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At a May 18 event, CATL chairman Robin Zeng said electric heavy trucks could account for 50% of China’s market by 2028, up from 10% in 2024. His remar…

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At a May 18 event, <a href="/company/catl">CATL</a> chairman Robin Zeng said electric heavy trucks could account for 50% of China’s market by 2028, up from 10% in 2024. His remarks came alongside the launch of a new standard swappable battery for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Chinese customs authorities have seized over 46,000 counterfeit Labubu toys across Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Shanghai as demand for the viral <a href="/company/pop-mart">Pop Mart</a> collectible fuels a surge in knockoffs. State media warned of a growing black market chain mixing fakes with genuine dolls and called for stricter IP enforcement and platform oversight.

A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded during a June 18 static fire test in Texas, likely due to a nitrogen tank failure, marking the first ground test loss in years. No injuries were reported, but the blast adds to ongoing setbacks for a vehicle central to NASA’s moon plans and Elon Musk’s Mars ambitions.

China’s 618 shopping festival reached a record RMB 855.6 billion in GMV, up 15.2% YoY, according to Syntun, though daily spending fell as the event extended over several weeks. <a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba's</a> Tmall and <a href="/company/jd">JD.com</a> led sales, while subsidies and early promotions lifted May retail figures amid consumer caution and discount fatigue.

Shenyang, long known as an industrial hub, will open a minidrama production center at a repurposed factory site to tap China’s growing market for bite-sized content. The 20,000-square-meter facility will support XR filming, <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> tools, and distribution via major streaming platforms.

<a href="/company/tiktok">TikTok</a> is preparing to launch TikTok Shop in Japan, adding in-app shopping features that enable live stream and video-based purchases. With support from sellers and ad firms like Hakuhodo and Dentsu, the rollout could jumpstart live commerce in a market long led by Amazon and Rakuten.

Haomo.AI is facing internal turbulence as top executives exit and key projects stall. Its chairman and two vice presidents have resigned, while development delays and weak commercialization have cast doubt on the startup’s future. With key backer Great Wall Motor investing in alternatives like <a href="/company/pony-ai">Pony.ai</a> and expanding its own smart driving stack, Haomo’s role appears increasingly uncertain.

Global robot vacuum shipments reached 5.1 million units in Q1 2025, up 11.9% YoY, according to IDC. China’s Roborock led with a 19.3% market share and strong growth in Western Europe and China, followed by Ecovacs, Dreame, Xiaomi, and iRobot. The top five vendors now control 63.4% of the global market.

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Ant International’s Alipay+ has launched its first embedded global payment solution for smart glasses, completing the first eyewear-based transaction in Hong Kong using Meizu’s StarV Snap glasses. The system combines voice interaction, display, and scanning technologies, and will expand to more partners in 2025.

<p data-start="240" data-end="600"><a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba Cloud</a> will launch a second data center in South Korea this month to meet growing demand for <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> and cloud services. The new facility will expand its cloud-native and big data offerings while enhancing resilience, availability, and disaster recovery for local businesses.</p>

Chinese <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> startup MiniMax is weighing a Hong Kong IPO, sources said, marking a potential first for the country’s AI sector. Backed by <a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a> and <a href="/company/tencent">Tencent</a>, the firm raised USD 600 million in 2023 and recently launched new reasoning and agentic tools as it races to compete with global peers.

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With DJI preparing to enter its core segment, Insta360 faces the challenge of defending its moat through continued innovation.

Insta360’s IPO pop signals confidence, but the real challenge lies ahead

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The Shanghai-based startup is developing AI-powered robots to automate industrial grinding, a process still largely manually done.

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Executive churn and slow progress on deliveries leave Haomo.AI at risk of being folded into Great Wall Motor as rivals gain ground.

China’s electric truck sales to surge: CATL

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Most surface grinding is still done by hand, and Tosso wants to change that

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