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Doubao prepares paid subscriptions as ByteDance seeks AI returns

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DeepSeek seeks USD 7 billion funding

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36Kr
DeepSeek reportedly plans to raise about USD 7 billion in its first funding round at a valuation of up to USD 59 billion. Tencent and CATL are expected to be the largest external investors, with NetEase and JD.com also expected to participate.

Alibaba CTO joins partnership committee

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The Time Weekly
Alibaba Group CTO Wu Zeming has joined the company’s five-member partnership committee, replacing retiring Shao Xiaofeng. The appointment raises the number of technology-focused executives in the top decision-making body to three. Wu previously led Taobao Shangou, which captured 45.2% of the market in Q4 2025.

Taobao blocks AI-generated product photos

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Jiemian News
Taobao has blocked nearly 100,000 AI-generated product images in one month using a new detection model. The Alibaba-owned platform is tightening rules against misleading listings that do not accurately represent garment materials, fit, or quality, as consumers report growing distrust of AI-generated photos.

China Literature raises YHKT stake

just now
The Paper
China Literature acquired an additional 28.22% stake in animation studio YHKT Entertainment for RMB 400 million, raising its ownership to 59.7%. The investment is intended to strengthen China Literature’s IP value chain by combining YHKT’s animation production capabilities with its own content library.

Aistaland GT7 uses Huawei’s “Tau” law

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21st Century Business Herald
Huawei has incorporated principles of the “Tau scaling law” into the semiconductor technology used in the Aistaland GT7, reportedly achieving deterministic latency, or predictable response delay, of one millisecond. Introduced by Yinwang CEO Jin Yuzhi, the technology is designed to optimize processing time across four layers and improve vehicle performance through the Qiankun Chitu platform.

Didi Q1 GTV rises 21%

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Guandian
Didi reported a 21% YoY increase in gross transaction value, or GTV, to RMB 123.3 billion for Q1 2026. Adjusted EBITDA reached RMB 913 million, supported by a 13% rise in core platform transactions to 4.8 billion orders. International GTV grew 60% to RMB 37.6 billion, accounting for 30% of the company’s total.

CATL opens Xiamen battery site

just now
Nikkei Asia
CATL opened a ten-hectare battery storage testing facility in Xiamen on May 28. It invested USD 440 million in the site to improve the safety and reliability of high-capacity products by simulating severe operating conditions.

ChaPanda shares fall 69% since IPO

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Economic Daily
ChaPanda shares have fallen more than 69% since the company’s April 2024 IPO, closing at HKD 5.36 on June 2. The decline has reduced its market capitalization by HKD 17.94 billion, while founders Wang Xiaokun and Liu Weihong’s holdings have lost HKD 14.84 billion in value.

Deep Robotics files for Star Market IPO

just now
The Paper
Deep Robotics has filed for a Star Market IPO, with its prospectus showing quadruped robot sales reached 2,908 units in 2025. The filing said industrial adoption remains in a validation phase, with high costs and complex integration requirements delaying large-scale deployment compared with consumer electronics.

Stephen Curry signs with Li-Ning

just now
NYTimes
NBA star Stephen Curry has signed a ten-year endorsement deal with Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning, giving the company a new path into the US market. The partnership covers basketball, athleisure, and golf products, as well as physical Curry Brand stores in the US and China. Curry ended a 12-year partnership with Under Armour in 2025.

CalmCar files again for Hong Kong IPO

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Cyber-car
Smart driving technology firm CalmCar has filed again for a Hong Kong IPO as liquidity tightens. It reported a 300-day accounts receivable turnover period and RMB 293 million in net operating cash outflow in 2025, leaving it with RMB 235 million in cash reserves.

SAIC Motor plans first EU car plant

just now
SCMP
SAIC Motor plans to build its first EU car factory in Galicia, Spain. The regional government has designated the project a strategic priority, with an initial investment of USD 232 million. The planned facility, which includes a logistics hub, remains subject to approval from Spain’s central government.

Zhipu seeks Star Market listing

just now
IT Zhijia
Zhipu plans to issue A-shares and list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market. The company intends to issue 9.1–38.8 million new shares, representing 2–8% of its total share capital. Proceeds will be used to fund its foundation model development, a MaaS platform, and working capital.

Dreame opens pre-IPO round

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DoNews
Dreame has opened a pre-IPO funding round at a pre-money valuation of RMB 70 billion. The company is offering 5–10% of its shares, with a minimum investment threshold of RMB 350 million per investor. The round, which includes new share issuance and the sale of existing shares held by founder Yu Hao, is expected to close in early July.

Leapmotor sets May delivery record

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DoNews
Leapmotor delivered 81,569 vehicles in May, up 81% YoY and marking a new monthly record for the brand. CEO Zhu Jiangming said the A10 model contributed more than 20,000 units to the total. The company also said cumulative global sales of its C-series vehicles have surpassed 800,000 units.

MiniMax launches M3 model

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DoNews
MiniMax has launched M3, a flagship AI model with a one-million-token context window and native multimodal capabilities. The model uses the company’s proprietary sparse attention architecture to support long-range coding and agentic tasks. MiniMax said M3 scored 83.5 on the BrowseComp agent evaluation, outperforming Opus 4.7.

Chagee Q1 revenue reaches RMB 3.55 billion

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DoNews
Chagee reported Q1 2026 revenue of RMB 3.55 billion, up 4.5% YoY, and adjusted net profit of RMB 507 million. The tea chain expanded to 7,531 stores globally, while gross merchandise value from overseas markets rose 139% YoY to RMB 426 million.

EU fines Temu, probes JD.com deal

just now
Semafor
The EU has fined Temu EUR 200 million and opened an investigation into JD.com’s acquisition of a German electronics retailer. The actions, announced on May 29, came ahead of a meeting of EU commissioners focused on alleged unfair trading practices by China, though member states remain divided over the appropriate policy response.

BYD launches Xuanji A3 chip

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IT Home
BYD has launched Xuanji A3, which it described as China’s first self-developed 4-nm driving chip. The chip supports Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous driving and has entered mass production. BYD said the chip delivers more than 2,100 TOPS of total computing power across three units and improves computing efficiency through its proprietary algorithms.

Douyu returns to profit in Q1 2026

just now
DoNews
Douyu posted a net profit of RMB 27.4 million for Q1 2026, reversing a net loss of RMB 79.6 million in the same period last year. Revenue fell 13% YoY to RMB 822 million, as the company reduced costs by 16.9% to RMB 692 million.
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