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Beneath the bureaucracy: How state capital made (and remade) China’s venture ecosystem

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Zeekr to add 200 stores in 2025 expansion

just now
Yicai
Zeekr is adopting a partner-based agency model to reach lower-tier cities, complementing its direct sales network and aiming for 560 stores by year-end. The shift follows recent leadership changes and deeper channel integration with Lynk & Co, supporting a 320,000-unit sales target for 2025.

TSMC’s April revenue jumps 48% on chip rush

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Bloomberg
TSMC reported TWD 349.6 billion in April 2025 revenue, a 48% YoY surge driven by a rush to secure chips ahead of global tariffs. Demand from clients like Apple and Nvidia remained strong, particularly for AI chips. Analysts now expect Q2 revenue to exceed forecasts, though TSMC warned that currency strength could weigh on margins.

Pop Mart early backer sells entire stake

just now
The Paper
As its first RMB fund nears expiration, Borchid Capital sold its remaining 0.89% stake in Pop Mart for HKD 2.27 billion across three block trades. The firm had backed the company since 2010 and joined multiple funding rounds ahead of its 2020 IPO.

Xpeng AeroHT enters PC review phase

just now
Cailian Press
China's civil aviation authority has accepted Xpeng AeroHT’s application for a production certificate for its X3-F flying car. This follows earlier type certification progress and puts the firm on track for 2026 delivery, with a factory 70% complete.

Cainiao expands EU logistics for car parts

just now
36Kr
Alibaba's Cainiao has rolled out a one-stop logistics solution for exporting automotive parts, covering domestic pickup, trunk transport, overseas warehousing, and last-mile delivery. With dedicated warehouses in Madrid and Rotterdam, the network supports over 5,000 SKUs and serves both e-commerce buyers and 4S dealerships across more than 20 European countries.

Nvidia to release downgraded H20 in China

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SCMP
Nvidia plans to launch a downgraded version of its H20 AI chip in China by July, sources said, after US officials required export licences for the original model. The revision, which includes reduced memory capacity, is aimed at preserving access to a key market that had seen strong demand from firms like Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance.

Tencent unveils Hunyuan Custom model

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Tencent
Tencent has launched and open-sourced Hunyuan Custom, a multimodal video generation model that supports text, image, audio, and video prompts. Built on Hunyuan Video, the model is said to outperform tools like Pika and VACE in human- and object-centric video generation across multiple benchmarks.

China trade up 2.4%, driven by exports

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China Customs
China’s total trade reached RMB 14.1 trillion in the first four months of 2025, up 2.4% YoY. Exports rose 7.5% while imports fell 4.2%. April alone saw a 5.6% increase, led by export growth of 9.3%.

SAIC-backed robotaxi firm eyes IPO

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Sina
Xiangdao Chuxing, SAIC Motor’s mobility brand, raised over RMB 1.3 billion in Series C funding from SAIC, industrial funds, and local governments. The company has launched plans for a Hong Kong IPO and aims to scale its robotaxi operations and expand overseas.

Unitree axes service after hacking risk

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SCMP
Chinese robotics firm Unitree said it disabled a remote access tunnel after security bloggers revealed it enabled unauthorized control of its Go1 quadruped robot. The vulnerability was reportedly linked to Zhexi Cloud and affected institutions worldwide.

China seeks bloc backing on tariffs

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Reuters
Chinese premier Li Qiang is expected in Kuala Lumpur on May 27 for the Asean-GCC-China summit, sources said. The visit follows Xi Jinping’s April trip and reflects Beijing’s effort to align with Southeast Asian and Gulf states amid rising US trade pressure.

SMIC revenue up 28%, lags forecasts

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SMIC
Semiconductor foundry SMIC posted Q1 2025 revenue of USD 2.25 billion, up 28.4% YoY. Net income attributable to the company rose 74.8% to USD 188 million, though it missed analyst expectations. Capacity utilization hit 89.6% and operating expenses fell 31% from the prior quarter.

Lenovo unveils six AI innovations in China

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Sina
Lenovo introduced new AI optimization tools and server designs at its tech conference on May 7, unveiling enhancements in fault prediction, cooling, and inference speed. Its infrastructure platform and AI stack received full-spectrum upgrades, powered by next-gen Intel processors.

Alibaba unveils AI that trains without search

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VentureBeat
Alibaba researchers have introduced ZeroSearch, a framework that trains LLMs to search using simulations rather than real search engines. The method reportedly matches or exceeds Google’s performance at significantly lower cost. Code and models are open-sourced on GitHub and Hugging Face.

Huawei expands HarmonyOS to computers

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Xinhua
Huawei announced its first PCs using HarmonyOS will launch on May 19, after five years of R&D. Designed for cross-device syncing and enhanced security, this marks China's first homegrown OS for mass market computers, challenging global incumbents like Microsoft and Apple.

Baidu’s Apollo, Car Inc to deploy driverless cars for rent

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Sina
Baidu’s Apollo unit and Car Inc will roll out autonomous car rentals starting in Q2 2025, beginning in cultural tourism zones. The service will iterate based on user feedback and expand over the next 3–5 years as part of a broader smart mobility push.

Autohome’s Q1 revenue falls 10% amid ad softness

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Autohome
Autohome reported RMB 1.45 billion in Q1 2025 revenue, down 10% YoY, as ICE automakers cut back on ad spending. Net income declined to RMB 357 million, while adjusted net income reached RMB 421 million. Growth in user engagement and NEV-related demand helped cushion weaker legacy segments.

Quark upgrades AI with “deep search” rollout

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Sina
Alibaba's Quark app has launched a "deep search" feature that interprets complex queries through reasoning, agent coordination, and web-wide content synthesis. Built on its in-house model, the update aims to reduce user decision costs across scenarios like health, travel, and learning. Image editing tools were also upgraded.

Kuaishou logs strong 2024 growth

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Securities Times
Kuaishou’s short video GMV rose over 50% in 2024, while the number of buyers shopping across live streams, short videos, and shelf-based channels grew nearly 20%. In Q4 alone, shelf-based product card GMV jumped more than 68% YoY. High-spending buyers and active creators also rose in April, building momentum ahead of its 618 campaign.

Svolt’s battery shipments hit record in April

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36Kr
Svolt Energy Technology's overseas battery shipments reached 0.77 GWh in April, up 72% YoY and its highest monthly total to date. Cumulative shipments from January to April rose 126% YoY to 2.76 GWh, powering 63,115 vehicles.
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