Topics
Trouble at TikTok
ByteDance’s wildly popular short video app has gotten caught up in U.S.-China tensions, with Washington worried that personal data on TikTok’s 100 million U.S. users could fall into Beijing’s hands.
Cover Story: Will TikTok Be the Next Huawei?
Founder Zhang Yiming’s efforts to defuse rising political pressures fail to gain traction as U.S. moves to follow India in banning the popular video app citing data security concerns
ByteDance Targets July Launch of Upgraded AI Video Model
Volcengine’s Seedance 2.5 will add native 4K output, longer clips and a 3D previsualization tool as the market shifts toward premium use cases
Business Brief (June 23): China Bans 46 U.S. Firms From Government Procurement
ByteDance’s Doubao AI assistant tests ride-hailing service, several Chinese banks raise margin requirements for retail precious metals trading
In AI Pitch, Alibaba Chairman Urges Europe to Look Beyond U.S. Tech
Joe Tsai tells European companies that Chinese open-source models such as Qwen can help them diversify their technology and protect their data
Tencent Lets AI Agent Make Purchases Through WeChat Pay
The integration with WorkBuddy allows the agent to search for deals, initiate payments and deduct funds after user approval, as Chinese tech giants race to turn AI agents into gateways for consumer services
SiliconFlow Raises $294 Million as China’s AI Inference Demand Surges
The Series B round highlights renewed investor appetite for Model-as-a-Service providers as enterprise adoption of AI agents strains computing capacity
Chinese Tech Giants Turn College Admissions Into Latest AI Battleground
Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu are launching AI tools for the 12.9 million students who took the national college entrance exam, intensifying the race for consumer AI users
Tech Brief (June 9): China’s Robotics Industry Index Rises 6.4%
UBS sees Hong Kong IPO fundraising reaching $50 billion in 2026 on tech surge, Tencent Cloud expands AI agent push
CX Daily: China Restarts Stalled Property Megaproject in State-Led Takeover
Consortium takes over collapsed private project, underscoring Beijing’s push to deal with distressed real estate assets
Business Brief (June 8): China Approves Five-Year Employment Plan
Dreame reportedly under government inspection, ByteDance says it has no plans to manufacture cars
Tencent Cloud Expands AI Agent Push as Yuanbao Races to Catch Rivals
Tencent Cloud rolls out new workplace tools while acknowledging its consumer chatbot Yuanbao still trails rivals ByteDance and Alibaba in user adoption
Tencent Opens WeChat to Handset Makers’ AI Assistants
Honor is the first brand to support the “Agent-to-Agent” feature, while Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo integrations are in the pipeline
Business Brief (June 4): China Responds to New U.S. Section 301 Tariffs
Tencent’s market capitalization surges to HK$4 trillion on WeChat AI expectations, BYD ventures into humanoid robots with plans for home use
Alibaba Opens Qwen AI to Third-Party Services in Push for Agent Dominance
The Chinese e-commerce giant integrates brands like Luckin and KFC into its Qwen app, heating up the battle with Tencent for AI-driven assistant ecosystems
Tencent Gains $53 Billion in Value on Reports of WeChat AI Agents
Reports of internal testing for AI agents in China’s top messaging app triggered Tencent’s biggest single-day stock gain in five years, though resource constraints and tough competition lie ahead
General Mills to Sell Häagen-Dazs China Shops to Local Investor Group
The U.S. food giant is offloading its struggling physical stores to focus on retail, while Chinese tea chain Ningji looks to expand into frozen desserts
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