China Digital Digest Weekly: Exploring the Chinese Digital Landscape
- ClickInsights
- 4 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. ByteDance’s New Model Sparks Stock Rally as China’s AI Video Battle Escalates
TikTok parent ByteDance’s pre-release of its latest artificial intelligence video model, Seedance 2.0, over the weekend has sent ripples across the tech and video production sectors as competition among Chinese tech titans’ AI apps intensifies.
The model – still in beta and available to select users of Jimeng AI, ByteDance’s AI video platform – delivered enhanced lifelike video outputs that blurred the boundary between AI content and reality, offered smoother camera movement and improved visual consistency, according to early adopters. The buzz has sent stock prices rallying across some Chinese media and AI app firms, with analysts hopeful that AI could be further harnessed to benefit traditional filmmaking and content creation.
2. Tencent Launches Fire Dragon, Its First AI-Generated Comic Shorts App
Tencent Video has launched Fire Dragon (Huolong), its first standalone app focused on AI-generated comic shorts. The app is now available on major app stores. It was developed quickly by a young internal team.
All content is currently free to watch. The app uses a vertical, feed-style interface similar to short-video platforms. Most episodes run between one and three minutes. The format blends comic-style storytelling, AI technology, dynamic visuals, and short-video presentation. It has gained strong popularity among Gen Z users.
3. Xiaohongshu Is Developing an AI Video Editor Called OpenStoryline
Xiaohongshu’s engineering team is reportedly developing an AI-powered video editing product called OpenStoryline, which has already iterated to version 1.0.0.
OpenStoryline’s functional positioning is reported to closely align with AI video editing tools developed by ByteDance’s Jimeng AI and SenseTime’s Seko 2.0, signaling that video creation is rapidly entering a new phase defined by intelligence and lightweight workflows, as major players race to lower the barriers to video production.
4. Xiaohongshu Valuation Jumps to $50 Billion in Latest Secondary Share Sale
Xiaohongshu has reached a valuation of $50 billion in a recent secondary share transaction completed in late 2025.
The fund reportedly sold part of its long-held stake at the new valuation, up sharply from the previously market-recognized valuation of roughly $30.6 billion (RMB 220 billion). Xiaohongshu’s valuation has been revised upward multiple times over the past year. In June 2025, Bloomberg reported that the company’s valuation had already climbed to $26 billion (approx. RMB 180.6 billion) following a transaction involving major institutional investors.
5. Meituan to Acquire Dingdong for US$717 Million
Meituan has agreed to acquire all issued shares of Dingdong Fresh Holding Limited’s direct wholly owned subsidiary for an initial consideration of US$717 million.
Dingdong is a leading fresh grocery e-commerce player in mainland China, and upon completion the target company will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Meituan. The seller may extract up to US$280 million from the target group’s funds, but the net cash of the target group must remain no less than US$150 million.
6. Qwen Overtakes Yuanbao After Alibaba’s Bubble Tea Campaign
Hours after Alibaba Group Holding began offering freebies including bubble tea through its artificial intelligence app Qwen, a surge in downloads pushed the chatbot past Tencent Holdings’ Yuanbao to the top of China’s Apple App Store, climbing from 10th place a day earlier.
More than 10 million free orders – worth 250 million yuan (US$36 million) – were placed within nine hours using vouchers capped at 25 yuan through Qwen, its team said on its official Weibo account. The surge in traffic and orders temporarily disrupted the campaign and overwhelmed many storefronts across mainland China, according to shop owners posting on social media platforms.
7. Kuaishou Slapped With US$17 Million Fine After Explicit Content Probe
China’s internet watchdog has fined Kuaishou Technology 119.1 million yuan (US$17 million) for hosting explicit live-streaming content, just days after the operator of the country’s second-largest short-video platform was penalised over e-commerce violations.
Beijing’s Cyberspace Administration launched an investigation following reports of a surge in pornographic and vulgar streams. The probe found the platform had failed to meet its cybersecurity obligations, fix system vulnerabilities in time, and stop the spread of illegal content. Alongside the fine, regulators issued a warning, ordered Kuaishou to complete rectifications by a set deadline and required the company to hold responsible staff accountable.
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.
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