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From rejection letters to red carpets: How Ding Xiaoyin brought Chinese cinema to the world

13 mins read

Pulses

Xiaohongshu debuts offline market in Shanghai

just now
Dao Insights
Xiaohongshu has launched its first “RedMarket” in Shanghai, a four-day fair featuring over 100 stalls of lifestyle goods, regional cuisine, and cultural heritage crafts. Paired with a new “Market” tab on its app, the event underscores its bid to rebrand as an interest-focused community bridging offline and online commerce.

Romoss faces lawsuit after power bank ban

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SCMP
Romoss Technology, tied to explosions and mass recalls of faulty power banks, has been sued for RMB 136.26 million by supplier Zowee Technology. The case adds to the fallout from China’s emergency flight ban on unsafe batteries and new certification rules for lithium-ion packs.

JD.com relaunches Joybuy in Germany

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Nikkei Asia
JD.com has relaunched its Joybuy platform in Germany after winding down its Ochama brand across Europe. The site offers groceries and consumer goods but has faced criticism for sloppy presentation and missing details. Analysts see the rollout as a logistics test run ahead of JD's planned Ceconomy acquisition.

WeRide rolls out driverless ride-hailing in Huangpu

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WeRide
WeRide has reportedly launched fully driverless robotaxis operating around the clock in Huangpu, Guangzhou. The company said its GXR model now provides point-to-point trips across the district through its app.

Chinese EV boom drives Japan tool orders

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Nikkei Asia
Japanese machine tool makers are benefiting from surging Chinese EV demand, with automotive-related orders from China reaching JPY 78.1 billion in the first seven months of 2025. BYD’s shift to in-house mold production has lifted demand for precision machining tools, though rising cancellations highlight risks as competition heats up.

Nasdaq tightens IPO rules for Chinese firms

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Reuters
Nasdaq has proposed stricter listing standards, raising liquidity thresholds, accelerating delistings, and requiring Chinese companies to raise at least USD 25 million to qualify. The exchange said the measures are meant to curb volatile IPOs and pump-and-dump schemes tied to smaller Chinese issuers.

US defunds Huawei rival tech program

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Politico
The US Congress has pulled nearly USD 1 billion from the Wireless Innovation Fund, cutting support for open RAN, an emerging telecom standard intended to provide a US-backed 5G alternative to Huawei. The decision undercuts a bipartisan effort to reduce global reliance on Chinese infrastructure.

NetEase ends US game studio investment

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Game Developer
NetEase has shut down T-Minus Zero Entertainment, the US studio founded in 2023 by BioWare veteran Rich Vogel. The move comes despite praise from senior NetEase staff for a third-person sci-fi multiplayer game it had been developing, and follows the publisher’s broader pullback from global studio investments.

Mini Labubu hype cools after rapid sellout

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Jiemian News
Prices for Pop Mart’s mini Labubu figurines have dropped 10–30% just a week after selling out online on August 28. Early resale listings topped RMB 2,500, but rising supply and mixed product feedback have cooled demand. More than 56,000 units have reportedly traded hands on resale platforms.

DeepSeek targets OpenAI with new agent tech

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Bloomberg
DeepSeek is racing to launch a new AI model with agent-like autonomy by year's end, aiming to compete with OpenAI in developing tools that perform complex tasks with minimal user input and learn from past actions. The release would mark DeepSeek’s most ambitious move since its R1 debut in January.

TikTok Shop adds tools for creators

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Ebrun
TikTok Shop has rolled out new tools to help creators optimize e-commerce performance ahead of the peak shopping season. Updates include a 30-day pilot for smaller accounts, health and promotion scoring, and content policy quizzes, aimed at gradually onboarding new users and ensuring readiness for holiday sales.

Investor demand lifts Xiaohongshu value

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Bloomberg
Xiaohongshu’s valuation reportedly rose 19% to USD 31 billion in recent GSR Ventures fund trades, up from USD 26 billion in March. The platform comprised 92% of the fund’s assets by June, as investor interest grew amid China’s tech policy support and TikTok’s global headwinds.

TikTok faces age law deadline in Australia

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Bloomberg
TikTok, along with platforms like Meta and Google, has been ordered by Australia to enforce a December 10 ban on users under 16. Companies must verify age beyond self-declaration and block circumvention attempts, with fines of up to AUD 50 million for noncompliance.

Chagee expands into fashion apparel

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Yilan Shangye
Chinese tea chain Chagee has launched a premium apparel line as part of a broader lifestyle push. With prices above typical fast fashion, the move comes amid a 38% profit drop and slowing same-store sales. As performance weakens, analysts question whether fashion can help revive its stock.

Seres posts strong midyear earnings

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Seres
Seres reported RMB 62.4 billion in revenue and RMB 2.94 billion in net profit for H1 2025, an 81% YoY increase driven by strong Aito sales. NEV deliveries reached 172,108 units, while R&D spending rose 155% to RMB 5.12 billion.

Love and Deepspace wins at Gamescom

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TechNode
Love and Deepspace, a 3D romance game by Infold Games, won "Best Mobile Game" at the latest Gamescom, becoming the first female-oriented title to earn the honor. Since launching in January, it has reportedly topped iOS charts in over 30 countries and drawn 70 million players with its blend of sci-fi themes, cinematic immersion, and character intimacy.

JD.com launches takeover bid for Ceconomy

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Jiemian News
JD.com has launched a EUR 2.2 billion cash offer to acquire Germany-based Ceconomy, the parent company of MediaMarkt and Saturn. The deal would give JD.com access to more than 1,000 stores across 12 European countries and a localized supply network. The offer remains subject to regulatory approvals through November 2026.

Chinese firms lean on used Nvidia GPUs

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Tom's Hardware
Chinese firms are reportedly turning to refurbished Nvidia A100 and H100 GPUs after regulators blocked the H20, a chip tailored to meet US export rules. Originally built for training, the older cards are now being retooled for inference tasks amid rising demand and tightening supply.

Airwallex acquires billing firm OpenPay

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Airwallex
Airwallex has acquired billing platform OpenPay, adding subscription management, payment orchestration, and revenue analytics to its suite. Announced on September 3, the deal will provide Airwallex customers with multicurrency billing and usage-based subscription tools from Q4 2025, positioning the firm to compete with Stripe Billing and Recurly.

AnyMind expands with Nadesiko takeover

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AnyMind Group
AnyMind Group has announced the acquisition of Japan-based creator studio Nadesiko to expand its capabilities in social commerce. Tokyo-based Nadesiko, known for short-form beauty content on platforms like TikTok, will strengthen AnyMind’s integration of social marketing with e-commerce and digital transformation.
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