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Dreame’s robotic lawn mowers lead the pack with a smart LiDAR edge

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Pulses

Qoros faces bankruptcy review

just now
Jiemian News
Qoros Auto is facing a bankruptcy review after a supplier filed suit over unpaid debts. Court filings show 31 equity freezes totaling over RMB 35 billion and dozens of enforcement actions against the automaker, once seen as a rising Chinese brand but now struggling with liquidity and production halts.

Z.ai launches GLM-4.7 model

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Z.ai
Z.ai has launched GLM-4.7, the latest version of its flagship model, featuring major upgrades in coding, reasoning, and agent execution. The model introduces a “think before acting” mechanism, achieves state-of-the-art results on several open-source benchmarks, and reportedly outperforms GPT-5.1 in reasoning tasks.

Kuaishou hit by cyberattack

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36Kr
Kuaishou said its live streaming function was hit by a cyberattack around 10 p.m. on December 22, but has since resumed normal operations after emergency repairs. Other app services were unaffected. The company reported the incident to police and vowed legal action to safeguard user and shareholder interests.

ByteDance plans RMB 160 billion AI push

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Financial Times
ByteDance plans to boost its 2026 AI investment to RMB 160 billion, allocating over half to chip purchases, including Nvidia’s H200 processors if approvals allow. The TikTok owner is also expanding its overseas data center footprint as usage of its Doubao chatbot surges in China despite US export restrictions.

Geely completes Zeekr privatization

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Geely
Geely has completed the privatization of Zeekr after meeting all merger conditions on December 22. The move makes Zeekr a wholly owned Geely subsidiary and removes it from the New York Stock Exchange, with its financial results to be fully consolidated into the group’s accounts.

Vanke exits Shanghai venture

just now
Nikkei Asia
China Vanke has sold its remaining 10% stake in a Shanghai real estate venture with Singapore’s GIC, according to corporate records. The move comes as the developer faces a crucial bondholder vote on extending repayment of a RMB 2 billion bond that matured last week, a test of confidence in China’s property market.

Alibaba launches Qwen-Image-Layered

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36Kr
Alibaba has unveiled Qwen-Image-Layered, an image generation model built on a layered architecture. The company said the model decomposes images into multiple independently editable layers, allowing more precise adjustments and greater creative control in AI-driven visual design.

HarmonyOS devices exceed 32 million

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Huawei
In a post on Weibo, Huawei said more than 32 million devices now run HarmonyOS 5 and HarmonyOS 6, underscoring rapid adoption of its self-developed operating system.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra to see price hike

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Sina
Xiaomi president Lu Weibing has confirmed that the new Xiaomi 17 Ultra will be priced higher, citing soaring memory costs driven by rapid AI and high-performance computing growth. He said the company faces major pricing pressure as memory supply remains tight, with new capacity not expected until the end of 2027.

HKEX leads global IPO fundraising in 2025

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HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) recorded a milestone year in 2025, leading the world in IPO fundraising with HKD 274.6 billion raised. Average daily turnover for the first 11 months rose 43% YoY. The exchange also launched new technology and biotech indices, advanced market reforms, and expanded into the Middle East, reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as a leading international financial hub.

Alibaba expands Quark eyewear lineup

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36Kr
Alibaba has launched presales for its new Quark smart glasses lineup, including the G1 and S1 models, starting at RMB 1,999. The devices feature dual flagship chips, advanced audio systems, and Alibaba’s Qwen AI assistant, designed to improve cross-platform integration and user experience across the company’s ecosystem.

Moore Threads unveils new chips

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SCMP
Chinese chipmaker Moore Threads has unveiled its Huashan and Lushan chips, built on the new Huagang architecture, as it ramps up competition with Nvidia and AMD. CEO James Zhang said Huashan surpasses Nvidia’s Hopper series in performance, while Lushan targets high-end gaming. The chips, announced after the firm's IPO, will enter mass production in 2026.

ByteDance nears USD 50 billion profit

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Bloomberg
ByteDance is reportedly on track to post about USD 50 billion in profit for 2025 after earning USD 40 billion through September. The Beijing-based firm has already exceeded internal targets as e-commerce and AI ventures drive growth, even while it finalizes a joint venture to keep TikTok operational in the US.

PDD reshuffles top leadership

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Reuters
Pinduoduo operator PDD Holdings has appointed co-CEO and founding member Jiazhen Zhao as co-chairman, joining Lei Chen on the board. The company also named Mi Wang as senior vice president of engineering and Jiong Li as financial director.

Gaming revenue hits record high in China

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SCMP
China’s video game industry hit a record RMB 350.8 billion in 2025, rising 7.7% YoY as Tencent, NetEase, and Mihoyo (Hoyoverse) doubled down on global expansion and utilized AI to boost efficiency. The growth, marking a third straight annual gain, reflects renewed regulatory stability and rising overseas demand for Chinese-developed titles.

Grab buys robotics startup Infermove

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Bloomberg
Grab has acquired Beijing-based robotics startup Infermove to enhance its logistics systems for food delivery. Founded in 2021, Infermove develops autonomous driving systems and delivery robots and was last valued at USD 33 million. Grab said the deal will strengthen its first- and last-mile delivery capabilities and support future automation growth.

Alibaba expands quick commerce network

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SCMP
Cainiao and Tmall Supermarket are joining forces to expand Alibaba’s quick commerce logistics, adding fulfilment hubs in 31 cities by January next year. The plan supports Taobao's Shangou platform, enabling four-hour deliveries and improving efficiency by over 50% to compete with JD.com and Meituan.

Lovable raises USD 330 million

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Bloomberg
Lovable has raised USD 330 million at a USD 6.6 billion valuation after tripling revenue in six months. The funding round was co-led by CapitalG and Menlo Ventures, with participation from Nvidia, Salesforce, and Deutsche Telekom. The Stockholm-based AI startup plans to use the proceeds to expand integrations and develop full-production app tools for businesses.

ByteDance in talks to form AI phone tie-ups

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Jiemian News
ByteDance is pursuing AI smartphone partnerships with Vivo, Lenovo, and Transsion to pre-install generative AI plugins on mid- to high-end models. Sources said Vivo has confirmed the collaboration, which aims to open new monetization channels through traffic sharing and subscription revenue. The rollout is expected to start overseas, with plans to reach up to 200 million devices.

TikTok to form US venture with Oracle

just now
Bloomberg
TikTok said it will form a US joint venture majority-owned by US investors co-led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, marking a key step in its separation from parent company ByteDance. The USD 14 billion deal, expected to close on January 22, 2026, will give the new TikTok US entity control over data protection and algorithm security, pending Chinese regulatory approval.
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