threshold for duty-free purchases of goods under €150 later this month. The EU’s attempt to close this tax loophole comes as low-value Chinese-manufactured products flood the region, and fast fashion retailer Shein has confidentially filed for a London IPO. The report mentions that 2.3 billion parcels that missed the tax threshold entered the EU, citing official data. [Financial Times]

China’s eastern Jiangsu province is looking to buy an undisclosed number of Tesla Model Y electric vehicles in the 2024-2025 budget year, marking the first time in years that the company’s cars would be purchased officially by the authorities. The US giant’s cars have been widely barred from government-affiliated venues in its second-largest market over security concerns. The Shanghai-made Model Y rear-wheel drive, priced at RMB 249,900 ($34,368), was listed in a sourcing plan released by the Jiangsu Provincial Government Procurement Center on June 6, along with the Aito M7 and the Avatr 11, both featuring Huawei’s assisted driving technology. Several models from state-owned manufacturer SAIC and Volvo parent Geely are also on the list, including the IM L6 and the Galaxy E8. Some Chinese government office workers have been disallowed from parking their Tesla vehicles inside government compounds, especially those close to military bases, due to security concerns over cameras installed on the vehicles since 2021, Reuters reported. The news comes after Tesla’s locally-built cars were tested and found to be compliant with China’s data security requirements, announced by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on April 28, the same day chief executive Elon Musk arrived in Beijing for a visit. [TechNode reporting, Reuters, Jiangsu gov announcement, in Chinese]

The second generation of Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, made its debut this week at the 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, the US electric vehicle maker said on Weibo. Its unveiling was touted as “witnessing the further evolution of humanoid robots,” according to the Weibo post. Optimus was first released in August 2021, equipped with Tesla’s self-developed neural network and computer vision technology, and was designed to undertake dangerous or tedious tasks such as carrying heavy objects or grocery shopping. Last December, Tesla released a demo of the second-gen robot, which can perform delicate tasks such as picking up an egg and boiling it, demonstrating impressive dexterity. In April, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company plans to start using the Optimus in Tesla factories in 2025. [Tesla Weibo, in Chinese]

Chinese phone brand Xiaomi and Taiwan-based semiconductor company MediaTek launched their first joint laboratory on Tuesday, focusing on three major technologies: phone performance, telecommunications, and AI. The deal was announced by Redmi, a Xiaomi sub-brand, on China’s X-like platform Weibo. The joint lab’s first product will be the Redmi K70 Premium Edition, a budget-friendly mid-ranger that aims to achieve maximum optimization in performance benchmarks, game frame rates, and concurrent time for game frame boosting. Redmi’s general manager Wang Teng revealed that the joint lab has equipped the Redmi K70 Premium Edition with a next-gen dedicated gaming GPU and their self-developed dual-chip scheduling technology, in addition to the core chipset Dimensity 9300+. [Redmi Weibo, in Chinese]

Alibaba’s Taobao is sending more traffic to the “instant commerce” service of its food delivery arm Ele.me, via a prominent portal at the top of the e-commerce platform’s homepage, as Alibaba pushes faster delivery to align with its “user-first” strategy. The move comes after Alibaba denied multiple news reports that it intends to sell Ele.me. The “instant commerce” service, which previously mostly covered nearby supermarkets and could be found within Ele.me’s mini-program or app is in the process of luring more Taobao merchants to join. According to Alibaba, all Taobao and Tmall sellers who have local warehouses that can meet users’ needs for instant delivery can sign up to join the service. [TechNode reporting]

Correction: An earlier version of the article misidentified “instant commerce” service as one-hour delivery.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning announced on Tuesday that Premier Li Qiang will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2024 in Shanghai tomorrow. The AI-themed event will take place from July 4 to July 7 at the Shanghai World Expo Center and Expo Exhibition Hall. The exhibition area of WAIC 2024 exceeds 52,000 square meters, and over 500 companies, including Tesla, Microsoft, and Schneider, have confirmed their participation, according to the organizers. Scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, and stakeholders will gather in Shanghai to discuss cutting-edge technologies, industry trends, and ethical governance in the field of artificial intelligence. Baidu’s Ernie Bot, iFlytek’s Spark, Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen, Zhipu AI, Tencent’s Yuanbao, Huawei’s Pangu, and SenseTime’s SenseNova will all demonstrate their AI product capabilities during the three-day event. [China Star Market, in Chinese]

Renault’s electric vehicle arm Ampere on Monday announced it will integrate lower-cost lithium iron batteries into several models under the Renault and Alpine brands over the next years in partnerships with Chinese battery maker CATL and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution. This means that the French automaker will add lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell chemistry for EV batteries to its portfolio, alongside more energy-dense yet expensive nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), hoping to meet the demand for lower-priced EVs. The goal is to reduce by 2026 roughly 20% of vehicle battery costs. Chinese EV battery duopoly, CATL and BYD, dominate the world’s battery market with cheap cells using LFP as the cathode material, with a combined market share of 53.1% from January to April 2024, according to data from Korean renewable energy consultancy SNE Research. CATL recorded shipment of 27.7 gigawatt-hours (GWh) worth of battery during the period in global markets excluding China, up 16.2% from a year earlier and ahead of LG Energy Solution in second place. [TechNode reporting, Renault announcement]

The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) has issued a certificate for the completion of the independent maturity level-A certification to Huawei’s HarmonyOS kernel, as the operating system achieved a 100% self-developed ratio, the national research institution announced on Monday. An independent operating system kernel can ensure national information security and increase international competitiveness, which fosters a robust ecosystem of independent research and development in China, CAICT said in the statement. Huawei’s HarmonyOS kernel – developed in the wake of US sanctions against the Chinese tech giant – marks a new milestone for both the company and the country, CAICT added. HarmonyOS NEXT, which will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024, represents an entire break from the Linux kernel and Android Open Source Project (AOSP) codebase. [CAICT, in Chinese]

Google plans to release the tenth generation of its Pixel series smartphones next year, featuring the Tensor G5 processor manufactured using TSMC’s 3nm process technology. Latest reports indicate that the Tensor G5 processor development is progressing smoothly and is nearing the tape-out stage. The Tensor G5 is Google’s first fully self-developed mobile processor, whereas the previous four generations of Tensor processors were modified versions of Samsung Exynos. The latest Tensor G5, manufactured using TSMC’s advanced 3nm process, is expected to significantly boost performance, the report said. Additionally, the Tensor G5 processor promises to enable Google to achieve comprehensive control from the processor to the operating system, applications, and devices, further enhancing the software-hardware synergy of the Pixel series smartphones. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Tesla said on Monday that it will be offering Chinese buyers 0% financing on Model 3 and Model Y by the end of this month, an incentive the US automaker had offered in the world’s largest electric vehicle market in April. This time, buyers would not have to trade in their old Tesla vehicles for a new one to benefit from that, according to its website. The move comes after the company’s output decreased 7.3% to 283,043 units in the country for the first four months of this year, according to figures compiled by the China Passenger Car Association. The China-made Model 3 and Model Y are priced from RMB 231,900 and RMB 249,900 ($31,886 and $34,361) after the EV giant cut the starting prices of the two models by RMB 14,000 in April. Meanwhile, Huawei lowered the price of its Advanced Driving System by RMB 6,000 to RMB 30,000, hoping to make it more affordable, while Xiaomi said it is offering free subscriptions of its advanced driver assistance software for a limited time, local media have reported. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Zhihu, China’s Quora-like question-and-answer platform, unveiled its latest AI-driven tool named zhida.ai last weekend, which is intended to provide “a new way to obtain reliable information” supported by quality content within the Zhihu community, according to the introduction posted on the platform’s official website. The company has partnered with domestic AI startup Model Best to develop the artificial intelligence foundation model Zhihaitu AI, which was released last April, and the model has been deployed to drive the new Q&A feature. When a user sends a question to the tool, it replies with a summary, a detailed answer, and a list of sources at the top, with direct links to relevant Zhihu pages. [Zhihu, in Chinese]

Data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), shows that in May, iPhone shipments in China increased by 40% year-on-year, continuing April’s rebound momentum. CAICT announced that the shipment volume of foreign branded phones in China for May increased from 3.603 million units last year to 5.028 million units this year, a rise of 1.425 million units. Despite not being mentioned by name, the increase in shipments is largely due to Apple’s performance, as the company dominates the foreign brand phone market in China. The iPhone has seen multiple price cuts in the domestic market this year, with prices dropping to historical lows during the recent 618 shopping festival, reaching discounts of up to RMB 2,350 ($324). [MyDrivers, in Chinese]

In the first quarter, China’s cloud service spending rose by 20% year-over-year to $9.2 billion, according to the latest data from market research firm Canalys. The market continues to be dominated by the three giants—Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, and Tencent Cloud—which collectively grew 22% year-over-year and held 72% of the total market share. Alibaba Cloud led with a 37% market share, followed by Huawei Cloud at 19% and Tencent Cloud at 16%. Price cuts by major vendors and increased AI application investments boosted cloud adoption, the report analyzed. Additionally, both Huawei and Tencent introduced AI-focused partner programs to enhance market differentiation and foster AI adoption. [Canalys]

China’s Baidu currently has 300 million users of its ChatGPT alternative ERNIE Bot, the company’s chief technology officer Wang Haifeng announced at Wave Summit 2024, at which the search giant teased the latest version of its AI foundation model ERNIE 4.0 Turbo. The country’s most popular AI tool, ERNIE Bot broke the 100-million-user milestone in December 2023, four months after being approved to provide generative AI services to the public, successfully doubling the figure in April. Wang said Baidu’s AI bot handles 500 million queries a day. The new model can be accessed via the official website and app, with corporate clients able to call the API of Baidu’s most advanced model directly within its AI Cloud Qianfan platform, according to Baidu. [Baidu, in Chinese]

On Thursday, World of Warcraft’s classic server Wrath of the Lich King returned to China, with the addition of new servers Jaina and Deathstalker alongside the return of some other previously available editions. Due to the high volume of players attempting to access the games at the same time, long queues formed, forcing some users to have to wait hours for access. On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, NetEase Games apologized for the login difficulties experienced just 40 minutes after the launch of the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), stating that staff were urgently addressing the issue. Additionally, Blizzard announced today that the official servers for World of Warcraft in China will return on August 1. In April, Blizzard and NetEase renewed their game publishing agreement after a previous dispute over intellectual property control ended their 15-year relationship in January 2023. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Chinese flying taxi startup Aerofugia has raised “several hundred million RMB” (between $13.76 million and $137.5 million) in a new round of funding led by state-backed investment fund Orinno Capital, one year after closing Series A in excess of RMB 100 million last June. The Series B closed by the subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely is the largest funding round of its kind in the country’s segment of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in two years, according to an announcement. Aerofugia said it will use the proceeds to push for the commercial operation of its AE200, a five-to-six seater tilt-rotor eVTOL aircraft with a range of 200 kilometers (124 miles). The company recently revealed plans to provide flying taxi pilot services to the public as early as 2026 in its headquarters city of Chengdu, capital city of China’s southwestern Sichuan province, as the Chinese government looks to establish what it calls a “low-altitude economy.” Orinno Capital is wholly owned by Chengdu High-Tech Investment Group Co., Ltd, a state-owned investment corporation, and the financing included previous backers Tsinghua Holdings Capital and CAS Star, a venture capital firm backed by Chinese Academy of Sciences, among others. [TechNode reporting, Aerofugia announcement, in Chinese]

Chinese phone brand Honor has responded to online chatter that it has begun developing mobile phones equipped with Huawei’s self-developed Kirin chips, with Honor’s CMO Jiang Hairong responding on the social platform Weibo that the suggestions are “pure nonsense”. Honor formerly operated as a Huawei sub-brand, before the two companies technically split apart in the wake of US sanctions against the latter. “Huawei is the great competitor that Honor respects and looks forward to competing with. As for the reports about Honor returning to Huawei, this is absolutely impossible,” Honor’s CEO Zhao Ming stated last September. In the first quarter, Honor took the top spot in the Chinese phone market with a share of 17.1%, followed by Huawei at 17%, according to market intelligence firm IDC.  [IThome, in Chinese]

SF Tongcheng, a subsidy of China’s largest express delivery company SF Express, is eyeing on-demand delivery service in Hong Kong as the Hong Kong-listed unit recorded its first yearly profit in 2023. The entry will likely serve as a start to SF Tongcheng’s overseas expansion. The service will operate under the name “SoFast” beginning in July, according to SF Tongcheng’s Wednesday announcement, with a delivery focus on documents and small parcels within the island’s territory. According to a report by Chinese media outlet Jiemian, delivery riders will earn up to HKD$ 300 per hour, and have flexibility in work time and tasks. In mainland China, SF Tongcheng offers city-wide 30-minute deliveries. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Alibaba’s DingTalk on Wednesday announced a partnership with six homegrown Chinese large language model makers to enhance the workplace communication platform’s capacity to autonomously perform tasks from prompts using AI. MiniMax, Moonshot AI, Zhipu AI, http://01.AI01.AI>, OrionStar, and Baichuan will help DingTalk bring about what its president Ye Jun called, “the most open AI ecosystem” in China. DingTalk first integrated Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen model soon after it launched in April 2023, and launched DingTalk 7.5 version with its AI agent feature at the beginning of this year. The move brings chosen possibilities on foundation models for developers when building artificial intelligence agents on DingTalk, predicted the company in a speech at its Ecological Conference on Wednesday. [DingTalk, in Chinese]

Chinese electric vehicle brand Aito said on Wednesday that it has received more than 100,000 reservations with RMB 5,000 ($688) non-refundable deposits for the M9 sports utility vehicle, six months after its unveiling in December. The brand, launched by Huawei and its manufacturing partner Seres, reported deliveries of over 15,000 units of the M9 consecutively in April and May, making it China’s top-selling model in the RMB 500,000 plus price segment, according to an announcement from the company. Several major luxury brands, such as Porsche, Maserati, and Lamborghini, saw double-digit declines in their May sales in China, local media outlet Jiemian reported, citing figures from the China Automobile Dealers Association. The six-seated M9 SUV is priced from RMB 469,800 and RMB 509,800 ($65,725 and $71,321) for the range-extended hybrid and all-electric versions, respectively, and features cutting-edge technology from Huawei including a gigantic heads-up display and automated driving capabilities for urban scenarios. [Aito announcement, Jiemian, in Chinese]

Chinese battery giant CATL has revealed progress on its efforts to electrify passenger airplanes, as its incoming condensed matter battery will be ready to enable a flight range of between 2,000 and 3,000 kilometers (1,243-1,864 miles) in the next several years. The world’s largest electric vehicle battery supplier recently tested a four-ton civilian airplane with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, a state-owned plane manufacturer, founder Robin Zeng told an audience on Tuesday at this year’s World Economic Forum (Summer Davos Forum). Zeng added that the company predicted an eight-ton electric aircraft powered by its high energy-dense battery will probably be launched as early as 2027, with an expected flight range of up to 3,000 km. CATL showcased a condensed matter battery prototype, a type of semi-solid state product with condensed electrolytes that boasts an energy density of 500 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg), last April at the Auto Shanghai Show. [China Daily]

The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) of China granted licenses to 104 domestic games for June on Tuesday, including two notable titles: Tencent’s action role-playing game Rock Kingdom and Lingxi Interactive Entertainment’s female-romance role-playing game Ashes of the Kingdom (the Chinese version of which is also known as Code: Ruyuan). The global version of Ashes of the Kingdom was launched in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia on March 30, 2023. In this female romance-themed game, players take the role of a disguised princess leading a spy mission during the tumultuous Eastern Han Dynasty of ancient China, navigating intrigue, romance, and political upheaval to protect what they cherish and unravel secrets that could reshape the empire. Ashes of the Kingdom earned around $8.92 million in revenue across global markets three months after its launch, according to market research firm DataEye. [NPPA, in Chinese]

China’s Hozon Auto on Wednesday lodged its prospectus with the Hong Kong securities regulators, hoping to become a publicly traded electric vehicle maker in the country following similar listings from mainland counterparts NIO, Xpeng Motors, Li Auto, and Leapmotor. The 10-year-old EV startup delivered 300,000 cars to customers as of last September, with five models on sale, including the smaller and more budget crossovers Neta Aya and X, and more premium sports sedans Neta S and GT. Although Hozon delivered 124,189 vehicles last year, roughly 27,000 units fewer than a year earlier, revenue slightly increased 4% year-on-year to nearly RMB 13.6 billion ($1.87 billion) in 2023, thanks to the company selling more premium products at higher prices. However, the Shanghai-headquartered company posted a RMB 4.84 billion loss for 2023 after losing RMB 6.7 billion a year earlier, resulting in a negative gross margin of 14.9% as of last year, according to the prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. The firm is looking to raise $1 billion from the listing, Reuters reported last September. [Hozon prospectus, in Chinese]

The live-action interactive dating game Love Is All Around announced on Tuesday that its mobile version will offer 20,000 limited trial copies for Android players from June 28 to July 2. The exact release date of the mobile version is yet to be determined. Launched by Chinese developer Intiny last October, Love Is All Around sold 1.9 million copies in three months, generating $11 million in revenue, making it the second best-selling Chinese PC game on Steam in 2023. In the live-action filming game, players take on the role of the male protagonist, using a first-person perspective to immerse themselves in realistic simulation interactions with six women, each with distinct appearances and personalities. [Love Is All Around Weibo, in Chinese]

Pinduoduo is planning to launch more tools in the coming months beyond the automatic price adjustment feature that it introduced before the mid-year shopping event 618 as it looks to maintain its low price advantage, according to a LatePost report. The budget e-commerce platform is increasingly being hit by competitors offering lower prices for the same items. The upcoming tools are designed to “reduce merchants’ operating thresholds and decision-making costs” in an attempt to realize lower commodity prices in a simple and efficient way, the report added. LatePost also reported that Zhao Jiazhen, co-CEO of the platform’s parent company PDD and a figure who was originally in charge of its overseas business Temu, has recently retrained some of his attention on Pinduoduo. [LatePost]

US firm Scopely’s digital spin on the classic board game Monopoly Go! topped the global mobile game market in May, grossing $226 million in revenue from the App Store and Google Play, while Chinese developer Tencent’s multiplayer online battle arena game Honor of Kings secured second spot with $219 million, according to market intelligence platform Sensor Tower. Another notable Tencent entry in the top 10 was the mobile version of Dungeon and Fighter, which was only released in China on May 21, but still achieved over $100 million in revenue in only 10 days to rank eighth in the global mobile game market for the month. In May, global mobile game players spent nearly $6.7 billion on the App Store and Google Play, with the Chinese iOS market accounting for 19.2% of the total, the report added. [Sensor Tower, in Chinese]

In response to recent news about large-scale layoffs, Chinese game developer Perfect World told local media outlet Southern Finance Omnimedia on Monday that the company’s gaming projects are always adjusted based on actual operations and personnel adjustments are continuously ongoing. The company’s developing game One Punch Man is still progressing, though details about the current number of development personnel were not disclosed. There were previous reports about Perfect World’s largest round of layoffs, with nearly two entire office buildings being emptied. Over a thousand people were laid off in total, and some development departments have been cutting hundreds of staff members, one Perfect World employee claimed earlier online. Perfect World, founded in 2004 in Beijing, is best known for Perfect World International, an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game). [IThome, in Chinese]

Indonesia’s trade officials said Temu’s business model conflicts with local government regulations, which require a distributor or intermediary to be present in the product’s journey from factory to consumer. According to a report by CNN Indonesia, the Pinduoduo sister app has yet to apply for a license to operate locally, said Isy Karim, the director general of Indonesia’s domestic trade. So far, Temu ships Chinese-manufactured goods at especially low prices to over 50 overseas markets on six continents, but it has entered only two countries in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The Indonesian government will continue to “closely monitor” the potential entry of Temu, as local officials worry that the Chinese online retailer poses a threat to the island country’s small- and medium-sized merchants, the report added. [CNN]

Major investors in fast fashion giant Shein have privately asked the firm to consider buying back their shares, according to a report by the South China Morning Post that cited unnamed sources, as Shein faces resistance to its plan to list in London. The China-founded and now Singapore-headquartered company reportedly switched its long-awaited IPO to London from New York in May this year due to regulatory hurdles in the US, but there have been no reports or evidence confirming Shein has filed a prospectus with the London Stock Exchange. The SCMP report also noted that deals selling Shein’s shares on private markets continue to take place due to concerns over its potential IPO returns. [SCMP]

Nissan ceased operations at one of its eight joint manufacturing facilities with Chinese automaker Dongfeng on June 21 in the country’s eastern city of Changzhou, less than four years after production began at the factory in late 2020, Nikkei reported. The plant, where the Japanese automaker has been producing its Qashqai compact crossovers, has an annual capacity of 130,000 units, accounting for more than 8% of the company’s total production capacity of roughly 1.6 million units in China, the report said. Nissan’s China operations reportedly plan to slash their annual output by 30%, after reporting a 16.1% decline in sales last year, as a growing number of consumers turn to low-priced electric vehicles from Chinese rivals. [Nikkei, TechNode reporting]

Two clashes between staff and customers in one day at Manner, a rapidly expanding coffee chain in China, have sent discussion of the company’s working practices viral on Chinese social media over the weekend, as anger at those involved has turned to scrutiny over how Manner treats its employees. Surveillance footage from one store shows a woman demanding that her coffee be made first because she was “late,” with a staff member telling her that orders are processed in the sequence they are received and offering to cancel her order if she was dissatisfied; the ensuing argument between the two then escalates into a physical fight. A similar confrontation seemingly occurred at another Manner store in Shanghai and has also gone viral online. A report from local media outlet Jiemian quoted a Manner employee as saying that the company assigns only one person to stores that record daily sales of under RMB 5,000 ($688.50), with the lone worker responsible for everything from looking after stock, taking orders offline and online, making coffee, and cleaning. According to the report, Manner’s baristas earn about RMB 5,000 a month on average even in first-tier cities like Shanghai. Manner has grown popular due to its affordable prices and high-quality flavors, with its cheapest Americano priced at RMB 15. The brand, which was founded in 2015, opened its 1,000th store last October. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

China’s Ministry of Commerce has received complaints from some domestic automakers unhappy that the European Commission requested sensitive business information concerning their sourcing of raw materials for batteries and manufacturing components during its investigation into the country’s subsidised electric vehicle imports. “The type, scope and quantity of information collected by the European side was unprecedented and far more than what is required for a countervailing duties investigation,” He Yadong, a commerce ministry spokesperson told a news conference on June 20. The comments were made when Chinese state radio asked about the possibility of Brussels spying on China’s EV industry and came after MG’s owner SAIC said it had withheld information related to battery formulation from the EU investigators, citing business confidentiality. Beijing and Brussels on June 22 agreed to start consultations over the EU’s anti-subsidy probe against China-made EVs. [Reuters, TechNode reporting]

Luckin Coffee plans to bring its beverage brand to the Malaysian market with a local partner as the Chinese coffee chain expands beyond Singapore, its first foreign location. Malaysia’s media outlet The Edge cited sources familiar with the matter in a report on Thursday. The partnership is accompanied by an “ambitious store expansion plan” for the next five years. US-listed Luckin Coffee is involved in a price war on its home turf, despite recording its first quarterly loss in two years in the March quarter and a negative operating margin of 1%. As of March 31 this year, Luckin Coffee, founded in 2017, has 18,590 stores globally, of which 32 are in Singapore and the rest in China. [The Edge]

Alibaba-owned workplace management app DingTalk has put global expansion on its agenda after running a small-scale pilot serving hundreds of Chinese enterprises with overseas businesses, according to a report by Chinese media outlet 36Kr on Thursday. The report said DingTalk had drawn employees from product R&D, solutions, sales, and marketing to form a mixed team to support the expansion project, and is currently hiring Southeast Asia-based regional managers and solutions managers. According to the company, by the end of 2023, DingTalk had more than 700 million users, and the platform also serves 25 million corporates and educational institutions, of which 120,000 were paying customers. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Chinese automaker SAIC has responded to the European Commission’s decision to impose a punitive 38.1% tariff on its electric vehicles by unveiling a range of accessories, from baseball caps to coffee mugs, featuring a distinctive 38.1 design with a small EU flag forming the decimal point. Other items include table tennis bats and little badges with the MG logo and the words “A quality car specially selected by the EU,” according to the designs posted on China’s Twitter-like microblogging platform Weibo by Shao Jingfeng, a deputy design chief at SAIC. It is not clear whether the state-controlled manufacturer will actually produce and sell the collection, yet Shao has invited public feedback on the social media space. The news comes after Brussels said on June 12 it will impose additional tariffs of between 17.4% and 38.1% on Chinese electric vehicle imports, with MG’s owner and those deemed incompliant with EU standards facing the hardest hit, TechNode has reported. [TechNode reporting, Shao Jingfeng’s post on Weibo, in Chinese]

Volkswagen-backed Gotion High-tech said on Wednesday that claims its supply chain has ties to forced labor are false, after a group of US Republican lawmakers called for the company, along with its larger rival CATL, to be added to an import ban list. “All allegations are completely groundless and contradictory to basic facts… Gotion is in strict compliance with all applicable laws and regulations with respect to its operations and business activities in the U.S,” Gotion said in a statement. The company claimed that it found no business relationship and connection to forced labor or anything that violates applicable laws and regulations between the company and its suppliers and suppliers’ subsidiaries, after conducting thorough internal reviews. Rep. John Moolenaar, head of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, among several others, sent two letters to the Biden administration calling for action to ban the companies from shipping goods to the US, Wall Street Journal reported on June 6. CATL also denies the claims. [TechNode reporting, Wall Street Journal]

Tencent announced on Wednesday that its mobile game Dungeon and Fighter (DNF) will no longer be available on certain Android platforms from June 20 due to its contract expiring. In a statement, the DNF operations team recommended that players on Android directly download the game from the official website. Tencent has notified major domestic Android app stores, including those of Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, that updates for the DNF package on these channels will cease today, according to local media outlet Yicai. “Listing on domestic Android channels (app stores) means losing half our revenue, and our official website packages even get secretly replaced with revenue-sharing channel packages during installation. It’s better to stick to our official website for the game,” the CEO of XD Games, Huang Yimeng, told Yicai. [Yicai, in Chinese]

CATL announced on Tuesday it is establishing a giant new battery plant on an area of 260,000 square meters (2.8 million square feet) on the outskirts of Beijing. The facility will be the company’s first in northern China and is set for operation in 2026. The world’s largest battery supplier by shipment did not reveal the capacity of the factory to be developed in China’s capital city, but it is located adjacent to Xiaomi’s electric vehicle plant in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (E-town). The news comes after CATL last month set up a joint venture with Xiaomi and state-owned automaker BAIC for battery supply in the city, with CATL owning 51% of the new venture with a registered capital of RMB 1 billion ($140 million).

CATL also said it will deepen its partnership with BAIC to develop the so-called “skateboard chassis” for future battery EVs, while developing new models powered by its swappable batteries and co-establishing public facilities for battery swaps, after the two companies joined hands in 2022. CATL’s Integrated Intelligent Chassis (CIIC) is said to be a one-stop approach, intergrating battery cells, electric motors and other key parts under one structure, which means reduced weight for the car with no need for a separate battery pack. Chief scientist Wu Kai last November expected the company to begin producing the CIIC in the third quarter of 2024. CATL-backed EV startup Hozon is working on the first use of the chassis and Avatr, the premium EV brand from Chinese automaker Chang’an, is also collaborating with CATL on a similar effort. [CATL announcement, in Chinese]

Intel’s Lunar Lake processor, also known as the Core Ultra 200V series, is being fully manufactured by TSMC for the first time, with the computing module using TSMC’s 3nm process (N3B technology) and the platform control module using TSMC’s 6nm process (N6 technology), according to local media outlet MyDrivers. Intel will launch the Lunar Lake at the end of the third quarter, introducing the new Lion Cove P-core architecture, Skymont E-core architecture, and Xe2-LPG integrated graphics architecture for the first time. The Lunar Lake will also debut the integration of on-package memory (16/32GB). Another part of the Core Ultra 200 series, Arrow Lake, will target high-performance desktops and will enter the market in the fourth quarter. [MyDrivers, in Chinese]

WeChat owner Tencent will ban virtual influencers from livestreaming on its TikTok-like service Video Accounts, a strict move that the tech giant said aims to “encourage more real live hosts who can interact with viewers in real-time.” The move comes as rival platforms have largely adopted a hands off approach to AI-powered anchors. According to a draft rule covering “low-quality content,” the platform would ban avatars powered by AI or plugins from livestreaming and selling, and would penalize offenders depending upon the severity of the incident. The draft regulation underwent a ten-day public feedback period in early June and is expected to go into effect on Friday. [ThePaper, in Chinese]

Huawei’s upcoming flagship phone the Mate 70 Pro may continue the same triple punch-hole design on the front as the Mate 60 Pro, with identical hole positions and sizes, according to tech blogger Moment Digital. Currently, the Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphone is the only phone that uses this triple-front-hole design. In April, another source, Digital Chat Station, suggested that the Huawei Mate 70 series would include a OV50K 1/1.3-inch large main camera sensor developed by California-based OmniVision Technologies, offering advanced capabilities designed for smartphone cameras and other imaging applications. The Huawei Mate 70 series is set to launch in the second half of this year; the previous generation Mate 60 series was launched last August. [IThome, in Chinese]

Chinese e-commerce platform JD said it hit a record high in merchandise volume and order numbers for its recent mid-year shopping event 618, though it failed to provide specific figures. The company said more than 500 million users shopped via JD during the online festival, which began on the evening of May 31, adding that customers had responded positively to its theme of “cheap and good” this year. Small merchants serve as a common focus for JD and rival Taobao during the event, with the former saying that more than 150,000 such sellers saw their sales grow by over 50%. Alibaba’s marketplace provided similar data, with 1.9 million small- and medium-sized merchants on Taobao experiencing double their turnover year-on-year as of June 18, according to the company. [JD, in Chinese]

On Chinese social media platform Weibo, tech blogger Digital Chat Station today revealed details about Xiaomi’s first flip phone, the MIX Flip, which he said will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and a large outer display. The MIX Flip is expected to be released next month, the blogger mentioned in the comments on his post. The new flip phone may also offer a 1.5K flexible inner display, a 32MP front camera, a 50MP main camera, a 60MP telephoto rear camera, and a 4,900mAh battery with 67W wired charging, according to previous leaks. Xiaomi has yet to publicly confirm a release date or further details regarding the new flip phone. [Digital Chat Station, in Chinese]

The German Chamber of Commerce in China has called on Beijing and Brussels to seek a resolution through negotiation on EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, which it says offer no protection to German carmakers and foster tariff escalations that can only hurt the industry. “The industry also made quite clear statements that tariffs, as suggested now by the EU, will not increase the competitiveness of the automotive industry,” Maximilian Butek, executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in East China, told the South China Morning Post. The comments come as Germany’s vice-chancellor and economics minister Robert Habeck will meet Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss trade issues on Thursday, and after Brussels announced the imposition of extra duties of up to 38.1% on Chinese EV imports last week. In the latest sign of worsening relations between China and Europe, the Chinese government on Monday announced it has opened an anti-dumping investigation into imported pork and its by-products from the European Union, with Spain, the Netherlands, and France among the major pork exporters to China. [South China Morning Post, Reuters]

Chinese ride-hailing company Didi said on Tuesday it has no timeline set for when it will list again on public markets, amid rumors that it is preparing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong two years after being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The comments came after The Information reported on Monday that representatives from the Chinese ride-hailing giant have been approaching potential US-based investors over the past few months, joining meetings and calls organized by investment banks such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Bloomberg reported last October that the ride-hailing platform hoped to list shares in Hong Kong in 2024, although that was a year later than previously planned, according to The Information report. The company said it has been maintaining regular communication with investors to keep them updated on the progress of it’s business, although there is no timetable at present regarding a potential IPO. Didi’s revenue increased 14.9% year-on-year on the back of a 30.3% growth in total trips in the January-March quarter, as the firm’s business returns to normal following its delisting from the US and a major investigation into its practices in China. [The Information]

Qcraft, a Chinese startup co-founded by four former engineers at Google’s self-driving project Waymo, has raised “several hundred million RMB” (between $13.78 million and $137.68 million), more than a year and half after closing a Series B round where it attracted a similar amount of funding in late 2022. The investment was jointly made by Beijing-based investment firm Cuihu Capital and Beijing Zhongguancun Science City Construction Holding Co., Ltd, a conglomerate backed by the Chinese Academy of Science, according to a statement published on June 14. Best known for developing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for Li Auto based on Horizon Robotics’ computing platforms, Beijing-based Qcraft said it has facilitated “a top Chinese electric vehicle maker” to deliver nearly 400,000 cars with its Navigation on ADAS (NOA) technology. Among the existing investors in the five-year-old startup are Chinese tech giants Bytedance and Meituan. [Qcraft announcement, in Chinese]

At the Worldwide Developers Conference 2024, Apple introduced the DockKit accessory integrated with the DockKit protocol for phone stabilizers on June 14, demonstrating the latest AI-phone stabilizer from the Chinese camera brand Insta360. Engineers from the DockKit team showcased that the stabilizer can directly access the iPhone’s native camera on the iOS 18 system for auto-tracking, front/rear camera switching, and zoom control. With DockKit’s tracking technology, the Insta360 AI-phone stabilizer can lock onto and track subjects without requiring manual adjustments, the company claimed. Insta360 has said that the Insta360 Flow series AI phone stabilizer will be released in the coming weeks, despite not yet disclosing other product details or pricing. [TechNode reporting]

Tata Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates, is in negotiations to acquire at least a 51% stake in the Indian subsidiary of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo, according to Indian media outlet MoneyControl. A final deal has not yet been reached because Vivo is seeking a higher valuation than what Tata Group is currently offering, though Tata Group remains interested in the potential acquisition and plans to take control of the joint venture’s production and sales network for future localization, according to the report. Under continued pressure from the Indian government, Chinese smartphone manufacturers are being compelled to sell majority stakes in their Indian subsidiaries to continue operations in the country. Another Chinese smartphone brand, Oppo, is also in talks with local firms to divest its Indian subsidiary, the report added. [MoneyControl]

Ant Group spent a record RMB 21.2 billion ($2.9 billion) on research and development last year, according to its 2023 sustainability report posted on Thursday. The figure rose 3.6% from a year earlier and 12.7% compared to 2021. The fintech giant said that spending was largely focused on artificial intelligence technology. Ant opened its Bailing AI foundation model to the public in November. In other key figures, the affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba said it had served more than 87 million small business enterprises by providing digital payment services as of 2023. As part of the company’s overseas expansion effort, Ant Group has cooperated with 25 e-payment platforms, reaching over 1.5 billion accounts at home and abroad to boost cross-border payments. [Ant Group, in Chinese]

Honor on Thursday launched its first flip foldable phone, the Magic V Flip, as the Chinese phone maker aims to intensify its competition in the high-end foldable market against leading players such as Samsung and its former parent company Huawei. The Magic V Flip features a 4-inch cover screen, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, a 50MP main camera with a Sony IMX906 sensor, and 66W fast charging. The new device combines an innovative flip design with high-speed performance, appealing to users seeking convenience in a compact, fashionable form, the company claimed. Currently, the Magic V Flip is only available in China, with a starting price of RMB 4,999 ($689). In the first quarter, Honor led China’s smartphone market with a 17.1% market share, according to market intelligence firm IDC. [Honor Weibo, in Chinese]

A 17-year-old fashion design student has garnered widespread attention in China for making it to the final of an Alibaba-backed global math competition, with her background of studying at a Jiangsu-based vocational senior secondary school marking her out against the other finalists who hailed from prestigious schools such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, and MIT. Ranked 12th out of a total of 801 finalists, Jiang Ping was also the only female in the top 30, according to Alibaba. Jiang spent two years self-studying partial differential equations, according to a video posted by the competition organizer, Alibaba’s DAMO Academy. She said she wanted to show what she could do and “be seen by others.” The annual competition allowed teams to use artificial intelligence to solve the math problems this year, but none of the teams who employed AI were successful in making it to the final. [DAMO Academy, in Chinese]

In the first quarter of 2024, Huawei’s HarmonyOS surpassed Apple’s iOS in the Chinese market for the first time, making HarmonyOS the second most-used operating system in China behind Google’s Android, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research. The report indicated that the market share held by Huawei’s HarmonyOS in China rose from 8% in the first quarter of 2023 to 17% in the first quarter of 2024, while the share held by Apple’s iOS declined from 20% to 16%. The 5G adoption rate of HarmonyOS reached 50% in the first quarter of 2024, the report added. On Tuesday, Huawei updated its HarmonyOS with a new 4.2 version for its Huawei Mate 40 series smartphones. [IThome, in Chinese]

Japan’s Ministry of Finance trade statistics show that half of Japan’s semiconductor manufacturing equipment exports were heading to China in the first quarter, according to the Japanese media outlet Nikkei Asia. In the first quarter, Japan’s total exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, components, and flat panel display manufacturing equipment to China were valued at $3.32 billion, a 82% year-on-year increase, and a new record post-2007. Notably, the share of Japanese semiconductor manufacturing equipment exported to China has exceeded 50% for three consecutive quarters, the report added. Last July, Japan announced export controls on 23 semiconductor-related items used for chip making to align with US restrictions on China’s ability to produce advanced semiconductors. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

The US government is considering additional restrictions on China’s access to advanced chip technology used in AI, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The potential measures aim to limit China’s ability to utilize a cutting-edge chip architecture known as gate all-around (GAA), the report said. GAA transistor architecture enhances chip performance and reduces power consumption. The specifics of the proposed rules are still under discussion, and it is unclear when a final decision will be made, according to the media outlet’s sources. Major semiconductor companies Nvidia, Intel, AMD, TSMC, and Samsung are planning to begin mass production of GAA-designed chips next year, the report added. [Bloomberg]

Apple is in the process of finding a way to bring Apple Intelligence, its system that integrates generative AI for iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices, to “all of our customers,” the tech giant’s top software engineer Craig Federighi said in an interview with media outlet FastCompany. Though he did not directly mention China, Apple’s second-largest market, Federighi did note that “in some regions of the world, there are regulations that need to be worked through,” and that Apple has started the relevant procedures. Large models need to get approval from authorities before a public-facing launch in China, where US-based OpenAI’s ChatGPT is not officially available. Apple has announced it forged a partnership with ChatGPT to power some of its AI “Intelligence” features at the company’s developer conference on Tuesday. [FastCompany]

Lilium, a German aviation firm backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent, said on Monday it has established its regional headquarters in China’s southern city of Shenzhen as part of a collaboration agreement with the government of the city’s Bao’an district. Lilium will set up its local entity (力翎航空) in the Bao’an Low Altitude Economy Industry Public Service Center, becoming the first European manufacturer of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) to base a regional office in the district. The company hopes its flying vehicles will eventually meet local safety requirements and receive airworthiness certification from China, a prerequisite for the commercial operation of eVTOLs in the country, making it “an active and contributing industry player in the region’s low altitude economy.” The news comes as dozens of local governments in China have recently released their work plans to facilitate the development of eVTOLs, responding to Beijing’s call to bolster what it calls the “low-altitude economy,” as TechNode has previously reported. With Shenzhen-based Tencent being its largest shareholder with a roughly 22% stake, Lilium in April set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in the city with a registered capital of €1.9 million ($2 million), according to the Chinese corporate database Qichacha. [Lilium release, TechNode reporting]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr’s aggressive global expansion drive is putting it on track to achieve its annual delivery target of 230,000 units for this year, executives said on Tuesday at its first-quarter earnings call. The company is planning to expand its footprint from 25 to more than 50 global markets by the end of this year, said Andy An, chairman of Geely Auto Group and chief executive of Zeekr. This would include 6-8 mainstream European countries, as well as those in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Australia. The updated plan is an acceleration of the one revealed by An at this year’s EV100 forum in April for selling Zeekr EVs in six Western European countries and 38 markets on China’s south coast and in the Gulf region by year-end.

Financial chief Yuan Jing said the Geely affiliate still has a “very big ambition” for Europe but will spend more effort on other locations outside of China this year, adding that its parent company’s global manufacturing footprint would give it more flexibility than most competitors. The comments come as the European Commission is about to publish the results of a nine-month probe into Chinese EV subsidies. New York-listed Zeekr on Tuesday reported its first quarterly financial results as a public company. Revenue for the January-March quarter rose 71% year-on-year to RMB 14.74 billion ($2.04 billion), with a narrowed net loss of RMB 2.02 billion. Vehicle delivery more than doubled to 67,764 units for the first five months of this year. [Zeekr financial release]

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan on Tuesday announced a plan to buy back shares valued up to $2 billion, with the board saying it believes that the company’s existing financial resources are “sufficient” to support share repurchases while “maintaining a strong financial position.” The move comes just days after the Beijing-based company reported solid first-quarter earnings, with revenue rising 25% from a year earlier and profit recorded around 60% higher than last year, landing at RMB 5.4 billion. Meituan’s shares have grown more than 80% from a January low of around HK$60, and the firm has already spent about $995 million on stock buybacks this year. [Meituan, in Chinese]

The stock price of Chinese livestreaming e-commerce company East Buy dropped 9% and closed at HKD 13.9 on Tuesday, fueled by its star livestreamer Dong Yuhui saying that he was very “resistant” to being a salesperson and that he doesn’t enjoy promoting goods for sales. The New Oriental subsidy’s Hong Kong-listed shares have fallen 15.5% in the past five days, marking a new blow after famous private tutor Michael Yu, also the founder of the two companies, said publicly that East Buy’s livestream sector is doing “a messy job” right now. The former tutoring firm has found success via its e-commerce transition since mid-2022 as Dong, a former English-language tutor who pitches products bilingually, helped East Buy attract a flood of viewers. Yet the company’s latest earnings results showed its net profit had more than halved in the six months ending November 2023, making the achievement of stable profits a key challenge for East Buy. [Yicai, in Chinese]

On June 10, Chinese developer Game Science started the pre-sale of its upcoming action role-playing game Black Myth: Wukong, which sold out within seconds. Currently, reservations on the e-commerce platform JD have exceeded one million. The PC Deluxe and Collector’s Editions of Black Myth: Wukong are limited to 20,000 and 10,000 units, respectively, with prices of RMB 820 ($113) and RMB 1,998 ($276). Notably, the Deluxe Edition includes the Tightening Spell, a magical incantation decoration worn as a headband by the protagonist of the classical 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. The release date for Black Myth: Wukong is set for August 20, with the digital standard edition priced at RMB 268 ($37). [IThome, in Chinese]

On June 10, at WWDC 2024 (the Worldwide Developers Conference), Apple CEO Tim Cook announced plans for the Apple Vision Pro to be launched in markets outside the US, with pre-orders in China beginning on June 14 and official sales starting on June 28. The Apple Vision Pro headset is finally arriving in mainland China after being on the market for four months. Japan and Singapore will also start sales on the same day. The 256GB version of the Apple Vision Pro is priced at RMB 29,999 ($4,135), the 512GB version at RMB 31,499 ($4,342), and the 1TB version at RMB 32,999 ($4,549). Optical inserts, which are needed based on the user’s vision, must be purchased separately, starting at RMB 799 ($110). [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Chinese domestic travelers spent RMB 40.35 billion ($5.56 billion) during the Dragon Boat festival, three days in which 110 million trips were made, data from Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed. Per capita tourism expenditure rose 4.2% compared to the same period last year, though it lagged the 2019 figure. Consumer confidence remains damp on the second Dragon Boat Festival after China lifted its Covid-19 restrictions. The traditional June Chinese holiday sees people celebrate by eating sticky rice dumplings and racing dragon boats. Reports from mainstream local travel service providers showed bookings from smaller and county-level cities reached a fervor surpassing the popularity of travel experienced in China’s megacities. [Xinhua, in Chinese]

BYD on Thursday revealed plans to launch an electric shooting brake in July or August that will compete against luxurious offerings from German majors such as the BMW 5-series, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Audi’s A8 saloon. The Denza Z9 GT will feature an innovative electric drive system using three separate motors, among other new technologies, BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu told investors during the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Shenzhen, as reported by Shanghai Securities News. China’s biggest electric vehicle maker first showcased the Panamera-like model at the recent Beijing Auto Show in April, with the vehicle boasting a combined output of nearly 1,000 horsepower and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) within three seconds. BYD currently has three Denza models on sale and delivered 47,388 vehicles under the mainstream luxury brand for the first five months of this year, representing a 3.7% growth from last year and of which most were its multi-purpose van the D9. The automaker plans to launch three new models in the lineup in the second half of this year with an annual delivery target of 200,000 units, Zhao Changjiang, general manager of the Denza unit, told Chinese reporters in February. [Shanghai Securities News, in Chinese, TechNode reporting]

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan has reported better-than-expected earnings for the first three months of this year, posting a 25% revenue increase to RMB 73.3 billion ($10.1 billion). Its core local business generated RMB 54.6 billion fueled by strong takeaway orders. Net profit for the quarter rose to RMB 5.4 billion compared to RMB 3.4 billion a year prior, partly as the company’s new businesses narrowed losses by nearly half versus the same period last year. CEO Wang Xing attributed the first quarter’s earnings results to the firm’s reorganization that began early this year, which pushed for closer operating connections between food delivery and in-store services, a move that he said had increased “the platform’s overall efficiency.” On the related earnings call, Wang also told investors that Meituan is taking steps to research the possibility of entry into European and Southeast Asian markets, while continuing to evaluate the Middle East’s market potential in terms of food delivery. [Meituan]

NIO said on Thursday it aims to deliver between 54,000 and 56,000 electric vehicles for the April-June quarter, which could represent a year-on-year growth of between 129.6% and 138.1%, after reporting a wider first-quarter net loss and a reduced revenue of RMB 9.9 billion. This means June deliveries could reach roughly between 18,000 and 20,000 units as the Chinese EV maker handed over more than 36,000 cars to customers in the past two months, partly thanks to a significant price reduction on its battery leasing program in March. The company attributed the 7.2% year-on-year revenue decline and the RMB 4.9 billion ($677 million) net loss to seasonal factors such as the eight-day Lunar New Year holidays in February as well as lower average selling prices due to promotions and discounts. NIO will begin delivering the first model under its third brand, codenamed Firefly, in the first half of next year, covering a price range of between RMB 100,000 and RMB 200,000, William Li, founder, chairman, and chief executive, told investors during an earnings call. [NIO financial report]

Kuaishou on Thursday introduced a text-to-video model, “Kling,” which the short video platform operator says can generate “up to two minutes of video with 1080p high-definition.” In a demo the company released, the Sora-like model shows the ability to create a video featuring a cat driving a car through a busy downtown street based on simple text prompts, with Kuaishou saying Kling aims to “make imagination alive.” The Douyin rival also highlights Kling’s ability to produce videos following realistic motions and making people dance from full-body photos. The Kling video model is “self-developed” by Kuaishou’s LLM team and uses Sora-similar technology, according to its official website. It is available for an invitation test on the Kuaiying app, a video shooting and editing app of Kuaishou. [Kling, in Chinese]

China’s National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) on Wednesday announced the approval of the third batch this year of imported game licenses. This batch includes 11 mobile games, one PC-end game, and three console games (for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch). Notably, Black Desert, Daemon X Machina, and Valorant, three titles acquired by Tencent Games, have been approved. In 2020, the tactical first-person shooter game Valorant was launched by US developer Riot Games, the same company behind popular title League of Legends. Tencent Games, as a major shareholder of Riot Games, intends to release the mobile version of Valorant soon, though the specific date has not yet been confirmed. [NPPA, in Chinese]

On Wednesday, China’s leading drone maker DJI announced it has conducted a high-altitude transportation test with drones on the southern slope of Mount Everest, marking the first time that a civilian drone has completed a round-trip on a route at altitudes between 5,300 meters and 6,000 meters. From April 25 to May 1, DJI’s test team conducted a week-long test of the FlyCart 30 drone’s high-altitude flight and transport capabilities at and above the Everest Base Camp on the southern slope of the mountain, located at an altitude of 5,364 meters, according to the company. The test team claimed a new civilian drone flight record by reaching an altitude of 6,191.80 meters and achieved a round-trip at an altitude of 6,000 meters with a payload of 15 kilograms. The drone can transport oxygen cylinders up the mountain and bring back garbage on its return trip, DJI said. [DJI, in Chinese]

FinDreams Battery, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese automaker BYD, has won a contract to supply affordable lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells to Tesla for the Elon Musk-led auto firm to make its Megapack energy-storage batteries, Chinese media outlet LatePost reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. BYD is set to supply as much as eight gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery cells annually from early 2025, if Tesla’s new Shanghai plant reaches full capacity, which could bring the Chinese manufacturer revenue of RMB 3.5 billion ($483 million) based on average industry prices. The move could give Tesla more bargaining power and avoid its reliance on CATL, which is currently the exclusive supplier of storage batteries for the US automaker in China, sources said. Last month, Tesla began construction of its first overseas Megafactory facility, scheduled for operation in Shanghai in the first quarter of 2025. It plans to initially make 10,000 Megapack units a year, equal to around 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage, Chinese state media outlet Xinhua first reported on April 9, 2023. [LatePost, in Chinese]

China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) has been increasing efforts to adopt domestic semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as China strives to end its dependence on US chip-making technology, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. While SMIC’s technology lags behind industry leaders such as TSMC and Samsung, at its new Jingcheng facility near Beijing, the firm is aggressively integrating domestic chip production equipment and reducing its reliance on American tools, according to a source. The push for local chip production aims to shield Beijing from US sanctions, with China increasing investment in research and development in related areas. A key example of a breakthrough in this direction is the Huawei Mate 60 smartphone launched last August, which is equipped with the Chinese tech giant’s self-developed Kirin 9000S processor, the report mentioned. [The Wall Street Journal]

Nine major Chinese automakers, including BYD, SAIC, and NIO, have been allowed to proceed with a pilot program to test their production vehicles with medium-to-high levels of automation on public roads, according to a document jointly published by four central government departments on Tuesday. The initiative, launched in November by China’s top industry, public security, transport, and housing authorities, is aimed at facilitating the deployment of intelligent and connected vehicles and sustaining the drafting of subsequent rules, regulations, and national standards for access to such vehicles.

The nine companies are mostly state-owned manufacturers with some private EV makers also included, namely BAIC, BYD, Changan, FAW, GAC, NIO, SAIC, SAIC’s truck subsidiary Hongyan, as well as electric bus maker Yutong. They are now required to detail their proposed testing plans and safety evaluation methodology for autonomous vehicles as part of an application process for temporary permits to commercially operate their robocars with L3 and L4 self-driving functionality on select Chinese public roads. Some of the early movers with the technology, including Tesla, Xpeng Motors, and Huawei, did not join the program. [MIIT announcement, in Chinese, TechNode reporting]

Apple is in negotiations with leading mobile service provider China Mobile to launch its Apple TV+ streaming service in China, according to an exclusive report by US media outlet The Information. Insiders say Apple has substantial reasons to reach an agreement, which would extend Apple TV+ coverage to over 200 million China Mobile users. If negotiations succeed, Apple TV+ will be the only US streaming service available in China. Additionally, Apple has reached an agreement with Tencent to offer several popular applications in the Chinese market on Vision Pro, the report added, after Tim Cook confirmed that Vision Pro will be launched in China later this year. [The Information]

Major Chinese e-commerce player JD has seen a flurry of consumers from lower-tier cities buy goods on its “buy 9.9, enjoy free shipping” channel, which attracted more than 100 times the number of shoppers year-on-year within the first hour of the 618 shopping festival, with over 75% of users from third tier and lower cities. The company posted the initial results on its official WeChat account, adding that big brands including Apple and Xiaomi topped RMB 100 million ($13.8 million) in transaction value “soon” after the beginning of the mid-year shopping festival. Rival Alibaba meanwhile said about 185 brands, also including Apple and Xiaomi, exceeded RMB 100 million in total merchandise volume on Tmall as of 9 p.m. on May 31. This year, Chinese online retailers have set different timelines for the ongoing shopping bonanza while tending to provide ambiguous data, which has made it harder to compare performance year-to-year. [JD; Jiemian, in Chinese]

Prosperity7, the capital fund of Saudi Aramco, has invested in China’s GenAI startup Zhipu AI in the latest $400 million fundraising round, according to Bloomberg quoting anonymous sources. The investment valued the Tsinghua University AI spin-off at about $3 billion. Zhipu AI’s backers include Chinese tech titans Alibaba and Tencent as well as food delivery giant Meituan. Fresh injections from the Saudi fund are flagged as the first well-known capital venture outside China to bet on the country’s AI industry to build an OpenAI alternative. A previous test conducted by Tsinghua University showed Baidu’s ERNIE Bot 4.0 and Zhipu AI’s GLM-4 as top China’s large language models in terms of overall capabilities. [Bloomberg]

Li Auto is going to combine its sales and delivery divisions into a new group in the company’s latest effort to revamp its operations and rev up sales, after reporting lower-than-expected financial results for the first quarter of 2024. The move is expected to bring consistency and spread resources across the two teams, people with knowledge of the matter told Chinese media outlet Meiren Auto on Monday. Performance evaluations had previously been measured by orders and deliveries respectively, which had the potential to lead to conflict when customers put down early orders but wanted their cars delivered the following month, the report said. The news comes after the Chinese electric vehicle maker announced on April 3 a reorganization to sharpen its focus on product development and a failed launch of its first all-electric model, the Mega, in March. The company on May 21 reported a 37% decline in first quarter profit, saying it had delayed plans to launch more battery-powered electric vehicle models to next year. [Meiren Auto, in Chinese]

Chinese phone maker Honor announced today that it will release its first small foldable phone, the Magic V Flip, on June 13. Pre-orders are now open in three color options: black, pink, and white. The new foldable phone features 12GB of RAM and comes with three storage choices – 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB – according to the company. Honor has said it is procuring the largest external screen on the market for this new model, with this aspect expected to be a key selling point for the Magic V Flip, according to local media outlet IThome. China’s foldable phone shipments reached 1.86 million units in the first quarter of 2024, representing an 83% increase year-on-year, as reported by market intelligence firm IDC in April. In the first quarter, Huawei maintained its leading position with a share of 44.1% in the domestic foldable market, while Honor ranked second with a share of 26.7%. [IThome, in Chinese]

Chinese book publisher Motie Group has warned it has halted the shipping of all books to online retailer JD, as a dispute between the two companies over low-priced promotional books during the mid-year 618 shopping festival became increasingly heated. Shen Haobo, founder of Motie, issued a lengthy public post on his WeChat account urging JD to remove all Motie-published books and return them to the company. According to local media outlet Yicai, the source of the dispute is a model that allows JD to sell books at any price it wants, with the publisher effectively unable to control the price of its goods on the platform. E-commerce platforms’ relationship with merchants has deteriorated amid the escalation of the former’s ongoing low-price strategy. Yicai quoted one of JD’s sales and procurement staff who was responsible for the book category as saying that the platform only wants consumers to buy good books cheaply. Shen retorted by labeling the platform’s behavior as “hooliganism.” [Yicai, in Chinese]

Amazon has announced that its Kindle China eBookstore will cease its cloud download service on June 30, 2024. Undownloaded eBooks will no longer be accessible and related customer support will be discontinued. Amazon recommends users download purchased eBooks to their Kindle devices and apps (including mobile and desktop versions), and remain logged into their Amazon accounts for continued access. In 2022, Kindle announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market and stopped operating the Kindle China eBookstore on June 30, 2023. Amazon has provided refund services to users, maintaining them until June 30, 2024. Additionally, Chinese users still have the option to use Kindle e-readers through third-party reading apps such as Tencent’s WeChat Read. [MyDrivers, in Chinese]

Shein plans to file for a London IPO in the coming days as its stalled US listing shows no signs of making progress, according to a report from Sky News on June 2. The report said the listing is expected to value the online fashion giant at around £50 billion, less than the $66 billion valuation the business was given during its last funding round early last year. Filing a prospectus with UK regulators does not guarantee a successful listing for Shein, according to Sky News, and a previous report revealed that the China-founded fashion retailer would still prefer to go public in the US, however, uncertainty around its proposed US listing has forced the company to consider alternatives. [Sky News]

In the first quarter, global shipments of wearable wristband devices totaled 41.2 million units, with Apple, Xiaomi, and Huawei ranking as the top three brands, according to market research firm Canalys. Apple saw a 12% year-on-year decline in global shipments but maintained its leading position with an 18% market share. Xiaomi took second place with a 15% market share, while Huawei secured third spot with a 13% market share. The Canalys report claimed that Xiaomi’s 38% year-on-year growth was driven by a diverse product lineup and rapid overseas expansion, while Huawei’s 46% year-on-year growth was driven by strong domestic sales of the Watch GT4. [Canalys, in Chinese]

Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor has made the decision to shut down its European headquarters in Munich, Germany, and will dismiss about 100 employees before Aug. 31, when the closure will take effect, Automotive News Europe reported on Wednesday. A company spokesperson attributed the move to “tough market conditions” and the “very concrete threat of punitive taxes” on Chinese imports, adding that the automaker will supervise its regional operations remotely to sell cars via local distributors in countries such as Germany and the UK. The automaker, headquartered in the northern Chinese city of Baoding, is still planning to build a factory in Europe with Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic among the possible locations, although it sold only 1,621 vehicles on the continent in the first four months of this year. The European Commission is supposed to inform Chinese exporters of whether it intends to impose punitive tariffs by early June and they could come into effect within a month or so, Bloomberg reported on May 22, citing consulting firm Eurasia Group. [Automotive News Europe]

Developed by Korean firm Nexon and published by Tencent Games, the mobile version of Dungeon and Fighter has held the top spot on both the free and top-grossing games charts in the iOS App Store in China for ten consecutive days since its May 21 launch. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the game’s first-week revenue exceeded $140 million, citing data from consulting firm Niko Partners. “If the game maintains this momentum, it could continue to generate around one billion dollars in annual sales for Tencent Games,” Niko Partners analyst Xiao Feng Zeng said in the Bloomberg report. Dungeon and Fighter was first published by Nexon in South Korea in 2005, featuring fast-paced 2D side-scrolling action gameplay with a focus on cooperative multiplayer dungeon crawling and PVP (player versus player) combat. [Bloomberg]

Tesla is looking to meet regulatory registration requirements for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in China and begin testing the latest version of it on Chinese public roads, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. If the US automaker manages to gain approval from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it may roll out version 12 of the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) in China this year, and allow owners to subscribe to the service at about $98 per month. The service now charges Chinese buyers a one-time fee of RMB 64,000 ($8,828), according to the report. The news comes after Tesla chief executive Elon Musk met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing last month and China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), a top auto industry group, confirmed that Tesla’s China-made vehicles are compliant with the country’s data security requirements. [Reuters]

NIO’s power infrastructure network has continued to secure partnerships, as the company said on Thursday that it now offers owners of IM Motors vehicles access to more than 22,500 proprietary fast chargers across China. They can find the nearest NIO fast chargers in their locations and pay for charging by using their own apps, according to an announcement, in a similar arrangement to those with Changan, Geely, and Xpeng, among others. IM Motors, a premium electric vehicle brand launched by China’s SAIC, has four models on sale with a price range between RMB 199,900 and RMB 459,800 ($27,586-$63,452). It reported deliveries of 38,253 units last year and that number was roughly 12,300 from January to April. NIO is also working with several major automakers and state-owned utilities, including GAC and Southern Power Grid, on battery swapping and operates 2,427 battery swap stations nationwide as of Thursday. [NIO announcement, in Chinese]

Chinese ride-hailing platform Didi on Wednesday posted a 14.9% year-on-year growth in first-quarter revenue as total trips increased 30.3% to 3.75 billion. Specifically, the number of trips taken reached record highs of 32.5 million and 8.7 million per day in China and overseas markets, respectively, compared with the 31.9 million and 8.5 million the company achieved in the previous quarter. Didi’s January-March comparable operating profit also improved to RMB 900 million ($124 million), although it reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of RMB 1.4 billion due to a reduction in investment income from its stake in Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng. China’s biggest ride-hailing service said last August that it would become a strategic investor in Xpeng with a stake of 3.25%, while the EV maker was set to acquire its smart EV business. The Beijing-based ride-hailer has targeted 10% growth in daily trips in 2024, which refers to the completion of 33 million rides on average per day, according to a March 21 report by Chinese media outlet LatePost. [Didi filing]

ByteDance, owner of TikTok and Douyin, reportedly has major initiatives underway for AI-powered hardware projects, with two key hardware divisions currently driving these efforts, according to a 36Kr report that cited several sources. The report stated that one team is codenamed “D line,” led by Li Haoqian, founder of open wearable stereo brand Oladance, which ByteDance acquired recently. The other group, dubbed “O line,” is a cross-functional team tasked with exploring AI-based consumer hardware products. According to the report, it works closely with ByteDance’s artificial intelligence software team “Flow” on integrated hardware-software AI solutions. The TikTok maker overhauled its VR arm Pico late last year, two years after it was acquired by ByteDance, which was once seen as the company’s strong move into the VR industry with hardware headsets. [36Kr, in Chinese]

At the annual gaming event SPARK 2024, Tencent Games announced the start of limited paid closed-beta testing for the mobile version of Civilization, though it has not disclosed a specific date for its non-wipe tests. The Civilization series, developed by US firm 2K Games, is an iconic turn-based strategy franchise renowned for its immersive gameplay and historical depth. Players take on the role of leaders of civilizations, guiding them through various eras of history, managing resources, developing cities, conducting diplomacy, and engaging in warfare with other civilizations. Tencent’s Aurora Studios acquired the franchise from 2K Games and has collaborated on the development of the mobile version, according to the Chinese gaming giant. The full launch of the title is anticipated for the latter half of this year. [Tencent Games Weibo, in Chinese]

On Tuesday, the Internet Society of China issued draft regulations entitled Requirements for Managing Minor Online Game Service Consumption for public consultation. In China, minors are entitled to game refunds if game operators fail to provide adequate protection, as mandated by laws regarding the online protection of those under the age of 16. The draft represents the first comprehensive consumption management standard in the gaming industry, which is intended to be used to resolve disputes over refunds involving minors and gaming companies. The standards make it clear that gaming companies do not bear sole responsibility: if providers implement anti-addiction measures but a child’s guardian helps them bypass these barriers, the refund may range from 30% to 70% rather than the full 100% as previously mandated. Repeated misconduct can result in full liability for the responsible party, the draft rules say. [Internet Society of China, in Chinese]

On Monday, Honor launched the Honor 200 and 200 Pro smartphones in China, with the 200 Pro model featuring a 6.78-inch OLED display with a 1.5K resolution, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a 50MP main camera with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), 100W fast charging support, and dual front cameras. The standard version has a similar display but uses the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor and lacks some advanced features such as wireless charging. Both models share a sleek design with curved edges and come in various colors, including black, white, pink, and blue. The Honor 200 series ranges from RMB 2,699 ($372) to RMB 4,499 ($621). In the first quarter, Honor saw double-digit growth in China, capturing a 16.1% market share with sales of 8.9 million units, driven by popular new models and its expansion in offline retail channels, according to Counterpoint Research. [IThome, in Chinese]

Alibaba has signed one of England’s most iconic football players David Beckham as a global ambassador for its international e-commerce platform AliExpress, a high-profile move as the Chinese tech giant looks to further promote the platform to the world. An advertising video featuring Beckham highlights the “free shipping and returns” feature, with the former England international encouraging shoppers to “score more with AliExpress.” Alibaba’s International Digital Commerce Group, which includes platforms such as AliExpress, Lazada, and Trendyol, has experienced the fastest growing path among the company’s six main units in recent quarters. The partnership comes after Alibaba become one of the sponsors of Euro 2024, which runs next month. AliExpress claimed that “Chinese cross-border merchants are set for a wave of traffic” in a WeChat post where the company announced Beckham as a brand ambassador. [AliExpress, in Chinese]

TikTok’s Chinese sibling app Douyin implemented a new “hotspot content” verification mechanism on Monday, in what it said was a move to strengthen community regulation and governance of the platform, which has 800 million daily active users. In a notice posted by Douyin’s security unit on its official WeChat account, the platform said it would ask accounts involved in “trending events of high social concern” to provide proof of identification; failure to do so within 24 hours would see their accounts blocked. The rules also require content creators to clearly label fictional stories, with users who fail to do so and cause misunderstandings among the public subject to penalties ranging from a 30-day ban to an indefinite suspension of their accounts. The moves come after the social media accounts of a top influencer called Maoyibei were deleted from multiple platforms following her widely shared story of a boy and his missing homework books in Paris that was reportedly fabricated. [Douyin, in Chinese]

The China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase III Co., Ltd. (referred to as the Phase III Fund) was registered on May 24, with a capital of RMB 344 billion ($47.5 billion), according to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity. The China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, commonly known as the “Big Fund,” was established in 2014 to support the development of China’s semiconductor industry. The new company’s business includes managing private equity funds, venture capital funds, equity investments, investment management, asset management, and business management consulting. Shareholder information reveals that the Phase III Fund is jointly held by 19 shareholders, including the Ministry of Finance (17.4419%), China Development Bank Capital (10.4651%), Shanghai Guosheng Group (8.7209%), China Construction Bank Corporation (6.25%), Bank of China Limited (6.25%), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (6.25%), Agricultural Bank of China Limited (6.25%), and Bank of Communications Limited (5.8140%). [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Short video platform Douyin is aiming for an ambitious RMB 4 trillion ($552.3 billion) goal in e-commerce transactions this year, according to local media outlet 36Kr. The figure represents an increase of more than 30% on the transactions completed by the TikTok sibling app in 2023, the report added. Douyin’s online retail business expanded to the trillion yuan scale in just six years, boosted by its huge number of daily active users, and its model of marrying video-sharing with shopping is now well established. The target comes as the ByteDance-owned app continues to eat into the market shares of China’s older e-commerce players. Rival Alibaba, which recorded a GMV of RMB 7.97 trillion from its Chinese consumer-facing businesses in the fiscal year 2022, didn’t disclose figures for the following year, instead saying that its Taobao and Tmall platforms saw mid-single-digit year-over-year declines in order volumes. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Tech bloggers have posted screenshots of Huawei’s new HarmonyOS NEXT interfaces for phones and notebooks on the Chinese social platform Weibo, as the Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) 2024 approaches. The leak is being seen as a signal that the HDC, scheduled for June 21-23, will see the debut of the beta version of Huawei’s self-developed operating system HarmonyOS NEXT for developers. The Chinese tech giant is aiming to expand its HarmonyOS ecosystem to include 5,000 native apps by the end of 2024, with a long-term goal of reaching 500,000. Currently, more than 4,000 apps are integrated. The consumer version of HarmonyOS NEXT is expected to enter into the market in the fourth quarter of this year. [IThome, in Chinese]

Google has chosen TSMC over its long-term partner Samsung to manufacture its self-developed Tensor G5 processor for Google’s next-generation Pixel 10 series smartphones, according to US media outlet Android Authority. A shipping list of Google Tensor G5 samples has been exposed, which directly displays TSMC’s InFo-PoP packaging technology, the report revealed. Android Authority claimed that “LGA” in the list is an abbreviation for Tensor G5, specifically “Laguna Beach,” as Google may use abbreviations to conceal its activities. Companies must declare the contents and value of goods when importing or exporting overseas, and some regions share this information with third parties, which eventually gets listed in various databases, the report explained. [Android Authority]

China’s online retailer JD said on Monday morning that it plans to raise the annual fixed salary for sales and procurement staff to a 20-month package from the current 16-month over the next one-and-a-half years. The move comes days after founder Richard Liu warned employees that the company doesn’t tolerate poor performers who don’t hustle. “The company will always love you if you have good work performance even if you never work extra hours,” Liu said in a recent internal memo. He also noted that staff who prioritize their careers over their personal lives are not his “brothers,” a term Liu frequently uses to refer to his employees regardless of gender. China’s e-commerce market share, previously dominated by Alibaba and JD, is being rapidly eroded by Pinduoduo and Douyin, adding urgency to the need for change within the former giants. [JD, in Chinese]

Volkswagen’s premium brand Audi said on Monday it would strengthen its partnership with China’s SAIC to develop a new electric vehicle platform, a move that would enable the German automaker to reduce time-to-market by over 30% in the Chinese market. The first models built upon the so-called Advanced Digitized Platform will cover the B-class and C-class vehicle segments and hit the market in 2025, according to a statement. SAIC, a state-owned manufacturing partner of Volkswagen and General Motors in China, in July announced a deal with Audi to license EV technologies under its IM Motors luxury lineup. Volkswagen has been working with Xpeng Motors in a similar effort for its namesake mainstream brand. [Reuters, SAIC statement, in Chinese]

On May 17, Huawei released the Star Edition of its Nova 12 Ultra smartphone, featuring the Kirin 9010L processor, an upgrade on the standard Ultra model which is equipped with the Chinese tech giant’s Kirin 9000SL processor. Tech bloggers and smartphone buyers have stated that the Nova 12 Ultra Star Edition displays “equipped with Kirin 9010L processor” when the device is set up. In terms of specs, the 9010L processor in the Star Edition features a combination of two high-speed cores running at 2.19GHz, four mid-range cores at 2.18GHz, and three power-efficient cores operating at 1.40GHz. Compared to the previous Nova 12 Ultra model, the Star Edition sees an improvement in performance, according to local media outlet IThome. The 512GB storage variant is available for RMB 4,799 ($664) and the 1TB storage option is priced at RMB 5,599 ($774). [IThome, in Chinese]

Chinese e-commerce player JD has escalated the country’s on-demand delivery battle as it rebrands its retail service and promises to deliver purchased items in as little as 9 minutes. The company announced the upgrade on Monday on its official WeChat account. The brand new business integrates JD’s previous one-hour delivery service and JD Daojia, and is now named JD Miaosong, meaning products delivered in seconds. The dedicated section for Miaosong is located on the homepage of JD’s main app, with shoppers able to select and buy flowers and cakes, coffees and medicines and with orders of RMB 29 ($4) and over eligible for free shipping. JD’s rivals generally promise delivery within half an hour with their on-demand services at present. [JDJD, in Chinese]

TikTok is testing an option for users to upload videos as long as 60 minutes, although the short video platform told tech media outlet TechCrunch that it does not have immediate plans for a wider launch. The ByteDance-owned app has built its name and popularity on the back of seconds-long videos in recent years, pushing longer form-focused rivals including YouTube and Meta to launch similar features in an attempt to retain their user bases. The 60-minute-long video feature is a signal of TikTok’s challenge to YouTube, and is intended to attract content creators to share more by loosening the time limits on videos on the platform. [TechCrunch]

Chinese game developer Game Science has announced that the standard PC edition of Black Myth: Wukong will launch in China on August 26 at a price of RMB 268 ($38). Based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, the highly anticipated action game is widely seen as having the potential to be the very first AAA title from a Chinese developer. The price, which supports refunds, cloud saves, controllers, and does not include in-game purchases, according to the information on the game page, has therefore been met with a generally positive reaction from Chinese gamers on social media, with some even suggesting that the game feels underpriced. Judging by comments on Chinese social media, most players in China are hoping the game becomes a big critical and commercial success. [Game Science Weibo, in Chinese]

TSMC will not utilize ASML’s most advanced High NA EUV (high numerical aperture extreme ultraviolet) lithography machine for its latest A16 (1.6nm) process, a move that contrasts with that of Intel, which recently announced the assembly of the industry’s first commercial High NA EUV machine. Intel has secured all of ASML’s High NA EUV machine capacity for this year, sources said. The Taiwanese chip manufacturer is expected to use its current EUV equipment for several more years, as the price of High NA EUV equipment exceeds 300 million euros, according to TSMC’s vice president of business development Zhang Xiaoqiang. Zhang claimed that TSMC’s existing EUV machines can support its chip production until the end of 2026, at which time the A16 process technology is expected to be mass produced. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

China’s JD beats market expectations for both revenue and profit in the first quarter of 2023, as earnings grew 7% to RMB 260 billion ($36 billion) compared to a year earlier, and net profit amounted to RMB 7.1 billion, a 12.7% increase. A low-price strategy and continuous discount campaigns throughout the year helped bring the retailer a revenue rebound. During an earnings call on Thursday, CEO Sandy Xu said general merchandise “had a great quarter,” with quarterly growth of 8.6% down in large part to the supermarket segment. Xu revealed that supermarket items recorded double-digit GMV and revenue growth in the first three months of this year, and said she expected it to remain an “important growth driver” for JD in the long run. JD Retail’s operating margin fell 0.5% year-on-year to 4.1%, signaling that the price wars have not significantly impacted the company’s main business. JD’s CFO told investors that the company believes business growth and profitability are “more reinforcing than contradictory.” [JD]

Huawei demonstrated its large model’s text-to-image capability at a press conference on May 10, where an interruption occurred during the demo when Ctrl-C was pressed, revealing a piece of code that included “time.sleep(6).” Some netizens suspected that the generated images were not produced by the model but were manually output as local images after waiting for 6 seconds. This led to widespread discussion about the authenticity of the demonstration on the Chinese social platform Weibo. In response to this incident, Huawei stated on Thursday that the images were generated in real time using an open-source large model. The “time.sleep(6)” code indicates a command to wait for the external open-source model to generate the images in real time, rather than retrieving preset images, according to Huawei. The code used in the demonstration is authentic and will be available on the Huawei Ascend community platform, where developers are invited to use it and provide valuable feedback, the company said. [TechWeb, in Chinese]

On Wednesday, Chinese telecom giant Huawei released the new MateBook 14 at its summer product launch event. The device is the first Huawei laptop to support a stylus. Powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, the MateBook 14 offers 40W TDP (Thermal Design Power) in its slim 14.5mm body and up to 32GB of memory. The new laptop features TÜV Rheinland eye-protection certification, a low blue-light display, 1920Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, and a 2.8K OLED screen that measures 14.2 inches, with a high screen-to-body ratio of 91%. In terms of AI capability, the device integrates AI models from Huawei’s partners including Baidu’s ERNIE Bot, iFLYTEK’s Spark, and Zhipu AI, enabling various AI-assisted user scenarios including office work, learning, and software development. The price of the MateBook 14 ranges from RMB 6,099 ($845) to RMB 8,499 ($1,178) for different storage configurations. [IThome, in Chinese]

Two Chinese chip-makers, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Wuhan Xinxin, are at the early stages of producing high bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors essential for artificial intelligence chipsets, according to a report by Reuters published on Wednesday. China’s leading DRAM (Dynamic Random-Access Memory) manufacturer CXMT has partnered with chip packaging and testing company Tongfu Microelectronics to develop sample HBM chips and has showcased them to clients, Reuters said, citing sources familiar with the matter. Documents from the corporate database Qichacha indicate that Wuhan Xinxin began constructing a factory in February of this year, which is intended to have the capacity to produce 3,000 12-inch HBM wafers per month. CXMT and other Chinese chip firms have also been meeting with semiconductor equipment firms from South Korea and Japan to purchase tools for the development of HBM, sources added. [Reuters]

Tencent’s profit jumped 54% to RMB 50.3 billion ($7.1 billion) in the first quarter thanks to the Chinese tech giant’s so-called “high-quality revenue streams,” chairman and CEO Pony Ma told investors during the firm’s earnings call. The referred to streams include advertising in Video Accounts and WeChat Search, and e-commerce technology service fees. Quarterly revenue landed at RMB 159.5 billion, representing a 6% year-on-year increase. Specifically, online advertising generated RMB 26.5 billion during the period, a 26% increase that made it the company’s most successful unit in terms of revenue growth during the quarter. However, Tencent’s chief strategy officer James Mitchell said ad growth in subsequent quarters of this year is expected to be “less rapid” than in the first quarter. Time spent on WeChat’s TikTok-like video service is now over twice that spent on its social feed Moments, according to Tencent, with users spending 80% more time than last year on their WeChat video accounts as the company battles for attention from China’s vast online population with rivals Douyin (TikTok) and Kuaishou. [Tencent]

Chinese search engine giant Baidu said on Wednesday it expects its key robotaxi business to break even in the fourth quarter of this year and aims to be the first autonomous ride-hailing project to profit by 2025, as planned. The country’s top search engine unveiled its sixth generation self-driving car, a battery-powered multipurpose vehicle costing RMB 204,600 ($28,316), a fraction of its original price. The RT6, a four-seated all-electric van boasting a spacious cabin, manufactured by partner Jiangling Motors, measures 4.8 meters in length with a wheelbase of roughly 2.8 meters. It is powered by a swappable battery pack and equipped with dozens of sensors, including cameras and lidar units, to allow driverless operations. French market intelligence company Yole Développement estimated in 2018 that robocars would have to be priced at no less than $200,000.

Baidu said it plans to deploy 1,000 such vehicles by year-end in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where it now operates a fully autonomous fleet with hundreds of robotaxis over 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles). The Beijing-headquartered tech company, dubbed “China’s Google,” does not provide a full breakdown of its research and development costs, but chief executive Robin Li told Bloomberg in April 2021 that the firm spent RMB 20 billion on vehicle autonomy in 2020. Li added that the company was determined to invest hugely in self-driving technologies over the next 10-20 years. The latest move comes after news that the Chinese government would allow Tesla to test and operate robotaxis, an idea proposed by its boss Elon Musk during his visit to the country last month, according to a report by China Daily on May 9.

“With decreasing costs and increasing orders, Apollo Go’s unit economics (UE) is nearing break-even, expected to achieve balance in the fourth quarter of 2024 and turn profitable by 2025,” Baidu said in a press release. [TechNode reporting]

Note: This article has been updated to include an announcement released on May 15, which highlighted the unit economics (UE) of Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing platform Apollo Go, not the company’s self-driving car business, is nearing break-even.

China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba reported an 86% profit slump in the March quarter despite revenue growing 7% from a year earlier, largely due to changes in the valuation of equity investments. Value of goods sold on Taobao and Tmall saw double-digit growth, as did order numbers on the two platforms, driving revenue of the company’s domestic marketplace up 4% to RMB 93.2 billion. Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu said he believed that the strategy of “offering good merchandise at a competitive price while supporting excellent service” had helped the firm’s online GMV growth rate back to double digits. “Increasing customer purchase frequency and enhanced user experience is our number one objective this year,” Wu said on a Tuesday earnings call. The group recorded RMB 221.87 billion in revenue for the three months ended March 31. Within Alibaba’s cloud computing unit, AI-related revenue was a major highlight for the firm with triple-digit growth year-over-year as companies across multiple industries continue to integrate artificial intelligence into their businesses. [Alibaba]

Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) has again recorded a quarterly drop in revenue but a boost to its profits, with a 3.4% earnings drop to RMB 6.77 billion ($937 million) and a 23.9% net profit increase to RMB 1.42 billion in the first three months of this year. This marks the third straight quarter of declining revenues for the Chinese entertainment giant. Revenue from social entertainment services, including livestreaming, slumped by nearly half to RMB 1.76 billion from a year prior, which in turn largely drove the cost of revenues to decrease by 14.8%. The company recorded 113.5 million paid users during the period, a 6.8 million boost in membership that it said was its “largest quarter-over-quarter net increase to date.” In its earnings filing, TME also mentioned it has introduced AI large audio models with the aim of increasing the accuracy of the music promoted to users. [TME]

Chinese phone brand Vivo on Monday unveiled it new flagship model the X100 Ultra, with a 200MP telephoto camera co-developed with Samsung. The X100 Ultra is the first smartphone in the industry to come with a 1/1.4-inch telephoto sensor, the company said, featuring an f/2.67 aperture and an 85mm equivalent focal length. The device also comes with Zeiss T* coating and Zeiss APO (Apochromatic) certification, which are expected to enhance clarity and reduce colour fringing, which can occur along edges of high contrast in an image. In terms of other specs, the X100 Ultra is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, 6.78-inch E7 LTPO AMOLED display, 5,500 mAh battery, and two-way satellite communication in China. The new phone is priced from RMB 6,499 ($898), which comes with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. [IThome, in Chinese]

China’s biggest short video platform Douyin will stop influencers who post content involving politics, economics, law and healthcare, letting third-party advertisers upload commercials to their channels. According to the TikTok sister app’s latest notice to short video channels, the rule will take effect on Wednesday. A U-turn on a previous decision to allow influencers to authorize PR personnel to update their channels, the decision will have a visible impact on channels, and mean influencers make less money than before. ByteDance-owned Douyin said the change “does not affect creators’ other cash or monetization capabilities nor does it end influencers’ creation on the above serious topics” after the rule was misunderstood by the public as meaning the platform no longer supported coverage of political and financial issues. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Retail employees from China, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore flew to Apple’s headquarters in California last week for a four-day training session on demonstrating the mixed-reality Vision Pro headset, according to sources from Bloomberg. Apple is expected to expand distribution of the Vision Pro after this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) from June 10 to June 14, although its exact release date in international markets has not yet been announced. Apple earlier reportedly slowing shipments of Vision Pro in the US market amid declining customer interest due to its $3,499 price tag. Apple has yet to disclose international pricing. [Bloomberg]

BYD is continuing to expand its Ocean family of electric vehicles, seeking government approval to bring out a smaller version of its Seal sports sedan, according to information revealed by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on May 11. The compact hatchback will measure 4.6 meters in length and 1.5 meters in height with a wheelbase of roughly 2.8 meters, making it significantly larger than its siblings including the RMB 99,800 ($13,795) Dolphin and lower-priced Seagull. The new Seal variant has a lightweight and nimble feel with short overhangs and athletic lines, and could be named the Seal 06 GT, Seal 05 EV, or Seal MiNI, pictures published on the MIIT website showed. China’s biggest EV maker sold 127,323 plug-in hybrid and all-electric Seal vehicles last year, bringing it into fierce competition with rivals’ models including the Zeekr 007 from Geely and IM LS6 from SAIC. [TechNode reporting, MIIT release, in Chinese]

Taiwan-based chip manufacturer MediaTek may partner with US chip giant Nvidia to develop an AI PC processor based on ARM architecture, according to Taiwanese media outlet Economic Daily News, aiming to complete the tape-out in the third quarter of 2024. The new chip may cost as much as $300. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to visit Taiwan on June 2 for the COMPUTEX (Taipei International Information Technology Show), and MediaTek will also announce details of its collaboration with Nvidia on the AI PC chip next month, the report added. Additionally, ARM, the British semiconductor and software design company, is reportedly planning to launch its own AI chip prototype and establish an AI chip division next spring before entering mass production by handing it over to contractors next fall. [Economic Daily News, in Chinese]

Chery Auto on May 9 introduced the first midsize electric crossover under its mainstream luxury Exeed lineup with both all-electric and plug-in hybrid versions, which the Chinese automaker said would compete with the Tesla Model Y and Audi Q5L. With a starting price of RMB 189,800 ($26,236), the extended-range version of the Sterra ET accelerates from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 7.8 seconds and travels up to 1,518 kilometers (943 miles) on a full charge and full tank of gas. The all-electric variant of the five-seater, with an 800-volt electrical system and priced between RMB 229,800 and RMB 319,800, has a driving range of up to 760 km and boasts a 475 km additional range on 12 minute fast charging. Chery said the five-meter-long sports utility vehicle could now function by itself on Chinese highways and will be capable of navigating on more sophisticated urban roads in some cities by June. The state-owned automaker has previously hired Tesla’s former lead machine learning engineer, Gu Junli, to lead the development of its advanced driver assistance system. [TechNode reporting, Chery release, in Chinese]

The regional German court has ruled that Chinese tech company Lenovo and its subsidiary Motorola infringed on the patent rights of US firm InterDigital. The court in Munich prohibited both companies from selling devices supporting 4G/5G networks (smartphones and tablets) across Germany. InterDigital is a technology research and development company providing wireless and video technologies for mobile devices, networks, and services worldwide. InterDigital had hoped to provide licensing on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms, but said Lenovo failed to comply. “Following the court’s finding that Lenovo’s behavior constitutes a hold-out, we hope Lenovo reverses course and finally takes a fair and reasonable license,” commented Josh Schmidt, the Chief Legal Officer of InterDigital. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Alibaba on Friday opened its new global headquarters in Hangzhou, a combination of office and leisure facilities that total nearly 1 million square meters. The new complex nods to the e-commerce giant’s roots and demonstrates its commitment to its home city of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, Chinese media outlets reported. It features gardens, a football field, a 400-meter running track, basketball and badminton courts, and several gyms, and is also equipped with barrier-free facilities, according to the company’s official statement on WeChat. Alibaba’s new campus in Beijing officially went into operation on the same day, with the complex providing work space for 19,000 employees. [Alibaba, in Chinese]

China’s second-largest short video platform Kuaishou is planning to open an office in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, soon, according to a report by the South China Morning Post quoting Kuaishou’s chief financial officer Jin Bing. In addition to the Middle East, the TikTok rival is also eyeing expansion in North Africa and Brazil, where Jin said the company has a “great opportunity,” with people there sharing similarities with Kuaishou’s users at home: “people love to watch good quality content, engage with each other, and purchase products or services online.” The report noted that Kwai, Kuaishou’s international version outside of China, has more than 20 million monthly active users in the Middle East and North Africa region at present. The move comes as TikTok, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, continues its legal efforts to overturn a US law requiring the hugely popular short video app to be sold or face a nationwide ban. [SCMP]

BYD on Friday launched the first midsize battery sport utility vehicle named after a marine animal, targetting young Chinese customers with its flashy design and seeking to compete with Tesla’s Model Y at a price range between RMB 189,800 and RMB 239,800 ($26,268-$33,188). The entry-level Sea Lion 07 EV will have a driving range of 550 kilometers (342 miles) and charge from 10% to 80% in 25 minutes. BYD said its latest EV platform will enable a charging power of 240 kilowatts with most chargers. The vehicle can reach speeds of 225 kilometers per hour (140 mph), powered by what the company claims is the world’s fastest electric motor for production cars, spinning at up to 23,000 revolutions per minute (rpms). The hatchback crossover is similar in size to its sibling, battery sports sedan Seal, in overall body and wheelbase length, but larger than the Dolphin and Seagull battery sedans. [BYD release, in Chinese]

Chinese lithium-ion battery maker CATL and French shipping company CMA CGM will set up a joint venture to explore the potential of creating an all-encompassing solution for greenhouse gas reduction, according to a statement published on Wednesday by CATL. The two companies said they will work closely on various topics related to achieving carbon neutrality, including the development of electric boats and commercial vehicles, as well as logistics and warehousing, without providing specifics. The move is the company’s latest effort to diversify its business beyond battery manufacturing for electric vehicles and to tap into the maritime and aviation transportation sectors. The world’s top battery supplier has been producing semi-solid state batteries to power both civil aircraft and EVs for the past several years. CATL chairman Robin Zeng, who traveled with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first state visit to Europe in five years, attended a signing ceremony on Tuesday in France. [CATL announcement, in Chinese]

Jiang Hairong, Chief Marketing Officer of Honor China, announced on Thursday that sales of Honor X50 smartphones have exceeded 10 million units in the Chinese market 10 months after the device was launched. The X50 is the first Android device introduced since 2023 to surpass 10 million sales in China, according to Honor. Launched last July, the mid-ranger features the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor and drop-resistant materials, and is priced at RMB 1,399 ($194). In the first quarter of 2024, Honor led the Chinese smartphone market with a share of 17.1%, according to data released by market intelligence firm IDC, which reported around 69.26 million units shipped in total across all brands. [Honor Weibo, in Chinese]

Word has spread in a Huawei app forum that Huawei HiSilicon’s chairman He Tingbo and Huawei Terminal Business Group’s chairman Yu Chengdong issued an internal letter “To Comrades” in which a contingency plan entitled “Tashan Battle” for PC chipsets was revealed. The letter allegedly urged HiSilicon and the Terminal Business Group to bring about swift and high-quality launches of PC products equipped with the self-developed Kirin X series chipset by the end of the year. In response to an inquiry by a Cailianpress reporter on Thursday, Huawei staff said that no such internal document had been received. On Tuesday, the US revoked licenses allowing Huawei to buy PC-related chips from Qualcomm and Intel, according to overseas media, a move that will further tighten export restrictions on the Chinese telecom equipment maker. [Cailianpress, in Chinese]

BYD will introduce to Europe a low-cost electric vehicle, which will be priced at no more than €20,000 ($21,550), based on its Chinese Seagull model, the company’s regional managing director Michael Shu said on Thursday. The Seagull, which currently costs between RMB 69,800 and RMB 85,800 ($9,661-$11,875) and can travel between 305 and 405 kilometers (190-252 miles) on a single charge, was the top-selling small car in China, recording sales of nearly 240,000 units last year. Shu also mentioned the company’s plan to establish a second car factory in Europe in 2025, aside from the first one for passenger EVs currently under construction in Hungary, as BYD aims to “be in a leading position” in the regional market by 2030. The comments come as Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first trip to Europe in five years during May 5-10 and as French finance minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday publicly wooed BYD to invest in car manufacturing in the country. [Reuters]

Chinese e-commerce platform JD is set to kick off its mid-year shopping event at 8 p.m. on May 31, with the company branding it under the theme of “quality and affordability” as price remains a sensitive factor for local consumers. JD has also dropped its presale period for this year’s 618 festival, in a similar move to rival Taobao, with the two online retail giants looking to follow common competitor Pinduoduo’s more straightforward shopping experience. In an announcement made by the Beijing-based company, the shopping spree will kick off with a “10-billion yuan discount day,” and low price-focused activities will continue throughout the sales promotion period, which will last for more than two weeks. [JD, in Chinese]

On Wednesday, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun shared on the social media platform Weibo that the company has promoted Xu Fei and Zhang Jianhui to senior executive positions at the group. Notably, this marks the first instance where the Chinese phone maker has appointed two female executives simultaneously. Xu Fei is appointed as Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, while Zhang Jianhui takes on the role of Vice President and Chair of the Procurement Committee. “They are both employees who joined Xiaomi at the beginning of its entrepreneurship, and have grown together with Xiaomi for more than a decade,” said Lei in the Weibo post. Additionally, Xiaomi will establish a Group Strategic Marketing Department to oversee the brand, public relations, and marketing-related work of the company, as revealed by an internal appointment email. [Lei Jun Weibo, in Chinese]

Alibaba hopes to spur e-commerce growth in Mongolia via a joint platform built with local tech company Intelmind, aiming to bring “millions of” China-made goods to consumers in the landlocked country. The partnership will be between Alibaba’s wholesale platform 1688.com and Intelmind-owned retail marketplace Shoppy under the auspices of a new platform, ShoppyHub.mn, according to Intelmind. The company has said it will enable Mongolian shoppers to consolidate multiple purchases into a single order, with packages deliverable within seven to ten days. Alibaba’s expansion into Mongolia comes as it faces challenging circumstances at home and is pouring investment into other potential markets globally. [GoGo Mongolia]

The US has taken the step of revoking licenses that previously authorized companies such as Intel and Qualcomm to supply chips used in laptops and handsets to Chinese telecoms equipment manufacturer Huawei, according to Reuters. Sources said some of the companies received notifications on Tuesday that their licenses were revoked with immediate effect. The US Commerce Department confirmed the revocation of certain licenses earlier in the day, but it refused to specify the companies involved. A spokesperson for Intel declined to comment, while Qualcomm and Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. The action comes after the debut of Huawei’s first AI laptop, the MateBook X Pro, which was launched last month and runs on Intel’s latest Core Ultra 9 processor, the Reuters report said. [Reuters]

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan’s Hong Kong-focused platform KeeTa led the territory’s food delivery market in terms of order volume in March, with its 44% share of total orders surpassing rival Foodpanda for the first time, according to data from third-party analysis platform Measurable AI. However, when calculating overall sales volume, KeeTa’s 36% market share is still slightly lower than Foodpanda’s 39% during the period. The results have encouraged Meituan to “actively evaluate opportunities in other markets,” CEO Wang Xing said in a recent earnings call, following a Bloomberg report that the company is mulling a potential entry to Riyadh, one of richest cities in the Middle East and the capital of Saudi Arabia. [Caixin, in Chinese]

In response to criticism by the European Commission, China’s biggest automaker SAIC said it has “fully cooperated” with the latest EU anti-subsidy investigation launched by the agency. The state-owned manufacturer, along with peers BYD and Geely, was earlier accused of not supplying sufficient information. The comments come as the Commission warned the three automakers that they had failed to satisfy investigators considering whether the bloc would impose higher import duties on Chinese electric vehicle imports, according to a May 3 report by Reuters. SAIC told Reuters it had complied with World Trade Organization and EU rules, but that “commercially sensitive information – such as battery formulation – should not belong to this category.” The China chapter of the EU Chamber of Commerce said the European Commission had used regulatory powers to lay out a series of demands, including multiple rounds of questionnaires and on-site inspections, and query the companies on sensitive corporate issues related to their supply chain. [Reuters]

TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance launched legal action against the US government on Tuesday after it passed sell-or-ban legislation targeting the short video app. TikTok argues that the law signed by president Joe Biden in April that forces its Chinese owners to divest in nine months violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution. According to the lawsuit, TikTok said “for the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban,” while arguing that Congress had failed to offer any evidence that TikTok poses the “types of risks to data security or the spread of foreign propaganda that could conceivably justify the Act.” [TikTok lawsuit filing]

Chinese self-driving car startup Momenta is exploring a US initial public offering this year that could raise as much as $300 million, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Momenta, backed by auto giants including General Motors, Toyota, and BYD, has engaged China International Capital Corp., Goldman Sachs, and UBS to assist with its plan, but has not yet confirmed its listing location, the report said. The Suzhou-headquartered company is reportedly making the advanced driver assistance systems Toyota is set to incorporate in its Chinese models. Momenta raised $300 million from General Motors in 2021 and has been working with BYD through a joint venture set up later that year. [TechNode reporting, Bloomberg]

Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD and its peers have received a warm welcome from France as French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday the government is open to the possibility of the companies establishing their factories in the country. “France welcomes all industrial projects. BYD and the Chinese auto industry are very welcome in France,” Le Maire said at a meeting with a group of automotive business leaders in Paris on the sidelines of a two-day state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a meeting with French leader Emmanuel Macron on Monday, Xi said claims that state subsidies for electric vehicles provided by Beijing are creating distortions in global markets and trade are false. “China’s new energy industry has made real progress in open competition and represents advanced production capacity. It not only increases global supply and alleviates the pressure of global inflation, but also contributes significantly to global climate response and green transition,” said Xi. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen also joined the two leaders for a meeting, saying Europe “will not waver from making tough decisions needed to protect its market.” Brussels’ anti-subsidy probe into Chinese EV imports, initiated last September, is expected to conclude within the coming weeks. [Reuters]

At the social platform Weibo, tech blogger Digital Chat Station revealed on Monday that Vivo will unveil its latest phone models on May 13, including the Vivo X100s, X100s Pro, and X100 Ultra. The X100s and X100s Pro will feature the Dimensity 9300+ chipset, while the X100 Ultra is expected to sport the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, according to sources. The flagship boasts a 200-megapixel Zeiss APO (apochromatic) super telephoto lens, labeled as the industry’s largest 1/1.4 bottom telephoto, with an f/2.67 aperture, 22.48mm physical focal length, and the capability to output resolutions of 12,888 x 16,320 in high-pixel mode. Storage options for all X100S models range from 12+256GB to 16+1TB. [Digital Chat Station, in Chinese]

Based on information from the Xiaomi HypeOS source code, Xiaomi is preparing to launch the CIVI 4 Pro Disney Princess Edition in the coming weeks following the release of the standard CIVI 4 Pro version on March 21. This unique edition, inspired by Disney characters, will feature a Disney-themed UI (User Interface) and two exclusive camera watermarks named Snow White and Evil Queen. The Disney Princess Edition will share the same specifications as the standard version, including the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, a 6.55-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,236 x 2,750, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. Currently, it is expected to be available only in China. [IThome, in Chinese]

Tesla’s senior vice president, Tom Zhu, a longtime head of its China operations and once deemed as the top internal candidate to replace chief executive Elon Musk, is to reprise the position as the vice president of Greater China he held until last August. Multiple bloggers have contended that Zhu has recently resigned from his roles with Tesla in North America and Europe, and expected the Musk’s close associate to boost the US automaker’s growth in the world’s most competitive EV market. Tesla is facing mounting pressure to tackle the challenges from a slew of Chinese big players such as BYD, Geely, and Huawei. It sold 132,420 vehicles to local customers during the first three months of this year, even several thousand units fewer than what it achieved over the same period last year, figures from the China Passenger Car Association showed. The company is also stepping up to localize its so-called “Full Self-Driving (FSD)” advanced driver assistance software, as Musk made an unannounced visit to Beijing on April 28.[TechNode reporting, IT Home, in Chinese]

Luckin Coffee reported a negative operating margin of 1% in the first quarter this year as the escalation of a price war in China’s coffee industry dragged the company down despite its 41.5% revenue growth compared to the same period in 2023. The Chinese coffee chain posted its first quarterly loss in two years, with a RMB 83.2 million ($11.5 million) net loss, versus RMB 564.8 million in profit a year prior. Luckin saw a 68.8% increase in its total operating expenses, with the company attributing the growth to its “business expansion,” including the opening of new stores and investments in branding and promotional activities. Rival Starbucks meanwhile recorded a decline of 11% in comparable store sales in China during the period. [Luckin Coffee statement; Starbucks earnings]

Nvidia and AMD have secured TSMC’s advanced packaging capacity for Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) and System-on-Integrated-Chip (SoIC) technologies for the next two years as they focus on the high-performance computing (HPC) market, according to Taiwanese media outlet Economic Daily News. HPC’s computational power is essential for AI tasks, with TSMC expecting revenue from AI processors to more than double this year. TSMC predicts that the compound annual growth rate of AI chips over the next five years will reach 50%, accounting for over 20% of the chip foundry’s revenue by 2028. Global cloud service providers Amazon AWS, Microsoft, Google, and Meta are actively engaging in the AI server race, leading to a high demand for products from AI chip manufacturers such as Nvidia and AMD, the report said. [Economic Daily News, in Chinese]

Universal Music Group (UMG) will bring its artists back to short video platform TikTok via a new deal, the two companies said in a joint statement, three months after UMG-owned music was removed from TikTok due to the parties having failed to renew a licensing agreement. Shou Chew, chief executive of TikTok, said music was an “integral part” of the platform’s system, and his counterpart in UMG said the new chapter with TikTok would focus on “the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community.” Entertainment giant Universal, home of artists including Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, previously noted that TikTok revenue only “accounts for 1%” of its total revenue, which UMG claimed was “little.” [Universal Music Group]

The battery casing for the iPhone 16 series will be switched from aluminum-plastic film to stainless steel, with materials supplied by Chinese firms, according to The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ report suggests that the all-steel casing will utilize laser welding technology to enhance battery lifespan by increasing the number of charging cycles. Earlier sources disclosed adjustments in battery capacities for the iPhone 16 series models, as reported by local media outlet IThome. The standard iPhone 16 may bump up from its last generation’s capacity of 3,349 mAh to 3,561 mAh, while the Pro Max version is expected to see an increase from its former capacity of 4,422 mAh to 4,676 mAh. However, the Plus model may decrease from the previous 4,383 mAh to 4,006 mAh. Currently, it remains uncertain whether the adjustments in battery capacity are linked to the change in battery casing. [IThome, in Chinese]

Chinese AI startup Shengshu Technology, in partnership with Tsinghua University, unveiled the country’s latest text-to-video model Vidu last weekend, which it said could generate videos no longer than 16 seconds with 1080p resolution. Vidu is “the first video model globally to make a major breakthrough” since the release of OpenAI’s Sora in February, the Beijing-based company said on its official WeChat post, while adding that Vidu’s performance “fully matches” that of its international counterparts. Shengshu Technology is the latest AI firm touting its ability to build a Chinese program akin to Sora, which is able to produce 60-second-long videos based on prompts. OpenAI has yet to make the program available to the public. [Shengshu Technology, in Chinese]

China’s Ministry of Commerce has expressed serious concerns in response to the Japanese government’s announcement of plans to implement export controls on semiconductors and related items, in an answer to a journalist’s inquiry on the governmental department’s website. A ministry spokesperson highlighted that the semiconductor industry’s global nature and decades-long development have created an interconnected ecosystem. Such measures, which stem from an over-generalization of national security concepts, risk disrupting global supply chains and violating principles of free trade, the spokesperson said. The statement added that China’s Ministry of Commerce urges Japan to reconsider these actions, as they are expected to affect trading relations between Chinese and Japanese companies. [China’s Ministry of Commerce, in Chinese]

Taiwanese semiconductor company MediaTek announced on Tuesday that the Dimensity 9300+ flagship chipset will be unveiled at the MediaTek Dimensity Developer Conference 2024, scheduled for May 7. The Vivo X100S smartphone will be among the first devices to be powered by the flagship chipset, although its specific release date is currently unknown, according to local media outlet IThome. On benchmarking platform Geekbench 6.2.0, the new device achieved a single-core score of 2,229 and a multi-core score of 7,526. The CPU for the Vivo X100S consists of one core clocked at 3.40 GHz, three cores clocked at 2.85 GHz, and four cores clocked at 2.00 GHz, the platform info revealed. The Vivo X100S is expected to feature a 6.78-inch 1.5K 8T LTPO OLED display, IThome reported, and be available in four colors: white, black, green, and silver. [IThome, in Chinese]

Chinese lifestyle sharing social media platform Xiaohongshu has dismissed as “untrue information” reports by local media outlet IPOzaozhidao that it is in the midst of a new round of fundraising that values the company at $20 billion. A previous report by tech outlet The Information in September 2023 said Sequoia China had acquired a Xiaohongshu stake from existing investors, in a deal that valued the firm at $14 billion, a 30% discount compared to the social media app’s $20 billion valuation in 2021. The move saw the well-known venture capital firm join Alibaba and Tencent in betting on Xiaohongshu’s prospects. The social app, now popular among younger users with its search function and sharing features, has stepped up its efforts in e-commerce and advertising services to boost revenues in recent months. [IPOzaozhidao; Shanghai Securities News, in Chinese]

ByteDance has fired 61 employees for violating laws and company policies, citing reasons including bribery and leakage of internal information, according to Chinese media outlets that quoted sources from the tech company. Four individuals face investigation due to illegal acceptance of income from external partners, while the company also found some staff had substantial reimbursement and taxi travel violations. The TikTok owner detailed the case of one of its employees, who lent his worker card to an outsider who then used it to eat at the company’s staff-only cafeteria 14 times, “misappropriating RMB 490 of ByteDance’s assets.” ByteDance said it has always maintained a “zero-tolerance” attitude towards corruption and bribery. In February, Tencent published more than 70 cases of corruption that it had investigated last year, with the company firing more than 120 employees in relation to these incidents. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has set a $60 billion sales goal for this year that would more than triple the roughly $18 billion it brought in in 2023, and is the most ambitious sales goal among its Chinese counterparts, according to a LatePost report. If achieved, the aggressive target set by the Pinduoduo sister app would largely narrow the gap with fast fashion giant Shein, which outpaced Zara in revenue last year by making $45 billion and is chasing 40% growth to $63 billion in 2024. The US market, which accounted for 60% of Temu’s overall transaction volume in early 2023, now makes up 40%, on par with the platform’s European market, as the cut-price goods site ramps up its presence in more countries, according to the LatePost report. [LatePost, in Chinese]

The National Press and Publication Administration of China (NPPA) on Friday released 95 approval licenses for domestic games for April, including 94 mobile games, seven PC games, and one PlayStation console game. April’s 95 licenses are a decrease compared to March’s 107 approved titles, and the 111 and 115 given the green light in February and January respectively. The much-anticipated games in the latest round of approvals include Tencent’s Carbon Island, NetEase’s Broken Land, Sony China’s Lost Soul Aside, Archosaur Games’ Dragon Raja: Gate of Cassell, and Kingnet Network’s The Lost Tomb. Additionally, NetEase’s Diablo: Immortal and Lilith’s Farlight 84 added PC versions on the same day, according to updates on changes in license information from the NPPA. [NPPA, in Chinese]

BMW announced on Friday it will invest RMB 20 billion ($2.8 billion) to expand a production facility in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, as the German auto major aims to begin assembling its upcoming “Neue Klasse” electric vehicles locally in 2026. The amount, which brings BMW’s total investment in its largest manufacturing hub to RMB 105 billion, represents an acceleration of the company’s efforts to prepare for greater EV demand in China, where domestic manufacturers continue to capture market share from their global rivals. Construction of a RMB 10 billion battery plant in Shenyang is also underway, which is set to begin operation with 2,000 new jobs in 2026. BMW reported a 138% year-on-year surge in sales to nearly 100,000 EVs in China last year, which accounted for nearly a third of its total EV sales worldwide. [TechNode reporting]

Chinese consumers are being offered at least RMB 7,000 ($986) in subsidies to trade in their old, less environmental-friendly vehicles for new and more energy-efficient ones, in the latest measure by Beijing to boost car sales amid slowing demand. The new rules will run until the end of this year and apply to those who replace fossil fuel cars that don’t comply with the so-called China-4 emissions standards for new ones with a 2-liter or lower petrol engine. Meanwhile, buyers who trade in such cars or electric vehicles registered before April 2018 for new energy vehicles will get RMB 10,000, seven top government departments jointly announced on April 24. The ministry did not reveal the total budget for the new initiative, but China has roughly 16 million “state-three” cars running on fossil fuels and 2.6 million NEVs registered until 2018, according to estimated figures obtained by Caixin. China posted domestic sales of nearly 3.3 million cars in the first three months of 2024, a 6.2% growth from a year ago, official figures showed. [Caixin, government document, in Chinese]

Air China announced on Friday that it has signed an agreement with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) to purchase 100 C919 aircraft. The 100 aircraft are planned to be delivered in batches from 2024 to 2031. The total price of the 100 C919 aircraft is around $10.8 billion, according to the latest catalog prices provided by COMAC. The actual transaction price of the deal was lower than the catalog prices, as COMAC offered Air China a significant discount after negotiations, local media outlet IThome reported. State-owned Air China will provide funds for the transaction through its own capital, commercial bank loans, and other financing methods, the report added. [IThome, in Chinese]

Alibaba Cloud’s Emote Portrait Alive (EMO) model, which is able to convert portrait photos into talking and even singing avatars is now available on its Tongyi Qianwen app, in a move the tech giant hopes will bring a wider user base to test its GenAI tool. The tool doesn’t currently support custom audio, but users can choose from more than 80 templates, including hit songs, and generate videos after uploading a portrait photo. In a WeChat post on Alibaba Cloud’s account, the company said EMO had become “one of the most popular AI models after OpenAI’s Sora” after it made EMO-related papers public in late February. The cloud computing unit of Alibaba also added that its audio-driven technology is expected to be applied to fields such as digital humans, movie production, and virtual accompaniment in the future. [Alibaba Cloud, in Chinese]

In the first quarter of 2024, the Chinese smartphone market hit shipments of 69.26 million units, marking a year-on-year growth of 6.5%, according to market intelligence firm IDC. Honor claimed the top spot with a 17.1% market share, while Huawei followed closely with a 17% share. Oppo (15.7%), Apple (15.6%), and Vivo (14.6%) ranked third to fifth, respectively. In the same period, the Chinese foldable smartphone market continued its rapid growth trend to reach shipments of 1.86 million units, which represented an 83% year-on-year increase. In the foldable market, Huawei secured its leading position with a market share of 44.1%, while Honor took second place with a share of 26.7%. [IDC, in Chinese]

Chinese game developer MiHoYo announced on Thursday that it is preparing a PC launcher for its gaming titles. Players will have the option to download and install the MiHoYo Launcher in the next few weeks, the company said. The PC launcher integrates four of MiHoYo’s games – Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact 3rd, Honkai: Star Rail, and Lost Ark – enabling players to download and start the games without the use of other platforms. The MiHoYo Launcher presents an opportunity for the firm to re-activate lapsed MiHoYo PC players by directing them to other games, particularly new releases. This new update may also pave the way for potential in-game purchases in the future, such as direct pop-ups through the MiHoYo Launcher, market research firm DataEye suggested. [DataEye, in Chinese]

ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, would rather shut down the short video platform than sell, if legal action in response to US government pressure fails, Reuters reported on Friday, citing four sources. The app, with 170 million American users, pushes them a constant stream of popular videos based on proprietary algorithms that Bytedance is loath to sell, said the report, given their core role in the app’s success and company’s operations. Selling the app with its algorithms is seen as “highly unlikely” according to the sources Reuters consulted. Since 2020, China’s Export Control Law has required content-recommendation technology to go through approval before export. Beijing-based ByteDance on Thursday evening denied any intention to sell a majority stake in its US business without its algorithms after tech outlet The Information reported the news earlier. [Reuters]

On Wednesday, TSMC unveiled its A16 (1.6nm) technology for the first time at the 2024 North America Technology Symposium in California, with the Taiwan-based chip foundry announcing plans to begin mass-production with the new manufacturing process in 2026. TSMC claimed that its A16 technology will boost logic density and chip performance by combining advanced nanosheet transistors with backside power rail solutions. Compared to the N2P process, A16 offers an 8-10% increase in speed at the same operating voltage, a 15-20% reduction in power consumption at the same speed, and a density improvement of up to 1.1 times to support data center products, according to the company. [Economic Daily News, in Chinese]

Chinese game publisher NetEase said it will begin the beta testing phase for a mobile version of Octopath Traveler on May 16, with the game scheduled for release on June 30. Octopath Traveler was developed by Japanese firm Square Enix and released in 2018 as a role-playing game featuring retro-inspired pixel art and a unique HD-2D visual style. Square Enix released the second installment in 2023, and the overall series achieved global sales surpassing four million copies. The game features eight major professions: swordsman, dancer, merchant, scholar, apothecary, ranger, hunter, and astrologer. The mobile version is expected to adopt the 8-player team combat mode, allowing for strategic turn-based battles. [IThome, in Chinese]

TikTok’s fate in the US appears doomed as the Senate passed a sell-or-ban bill on Tuesday with 79 to 18 votes. The bill, tied to the US’s foreign aid package, is waiting to be signed into law by President Biden. TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance still has the opportunity to battle the ban in court. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not remark on the latest political move regarding the short video app at today’s regular press conference, saying only that his counterpart in the Ministry of Commerce had previously stated China’s “principled position” that America should stop “unreasonably suppressing other countries’ enterprises” in the framework of a market economy and fair competition. Spokesperson He Yadong also said in March that “China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”. [TechNode reporting]

Haomo.ai, a self-driving car company backed by Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor, said on Tuesday it raised RMB 300 million ($41.4 million) in a Series B2 financing round involving a Chinese local government. The funding was raised from an investment fund formed by existing investor JZ Capital and the government of the Changxing county in the eastern Chinese city of Huzhou, and comes after it secured RMB 100 million from another local government-backed fund early this year. The company launched an autonomous vehicle platform based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride chips, according to a Tuesday announcement. [TechNode reporting, Haomo.ai announcement, in Chinese]

Beijing-based text-to-video startup AIsphere has raised over RMB 100 million ($13.8 million) in its latest A2 funding round from Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba, less than two months after the company raised more than RMB 100 million. According to Chinese media outlet LatePost, which cited people close to Ant, the Alipay owner has made the move as part of a strategy to add stand-out Chinese AI ventures such as ZhipuAI and Moonshot AI to its investment portfolio, while also developing its own AI foundation model. Founded last April by Wang Changhu, the former vision technology lead at ByteDance, AIsphere has touted plans to catch up with OpenAI’s Sora within three to six months. PixVerse, the firm’s Sora-like tool, has seen monthly traffic exceed 1.16 million following its launch in January, figures from third-party analyst platform SimilarWeb show. [LatePost, in Chinese]

Chinese startup Momenta will develop autonomous driving platforms based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride chips, which the companies said will bring the same advanced driving capabilities to mainstream models priced between RMB 100,000 and RMB 200,000 ($13,800-$27,600) as their more premium offerings. A number of gasoline cars and new energy vehicles will be capable of handling lane changes on Chinese highways and complex urban scenarios and driving themselves into pre-booked parking spots using the technology, according to a Tuesday announcement. The US chip designer has recently been partnering with auto majors including General Motors and Toyota, both of whom are among the major investors in Suzhou-headquartered Momenta. The Snapdragon Ride processor was designed to handle all assisted driving functions on a system-on-chip rather than on different chips, making it cost-competitive against Nvidia’s Orin chips, a mainstream choice for automakers. [TechNode reporting, Qualcomm announcement, in Chinese]

Huawei on Tuesday launched a redesigned M5 compact crossover, the first model under the Aito lineup with manufacturing partner Seres. The Chinese tech giant billed the new vehicle as more spacious, better equipped, and with faster acceleration than the Tesla Model Y at a competitive price tag. The extended-range hybrid versions cost between RMB 249,800 and RMB 279,800 ($34,472-$38,612), putting them in the same price range as Li Auto’s newly-launched L6, but with a longer driving range of 1,440 kilometers (895 miles) on a full fuel tank and a full charge. The all-electric M5 is priced at RMB 269,800, nearly RMB 20,000 higher than the base-version, China-made Model Y. And yet, the company said it has a driving range of 602 km based on City Light Test Cycle (CLTC) standards, compared with the 554 km range achieved by Tesla. During a press conference in Beijing, Richard Yu, Chief Executive of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, also unveiled Stelato, a new electric vehicle brand together with Chinese carmaker BAIC, saying the first model, the S9, will be showcased at the city’s biannual auto show later this week. [TechNode reporting, Huawei release, in Chinese]

Tech blogger Digital Chat Station revealed on Chinese social media platform Weibo yesterday that Huawei’s next-gen flagship Mate 70 series smartphones will feature main cameras equipped with domestically-produced CIS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Image Sensor) chips from OmniVision Technologies. The standard version is expected to be equipped with the OV50H, while the premium version will feature the OV50K. The OV50K, a new image sensor produced by OmniVision this year, features a large 1/1.3-inch sensor and supports LOFIC (Lateral OverFlow Integration Capacitor) technology that enhances image quality by reducing noise and improving detail in low-light conditions. The Mate 70 series will debut the new Kirin 5G chipset and is set to launch in the latter half of this year, according to local media outlet Icsmart. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

TeTencent Games said on Monday it will launch a mobile version of Dungeon and Fighter on May 21, a game seven years in development, after the Chinese tech giant obtained approval from China’s National Press and Publication Administration in February. Developed by Korean company Nexon in 2005, multiplayer online action role-playing game Dungeon and Fighter is one of the most-played and highest-grossing video games of all time, with over 850 million players worldwide and over $22 billion in revenue as of June 2023, according to Nexon. Shares in Tencent rose over 4.5% on Monday morning. Tencent has now opened pre-registrations for the iOS version of the game. [Tencent Games, in Chinese]

Shares of Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto fell as much as 8.3% in Hong Kong on Monday and were nearly 5.6% lower on the Nasdaq, reflecting investors’ concerns that its first official price cuts will put pressure on profit margins. The company on Monday slashed prices by up to RMB 20,000 ($2,760) on its three extended-range hybrid vehicles, namely the L9, L8, and L7. Meanwhile, its first all-electric model, the Mega van, now costs RMB 30,000 lower at RMB 529,800 ($73,112), less than two months after its launch on March 1. Additionally, customers who just had their 2024 models delivered will also get the premium refunded, which could impact the firm’s cash flow as the startup delivered 80,400 vehicles during the first three months of this year. Tesla’s stock also tumbled 4% on Monday after its latest price cuts in several markets including the US, China, and Germany over the weekend. [TechNode reporting, Reuters]

Alibaba’s cloud computing unit will offer free training, inferencing, and deployment services based on Meta’s new Llama 3 open-source model for a limited period to local enterprises and developers, Alibaba Cloud said on Monday in a WeChat post on its official account. The temporarily free solution will eliminate computational power costs for model development and invocation, according to the post, and be available on Alibaba Cloud’s Bailian, an application development platform launched last October at the Apsara Conference 2023. The move comes just days after Meta unveiled its newest foundation model last week. Alibaba’s “model-as-a-service” platform ModelScope has added Llama 3 “immediately”, the company said. [Alibaba Cloud, in Chinese]

Amid recovering demand and the end of inventory adjustments, global PC shipments increased around 3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024 to reach 57.1 million units after eight consecutive quarters of decline, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research. In the first quarter, Taiwanese PC maker Lenovo secured the top spot in terms of global PC shipments with a 24% market share, reaching 13.7 million units, up by 8% year-on-year. The other four leading brands were HP (21% market share), Dell (16%), Apple (14%), and Acer (11%). Counterpoint predicts that 2024 will mark the advent of AI PCs (including desktops and laptops), with 45% of new laptop shipments this year predicted to feature AI functionality. [Counterpoint Research]

The US House of Representatives voted 360-58 on an updated bill on April 20 to force Chinese firm ByteDance to sell its short video app TikTok or see it banned. The bill is now expected to go to the Senate this Tuesday. The TikTok bill is part of a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and other US allies, and extends the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok from six months to nine months compared to a similar bill passed in March. The short video platform said in a statement that the House is “using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill,” which would “trample free speech” for 170 million Americans. [TechNode reporting]

FIMI, a subsidiary of Xiaomi that specializes in producing drones and related accessories, recently launched the FIMI Mini 3 drone for the global market, featuring a Sony 1/2-inch 48MP CMOS sensor and a lightweight of 249g. Several third-party retailers have listed the domestic version of the Mini 3 drone on e-commerce platforms, priced at RMB 1,999 ($276) for a single battery and RMB 2,299 ($318) for dual batteries. The drone supports 4K videos at 60 frames per second, 8K time-lapse photography, and a maximum remote control transmission distance of nine kilometers. The three-axis mechanical gimbal guarantees stable and smooth shots, even in windy conditions, according to the company. Additionally, it provides advanced safety features such as GPS tracking for worry-free flying. [FIMI]

China’s Ant Group, Baidu, iFlytek, and Tencent joined US AI firms including OpenAI and Meta in working on two global GenAI and LLM-focused standards which were published by the United Nations on Tuesday. The “Large Language Model Security Testing Method” and “Generative AI Talent Development Framework” documents were presented during the 27th United Nations Science and Technology Conference. The four participating Chinese companies have all rolled out their own AI foundation models and are seeking to use the booming technology to transform businesses. The two documents represent the first international standards released by a non-profit organization in the area of large models, and signify collaboration between global AI companies on safety assessment and testing. [Ant Group, in Chinese]

An industry-wide price war in the Chinese car market has escalated to an unsustainable level, which has been ongoing for more than a year and could pressure some automakers to slash prices by another 20-30% in 2024, according to the head of Bosch’s China operations. It is “unhealthy” that businesses are being drawn into repeated price cuts, which has elevated every company’s losses or squeezed their profits and could result in reduced efforts on new technologies, David Xu, president of Bosch China, told reporters in Shanghai on Thursday (our translation). The company is trying to make room for more price cuts in China following clients’ requests, but the situation can not last much longer, Xu added. The German parts supplier generated €91.6 billion ($97.7 billion) in revenue with an adjusted margin of 5.3% in 2023, and reaffirmed its long-term profit margin target of at least 7% during its annual press conference on the same day. [TechNode reporting, Bosch release]

China’s Li Auto on Thursday introduced its smallest model ever: an extended-range hybrid crossover that it hopes will contribute a large portion of its total sales this year. The move comes just weeks after the electric vehicle maker witnessed a disappointing launch of its first all-electric model. The L6 midsize sport utility vehicle measures 4.9 meters in length and spans a 2,920-millimeter-long wheelbase, while carrying an affordable lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, which enables a driving range of 1,390 kilometers (864 miles) on a full charge and tank. By comparison, all its larger siblings, including the L7, L8, and L9, are powered by more energy-dense, cobalt and nickle-based battery packs, and most variants come with a 15.7-inch rear display which the company removed from the L6.

Priced from RMB 249,800 ($34,497), the five-seater targets younger and less affluent Chinese families, and could face big competition from the Aito M7 and the new M5, as it measures between the two Huawei-developed models in size and lands at a similar price. Huawei-backed Aito has delivered more than 120,000 units of the revamped M7 since it went on sale last September, and said on Wednesday it has received more than 10,000 reservations for the redesigned M5, which will officially hit the market next week. Li Auto expects the L6 to achieve monthly deliveries of more than 30,000 units, and has cut its annual sales target by 20% to 640,000 units at most for this year, after it got a poor reception for its Mega battery van. [TechNode reporting, Li Auto release]

China’s food delivery company Meituan has appointed Senior Vice President Wang Puzhong as CEO of its new core local commerce business, marking the first time the firm has had two chief executives. The core business integrates Meituan’s in-store and in-home business groups, as well as the main platform’s basic research and development operation, according to an internal memo signed by Meituan CEO Wang Xing on Thursday. The recent update marks the company’s fourth restructuring in less than three months and grants the consolidated unit, announced in February, its formal name. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

In the first quarter, China’s chip production surged by 40% year-on-year to reach 98.1 billion units, a sign that China’s mature process chip capacity is rapidly expanding, despite constraints imposed by the US on advanced processes, according to the South China Morning Post. The National Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday that integrated circuit production in China increased by 28.4% in March alone compared to the same period last year, reaching 36.2 billion units. China’s integrated circuit production growth partly stems from strong demand in the new energy vehicles sector, the report said. In the first quarter, China’s production of new energy vehicles increased by 29.2% to 2.08 million units, while smartphone production grew by 16.7% during the same period. [South China Morning Post]

Volkswagen and Xpeng Motors have inked a deal to develop a high-performance electrical/electronic architecture that will underpin upcoming China-made, VW-branded models starting 2026, the companies said on Wednesday. The agreement is an expansion of a partnership that kicked off last year with a focus on the development of two new VW models featuring Xpeng’s autonomous driving capabilities scheduled for launch in 2026 in China. The China Electrical Architecture (CEA) set-up will feature 30% fewer electronic control units than Volkswagen’s previous systems, allowing the German automaker to lower the cost for its China-developed platform by 40% compared to its German-developed MEB platform. Volkswagen and Xpeng also said in February that they will start sourcing vehicle components together to reduce costs. Xpeng’s shares rose 3.8% as of Wednesday’s market close. [Volkswagen announcement]

Japan’s Honda Motor said on Tuesday it is introducing a new electric vehicle brand in China, and will use components from local companies including CATL, Huawei, and iFlyTek as it looks to adapt to significant changes in the highly competitive Chinese car market. The upcoming new models under the Ye series will be equipped with Huawei’s xScene liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and the two companies are exploring more potential collaborations, according to Igarashi Masayuki, head of Honda’s China operations, financial media outlet Caixin reported. The Japanese carmaker said it has also partnered with artificial intelligence firm iFlyTek in order to bring advanced conversational AI capabilities into its cabins, while being open to more joint efforts with Chinese companies in other fields such as autonomous driving. In a similar move, Toyota has reportedly reached a deal with Huawei to develop assisted driving functions built upon the latter’s computing platform for its Chinese models. The first two models under Honda’s Ye series will be launched later this year, followed by another four by 2027, and will target a more premium segment than the existing e:N lineup, as part of the firm’s plan to sell only EVs in China by 2035. The company’s sales declined 10.1% to roughly 1.2 million units last year and it is planning to cut vehicle output by 20% in China, Nikkei reported last month. [Honda announcement, Caixin, in Chinese]

Nvidia’s use of TSMC’s Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) packaging for its new Blackwell platform products has led to the Taiwanese manufacturer ramping up its production capacity for 2024. Nvidia’s latest Blackwell platform products include the new B200 GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and the GB200, which integrates the Grace CPU (Central Processing Unit), and all use high-precision CoWoS packaging from TSMC. CoWoS packaging is a technology that integrates multiple chips on a single substrate to improve performance and efficiency in semiconductor devices. The GB200 is expected to ship more than one million units in 2025, representing around 40% to 50% of Nvidia’s high-end GPU shipments, according to supply chain sources. TSMC is currently increasing its CoWoS production capacity, with estimated monthly capacity expected to near 40,000 units by the end of the year, an increase of over 150% compared to 2023. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

BYD on Tuesday unveiled the first supercar under its premium off-road electric vehicle brand called Fangchengbao, which promises ultimate performance and luxury with bold design treatments — the latest example of Chinese automakers going upscale and competing in the high-end segment. The all-electric concept hypercar, called Super 9, features a space shuttle-inspired cabin with carbon fiber racing seats as standard, as well as a futuristic design without a windsheld, making the two-seater an open-top model. Wolfgang Egger, head designer at BYD and formerly a chief of design at Audi, said during a livestream event that the interior was “one of the best places in the world where you can experience the highest level of emotion and speed.” Further technical specs and pricing details were not disclosed at the event, although the automaker said it will showcase the full lineup including the Bao 5, and two other upcoming offerings — a flagship plug-in hybrid off-roader and an all-electric concept crossover — at this year’s Beijing Motor Show next week. China’s EV giant officially launched its first electric sports car, the Yangwang U9, at a price tag of RMB 1.68 million ($233,352) in February and is set to begin delivery of the vehicle by the middle of this year. [TechNode reporting, BYD announcement, in Chinese]

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT) has released industry standards for cross-platform interconnectivity in domestic smart home devices, effective from July. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, China Telecom, Alibaba, Honor, TCL, Midea, and Haier were consulted in the drafting of the new regulation. The standard specifies unified access process and technical requirements for smart home devices, in an effort to encourage cross-platform access and certification, according to a statement by MIIT. [IThome, in Chinese]

Stellantis-brands Maserati and Alfa Romeo are among the potential partners to China’s Chery Auto in order to acquire advanced Chinese electric vehicle platform technology for their upcoming battery cars, a person with knowledge of the matter told National Business Daily, without revealing further details. The news comes a day after Chery’s chairman Yin Tongyue revealed during a livestream event on April 14 that the firm was in ongoing negotiations with two European premium car brands for licensing its EV platform, with one of them edging close to a deal. Yin also confirmed that the state-owned automaker has acquired a production facility in Spain hoping to become “a corporate citizen” in Europe. The Spanish government told Reuters last week that it was confident about reaching a deal in the coming days, which would allow Chery to produce vehicles at a former Nissan plant in Barcelona. Wuhu-headquarted Chery is already a manufacturing partner of Jaguar Land Rover in China. [National Business Daily, in Chinese]

On Monday, Huawei announced its new Pura 70 series smartphones, which were previously expected to be named the P70 series. The Chinese telecom giant has not yet disclosed the release date for the new devices, but tech media outlet IThome reported that a member of sales staff at a Huawei store in Beijing had claimed that the series is expected to arrive in store around April 18. The Huawei Pura 70 series smartphones feature a triangular camera island design on the rear, according to the company’s video of the new range posted to the X-like social media platform Weibo. The series will include four models: Pura 70, Pura 70 Pro, Pura 70 Pro+, and Pura 70 Ultra, according to Weibo tech blogger Digital Chat Station. [IThome, in Chinese]

In the first quarter of 2024, global smartphone shipments increased by 7.8% to 289.4 million units compared to the previous year, according to market intelligence firm IDC. This marks a third consecutive quarter of growth, signaling a recovery for the smartphone market after some tough years, the report analyzed. The top five smartphone brands in the first quarter are Samsung (20.8% market share), Apple (17.3%), Xiaomi (14.1%), Transsion (9.9%), and Oppo (8.7%). Xiaomi’s 40.8 million units shipped marks a 33.8% year-on-year increase, while Transsion’s 28.5 million units shipped can be considered a surge: up 84.9% year-on-year. However, Oppo saw a decrease in shipments to 25.2 million units, down 8.5% year-on-year. [IDC]

Open-source models “make little sense” according to Baidu CEO Robin Li in an internal company memo in which he argued that closed-source models have stronger capabilities, Chinese media outlets reported on Weekend. As one of the bases for supporting this statement, Li argued that open-source made it hard to understand “why the parameters are the way they are.” More importantly, Li said keeping the models closed was crucial for “a viable business model.” “Being closed source allows us to make money, and only by making money can we attract computational resources and talent,” Li said. Li’s comment comes as more models are made open source to the general public. [Caixin, in Chinese]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto said on April 13 that it has no plans at the moment to begin selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in Uzbekistan, adding that the images showing its executives signing agreements with a dealership are fake. The company has reported the case to the police and did not provide further details, pending the outcome of the investigation, according to a statement posted on the Chinese microblogging platform. Images circulated on Chinese social media also show a group of unknown people visiting Li Auto’s production facility in the eastern Chinese city of Changzhou and briefly posing for photographers at the gate of the factory. Li Auto told the Chinese media outlet Caixin in March that it has started hiring staff for its local sales and service teams in Dubai, with plans to begin direct sales and vehicle delivery in the Middle East in the fourth quarter of this year. A dedicated after-sales service network will be set up by June, as individual dealers have been reselling the company’s cars in the region. [Li Auto statement, Caixin, in Chinese]

Tencent Cloud said an 87-minute-long outage affecting customers in 17 regions worldwide last Monday was caused by cloud API anomalies, the latest among China’s internet giants’ cloud service crashes that impacted dozens of products. “The service failure was due to insufficient consideration of the forward compatibility of new versions of the cloud API service and insufficient gray-out mechanisms for configuration data,” Tencent’s cloud computing unit said in a statement posted on its official WeChat account on April 14. The frequency of cloud glitches, according to the local media agency Caixin, which cited an industry insider, is a result of layoffs in the sector over the last two years. Rival Alibaba Cloud suffered two consecutive disruptions in a month last November, each lasting more than two hours with wider impacts globally. [Tencent Cloud; Caixin, in Chinese]

Huawei announced today that the Huawei P series smartphones will be renamed to Huawei Pura, with the upcoming P70 expected to become the first product in the new Pura series. Launched in 2012, the Ascend P1 was the first smartphone model in the P series. The Pura series will carry on the tradition of the P series by offering aesthetic design and dependable imaging capabilities, according to the company. Last week, photos of the back of the Huawei P70 began spreading on the X-like social platform Weibo after Huawei’s spring product launch event, even though Huawei did not unveil it during the event. Photos from online sources revealed a triangular camera island design, equipped with one large and two small camera modules. [Huawei Weibo, in Chinese]

China’s National Radio and Television Administration has required short web dramas must submit to censorship before airing in online platforms, in a strict new regulation targeting the popular content format. Dramas that have not been filed are prohibited from distribution from June. 1, according to local media agency Caixin. Data from third-party data analysis platform iiMedia Research shows the market for short online dramas almost reached RMB 40 billion last year, and is expected to land RMB 100 billion a year by 2027. Months before the new rule was introduced, more than 25,000 of China’s short online shows were removed from public channels for reasons of violent or sexual content. [Caixin, in Chinese]

Huawei has slashed the prices of its Luxeed S7 electric sedan by as much as 7% only five months after the launch of the first joint model with partner Chery Auto, as the Chinese technology giant looks to lure back customers following delivery delays. The existing premium versions of the S7 will cost consumers RMB 20,000 less, giving them a price tag of between RMB 269,800 and RMB 329,800 ($37,279 and $45,569). The entry-level model’s price remains unchanged at RMB 249,800 with the driving range improved by 28% to 705 kilometers (438 miles). The companies have also introduced a new top-end car with a range of 751 km on a single charge, priced at RMB 349,800. The news comes after long-time rival Xiaomi has continued to garner attention with its first EV model at the competitive starting price of RMB 215,900. The model secured almost 89,000 reservations in the first 24 hours after its launch on March 28. During a press conference on Thursday, Huawei and Chery said they were now ready to begin vehicle delivery at scale, after customers voiced frustrations over unexplained and months-long delivery delays caused by a challenging production ramp-up process early this year. [TechNode reporting]

Meituan has pushed further restructuring in its core food delivery unit with an announcement on naming younger people to management level, in the company’s latest round of changes this year as it looks to adapt to increasing external competition. The Chinese food delivery giant has eliminated the direct-business division as part of the adjustment, bringing in a city-focused model to support operations development based on specific cities’ characteristics. Meituan has also established a separate department to better serve nationwide chain stores. The company recorded a 25.8% year-on-year rise in annual revenue to RMB 276.7 billion last year, with its average daily takeout order volume amounting to 55 million in 2023, which was significantly short of CEO Wang Xing’s goal of averaging 100 million units per day by 2025. [36Kr, in Chinese]

China’s online marketplace JD will invest RMB 1 billion ($138 million) in cash in an attempt to incentivize short video creators and content agencies as the e-commerce player eyes the content form as a way to retain consumers’ attention on its shopping platform. Announcing the move, the company said it is in the process of “incubating top-tier influencers,” with plans to cultivate 100 star influencers by year-end. While rivals Taobao, Douyin, and Kuaishou have successfully cultivated highly-popular livestreamers, JD is a latecomer to the booming field. JD said qualifying influencers covering certain categories, including electronics, home appliances, fashion, and health, will be able to receive weekly bonuses of up to RMB 30,000. [JD announcement]

Blizzard China issued a letter to Chinese players on Wednesday confirming the restoration of their previous account data after announcing the return of Blizzard games to the Chinese market this summer. The company said technical preparations for its return would take some time, including rebuilding server facilities and recovering data. Players’ account data will be effectively recovered when the servers are activated, the company said. Blizzard players were warned against using unprotected accounts or engaging in data trading, the letter said. The Blizzard Chinese server has already opened reservations, and is preparing various e-sports events. [Blizzard China, in Chinese]

Jack Ma said in an internal Alibaba memo on Wednesday that the company he co-founded has “returned to healthy growth” since new chairman Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu came to power. Ma also shared his support for the company’s continued reforms. In a 1,000-word post titled “To Reform, To Innovation,” Ma first thanked Tsai’s “courage and commitment” after the chair publicly admitted on a recent podcast that Alibaba had lost focus on its real customers in recent years. The famed entrepreneur also praised the new leadership for its “admirable courage and wisdom” to lead one of the biggest reorganizations in the e-commerce giant’s history. Ma’s memo comes after Alibaba canceled its cloud computing unit and logistics arm Cainiao’s public listing plans within the space of a year. He also urged employees to think about what e-commerce could look like in the next three or five years, emphasizing that “the AI era has just arrived.” [Jiemian, in Chinese]

On Wednesday, Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi hosted the launch event for its new Turbo 3 series and unveiled a new Redmi Turbo 3 Harry Potter Edition. It took nearly a hundred senior Harry Potter fans a year to develop the new Harry Potter Edition of the Turbo 3, Redmi claimed. The device features the Hogwarts school crest on the back, along with a Deathly Hallows boot image, customized magic-inspired charging animation, and wallpapers themed around the four houses of Hogwarts. The Harry Potter Edition boasts the same hardware configuration as the standard version, including the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset and 16GB+512GB storage. The special model, priced at RMB 2,699 ($373) on Xiaomi’s e-commerce platform, sold out during the pre-sale phase. Wang Teng, the brand manager of Redmi, revealed that restocks will be available on the first day of sale on April 15. Last year, the company launched the world’s first Harry Potter-branded phone, the Redmi Note 12 Turbo. [Redmi Weibo, in Chinese]

Blizzard China announced today a renewed game publishing deal with NetEase to re-introduce Blizzard games to Chinese players. Blizzard China posted a new group photo on the microblogging platform Weibo, in which NetEase CEO Ding Lei, Blizzard President Johanna Faries, and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer were featured. Blizzard’s games will return to the Chinese market in the summer of 2024, while Microsoft Gaming aims to introduce NetEase’s new games to Xbox consoles and other platforms by forming a strategic partnership with the Chinese gaming firm. The renewed publishing agreement covers Blizzard’s flagship games World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Diablo and StarCraft. Last January, Blizzard and NetEase ended their 15-year relationship after a bitter dispute about intellectual property control. [Blizzard China, in Chinese]

Intelligence in Motion (IM), a premium electric vehicle brand launched by China’s biggest automaker SAIC and e-commerce giant Alibaba, has apologized repeatedly for an incorrect mention of vehicle specifications of the Xiaomi SU7 during a press event on Monday. The four-year-old EV brand was severely criticized on Chinese social media after taking aim at Xiaomi during the launch event for the IM L6, wrongfully claiming that the top-end SU7 uses cheaper IGBT transistor chips for its powertrains. In fact, the smartphone giant uses more energy-efficient silicon carbide transistors. In a statement published on the microblogging platform Weibo on Tuesday, IM said it had no intention of smearing Xiaomi maliciously, while admitting it was “incapable” of challenging the electronics brand which has created a “massive” volume of traffic for its first car. A day earlier, Xiaomi blasted at IM on Weibo, calling its comments “unreasonable, illegal, and shameful” and saying it had rejected an informal apology made by a senior IM executive. SAIC established the IM brand with Alibaba and battery maker CATL in 2020 and delivered 38,253 vehicles under the lineup last year. [TechNode reporting, IM statement, in Chinese]

Several Huawei stores in Beijing have informed Sina Tech that they have not received any notification regarding when the Huawei P70 series smartphones will be released. However, pre-orders for the Huawei P70 series have kicked off, with no deposit required for now. Customers can choose to register their information in advance, and they will be notified once the specific configurations and colors are available. The previous generation P60 series was launched on March 23, 2023. Speculations began circulating online about the delayed release of the Huawei P70 series this March; at that time, a Huawei insider responded that Huawei had not announced any release date to the public. [Sina Tech, in Chinese]

Chinese flying car manufacturer EHang has received a production certification (PC) for one of its passenger drones from local regulators, with plans to begin piloting its air taxis in the country’s southern cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai later this year. The production approval, issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), is the first of its kind in the global electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) industry, paving the way for serial production, the company said in an announcement. The news comes months after the Guangzhou-based startup secured an airworthiness “type certificate” from Chinese authorities for its EH216-S model flying taxi. This will help the company get similar certificates for commercial operations in overseas markets in the US, Europe and Southeast Asia, CNBC reported in October citing chief executive Hu Huazhi. China has prioritized the so-called low-altitude economy as a strategic emerging industry and expects the sector to be worth RMB 2 trillion ($278 billion) by 2030 from last year’s RMB 500 billion, according to Han Jun, a deputy head of the CAAC. [EHang announcement]

Meituan Select and Duoduo Maicai, the two main players in China’s community group-buying field, have both seen narrowed losses last year as cost-reducing measures continued. According to the local media outlet LatePost, the two participants have shifted their priority goals to profitability instead of chasing market share, as the possibility of achieving significant growth like in past years has diminished. The report said Meituan Select plans to limit losses to between RMB 10 billion and RMB 12 billion in 2024, while for its part, PDD’s grocery unit hopes to cut labor costs in half to around RMB 2 billion. [LatePost, in Chinese]

Toyota has reached a deal with Huawei on the use of key components from the Chinese tech giant’s mobile data center (MDC) platform for enabling autonomous driving functions on its locally-made electric vehicles, people familiar with the matter have told Chinese media outlet Xinliu Car. The partnership will be limited to the Chinese market only and will not involve global sales, with BYD Toyota Technology Co., Ltd (BTET), a 50-50 joint venture established betwen Toyota and BYD in mid-2020, owning the project, sources said on Tuesday. The Japanese automaker was previously reported to be considering incorporating Huawei’s self-driving technologies into its global models, and the two companies may announce that plan as early as the Beijing Motor Show later this month, according to a report by Tencent News. Meanwhile, autonomous driving startup Momenta will reportedly provide software services for the project. The company is a major supplier to BYD and raised $500 million in a Series C funding round from auto majors including Toyota announced in March 2021. [Xinliu Car, Tencent News, in Chinese]

Alibaba Cloud has slashed prices of its core computing, storage, network, database, and big data products in international markets by as much as 59% amid surging AI demands, the company announced on Monday. The cuts come just one month after it offered similar discounts for users in China, as the cloud service provider attempts to lure customers to build large language models and applications based on its products. “We will continue to reduce cloud computing cost as the world is at a critical juncture in the transition from traditional computing to AI computing, where the vast majority of computing takes place on public cloud platforms,” said Yuan Qian, president of Alibaba Cloud’s smart international division. Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai revealed in a recent interview that the US’s curbs on advanced chips may still “hurt” the company’s cloud business and its ability to offer high-end computing services in the medium term. [Alibaba Cloud, in Chinese]

Around 119 million domestic trips were made during China’s three day Qingming holiday that ended Saturday, with RMB 54 billion ($7.5 billion) recorded in total spending, according to the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Both figures represent a rise of more than 10% on pre-pandemic levels. The Qingming Festival is generally used for visiting tombs or paying tribute to dead relatives in people’s home towns. Official data showed that the country handled 1.041 million inbound tourist arrivals during the period and 992,000 outbound tourists, with South Korea and Japan among the most popular destinations, as well as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia, which recently introduced mutual visa exemptions with China. [Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in Chinese]

US chip giant Nvidia has introduced the RTX 4090D in the Chinese market, with current prices on China’s e-commerce platforms ranging from RMB 14,999 ($2,074) to RMB 15,999 ($2,212) for two models. The company confirmed that US export regulations would not impact the import of its H20 or RTX 4090D graphics cards into China, despite earlier reports suggesting that sales of the RTX 4090D could be impacted. Micro-Star International (MSI), a Taiwanese manufacturer of computer hardware and electronics, has also released the GeForce RTX 4090 D 24G Ventus 3X for the Chinese market. This new model adopts a default frequency of 2,520 MHz, but it can be manually overclocked to 2,535 MHz through the MSI Center, MSI’s software for optimizing system performance and customization. [MyDrivers, in Chinese]

TikTok sibling Douyin is on track to buy a payment license from Chinese third-party payment provider Union Mobile Financial (UMF), a significant step for the short video app to enter the bank card-based offline payment field. According to a recent announcement from HyUnion Holding, the parent of UMF, Douyin needs to pay nearly RMB 1.4 billion for the license acquisition, which includes a basic transfer consideration of $750 million and net assets valued on the settlement date. “The purchase is to support offline transaction scenarios such as local services, providing a more convenient payment and service experience to users and merchants within Douyin,” said Douyin Pay’s spokesperson. The deal comes three years after Douyin launched its own payment service by acquiring Wuhan Hezhong Yibao, which obtained a third-party payment license from China’s central bank in 2014. [Caixin, in Chinese]

Huawei will hold a spring product launch event on April 11, during which it is expected to release new products for cars and PCs. The much-anticipated flagship smartphone P70 series is yet to be confirmed for unveiling at the event. An industry insider suggested that the Huawei P70 series may skip the launch event and could be directly available for online purchase, similar to the Huawei Mate 60 Pro Pioneer Program last August. Several Huawei offline store employees have stated that there are no pre-order activities available for the P70 series. [DoNews, in Chinese]

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Hualien county in Taiwan Wednesday morning, with the latest reports indicating that its impact on Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain is relatively minor. Most wafer foundries are located in regions experiencing seismic intensity of level four, while chip factories are constructed with high standards and advanced internal damping measures. Taiwan’s chip manufacturers conducted shutdown inspections and resumed operations after the earthquake on April 3, according to market intelligence firm TrendForce. Despite potential losses from emergency shutdowns or earthquake-induced damages, most chip companies can rapidly recover the majority after resuming operations, as the current capacity utilization rates in mature process fabs range between 50% to 80%. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Xiaomi has been under pressure related to mass production and timely delivery of its first electric vehicle, as the estimated delivery wait times for the SU7 Pro extend to five months, according to two sales representatives in Shanghai on Friday. Meanwhile, the waiting time for the SU7 Max, the top-end version of the all-electric sedan, is 29 weeks, much longer than the expected 4-8 weeks reported by a customer TechNode spoke with at a Xiaomi store. Two other customers, who gave positive comments about the sleek design of the SU7 at a competitive price, said they were more attracted to the Aito M5 and the Luxeed S7, both powered by Huawei technologies, citing reasons such as more fluid in-car software. Beijing-based Xiaomi, nicknamed “China’s Apple,” seems to be benefiting from its loyal fan base, having secured more than 100,000 reservations as of April 3, a week after the vehicle’s launch. Roughly 40,000 of them have converted their reservations into orders, according to Chief Executive Lei Jun. The smartphone maker stated in a March 29 post on WeChat that it is still “making all efforts” to ramp up production at a new factory in Beijing, set to have an annual capacity of 150,000 units. [TechNode reporting]

The US and the EU have agreed to extend their partnership for three years to address issues in the semiconductor sector, particularly concerning legacy chips from China, Reuters reported on Friday. The two sides issued a 12-page joint statement on the meeting’s outcomes, which outlined plans for the US and the EU to exchange market intelligence on China’s “non-market” policies and consult on planned actions to address related issues in the global supply chain. During a press conference, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stated that China currently produces around 60% of legacy chips used in automobiles, household appliances, and medical devices. [Reuters]

Bilibili’s main site operating center has been replaced by five relatively independent category units in a recent overhaul, according to a Monday report by media outlet LatePost. The move comes as part of efforts to split the video streaming platform’s content operations team to enable it to be more focused and boost quality content. According to the report, the five stand-alone units are designed to oversee separate comprehensive categories: animation, games, music, film, and entertainment. As part of the restructuring, Bilibili has also separated its livestreaming and video operations teams as the company pushes “value-added services” including livestreaming, which contributed to 44% of total earnings last year, as the firm looks to accelerate its path to profitability. [LatePost, in Chinese]

Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi on Monday unveiled the Redmi Turbo 3 smartphone, the latest model in its decade-long series, which is scheduled to launch this month. The upcoming Redmi Turbo 3 smartphone is expected to feature the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, according to sources familiar with the matter. As a budget mid-range smartphone line, Redmi plans to introduce four series for the next decade: the K series, Turbo series, Note series, and Digital series. The K series is positioned as Redmi’s flagship line, while the Turbo series and Note series will provide flagship-like performance at a more affordable price, according to the company. The Digital series will comprise entry-level devices. [Redmi Weibo, in Chinese]

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), a major player in semiconductor wafer foundry, has secured a significant order from Apple’s radio frequency power amplifier supplier Qorvo, as reported by Taiwanese media outlet Economic Daily News. Qorvo will integrate new chips with its power amplifiers for antenna components of the next generation of iPhones, with the new chips manufactured using UMC’s 3DIC (three-dimensional integrated circuit) technology. Supply chain sources disclosed that Apple has revised the design of the antenna module for the next generation of iPhones to bolster signal performance. This optimization includes the integration of products from Anokiwave, a company recently acquired by Qorvo, aimed at enhancing the iPhone’s signal reception capability. [Economic Daily News, in Chinese]

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is joining forces with a rocket maker startup Space Epoch to test rocket-powered parcel delivery, expected to reach shoppers worldwide within an hour. “A lot of great things seem like a joke at first,” Alibaba-owned marketplace platform Taobao said on Monday, April Fool’s Day, before confirming the collaboration was genuine on its Weibo account. The project is planning to use reusable rockets for parcel delivery and aims to have each projectile carry a 120 cubic meter container holding up to ten tons of goods, according to a post on Space Epoch’s official WeChat account. The Beijing-based startup said it will conduct its first rocket delivery test soon, while the company added that achieving the goal in the short term will not be easy, but that it still hopes to bring opportunities for both the traditional logistics industry and China’s commercial space field through the experiments. [Space Epoch, in Chinese]

Hundeds of customers queued up in long lines amid tight security at Xiaomi’s flagship store in Shanghai over the weekend looking to get their hands on the electronics brand’s $29,881 Porsche-like EV, with some even getting to test drive the vehicle well past midnight. A sales executive told state-owned media The Paper that over 1,800 customers who visited the showroom made reservations for the SU7 sports sedan with a refundable deposit of RMB 5,000 ($692) over the past weekend, highlighting the strong demand for Xiaomi’s first electric vehicle. The report echoes an earlier announcement by Xiaomi chief executive Lei Jun, in which he said the company secured 88,898 pre-orders in the 24 hours following the launch of the all-electric car on March 28. This will account for roughly the total capacity of Xiaomi’s plant on the outskirts of Beijing this year, where the smartphone maker began volume production of the car in late February. [The Paper, in Chinese]

TikTok owner ByteDance will give high-performance employees extra bonuses in a move to boost morale, according to Chinese media outlets citing the company’s internal email. Employees with performance ratings above “M,” the fifth of ByteDance’s eight standards for performance classifications, are expected to earn incentives ranging from 5% to 15% in the form of stock options or restricted stock units. The short video operator does not publicly disclose its workplace numbers, but the latest layoffs from its Slack-like Feishu unit affected around 1,000 employees, following the cut of hundreds of jobs late last year as ByteDance retreated from the gaming sector. The additional payments will be awarded on April 25, with staff eligible as long as they are still employed on that day, the email said. [Southern Metropolis Daily, in Chinese]

Chinese online retailer JD has lowered its free-delivery minimum order for one-hour delivery services to RMB 29 ($4.01), shortly after the e-commerce titan set on-demand services as one of its “must-win battles” in 2024. This type of business, a key offering mainly provided by China’s internet companies including JD, aims to efficiently deliver a wide range of products local consumers order online within one hour. Beijing-based JD last year brought back its retired executive, former international operations head Yan Xiaobing, to lead a newly established retail arm that integrates the company’s offline businesses, at a time when JD experiences low-digit growth in earnings and user numbers and focuses on increasing consumer spending on on-demand services. [JD, in Chinese]

On March 29, Huawei stated in its 2023 annual financial report that the company’s overall operational performance is in line with expectations. In 2023, Huawei’s global sales revenue reached RMB 704.2 billion ($97.45 billion), representing a year-on-year increase of 9.63%, the largest annual growth rate since 2019. The net profit surged to RMB 87 billion ($12.04 billion), up by 144.5% year-on-year. Huawei’s R&D (research and development) investment for 2023 totaled RMB 164.7 billion ($22.79 billion), with cumulative R&D spending exceeding RMB 1.11 trillion ($150 billion) over the past decade. “We’ve been through a lot over the past few years, but through one challenge after another, we’ve managed to grow,” said Ken Hu, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman. [Huawei]

Online video services have gradually become “a key engine to activate the new quality productivity” of the digital economy, said the China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA) in a report, as the market size totaled RMB 1.15 trillion, continuing to attract growing companies and live streamers. The state-run association published an industry-focused report on Wednesday, revealing that the number of professional hosts exceeded 15 million, while short video accounts amounted to 1.55 billion at the end of December last year in China. More than 70% of users who participated in a CNSA survey said they had bought goods through short videos and livestreams, a significant increase from 42.7% in 2022. [CNSA, in Chinese]

Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform AliExpress secured a deal to become an official partner of UEFA Euro 2024, doubling down on its bet in the European market that echoed rival Temu’s multimillion-dollar investments in the Super Bowl for two consecutive years. This year’s UEFA European Championship will commence on June 14 in Germany and is expected to draw an influx of 2.7 million fans to stadiums, according to official figures. In a WeChat post on Thursday, AliExpress urged its merchants to prepare in advance to “seize the opportunity of the traffic surge from the upcoming tournament,” which would propel cross-border businesses to “the next level.” [AliExpress, in Chinese]

On Wednesday, Chinese leading display panel manufacturer BOE started construction of its first 8.6-gen AMOLED production line in Chengdu, Sichuan, with an investment of around RMB 63 billion ($8.72 billion). This is the largest single investment in the manufacturing sector in the history of industrial development in Sichuan, a province located in southwestern China. The upcoming production line is expected to occupy around 1,400 acres, boasting a planned monthly capacity of 32,000 glass substrates. The company claims that the production line, primarily targeting high-end OLED displays for laptops and tablets, is set to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of 2026, with an annual output value surpassing RMB 40 billion ($5.53 billion) at full capacity. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

BYD aims to sell 500,000 electric vehicles overseas in 2024 and further double the number to 1 million units in 2025, chairman Wang Chuanfu told investors on Wednesday. The figures would mark a significant increase compared to the nearly 243,000 units it achieved last year. BYD’s overall sales are expected to jump 20% to 3.6 million units this year, according to a transcript quoted by media outlet Yicai, lower than the estimate of 4 million units made by some analysts. A day earlier, the Chinese EV giant posted net income of more than RMB 30 billion ($4.15 billion) in 2023, representing an annual increase of 80.7%, while the margin of its car business improved from 20.39% to 23.02%. Wang also mentioned the company’s plans to roll out its next-generation plug-in hybrid vehicle system as early as May, which will enable a driving range of 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) on a full tank plus full charge, as well as a fuel consumption rate of 2.9 liters of gasoline per 100 km. [Yicai, in Chinese]

China’s central government on Wednesday unveiled its first action plan to accelerate the development of flying cars as part of a broader goal to make the emerging aviation sector for low-altitude airspace a new growth engine to bolster the economy. Some pilot programs for passenger transport by electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL), also known as air taxis, will first be introduced in China’s more developed regions, including the southern Guangdong province, Hong Kong, and Macau, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Beijing is aiming for “initial development” of a new aviation equipment industry by 2030 when eVTOLs and drones will operate at relatively low altitudes and provide more intelligent, eco-friendly air travel and ferry services for “various aspects” of China’s society, according to the plan. The development of a “low-altitude economy” was included in the government work report for the first time during the latest annual parliamentary meetings ended March 11, signaling China’s intent to boost its aerospace industry. [MIIT, in Chinese]

Tencent is developing two mobile games akin to the popular title Palworld, utilizing its subsidiaries TiMi Studio and LightSpeed & Quantum Studios in the hopes of revitalizing the company’s core gaming business, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Palworld, a monster-taming adventure game released on Jan. 19, has sold 12 million copies on Steam and attracted seven million players on Xbox, Japanese developer Pocketpair announced in February. Both TiMi and LightSpeed & Quantum Studios are working on a mobile version of Palworld, according to the report. Sources disclosed that the decision to engage two separate studios is aimed at fostering healthy competition and yielding optimal results. Tencent has yet to comment on the matter. [Bloomberg]

Short video-sharing platform Douyin has recently launched a standalone app for its e-commerce business, aiming to enhance operations amidst increasing order volumes. The app is currently available for download on Android devices but has yet to be released on Apple platforms. The goal of the launch is to better serve users who “have a strong demand for active shopping,” one of Douyin’s representatives told local media outlets. The booming retail services, enticing shoppers through short videos or livestreaming within the TikTok sister app, have significantly contributed to ByteDance’s over $110 billion in sales in 2023. Douyin has reportedly set a nearly 40% year-on-year growth target for its e-commerce total volumes, aiming to surpass RMB 3 trillion this year. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Chinese automakers could increase their combined share of the electric vehicle market in Europe to 11% in 2024 from 7.9% last year, with that number set to rise further to 20% by 2027, according to a study published on Wednesday by Transport & Environment (T&E). Chinese EV imports to the EU are also forecast to rise to 25% this year from 19.5% in 2023, with most of that amount coming from international carmakers such as Tesla, Renault’s Dacia, and BMW, the European environmental lobby group added. The analysis comes after the European Commission launched an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EV manufacturers last October and is expected to raise the tariff on car imports from China to 25% from the current 10% when the probe is completed. T&E also called for a more comprehensive policy to strengthen the local supply chain and facilitate the availability of affordable EVs in Europe. Tariffs won’t shield legacy carmakers for long, said Julia Poliscanova, a senior director at T&E, adding that “Chinese companies will build factories in Europe and when that happens our car industry needs to be ready.” [T&E]

Alibaba announced on Tuesday that it is canceling the planned Hong Kong IPO for its logistic arm Cainiao in an unexpected move, with chairman Joe Tsai saying it’s an “appropriate time to double down” on the e-commerce’s giant investment in its logistics unit. Alibaba also plans to buy Caniao stock that it does not currently hold for up to $3.75 billion, as it aims to increase its current 64% stake to full ownership. The remaining stock acquisition offer to minority investors and employees values Cainiao at $10.3 billion, Alibaba said in the announcement. “Regulation played no role” in its call-off of the IPO, Tsai told investors on a related call on Tuesday, where he emphasized that Cainiao is pivotal to the Taobao owner’s strategy of “winning in e-commerce by regaining market share and driving growth.” [Alibaba]

China’s Horizon Robotics, a provider of in-car technologies to major automakers like Volkswagen and BYD, has filed to sell an undisclosed amount of shares in Hong Kong. The move aims to capitalize on the increasing consumer demand for autonomous driving technology both domestically and internationally. The tech unicorn reached a valuation of $8.7 billion in late 2022 after raising a $210 million Series D funding round. According to a prospectus filed on Tuesday, China’s SAIC, Volkswagen, and BYD hold stakes of 10%, 2.6%, and 0.1% in the company, respectively. Horizon reported revenues of nearly RMB 1.6 billion ($220 million) in 2023, up from RMB 906 million the previous year, with net losses narrowing from RMB 1.9 billion to RMB 1.6 billion. The company captured a 21.3% share of the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) market in China, making it the second-largest vendor in the country as of last year, according to figures from China Insights Consultancy, which is advising the stake sale. Horizon, backed by investors such as Sequoia Capital China and Hillhouse Investment, plans to use the proceeds to expand into overseas markets, including Japan, Korea, and Europe. [Horizon Robotics prospectus]

Vivo launched the Vivo X Fold3 series foldable smartphones on Tuesday, with the company claiming the Vivo X Fold3 to be the lightest and thinnest book-style foldable smartphone. The Vivo X Fold3 weighs 219g, which is lighter than traditional non-foldable phones, and it measures 10.2mm in thickness when folded. The Armor Glass on the external screen boasts 11 times improved drop resistance over the previous generation and is certified by Swiss SGS certification. The X Fold3 uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset as the X Fold2, while the Pro model runs on the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The Vivo X Fold3 starts at RMB 6,999 ($968) for the 12GB/256GB model, while the Pro version is priced at RMB 9,999 ($1383) for the 16GB/512GB model. [Vivo, in Chinese]

Alibaba’s wholesale marketplace 1688 recently opened three official online shops on Taobao, strengthening the company’s low-price strategy which is expected to see increasing low-priced supplies flowing in. According to Chinese media agency Caixin, the three stand-alone stores sell furniture and general merchandise produced by well-known brand-name factories, office supplies and business consumables, and unbranded white-label items. It is also reported that Taobao would set up an independent channel similar to the one shared by Tmall Supermarket for 1688-based businesses, making it easier for shoppers to pick goods without having to download its original app. [Caixin, in Chinese]

PDD’s low-profile founder Colin Huang has moved up three places in the Hurun wealth rankings to become China’s second-richest billionaire, followed by Tencent founder Pony Ma and ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, according to the latest report from Hurun Research Institute. Huang’s fortune stands at $53 billion based on mid-January 2024 values, an increase of 71% from a year earlier, thanks to PDD’s domestic and international business successes. Huang’s wealth growth has allowed him to jump to 24th place on the global rich list, up from 39th a year prior. [Hurun Research Institute]

On March 23, China’s Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, met with Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra to exchange views on Micron’s development in China. The Chinese government welcomed Micron to continue deepening its presence in the Chinese market and accelerate the implementation of new investment projects in China, Wang Wentao said. Sanjay Mehrotra introduced Micron’s business and new investment projects in China, stating that the company will strictly adhere to Chinese laws and regulations. Sanjay also unveiled plans to expand investments in China to meet the demands of Chinese customers. This is Sanjay Mehrotra’s second visit to China in nearly six months, with their previous meeting occurring on November 1, 2023. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Black Sesame Technologies, a Chinese startup specializing in chips for autonomous driving, has renewed its application to Hong Kong Exchanges for an initial public offering, according to an official release by the bourse on March 22. Backed by Chinese auto and tech majors including Xiaomi, SAIC, and FAW Group, the eight-year-old startup first filed for a Hong Kong IPO last June, but no progress was made before the prospectus expired in January. Although its revenue nearly doubled to RMB 312 million ($43.3 million) last year, the net loss attributable to owners of the company widened to nearly RMB 4.86 billion from RMB 2.75 billion a year earlier. The gross margin of its self-driving business also declined from 24.2% to 21.4% in the past two years, which the company blamed on the initial cost of packaging facilities for its advanced driving chips and on the favorable prices it offers to Geely due to their long-term collaboration. [Black Sesame prospectus]

Huawei’s smartphone supply chain companies have commenced mass deliveries of the Huawei P70 series flagship phones, with industry insiders indicating Huawei’s optimistic shipment targets for the series, according to local media outlet Jiemian. Several analyst agencies predict its launch in April, though Huawei has not yet announced a release schedule for the P70 series. Powered by the self-developed Kirin 9000S processor, the P70 series will not markedly differ from the Mate 60 series launched last August but will focus on improving imaging functionality. The Huawei P70 and P70 Pro will offer the OmniVision OV50H as their main camera sensor, while the premium model Huawei P70 Art will be upgraded to the Sony IMX989 sensor. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

On March 23, China’s Didi reported an RMB 535 million ($74.3 million) profit for 2023, its first annual profit in four years as the ride-hailing giant gradually recovers from the impact of a Covid-era pullback and a year-long regulatory crackdown by Beijing. However, the company swung to a full-year loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of around RMB 502 million, which is still a significant reduction compared to the nearly RMB 24.7 billion loss from a year earlier. Revenue from its core ride-hailing business both in China and overseas markets increased by more than a third year-on-year to RMB 175 billion and RMB 7.8 billion respectively, and chief executive Cheng Wei said they are “fully confident” in the future progress. The company is planning a public share sale in Hong Kong this year, according to Bloomberg, after being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in June 2022 and paying RMB 8.02 billion fine after a cybersecurity investigation.[TechNode reporting, Didi release]

On March 24, at the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the Apple Vision Pro will be launched in the Chinese market later this year, while the company aims to increase its investment in research and development in China. Currently, Apple launched the $3,499 Vision Pro in the US in February and has not yet released it in other markets. On March 12, Apple announced the expansion of its research labs in China, including enhancing the capabilities of its Shanghai research center and opening a new lab in Shenzhen later this year. This expansion is expected to deepen cooperation with Chinese suppliers to strengthen testing and research capabilities for products such as the iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro.[IThome, in Chinese]

Ecarx, a Chinese auto tech startup backed by Geely’s chairman Li Shufu, on Wednesday unveiled its new seven-nanometer system-on-a-chip called AD1000, which can offer over 256 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of performance, and is being billed as comparable to Nvidia’s current chip called DRIVE Orin for autonomous driving. The company said vehicles powered by a computing platform with four AD1000 SoCs, could feature Level 4 autonomous capabilities, meaning they can travel from point A to point B without requiring any human intervention, according to definitions set by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Ecarx in 2021 released its first seven-nanometer chip, the SE1000, an alternative to Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon SA8155P that powers a vehicle’s infotainment system, and has shipped more than 230,000 chips, mostly to Lynk & Co, a joint brand owned by Geely and Volvo. [TechNode reporting, Ecarx release]

Chair of Ele.me Wu Zeming said the new management team has outlined the food delivery arm’s operating plan for the next three years, which it has formed in discussion with its parent company Alibaba. The move is “the best response” to external speculation over the delivery firm’s potential sale, Wu claimed. According to Chinese tech media outlet 36Kr, the Meituan rival recently held a routine annual meeting that had core managers attendance, with former lead Yu Yongfu noting Ele.me is “already on a healthy development track” and will embark upon a new three-year business and operational implementation strategy. “Whoever sets goals must lead the team down the road, otherwise it will have a relatively large impact on targets if the leader moves halfway through the process,” said Yu, according to 36Kr’s report. Despite Ele.me continuing to maintain positive financial figures since the June quarter of 2022, it has yet to record profit. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Daniel Zhang, the departing chairman and chief executive of Alibaba, has joined Firstred Capital as a managing partner, the Chinese investment fund announced on Thursday. “Daniel Zhang will partner with the fund’s founder, Liu Xiaodan, to explore a new future for merger and acquisition funds,” Firstred said on its official WeChat account. The low-profile VC firm’s portfolios include semiconductor, biological, and pet healthcare companies. When Zhang left his executive role within Alibaba last September, the e-commerce giant said its former chair would build a future-oriented tech fund that Alibaba would inject $1 billion into. [Firstred Capital, in Chinese]

Li Auto on Thursday slashed its forecast for vehicle deliveries in the current quarter by nearly a third to between 76,000 and 78,000 units, as CEO Li Xiang acknowledged strategy lapses with the Mega, its first battery electric vehicle model. “In fact, we are still in the nascent 0-to-1 business validation period, and similar to Li ONE and our EREV technologies, Li MEGA and our BEV technologies will also need to undergo this 0-to-1 validation process,” Li said in the filing. He also mentioned the Chinese startup would delay a full-scale effort to sell the van nationwide but would focus on top-tier cities to “effectively” validate market acceptance, according to an internal memo seen by Jiemian. The Beijing-based company has mainly been selling extended-range hybrids and on March 1 launched the Mega with a higher-than-expected price tag of RMB 559,800 ($77,756). Management had previously said that sales of the family-oriented, multi-purpose vehicle could achieve 8,000 units each month, setting an ambitious delivery target of 800,000 units for this year. [Li Auto filing, Jiemian, in Chinese]

In February, Tencent, NetEase, miHoYo, Century Games, and FirstFun emerged as the top five mobile game publishers among Chinese firms in terms of global mobile game revenue, according to the analyst firm SensorTower. The strategic game Last War: Survival Game experienced a 67% month-on-month revenue increase in February, securing its publisher FirstFun the fifth spot on the Chinese mobile game revenue list. The US became the leading market for Century Games’ survival strategy game Whiteout Survival and contributed 33% of its revenue in February. NetEase’s mobile gaming revenue grew by 19.2% month-on-month, driven by hits like Eggy Party, Identity V, and Racing Master.[SensorTower, in Chinese]

Kuaishou finally achieved a yearly profit in 2023, driven by the short video app’s booming e-commerce business and online marketing fees paid by merchants to advertise within the platform. Fourth quarter revenue amounted to RMB 32.6 billion ($4.5 billion), rose 15.1% from a year earlier, while net profit hit RMB 10.3 billion, putting the company into the black for the first time. The Douyin competitor sold over a trillion yuan worth of goods last year, according to its earnings report. Short dramas, an emerging content form that is making waves worldwide, also boosted vital figures for Kuaishou such as users who watch over 10 episodes a day, which reached 94 million in the fourth quarter, a growth of more than 50% year-on-year. The platform’s average monthly active users hit at 700.4 million during the period, a rise of 9.4% year-on-year. [Kuaishou]

Temu parent PDD reported a 123% year-on-year revenue jump amounting to RMB 89 billion ($12 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2023, a year that executives said proved “pivotal” to the company during a Wednesday earnings call. The fast-track growth is again way ahead of its main Chinese counterparts Alibaba and JD, who both saw single-digit rises in revenue. PDD’s net profit increased nearly 1.5 times during the period to RMB 23.3 billion. PDD remained silent on the stand-alone financial performance of its international business Temu, the cut-price shopping platform that added a presence in around 50 countries in the past year, but an eye-catching growth of 192% to RMB 91 billion in total cost of revenue in 2023 has offered a glimpse that PDD has poured huge resources into its new business, especially compared to a 1% decrease in this figure a year earlier. Co-CEO of PDD Zhao Jiazhen said the company “clearly feels the improving consumer sentiment” from consumer activities in its platforms, and shared his confidence in the future of the Chinese consumer market. [PDD]

Tencent on Wednesday reported a revenue of RMB 609.01 billion ($84.6 billion) for 2023, a 10% year-on-year increase, while its adjusted net profit surged by 36% year-on-year to reach RMB 157.68 billion ($21.9 billion). The Chinese tech giant’s gaming division reached RMB 179.9 billion ($24.99 billion) in revenue in 2023. The firm’s domestic gaming revenue grew by 2% year-on-year to RMB 126.7 billion ($17.6 billion), driven by the success of titles such as first-person shooter game Valorant, action role-playing game Lost Ark, battle royale shooter game Arena Breakout, and the turn-based strategy game Teamfight Tactics. Overseas gaming revenue soared by 14% year-on-year to RMB 53.2 billion ($7.39 billion) for the company, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 8% when excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations. Overseas growth was fueled by titles including the overseas version of Valorant, third-person shooter action role-playing game Goddess of Victory: Nikke, puzzle matching game Triple Match 3D, and the battle royale game PUBG Mobile. [Zaker, in Chinese]

Nvidia announced on Monday that it will supply its latest centralized car computer, DRIVE Thor, for the next generation of vehicles from Chinese automakers, including BYD, Xpeng Motors, and GAC Group. The move comes as Nvidia taps into China’s growing demand for autonomous and connected vehicle technologies. Both BYD and GAC plan to begin production in 2025 of their luxury EVs featuring autonomous driving capabilities and powered by the computing chip. They join other manufacturers, such as Geely-owned Zeekr and Li Auto, in harnessing the power of artificial intelligence for automobiles. Additionally, BYD will leverage Nvidia’s generative AI and simulation technologies to plan its virtual factory and sales operation, according to a joint announcement. Revenue from Nvidia’s automotive business declined 4% to roughly $281 million last year, accounting for less than 0.5% of its total revenue. Nevertheless, the US tech giant has been expanding its autonomous driving team in China, which KPMG expects to be the first market to mature for advanced driver assistance systems. [Nvidia release]

Chinese game developer miHoYo’s recent legal actions against private server operators for its hit title Genshin Impact resulted in significant penalties, with chief instigator Yin sentenced to four years and six months in prison and fined RMB 130,000 ($18,057). These illegal operations, which included unauthorized server setups and impersonation of miHoYo’s game, constituted copyright infringement and fraud. Additionally, criminal judgments were also issued for pirated merchandise sales related to Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd, resulting in jail time and fines amounting to nearly RMB 460,000 ($63,895). In miHoYo’s announcement, the company pledges to continue its legal efforts to combat infringement and protect user rights amid a healthy gaming environment. [miHoYo, in Chinese]

Xpeng Motors reported a gross margin of 6.2% for the October-December period on Tuesday, better than analysts expected and a solid improvement over the -2.7% for the third quarter of 2023, as the Chinese startup delivered a record 60,158 electric vehicles driven by year-end promotions. The company also achieved a positive vehicle margin of 4.1%, up from -2.7% three months earlier but far behind Li Auto’s 22.7% and NIO’s 11.9% over the same period. Xpeng expects its partnership with Volkswagen to generate revenues and make a “positive impact” on its margin starting in 2024, as the German automaker announced plans last July to develop two new electric models based on Xpeng’s vehicle platform. The EV maker said it will also benefit from a joint sourcing program for vehicle components with VW, as these costs will decline over time to a “competitive level in the market,” according to Vice President Charles Zhang. Its annual loss widened to RMB 10.38 billion ($1.46 billion) last year from RMB 9.14 billion, while Li Auto posted its first annual profit with a net income of RMB 11.8 billion. [Xpeng release]

Xiaomi announced on Tuesday that it saw a 126.3% year-on-year increase in adjusted net profit to RMB 19.3 billion ($2.68 billion) in 2023, despite a slight 3.2% year-on-year decrease in total revenue to RMB 270.9 billion ($37.63 billion). In 2023, Xiaomi’s research and development expenditure surged by 19.2% year-on-year to RMB 19.1 billion ($2.65 billion), according to the financial report. The company claimed that the global monthly active users of Xiaomi’s smartphones and tablets reached an all-time high of 641.2 million by December 2023. Additionally, at the Twitter-like platform Weibo, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announced the unveiling of Xiaomi’s automobile factory, where directors toured the facility and test-drove the upcoming Xiaomi SU7. [IThome, in Chinese]

On Monday, Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili announced that it will give more incentives to less profitable content creators. In an official statement, it specified that the campaign applies to individuals earning less than RMB 5,000 from Bilibili over a six-month period. However, the announcement that cash incentives will now be capped at a monthly income of RMB 2,000 ($277.80) regardless of the number of views has led to a backlash from some creators, with one Bilibili user who boasts 60,000 followers commenting in a post that the program would “only push out those video creators who refrain from promoting commercial ads and instead upload videos out of passion.” The platform claimed the updated incentive plan has been put together in the hope that “more ordinary people with ideas and talent will be able to embark on a creative path.” The GenZ-favored platform is rushing to achieve its commitment to profitability in the third quarter of this year, as it still recorded a net loss of RMB 4.8 billion in 2023. [Bilibili, in Chinese]

Honor’s Dragon Year ambassador, Jackie Chan, made an unexpected appearance and performed a song during last night’s Honor 2024 product launch event. Honor released two new smartphones: the Honor Magic 6 Ultimate and the Honor Magic 6 RSR Porsche Edition. The Honor Magic 6 Ultimate introduces an ultra-dynamic eagle eye camera system that matches the quality of single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. This system is equipped with the industry’s first ultra-dynamic eagle eye main camera, the H9800 (Howell OV50K). The H9800 features a large 1/1.3″ sensor, a wide 15EV dynamic range, a flexible F1.4-2.0 variable aperture, and optical image stabilization (OIS). The Ultimate with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of ROM is priced at RMB 6,999 ($973), while the variant with 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of ROM costs RMB 7,699 ($1,070). [Honor Weibo, in Chinese]

Hou Yi, who founded Freshippo in 2016 as a new retail practice for Alibaba, announced on Monday his decision to step down as chief executive in a surprise move, amid frequent sale rumors overshadowing the supermarket chain. Chief financial officer Yan Xiaolei will take over Hou’s vacancy, a move that has raised suspicions that it is part of asset liquidation, especially after Alibaba chair Joe Tsai told investors that the company is on track to exit traditional physical retail businesses, which he referred to as “non-core focus” for the Taobao owner recently. Chinese tech outlet LatePost, however, reported that Freshippo is still actively seeking to bring in new strategic investors under an approximately $3.7 billion valuation and has approached several potential investors. The grocery unit once sought funds at a valuation of up to $10 billion in early 2022. [LatePost, in Chinese]

Xiaomi on Monday announced the global debut of the Civi 4 Pro smartphone featuring a brand new Snapdragon processor and confirmed the phone’s release date as March 21. Qualcomm unveiled the new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset on the same day, positioning it below its current flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in capabilities and price. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 will additionally support generative AI in budget-friendly smartphones. While the 8s Gen 3 boasts a CPU similar to the standard 8 Gen 3, it differs slightly by operating at a lower frequency and having a slower performance core: the prime core runs at speeds of up to 3.0GHz compared to 3.4GHz on the 8 Gen 3. [Xiaomi Weibo, in Chinese]

Alibaba is planning to invest over $1 billion in South Korea in the next three years according to the country’s news outlet Yonhap, in a quest to tap market potential. The report, citing business plans submitted to the government, said Alibaba is set to build a logistics center equivalent in size to 25 soccer fields, while investing $100 million to help small- and medium-sized merchants sell worldwide via Alibaba’s international retail platforms including Lazada and Miravia. In a possible curb on Alibaba’s ambitions, South Korea’s Personal Data Protection Commission announced an investigation into the collection and handling of personal information on cross-border shopping platforms used by Korean users, including Alibaba-owned AliExpress. [Yonhap, in Chinese]

Chinese flying taxi maker EHang has recently reached a partnership agreement with state-owned automaker GAC Group to develop driverless passenger drones, a move chief executive Hu Huazhi told investors on March 15 would “capitalize on” GAC’s well-established industrial chain and manufacturing capability. The two companies said they are planning to jointly build an assembly line for eVTOLs, or electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, where both are headquartered. Meanwhile, a GAC spokesperson said the automaker expects to accelerate the development of its own flying cars with knowledge and services provided by EHang, Caixin reported on March 16. Revenues for Nasdaq-listed EHang more than tripled year-on-year to RMB 56.6 million ($8 million) in the fourth quarter of 2023, when the company delivered 23 passenger drones, a significant increase from just six units a year prior, sending shares up 12.9% on March 15. [EHang financial report, Caixin, in Chinese]

Latest rumors that Alibaba has decided to sell Freshippo and RT-Mart to a state-run company were again denied by the e-commerce giant, following a weekend report that said China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) is expected to take over the above offline market chains at RMB 20 billion ($2.8 billion) and RMB 10 billion, respectively. “The news is patently false,” Freshippo told the Chinese media outlet 21jingji, while RT-MART also denied the sale. Frequent sale rumors come after Alibaba chair Joe Tsai noted the company’s exit from traditional physical retail businesses “makes sense” due to those operations on its balance sheet not being “our core focus” during the recent earnings call in February. However, he added that the exit will “take time” given the challenging market conditions. [21jingji, in Chinese]

The newest China-made Volkswagen Tiguan cars will use the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) sourced from DJI, which the drone maker said will complete most trips autonomously on Chinese urban streets at the cost of just RMB 7,000 ($973) or so. The assisted driving solution will include a pack of affordable sensors, such as seven cameras and a Snapdragon 8650 computing chip from Qualcomm with only 100 TOPS of performance, according to Shen Shaojie, a technical lead at DJI. This will enable budget cars priced at roughly RMB 150,000 ($20,841) to function by themselves without costly lidar and high-precision maps. Shen shared the details on Sunday in Beijing at an annual forum organized by the EV100 think tank. This comes a year after DJI said it had been supplying lower-priced assisted driving technology, which mainly works on Chinese highways but costs only about RMB 5,000, to automakers such as Chery and SAIC-GM-Wuling, a General Motors’ China joint venture. The 2024 VW Tiguan L, the top-selling sport utility vehicle of the German carmaker, is priced at RMB 198,700 in China. [TechNode reporting, Caixin, in Chinese]

China’s star AI venture ZhipuAI announced on Thursday a capital injection from state-run AI-focused funds in the latest fundraising round that closed earlier this year, as the government steps up efforts to promote the booming tech sector with a mention in March’s government work report by Premier Li Qiang of AI being “an important engine of new productive forces.” The exact financing sum has not been disclosed. The Beijing city government-led AI fund was registered and established with other three funds covering pharmaceuticals and healthcare, robotics, and IT in January, with a total injection of RMB 50 billion ($6.9 billion). The company committed to use the financing for “further research and development” into foundational models, while its founder and CEO Zhang Peng said OpenAI-built Sora’s come-out was “not a surprise” to him because the release was “just showing the gap [between us and the world’s advanced level] visible once again.” [Caixin, in Chinese]

China’s leading internet-famous bubble tea brand Sexy Tea is planning a Hong Kong IPO as early as this year with the company having selected China International Capital and Morgan Stanley to oversee the listing, according to a Thursday report from Bloomberg. However, the banks involved and the precise listing schedule may change, the report cited sources as saying. While rival bubble tea brands Mixue, GoodMe, and ChaBaiDao have rushed to open new stores and pursue IPOs in recent months, Hunan-based Sexy Tea has been more careful about franchising and expanding to more Chinese cities. The company operated more than 500 stores as of October 2023, its website shows. [Bloomberg]

On Thursday, Huawei Terminal Cloud Services announced its partnership with 11 Alibaba-run applications to initiate development for Huawei’s self-developed HarmonyOS, including Xianyu, 1688, Fliggy, http://Ele.meEle.me>, Hema, Cainiao, Diantao, Taobao Special Edition, Damai, Taopiaopiao, and Dengta. Huawei claimed that this collaboration between Alibaba and Huawei covers a wide range, from e-commerce and new retail to local services, travel and entertainment. Huawei has set about developing its own operating system in recent years in response to political pressure largely lead by the US, which may limit the company’s access to essential US-origin technology including the Android operating system. A commercial version of HarmonyOS NEXT will be released to all users on specific devices in the fourth quarter of 2024, breaking from the Android architecture, according to Huawei. [Huawei Terminal Cloud Services, in Chinese]

Tencent has established a new gaming subsidiary, Saros Network Technology, a merger of two of Bytedance’s gaming division studios, Shenzhen Gravity Studio and Jiangnan Studio. Sources familiar with the matter reveal that former employees of ByteDance’s gaming arm NUVERSE have already joined the new company. Shenzhen Gravity Studio has an ongoing multiplayer shooting game project (S1), and Jiangnan Studio has an open-world adventure game (J5) akin to miHoYo’s popular title Genshin Impact. Both Japanese anime-style games have been in development for two years. Tencent’s acquisition of ByteDance’s gaming projects helps fill its anime gaming gap, as the company seeks another hit title after Honor of Kings, according to gaming industry insiders. [Yicai, in Chinese]

NIO’s long-awaited new mainstream brand will be called ONVO, or Le Dao in Chinese pinyin, meaning a happy and well-managed family, as the luxury electric vehicle maker looks to expand its reach to young Chinese families with more accessible pricing. According to images circulated on Chinese media sites, the first model under the ONVO brand, the L60, will be a midsize crossover equipped with two cameras and without more expensive lidar units along the sides of the car’s roof for automated driving. The vehicle, with a target price range between RMB 200,000 and RMB 300,000 ($27,800-$41,700), will be “highly competitive” in cost and performance against Tesla’s Model Y, NIO founder and chief executive William Li told investors on March 5. It is scheduled for launch as early as September with delivery set to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. [TechWeb, in Chinese]

Chinese phone brand Honor unveiled its AI PC technology on Wednesday and planned to debut the new technology with the upcoming Honor MagicBook Pro 16, scheduled for release on March 18. Honor announced plans to integrate AI into all of its laptops by 2024 as the company aims to start a new era for AI PCs. Powered by AI-driven Intel Turbo 3.0 technology, the company claimed that the Honor MagicBook Pro 16 will achieve a 30% reduction in power consumption and boost performance by 10%. The MagicBook Pro 16 is expected to offer AI-assisted functionalities such as content recommendation, document summarization, file searching, meeting recording and summarization, and article writing. Core specs of the new device include the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 series graphics. [IThome, in Chinese]

The analyst firm SensorTower unveiled the top 30 mobile game chart for February, highlighting titles from Chinese developers based on their overseas revenue from both Google Play and the App Store. The top five Chinese mobile games were Whiteout Survival by Century Games, Last War: Survival Game by FirstFun Studio, the Japanese version of Mushroom Body Shakes by Joy Net Games, Genshin Impact, and Honkai: Star Rail, the latter two both developed by miHoYo. The report noted that Whiteout Survival, a glacial apocalypse-themed strategy game launched last February, exceeded $500 million in in-game purchases by February 2024, within just one year of its release. However, specific revenue figures for Whiteout Survival in February were not disclosed, while the second-ranked Last War: Survival Game earned $68 million last month. [SensorTower, in Chinese]

The US House is set to vote on a bill today that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest from the video-sharing app within 165 days or face a total ban in the country, where TikTok has 170 million users. The bill needs a two-thirds majority to pass. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has reportedly been holding urgent meetings with American lawmakers this week as part of the company’s lobbying effort, coupled with the short video app urging users to call their representatives to stop what it has termed a “TikTok shutdown”. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the US has “never found evidence that TikTok is a national threat to itself” during a press conference on Wednesday, adding that the bill “undermines international investors’ confidence in the investment environment” and will “eventually come back to bite the US itself.” [China News, in Chinese]

A record number of Chinese consumers voiced regret at buying electric vehicles and will consider conventional automobiles for their next purchase due to a lack of charging infrastructure in the country’s vast number of small cities, a report by consultancy McKinsey said on Tuesday. McKinsey’s survey found 54% of respondents from Chinese lower-tier cities made the complaint in 2023, strikingly higher than 10% of those living in China’s first and second-tier cities and bringing the overall percentage to 22%, compared with only 3% recorded a year prior. This also resulted in a decrease for the first time in nearly a decade in the percentage of Chinese consumers saying their next car will be electric, from 68% in 2022 to 62% last year. In another sign of inconvenient access to public charging infrastructure, McKinsey said there was only one charging pile for every nine EVs in China’s less-developed regions last year, higher than the average EV to charger ratio of 7.6 in 2022. The report did note, however, that that number improved from 7.1 to 6.6 in more developed regions of the country over the period. [McKinsey & Company, in Chinese]

Nissan Motor and Honda Motor are planning to slash their annual vehicle output by roughly 30% and 20%, respectively, in China, in the latest major setback to Japanese automakers who have been losing ground as the market shifts to electrification. Nissan’s car capacity in China will fall from 1.6 million units to 1.1 million units following the cut, while that number for Honda will be reduced from nearly 1.5 million to around 1.2 million, according to a Tuesday report by Nikkei. The news comes months after about 900 contract workers were let go at a joint plant between Honda and its local partner GAC in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, and Mitsubishi announced a retreat from car production in China last fall. Sales of Nissan and Honda fell 16.1% and 10% to less than 800,000 and approximately 1.2 million units, respectively, in China last year. Nissan has denied the report, and Honda said it has not made a decision on that move. [Nikkei]

Chinese GenAI startup AIsphere, aiming to be as powerful as Sora technically within six months, announced on Monday that it has raised RMB 100 million ($13.9 million) in a Series A1 financing round led by Shenzhen-based Fortune Venture Capital. According to AIsphere’s announcement on its WeChat account, the company, which is about to turn one year old in April, has launched a text-to-video model for the Chinese market on Monday, two months following its internationally-faced model PixVerse rolled out. PixVerse, which the company claimed is now “the largest China-grown GenAI product worldwide” with the largest number of users, is able to generate video lengths of about a few seconds. Local outlet Caixin cited the statistical website Similarweb, saying the tool surpassed one million visits in February. Founder Wang Changhu previously served as the head of ByteDance’s AI Lab, where he supported the building and development of widely-used video apps Douyin and TikTok “from zero to one,” the announcement said. [AIsphere, in Chinese]

On Monday, US chip giant Qualcomm announced via the Twitter-like platform Weibo that it would launch a new chipset on March 18. While the exact chipset remains undisclosed, several reports suggest it could be the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, potentially accompanied by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3. Weibo tech blogger Digital Chat Station indicates the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 will debut on the new Xiaomi Civi 4 smartphone soon. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 may feature a Cortex-X4 prime core running at 3.01GHz, along with four Cortex-A720 performance cores running at 2.61GHz, and three Cortex-A520 efficiency cores running at 1.84GHz, the tech blogger said. Other domestic devices that will apply the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset include the Realme GT Neo6 series, the Redmi Note 13 Turbo, the Vivo Pad 3, and the iQOO Neo9 series. [IThome, in Chinese]

Horizon Robotics, a Chinese auto tech startup backed by BYD, has hired several major investment banks for a Hong Kong initial public offering that could be launched this year and raise about $500 million, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Monday. The Beijing-based company has been planning an imminent share sale with China Securities International, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Morgan Stanley, although planning for the listing is still fluid and the details could change, the report said. The nine-year-old startup has been a major partner of Volkswagen for automated driving technologies in China, as the German car giant in late 2022 announced a $2.3 billion investment deal for a 60% share in a joint venture set up with Horizon. The company, backed by global investors such as Intel Capital and Baillie Gifford, as well as Chinese automakers including BYD, SAIC, and Chery, had briefly considered the US a potential destination to list its shares back in 2021, Bloomberg reported. [Bloomberg]

The global patent application rankings from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently revealed 272,600 worldwide PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) patent applications in 2023, reflecting a 1.8% decrease from the previous year. In terms of corporations, Huawei led the list of applicants with 6,494 PCT patent applications, followed by Samsung (3,924), Qualcomm (3,410), Mitsubishi Electric (2,152), and BOE Technology (1,988). In terms of nationality, China remained the largest contributor with 69,610 PCT patent applications in 2023, while the US ranked second with 55,678 applications. Japan (48,879), South Korea (22,288), and Germany (16,916) ranked third to fifth, respectively. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Shares in CATL surged 14.5% to RMB 180.85 ($25.2) on Monday after Morgan Stanley lifted its rating on the stock to Buy from Hold and forecast the Chinese electric vehicle battery maker to return to strong profit growth in the coming months this year. The analysts raised CATL’s price target from RMB 184 to RMB 210, saying a brutal competitive battle in battery prices will end in 2024, which could weigh on its profit in the first quarter but result in a strong recovery later on. The news also comes after CATL regained its top ranking in the affordable lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery category with a market share of 41.8% at home from January to February, followed by BYD’s 29.8%, figures from the China Automobile Battery Innovation Alliance showed. The battery giant in January forecast net profit to grow by up to 48.1% to RMB 45.5 billion in 2023, a slowdown from 92.9% a year prior and 185.3% in 2021. [Caixin, in Chinese]

Using artificial intelligence to “resurrect” dead loved ones has become a business accessible on Chinese e-commerce platforms, where users can place orders for digital videos featuring the departed ones’ voices and appearance. The basic service starts at RMB 100 ($14) and involves generating a video within one minute based on a half-length photo of the frontal face, making the deceased person say the requested content, which takes one or two days to create. However, according to Legal Daily, the media outlet affiliated with the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the lack of regulation regarding the misuse of data or the potential for fraudulent activities in case of digital resurrection, including more complicated scenarios like the creation of ghost chatbots, remains a concern. [Legal Daily, in Chinese]

On March 10, Sony China refuted recent rumors that its new smartphones may cease sales in China, affirming the stability of all its operations in the country, including its smartphone business. China remains one of Sony’s most important overseas markets, with optimistic prospects for future development, said Sony China to the state-owned media Global Times. Earlier financial reports revealed a notable downturn in revenue for Sony’s mobile communications sector during the July to September period last year, particularly concerning Xperia smartphones. Additionally, rising speculation suggests potential constraints on the availability of the upcoming Xperia 2024 series in specific regions such as the US and China. [Global Times, in Chinese]

ByteDance, the operator of the widely popular short video app TikTok, refuted claims that founder Zhang Yiming is in talks with any potential TikTok buyers, despite the company facing a key vote that leaves a total ban dilemma in the US unless it cuts ties with its Chinese parent. An earlier report by The Wall Street Journal said Bobby Kotick, former chief executive of Activision Blizzard, is seeking partners to buy TikTok and has offered the idea to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others. The House is expected to conduct a full vote this week on the TikTok crackdown bill, following a House committee proposed and passed the bill in a 50-0 vote on March 7. Sayings from US President Biden last week that he would sign the TikTok ban if Congress passes it fuel ByteDance’s embarrassment; however, former President Donald Trump, likely to be the Republican nominee for the 2024 race, claimed he opposed the ban because that would only help Facebook. [WSJ; Jiemian, in Chinese]

The US is considering sanctions on several Chinese tech firms, including chip manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), as a measure to restrain China’s progress in advanced semiconductors, Bloomberg reported on March 9. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is considering adding ChangXin to the entity list, which restricts access to US technology, alongside five other Chinese companies. Both the department and the bureau have yet to respond to this matter. On March 10, ChangXin said it specializes in producing commodity DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips for daily consumer products, focusing on civilian and commercial applications. The company emphasized compliance with US export regulations in a statement to Reuters. [Reuters]

TikTok’s sister app Douyin has reportedly reorganized its local service department geographically into three regions – North, Central, and South districts – as competition with Meituan in the sector has entered a new phase. A fresh unit serving large national merchant chains runs parallel with the above three regions, according to Chinese media outlet LatePost. As part of the overhaul, core staff from ByteDance’s commercialization sales division are transferred to lead the four parts of the local service department, attempting to expedite the monetization process. Meituan, the biggest rival of the short video platform, has also integrated in-store services that previously operated independently into the business group led by Senior Vice President Wang Puzhong. [LatePost, in Chinese]

The Two Sessions, the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, were held as scheduled in Beijing from March 5 to 11. With technical support from Alibaba’s Ant Group, the state-owned CCTV finance media branch replicated two AI anchors based on CCTV hosts Guo Ruotian and Meng Zhandong during this year’s Two Sessions. These AI anchors are available 24 hours a day to answer viewers’ questions on economics, industry, tourism, and more, providing viewers with a new visual and interactive experience. The Ant Group stated that AI anchors primarily utilize technologies such as virtual image driving, dynamic neural radiation fields, and pre-trained speech synthesis. [Ant Group, in Chinese]

Bilibili CEO Chen Rui gave a non-GAAP operating profit timeline of the third quarter this year after the Chinese video streaming company reported a net loss of RMB 1.3 billion ($182.6 million) for the three months ended December. A year-on-year growth of more than 20% both in advertising and value-added services has offset a decline in revenues from mobile games and IP derivatives and others by 12% and 51% from a year earlier respectively. The firm’s quarterly earnings were up 3% compared to the same period of 2022. Bilibili hit a daily active user milestone of 100 million during the period, which also saw users spending more than 95 minutes per day on the platform on average. Bilibili has gradually reduced its revenue sharing with content creators as it looks to achieve profitability, a shift that has partly driven more creators to engage in video and live e-commerce-related activities, with over 60,000 users participating in these during the last quarter. [Bilibili]

On Thursday, based on user expenditures in 2023, the mobile app intelligence platform Data.ai released a list of the top 50 mobile application publishers, with miHoYo making its debut in the top 10. The US leads the top 50 with 18 publishers, accounting for 36% of the total list, while China follows closely with 12 companies, making up 31% of the total share. The 12 Chinese mobile publishers, ranked in order, include Tencent, ByteDance, miHoYo, NetEase, 37 Entertainment, Lilith, Zhejiang Century Huatong Group, Alibaba Group, IM30, Ultrapower, Baidu, and Yostar. Tencent and ByteDance maintained their positions as the first and second, respectively, on the list compared to the previous year. However, NetEase dropped from fifth place to ninth place this year. [Data.ai, in Chinese]

On-demand delivery operator Dada confirmed on Wednesday that it had “overstated” revenue and costs to “meet revenue targets,” two months after the subsidiary of JD reported it identified “suspicious practices” in an internal audit. Along with the review results, Dada also announced that President Jeff He is stepping down following the “substantial completion” of the independent review, with Fu Bing, the leader of Dada Now, currently serving as interim president. The investigation found that Dada conducted virtual transactions internally in the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023, resulting in approximately RMB 568 million ($78.9 million) and RMB 576 million exaggerating in net revenue and operations and support costs, respectively, with no “direct evidence” that management-level executives “orchestrated” the transactions, according to the filing. [Dada filing]

China-made electric vehicles will be subject to a special customs registration process starting Thursday by the European Commission, meaning manufacturers will have to pay anti-subsidy duties for their EVs already imported if the EU’s ongoing probe concludes that they benefit from unfair state subsidies. The Commission said in a Tuesday statement that it had sufficient evidence to show Chinese EVs were being subsidized, and that imports had risen by 14% year-on-year since the investigation was formally launched in October, which could negatively impact European automakers. In October, Brussels officially launched an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese battery EVs and later carried out visits to three Chinese auto majors – namely BYD, Geely, and SAIC – according to a Jan. 12 report by Reuters. The probe is set to conclude by November and the EU could impose provisional duties in July. The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said on Thursday it was disappointed with the EU’s mandate for customs registration while an investigation remains ongoing. [Reuters, CCCEU statement]

Shares in the online retailer JD surged nearly 6% on Thursday’s Hong Kong morning trade, after the company announced fourth-quarter revenue figures that surpassed market expectations, growing 3.6% from a year prior to reaching RMB 306.1 billion ($43.1 billion). The figure marked a RMB 5.84 billion increase from the previous quarter and was primarily driven by the growth of “new users from lower-tier markets” during the period, according to CEO Sandy Xu. Chief Financial Officer Ian Shan later expressed confidence in the company’s user growth for 2024 on the firm’s earnings call, adding that cooperation with China’s Spring Festival Gala TV show had helped JD reach a broader use base. JD also announced a share repurchase program of up to $3 billion, covering US depository shares, to be executed over the next 36 months. Net income jumped 13.3% year-on-year to RMB 3.4 billion for the three months to December. [JD]

Chinese car manufacturers FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, and Changan Automobile will have more leeway and independence in conducting their work, as the country’s state assets regulator said on Wednesday, in an effort to boost the development of electric vehicles. The new energy vehicle (NEV) businesses of the central government-controlled automakers will shortly become independent accounting units, Zhang Yuzhuo, director of China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), told reporters on the sidelines of the “Two Sessions” meetings in Beijing. This means they can ramp up research and development spending without the constraint of keeping their balance sheets healthy, as Zhang added that SASAC will check more on their technological development and market share rather than profit-making in the current period. Last year, Dongfeng and Changan reported sales of roughly 524,000 and 474,000 NEVs, respectively, which include all-electrics and plug-in hybrids, far lagging behind BYD, which sold a record 3 million units to customers. [Caixin, in Chinese]

On Tuesday, the market intelligence platform QuestMobile released the 2024 Women’s Economy Insights Report that highlights Papergames’ Love and Deepspace as January’s top otome (female-focused romance) game in China, with an impressive 6.781 million monthly active users (MAU). The other four leading otome games in the country during January were Light and Night from Tencent Games with 3.091 million MAUs, Tears of Themis from miHoYo (1.549 million MAUs), Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice from Papergames (1.21 million MAUs), and For All Time from NetEase Games (0.916 million MAUs). Released on Jan. 18, Love and Deepspace generated around RMB 600 million ($84 million) in revenue during its debut month, according to local media outlet GameLook. [GameLook, in Chinese]

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) faces a setback in its attempt to sell an AI chip specifically tailored for the Chinese market due to US government restrictions on exporting advanced technologies to China, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Despite efforts to secure approval from the US Commerce Department, AMD was informed that a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security is required. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that officials raised concerns about the chip’s power, despite its compliance with US export regulations and its comparatively lower potency compared to AMD’s products offered outside China. Currently, neither AMD nor the US Commerce Department has commented on the matter. [Bloomberg]

NIO will begin selling the first model under a mass-market brand as early as September, and it would cost 10% less to make its new electric vehicle models than Tesla’s Model Y, founder and chief executive William Li told investors on Tuesday. This would give NIO “better flexibility” in pricing the first model under a project codenamed Alps, which will be battery-swappable, thanks to China’s highly-developed EV supply chain and the company’s research and development input over the past several years, Li said. Li implied that the luxury EV maker might take a more proactive pricing strategy to compete with rivals in the segment, as the new brand will target Chinese families and focus more on volume, while its NIO brand continues to be gross margin-oriented. The net loss of the Shanghai-headquartered company widened to RMB 20.7 billion ($2.9 billion) for the full year 2023 from RMB 14.4 billion a year ago, while the revenue growth was roughly 12.9%. NIO’s stock rose 2.8% to end the day at $5.48. [TechNode reporting, NIO financial report]

Researchers from Peking University have formed a small team that is aiming to “reproduce” OpenAI’s text-to-video generator Sora, according to its project page on GitHub, after the original model took GenAI to the next level following its roll out in February. Collaborating with Shenzhen-based AI firm RabbitPre, China’s top academic institution is seeking resources from the open-source community as they are “unable to conduct full training” due to a lack of video data. However, the team has developed a three-part framework – including a Video VQ-VAE, a Denoising Diffusion Transformer, and a Condition Encoder – and presented its initial progress on GitHub, with four reconstructed video demos offering different resolutions and aspect ratios, ranging from three to 24 seconds in length. [GitHub]

Li Auto shares plunged nearly 14% on Monday, partly influenced by analysts’ bleak forecasts for the order intake of the company’s first battery electric vehicle model, the Mega. The vehicle was unveiled on March 1 with a higher-than-expected price tag of RMB 559,800 ($77,756). As of Monday, Li Auto received 8-9 non-refundable orders for the Mega per shop, according to Sun Shaojun, founder of consumer behavior research agency CarFans. He mentioned that rivals are “experiencing a return of customers” for similar offerings after the product launch. With a network of 467 retail locations as of December, Li Auto has accumulated a backlog of around 4,000 non-refundable orders over the weekend. In comparison, Aito, a premium EV brand launched by Huawei and its manufacturing partner Seres, reported over 20,000 pre-orders with non-refundable deposits for its RMB 469,800-priced, full-size M9 crossover two days after the launch on Dec. 28. Jefferies analysts, on Sunday, “conservatively” estimated monthly sales of the Mega to reach 3,000 units, significantly lower than the company’s delivery outlook of 8,000 units. [Sun Shaojun post, in Chinese, TechNode reporting]

Tech giants Alibaba and Tencent appear to have further frosty relations as WeChat users are now allowed to join DingTalk meetings directly via the messaging app, DingTalk announced in a statement on Monday. This move breaks with the previous common practice of banning rivals from sharing links and services on their platforms. WeChat retains only core features, including mute & unmute options, camera control, friends invite, and view meeting members, in an attempt to create a “light, fast, and easy” online meeting experience. The latest development comes shortly after Alibaba-owned Taobao added WeChat Pay as a long-awaited option for shoppers placing orders. [DingTalk, in Chinese]

Stricter rules for China’s courier industry that stipulate that delivery workers are banned from putting parcels in end-of-service facilities without user consent have fueled riders’ anger as they claim the new measures will lengthen their work hours. Effective from March 1, the new rules will see violators face fines of up to RMB 30,000 ($4,167). While the new rules have been broadly welcomed by consumers, a number of couriers have complained about the increased costs of delivering every parcel to shoppers’ doors rather than placing them in locally-based storage facilities. According to local media outlets, major express delivery firms JD Express, Cainiao, and SF Express have all claimed that on-site delivery is one of their standard services in response to the new rules, while logistics companies with relatively slow timelines such as STO Express and ZTO Express noted they would strictly implement the relevant regulations. [NBD, in Chinese]

The China-Thailand reciprocal visa exemption agreement, effective on March 1, allows holders of ordinary passports from each country to visit the other visa-free for up to 30 days per entry, with a cumulative stay of 90 days per half year. Signed on Jan. 28, the agreement promotes bilateral tourism and cooperation. In January, bookings on China’s travel service platform http://Trip.comTrip.com> Group for March trips to Thailand quadrupled over December 2023. Over 30% more Chinese visitors arrived in Thailand this March 1 than on the same day last year, according to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). In the first two months of this year, Thailand welcomed over a million Chinese tourists, re-establishing China as its primary inbound tourism contributor. [CPPCC, in Chinese]

On March 2, Fudan University’s Natural Language Processing Laboratory (FudanNLP) launched the AI-based app Hearing the World, which is designed for visually impaired individuals as an intelligent life assistant. Built upon the multi-modal model Fudan MouSi, the app merges a single camera with headphones to transform images into audio for various scenarios and alerts. The Hearing the World app offers three modes: Street Navigation, Free Inquiry (exploration of spaces such as museums, art galleries, and parks), and Object Finder. In March, the app will complete its first round of testing and launch pilot programs in major cities across China, according to the team. [Fudan University, in Chinese]

Alibaba’s food delivery head Yu Yongfu is scheduled to step down on the last day of March, coinciding with the end of the company’s 2024 fiscal year, as part of a recent management overhaul at the tech giant. Over three years, Yu has been in charge of Alibaba’s local life sector, which includes Ele.me and Amap. During Yu’s tenure, Ele.me has “positioned itself clearly amidst fierce market competition,” while mapping service Amap “became a deserved industry leader,” CEO Eddie Wu wrote in an internal Alibaba memo cited by the Chinese media outlet LatePost. Wu’s memo noted that Yu will remain as a partner at Alibaba and is set to utilize the e-commerce giant-backed eWTP fund to seek international opportunities and expansion through investments. Yu’s present position is set to transition to younger leadership, with the current chief technology officer of the Local Service Group Wu Zeming set to take over as chair of Ele.me, and the Amap chair role to be filled by Amap President Liu Zhenfei. [LatePost, in Chinese]

Shanghai-based grocery company Dingdong Maicai on Thursday reported a 19.5% drop in fourth-quarter revenue largely due to its retreat from several cities in pursuit of profit. A fifth straight quarter of non-GAAP profitability was recorded during the period, totaling RMB 16.3 million, but the firm’s net loss saw a jump to RMB 4.4 million, contrasting with a net income of RMB 2.1 million in the previous quarter. “This year’s results already show that we are close to surviving, Dingdong currently stands out as the only profitable company among the industry’s top players,” chief executive Liang Changlin said on the corresponding earnings call. The company’s revenue stands at RMB 4.99 billion for the three months ended December, according to the earnings report. [Dingdong Maicai]

Li Auto launched its first all-electric model, the Mega, on Friday, aiming to capture a larger share in a high-growth segment of China’s fiercely competitive car market. CEO Li Xiang stated that CATL’s latest battery technology provides the 5.3-meter long multi-purpose vehicle with a driving range of 710 kilometers (441 miles) between charges and a quick 12-minute refuel for an additional 500 km range. With an exterior resembling the bullet-style look of China’s high-speed railway, the van boasts the largest cabin space among competitors, featuring an effective interior length of 3,791 mm, surpassing Toyota’s Alphard at 3,470 mm. The Beijing-based automaker plans a software update by June, enabling the vehicle to autonomously park and change lanes on Chinese expressways. Priced at RMB 559,800 ($77,756), the Mega is scheduled for delivery on March 11. Multi-purpose vehicle sales increased 15.9% YoY to around 1.1 million units last year, outpacing SUVs (10.3%) and sedans (0.4%), according to the China Passenger Car Association. Li Auto, having sold 376,030 extended-range hybrid EVs in 2023, aims to double deliveries with the launch of four battery EVs and one EREV model this year. [TechNode reporting]

Chinese automakers are increasingly in the crosshairs of Western governments as they speed overseas expansion with their technology-packed, price-competitive electric vehicles. US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he has instructed the Commerce Department to begin an investigation over potential national security hazards from Chinese car exports, including EVs, on fears that in-car software and equipment could collect and send sensitive information to Beijing. The move comes months after administration officials had conversations with US automakers, including Tesla, last fall, which said they have faced significant restrictions in selling cars in China, such as tightened rules against data transmission and cloud services. The probe, which will be open for public comments for 60 days, could lead to new restrictions on Chinese cars, which have already been subject to a 25% tariff since 2018, resulting in few Chinese vehicles available to the US market. The White House also passed the Inflation Reduction Act into law last year to strengthen the local supply chain, with China-made EVs and components being ineligible for federal tax credits. Separately, the European Commission, in September, began investigating China-made electric vehicles, which President Ursula von der Leyen said could have enjoyed “huge state subsidies” from Beijing. [New York Times, Reuters]

Alibaba’s cloud computing unit cut prices of its core products by as much as 55% beginning Thursday, a move that the company hopes will help “spur artificial intelligence growth in China.” “As the biggest cloud service provider in China and APAC, we see tremendous growth prospect of China’s digital market,” said Liu Weiguang, president of public cloud business at Alibaba Cloud. Covering more than 100 public cloud services, the large-scale price slash comes nearly a year after the e-commerce giant’s cloud business announced price cuts from 15% to 50%, which soon kicked off a price war within the public cloud market. Discounts also apply to undelivered orders from existing customers, according to Liu, a different approach to the one the tech giant has taken in the past. [Alibaba Cloud, in Chinese]

BYD has rolled out cheaper versions of its popular Dynasty and Ocean electric vehicle series in the last two days, making de facto retail price reductions of between 7% and 14%, a move that could put more pressure on rivals to follow suit. China’s biggest EV maker said Thrusday it will sell the Honor Edition of the plug-in hybrid version of the Seal sports sedan with a starting price of RMB 149,800 ($20,822), compared with the RMB 166,800 price tag of the so-called Champion Edition launched last May. In a related move, the base price of its best-selling Song Plus has been lowered to RMB 129,800 from RMB 149,800 with the launch of a PHEV trim that can go 71 kilometers (44 miles) on battery power alone. Meanwhile, the other new variants of the five-seater SUV are now priced RMB 20,000 lower than their 2023 counterparts. The price cuts come just one day after the automaker began offering cheaper versions of its higer-priced Han sedans and Tang sports utility vehicles, which now start at RMB 169,800 and RMB 179,800, reductions of 10.5% and 14.3% respectively from their previous prices. BYD’s action on Feb. 19 kicked off a price war in the Chinese car market when the company launched a version of its budget Qin compact sedan with a base price that was RMB 20,000 less than the regular model. [TechNode reporting]

ByteDance is secretly developing various AI-model-based products, including a multi-modal digital human product (an AI-generated image/video product), according to multiple sources cited by local media outlet Jiemian. CapCut, a video editing tool and subsidiary of the TikTok owner, established a confidential team several months ago for the development of AI products, but the resulting products have not yet been unveiled. In February, the former CEO of TikTok’s China sibling Douyin, Zhang Nan, moved to the CapCut team and stated that she would focus her energy on the future development of CapCut, as part of ByteDance’s attempt to strengthen its position in the field of AI-generated video through the platform. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

A LinkedIn account verified as belonging to an Apple employee indicates that Apple has begun designing chips based on TSMC’s 2nm process technology. Currently, TSMC is advancing the 2nm process node, with the first batch of equipment planned to enter production in April 2024. TSMC’s 2nm process will undergo risk trial production this year, with mass production scheduled for the latter half of 2025, according to the media outlet IThome. Moreover, TSMC has reportedly initiated research and development on advanced 1.4nm chips, for which the earliest expected release is in 2027. There are also reports suggesting that Apple is seeking to reserve capacity for TSMC’s 1.4nm and 1nm process technologies. [IThome, in Chinese]

China’s state TV broadcaster aired an AI-created cartoon series, Qianqiu Shisong, starting on Monday, with the 26-episode series a “two-way run-through of Chinese poetry and artificial intelligence,” according to a statement by show partner Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) on its official WeChat account. The cartoon draws inspiration from classic Chinese poems to narrate its storyline, and aspects of production – from art design to video generation and post-production – are supported by China Media’s CMG Media GPT and Shanghai AI Lab’s technology, the article stated. The debut of the series comes days after the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission called on SOEs to accelerate the layout and development of China’s artificial intelligence industry. [Shanghai AI Lab, in Chinese]

A total of 111 games were approved by the National Press and Publication Administration of China (NPPA) on Tuesday, including Black Myth: Wukong. Developed by Chinese developer Game Science, Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game based on Journey to the West, one of Chinese literature’s four great works. The game is set to launch on August 20, 2024, and can already be wishlisted on Steam and the Epic Games Store. The number of domestic game approvals has exceeded 100 for three months in a row. [NPPA, in Chinese]

In an SEC filing, Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba revealed that a dozen of its entities are partly owned by the country’s state-owned enterprises or foreign sovereign wealth funds, showing extensive Chinese government ties in Alibaba’s vast and complicated business empire. The Hangzhou-based company also mentioned that one of its six entities in direct sales businesses has Chinese government ownership of no more than 30%, while the remaining five were below 10%, and those branches account for less than 6% of Alibaba’s total revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. The Taobao owner’s sports-related business, in which the government has a 25% stake, generated only 0.05% of the company’s revenue, while two logistics entities in which the government records a 73.5% ownership did not contribute to revenue during the period. [Alibaba filings]

On Tuesday, Shenzhen’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the successful completion of a trial flight for a locally-developed eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) craft, which traveled from Shenzhen Shekou port to Zhuhai Jiuzhou port in southern China. The demonstration flight took 20 minutes, compared to a one-way travel time of 2.5 hours by car, and used Fengfei Aviation Technology’s self-developed aircraft named Shengshilong. The Shengshilong model boasts a maximum takeoff weight of 2,000 kilograms, a payload capacity of 400 kilograms, and a maximum range of 250 kilometers, according to the Shenzhen MIIT’s announcement. With a max speed of 200 kilometers per hour, the craft can accommodate up to five passengers. Compared to helicopters, eVTOLs have advantages such as enhanced safety, reduced passenger costs, lower maintenance expenses, reduced noise levels, and elevated levels of intelligence, positioning them as a potentially crucial segment in the future urban air transportation industry. No details regarding any possible commercial operation of the route were announced. [Shenzhen MIIT, in Chinese]

Alibaba is back on track to be one of the top e-commerce players in China, chairman of the company Joe Tsai said in a CNBC interview, arguing that “the restructuring and new management in place” had boosted confidence in the Chinese tech giant. Tsai acknowledged that competition on price in the e-commerce sphere is “definitely there,” and Alibaba has to learn a few lessons from its competitors, but stated that “the good thing is that it can be done, it’s within our control.” In the interview, he also said that the IPO plan for the firm’s cloud computing unit, which stalled in November amid US chip restrictions, would make more sense when investor sentiment was higher. [CNBC]

Chinese electric vehicle maker Hozon Auto has reportedly been preparing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong since late last year. A number of cornerstone investors, who commit in advance to invest a fixed amount of money or purchase a fixed number of shares in an IPO, have subscribed for about RMB 2 billion ($278 million) in total, D1EV reported on Monday. The Shanghai-headquartered automaker has worked with several major investment banks, including Morgan Stanley and China International Capital Corporation (CICC), for a stock market listing that could raise up to $1 billion, according to a Sept. 1 report by Reuters. Hozon, also known as Neta and backed by Chinese batter giant CATL, delivered roughly 127,500 EVs last year, representing a 16% decline compared with 2022. In a post published on Feb. 24 on the Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo, which was later deleted without explanation, chief executive Zhang Yong mentioned plans to review staff rosters to determine who will stay in place and who will be laid off as part of a cost-cutting drive. [TechNode reporting, D1EV, in Chinese]

Chinese grocery app Dingdong Maicai closed dozens of operational sites in Shenzhen and Guangzhou at the end of January, which the company claimed is “a regular operational optimization,” according to the local media outlet Southern Metropolis Daily. The report added that the spokesperson for Dingdong Maicai didn’t respond to the question of how many sites remain after 38 sites were suspended in the two major cities of Guangdong. The New York-listed company’s shares have been trading below $1.50 since February and have continued to sink, now approaching $1, signaling its risk of delisting. [Southern Metropolis Daily, in Chinese]

Shares of Li Auto surged 19% on Monday after the Chinese electric vehicle startup generated record-breaking revenue and became the first among equals to post its first annual profit, in sharp contrast to rivals that are still bleeding cash despite cost-cutting measures. The Beijing-based EV maker disclosed a profit of RMB 11.8 billion ($1.66 billion) for 2023, compared with a loss of about RMB 2.03 billion a year earlier, as it achieved economies of scale by delivering a record 376,030 extended-range EVs. Revenue for the three months ended Dec. 31 also beat Wall Street expectations of RMB 40.2 billion, coming in at RMB 41.73 billion. Meanwhile, management has offered an ambitious target of selling between 650,000 and 800,000 units for this year, which could represent a year-on-year growth of at least 73%. Although its first-quarter outlook implies a quarter-on-quarter decline of at least 22%, the company said the product lineup will be expanded to eight models, including four purely EVs, from currently three hybrid electric crossovers by the end of this year. [Wall Street Journal, Li Auto earnings report]

In the three months ended in December, Luckin Coffee’s profit margin dropped 10.3% compared to the previous quarter due to low-price competition with rival Cotti Coffee having no sign of abating. The Chinese chain recorded a 3.9% profit margin, also a 7.6% decrease from a year earlier, which the company’s investor relations head Guo Jinyi attributed to seasonal factors and that decline aligns with “the objective industry trends” in the earnings call. Meanwhile, its revenue nearly doubled to RMB 7.06 billion during the period and surpassed Starbucks by $260 million, marking the third straight quarter that Luckin outpaced its once-biggest rival. [TechNode reporting]

NIO’s battery swap stations have been part of a virtual power plant pilot program in Denmark. The recharging equipment for electric vehicle batteries, combined with energy storage systems, recently started discharging from batteries and delivering grid services during peak demand hours. Shen Fei, a senior vice president at NIO, revealed this information on Sunday on the Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo. Such moves could ensure a stable power grid by balancing load peaks, and each swap facility could generate revenues measured in “dozen of thousands of euros,” Shen added, potentially offloading these capital-intensive assets. The Chinese EV maker operates 39 swap stations in five European countries, including Denmark, Norway, and Germany as of Feb. 22. It plans to expand its network of swapping facilities in China by adding at least 1,000 this year, up from 2,316 as of Dec. 31. [TechNode reporting, Shen Fei Weibo post, in Chinese]

NetEase plans to launch the open-world martial arts role-playing game “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” on March 28, with the goal of recreating scenes from Jin Yong’s original martial arts novels. The new game features the adventure story from Jin Yong’s Condor Heroes trilogy, including “The Legend of the Condor Heroes,” “The Return of the Condor Heroes,” and “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.” The launch-date announcement became a trending topic on the Twitter-like platform Weibo on Feb. 22, as the NetEase team has been developing the game for over six years and invested over one billion RMB (RMB 139 million) in the budget. As of now, the game has nearly 10 million reservations on its website. [NetEase Games, in Chinese]

US chip giant Nvidia recently identified Huawei as its major competitor in filings submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Nvidia stated in the report that Huawei supplies GPU (graphics processing unit) accelerators, central processing units, and networking components to the market, making it one of the solution providers for AI-related cloud services. The Chinese AI component market, valued at $7 billion, presents a significant growth opportunity for Huawei due to restrictions imposed by the US government on Nvidia’s exports to China, according to industry analysis. Nvidia’s A100 counterpart – Huawei’s Ascend 910B, which utilizes its self-developed Ascend architecture and 7nm process technology, features 256 AICore and 32GB of HBM2 (High Bandwidth Memory 2). Other competitors mentioned by Nvidia include Intel, AMD, Broadcom, Qualcomm, Amazon, and Microsoft. [IThome, in Chinese]

BYD on Sunday rolled out its first electric sports car the Yangwang U9, which boasts a staggering 1,300 horsepower and sprint time of 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.36 seconds. The vehicle comes with a price tag of RMB 1.68 million ($233,352). The two-seater sports car has four independent electric motors for each wheel and features the firm’s proprietary body control suspension system, which the automaker said can ensure a smooth ride through corners with a lot less body roll compared to its gasoline-powered counterparts. Scheduled for delivery in mid-2024 (for now, only in China), the U9 also promises affluent Chinese consumers unconventional features and flexible suspension setups, allowing it to bounce and jump off the ground in several “dancing styles.” Meanwhile, the car is capable of parking itself in a tight parking space, relying on a sensing suite of 12 ultrasonic radar units, eight cameras, and four laser sensor units. [BYD announcement, in Chinese]

Li Yizhou, a Tsinghua University-educated content creator in AI, has had his educational WeChat mini-program suspended after user anger over “low-quality” content and excessive advertising. Priced at RMB 199 for livestreaming viewers, his pre-recorded 40-lesson series, with the lessons mostly under ten minutes each, had already sold over 200,000 copies. The account removal comes shortly after Li was dubbed by netizens “the only Chinese figure in the AI sector comparable to Altman, CEO of OpenAI.” Neither WeChat nor Li himself has publicly mentioned the reason for the removal of the mini-app. Meanwhile, LiblibAI, China’s largest AI creation-sharing community, accused Li of infringing on models through a website controlled by his company. LiblibAI demanded that Li cease the alleged infringement immediately and engage in prompt negotiations with the platform and original creators over compensation, according to local media reports. [Jiemian, in Chinese]

Fueled by the solid recovery of domestic and international tourism markets, China’s online travel service provider Trip.com saw its fourth-quarter net revenue grow by 105% to RMB 10.3 billion compared to the same period in 2022, but the company’s net income dropped 38% to RMB 1.3 billion from a year earlier. Despite that, the Nasdaq and Hong Kong-dual-listed firm broke records in full-year profit last year, experiencing a sevenfold rise to RMB 10 billion from RMB 1.4 billion in 2022. “Our business has fully rebounded to pre-Covid levels as of 2023,” CEO Jane Sun said in the earnings call, adding that Trip.com will stop using 2019 as a benchmark from this year. In the three months ended in December, Trip.com’s revenue from accommodation reservations, which accounted for the largest share at 38% of total sales, grew 131% in the period, and packaged-tour earnings reported a 329% year-on-year increase. [Trip.com]

Shares of Shenzhen-listed software company Sinodata hit the daily increase limit on Wednesday afternoon during the trading session after announcing it will get priority access to the API for OpenAI’s Sora model when it is available on Azure, through a deal with Microsoft. Several hours later, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange asked the company to explain the specific meaning of Sora API subscription eligibility. However, Sinodata’s stock price reached the maximum daily limit on gains at the opening of today’s trading session due to investor frenzy fueled by OpenAI’s text-to-video model Sora. According to the Beijing-based firm’s statement on WeChat, Sinodata is an official member of Microsoft’s AI Cloud Partner Program, with both parties having an “extensive discussion” on the multi-scenario application of Sora in the fields of China’s banks, e-commerce, and web dramas on Tuesday. [Sinodata, in Chinese]

The Huya Esports All-Star Spring Tournament, hosted by Huya and co-sponsored by Douyu, Bilibili, and Kuaishou, will kick off tomorrow. The tournament features a lineup of popular domestic players, including Uzi, TheShy, Puff, and jjking, making it the first major esports event after the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday (Feb. 9 – Feb. 17). Pro players and esports celebrities will unite to offer fans an event that organizers say will blend skill with entertainment, during which the tournament will broadcast various games such as League of Legends, Honor of Kings, and PUBG Mobile. Esports became a medal event in the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China in 2023, boosting the discipline’s bid for recognition as a legitimate sport. [The Cover, in Chinese]

Haomo.ai, a self-driving car company backed by Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor, has secured a RMB 100 million ($13.9 million) investment from Chengdu Wufa Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd., a venture capital firm wholly-owned by the government of Chengdu’s Wuhou district. In return, the company will facilitate the commercial deployment of robots for public sanitation and security inspection in the downtown area of the southwestern municipality, making Wuhou a “demonstration zone for robotics in China,” Haomo.ai Chief Executive Gu Weihao said on Thursday in a statement. A fleet of delivery robots operated by the Beijing-based startup has transported nearly 300,000 grocery parcels for supermarkets in the Chinese capital, and its advanced driver assistance system, the HPilot, has enabled roughly 20 car models to automatically change lanes on expressways. [TechNode reporting, Haomo.ai, in Chinese]

Huawei said on Thursday that it has deepened its partnership with state-owned automaker Dongfeng Motor, allowing its smart and connected vehicle technology to be integrated into the latter’s rugged-looking off-roader under the premium Mengshi electric vehicle brand. Dongfeng, a Chinese manufacturing partner of Stellantis, launched the Mengshi 917 in August, the first model under the lineup partly inspired by the introduction of General Motors’ GMC Hummer EV. Deliveries of the vehicle, with a starting price of RMB 637,700 and RMB 697,700 ($88,640 and $96,980) in plug-in hybrid and all-electric options respectively, began in September, and were expected to reach between 1,000 and 1,200 units as of last year. Dongfeng has previously produced several internal combustion engine-powered military vehicles under the Mengshi badge since 2002. The news comes weeks after Huawei, in January, announced its plan to sell Dongfeng components and software for future Voyah EVs, a lifestyle luxury EV brand rolled out by the automaker in 2021. [Huawei announcement, in Chinese]

TikTok sibling Douyin is pushing “price competitiveness” as a priority task for its e-commerce business this year, according to a Wednesday report by Chinese media outlet LatePost, deepening the short video platform’s head-to-head confrontation with rival Pinduoduo. The report quoted a source close to Douyin as saying the platform will give more traffic to low-priced items in its “marketplace” channel and short video feeds, while livestreaming will continue to serve as a major way for promoting brand-focused and high-unit-price goods. It was also reported that Douyin has set a goal of exceeding RMB 3 trillion in gross merchandise volume in 2024, which would amount to a 36% increase from the previous year, but the company said that this figure was “untrue.” [LatePost, in Chinese]

In the fourth quarter of 2023, China’s tablet market saw shipments of around 8.17 million units, representing a year-on-year decrease of 5.7%, according to market intelligence firm IDC. Meanwhile, Huawei (30.8% market share) surpassed Apple (30.5%) to become the top seller in the Chinese tablet market. Compared to the same period last year, the market share of tablets priced below RMB 2,000 ($279) increased significantly in the fourth quarter, while that of higher-priced products above RMB 4,000 ($557) witnessed a rapid decline. In the full year of 2023, the tablet shipment in China decreased by 4.5% year-on-year, with the top five brands being Apple (33.6% market share), Huawei (26.5%), Xiaomi (10.4%), Honor (8.0%), and Lenovo (6.2%). [IDC, in Chinese]

Ningbo Semiconductor International Corporation (NSI), a subsidiary of China’s leading chip company Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), issued a statement on Tuesday stating that former executives Huang He and Wang Ying were sentenced to four years of imprisonment by the Beilun District People’s Court of Ningbo city for embezzlement. NSI has been receiving inquiries from various parties regarding whether settlements have been reached with the defendants after the first-instance verdict, handed down on Nov. 14, 2023, as revealed by the statement. The company reaffirmed its commitment to respecting judicial fairness and underscored that it will not engage in any settlements with Huang He and Wang Ying. Huang He, a founding veteran who joined SMIC in 2002, relocated to Ningbo along with dozens of core team members upon the establishment of NSI in 2016. [Icsmart, in Chinese]

Stellantis is exploring the potential to manufacture as many as 150,000 affordable electric vehicles annually in Italy with its Chinese partner Leapmotor. This could happen as early as 2026 or 2027 at a historic Fiat plant in Mirafiori, Turin, according to Automotive News Europe, citing two people familiar with the matter. The world’s third-largest automaker by revenue is preparing for possible production at the facility, set to suspend the production of Maserati Levante crossovers by the end of March and no longer make petrol-powered Fiat New 500 after late 2026, the report said. During an earnings call last week, Stellantis Chief Executive Carlos Tavares told investors the automaker could produce Leapmotor cars in Italy “if there was a good business case for that.” The Franco-Italian automaker completed its €1.5 billion (nearly $1.6 billion) investment for a roughly 20% stake in the Zhejiang-based and Hong Kong-listed EV startup in November. [Automotive News Europe]

AMD plans to mass-produce its Zen 5 chips in the third quarter of 2024, continuing its collaboration with TSMC, according to Taiwanese media outlet United Daily News. AMD collaborates with TSMC to outsource the production of the Zen 5 chips, as the US chip company aims to enhance its presence in AI terminals and expand its market share in desktops, laptops, and servers. AMD has increased its orders with TSMC, focusing on the 3nm, 4nm, and 5nm processes, after the launch of the MI300 series AI accelerator cards. Industry analysts anticipate that the 3nm Zen 5 architecture will enter trial production in the second quarter of 2024, with mass production expected in the third quarter.[IThome, in Chinese]

China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed concern over the European Union’s investigation into suspected distortive subsidies for Chinese train maker CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive, calling for “prudent” use of regulatory tools from the EU authorities. The probe, announced on Feb. 16, is the first of its kind under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation which came into full effect in October. The EU executive is checking whether the unit of state-owned train manufacturer CRRC Corporation has benefited from unfair non-EU subsidies and made “an unduly advantageous offer” in bidding for a €610 million ($657 million) Bulgarian public procurement contract for 20 electric trains. China hopes the EU will provide a “fair, just and non-discriminatory” environment for Chinese companies, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press briefing on Monday. Separately, Brussels in October launched another anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles with automakers including BYD, Geely, and SAIC among the targets. [TechNode reporting, China’s Foreign Ministry transcript]

Nvidia has reportedly hired multiple high-performing ex-Xpeng Motors employees to be part of its automotive team in China. The US chip powerhouse is preparing to meet the growing consumer appetite for automated driving functions with more localized chip solutions and client services. Patrick Liu, who was a director in charge of artificial intelligence and computer vision at Xpeng until mid-2023, will soon join Nvidia China to be part of the leadership team working on advanced driver assistance systems similar to Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta program. Individuals with knowledge of the matter told local media outlet AutoR on Sunday that the US chipmaker has expanded its autonomous driving team by more than 100 new employees over the past two months. Liu is among several top talents with relevant experience at Xpeng recently hired by Nvidia, including Zhuang Binnan, previously a principal engineer at Xpeng until late 2022 and most recently a senior engineer at General Motors’ robotaxi unit Cruise. The hiring follows the high-profile move in August from Xpeng to Nvidia of Wu Xinzhou, a former vice president at the electric vehicle maker.[AutoR, in Chinese]

Moonshot AI, a one-year-old artificial intelligence venture founded by Tsinghua University graduate Yang Zhilin, is valued at $2.5 billion after a $1 billion round of fundraising recently. Investors, including venture capital firm Hongshan, Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, Meituan, and Alibaba, were reported by Chinese media outlet 36Kr on Monday. According to Moonshot AI’s official site, the core members of the founding team have participated in the research and development of multiple LLMs, such as Google’s Gemini and Bard, as well as Huawei’s Pangu NLP. It is also mentioned that a number of its core technologies have been adopted by Google PaLM, Meta LLaMa, and Stable Diffusion. The Beijing-based firm currently provides access to its only ToC product – a ChatGPT-like bot named Kimi.ai – on its website, describing the tool as capable of reading a 200,000-word novel in one sitting. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Chinese e-commerce company JD confirmed it is considering buying Currys after the UK’s electrical retailer rejected a £700 million offer from US fund management firm Elliott Advisors. As the inflation crisis in the UK hurt consumer spending affecting Currys’ sales, which include everything from laptops and TVs to washing machines, the hundred-year-old company saw a pre-tax profit blow in the fiscal year that ended April 29, 2023, drop to £119 million from £192 million a year earlier. In a regulatory filing, JD said it is “in the very preliminary stages of evaluating a possible transaction that may include a cash offer for the entire issued share capital of Currys.” [Reuters]

BYD’s launch of lower-cost variants of its electric vehicles is forcing some other Chinese automakers to follow suit as they try to stay competitive in an increasingly fierce battle in the world’s biggest auto market. SAIC-GM-Wuling, a General Motors China joint venture, on Monday announced it would cut pricing on its Wuling Starlight higher-end version by RMB 6,000 ($833), lowering the price tag of the plug-in hybrid sedan from RMB 105,800 to RMB 99,800 ($13,862). Meanwhile, the starting price for the Qiyuan A05, a similar PHEV offering from state-owned automaker Changan Automobile, was slashed from nearly RMB 90,000 to RMB 73,900. The biggest cut of all so far comes with the Neta X, launched by Chinese EV startup Hozon, also known as Neta Auto, with pricing for the compact crossover dropped by RMB 20,000. The Zhejiang-based EV maker also introduced a new cheaper version with a price tag of RMB 99,800, some RMB 5,000 less than the existing variants. BYD on Monday rolled out a new version of its budget Qin car, bringing the price tag of the popular lineup down by 11% to RMB 79,800. [TechNode reporting, The Paper, in Chinese]

474 million domestic trips were made during China’s longer-than-usual Spring Festival holiday, with the number jumping 34.3% from last year and marking a 19% increase compared to 2019, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Domestic travel spending grew by 47.3% to RMB 632.7 billion across the eight-day break, hitting a record high. The national-level department does not give specific data on per capita tourism expenditures. However, the number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad amounted to 3.6 million, still less than 60% of the figure for the same period in 2019, data from the National Immigration Administration shows. [People’s Daily, in Chinese]

The Xiaomi Civi 4 recently obtained the network access license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China, identified with the model number 24031PN0DC. This reveals Xiaomi’s intention to equip the Civi 4 with satellite connectivity in addition to 5G support. Currently, specifications beyond this feature remain undisclosed. The upcoming Civi 4 smartphone, targeted at the youth group in the Chinese market, is set to debut in May, as revealed by tech blogger Smart Pikachu. The Civi series is expected to rival Huawei’s Honor series, both of which are mid-range smartphones. According to the performance benchmarking platform Geekbench, Xiaomi may select either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 or a MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra chipset for the device. [IThome, in Chinese]

Luckin Coffee has narrowed the RMB 9.9 beverage offer that previously applied to all drinks in its stores to eight standard beverages, nearly nine months after the coffee chain launched the price-cut promotion to celebrate hitting the milestone of 10,000 stores in China in June. With the campaign “exceeding expectations,” Luckin CEO and co-founder Guo Jinyi committed to continuing the offer for at least two more years when the company released its earnings report in August. However, the company saw its profit margin drop 5.5% to 13.4% in the third quarter last year. According to local media reports, Luckin Coffee’s customer service said the promotion is “ongoing” but that the participating stores and applicable drinks “may be adjusted to a certain extent depending on the execution of the campaign.” [Jimu News, in Chinese]

On Feb. 18, Chinese phone brand Meizu announced a strategic adjustment to cease its traditional smartphone business and transform into AI terminals. Meizu currently possesses the capability for a full-scale transformation into the AI field after two years of team integration, resource allocation, product layout, and research on relevant technologies, according to Meizu CEO Shen Ziyu. He added that the company owns well-established hardware and software teams, providing technical support and service assurance for its AI initiatives. Software and hardware maintenance services for current Meizu smartphone products will proceed as usual. Users who have purchased Meizu 20 series or Meizu 21 smartphones will continue to receive after-sales support and related service assurances. [Meizu, in Chinese]

On Friday, Chinese phone brand OnePlus announced it will refund users who have purchased the OnePlus 12R 256GB model, after the company recently confirmed that all models of the OnePlus 12R are equipped with UFS 3.1, not the previously claimed UFS 4.0, the highest level currently available. UFS (Universal Flash Storage) is a high-speed flash storage standard used in smartphones for faster data transfer and access. During the OnePlus 12R launch in January, the company introduced the Trinity Engine, a new set of software algorithms aimed at ensuring fast and smooth operation of phone memory and storage. However, OnePlus mistakenly claimed that the storage enhanced by the Trinity Engine in certain versions would be UFS 4.0, when in fact it is UFS 3.1. Those who purchased the device have been told to contact customer service, with the refund deadline set for March 16, 2024. [OnePlus Community]

On Feb. 17, China Eastern Airlines’ C919 aircraft arrived at Singapore Changi Airport after a nearly 6-hour, approximately 4,200-kilometer non-stop flight, according to state-owned media outlet CCTV News. The aircraft was developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and is set to participate in the Singapore Airshow 2024 from Feb. 20-25. At 8:04 pm Beijing time on Feb. 16, the C919 aircraft, China Eastern Airlines’ first global model, had departed from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and embarked upon its MU299 flight to Singapore. During the upcoming airshow, five Chinese-produced aircraft, including the C919, will make their overseas debuts, engaging in flight demonstrations throughout the event. [CCTV News, in Chinese]

BYD will slash the price of its already affordable Qin compact sedan with the launch of a lower-cost version that could be priced as low as RMB 79,800 ($11,092), some RMB 20,000 less than the regular model, according to Sun Shaojun, founder of consumer behavior research agency CarFans. This means the popular electric vehicle will reach the same price level as similar internal combustion engine models such as the Nissan Sylphy, which could deepen an already fierce price war in the world’s biggest car market. The Nissan Sylphy was the top-selling compact sedan over the last 12 months in China with nearly 383,000 units sold, closely followed by Volkswagen’s Lavida and the plug-in hybrid version of the BYD Qin, figures compiled by Chinese auto service platform Dongchedi showed. Another cheaper version of BYD’s Chaser 05 affordable sedan, currently priced from RMB 101,800, will also be launched soon, Sun added on Feb. 16 on the Chinese Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo, without revealing further details. [TechNode reporting, Sun Shaojun’s Weibo post, in Chinese]

Chinese major automakers SAIC-GM-Wuling and Changan Automobile are offering steep festival discounts for their electric vehicles in the hope of boosting demand as the world’s biggest car market is expected to see a seasonal demand lull during the Lunar New Year holiday season. General Motors’ China joint venture said on Thursday that prices for its small, affordable Wuling Bingo EVs would be reduced by up to RMB 8,000 ($1,112) by the end of March, representing a discount of 10% from previous prices. Meanwhile, the starting price for the Deepal S7 all-electric sedan, a midsize crossover launched by state-owned Changan, was reduced by RMB 10,000 to RMB 169,900. Sales of new energy passenger vehicles, including battery EVs and plug-in hybrids, declined by almost a third to roughly 668,000 units in January from December, according to figures published by the China Passenger Car Association. The industry group warns China to report its lowest EV sales figures over the year in February, as the week-long Spring Festival holiday that ends on Saturday cut working days and limited buying interest. [TechNode reporting, Wuling and Changan announcements, in Chinese]

Auntea Jenny has joined China’s fruit teas IPO queue in Hong Kong, following peers ChaPanda, GoodMe, and Mixue, in a bid to increase the funding scale amid intensifying industry competition. The Shanghai-founded beverage chain filed its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with CITIC Securities, Haitong International, and Orient Securities serve as its joint sponsors. Auntea Jenny has opened 7,297 stores as of Sept. 30, and 99.3% of them are operated by franchisees. According to the company’s prospectus, it sold RMB 7.18 billion worth of beverages in the first three quarters of 2023. During this period, revenue amounted to RMB 2.54 billion, a 54% growth compared to the previous year, while net profit surged by  188.7% to RMB 320 million. [TechNode reporting]

Tech media MySmartPrice recently shared high-definition renderings of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra phone and revealed that the new device will debut at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2024 at the end of this month. The report also predicts that Xiaomi 14 Ultra is expected to launch three storage versions in China, including 12GB+256GB, 16GB+512GB, and 16GB+1TB. The 14 Ultra is set to feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, four 50MP cameras with Sony LYT900 sensor, and f/1.63-f/4.0 multi range variable aperture. Additionally, the new flagship will provide a battery of around 5180mAh, supporting 90W wired fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging. [IThome, in Chinese]

Chinese technology giants Huawei and Xiaomi have battled for attention during the heavily watched 2024 Spring Festival Gala, with an Aito-branded M9 flagship sports utility vehicle, as well as a Xiaomi SU7 toy car model, making appearances during the event’s broadcast on Feb. 9. Specifically, an M9 six-seater will be free for use for ten years as a special lucky draw prize, while Xiaomi strove to make its first consumer car memorable with some SU7 toy sedans placed on tables surrounded by big-name celebrities. Additionally, a Trumpchi E8 plug-in hybrid van also featured as a prop in a comedy program for state-owned carmaker GAC Motor, a Toyota’s manufacturing partner, sharing the spotlight with the smartphone makers. Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said the country’s most-watched television show shattered viewership records this year as it attracted over 795 million viewers who had more than 1.6 billion hits with their mobile devices, a 15.1% increase from a year earlier. [TechNode reporting, PCauto, in Chinese]

The Beijing Aerospace Ark Space Lab has been conducting research and development on a new generation of communication satellites, according to Xinhua News Agency. Currently, Xinhua News Agency has not yet disclosed photos of new satellites or related models. This new generation of communication satellites features an integration of phased array antennas and solar wings, which can convert solar energy into satellite energy on a plane of several square meters. The report indicates that the new tech can improve the networking efficiency of multi satellite deployment and reduce the volume of the satellite by hiding the satellite’s antenna inside the solar wing. The new satellite technology will be a crucial component of the 6G communication network, with satellites expected to unleash more new applications for the public, the report said. [IThome, in Chinese]

Temu, the Chinese-owned e-commerce company, aired commercial ad on its second Super Bowl appearance with the same “shop like a billionaire” slogan as last year on Sunday, the biggest American football game of the year. Temu secured three of 30-second commercial slots during the event this year, in a high-profile effort to drive more shoppers as the budget-hunter app saw immediate user growth when it made Super Bowl debut last February, and recorded 100 million users in the world’s largest economy in August, less than a year after Temu quietly launched in the US. Though the Pinduoduo siblings now seeks further competition with US-founded Amazon, it is under the US congressional investigation over data use and the use of forced labour, same as its Chinese rival Shein. [TechNode reporting]

Chinese laser sensor startup Hesai announced on Thursday it will file a complaint against the US Defense Department, saying that its inclusion on an official Pentagon blacklist due to alleged links to China’s military is “unjust, capricious, and meritless.” In a statement, chief executive Li Yifan called the US government decision “without any explanation or justification,” stating that Hesai is not a military company and its products are for civilian use only and have never been designed or validated for military use. The move comes days after the US authorities on Jan. 31 designated the firm, among others, as working with China’s military and placed it on a list that could hit its reputation and result in more sanctions against it from other government departments. Shares of the Shanghai-based and Nasdaq-listed lidar maker declined 7.9% to less than $4 on Wednesday, which is more than 80% down from their peak. [Hesai statement]

Alibaba missed third-quarter revenue expectations on Wednesday, as the tech giant’s e-commerce and cloud-computing businesses remained sluggish due to increased competition from Pinduoduo and weak consumer sentiment at home. This led to shares falling an additional 2.6% after the closing bell. The company reported year-on-year growth rates of only 2% and 3% for the Taobao and Tmall Group, as well as its cloud computing businesses, in the three months ending Dec. 31. This is compared with the 3% and 2% growth percentages achieved three months earlier. Overall, third-quarter revenue grew 5% year-on-year to RMB 260.4 billion ($36.7 billion), driven in part by the robust growth of its international commerce business, including Southeast Asian arm Lazada, which experienced a 44% growth from a year earlier. Non-GAAP net income, typically excluding irregular or non-cash expenses, declined 4% year-on-year to RMB 47.9 billion. [CNBC]

US chipmaker onsemi reported a record revenue of $4.3 billion for the automotive business for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, reflecting a 29% year-on-year growth driven by robust demand for high-resolution image sensors for advanced driver assistance systems. Specifically, the company’s 8-megapixel image sensors for advanced safety features nearly doubled in revenue year-over-year, as highlighted by Chief Executive Hassane El-Khoury during an earnings call. The revenue surge is also attributed to the increasing demand for its silicon carbide chips, with business revenue witnessing “the highest growth in the industry,” reaching over $800 million, approximately four times higher than a year ago, El-Khoury added. Silicon carbide (SiC) power modules, featured in the company’s chips, can operate at much higher voltages than traditional silicon-based ones, enabling faster recharging and longer driving ranges for electric vehicles. Parts suppliers like Bosch and Infineon have been expanding their capacities to meet the surging demand. [onsemi release]

NIO is gearing up for the test production of its initial electric vehicle model for the mainstream market, set to commence in July, with a planned launch as early as October. The Chinese premium EV manufacturer aims to enhance sales amidst escalating competition in its home market. The company has set an ambitious target to deliver “several tens of thousands” of the upcoming sedan this year and is eyeing a sales goal of 230,000 NIO-branded EVs, according to sources cited by 36Kr on Monday. Last June, Chief Executive William Li informed investors about NIO’s plan to unveil the first model under the new brand in the second half of 2024. This brand, codenamed Alps, is priced between RMB 200,000 and RMB 300,000 ($27,820-$41,730). Additionally, another small car brand, codenamed Firefly and priced even lower, is slated for a debut later this year. [36Kr, in Chinese]

Finnish telecoms firm Nokia announced on Monday that it has signed a multi-year patent license agreement with the Chinese phone brand Vivo. Nokia had previously accused Vivo of patent infringement and won a case against the Chinese firm in a German court last year. Under the new agreement, which resolves all pending patent litigation between the parties in all jurisdictions, Vivo will make royalty payments to Nokia, as well as back payments to cover the dispute period. Jenni Lukander, President of Nokia Technologies, stated that the Vivo deal means that Nokia has now concluded patent license agreements with six major smartphone brands in the last 13 months. [Nokia]

Tencent is adapting the action role-playing console game Elden Ring into a mobile game to revitalize its aging game portfolio. In 2022, Tencent secured licensing rights from Japanese game developer FromSoftware and formed a team to develop a prototype. The same year, Tencent acquired a 16% stake in FromSoftware, but progress on the adaptation has been slow. Tencent aims to offer the mobile version of Elden Ring as a free-to-play game with in-app purchases, similar to miHoYo’s popular game Genshin Impact. Elden Ring, released in 2022 for $60, sold around 20 million copies in its first year, ranking as the world’s second best-selling game in 2022. Additionally, Elden Ring received the Game of the Year award at the Game Awards 2022, a prestigious ceremony recognizing the best video games of the year. [Reuters]