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. DeepSeek Speculation Swirls Online Over Chinese AI Start-Up’s R2 Model

https://www.ndtv.com/feature/chinas-deepseek-rumoured-to-launch-r2-model-heres-what-to-expect-8292089

Chinese start-up DeepSeek is seeing rampant speculation on social media, raising anticipation for its next open-source artificial intelligence (AI) model, as the company continues to keep the industry guessing about its progress amid an intensifying US-China tech war.

The latest speculation about DeepSeek-R2 – the successor to the R1, reasoning model, which was released in January – that surfaced over the weekend included the product’s imminent launch and the purported new benchmarks it set for cost-efficiency and performance.

2. Sportswear Brand On Opens First China Flagship in Chengdu

https://jingdaily.com/posts/on-expands-china-chengdu-flagship-100-store-plan

Swiss athletic shoe and performance sportswear brand On has opened the doors to its first flagship store in China at Taikoo Li Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.

In a standalone building in the outdoor mall, On’s new flagship is sprawled across 2 floors, totalling 500 square metres. For the opening, the Swiss brand also worked with 5 running societies in the region to coordinate a run in the city to celebrate the event.

3. Alibaba Uses Food Delivery Network to Upgrade Taobao On-Demand Delivery

https://in.benzinga.com/25/04/45105930/alibaba-instant-commerce-delivery

Alibaba Group Holding has launched an upgraded service called Taobao Instant Commerce, which covers not only food, but also other goods that meet the “time-sensitive needs of consumers”, including electronics, clothing and flowers, the company’s e-commerce unit said.

The move marks a significant step in Alibaba’s efforts to find synergy between its online marketplaces and delivery network, which has been competing directly with Meituan in food delivery. It also ushers China’s e-commerce competition into a new era of “instant retailing”. JD.com is boosting its delivery capabilities to take on Meituan and facilitate sales on its platforms.

4. Some Amazon Sellers Are Pulling Out of Prime Day Amid Trump Tariffs

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/some-amazon-sellers-are-pulling-out-prime-day-amid-trump-tariffs-2025-04-28/

Some third-party merchants who previously sold China-made goods during Amazon’s premier July shopping event are sitting it out this year or reducing the amount of discounted merchandise they offer.

The planned pullback, which has not been previously reported, is a way for sellers to protect profit margins amid the US-China trade war triggered by steep tariffs placed by US President Donald Trump on Chinese goods, according to four merchants and six consultants collectively advising hundreds of Amazon sellers.

5. Temu Adds Tariff Charges For US Shoppers, As Shein Also Raises Prices

https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2025/temu-shein-raise-prices-response-united-states-tariffs/

Discount Chinese retail app Temu appears to be passing on nearly all of US President Donald Trump’s new import taxes to American consumers, more than doubling the cost of some products in a move that may add to concern about the inflationary impact of tariffs.

Previously exempted from any levies under the so-called de minimis rule, parcels priced up to US$800 from China now face an ad-valorem tax of 120 percent of a product’s value, or a per postal item fee of at least US$100. PDD Holdings-owned Temu is requiring customers to pay those levies on top of the original cost of the goods.

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.