TECH

China’s Tech Giants Wage Lunar New Year Subsidy War to Win AI Users

Published: Feb. 18, 2026 11:55 p.m. GMT+8

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China’s biggest tech firms turned Lunar New Year into a battle for AI dominance

China’s technology giants spent the Lunar New Year holiday showering users with billions of yuan in subsidies, transforming the traditional festive season into a high-stakes contest to accelerate adoption of artificial intelligence.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd. rolled out waves of digital “red envelopes,” drawing hundreds of millions of users to their respective large-language-model applications. By embedding AI tools into everyday activities such as shopping and travel bookings, the companies sought to broaden adoption among consumers in lower-tier cities and older age groups that have historically been slower to embrace new technology.

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Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and Baidu spent billions of yuan on digital "red envelope" AI promotions during Lunar New Year, reaching hundreds of millions of users.
Alibaba's Qwen AI app hit over 130 million users, Tencent’s Yuanbao reported 3.6 billion lucky draws, and ByteDance’s Doubao recorded 1.9 billion New Year's Eve interactions.
The aggressive subsidy campaigns drew regulatory scrutiny, with authorities urging companies to avoid unfair and excessive competition.

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Who’s Who

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. utilized its Qwen AI app to engage users with shopping features during the Lunar New Year holiday. Over 130 million users accessed AI-assisted shopping, activating the "Qwen help me" command five billion times. The company's efforts resulted in significant increases in AI-assisted movie and transportation ticket bookings, with nearly half of AI-generated orders coming from county-level towns.

Tencent Holdings Ltd.: Tencent Holdings Ltd. reported significant momentum for its AI app, Yuanbao, during the Lunar New Year. 49% of its red-envelope participants were from third-tier cities or lower. Users conducted over 3.6 billion lucky draws and created one billion AI-generated items. The company committed 1 billion yuan in subsidies to Yuanbao users.

ByteDance Ltd.: ByteDance Ltd. (Chinese: 字节跳动有限公司) is a technology giant that participated in Lunar New Year subsidy campaigns. Its Doubao AI platform processed 1.9 billion interactions on Lunar New Year's Eve, generating over 50 million avatars and 100 million holiday greetings. It also offered physical prizes like robot dogs and smart speakers to boost engagement. Doubao had 78.7 million daily active users by February 7.

Baidu Inc.: Baidu Inc. is a Chinese technology giant that significantly increased its AI adoption through Lunar New Year promotions. Its Ernie Bot assistant saw monthly active users quadruple during its red-envelope campaign, with image and video generation use increasing 50-fold and 40-fold respectively. Baidu committed 500 million yuan to this initiative.

Ant Group Co. Ltd.: Ant Group Co. Ltd. is a Chinese technology giant that participated in the Lunar New Year holiday promotions. The company introduced cash incentives for new users of its medical AI app, Afu. By February 17, Ant Afu had reached the top spot on Apple's iOS free app download chart in China.

Apple Inc.: Apple Inc. is mentioned in the article as the provider of the iOS platform. Its China App Store chart was dominated by various Chinese AI applications during the Lunar New Year holiday. On Feb. 6, Qwen topped Apple's free app download chart in China, surpassing Yuanbao and Doubao. By Feb. 17, the top four spots on Apple’s iOS free chart were held by Ant Afu, Yuanbao, Doubao, and Qwen.

JD.com Inc.: JD.com Inc. is one of China's major platform companies. It was among the seven firms summoned by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on February 14 for regulatory talks. The SAMR urged these companies to adhere to laws regarding pricing and unfair competition, cautioning against "excessive competition."

Meituan: Meituan is one of seven major platform companies that were summoned by the State Administration for Market Regulation for regulatory talks. Authorities urged these firms to comply strictly with laws governing pricing and unfair competition, warning against “excessive competition” and calling for a level playing field.

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What Happened When

Late January 2026：: Baidu launched a 500 million yuan initiative to promote its products.

Feb. 1, 2026：: Tencent committed 1 billion yuan to Yuanbao users and launched its red-envelope campaign.

Feb. 6, 2026：: Alibaba’s Qwen AI app launched its 3 billion yuan 'Spring Festival Treat' program, and Qwen topped Apple Inc.’s free app download chart in China.

Feb. 6, 2026 - Feb. 17, 2026：: More than 130 million users used Qwen AI’s shopping features, with over 5 billion activations of the 'Qwen help me' command.

Feb. 7, 2026：: Qwen’s daily active users reached 73.5 million, while Doubao’s reached 78.7 million.

Feb. 10, 2026：: Baidu Inc. announced that monthly active users of its Ernie Bot assistant had quadrupled since the start of its red-envelope promotion.

Feb. 14, 2026：: The State Administration for Market Regulation summoned seven major platform companies for regulatory talks on fair competition.

Feb. 15, 2026 and Feb. 16, 2026：: AI-assisted movie ticket bookings on Qwen rose 372-fold, and transportation ticket orders increased more than sevenfold.

Feb. 17, 2026：: ByteDance reported that Doubao AI processed 1.9 billion interactions on Lunar New Year’s Eve alone; Alibaba’s Qwen said it would extend promotions and introduced new services; The top four Apple iOS free chart positions in China were held by Ant Afu, Yuanbao, Doubao, and Qwen; Tencent's campaign and Alibaba’s Qwen AI holiday campaign concluded.

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