China Digital Digest Weekly: Exploring the Chinese Digital Landscape
- ClickInsights
- 16 hours ago
- 3 min read
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. Value of Instagram-Style Xiaohongshu Hits US$31 Billion in GSR’s Books
Xiaohongshu’s valuation surged 19 percent to US$31 billion in just three months during recent transactions via a major fund, underscoring the intense investor demand for a Chinese equivalent to Instagram.
The valuation came to light through portfolio documents distributed by a GSR Ventures Management vehicle, which logged shares of the fund changing hands in the first half of 2025. Xiaohongshu comprised 92 percent of the fund’s total assets as of June’s end, a slight rise from the previous quarter, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News. The portfolio’s stated net asset value implied a big jump for the social media firm from US$26 billion in the March quarter, according to Bloomberg calculations.
2. Rednote Brings Its Marketplace Offline With The First RedMarket
After Douyin’s successful “Stroll Festival” offline market, Rednote is taking its e-commerce business into the physical world with its first-ever “RedMarket,” a four-day event in Shanghai.
Featuring over 100 stalls, the market offers everything from original apparel and sports gear to intangible cultural heritage (ICH) crafts and regional delicacies. Rednote is giving its lifestyle merchants the chance to move from online seeding to offline selling. Much like Douyin’s initiative, Rednote has also invited streamers across multiple categories to host live broadcasts from the event, driving online buzz and engagement.
3. Alibaba Mobilises Merchants on Premium Tmall Site to Join Instant Commerce Drive
Alibaba Group Holding has fired another shot at on-demand delivery giant Meituan, with a campaign that brings merchants from its Tmall business-to-consumer shopping platform onto its Taobao Instant Commerce site.
The campaign – dubbed “Jishigou”, which translates to instant purchase in Chinese – has seen more than 260 brands on Alibaba’s Tmall premium retail platform join its instant commerce service. Taobao Shangou, Alibaba’s instant commerce and on-demand delivery service that was revamped in April, aims to fulfil online orders of food and consumer items in less than an hour.
4. Shein Hit With US$175 Million Fine by French Watchdog Over Cookies
Online fast-fashion retailer Shein received a €150 million (US$175 million) fine from France’s data protection authority over the improper use of cookies, a decision the company contested and said it would appeal.
The Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), a government body charged with enforcing consumer data protection, said Shein’s website failed to comply with regulations in collecting consumers’ data without consent. When users browsing Shein’s French site opted out of cookies, some were still found to be placed on the user’s computer regardless, the commission said in a statement detailing a test it conducted on the site in August 2023.
5. Meituan Rallies Staff Around Expansion Plans, Job Prospects Amid Delivery War
Meituan CEO Wang Xing is urging employees to focus on the company’s instant commerce initiatives, overseas expansion, and enhanced social security for delivery workers, following a sharp drop in second-quarter earnings amid an intense price war with Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com.
In an all-hands letter widely circulated online, Wang revealed that Meituan had served over 770 million users in the past year through its 14.5 million platform merchants. He noted that in the highly competitive instant commerce segment, where Alibaba and JD.com are key rivals, Meituan reached a peak of 150 million daily orders, supported by an average monthly delivery workforce of 3.36 million.
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.