China Digital Digest Weekly: Exploring the Chinese Digital Landscape

Hi folks, we are back with our weekly edition of China’s Digital Digest, wherein we bring you weekly updates on China’s digital space. The report takes a quick glance at China’s complex and rapidly evolving social media landscape by providing updates on the latest happenings across the social media industry. Here are the major highlights of the report.

1. Tencent Adds AI Chatbot Friend to WeChat to Keep Users Glued to App

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3303934/tencent-adds-ai-chatbot-friend-wechat-keep-users-glued-super-app

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has enhanced WeChat—known locally as Weixin—with new artificial intelligence (AI) features, reinforcing its position as the country’s leading super app in the AI era.

The latest update integrates Tencent’s chatbot, Yuanbao, directly into WeChat, allowing users to access AI-powered interactions without needing a separate app. With over a billion users, this move makes AI more accessible, as WeChat users can now add Yuanbao as a “friend” and chat with it seamlessly within the app.

2. Tencent Boosts AI Spending as Tech Giants Race for Computing Power

https://www.reuters.com/technology/tencent-joins-chinas-ai-spending-race-with-2025-capex-boost-2025-03-19/

Chinese tech giant Tencent is ramping up its artificial intelligence efforts, announcing plans to significantly boost capital expenditures in 2025 to strengthen its AI development and cloud infrastructure.

In its Q4 2024 earnings report, Tencent posted strong growth, with revenue reaching ¥172.5 billion (+11% YoY) and a notable rise in profit. However, the real standout was the company’s aggressive AI investment. Tencent’s capital expenditure soared 386% year-on-year in Q4 alone, hitting ¥365.8 billion ($53.5B). For the full year, capex reached a record ¥767.6 billion ($112B), accounting for 11.6% of its annual revenue.

3. Wang Chuqin Joins McDonald’s as Ambassador

https://daoinsights.com/news/after-louis-vuitton-mcdonalds-snatches-wang-chuqin-as-ambassador/

Chinese Olympic gold medallist Wang Chuqin has quickly risen to celebrity status in his home country. Following his recent appointment as a brand ambassador for French luxury label Louis Vuitton, he has now been signed by American fast-food giant McDonald's as its latest ambassador. To mark this collaboration, McDonald's is rolling out a major campaign.

Running through March and April, the campaign kicks off with large-scale out-of-home (OOH) ads displayed in malls nationwide. In April, McDonald's will introduce special Wang Chuqin-themed meals, leading up to a grand finale at the end of the month, featuring limited-edition Wang Chuqin figurines, collectible cards, and badges.

4. Trump Floats Easing Tariffs On China In Return for TikTok Deal

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/donald-trump-floats-tariff-reduction-china-agrees-tiktok-deal-rcna198285

Donald Trump has said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the social media app used by 170 million Americans.

He acknowledged the role China would play in any agreement. Trump’s comment suggests the sale of TikTok’s is a priority for his administration and important enough to use tariffs as a bargaining chip with Beijing. The move is the result of concern in Washington that TikTok’s ownership by ByteDance makes it beholden to the Chinese government and that Beijing could use the short video app to conduct influence operations against the US and collect data on Americans.

5. Taobao Says Ecommerce Images Must be ‘Realistic’

https://www.aibase.com/news/16663

Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao e-commerce platform is stepping up efforts to combat the proliferation of fake and misleading product images generated using artificial intelligence (AI), in a fresh effort to counter the misuse of a technology that is increasingly sophisticated and accessible.

Taobao and Tmall Group, Alibaba’s e-commerce business unit, announced a new initiative targeting AI-generated images across its platforms, which include the group’s popular namesake platforms in addition to the used goods platform Xianyu, among others. As part of the crackdown, Taobao plans to enhance its detection model, which has already blocked nearly 100,000 overly edited or exaggerated images. The platform will also introduce visual indicators on product detail pages to clearly mark AI-generated content, a move meant to improve consumer awareness.

Wrapping Up

The vast and diverse nature of the Chinese Social Media space makes it incredibly challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments taking place. However, China’s Digital Digest brings you all the latest updates from there to keep you abreast of all the evolving trends.

To delve deeper into the findings of our latest report, click here.