Sign in Subscribe

Dora Zhang

Editor covering China's business and technology, focused on AI, electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and robotics, tracking industry developments, innovation, and market dynamics.

J.P. Morgan’s Europe Auto Warning: China’s OEMs are coming for 20% Market Share

J.P. Morgan's European equity research team published its key takeaways on June 24, 2026, following the bank's 14th annual European Automotive Conference held June 1-2 in London. With more than 30 companies participating — roughly 35% of them from Asia — the event served as a

Li Auto's Revenue Craters as Li Xiang Doubles Down on Embodied AI Pivot

Li Auto is burning through its profitability cushion to fund a decade-long bet on embodied artificial intelligence — and the market has yet to validate the wager. The company's first-quarter 2026 financial results laid bare the severity of the divergence between strategic ambition and commercial reality: revenue

MiniMax Faces Lock-Up Cliff as Pricing Misstep Exposes Structural Fault Lines in China AI Race

MiniMax, China's AI model startup that went from zero to IPO in four years, is now fighting a three-front war — a user trust crisis triggered by an unannounced price hike, a structural profitability gap between its consumer and enterprise arms, and a July lock-up expiry that

Alibaba Reportedly Seeks Buyer for Lingxi Games in RMB 7–9 Billion Deal

Five potential buyers have emerged for the bundled sale of Alibaba's gaming arm, marking the latest chapter in the tech giant's sweeping retreat from non-core assets. Alibaba is in early-stage discussions to divest its gaming subsidiary Lingxi Games in a bundled transaction valued between

Kling AI Valuation Falls to $15B as Tencent, Alibaba Bet on Video AI Infrastructure

Kuaishou's AI video unit Kling is seeking fresh capital at a pre-money valuation of $15 billion — down a third from an initial $20 billion ask — with Tencent, Alibaba and Sequoia Capital China emerging as lead investors, according to fundraising documents obtained by Zhaibo AI, signaling that the

Unitree Breaks the Humanoid Robot Cost Barrier With RMB 29,900 R1

0:00 /0:35 1× China's Unitree Science & Technology has done what most rivals said was impossible: it is selling a fully capable bipedal humanoid robot for RMB 29,900 (US$4,150)—in stock, no waitlist, ships today. The June 24 price cut on the Unitree

ChinaBiz Briefing | Doubao Monetizes, CATL Goes Sodium, Unitree enters Japan

China's tech and industrial sectors delivered a concentrated set of signals on June 24: ByteDance moved Doubao from a free service to a paid platform, CATL unveiled its first commercial sodium-ion storage system, Morgan Stanley sharply upgraded its China humanoid forecast, and Unitree opened Japan through a

Doubao Ends Free Ride, Targets RMB 228M Monthly Subscription Revenue

ByteDance has flipped the monetization switch on Doubao, China's largest AI application by monthly active users, introducing a three-tier paid subscription model that directly challenges ChatGPT Plus—at half the price. The June 24, 2026 announcement marks a structural inflection point for ByteDance's AI strategy.

Unitree Enters Japan With GMO Deal, Targeting Labor-Starved Market With ¥100,000 Daily Rental Model

China's leading humanoid robot maker secures its first formal distribution agreement in East Asia, using a lease-first strategy to penetrate one of the world's most demanding robotics markets — ahead of most Western rivals. Unitree Robotics, the Hangzhou-based humanoid robot manufacturer, officially entered the Japanese

CATL’s TENER Marks Sodium-Ion Storage Breakthrough

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world's largest battery maker, unveiled its TENER sodium-ion energy storage system at a product launch event in Munich, Germany on June 22, positioning the technology for its first large-scale commercial deployment and signaling a potential hedge against lithium price volatility for