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… that after succeeding in one category, they can succeed in any category. That is wrong. It shows a lack of respect for the market.
When we first contacted Mak Kee, friends around me said that with our experience and resources, we could simply copy it. But if copying could build a brand, F&amp;B entrepreneurship would be too easy. Brands have underlying genes. Our choice is to invest in high-quality early-stage brands, then use our post-investment operating capabilities to empower and amplify them, rather than blindly creating something ourselves.
<h3>36Kr: After exceeding 1,000 stores, what’s next for Mak Kee?</h3>
XY: Store count is no longer the primary target. We are already first in the industry and do not need to keep chasing scale. Next, our focus is refined operations and better empowering franchisees to make money. This year, we will also continue optimizing the department structure and bringing in talent.
There are also new overseas plans. This year, Mak Kee is establishing an overseas business unit and laying out operations in multiple countries. Eight stores in the US are already under renovation. Its first store in Sydney, Australia, is being renovated, and its first store in Canada has also been confirmed.
<h3>36Kr: Mak Kee went from 53 stores to 1,000 stores in one year, and now plans to expand overseas. Is that not too fast?</h3>
XY: Every step we take is planned, not driven by impulse. Overseas expansion is not simply about doing overseas business. It is about establishing Mak Kee as an international brand. Even if we open only a few stores overseas, our brand and identity changes.
Mak Kee’s first overseas store is in Los Angeles. It took half a year to prepare. From a pure profitability perspective, the cost and return are not proportional. But from the perspective of brand positioning and top-level strategy, it is very worthwhile.
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<h3>36Kr: Were there internal disagreements over the pace of expansion?</h3>
XY: At the time, the founding team wanted to first deepen its presence in the Yangtze River Delta, slow national expansion, and take a conservative route. I understood that thinking, but I directly rejected it. Mak Kee should not be just a regional brand.
<h3>36Kr: You have repeatedly expressed recognition of GoodMe on many occasions. GoodMe has been very restrained in expansion. Why did Mak Kee not follow GoodMe’s regional approach?</h3>
XY: GoodMe makes fresh fruit tea, so it must rely on a heavy supply chain and must be restrained. But Mak Kee is in the Chinese dessert soup category. It does not require such a heavy cold supply chain. The business formats are fundamentally different.
<h3>36Kr: Why do you predict a major shakeout this year?</h3>
XY: In March 2025, I said at a shareholders’ meeting that 2025 would mark both the start of intense competition and a decisive phase for Mak Kee. Many people thought competition in the category might last ten years, but I believed one year would be enough to decide the winner.
The industry has become too transparent. Once a playbook works, peers can copy it within three months. In 2026, Chinese dessert soups will enter a shakeout phase, and there will not be many opportunities left for new brands. 2025 is Mak Kee’s only window. We have to secure the number one position quickly. As I said, we cannot take a regional approach. Time does not allow it.
<h3>36Kr: Does Mak Kee have financing plans?</h3>
XY: Yes. We have never raised financing before. The company’s profitability and cash flow are both very good. Last year, dozens of institutions approached me, but I politely declined them because we did not know what we would use the money for. This year, however, we plan to bring in one or two investors. It is not for the money, but from the perspective of strategic resources and high-end talent introduction.
<h3>36Kr: Where does that stand now?</h3>
XY: We have already confirmed two interested institutions. What we value are the strategic resources, industry endorsement, and team support they can provide. Those are much more important than valuation and capital.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3809931035844359">article</a> was written by Zhong Yixuan for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 3, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Chinese dessert soups are getting a modern makeover, and Mak Kee wants to lead it

Retail

Consumer Economy

China

China's <a href="/company/chery">Chery Automobile</a> looks to offer an all-electric minicar in Japan next spring, joining a market made increasingly competitive by Japanese rivals and Chinese <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicle</a> leader <a href="/company/byd">BYD</a>.
Chery and four partners will launch the EV brand Emta. The operating company, EMT, has been established in Yokohama to handle development and sales.
"This is a new brand aimed at Japanese consumers," EMT CEO He Xiaoqing told reporters on May 27. "It will make life easier and more comfortable."
EMT is a subsidiary of a Singaporean joint venture established by Chery and its four partners including Jiangsu Yueda Automobile Group and battery supplier Gotion High-tech, both from China. Japan's Autobacs Seven, the automotive parts retailer, and Anest Iwata, which supplies coating equipment, are the other two investors.
The kei car will be developed in China and Japan, with production initially in China. Chery technology will be used for driver assistance and other features.
EMT aims for a price "comparable to gasoline-powered kei cars," said Susumu Uchikoshi, the company's chief marketing officer. Honda Motor's N-Box, Japan's best-selling kei car, ranges in price from JPY 1.74–2.48 million (USD 10,922.1–15,567.2)
EMT will debut four electric models in Japan by 2029, starting with the kei car. Autobacs Seven will contribute its network of outlets toward sales.
The operating company looks to establish 100 locations for sales and service combined when the kei EV is launched. EMT also will add new locations, expanding the business to hundreds of locations in fiscal 2027.
The market for kei cars, a category unique to Japan, has grown to become a battleground in the EV space, especially with the entry of Chinese rivals. Kei cars, often used for short-distance errands, fit as all-electric vehicles, given the limited driving ranges.
Honda launched the <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/honda-debuts-electric-minicar-with-longest-range-to-jolt-slow-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">N-One e:</a> last September, and BYD rolls out the <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/byd-unveils-first-kei-minicar-to-break-open-the-japanese-ev-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Racco mini-EV</a> this summer. Suzuki Motor also plans to start sales of a kei EV this fiscal year. In 2028, Honda will release the <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/honda-plans-ev-version-of-top-selling-japan-minicar-as-byd-looms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all-electric version</a> of the N-Box.
"Kei cars don't need the same driving range as regular vehicles," said Seiji Sugiura, senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory. "Depending on the price, kei EVs have the potential to gain prominence."
EVs still account for only about 2% of new cars sold in Japan, the lowest share among developed countries. Limiting factors include an insufficient number of charging stations and the high price tags. Affordable mini EVs could boost the adoption rate.
Elsewhere, the European Union is establishing a new class of compact, affordable EVs called the <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/eu-to-launch-compact-ev-class-to-cut-costs-and-counter-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"E car,"</a> based on Japan's kei car. EMT is considering overseas expansion.
"Japan will be the most important market," said He. "The newly established small EV standard in Europe presents an opportunity for global expansion."
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/china-s-chery-to-debut-ev-minicar-in-japan-following-byd-s-lead">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: JPY figures are converted to USD at rates of JPY 159.31 = USD 1 based on estimates as of May 29, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

China's Chery to debut EV minicar in Japan, following BYD's lead

East Asia

Chery

Transportation

Electric Vehicles

Mobility

Japan

Just months after listing in Hong Kong, <a href="/company/minimax">MiniMax</a> is considering a second move in the public market, this time in mainland China.
The <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> company said its board has approved a preliminary proposal to explore the issuance of RMB-denominated shares and a potential listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market. The process may involve appointing professional advisors and consulting securities regulators, MiniMax said in a May 31 filing.
The company has already hired advisers to assess whether it meets the requirements for a Star Market listing and has signed a listing guidance agreement, according to the filing.
MiniMax cautioned that the plan remains at an early stage. Any concrete proposal, if made, would require further board and shareholder approvals where applicable, as well as clearance from mainland and local regulators.
The move follows MiniMax’s Hong Kong listing, for which the company had indicated plans to use IPO proceeds for R&amp;D and global expansion. That plan aligned with MiniMax’s positioning as one of China’s major generative AI companies, backed by investors including <a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a> and <a href="/company/tencent">Tencent</a>.
The company has been refining and releasing large models to keep pace with developments across the sector. On June 1, a day after the announcement, MiniMax launched M3, describing it as an open-weight model built for coding, agentic work, long-context use, and native multimodality.
Beyond AI model development, MiniMax’s monetization is tied partly to products such as video generator Hailuo AI and conversational AI platform Talkie.
The announcement follows other recent milestones beyond the Hong Kong IPO. In March, when MiniMax disclosed its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025, the company said revenue more than doubled year-on-year to around USD 79 million, with international markets accounting for 70% of the total. Gross profit was reported at USD 20.1 million, up 437.2% from the previous year, while gross margin expanded by 13.2 percentage points to 25.4%. Adjusted net loss totaled about USD 250 million, with the loss ratio narrowing substantially.
MiniMax’s management had also said during an earlier earnings call that <a href="https://kr-asia.com/minimaxs-arr-tops-usd-150-million-as-it-pivots-toward-an-ai-platform-model">annual recurring revenue surpassed USD 150 million</a> in February.
Analysts tracked by Visible Alpha, part of S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence, expect MiniMax’s revenue to reach USD 219 million in 2026, before climbing to USD 5.8 billion by 2030. Its AI-native products are expected to contribute around USD 123 million in 2026 revenue, while its open platform and enterprise AI services are forecast to add another USD 96 million, or about 44% of total revenue.

MiniMax explores Star Market listing after Hong Kong debut

MiniMax

Artificial Intelligence

Deep Tech

Foundation and Large Models

Hong Kong

… solid #e8e8e8;" data-tmfx-note="1">Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.78 = USD 1 based on estimates as of June 2, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Deals in brief: SG Enviro completes Series A round, Return Helper raises USD 4 million, 14 new China investments, and more

Venture Capital

Private Equity

Investment

Merger &amp; Acquisition

Singapore

Southeast Asia

<a href="/company/huawei">Huawei Technologies</a> said on May 25 it has found a new way to design chips to bring its semiconductor capabilities close to those of global chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Intel, as China's tech champion continues working to overcome US sanctions that have cut it off from top-tier global suppliers.
Huawei said that over the past six years, it has developed a new principle, known as the Tau scaling law, to break through the limits of Moore's Law and keep pursuing advanced semiconductor manufacturing technologies, He Tingbo, Huawei's semiconductor chief, said at the 2026 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, or ISCAS, in Shanghai.
The Tau scaling law is also called "Her's law" by Huawei, in recognition of He, who joined the company in 1996 and has been leading Huawei's efforts to develop alternative ways to design chips amid Washington's persistent crackdown. As president of its semiconductor business department, she has overseen the transformation of chip arm HiSilicon Technologies from a small design team into a globally recognized designer of chips for smartphones, PCs, <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> computing, and more.
Based on this new principle, He said, engineers can reduce signal delay and steadily improve transistor density to keep advancing chip computing power beyond the limits of Moore's law, which relies on shrinking transistors ever smaller to increase computing power.
Speaking at the conference, He described how Her's law led to the development of Huawei's new LogicFolding chip architecture, which sharply increases chip performance. She cited the Kirin system-on-chip chipset for phones, due out later this year, as an example, saying it delivers a 55% increase in transistor density and a 41% power-efficiency compared with traditional designs.
These gains were "obtained not through a new lithography step but through a topological reorganization of the spatial distribution of logic in three dimensions," according to He.
Huawei believes its new approach to chip development will become an industry standard. "Six years ago, the geometric roadmap [based on Moore's law] plateaued, forcing a more fundamental question—one that, in retrospect, the entire industry will eventually have to confront," the company said in a paper released on May 25.
Huawei's Kirin chipset line will be the first to fully adopt the new law, and will be used in its flagship smartphone to be released this year. Huawei said it will use the law to improve the computing performance of its other AI chip products as well.
Before the US hit Huawei with strict export controls to block its use of advanced foreign technologies, the Chinese tech giant briefly became the world's second largest smartphone maker by shipments, surpassing Apple and trailing only Samsung. Huawei's smartphone business was hit particularly hard by the US crackdown. Whether the revamped Kirin chipset can meaningfully revive the company's handset business remains to be seen.
Huawei said that with the latest chip design approach, it could match the 1.4-nanometer, also known as 14 angstrom, chip technologies of global chip leaders by 2031. This timeline would put the company just a few years behind TSMC and Intel, which are each planning for their own 1.4-nm chip production to <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/tech/semiconductors/tsmc-aims-to-produce-next-generation-1.4-nm-chips-by-2028" target="_blank" rel="noopener">start around 2028</a> and 2029.
Generally, the smaller the nanometer size, the more advanced the chips. However, it has become extremely challenging to pack more transistors into the same size of chip area and the semiconductor sector is exploring ways to <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/the-big-story/the-great-nanometer-chip-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">go beyond Moore's law</a>.
While the upcoming Kirin chips are the first to fully adopt Her's law, Huawei said it has already designed the new approach to varying degrees in designing 381 types of chips across consumer electronics, networking, and computing products over the past six years.
He said the company looks forward to working closely with scientists, engineers and industry partners around the world on the new law to keep driving the advancement of the chip and electronics industries.
"No single company can independently find all the answers along the path of semiconductor evolution," she said.
With the chip industry as a whole wrestling with the slowing of Moore's law, global chipmakers are stepping up efforts to expand and develop new chip packaging technologies by connecting and stacking different chips together to boost computing performance. AI chip leaders such as Nvidia, Google, and Amazon are exploring advanced packaging methods to more tightly connect and integrate GPUs (graphics processing units), CPUs (central processing units), and memory chips for faster and more efficient computing.
Huawei's announcement comes as Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, which is Huawei's biggest rival in AI computing, recently said his company has basically <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/tech/semiconductors/nvidia-reports-85-revenue-jump-but-still-excludes-china-in-outlook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conceded the Chinese market to Huawei</a> amid the US export controls on AI chips to the country. <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/tech/semiconductors/amd-ceo-says-unexpected-cpu-demand-surge-to-last-5-years" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AMD's CEO Lisa Su</a> also acknowledged that her company's high-end AI chipset is unlikely to see meaningful sales in China.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/huawei-crackdown/huawei-says-new-kirin-chip-for-phones-overcomes-us-clampdown">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>.

Huawei says new Kirin chip for phones overcomes US clampdown

Semiconductors

… shares.
The HKD 200–250 billion (USD 25.5–31.9 billion) in question is in the ballpark of market turnover in a single day.
Before the crackdown in 2022, some Hong Kong-listed Chinese tech giants such as <a href="/company/tencent">Tencent Holdings</a> could credit employee incentive shares to Futu accounts. But when Futu stopped bringing on new mainland users, Tencent shifted the program to a system provided by Bank of China International, which allowed employees to sell their shares but not purchase additional ones, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Under the current setup, sale proceeds are credited directly to mainland Chinese bank accounts in Hong Kong dollars. Afterward, employees may choose to convert the funds into yuan. This arrangement creates a closed-loop system, the person said.
<h3>What are investors and analysts watching for next?</h3>
Since the warnings a few years ago, Futu and Tiger Brokers have been diversifying away from mainland Chinese clientele.
According to Futu's financial report, mainland clients accounted for around 13% of asset holders at the end of March 2026. For Tiger Brokers, mainland retail clients' assets made up around 10% of the total at the end of 2025.
An S&amp;P Global report released on May 26 said that despite the inevitable strain on earnings, Futu's other operations should help the company cope.
"We expect Futu's non-mainland business to continue to grow over the next two years," S&amp;P Global said. "The company saw strong growth in its client base in Hong Kong and overseas, which boosted its revenue by over 65% in 2025."
The brokers' own market performance has been resilient so far. After plunging on last week's news, Futu's Nasdaq-listed shares rebounded 20% on Tuesday, while Tiger Brokers' jumped around 15%.
Goldman Sachs expects the regulatory impact on Futu and Tiger to be felt mainly in the second half of 2026, as authorities move forward with fines and demand remediation of noncompliant mainland accounts. The investment bank cut its 2026 net profit forecasts for Futu by 25% and for Tiger by 60%.
It added that profit growth could slow further as the brokers pursue expansion overseas, where customer acquisition costs are higher and average assets are lower.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/finance/china-drops-hammer-on-cross-border-stock-trading-5-things-to-know2">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) = USD 1 and RMB 6.79 (USD 1) = USD 1 based on estimates as of May 29, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

China drops hammer on cross-border stock trading: 5 things to know

US action camera pioneer GoPro is exploring a potential sale of the company after years of declining revenue, as Chinese rivals gain ground with higher-performing products.
GoPro announced last month it has hired a financial advisor to review strategic options, including a sale or merger, after posting a USD 93.5 million net loss for the year ending December, its third consecutive annual loss.
Revenue fell 19% year-on-year to USD 652 million, less than half its peak level in 2015.
The company added that it has received multiple approaches regarding acquisitions and mergers since then.
GoPro has also cut roughly 20% of its workforce and is seeking growth in new areas such as defense and space, signaling mounting pressure on its core business.
GoPro was established in 2002 when founder and CEO Nick Woodman wanted a camera for filming surfing. Its compact and lightweight action cameras created a market by meeting demand for devices that could be mounted on surfboards and bicycles to capture footage.
However, Ichiro Michikoshi, an analyst at Tokyo-based research firm BCN, said the company fell behind in addressing overheating issues and improving low-light performance, allowing Chinese rivals to win over customers.
According to US research firm IDC, Chinese drone giant <a href="/company/dji">DJI</a> captured 62% of the handheld smart camera market in 2025, while Arashi Vision, which sells cameras under the <a href="/company/insta360">Insta360</a> brand, held 20%, leaving limited room for competitors.
While GoPro's shipments fell 26% year-on-year, the two Chinese companies posted sharp increases, helping drive overall market growth 83% to 16.7 million units.
DJI and Insta360 have been quick to innovate, incorporating larger sensors and leveraging partnerships with established camera brands. DJI has enhanced image quality by incorporating technology from Sweden's Hasselblad, while Arashi Vision has drawn on Germany's Leica.
Michikoshi added that customers are also drawn to visible improvements released with each new product iteration.
DJI unveiled the Osmo Pocket 4P at the Cannes International Film Festival in France on May 14. While previous models relied on digital zoom, the new device features optical zoom that minimizes image degradation. The company invited film industry professionals to the launch, emphasizing the camera's ability to shoot professional-level video.
The Osmo Pocket is DJI's flagship series featuring a gimbal stabilizer, which uses motors to counter camera shake detected by sensors. The technology, derived from drone camera gimbals, was introduced in 2018.
By physically stabilizing footage, it produces smooth video. Although DJI initially did not expect it to become a major market, the product gained widespread adoption alongside the rise of social media, founder Wang Tao said.
Arashi Vision is also set to launch its first gimbal camera by the end of June, aiming to break into a market dominated by DJI. The company became a global leader in 360-degree cameras after launching its first one in 2016.
Its core offering features dual fisheye lenses capable of capturing seamless 360-degree images. The company also promotes its software, which has the ability to remove selfie sticks from footage.
DJI and Arashi Vision are in fierce competition. After DJI released a 360-degree camera in July last year, Arashi Vision responded in December with a 360-degree camera-equipped drone, entering DJI's core territory.
DJI followed with a 360-degree drone in March. The rivalry is now expected to intensify in the gimbal camera segment as well.
Meanwhile, GoPro is attempting a comeback. It plans to launch cameras this year with larger sensors to improve low-light performance. Michikoshi said the company could rebound if it resolves its heat management issues, noting that many users still favor its distinctive color rendering.
The main challenge will be whether it can compete against Chinese companies engaged in intense technological competition.
IDC forecasts global handheld smart camera shipments will reach 40 million units by 2030, 2.4 times the 2025 level, posing a potential threat even to Japanese manufacturers with strong positions in mirrorless cameras.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/technology/chinese-rivals-push-gopro-from-pioneer-to-takeover-target">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>.

Chinese rivals push GoPro from pioneer to takeover target

Insta360

Video

Creative

Chinese <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicle</a> makers are scooping up idle production lines across the world, intensifying their overseas push as Western competitors pare back output of gasoline cars and need to shed excess capacity.
Stellantis, which owns the Fiat, Peugeot, and Jeep brands, recently announced plans to <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/stellantis-and-dongfeng-form-ev-joint-venture-for-europe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">share its production facilities</a> in Spain and France with Chinese partners <a href="/company/leapmotor">Leapmotor</a> and Dongfeng Motor, respectively. <a href="/company/geely">Geely</a> is planning to take over and reboot a spare production line at Ford's Spain factory, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The deals illustrate Chinese and Western carmakers' divergent fortunes in the industry's transition to electric.
Chinese automakers could grow their global market share to 35% by 2030 from 25% in 2025, thanks to low-cost China-made batteries, UBS analysts estimated earlier this year. "Non-Chinese OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) may suffer from structural market share loss," they wrote in a research note.
Analysts believe the localization of EV manufacturing in overseas markets is Chinese companies' response to foreign governments' protectionist measures.
"That's a way to let local interested [parties] feel that they're getting a cut," said James Kan, Asia Pacific industrial research head at BNP Paribas. "It's important when Chinese OEMs want to grab more global market share."
Zhu Jiangming, founder of Leapmotor, whose battery-powered vehicles face 30.7% punitive tariffs imposed by the European Commission, said at the Beijing Auto Show last month that the company will locally source parts such as bodywork and interior components to support production at Stellantis' factory in Spain.
A draft regulation proposed by the European Union in March requires EVs to have 70% of their components, excluding batteries, produced within the region to qualify for government subsidies.
Leapmotor will soon start building cars at another Stellantis plant in Brazil, it said at an earnings call this month. Brazil is expected to raise tariffs on imported EVs to 35% in July from the current 25%.
While localizing production helps get around tariffs, it could raise costs and compliance risks for Chinese automakers.
"I'm actually a little amused when I [see] all these Chinese companies buying production facilities in Europe, because the Chinese are also gonna find out how difficult it is to do business [here]," Harald Hendrikse, European automotive research analyst at Citigroup, told investors at an online briefing earlier this month.
"The Chinese are gonna employ very expensive European labor. They are gonna be mandated to use European supply chains in terms of meeting the European local content rules as well as meeting European regulations."
Chinese EV leader <a href="/company/byd">BYD</a> only recently moved beyond a <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/byd-s-brazil-labor-saga-spotlights-china-contradictions-5-things-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">labor scandal in Brazil</a> that had dogged the company since late 2024.
BYD, which acquired and renovated an abandoned Ford factory in South America's largest economy, was accused of subjecting construction workers to "slavery-like" conditions by local labor officials. In April, it was added to, then quickly removed from, the country's so-called labor abuse "dirty list."
The world's bestselling EV maker is considering opening a second factory in Latin America, with the takeover of a dormant facility among the options, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. BYD is also in negotiations with Stellantis and other European carmakers on potential deals to buy plants in countries such as Italy, executive vice president Stella Li told Bloomberg in an interview.
Industry insiders said that Chinese auto groups are keeping greenfield investments in reserve, should foreign carmakers demand high prices for their underutilized production lines.
"Purchasing existing production capacity is a time-saving solution, since building a factory from scratch requires tons of extra preparation work," an executive at a leading Chinese carmaker said. "But we will calculate the tradeoffs between [foreign carmakers'] asking prices, total costs, efficiency, and consumer demands in local markets."
Elvis Cheng, head of <a href="/company/xpeng">Xpeng's</a> northeastern European operations, said during the "Future of the Car" summit that it is in talks with VW and other carmakers about purchasing a factory to meet growing demand on the continent, while adding that it is also considering building its own European plant because VW's factories were "a little bit old."
Struggling with sluggish demand and profit drops, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said last month that the company is seeking to cut its global production capacity to nine million cars per year, from 12 million earlier this decade. VW will explore the possibility of "opening this for partnering with our partners in China," said Blume in an earnings call.
On May 20, Blume told an assembly of workers that there are "currently no plans or discussions with Chinese manufacturers," Reuters reported. At the same time, he conceded: "We still have excess capacity at our plants in Europe and Germany. We need to address this in order to remain competitive."
Some are hopeful that reviving deserted internal combustion engine car plants will not only inject momentum into Chinese EV companies' global expansions, but also tackle overcapacity.
Last year, Geely vowed not to build any new car factories.
Founder Li Shufu said at a public event that Geely will "aim for pragmatic cooperation and resource integration," which could "improve efficiency in utilizing excess capacity among peers."
"We can participate in global competition with a friendly attitude, win applause from international counterparts and build a good brand image for China's automotive industry as it goes overseas," he said.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/chinese-ev-makers-awaken-western-rivals-zombie-production-lines">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>.

Chinese EV makers awaken Western rivals' zombie production lines

Xpeng Motors

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Europe

… very different next-generation product.
<h3>36Kr: You mentioned that you keep questioning yourself. At which stage was this self-examination most frequent?</h3>
CX: It never stopped. Early on, we invited nearly 100 key opinion consumers to join the project group in advance. Every day, we spent time talking with them, visiting their homes, and observing how they used the product. We kept checking whether the design definition was correct.
After all, this is an entirely new product. When making it, you still need a sense of caution.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3806507139390984">article</a> was written by Leslie Zhang for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.79 = USD 1 based on estimates as of May 28, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

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