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Robotics may still be two to five years away from a "GPT moment" comparable with ChatGPT's breakthrough in generative artificial intelligence, a senior executive at one of the leading Chinese humanoid makers said on July 22.
Irving Chen, director for the Asia Pacific and other areas at Unitree Robotics, said large language models (LLMs) had demonstrated their abilities in software but remained poorly connected to robots and machines that need to operate in the physical world.
"The LLM is powerful in the virtual world," Chen told Nikkei's Global Digital Summit 2026 in Tokyo, but it had yet to show the same capability when controlling hardware, which needs to process more variables to operate in different environments.
Chen's comments highlight the challenges facing the booming humanoid robotics industry. Robots are expected to bring autonomous physical AI into factories, but most remain confined to entertainment and demonstrations based on preset movements.
The Hangzhou-based startup has become one of the most high-profile companies in the humanoid robotics space, with its viral synchronized dances and martial arts displays in China. Chen said the performances show that the hardware is becoming reliable and scalable, but has not yet demonstrated intelligence suited to productive work.
For Unitree, commercial demand remains concentrated in research and testing. In the first nine months of last year, 74% of its humanoid robot revenue came from research and education, with just 9% from industrial customers.
Chen said wider adoption would require robots to perform longer and more complex tasks reliably in changing environments without pre-programming. "Right now, most robotics projects are in the pilot stage," he said.
Unitree expects proof-of-concept trials to dominate through next year, followed by commercial deployment by 2030. From then on, robots could begin assisting humans with a broader range of general labor tasks, Chen said.
He identified more capable robot "brains" and large-scale manufacturing for the industry's next breakthrough. Software models need to interpret their surroundings and turn instructions into physical actions, with faster computing response times necessary. Manufacturers have to produce durable machines at lower cost and in larger volumes.
Unitree, founded in 2016, is preparing for an IPO in Shanghai after receiving regulatory approval earlier this month. It plans to raise RMB 4.2 billion (USD 619.7 million), with 48% allocated to AI and embodied intelligence research.
A further RMB 1.1 billion (USD 162.3 million), or over 26%, would go toward newer hardware development, while RMB 624 million (USD 92.1 million), close to 15%, would be used for new factories with capacity to produce around 20,000 robots a year. The company shipped 6,500 units last year.
He added that the company had increased investment in embodied intelligence, which refers to the integration of AI into physical systems, and plans to launch more robotics models designed to work across homes, offices and industrial sites without pre-setting.
"Our expectation is one model that can fit most scenarios," Chen said.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/nikkei-forum/global-digital-summit/global-digital-summit-2026/china-s-unitree-says-gpt-moment-for-robots-remains-years-away">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 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of July 27, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

China's Unitree says "GPT moment" for robots remains years away

East Asia

Unitree Robotics

China

Robotics

Deep Tech

Embodied Intelligence

<a href="/company/shein">Shein</a> has cleared a listing hearing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and published its post-hearing information pack on July 26, potentially paving the way for a Hong Kong trading debut as early as the first half of August.
Founded in 2012, Shein is a global online fashion and lifestyle retailer. It served about 273 million active customers across roughly 160 markets in 2025, according to its listing document.
The company attributes much of its growth to a proprietary operating model it calls “large-scale automated test and reorder,” or LATR. Shein describes the model as a way to balance product variety, the speed of new launches, and inventory efficiency.
Under LATR, Shein typically introduces new products in initial batches of about 100–200 units, tracks customer responses in real time, and replenishes popular items in as little as five days.
Test-and-reorder strategies are not new, but applying them across a large product catalog while controlling costs can be difficult. Shein said its supply chain allows it to use the model across a wide range of products while maintaining capacity utilization and cost efficiency.
According to the company, the model helps limit excess production, maintain relatively low inventory levels, and reduce waste. Shein also uses a global fulfillment network, inventory placement, and freight routing to manage turnover and delivery times.
As of March 31 this year, Shein offered more than two million apparel styles. Under its first-party retail model, customers were presented with an average of about 4,700 new apparel styles each day during the first quarter.
Shein has also expanded beyond apparel into footwear, accessories, beauty, home, and lifestyle products. The company said the broader assortment allows it to serve more varied customer demand.
Its active customer base grew at a compound annual rate of 21.2%, from about 186 million in 2023 to about 273 million in 2025, according to the filing. Active customers increased from about 241 million in the 12 months ended March 31, 2025, to about 281 million in the 12 months ended March 31, 2026.
Average annual order frequency remained broadly stable. Customers placed an average of 3.8 orders in 2023, 4.0 in 2024, and 4.0 in 2025. The figure was 4.0 for the 12 months ended March 31, 2025, and 3.9 for the corresponding period in 2026.
Shein generated revenue of USD 32.103 billion in 2023, USD 38.748 billion in 2024, and USD 41.847 billion in 2025. Revenue grew 41.1%, 20.7%, and 8% in those years, respectively.
Revenue reached USD 9.052 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 1.1% from USD 8.952 billion a year earlier.
Net income totaled USD 2.789 billion in 2023, USD 3.365 billion in 2024, and USD 2.064 billion in 2025. Its net margin was 8.7%, 8.7%, and 4.9% over the same period.
Shein recorded a net loss in the first quarter of 2026, with its net margin falling to negative 1.1% from 4.4% a year earlier. The reversal was mainly attributable to a USD 328 million fair value loss on convertible redeemable preferred shares.
Since its founding, Shein has raised capital from investors including IDG Capital, HSG, Boyu Capital, Greenwoods Asset Management, Tiger Global, Shunwei Capital, Coatue, General Atlantic, and DST.
Before the IPO, IDG Capital and HSG held stakes of 7.9% and 5.8%, respectively, making them Shein’s two largest institutional investors, according to the listing document.
Shein signed Series A, Series B, Series C, and Series C+ investment agreements in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020, respectively. The corresponding pre-money valuations were USD 53 million, RMB 1.1 billion (USD 162.3 million), USD 2.4 billion, and USD 5 billion.
Its valuation rose to USD 98.2 billion in a 2022 Series D financing before falling to USD 64 billion in 2023. The filing said certain earlier preferred shareholders are covered by compensation and conversion adjustment arrangements.
Shein said it plans to use the net proceeds from the IPO to strengthen its technological capabilities, increase brand awareness and its global presence, support corporate responsibility initiatives, and fund general corporate purposes.
This <a href="https://xueqiu.com/2854806290/402160356">article</a> was adapted based on a feature originally written by Stone Jin 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 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of July 27, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Shein clears Hong Kong listing hearing as Q1 growth slows to 1.1%

Shein

E-commerce

Fashion

Consumer Economy

Hong Kong

Han Hu, head of multimodal understanding at <a href="/company/tencent">Tencent's</a> Hunyuan unit, has reportedly tendered his resignation.
Before joining Tencent in early 2025, Hu was a principal researcher in the visual computing group at Microsoft Research Asia. At Tencent, he led work on vision foundation models. Following an organizational reshuffle, he moved to a “frontier” advanced technology research group within the large language model (LLM) department, where he oversaw multimodal understanding research and reported to Yao Shunyu. Hu also worked on world models.
Yao, who heads Tencent’s LLM department, has been reviewing teams across the organization. The research group Hu previously belonged to may shift its focus toward frontier research on world models.
Personnel changes across Hunyuan have continued into the second half of 2026. In early July, former OpenAI researcher Tian Yonglong joined the LLM department. According to 36Kr, Tian will succeed Hu as head of R&amp;D for vision-language models and report to Yao.
Since Yao joined Tencent, the company has focused on closing capability gaps and moving Hunyuan’s foundation models closer to the industry’s leading systems.
Yao has sought to reallocate resources and concentrate talent and computing capacity on foundation model R&amp;D led by the LLM department. After Tencent dissolved its AI Lab, its core R&amp;D personnel were transferred to the department. Tencent also increased its recruitment of LLM specialists, including several hires from <a href="/company/bytedance">ByteDance's</a> Seed infrastructure and post-training teams.
At a Tencent Cloud conference on June 5, Dowson Tong, Tencent’s senior executive vice president and CEO of its Cloud and Smart Industries Group, asked Yao a question that reflected outside criticism of the company’s progress:
<blockquote>“Many people say Tencent has been slow in AI. Do you think we really have been?”</blockquote>
“Shunyu is more eager to move faster than Tencent’s senior management,” a Hunyuan researcher told 36Kr. The researcher said Yao had repeatedly pressed Tencent executives to allocate more computing resources to Hunyuan.
LatePost reported that a batch of submitted data caused problems in late May, about a month before Hy3’s formal release, directly affecting the model’s performance. Yao told the team: “Data is very important. If this happens again, you are out,” according to a person familiar with the matter.
Tencent has yet to establish a clear lead across its AI initiatives. To gain ground, it will have to decide which areas are most likely to generate technical and commercial returns.
One area under scrutiny is multimodal understanding, where further technical gains may be harder to achieve.
“In multimodal understanding research, accuracy rates for text, image, and video recognition can generally reach more than 85%,” a multimodal AI researcher told 36Kr. “The difficult part is visual reasoning, which means enabling a model to understand what images and videos actually mean. Multimodal research alone is not enough to accomplish that. The reasoning capabilities of the language model also need to improve.”
As technical gains become more incremental, the commercial returns from multimodal understanding also remain uncertain.
Multimodal research once held a central position within Tencent’s AI organization, in part because computer vision technology could be integrated into the company’s advertising, gaming, and digital entertainment businesses.
Compared with generative AI, however, applications such as image recognition and captioning can be difficult to monetize directly.
“No user is willing to pay for image recognition when there are so many free alternatives on the market,” a Tencent Yuanbao product manager said. “What users are actually willing to pay for are workplace applications such as document processing, PowerPoint creation, and research report generation. Those applications depend on a model’s reasoning, coding, and agentic capabilities.”
Tencent’s disclosed capital expenditure also trails that of some rivals, although overall spending is an imperfect proxy for AI computing capacity.
Tencent’s 2025 financial report showed that its full-year capital expenditure totaled RMB 79.2 billion (USD 11.7 billion). <a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba's</a> capital expenditure for the fiscal year ended March 2026 reached RMB 126 billion (USD 18.6 billion). <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-27/bytedance-weighs-capex-of-as-much-as-70-billion-in-ai-push">Bloomberg</a> reported that ByteDance was considering capital expenditure of as much as USD 70 billion in 2026 as it expanded its data centers and other AI infrastructure.
With resources constrained, Hunyuan must allocate computing capacity among competing projects. Against that backdrop, the apparent shift away from multimodal understanding suggests Tencent is prioritizing frontier areas that it believes offer greater long-term potential.
On July 6, Tencent released the Hy3 LLM, Yao’s first major model launch since joining the company. Tencent’s benchmarks suggest that Hy3 approaches the performance of midsize models with comparable parameter counts, including Z.ai’s GLM-5.2 and DeepSeek V4 Pro.
By Tencent’s own benchmarks, six months of organizational restructuring, infrastructure rebuilding, and renewed focus on foundation models may have narrowed the gap with leading AI developers.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3907934819521670">article</a> was written by Zhou Xinyu for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of July 27, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Tencent’s Hunyuan may shift toward world models after leadership change

Artificial Intelligence

Drones

… that competes with Amazon Fresh—highlights the importance of local offerings. Consumers can find cheaper varieties of jasmine rice and seasonings, staples in the multicultural city-state, that Amazon cannot offer as effectively.
"When people ask me what the standout moments were with Lazada, beating Amazon usually makes the [top three]," Maximilian Bittner, the former CEO and co-founder of Lazada, wrote on LinkedIn after Amazon's announcement that it would shut its Singapore fulfillment services.
TikTok, meanwhile, has rapidly expanded its e-commerce presence through live streaming, increasing its GMV in Southeast Asia from USD 0.6 billion in 2021 to USD 45.6 billion in 2025. Its parent company, ByteDance, also acquired a 75.01% controlling stake in Tokopedia from Indonesian tech giant GoTo for USD 840 million in 2024.
TikTok Shop, an e-commerce feature embedded within the TikTok app, allows merchants and creators to sell products directly through videos and livestreams, positioning Southeast Asia as a testing ground for its livestream commerce strategy. The platform has been rolling out initiatives across the region to refine its model of combining entertainment with online shopping.
In Singapore, training programs led by TikTok Shop form part of a broader effort to reskill the retail workforce. The initiative is backed by a collaboration between TikTok Shop, the Singapore Retailers Association, and Workforce Singapore, a government agency.
Under the program, retailers are equipped with skills in live stream selling, content creation, and digital marketing, reflecting the growing importance of social commerce in the sector. The move underscores how platforms such as TikTok Shop are reshaping traditional retail by integrating entertainment-driven formats into the shopping experience.
The platform is also deepening collaboration with popular Southeast Asian influencers to attract younger consumers.
Caitanya Tan, a Singapore-based actor with about 260,000 followers on TikTok, showcases cosmetics and apparel on her account, linking directly to TikTok Shop pages. At a TikTok creator event in Singapore in February, she said: "I promote products authentically because I actually use them … Growth now comes from trust, not so much from campaigns."
Amazon, by contrast, increasingly views Southeast Asia not as a consumer market but as a key export hub serving the US and other global destinations.
The company has been expanding efforts to support Vietnamese small and mediumenterprises in reaching international customers. The initiative links local manufacturers directly with overseas buyers, with logistics streamlined through direct shipping routes to the US.
Vietnamese selling partners have recorded strong momentum, with the number of products sold on Amazon rising 35% in the 12 months ending July 2025, highlighting the growing international footprint of the country's businesses. Thousands of companies are now using the platform to export goods including gourmet products and pottery, broadening their global presence.
The push may also reflect a broader competitive response, as Amazon faces growing pressure from low-cost platforms such as Temu and Shein, which have rapidly expanded their presence in the US market with affordable offerings.
In December 2025, Susan Pointer, Amazon's vice president for international public policy and government affairs, visited Vietnam and held talks with deputy prime minister Le Thanh Long.
Pointer reaffirmed Amazon's long-term commitment to cooperation with Vietnam and to raising the global profile of made-in-Vietnam products.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/asean-money/amazon-s-global-strategy-comes-unstuck-in-southeast-asia-s-localized-market">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>.

Amazon's global strategy comes unstuck in Southeast Asia's localized market

Amazon

On-demand Services

Singapore

Malaysia

Thailand

Vietnam

Indonesia

Philippines

Southeast Asia

… HKD 1.4 billion (USD 178.5 million) due to the completion of Air China's latest capital increase. Cathay's longstanding cross-shareholding position with the mainland airline has been diluted from 15.09% to 12.85%, and under accounting rules, this is considered a sale of the holdings.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/companies/china-s-big-three-airlines-lose-up-to-1.33bn-amid-middle-east-war">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 7.84 = USD 1 and RMB 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of July 21, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

China's big three airlines lose up to USD 1.3 billion amid Middle East war

… domestic consumer VR market, ranking first, while the Pico 4 Ultra was among the country's major VR product launches that year.
<a href="https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-xr-ar-vr-headsets-market-share-quarterly">Counterpoint Research</a> data showed that Pico accounted for approximately 5% of XR headset shipments as of the first quarter of 2026. Meta continued to dominate the global VR market, while Pico remained one of the few companies outside Meta to regularly launch standalone consumer headsets.
The global XR market is now diverging into several product categories. Traditional VR headsets remain focused largely on gaming and entertainment, while MR devices are expanding into spatial computing, productivity, and enterprise applications. Smart glasses have also emerged as another growth segment.
Meanwhile, Project Swan marks Pico's transition from its existing standalone VR lineup to a new generation of MR devices.
Li’s first major priorities as head of Pico will include launching the company's next-generation MR headset and moving Pico OS 6 from an early developer preview toward broader deployment.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3905176863721349">article</a> was written by Li Zhaofeng for 36Kr.

ByteDance names Li Xiaokai to lead Pico’s next phase

Augmented and Virtual Reality

… atmosphere has made Xiaohongshu a community that crosses barriers.
Similar comments were once made about Baidu Tieba. The difference is that Xiaohongshu is not organized around strictly vertical communities or hobbies. Even within the same interest group, users are often shaped by their life experiences, geography, and interests, and may develop different discussion tendencies around the same content. Some people play games because they like the mechanics. Some enjoy the world inside. Others are drawn in by a particular character.
The World Cup content that has recently gone viral on Xiaohongshu follows the same logic. In traditional communities such as Hupu, users may focus on results, player performance, and similar topics. On Xiaohongshu, users discuss and cosplay as Norwegian professional football player Erling Haaland, complain together about the abstract <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a>-generated ads inserted during the World Cup, and generate many kinds of expressive content. Even the platform’s official accounts join in from time to time with the memes.
But in the end, the World Cup will end, and everyone will return to daily life, just as every game will eventually be cleared. If users can be seen and accepted, the enthusiasm for communication does not disappear.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3905036594628224">article</a> was written by Beiguo Shu (alias) for 36Kr.

Why Xiaohongshu has become harder for game marketers to ignore

Xiaohongshu

Gaming

Creative

… made by a small team. The other is a long-term, premium project built around IP that has grown on Bilibili’s own platform.
Escape from Duckov was the best example of a breakout at this year’s BW.
Published by Bilibili and developed by the five-person Team Soda, the game topped Steam’s bestsellers chart in the China region on the day of its October 16, 2025, release. It also reached second place on Steam’s global bestsellers chart.
Within six days, it had sold more than 520,000 copies and generated more than USD 6.1 million in revenue.
Six months later, worldwide sales had exceeded three million copies. The game had a 96% positive review score on Steam, earning an “overwhelmingly positive” rating. Its peak concurrent player count on Steam alone surpassed 300,000, setting a record for a Chinese indie single-player game.
At this year’s BW, Escape from Duckov had already received its summer special update, which added an island-themed challenge map. Meiqiu, an NPC (non-playable character) whom players first encountered in a winter-themed challenge, could also be recruited again in the new challenge.
The five-person team generated more than RMB 170 million (USD 25.1 million) in revenue from a game priced at RMB 58 (USD 8.6). That figure would not be trivial in the annual reports of many publicly traded companies.
Bilibili’s publishing effort did not appear to rely on a large advertising budget, celebrity endorsements, or steep discounts. Instead, it leaned on creativity, community, and word of mouth among players.
That marks one of the more significant shifts in Bilibili’s approach to gaming over the past two years.
<figure id="attachment_163180" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-163180" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-163180" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Bilibili-World-2026-Escape-From-Duckov.jpg" alt="Photo shows Escape from Duckov’s booth at BW2026." width="1280" height="720" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Bilibili-World-2026-Escape-From-Duckov.jpg 1280w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Bilibili-World-2026-Escape-From-Duckov-720x405.jpg 720w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Bilibili-World-2026-Escape-From-Duckov-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Bilibili-World-2026-Escape-From-Duckov-768x432.jpg 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Bilibili-World-2026-Escape-From-Duckov-480x270.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-163180" class="wp-caption-text">Escape from Duckov’s booth at BW2026. Photo source: 36Kr.</figcaption></figure>
The Three Kingdoms: The Ravages of Time represents Bilibili’s in-house development and publishing strategy.
The game is adapted from “The Ravages of Time,” a comic by Hong Kong artist Chan Mou. The series began publication in 2001 and has been serialized for 25 years, with more than 80 volumes released. It is described as the world’s longest-running comic based on the Three Kingdoms period.
The first and second seasons of the animated adaptation were co-produced by Bilibili and iDreamSky, produced by LX Animation Studio, and directed by Fu Haiqing. Created with Unreal Engine 5, the series premiered in 2023 and has accumulated more than 200 million views on Bilibili. It has a rating of 8.7 on Douban.
Bilibili is developing and publishing the game itself, while the animated series also streams on its platform. This chain, in which an IP grows on the company’s own platform and is then adapted into a game by its own team, is a combination of resources that other companies would struggle to reproduce.
At BW, The Three Kingdoms: The Ravages of Time made its worldwide public hands-on debut. Its first closed beta test is scheduled to begin July 30.
The game follows two protagonists, Sima Yi and Liaoyuan Huo, as it recreates the source material’s dark vision of the Three Kingdoms, a world shaped by rival warlords and competing strategists.
Its art direction combines a dark Chinese aesthetic with comic-style framing. Ultimate attacks, the user interface, and health bars all use thick outlines, halftone textures, and onomatopoeic visual effects to create what the developers describe as an “immersive battlefield on paper.”
Its main gameplay differentiator is reportedly its strategy and tactics system.
Strategists including Sima Yi, Zhou Yu, Jia Xu, and Xu Lin each have a signature tactic. The system shifts the focus away from the stat-driven clashes common in conventional tactical games and turns the source material’s strategy-centered ethos into a playable mechanic.
Taken as a whole, Bilibili did not make a dramatic gaming move at this year’s BW compared with last year. But its gaming business appeared to be advancing across multiple fronts, and that breadth may be the most distinctive development in Bilibili’s gaming strategy over the past year.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3905618377512065">article</a> was written by Liu Shiwu for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of July 23, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

BW2026 shows Bilibili expanding its gaming push across multiple fronts

Bilibili

… faded, China’s retail sector split into two new areas: on-demand retail centered on delivery within about 30 minutes, and discount supermarkets built around low prices and value.
For several years, on-demand retail had been treated largely as an extension of food delivery.
In 2025, it became a major field of direct competition among China’s largest internet platforms.
JD.com entered food delivery and launched a self-operated quick commerce service. Meituan elevated its long-established Meituan Shangou operation into an independent brand and a major strategic priority.
Alibaba upgraded its one-hour delivery business into Taobao Shangou, gave it a top-level entry point, and displayed the service prominently on the Taobao app’s home page.
During 2025, on-demand retail moved from the edge of the business to the center of competition.
The previous round of community retail competition had taught the internet companies the value of closer control over sourcing, warehousing, and inventory.
As the on-demand retail contest intensified, spending moved further upstream.
In November 2025, Taobao Shangou introduced a convenience store chain. Built around a warehouse-centered quick commerce model, it was expected to expand gradually to more than 200 cities nationwide.
Meituan Shangou announced a range of growth programs for domestic and international brands. These included plans to develop warehouses with more than ten thousand brands and build supporting supply chain infrastructure.
JD.com took a different approach. It began converting its 7Fresh supermarkets through a combined warehouse-and-store model, seeking to shorten fulfillment times by reusing existing resources and coordinating online and offline operations, inventory, and delivery.
The rise of on-demand retail reflected growing expectations for faster delivery.
Demand moved from next-day pickup toward delivery within an hour, and sometimes within minutes. Platforms redirected more investment toward local warehouses and last-mile delivery networks.
Because on-demand retail depends on short distances and rapid fulfillment, discount supermarkets, which emphasize low prices and limited product selections, also became important to the largest internet companies.
In August 2025, three of them entered the sector within a short period.
<div class="embed-container"><iframe src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/29756967/embed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> frameborder="0" scrolling="no" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe></div>
<div class="embed-container"><iframe src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/29756985/embed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> frameborder="0" scrolling="no" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe></div>
Freshippo announced that Hema NB would be renamed Chaohesuan NB and opened seventeen stores across ten cities, including locations in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.
Meituan opened its first Happy Monkey supermarket in Hangzhou.
JD.com opened its first discount supermarket in China, a 5,000-square-meter store in Zhuozhou, Hebei.
Although all three companies were competing in discount retail, Alibaba, JD.com, and Meituan pursued different approaches. Each adapted the format to its existing strengths and broader aims.
Commenting on the growth of discount supermarkets, angel investor Guo Tao said consumption stratification and inflationary pressure had combined to increase demand for products offering strong value.
The trend, he said, closely matched the needs of mass market consumers.
The retail transformation led by China’s internet platforms is far from complete.
The closures of 2025 increasingly resemble not the end of an era but the beginning of another reordering.
Part of Wang Xing’s motto has been not to dwell on the past and to keep moving forward.
The warehouses that technology companies once spent heavily to build are now supporting on-demand retail and discount-focused supermarkets.
After Meituan Youxuan closed, Zhang Yutong noticed a sudden increase in emotional messages from users mourning the service.
During its expansion, Meituan Youxuan’s network reached more than 2,000 cities and counties across China. More than half of its pickup points were in towns and townships.
Even in mountainous counties such as Ganzi in Sichuan and Shuangbai in Yunnan, customers could place an order one day and collect their goods the next from a small store near the entrance to their village.
Zhang struggled to describe how she felt when she read the messages.
Only in hindsight did she recognize that the business had carried a meaning larger than its financial results.
“Meituan Youxuan was still something aimed at generating long-term returns,” she said. “In the short term, it consumed enormous amounts of labor and material resources, and the work brought little immediate reward.
“The significance of doing business in rural areas was that it could expand our social influence and our value to society.”
“That day was simply too far away,” she said. “No one managed to wait until it arrived.”
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3895307402722308">article</a> was written by Tian Jiaxin for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of July 23, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

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