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. Alibaba Launches Robotics and Embodied AI

https://www.benzinga.com/markets/tech/25/10/48098665/alibaba-launches-robotics-team-to-turn-ai-models-into-real-world-machines

Alibaba Group has formed an internal robotics team, signaling its formal entry into the global race among tech giants to build AI-powered physical products.

Lin Junyang, head of technology at Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen large model unit, announced on social media platform X that the company has established a “Robotics and Embodied AI Group.” The move highlights Alibaba’s strategic push from software-based AI into hardware and real-world applications. The announcement comes as global peers ramp up investments in robotics.

2. Alibaba Banks on AI to Boost Singles’ Day Sales on Taobao, Tmall

https://www.glossy.co/fashion/alibaba-and-tmall-are-betting-on-ai-to-boost-singles-day-sales/

Alibaba Group Holding has kicked off its annual Singles’ Day event – the world’s largest shopping festival – riding on the back of strong growth in online shopping and on-demand delivery.

Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba’s two domestic e-commerce platforms, are offering 50 billion yuan (US$7 billion) worth of coupons to members of its 88VIP programme – which targets high-income consumers – on top of 15 per cent direct discounts on certain products for all consumers, according to Liu Bo, a vice-president at Alibaba and president at Tmall. To help shoppers navigate more than 2 billion product listings, Alibaba is carrying out the first large-scale deployment of generative AI on Taobao and Tmall, integrating large language models into the platforms’ core search and recommendation engines.

3. HungryPanda Steers Clear Of Price Wars, Prioritises Quality And Service

https://www.asiabusinessoutlook.com/news/hungrypanda-feels-strain-amid-global-delivery-price-wars-nwid-10089.html

HungryPanda, the overseas food delivery platform specialising in Chinese and Asian food, is closely watching the price wars in China between rivals like Meituan and Alibaba Group Holding, a company executive said.

However, HungryPanda operated in markets with “less price sensitive” consumers who had “high spending power”, according to Kitty Lu, the company’s director of public affairs. This year, competition in China’s on-demand services market, long dominated by Meituan, has intensified with the entry of JD.com in February and Alibaba’s launch of Taobao Shangou in April.

4. China’s Car Dealers Feel Squeeze Between Price War, Ecommerce Rivals

https://coincentral.com/price-wars-and-ecommerce-crush-chinas-traditional-car-dealers/

Chinese car dealers, once the beneficiaries of the country’s booming automotive market, are facing a bleak future as they fall victim to a brutal price war and a growing preference for e-commerce sales among manufacturers and shoppers.

The industry’s 14 major participants reported a 10 percent sales slump in the first half of 2025, following an 18 percent year-on-year decline in 2024, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Cui Dongshu, general secretary of the government-backed industry consortium, said most of the dealers were unable to generate positive cash flow as they ran at huge losses. 

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.