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. Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty Opens First Mainland China Concept Store

https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/fenty-beauty-opens-its-first-concept-store-in-mainland-china.5910624/

Fenty Beauty, the cosmetics brand by Barbadian singer Rihanna, has opened its first concept store in Mainland China at the MXTR Park (万象天地水广场), part of the MixC (万象天地) shopping mall. The new store and its launch embrace the science fiction concept “future planet”.

The choice of theme, of course, is to fit in with the “cyberpunk city” of Shenzhen, where tech startups and futuristic infrastructure meet. The shop uses chrome tones and large screens to create the feeling of a sci-fi world and a digital avatar of Rihanna appears on the displays, enhancing the theme.

2. Balenciaga Opens Largest Store in The World in Beijing

https://en.jiemian.com/article/12857992.html

French luxury fashion house Balenciaga has hosted a grand opening of its Beijing flagship store after its renewal. The four-storey, 1,204 sqm shop in Taikoo Li Sanlitun is now home to the largest Balenciaga store in the world.

The design of the refurbished store is a continuation of Balenciaga’s avant-garde brand image with a concrete-based brutalist look across the floors. And for the opening, the brand brought 6 vintage formal dresses designed by its founder, Cristóbal Balenciaga. These vintage Balenciaga garments made their first China appearances on the top floor at the Beijing flagship as an exhibition called Women Behind the Dress.

3. Tmall Transforms Shanghai Landmark into “Film Studio” for 618

https://daoinsights.com/news/tmall-transforms-shanghai-landmark-into-film-studio-for-618/

For this 618 Shopping Festival, Alibaba’s Tmall platform has taken over one of Shanghai’s landmark buildings, the Gate M West Bund Dream Center, and turned it into a “film studio”.

The Tmall Super Launch (天猫超级发布) event transformed the large art space of the former cement factory into “sound stages” and built “sets” for each of the participating brands. The pop-up space provides multiple immersive spaces, connected with dolly tracks and complete with functional lighting for photo ops. With props provided, you can become a character in each of the worlds created by the brands.

4. Luckin Deploys DeepSeek and Doubao for Its AI Entity

https://daoinsights.com/news/luckin-deploys-deepseek-and-doubao-for-its-ai-entity/

Leading Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee has announced that it has teamed up with Volcengine, the cloud service platform from ByteDance, to create its first-ever AI entity, Lucky AI (v1.0), a smart assistant.

Interestingly, Luckin and Volcengine deployed both ByteDance’s in-house Doubao (豆包) large language model (LLM), as well as the viral DeepSeek AI model. The DeepSeek and Doubao-enabled Lucky AI will be available on both the Luckin app and its official WeChat Mini-Program. Its image is based on the coffee chain’s mascot, its “Chief Luck Officer”, Lucky, an anthropomorphic white deer. Currently, the AI entity mostly provides voice-controlled order-taking on the app and the Mini Program.

5. PDD Faces Profit Challenge Amid Trump Tariffs, Domestic Ecommerce Competition

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/temu-owner-pdd-holdings-misses-quarterly-revenue-estimates-2025-05-27/

Chinese discount e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, operator of Temu and Pinduoduo, faces increased profitability challenges amid US President Donald Trump’s trade policies and heightened competition in its home market, according to analysts.

PDD on Tuesday reported a 47 percent slump in first-quarter earnings amid slower sales growth, with results trailing market consensus. PDD’s Nasdaq-listed shares tumbled as much as 18 percent in New York overnight, as the company’s poor report card suggested that continued discounts to attract consumers would hurt near-term earnings outlook.

6. Alibaba, JD.Com Sales Surge During 618 Festival, Thanks to Subsidy Programme

https://www.benzinga.com/markets/large-cap/25/06/45770679/alibaba-jd-see-sales-soar-in-618-festival-apple-and-xiaomi-emerge-as-top-selling-brands

Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com are seeing strong sales momentum in their respective campaigns for this year’s 618 shopping festival, on the back of the government’s national subsidy programme.

Preliminary 618 retail data from Taobao and Tmall Group (TTG), Alibaba’s domestic e-commerce unit, showed sales of categories that benefit from government subsidies – including consumer electronics products and home appliances – surged 283 per cent during the campaign’s initial checkout period from May 13 to May 26, compared with the initial checkout period of its Singles’ Day campaign last year.

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.