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… data-tmfx-note="1">Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 9, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

WeChat opens the door to phone-based AI agents, on its own terms

WeChat

East Asia

China

Artificial Intelligence

Deep Tech

… enterprise customers are shifting toward long-term supply chain partnerships. Both trends create more conditions for sustainable profitability.
This <a href="https://xueqiu.com/2854806290/393502109">article</a> was adapted based on a feature originally written by Robin and published on IPO Zaozhidao. KrASIA is authorized to translate, adapt, and publish its contents.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 9, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Longsys targets edge AI storage in Hong Kong dual listing push

AI Infrastructure

Hong Kong

… Jordan. Jordan Brand revenue rose from about USD 2.8 billion in 2018 to around USD 7 billion in 2024, accounting for 13.6% of Nike’s revenue. It has effectively become an independent brand inside Nike. No sportswear company has replicated that model, including Nike itself.
The second barrier is that basketball’s return profile has changed. Even if a Jordan-like star emerged today, recreating Jordan Brand’s trajectory would be difficult in a slower category. Li-Ning must figure out how to turn Curry and his portable independent brand into a growth engine rather than an expensive marketing line item.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3836116289877385">article</a> was written by He Zhexin for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 9, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Why Curry Brand chose Li-Ning over Anta

Li-Ning

Consumer Economy

… director Liu Yu and valued at USD 1.3 billion, sources told 36Kr.
<h3>Doubao turns toward monetization and overseas growth</h3>
Doubao’s commercialization is the fourth priority. 36Kr previously reported that Doubao is expected to <a href="https://kr-asia.com/doubao-prepares-paid-subscriptions-as-bytedance-seeks-ai-returns">launch paid subscription plans</a> in late June and connect with Douyin E-commerce to expand monetization.
In early May, Doubao updated subscription options in the app store, with monthly plans ranging from free to RMB 500 (USD 73.6). On June 3, Doubao announced an upcoming professional version for workplace productivity needs, including software development, data analysis, design, workflow automation, financial analysis, and scientific research.
Several sources told 36Kr that Doubao had surpassed 200 million DAUs after the Lunar New Year. One source said Doubao’s user acquisition budget is now low, while high DAU has brought heavy inference and operating costs. Monetization at this stage is meant both to slow the pace of growth and help the product generate its own cash flow.
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Slide deck generation is viewed as the main entry point for paid user behavior. One person close to Doubao said the company wants to strengthen slide deck generation to build revenue from white-collar professionals in sectors such as finance and law. Doubao also plans to launch an enterprise version and connect with internal company systems, though the exact integration model is still under discussion.
The idea reflects similar trends overseas. Anthropic disclosed that Claude Code <a href="https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-raises-30-billion-series-g-funding-380-billion-post-money-valuation">reached USD 2.5 billion in annualized recurring revenue (ARR)</a> in February, more than double its level at the start of the year. Cash flow from enterprise development use cases reportedly helped Anthropic surpass OpenAI in ARR earlier this year, despite Anthropic being founded later.
Doubao’s challenge is to reposition itself from a free general-purpose chatbot into a paid office assistant that improves productivity. But the market it wants to enter is already crowded. A Doubao source said ByteDance found through its research that many solution providers already occupy the enterprise AI tool market, meaning a late-arriving Doubao will face higher acquisition costs.
Overseas expansion is also a key task this year. <a href="https://www.jiemian.com/article/13832319.html">Jiemian News</a> previously reported that Dola, Doubao’s overseas app, surpassed ten million DAUs by the end of 2025. According to 36Kr, Dola’s 2026 target is 30 million DAUs by year’s end. With overseas AI chatbots largely dominated by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, Dola’s strategy is said to focus on more niche markets rather than regions like Europe and the US, where competition is tighter.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3838454229027072">article</a> was written by Zhou Xinyu for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 9, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

ByteDance sets four AI priorities for 2026

Doubao

Foundation and Large Models

Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), a major Chinese state-owned automaker, is struggling with intense price competition in the <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicle</a> market, reporting losses of RMB 8,300 (USD 1,221.8) per vehicle sold under its brands at one point in 2025.
The rapid deterioration in the company's performance could impact negotiations over its joint venture contract with Japan's Honda Motor, an agreement that is set to expire in 2028.
"In China's market in 2025, the decline in prices for our main models was the steepest in the past five years," GAC said in materials distributed in mid-March, when it said it expected a net loss for the year ending December 2025. This would mark the company's first full-year loss since its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2010.
GAC's EV brand Aion ranked third in retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles in China in 2023, behind <a href="/company/byd">BYD</a> and Tesla. The line was seen as a success, especially as the state-owned automaker had fallen behind in EVs for younger buyers.
But conditions changed dramatically in just two years. In 2025, GAC's sales of vehicles under its own brands, just over 30% of total sales, fell 20% from the previous year to 600,000 units. Including joint ventures, overall sales dropped 14% to 1.72 million units. The results contrast with those of rivals such as BYD and <a href="/company/geely">Geely</a>, which posted increases over 2024, as well as newer players like <a href="/company/xiaomi">Xiaomi</a> and <a href="/company/xpeng">Xpeng</a>, which also gained ground.
Aion, which had been growing, relied heavily on business use sales, such as for ride-hailing and taxis, leading some to note that its brand image among general consumers had fallen.
GAC said it offered discounts of RMB 15,000–30,000 (USD 2,208–4,416.1) at dealerships in an effort to bolster sales, but volumes failed to recover and the discounts eroded profit margins.
In addition, rising material costs and higher fixed expenses because of lower factory utilization pushed per-unit costs up 20% to RMB 121,600 (USD 17,899.7), higher than revenue per unit of RMB 113,300 (USD 16,678). As a result, at the gross profit level, the company incurred a loss of RMB 8,300 (USD 1,221.8) for each vehicle sold.
Amid these developments, attention is turning to GAC Honda, a joint venture co-owned by GAC and Honda Motor. The two automakers agreed to a 30-year contract in 1998, and the following year Honda became the first major Japanese player to begin passenger car production in China, laying the foundation of its business in the country. The agreement is now set to expire in two years.
Honda's earnings have also deteriorated. On May 14, the company reported a net loss for the fiscal year ended March, its first since going public. While much of this was because of losses associated with halting EV development in North America, the slump in its China business was also significant.
GAC Honda's sales had grown to 800,000 units in 2020, but the company lagged in the shift to new energy vehicles in the Chinese market. Sales fell to 340,000 units in 2025, down 60% from 2020. While Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor have been rolling out new EV models, GAC Honda has not introduced any additional models since April 2025.
In mid-April, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe traveled to Guangzhou, where he met with GAC executives to discuss the joint venture.
GAC appears eager to continue the venture. Although its sales are falling, GAC Honda still accounts for 20% of the Chinese automaker's annual revenue. In the materials disclosed in mid-March, GAC said that under GAC Honda's five-year plan, business is expected to begin improving significantly in 2027. But GAC will need to improve its own performance to remain an attractive business partner if it wants to persuade Honda to extend the life of the venture.
The company also established a joint venture with Toyota in 2004, dubbed GAC Toyota. The partnership began with the production of the Camry sedan. Sales of new vehicles by GAC Toyota rose 0.3% in 2025, according to Toyota. The two automakers are strengthening their cooperation on EV development.
GAC is partnering with Chinese firms as well. In June, the company plans to launch its first EV under a new energy vehicle brand developed with <a href="/company/huawei">Huawei Technologies</a> called Qijing. The brand, aimed at the high-end segment, will incorporate technologies from Huawei and battery maker <a href="/company/catl">Contemporary Amperex Technology</a>, or CATL.
In April, total new vehicle sales in the Chinese market, including exports, dropped 2.5% on the year. Despite headwinds such as a reduction in a tax credit for the purchase of new-energy autos, GAC secured a 4% sales increase, supported in part by the launch of new Aion models. The company aims to capitalize and recover with an additional rollout in June.
"Honda hasn't made any decisions yet about what to do with the joint venture," a person familiar with the matter said. To find a meaningful result for the venture, both GAC and Honda will need to identify a winning strategy for the Chinese market, which has greatly changed over the past 30 years.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/china-s-gac-lost-1-200-per-vehicle-in-2025-as-honda-tie-up-deadline-nears">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 8, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

China's GAC lost USD 1,200 per vehicle in 2025 as Honda tie-up deadline nears

Transportation

Electric Vehicles

Mobility

The Jinko group, the world's largest solar panel maker, will enter the data center business, supplying power directly from its plants to meet the growing demand from the spread of <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a>.
In the desert city of Zhongwei, known as a historical Silk Road hub in what is now the Ningxia autonomous region in inner China, a plan emerged in April to build a RMB 24.5 billion (USD 3.6 billion) data center.
The plan was the result of an agreement between the local government and Jinko Power Technology, part of the Jinko group. The company operates power plants that mainly use solar panels produced by JinkoSolar, the group's panel manufacturer. Construction of the data center is set to begin this year, with a goal of completion by 2028.
The facility will be a one-gigawatt data center. It will spread out over 530,000 square meters. A dedicated power plant will be built to supply electricity directly, creating a stable source of revenue.
Operating data centers in tandem with power plants is known in China as computing power coordination, a term that was included for the first time in a government policy document released in March outlining policies for this year. In Japan, it is known as watt-bit collaboration.
But uniquely in this case, a solar panel maker is taking the lead.
"While a lot of companies are focusing on bundled sales with storage batteries to diversify revenue beyond panels," an employee at a major competing Chinese solar panel maker said. "Running a data center is unusual."
At the end of 2025, Jinko Power had cash and deposits of RMB 5.8 billion (USD 853.8 million). Construction costs will be covered through a combination of company funds and borrowing. Multiple banks, such as China Construction Bank and CTBC Bank are reportedly considering financing. The company is also exploring the establishment of a joint venture with outside investors.
Behind the major investment is the underutilization of solar power facilities in China, an issue known as curtailment. The curtailment rate rose to 5% last year from 2% in 2020, according to a calculation using data from China's National Energy Administration, and then jumped to 9% in the January-March period this year.
China accounted for about 60% of new solar installations globally in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency, with 415 gigawatts added. But the development of costly transmission infrastructure has not kept pace.
China's western inland regions, which have extensive open space and abundant sunlight, are ideal for large power plants, while demand for electricity is concentrated in eastern coastal areas with major cities such as Shanghai. The government is promoting an initiative known as "Eastern Data and Western Computing," in which data processing for AI in the east is handled by data centers in the west.
AI, the main driver of rising power demand, is well suited to data centers distant from concentrations of demand. AI operates through training, which builds foundational models, and inference, which applies them. The training process largely can be conducted at any time and place.
Jinko decided to run the data center itself because revenue in the external power supply business depends on factors such as securing long-term contracts and maintaining an advantage in price negotiations. By shifting from an electricity supplier to a company that generates and manages demand, it aims to stabilize earnings.
In China, a phenomenon known as involution—excessive competition driven by heavy investment in industries prioritized by the government—has happened repeatedly, and solar panels are no exception. JinkoSolar reported a net loss of RMB 6.8 billion (USD 1.0 billion) for the fiscal year ended December, and a loss of RMB 1.3 billion (USD 191.4 million) for the January-March quarter this year.
In 2025, the government began promoting efforts to curb this kind of disorderly price competition. Expanding power demand for data centers is one such example.
But in Zhongwei, state-owned power giant China Datang Group also began operating wind and solar power plants in May to directly supply data centers. Even in the distant desert, the involution trap is not easily escaped.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/energy/chinese-solar-giant-jinko-to-supply-power-to-desert-ai-data-center">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 8, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Chinese solar giant Jinko to supply power to desert AI data center

Energy

… #e8e8e8;">Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 8, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

BYD's new self-driving chip fails to dispel investors' growth concerns

<a href="/company/li-auto">Li Auto</a>, a Chinese <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicle</a> manufacturer that raced to profitability, reported a USD 340 million net loss for the first quarter, sending its shares falling and highlighting growing pressure to export its way out of a cutthroat domestic price war.
The company's Hong Kong-listed shares dropped as much as 8% on May 29, to HKD 55.7 (USD 7.1), before closing at HKD 57.85 (USD 7.4), down 4.3%.
On the Nasdaq, Li Auto lost 1.5% to close at USD 15.54 on May 28, following the disclosure.
In the first three months of the year, Li Auto sold 95,142 vehicles, a 2.5% improvement from a year earlier. However, revenue from selling cars during the period declined 12.7% on the year to RMB 21.5 billion (USD 3.2 billion).
A simple calculation leads to an average selling price during the first quarter of RMB 226,327 (USD 33,315.7), down 22.9% from the year before, reflecting the brutal deflationary pressure in China's EV sector. In a phenomenon the government calls "involution," Chinese automakers have been relying on steep price cuts in pursuit of incremental gains in domestic market share, sacrificing margins, at a time of weak consumer sentiment under an economic slowdown.
Li Auto managed to increase sales volume, but the margin on its cars for the quarter was 6.1%, far below the 19.8% recorded a year earlier. Tracing back through its quarterly results since it joined the Nasdaq in July 2020, this is the first time for the margin to sink into single digits.
The net loss of RMB 2.2 billion (USD 323.8 million), reversing from the previous year's net profit of RMB 650.3 million (USD 95.7 million), was also the worst performance since its initial US listing. The company added Hong Kong as a dual primary listing in August 2021.
In terms of profitability, Li Auto was a leader compared with key local rivals in premium EVs, <a href="/company/xpeng">Xpeng</a> and <a href="/company/nio">Nio</a>. Li Auto's annual bottom line turned positive for the first time in 2023, and remained so in the next two years, while the other two were stuck in the red.
However, Li Auto reported its first quarterly net loss in three years for the July-September period, of RMB 624.9 million (USD 92 million). In the final quarter of last year, it eked out a net profit of RMB 20.2 million (USD 3.0 million).
Li Tie, the company's CFO, also known as Johnny Li, attributed the margin drop to "raw material price fluctuations and our model refresh cycle" in the May 28 filing. During an online call with analysts that followed, he explained that the main reason behind the lower average selling price was "a different product mix."
He also said a sequential decrease in vehicle deliveries from the previous term was "due to seasonal factors related to the Chinese New Year holiday," which always falls in the first quarter.
Li maintained a fairly upbeat tone on the outlook, projecting that gross margin will recover to "about 10% in the second quarter," pinning hopes on the launch and delivery of the all-new Li L9 model, which has received over 10,000 orders since its release in mid-May. He added that the margin should continue improving throughout the year, "as we complete our model refresh cycle and optimize our production layout."
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However, Joel Ying, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Nomura, described the automaker's guidance as "unexciting." While noting Li's comment on the new L9 receiving over 10,000 orders, Ying said, "We believe the company still needs to put effort in winning more orders." He said that "competition pressure from peers" remains, while material prices are rising, including lithium, memory and other things.
"We expect Li Auto to continue facing pressure on its shipment delivery and margins," Ying said, maintaining a "neutral" rating on the stock. A "bumpy ride is likely to continue," he said.
Jeff Chung, Hong Kong-based automotive analyst at Citi, said that "we continue to prefer Nio [or] Xpeng over Li Auto" following the latest results, which missed market expectations.
Chung forecasts that Li Auto will log net losses of RMB 5.3 billion (USD 780.2 million) for 2026 and RMB 1.3 billion (USD 191.4 million) for 2027, due to "cost inflation and intense R&amp;D" for upcoming new models. Chung also pointed out that the new L9 is "not a game changer and Li needs to refresh its aging models within the intensifying 9-series competition among peers."
To cope with the challenges, Li Auto is taking a similar path as its peers: seeking more exports.
The company said in its latest annual report published last month that it "formally entered" Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Egypt last year, while it established R&amp;D centers in Germany and even the US, where Chinese cars are effectively barred from the market.
"As we enter 2026, commercially, we will continue to accelerate our overseas expansion, prioritizing high-potential markets such as Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Southeast Asia," management said in the annual report.
President Ma Donghui reaffirmed the company's strategy during the May 28 earnings call, emphasizing that Li Auto has officially signed contracts with distributors in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "The first product will be an overseas-dedicated, all-new Li L9," he said, while expounding on plans for expansion into Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar along with the introduction of an all-electric Li 6 model in Europe. Regions with right-hand drive are also on the horizon, he said, eyeing Hong Kong and Singapore.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/li-auto-s-luster-fades-with-record-quarterly-loss-raising-export-stakes">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.
Note: HKD, RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of HKD 7.83 = USD 1 and RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 8, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Li Auto's luster fades with record quarterly loss, raising export stakes

… otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

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