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… introduced by Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
"The number of non-tariff measures … is a big frustration," said Nazir Razak, chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC), a regional business lobby, and former CEO of Malaysian bank CIMB Group. "ASEAN doesn't have any effective mechanism to enforce the elimination of trade-distorting non-tariff measures."
Woon from RAM Rating Services noted an International Monetary Fund study published in 2022 suggested that reducing non-tariff measures could potentially increase ASEAN's GDP by 1.6%.
Nazir, however, noted there are estimates that structural constraints could cap intra-ASEAN trade at about 30% of total trade. But, he added, boosting that share is seen as essential for resilience.
With Trump's tariffs on China, some fear the region may become a backdoor for Chinese trade. "Clearly, with tariffs at more than 100%, firms will be keen to figure out solutions to avoid paying," said Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore. "These legal and illegal options will proliferate quickly."
"Even firms that have no connection to anything Chinese might have to show that they do not, which would be a huge new compliance burden," she added.
Trump's 145% tariffs on China could also accelerate <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/Southeast-Asia-pushes-back-on-cheap-Chinese-imports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the flood of cheap Chinese products</a> into Southeast Asian markets, with steel, textiles, electric vehicles, and e-commerce goods in the vanguard. Overdependence on the Chinese economy could also make the region vulnerable to economic fluctuations in China.
"ASEAN is a net importer from China, but a net exporter to the US," said Hafidzi Razali, CEO of advisory firm Strategic Counsel in Malaysia. "This asymmetry exposes the region to strategic shifts in US-China trade relations."
Despite the hurdles, ASEAN continues to pursue deeper ties. These include the ASEAN Economic Community, which aims to create a single market and production base for the bloc. The ASEAN BAC has proposed an "ASEAN Business Entity" badge to ease the movement of labor and capital across the bloc.
IEA's Ing said ASEAN's "flexibility" allows countries to pursue multiple bilateral deals while collaborating regionally. Unlike a customs union, ASEAN does not impose common external tariffs, which she sees as a strength.
While member states are "natural competitors," Ing said, "it highlights the opportunity to develop stronger regional value chains, where each country contributes a specific role in a larger production network."
Even the Philippines, whose economy is largely <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Trading-Asia/Trump-policies-threaten-to-shake-foundation-of-shock-resistant-Philippine-peso" target="_blank" rel="noopener">driven by domestic demand</a>, is courting investment amid the tariff fallout. With US tariffs on Philippine goods relatively low at 17%, Manila sees an opening. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority said it expects companies facing higher tariffs elsewhere to consider relocating.
Very few expect or even hope ASEAN will become another EU, which has struggled with internal upheavals from the Eurozone debt crisis to repercussions from the Russia-Ukraine war. ASEAN's diversity and lack of centralized institutions are seen as both a limitation and a reason for its endurance.
"One could argue that some of these limitations have been key to ASEAN's longevity and success," Nazir said. "So we need to work around our own constraints instead of just adopting what has been introduced in the EU."
Bruno Jaspaert, chairman of EuroCham Vietnam—which represents 1,480 EU companies in Vietnam, said Trump's policies might further unite ASEAN, if the EU is anything to go by. "The bigger the enemy, the stronger the united voice. Europe today is more united than ever before because there is a common enemy … a nation that decided to declare a trade war."
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/ASEAN-Money/ASEAN-struggles-to-boost-regional-trade-amid-Trump-tariff-threat">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>.

ASEAN struggles to boost regional trade amid Trump tariff threat

On-demand Services

Logistics

Consumer Economy

Singapore

Malaysia

Myanmar

Thailand

Vietnam

Cambodia

Indonesia

Philippines

Southeast Asia

… International</a>, a supply chain services provider, has raised an eight-figure USD sum in a Series C funding round led by Vision Knight Capital. Shenqi Capital, Enlight Growth Partners, and Kam Luen Securities also joined, with existing backers Shunwei Capital and Puhua Capital increasing their stakes. Lighthouse Capital served as financial advisor. Panex plans to strengthen its emerging markets presence and upgrade operations. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3262849695235846">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">AtomForm, a 3D printing startup, has secured an eight-figure RMB sum in an angel funding round led by Empyrean Venture. The funds will support product R&amp;D, brand development, team growth, and market expansion. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3260658818514689">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.sinchinnano.com/en/">Sinchin New Material</a>, a manufacturer of electronic and photovoltaic materials, has raised RMB 50 million (USD 7 million) in a Series B+ funding round. Zhejiang Venture Capital Group led the deal, with participation from ZJKF Capital Management. The company will ramp up production of advanced materials, including MLCC (multi-layer ceramic capacitor) electrode powders. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3260623492054788">36Kr</a></li>
</ul>
whereRelatedArticle
<h3>Eratani, Groundup.ai, A Cabin Company, and more made recent headlines:</h3>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://eratani.co.id/en">Eratani</a>, a Jakarta-based agriculture technology startup, raised USD 6.2 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Clay Capital, with participation from TNB Aura, SBI Ven Capital, AgFunder, Genting Ventures, and IIX.</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://groundup.ai/">Groundup.ai</a>, an industrial AI company, raised USD 4.25 million in a Series A funding round led by Tin Men Capital, with participation from Wavemaker Ventures and Seeds Capital. The new funds will support product development and global expansion.</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.acabincompany.com/">A Cabin Company</a>, a startup based in Japan, closed an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round backed by Seveno Capital.</li>
</ul>
If there are any news or updates you'd like us to feature, get in touch with us at: <a href="mailto:hello@kr-asia.com">hello@kr-asia.com</a>.
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Deals in brief: Temasek’s Heliconia backs Sin Chew Woodpaq, Supabase raises Series D funding, Syfe and AnyMind confirm acquisitions, and more

Venture Capital

Private Equity

Investment

Merger &amp; Acquisition

Japan

Central Asia

Australia

China

India

Oceania

… better than Doubao, we will actively integrate it," a team representative told LatePost. During early development, Doubao’s “Deep Thinking” capability had yet to launch. The team initially considered DeepSeek-R1 but found its tool invocation abilities insufficient during testing.
Following comparisons across six Chinese-developed models, ByteDance selected several to support the platform, with Doubao 1.5 Pro as the primary model. It excelled in instruction following, multimodal processing, and tool invocation, while maintaining low inference costs—key for scalability.
Coze also benefits from ByteDance’s extensive internal ecosystem. Drawing on feedback from more than two million AI applications and millions of developers, the team can identify trends early. Integration with ByteDance’s infrastructure, including Volcano Engine, supports rapid iteration and deployment across platforms such as Doubao, Lark, and Douyin mini programs.
While this ecosystem does not generate new products outright, it enables rapid validation of promising ideas. In the second half of 2023, the team pivoted from chatbot development to workflow automation, positioning Coze as a platform that fosters human-agent collaboration, supported by relevant data.
One tool that supports this shift is Coze Luopan, a debugging system built to oversee large model applications. Luopan tracks development, fine-tuning, and deployment, helping the team optimize performance and learn from each iteration. It has been instrumental in accelerating the development of sophisticated agent features.
Coze also has an edge in building collaborative features. While many AI tools on the market now integrate with Lark, most MCP (Model Context Protocol) implementations remain limited to API interactions. MCP, introduced by Anthropic in 2024, provides a standardized interface for large models to interact with software, bridging traditional apps and AI systems. Though many companies use MCP to augment their own tools, few have built MCP-ready software designed for broader integration.
This is where ByteDance’s position proves advantageous. The Coze team has converted Lark’s Docs, Sheets, and Base apps into callable tools. With user authorization, agents can read and write directly within Lark documents, eliminating manual uploads and streamlining workflows. Agents can also access internal documentation the user has permission to view, enhancing automation for workplace tasks. Secure access to private data is widely recognized as a key differentiator in agent capability.
<figure id="attachment_152625" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-152625" style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-152625" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/LatePost-ByteDance-Coze-9.gif" alt="" width="360" height="354" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-152625" class="wp-caption-text">Graphic source: LatePost.</figcaption></figure>
As access to foundational models becomes more standardized, differentiation is shifting toward integration depth and data availability. Open-source technologies have narrowed the field on model performance. The true competitive edge now lies in whether an agent can effectively tap into proprietary tools and high-value data.
This perspective also shapes how the Coze team views progress. Emphasis is not placed on releasing a perfect product, but on building a system that responds to user feedback. “Timing is everything,” one representative said. Releasing the beta was seen as a necessary step to gather insights and iterate quickly.
The broader AI community increasingly agrees that expanding user bases alone does not improve model performance. Claude 3.5 Sonnet and DeepSeek-R1, for example, were launched before reaching large-scale adoption. But while foundational models improve primarily through data loops, agents operate at another level—where user interaction with systems is central to their development.
“Real user feedback is crucial,” the Coze team noted. “It informs feature refinement, improves user experience, and makes better use of foundational models.”
Coze’s roadmap reflects these priorities. Analysis of platform data shows that many applications built with Coze meet highly specific needs. Though usage is concentrated in smaller user groups, the frequency of use remains steady. This reflects the “fat tail” distribution described by financial theorist Nassim Taleb: long-term relevance among niche audiences.
While future improvements in foundational models could absorb some use cases, highly personalized tasks are unlikely to be addressed by generalized systems. Coze aims to fill that gap by enabling collaboration between generalist and specialist agents—one reason the platform was named after the Chinese word for “space.”
Coze marks the beginning of ByteDance’s deeper engagement with agentic AI. Other major Chinese technology firms are following suit. The race is on, and ByteDance is already in motion.
This <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/E3c0BfInpLquXBSqrQJKaQ">article</a> was adapted based on a feature originally written by and published on LatePost. KrASIA is authorized to translate, adapt, and publish its contents.

ByteDance launches Coze, its new AI agent platform, in beta

East Asia

Artificial Intelligence

Deep Tech

Kajima’s The GEAR launches Startup CoLab to drive innovation in the built environment sector

Kajima

Sustainability

The 21st Auto Shanghai show is underway, and <a href="/company/gac">GAC Aion</a> is participating with a range of updated models and one notable new entry: a Level 4 autonomous vehicle it describes as ready for mass production.
The robotaxi, developed in collaboration with <a href="/company/didi">Didi</a>, is designed to operate autonomously in predefined scenarios, reflecting the companies’ efforts to advance practical applications of self-driving technology.
Unveiled earlier this month at a GAC event, the vehicle features a headlight-linked interactive display designed to show greetings, vehicle status, and expressions. A floating disc-shaped LiDAR (light detection and ranging) unit is mounted on the roof, supplemented by additional sensors on the fenders and cameras positioned to provide a 360-degree field of view.
GAC said the car incorporates Didi’s latest autonomous driving platform and is equipped with 33 sensors, including ten LiDAR units, infrared and acoustic sensors, multiple cameras, and 4D millimeter-wave radar. These components enable perception across various driving conditions. The vehicle’s onboard computing system is rated for 2,000 TOPS (trillion operations per second), a benchmark aimed at ensuring safety redundancy.
GAC and Didi formalized their collaboration in May 2023, establishing a joint venture, Andi Technology, in April 2024. Six months later, Didi secured USD 298 million in Series C funding, with GAC as a lead investor. The funding is expected to support their shared efforts in autonomous vehicle production.
The robotaxi is built on GAC Aion’s premium electric vehicle platform and Xingling electronic architecture. It integrates Didi’s proprietary hardware-software stack, a multi-layer safety system, and a new cockpit interface developed specifically for driverless operation.
According to GAC Aion, the model has completed automotive-grade verification testing and is intended for both domestic and international deployment. If commercialized as planned, it would be among the first Level 4 robotaxis built for global distribution.
In addition to the robotaxi, GAC Aion introduced three updated models:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">The Ultra version of the Aion UT is positioned as a sportier option within the lineup.</li>
<li aria-level="1">The Aion V Bawanglong, meanwhile, is being promoted with a prize draw and tailored for long-range travel.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Rounding out the trio is a restyled <a href="https://kr-asia.com/gac-launches-aion-rt-with-mona-m03-pricing-can-it-capture-the-same-demand">Aion RT</a>, which appears to draw design cues from the Porsche Panamera and features improvements in both handling and visual appeal.</li>
</ul>
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3261123652878086">article</a> was written by Han Yongchang for 36Kr.

GAC Aion and Didi unveil Level 4 robotaxi at Auto Shanghai

Didi

Transportation

Autonomous Vehicles

Mobility

In the first quarter of 2025, the company posted revenue of RMB 1.111 billion (USD 155.5 million), representing a 4,230.2% year-on-year jump. Net profit reached RMB 355 million (USD 49.7 million), reversing a loss of RMB 227 million (USD 31.8 million) from the same period a year earlier.
Cambricon’s recent momentum comes as China accelerates efforts to strengthen its domestic semiconductor sector. The company’s Siyuan chips have gained traction following the US government’s ban on Nvidia’s H20 exports to China, creating an opening for local alternatives.
Still, the strong results have not quieted concerns. This marks only the second profitable quarter since Cambricon’s IPO, and challenges remain. Operating cash flow fell sharply, and the company continues to rely heavily on a small group of clients. Competition is also intensifying, with rivals such as Loongson and Huawei introducing products aimed at similar markets.
Founded in 2016, Cambricon initially gained attention for co-developing one of the first artificial intelligence-enabled mobile chipsets with Huawei. But after Huawei exited the partnership, Cambricon struggled to diversify its client base while grappling with high R&amp;D spending. Its IPO provided much-needed capital, though the fundamentals lagged behind.
In 2022, Cambricon was added to the US export control list, cutting it off from advanced chip production at top-tier foundries like TSMC. That move dealt a heavy blow. Revenues dropped and the company became the subject of scrutiny in Chinese media.
Rather than retreat, Cambricon expanded its product offerings beyond mobile to a broader range of computing scenarios, including cloud and edge applications. Its rebound gained traction in 2024, when its stock performance temporarily outpaced Nvidia’s.
Signs of upcoming expansion are there: the company disclosed inventories of RMB 2.755 billion (USD 385.7 million) and prepayments of RMB 973 million (USD 136.2 million), indicating that more orders may be coming.
Cambricon’s progress is unfolding amid a broader reordering of China’s chip sector. With international supply chains under pressure, domestic firms are moving quickly to plug the gaps. <a href="/company/deepseek">DeepSeek</a>, a foundational AI company, is helping to unlock downstream demand, while inference workloads—an area less dependent on ultra-advanced processors—are proving to be a strong match for China-made chips.
By early 2025, major players including Huawei, Biren, Moore Threads, and Hygon had launched DeepSeek-compatible products. Cambricon’s return to profitability places it back in the conversation, though whether it can maintain that position is an open question.
Cash constraints, fierce competition, and an uncertain customer mix will shape its next steps. But for now, Cambricon’s latest results offer a glimpse into what a locally driven AI chip sector might look like under pressure.

Cambricon swings to profit as revenue multiplies 42-fold

AI Infrastructure

A viral trend of using generative <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> to turn photos into illustrations in the style of Japan's beloved Studio Ghibli has fueled anger from artists and arguments over whether art styles should be protected by copyright.
Starting late in March, X (formerly Twitter) was flooded with images of smiling families on vacation, newlywed couples and other scenes, all in a style closely resembling Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro.
This followed <a href="/company/openai">OpenAI's</a> incorporation of a high-quality image generator into ChatGPT, allowing users to produce Ghibli-esque images with just a photo and a simple prompt.
A few days after the update, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on X that the service had "added one million users in the last hour."
Governments jumped on the bandwagon. The White House's official X account posted a Ghibli-style illustration of a handcuffed and crying Dominican immigrant. The Israel Defense Forces posted images of soldiers carrying guns and piloting a fighter jet, spurring an outcry from fans of Ghibli films accusing the military of using the studio's style for war propaganda.
Questions have been raised about whether replicating Ghibli's style so closely constitutes copyright infringement, but there is a broad view that it does not violate current US law.
Those protections are extended to works "fixed in a tangible medium of expression." For example, specific characters such as Mickey Mouse. But they do not cover ideas or styles. Copying a specific work by a watercolor painter would infringe on their copyright, but creating a new painting in that style would not.
"We continue to prevent generations in the style of individual living artists, but we do permit broader studio styles—which people have used to generate and share some truly delightful and inspired original fan creations," OpenAI said in a media statement. Studio Ghibli declined to comment to Nikkei on March 27.
This does not mean there is no risk of violating IP rights. Joshua Weigensberg, a partner at law firm Pryor Cashman, has said AI images with features that are "similar or identical to the artist's works, not only in terms of an abstract artistic 'style' but also in terms of particular expressive features, that may also give rise to a legal claim for infringement."
Trademarks are a potential issue as well, if an AI user or company uses Ghibli-style illustrations in a way that misleads others into thinking that a service is officially tied to the studio.
Creators in the US have decried the Ghibli trend. Digital illustrator Marc Brunet made a post on X criticizing how "Ghibli is making [zilch] out of this while [OpenAI] is raking in the billions after literally stealing their iconic art style."
Karla Ortiz, an artist and illustrator, has called it a "copyright infringement and a deep violation of artists' rights and livelihoods."
The legal landscape for AI is still being established, as are protections for the rights of artists and other creators. Momentum toward barring the use of AI to replicate voices has grown since film star Scarlett Johansson objected last year to OpenAI's use of a voice "eerily similar" to hers for ChatGPT, and the Ghibli trend may also become a case study for the questions surrounding use of the technology.
"Having it automatically generated, feels much more of a kind of violation of their moral principles and not just of their IP," said Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School. "It doesn't fit within existing copyright law. So courts, maybe, will be motivated to stretch the bounds of existing copyright law to prevent this. Another possibility is that … Congress might change the rules," he added.
Adobe, a developer of widely used software for digital art, has said it advocates for an "anti-impersonation right" protecting creators against the use of AI to copy their styles. It supported a bill introduced last year by Republican representative Darrell Issa that would ban unauthorized commercial use of digital replicas of individuals, calling it a step toward ensuring responsible use of AI content.
Some believe there should be restrictions placed on the content AI trains on, not just on the AI output itself. That would open OpenAI to a legal quandary if the company had used Ghibli's IP without permission.
OpenAI has argued that training AI models on publicly available data falls under the fair use exemption of copyright law. The debate on what constitutes fair use in AI applications remains ongoing.
There are roughly 40 US court cases underway revolving around AI training and fair use, according to Lemley. It remains to be seen if the Ghibli-style AI images will continue to take the world by storm.
Japanese studios have "the right to decide whether they want their art copied by generative AI," Weigensberg said.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Artificial-intelligence/Ghibli-style-AI-images-ignite-debate-over-art-copyright-protections">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>.

Ghibli-style AI images ignite debate over art copyright protections

OpenAI

On April 21, <a href="/company/catl">Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL)</a> pulled the curtain back on its inaugural “Super Tech Day” with a show of force. The battery giant introduced three headline products: the second-generation Shenxing battery, the Naxtra sodium-ion battery, and a wild card—Freevoy, a dual-power system that may reset industry expectations.
The second-generation Shenxing battery came out swinging, with specs combining an 800-kilometer range with a peak charging rate of 12C. To put that into perspective: the battery can deliver 75 kilometers of range in just 30 seconds of charging, or 2.5 km per second. It’s CATL’s direct answer to <a href="https://kr-asia.com/byds-new-evs-could-charge-faster-than-your-smartphone">BYD’s 10C charging system</a>—and a clear flex of its engineering muscle.
After a quick showcase, CTO Gao Huan shifted gears to spotlight what would become the day’s main act: the Naxtra battery.
Following earlier product lines like Qilin, Shenxing, and Tianxing, Naxtra marks CATL’s latest stab at advancing sodium-ion technology—a format long dogged by its lower energy density. Naxtra changes the conversation.
CATL says Naxtra delivers 175 watt-hours per kilogram, good for over 500 km in full-electric mode and more than 200 kilometers in hybrid setups. Cold weather resilience is its calling card: the battery retains 90% of usable power at a bone-chilling -40 degrees Celsius and charges at a 5C rate. CATL expects mass production to begin by the end of 2025.
So, what exactly is a dual-power battery?
In essence, CATL has merged two distinct battery chemistries into a single pack. Think of it as two separate energy zones—each compensating for the other’s shortcomings, and both working together under tight software control.
At a glance, this setup might seem unwieldy, especially when automakers are focused on integrating batteries into the vehicle chassis to save space. But CATL has a workaround: its self-forming anode technology.
This tech upgrade boosts volumetric energy density by 60% and gravimetric density by 50%, meaning more juice in the same physical footprint. The trick? A protective interface for the lithium metal at the anode that minimizes chemical side reactions, plus refinements across separators, electrolytes, and other components.
What’s more, the self-forming anode plays nice with a range of chemistries. Sodium versions top out at 350 watt-hours per liter. LFP (lithium iron phosphate) models hit 680–780 Wh/L. And NCM-based systems can soar beyond 1,000 Wh/L.
At the event, CATL introduced four Freevoy variants:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Sodium-LFP: Combines Naxtra with a self-forming LFP unit. Built for extreme cold, it holds 90% capacity at -40 degrees Celsius and supports a 700 km range in vehicles with a 2.75-meter wheelbase.</li>
<li aria-level="1">LFP-LFP: Pairs the second-gen Shenxing with another LFP cell. With a three-meter wheelbase, it offers up to 1,000 km of range and rapid charging from 10% to 80% in seven minutes.</li>
<li aria-level="1">NCM-LFP: Marries NCM's raw power with LFP’s safety. Even at 20% charge, it can unleash 600 kilowatts—reportedly stronger than a V12 engine—and supports 12C fast charging.</li>
<li aria-level="1">NCM-NCM: The flagship build. Two NCM zones deliver over 180 kilowatt-hours in capacity, pushing the potential range beyond 1,500 km for larger sedans.</li>
</ul>
The Freevoy battery marks a shift in how we think about energy storage. Like the rise of cell-to-pack (CTP) architecture before it, Freevoy could signal the start of a "multi-core" era in battery design. But this time, the implications go beyond hardware elegance,  rooted in user experience.
For years, battery innovation followed a path of standardization: cylindrical cells, VDA-sized prisms, modular packs, and then integrated systems like CATL’s own Shenxing and Qilin lines. Freevoy breaks that mold. Instead of designing around engineering limitations, CATL has flipped the script, shaping this battery by geography and consumer behavior.
At its core, Freevoy is a reimagined range extender. Where earlier electric vehicles used gas engines to top up the battery, Freevoy relies on a second battery. Each energy zone—housing a different chemistry—is managed by software that adapts in real time to driving patterns and vehicle conditions.
The result? A driving range of up to 1,500 km, and more importantly, a modular system that caters to different needs. A commuter in Harbin might pick the cold-resistant sodium-LFP variant. A speed enthusiast could lean toward the all-in NCM-NCM configuration. Automakers don’t need to build new battery platforms—just choose the Freevoy mix that matches the target demographic.
This level of modularity is possible because of CATL’s broad chemistry portfolio: sodium-ion, LFP, M3P, ternary lithium, condensed matter, silicon-carbon, and now, the self-forming anode. It’s a toolkit few others possess.
And Freevoy is just the beginning. If dual-core batteries take off, what’s stopping triple- or quad-core systems? CATL has already hinted they are on the roadmap. As driving scenarios grow more diverse, battery systems might evolve into tailored modules , resembling apps more than traditional hardware.
Ultimately, no single chemistry can do it all. NCM packs power but compromises safety. LFP is steady but loses strength in the cold. Sodium handles the chill and charges quickly but falls short on density. CATL’s multi-core strategy stitches these trade-offs together into one coherent system.
While much of the industry is still locked in the full-versus-plug-in hybrid debate, CATL is steering the conversation elsewhere—away from drivetrain formats and toward a more fundamental question: what can batteries actually do for drivers?
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3259973171314825">article</a> was written by Han Yongchang for 36Kr.

CATL’s new EV battery doesn’t settle for one chemistry, and it doesn’t want you to either

Batteries

Energy

… support merchants with a full suite of creator product sampling subsidies—including both sample costs and shipping fees.
“TikTok Shop only invited fewer than 100 merchants at first, and since it coincided with the Lunar New Year, once backend access opened, the big sellers scrambled to connect with creators. By early February, some had already shipped 1,000–2,000 product samples,” Jia said.
Now more than a month into operations, TikTok Shop’s footprint in Mexico remains smaller than Temu and Shein, largely due to its entry requirements: only sellers with a local business license, legal representative, or domestic warehousing capability are allowed to join.
Chuhaijiang’s data shows that in early March, TikTok Shop was pulling in five-figure USD sales daily in Mexico by early March, with the average order clocking in at around USD 12—compared to the USD 20 average in the US. The platform’s top categories at the time were beauty and personal care, fashion apparel, and 3C electronics.
While TikTok Shop lacks a robust local inventory, Mexico itself is not short on goods.
In late 2024, the Mexican government launched a <a href="https://kr-asia.com/mexico-cracks-down-on-chinese-gray-market-as-trade-policies-tighten">sweeping crackdown on counterfeit goods</a> in Mexico City’s downtown, targeting a wholesale hub known as Yiwu International Trade City—not to be confused with its namesake in Zhejiang, China. The move has rattled white-label sellers who once operated exclusively offline. Even those not directly affected are now looking to shift online, wary of what might come next.
“The folks in Yiwu [International Trade City] are trying to move their offline inventory online to clear it out. But they don’t know how to operate content-driven platforms like TikTok, so they are dumping it on Mercado Libre at rock-bottom prices,” Jia said. “This year, competition in Mexico’s shelf-based e-commerce space is going to get intense.”
whereRelatedArticle
Despite fierce platform competition, none of the players have solved Mexico’s deeper structural problems. The country still lacks the infrastructure to support seamless operations, making localization risky for sellers.
Zhao shared one such incident: “In August 2024, we shipped three containers to Mexico. One of them still hasn’t turned up. The logistics company won’t compensate us. The issue of lost shipments hasn’t improved at all.”
Even when goods arrive, warehousing is another hurdle. Zhao said that Mexico lacks the mature e-commerce infrastructure of markets like the US, making inter-platform stock transfers inconvenient and in-house warehousing a costly endeavor. Platforms may end up building their own industrial parks to support local operations.
Risk and opportunity often go hand in hand. Sellers pushing into Mexico believe it’s a blue ocean. But for platforms like Temu, Shein, and TikTok Shop, it’s just one waypoint in a broader global push, where the goal is to chip away at the dominance of entrenched giants.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3233899775852544">article</a> was written by Hu Yiting for 36Kr.

In Mexico, China’s e-commerce giants hit both stride and snags

E-commerce

Latin America