Kweichow Moutai Sees First Fall in Revenue, Profit Amid Corruption Crusade
Kweichow Moutai reported its first simultaneous decline in revenue and net profit since its 2001 IPO, with 2025 revenue down 1.2% to RMB 168.83 bn (≈$24.7 bn) and profit falling 4.5% to RMB 82.32 bn (≈$12.1 bn). The drop reflects reduced demand from official banquets amid President Xi’s intensified anti‑corruption and thrift campaigns. Shares opened over 4% lower and closed 3.8% down, while the company’s governance is under scrutiny after the detention of vice‑president CFO Jiang Yan. Analysts view 2025 as a reset year but expect a rebound in 2026, maintaining a buy rating.
Chinese Chemical Producer Hengyi’s Profit Jumps 40-Fold on Iran War
Hengyi Petrochemical reported a 3,773% jump in first‑quarter net profit to $291.5 million, driven by soaring oil prices after the Iran‑Israel conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Revenue rose 10.2% to $4.4 billion, while inventory values increased 40% to...
Tencent’s HY-World 2.0 Moves AI Beyond Video Into Editable 3D Worlds
Tencent has open‑sourced HY‑World 2.0, a multimodal AI system that creates editable 3D environments from text, images or video. The platform outputs meshes, 3D Gaussian splatting and point clouds that can be exported directly into Unity, Unreal Engine and other graphics...
UAE Ministry of Investment Visits China Merchants Capital to Deepen Strategic Investment Cooperation
On April 14, a delegation from the UAE Ministry of Investment met with China Merchants Capital (CMC) to deepen strategic investment cooperation between the two nations. CMC, a leading alternative‑investment platform of China Merchants Group, highlighted its focus on intelligent technology,...
How Edgewell Executive Sylvia Fu Sees AI Reshaping Operations
Edgewell appointed Sylvia Fu as its global AI transformation leader, championing an operator‑first strategy that embeds AI tools directly into employee workflows. She outlined a three‑pillar framework—embedding AI in daily tasks, strengthening data and technology foundations, and targeting high‑impact business...
Freshness Is King: BYD Reigns with 200 Vehicle Software Updates a Year
Chinese EV leader BYD announced it rolled out 200 over‑the‑air software updates across its Ocean and Dynasty lines in 2025, the highest volume among global automakers. The latest update adds a new AI‑driven driver‑assistance system to the Han L sedan, delivered...
Honor Launches Yoyo Claw to Position PCs as AI Partners
Honor introduced Yoyo Claw, an on‑device OpenClaw AI agent built into its MagicBook notebook line, after a closed beta that began on March 27. The software ships with five core agents and 23 sub‑agents covering education, work, research, content creation and general...
Lanchi Ventures Raises New Fund for AI and Deep Tech Investments
Chinese venture capital firm Lanchi Ventures has closed its fourth dual‑currency fund, raising about $560 million (≈RMB 3.9 bn). The new vehicle lifts the firm’s assets under management to roughly RMB 20 bn ($2.8 bn), keeping it among the country’s largest early‑stage investors. Lanchi will deploy...
NetEase Reshuffle Sends Marketing Veteran Wang Yi Overseas
NetEase Games is relocating its longtime marketing chief Wang Yi to an overseas position as part of a broader reorganization. The existing marketing center will be transformed into a user‑growth center, while the channel publishing unit will be consolidated into a...
Link-Touch Draws Backing From CATL, Agibot as Force Sensors Gain Traction
Link‑Touch closed a Series C+ round exceeding RMB 100 million (about $14.6 million), led by Puquan Capital – an affiliate of CATL – alongside Agibot, Galbot and other investors. The Chinese force‑sensor specialist now commands roughly 62% of the domestic humanoid‑robot six‑axis market, a...
China’s CSSC Sets Sail on Designing Own Cruise Ships
China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) is moving toward fully in‑house design of large cruise ships, partnering with China Tourism Group to build two vessels slated for delivery by the end of 2030, with a third under review. While its first...
Deals in Brief: Three Singapore Startups Raise AI Funding; SC Ventures Leads Keyrock’s Series C Round; Six China Investments; and...
Singapore’s AI ecosystem saw a flurry of capital this week, with Muun AI closing a $700,000 pre‑seed round, OnSite raising $1.3 million seed funding for its construction‑focused communication platform, Injewelme securing $1.2 million to broaden contactless health‑monitoring capabilities, and NeuBird AI attracting...
ZTE Redraws Growth Strategy Beyond Telecoms as AI Demand Builds
Chinese telecom operators plan 2026 capex of $38.4 bn, an 8% decline, with computing infrastructure becoming the top priority at $11.8 bn and double‑digit growth. ZTE is reshaping its business model, moving from a pure connectivity focus to a full‑stack AI strategy...
In Conversation: Xiaomi on Its Shift to the XLA Cognitive Model in Assisted Driving
Xiaomi has unveiled its third‑generation assisted‑driving system, the XLA cognitive large model, marking a shift from rule‑based and data‑driven approaches to AI‑driven cognition. The multimodal XLA model integrates vision, audio, radar and navigation, and leverages Xiaomi’s proprietary MiMo‑Embodied foundation model...
CK Hutchison to Navigate “World in Turmoil” By Scaling Up
CK Hutchison Holdings (CKH) is steering through heightened geopolitical risk by leveraging a massive cash war chest rather than altering its long‑term strategy. A $22.8 billion Panama‑port sale to a BlackRock‑MSC consortium has stalled after Chinese criticism and a Panama expropriation,...
WengAI Targets Hong Kong IPO After Confidential Filing
Beijing‑registered Zhongke WengAI filed a confidential prospectus to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, aiming to become the first AI company emerging from the Chinese Academy of Sciences ecosystem to go public. The firm, founded by three CAS scientists,...
With AI, Can Stareep Make Smart Beds Stick in China This Time?
Chinese smart‑mattress maker Stareep, part of the Dreame ecosystem, closed a second funding round of roughly RMB 100 million ($14.6 million), lifting its post‑money valuation to about RMB 1 billion ($146 million). The company’s AI‑powered mattress uses an on‑board chip and coordinated bed‑frame motors to sense...
Malaysia Launches Push to Encourage Local Investors to Buy Stocks
Malaysia's Securities Commission unveiled a five‑year Capital Market Masterplan targeting a market capitalization of $1.4‑$1.6 trillion by 2030, a 35‑47% rise from 2025 levels. The plan tackles weak equity valuations and low retail participation—currently only about a quarter of Malaysians invest...
Southeast Asian Beauty Brands Seek Overseas Gloss to Bolster Growth
Southeast Asian beauty and personal‑care markets posted double‑digit growth in 2025, far exceeding regional GDP expansion. Home‑grown brands such as Thailand’s Panpuri, Indonesia’s Wardah and Karmart are leveraging ingredient‑focused skin‑care, halal positioning and digital channels to expand across the region...
Meituan’s Overseas Push Steadies Investors Despite Second Consecutive Loss
Meituan reported full‑year 2025 revenue of $53.3 bn, an 8% YoY increase, but posted a net loss of $3.4 bn and an operating loss of $2.5 bn, marking a second consecutive loss in its core local‑commerce segment. Fourth‑quarter revenue rose 4.1% to $13.4 bn,...
After OpenClaw, This Company Aims to Build “Vibe Hardware” Powered by AI Agents
AutoArk, founded by former Alibaba and Ant Group executive Zeng Xiaodong, is building an AI‑driven operating system called Eva OS that lets edge devices such as robots, earbuds and glasses develop applications through natural‑language commands. The company describes this approach as...
Alibaba Ties E-Commerce Growth to AI After Latest Overhaul
Alibaba has reorganized its e‑commerce AI efforts under a new Alibaba Token Hub (ATH), consolidating smart‑search, recommendation, and multimodal AI units. The overhaul splits the former search division into platform‑users, products, and algorithms teams while folding the future‑innovation group into...
Qingtao Energy Files for Hong Kong IPO After Ramping up Solid-State Battery Deliveries
Qingtao Energy Development Group submitted a prospectus to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 8, 2026, with Guotai Junan International, CICC and China Merchants Securities acting as joint sponsors. The company, a pioneer in organic‑inorganic composite solid electrolytes,...
This AI Pet Targets Young Users Seeking Real-World Social Connection
Blinkko, a shoulder‑mounted AI plush, is designed to serve as a social cue for Generation Z, encouraging real‑world connections rather than replacing human interaction. Founded by former Apple employee Shen Tongxin and a team with Harvard and Berkeley backgrounds, the startup...
China’s “Hermes of Gold” Courts Turbulent World After Dazzling at Home
Laopu, dubbed China’s “Hermes of gold,” posted a 221% revenue jump to $4 billion in 2025 and a market cap of about $14 billion, despite a recent gold‑price dip. The Beijing‑based jeweler now runs 45 stores across 16 Chinese cities plus Singapore...
Seres Delivers Strong 2025 Results, Eyes Path to Become China’s Answer to Mercedes-Benz and BMW
Seres Group reported a record 2025 operating revenue of RMB 164.9 bn (≈$24 bn), a 13.6% year‑on‑year increase, and net profit of RMB 5.96 bn (≈$867 m), marking its second consecutive profitable year. Its premium Aito brand delivered over 420,000 units, with the M9, M8 and...
Xiaokuo Files for Hong Kong IPO as It Expands Beyond Oral Care
Xiaokuo Technology, a Shenzhen‑registered oral‑care and personal‑care maker, filed a prospectus on March 27 2026 for a Hong Kong main‑board IPO. The company, whose Canban and About Focus brands cover over 500 SKUs, posted 2025 revenue of $363.6 million and adjusted net profit of...
Why Ride-Hailing Is Harder for AI than Generating Text or Images
Alibaba’s Qwen AI launched a natural‑language ride‑hailing feature that lets users book trips without navigating menus. The rollout highlights the shift from AI as a suggestion tool to an executor of real‑world services. However, the multi‑step fulfillment chain—speech recognition, intent...
AI-Generated Dramas Gain Traction as Technology Improves, but Questions Remain
AI‑generated live‑action dramas are emerging as a fast‑growing segment of the content industry, driven by advances in video‑generation foundation models such as ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 and Shengshu’s Vidu Q3. Production costs have fallen to under one‑tenth of traditional short dramas—roughly USD 14,500 per...
EV Tigers BYD and VinFast Set Electric Pace in Asia
Chinese EV leader BYD and Vietnam’s VinFast are accelerating their presence in Southeast Asia, posting 95% and 90% year‑on‑year sales growth respectively and moving 100,000 and 70,000 units in the first three quarters of 2025. Their combined 7% share of...
Pop Mart’s Strong Results Fail to Answer “Next Labubu” Question
Pop Mart reported 2025 revenue of $5.4 billion, up 184.7% YoY, with overseas markets contributing over 40% of sales. The Labubu franchise drove $2.7 billion, 38% of total revenue, and propelled plush sales 560% higher than expectations. Despite the strong top line,...
Digital China Posts Higher Revenue as AI Business Expands
Digital China reported FY2025 revenue of RMB 143.8 billion ($20.9 billion), a 12% increase, with AI‑related sales climbing to RMB 33 billion ($4.8 billion), up 48%. Growth was driven by its Smart Vision AI platform, KunTai computing products, and a surge in electronic components distribution tied...
Autonomous Driving Firms Race to List Before the Window Narrows
Chinese autonomous‑driving firms QCraft and DeepRoute.ai have confidentially filed for Hong Kong IPOs, aiming to list before the end of 2026. Momenta, the sector’s largest player, is targeting a valuation above RMB 100 billion (about $14.5 billion), while QCraft is estimated at $1.5‑2 billion. The...
Deals in Brief: Kitar and PolicyStreet Raise Funding; Western Union Completes Dash Acquisition; Five China Investments, and More
A wave of financing and strategic deals swept Asia in April, with Indonesia’s Kitar raising over $10 million to scale its hybrid B2C‑C2C secondhand platform, and Malaysia’s PolicyStreet closing a $21 million Series C to fuel regional expansion. Olam agreed to sell its...
China Taps Rocket, Satellite Startups to Catch up to SpaceX
China is mobilizing private rocket and satellite startups to accelerate its space ambitions and challenge SpaceX’s dominance. State‑owned China Satellite Communications Group plans a 50,000‑satellite low‑Earth‑orbit constellation, while a new $2.9 billion government fund supports over 600 domestic space firms. The...
Indonesian Minimart King Alfamart Boosts Quick Commerce to Reverse Slowdown
Alfamart, Indonesia’s largest convenience‑store chain, is accelerating its quick‑commerce push through the Alfagift app to counter slowing same‑store sales and a 7% net‑income decline in 2024. The app now has 25 million members, drives 8% of revenue, and the retailer is...
China’s Coffee Market Splits in Two as Luckin Moves Upmarket and Mixue Digs Deeper
Centurium Capital is acquiring Blue Bottle’s global retail stores for under $400 million, giving Luckin Coffee a premium brand to complement its low‑price model. Mixue Bingcheng is piloting freshly ground coffee in select outlets, installing $4,800 automatic machines to broaden its...
Why DJI’s Talent Outflow May Be a Sign of Strength, Not Weakness
DJI is on track to exceed $14.5 bn in annual revenue by 2026, driven by strong market share in drones, action cameras and 360‑degree imaging. While former employees frequently launch startups, the company’s talent outflow is being reframed as a purposeful...
Tmall Ramps up Merchant Support as Focus Shifts to Profitability
Tmall announced an expanded merchant‑support program that pivots from pure traffic subsidies to profit‑protecting cash incentives, larger subsidies and AI‑driven efficiency tools. The platform reported a 15% year‑on‑year rise in brands with GMV above RMB 100 million (≈$14.5 M), more than 13,000 brands...
China’s E-Trucks Are Poised to Dominate the Nascent EU Market
Chinese electric‑truck makers are rapidly establishing a foothold in Europe, with Windrose opening an assembly plant in Belgium, SuperPanther gearing up production in Austria, and BYD expanding its Hungarian facility to exceed 1,000 e‑trucks annually. Sany, leveraging its heavy‑duty heritage,...
CaoCao Mobility’s Growth Begins to Translate Into Profit
CaoCao Mobility posted a $2.9 billion revenue for 2025, a 38% year‑on‑year increase, and recorded its first quarterly adjusted net profit. Gross margin rose to 9.4% as scale, AI‑driven dispatch efficiency, and depreciation leverage improved unit economics. The firm now serves...
As Kansai’s Deep Tech Push Gains Speed, Can GSE 2026 Take It Global?
Kansai’s metropolitan area of Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe is being positioned as Japan’s next global deep‑tech hub. The regional METI office and the Union of Kansai Governments announced a ¥10 trillion (≈$63 billion) investment plan through 2027, targeting 100 unicorns and 100,000...
CATL, BYD Join over 100 China Firms in Perovskite Solar Cell Race
More than 100 Chinese companies, including battery giant CATL and EV maker BYD, are racing to mass‑produce perovskite solar cells. The sector already boasts gigawatt‑scale production lines, such as UtmoLight’s 1.8 million‑cell annual facility and GCL Optoelectronic’s $724 million plant targeting 2 GW....
Chinese Furniture Maker Takes on US Incumbents in Bid to Expand Foothold
Sunon, a Chinese office‑furniture maker, is shifting from contract manufacturing to selling under its own brand in the United States. The company earned $60 million from the U.S. market last year and targets a 50% revenue increase this year, backed by...
SenseTime Narrows Losses in 2025 as Generative AI Drives Growth
SenseTime reported 2025 revenue of RMB 5 billion ($724 million), up 32.9% year‑on‑year, driven largely by generative AI. The generative‑AI segment grew 51% to $521 million, accounting for 72.4% of total revenue. EBITDA turned positive in the second half, reaching $54.5 million, while the full‑year...
Anta’s Core Label Slows in 2025 as Fila and Other Labels Pick up the Pace
Anta Sports posted a 13.3% revenue increase to $11.6 billion in 2025, driven largely by its Fila label and smaller brands, while the core Anta brand grew only 3.7%. Operating profit rose 15% to $2.8 billion, with margins expanding to 23.8% despite...
Kuaishou Shares Fall as AI Spending Overshadows Solid Earnings
Kuaishou reported solid Q4 2025 results, with revenue rising 11.8% to $5.7 billion and adjusted net profit up 16.2% to $796.5 million. The company disclosed that 2026 AI‑related capital expenditure could reach $3.8 billion, about $1.6 billion more than the prior year, prompting a...
FS.com Lists in Hong Kong, Riding Demand for AI-Era Networking Hardware
Chinese networking specialist FS.com debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 23, completing its IPO. The Shenzhen‑based firm, which supplies optical modules, high‑speed cables, switches and cloud‑enabled software, now ranks second globally in the direct‑to‑consumer networking market with...
Can ChackTok Untangle Southeast Asia’s Fragmented Photo Booth Market?
The global photo‑booth market, valued at $584.6 million in 2024, is projected to reach $1.4 billion by 2032 with an 11.5% CAGR. Southeast Asia contributes roughly one‑fifth of that market but remains highly fragmented, relying on outdated tools. ChackTok offers a hardware‑agnostic...
China’s EV Battery Makers Widen Lead to over 70% Global Share
Chinese EV battery manufacturers surged to a global installed‑capacity share of over 70% in 2025, up from under 50% in 2021. CATL led the market with a 39.2% share and posted a record net profit of RMB 72.2 billion (≈$10.5 billion), a 42%...