China Recap is a weekly roundup tracking Chinese companies expanding abroad, covering market entries, funding rounds, product launches, and global partnerships.
China’s corporate globalization strategy is evolving fast. Industry giants are rewriting the global playbook, while a new generation of companies charts fresh paths overseas.
China Recap tracks both—focusing on strategic expansion, brand building, and localized operations—to help readers make sense of shifting trends and understand how Chinese firms are reshaping their global approach.
Here’s what made headlines last week:
China pushes into new AI frontiers
- Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax is weighing a Hong Kong IPO, sources said, marking a potential first for the country’s AI sector. Backed by Alibaba and Tencent, the firm raised USD 600 million in 2023 and recently launched new reasoning and agentic tools as it races to compete with global peers. —Bloomberg
- Baidu hosted a six-hour live stream using digital avatars generated with the aid of AI, including a virtual version of live streamer Yonghao Luo, drawing over 13 million views and RMB 55 million (USD 7.7 million) in sales. Powered by Ernie models, the event is part of Baidu’s broader push to commercialize digital humans in e-commerce.
- BYD has partnered with ByteDance’s Seed and Volcano Engine teams to co-develop lithium batteries using AI, launching a joint lab to accelerate breakthroughs in fast-charging, lifespan, and safety. The tie-up builds on BYD’s use of ByteDance’s BAMBOO framework, which helped optimize electrolytes for its new megawatt fast-charging battery by cutting trial-and-error cycles and speeding development.
- MiniMax has launched M1, an open-weight hybrid attention model built for long-context reasoning and complex tasks. With 456 billion parameters and support for one million-token inputs, M1 reportedly outperforms DeepSeek-R1 and Qwen 3 in software and tool use benchmarks while using 75% less compute.
- HongShan (formerly Sequoia China) open-sourced two datasets from its xBench benchmark to help developers test reasoning and search skills in real-world AI tasks. The ScienceQA and DeepSearch sets feature high-difficulty, regularly updated challenges for large language models and AI agents.
China advances brain-computer tech trial
China began its first clinical trial of wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, with a paralyzed patient reportedly controlling games by thought weeks after surgery. The implant, said to be more flexible than Neuralink’s, makes China the second country to reach this stage. Market approval could come by 2028. —Bloomberg
Taobao sees surge in pet product sales
Taobao’s 618 campaign saw a surge in cross-border pet product sales, with more than 1,000 merchants doubling their year-on-year revenue. Chinese brands led in pet food and smart care devices, while small pet supplies gained global traction. Top markets included Hong Kong, Taiwan, and countries across Southeast Asia. —Caijing
Trip.com expands global hiring, partnerships
Trip.com Group is accelerating its global expansion, opening over 1,100 positions across 75 cities in 23 countries and launching a RMB 1 billion (USD 140 million) tourism innovation fund. With Q1 2025 international bookings up 60% YoY, CEO Jane Sun said the firm aims to double its overseas revenue share within 3–5 years. The company has also signed hotel partnerships in Thailand and Malaysia. —36Kr
Leapmotor opens first store in Hong Kong
Leapmotor opened its first Hong Kong store on June 11, also its 1,500th globally, as it pushes into a market where electric vehicles reportedly make up over 75% of new car sales. CEO Zhu Jiangming said the city is vital for global investor visibility. The move expands Leapmotor’s presence amid growing international competition from Chinese EV peers. —Jiemian News
That wraps up this edition of China Recap. If your company is expanding internationally, we’d love to hear about your latest milestones. Get in touch to share your story.