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China has banned major <a href="/industry/e-commerce">e-commerce</a> platforms such as <a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a>, <a href="/company/jd">JD.com</a>, and <a href="/company/meituan">Meituan</a> from coercing merchants into promotions, part of new rules aimed at curbing fierce online competition. Effective February this year, the regulations also prohibit false influencer marketing and require platforms to strengthen consumer and data protections.

BrainCo has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO and is working with CICC and UBS on the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The filing follows the brain-computer interface startup’s recent RMB 2 billion fundraising, the industry’s second largest round globally after Neuralink.

<a href="/company/xpeng">Xpeng</a> has hired JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley to prepare an IPO of its flying car unit in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has confidentially filed for a share sale that could take place this year as it seeks to tap China’s low-altitude economy and expand its frontier technology portfolio.

<a href="/company/pop-mart">Pop Mart</a> has denied reports that it is developing a smartphone, saying it will instead launch an IP collaboration with a major phone brand. Earlier reports suggested the company planned to release a youth-oriented device. The statement comes as Pop Mart expands into new consumer segments, including jewelry and <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a>-powered toys.

China's Ministry of Commerce has said it would review Meta’s USD 2.5 billion acquisition of <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> startup Manus, founded by Chinese entrepreneurs who relocated the company to Singapore. Sources said the review reflects Beijing’s broader effort to safeguard AI technologies amid an intensifying tech rivalry with the US.

Omdia ranked <a href="/company/agibot">Agibot</a> first globally in humanoid robot shipments and market share for 2025, with 5,168 units delivered and a 39% global share. The report said Chinese manufacturers led the sector’s rapid growth and rated Agibot highest in six of eight technical dimensions, ahead of peers including Unitree and <a href="/company/tesla">Tesla</a>.

<p data-start="317" data-end="767"><a href="/company/geely">Geely</a> said its group-wide vehicle sales reached 4.12 million units in 2025, up 26% YoY and surpassing four million for the first time. New energy vehicle (NEV) sales rose 58% to 2.29 million units, raising the group’s NEV penetration to 56%.</p>

Cainiao has launched a new G2G cross-border logistics service in the Americas, starting with a route between the US and Mexico. Covering key <a href="/industry/e-commerce">e-commerce</a> hubs along the west coast in the US and 99% of Mexico, the launch makes Cainiao the first Chinese logistics company to offer G2G operations across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

<a href="/company/anta">Anta Sports</a> has offered to buy the Pinault family’s 29% stake in German sportswear group Puma. The offer is fully financed, though talks have stalled. Artemis, the family’s holding firm, had sought bids above EUR 40 per share. Puma shares rose after the report as investors welcomed potential new backing for the brand’s turnaround plan.

Moore Threads has released an updated version of SimuMax, upgrading its open-source simulator for distributed LLM training. The new release adds a visual configuration interface, automated parallel strategy search, and improved Megatron-LM compatibility, turning the tool into an integrated workflow platform for large-scale model optimization.

<p data-start="345" data-end="708">Z.ai (also known as Zhipu AI) has reportedly unveiled a 2026 roadmap centered on foundational model innovation, emphasizing new architectures, generalized reinforcement learning, and continual learning. Following <a href="/company/deepseek">DeepSeek’s</a> success, the company reaffirmed its AGI focus. Its GLM-4.7 ranked first among Chinese models, with GLM-5 expected to launch soon.</p>

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The Chinese robotics company is deploying its technology at Malaysia’s i-City, marking the first step in a regional rollout across Southeast Asia.

Agibot kicks off APAC expansion with Malaysia launch event

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