4 d. ago A token of intent: Doubao’s data surge cements ByteDance’s AI ambitions

Chinese tech giant ByteDance has more than doubled the number of tokens processed by its flagship Doubao large language models (LLMs) in the past six months, highlighting a surge in artificial intelligence use among Chinese consumers and placing it among the top global hyperscalers. Doubao’s average daily token usage jumped from 12.7 trillion tokens in March to over 30 trillion tokens in September, ByteDance’s Volcano Engine cloud unit president, Tan Dai, said at a corporate event on...

Politics

5 d. ago Singles Day: China's biggest shopping event starts five weeks early to revive spending

Singles Day: China's biggest shopping event starts five weeks early to revive spending  BBC

Economics

5 d. ago China's retailers extend Singles' Day to five weeks to revive spending

China's retailers extend Singles' Day to five weeks to revive spending  Reuters

Politics

5 d. ago Alibaba banks on AI to boost Singles’ Day sales on Taobao, Tmall

Alibaba Group Holding is taking advantage of artificial intelligence to turn its online marketplace into a “comprehensive consumption platform”, as the e-commerce giant regains momentum in an extremely competitive market. The company kicked off its annual Singles’ Day event – the world’s largest shopping festival – on Wednesday, 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...

Economics

6 d. ago Chinese woman wakes from coma to uncover ‘most devoted’ boyfriend’s abuse

A woman in northeastern China woke from a coma to reveal that her boyfriend, who had spent 200,000 yuan (US$28,000) on her care, was the one who had beaten her into unconsciousness. Lin Yingying, 20, from Liaoning province, met her boyfriend, Liu Fenghe, online in 2013, as reported by the Liaoshen Evening News. The two quickly fell in love and started running a bakery together. However, their story took a dark turn when Liu called Lin’s father, claiming she had “fallen” at the shop and hit her...

Politics

8 d. ago Yuan boost eyed as Hong Kong’s mainland China spending hits HK$5 billion

Hong Kong’s government spent more than HK$5 billion (US$642.3 million) using the city’s currency on services or purchases related to mainland China in the last financial year, according to officials. In comparison, the government only used 240 million yuan (US$33.7 million) annually to settle expenditures, in addition to payments related to its renminbi-denominated bonds. Authorities are now exploring ways to increase payments in renminbi and expand its use. “Since the amount of renminbi bonds...

Economics

1 week ago Chinese fintech giant Ant releases powerful AI model to rival DeepSeek, OpenAI

Chinese fintech giant Ant Group has released a new open-source, trillion-parameter large language model (LLM) that boasts stronger maths and coding capabilities than rival models from DeepSeek and OpenAI, escalating the intense competition in artificial intelligence systems. The new general-purpose Ling-1T model, with 1 trillion parameters, demonstrated “superior complex reasoning ability and overall advantage” against both open-source and closed-source rivals, the company said on Thursday. It...

Economics

1 week ago China sanctions US firms; ‘super golden week’ spending: SCMP daily highlights

Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China sanctions US defence firms, chip data provider in latest curbs Beijing has announced sanctions on a slew of Western companies and institutions in the defence sector and a leading semiconductor data analysis provider, marking its latest salvo amid ongoing trade tensions with the United States. 2. China says foreigners are using its rare earth exports...

Economics

1 week ago China's Golden Week holiday spending dips in latest red flag for economy

China's Golden Week holiday spending dips in latest red flag for economy  Reuters

Economics

1 week ago China's Golden Week holiday spending falls in latest red flag for economy

China's Golden Week holiday spending falls in latest red flag for economy  Reuters

Economics

1 week ago China sees uptick in ‘super golden week’ spending amid record travel surge

China logged a welcome uptick in spending on services during the just-concluded eight-day “super golden week” public holiday, as the country’s transport hubs handled record numbers of passengers. Chinese transport authorities logged 2.432 billion passenger trips – a record high and a 6.2 per cent year-on-year increase – during this year’s extended holiday, which combined the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. The surge was mainly driven by overlapping demand for tourism and...

Politics

1 week ago China Spends $114 Billion During Golden Week, Makes 888 Million Trips

China Spends $114 Billion During Golden Week, Makes 888 Million Trips  Modern Diplomacy

Economics

1 week ago How China turns "super golden week" into national spending spree

How China turns "super golden week" into national spending spree  Big News Network.com

Politics

1 week ago China markets reopen as AI optimism clashes with weak spending

China markets reopen as AI optimism clashes with weak spending  Cryptopolitan

Economics

1 week ago China Markets Reopen to Show If AI Buzz Outshines Soft Spending

China Markets Reopen to Show If AI Buzz Outshines Soft Spending  Bloomberg.com

Economics

1 week ago China Focus: How China turns "super golden week" into national spending spree

China Focus: How China turns "super golden week" into national spending spree  Big News Network.com

Politics

1 week ago Hong Kong retailers, caterers enjoy ‘golden week’ business growth of up to 20%

Hong Kong retailers and caterers have reported business growth of up to 20 per cent year on year during mainland China’s National Day “golden week” break, with one tourist spending a whopping HK$1 million (US$128,500) on international brands, business leaders have said. Industry leaders said stores selling gold, jewellery and cosmetic products emerged as the big winners as the eight-day break wrapped up on Wednesday, while cha chaan teng were the top dining choice, followed by Chinese...

Politics

1 week ago China’s Big Stock Boom Does Little to Boost Holiday Spending

China’s Big Stock Boom Does Little to Boost Holiday Spending  Bloomberg.com

Politics

1 week ago China Sees Unprecedented Holiday Spending Surge Driven by Major Sports and Cultural Events Across the Capital – New Update You Need to Know

China Sees Unprecedented Holiday Spending Surge Driven by Major Sports and Cultural Events Across the Capital – New Update You Need to Know  Travel And Tour World

Politics

2 w. ago China’s Big Stock Boom Is Doing Little to Boost Holiday Spending

China’s Big Stock Boom Is Doing Little to Boost Holiday Spending  Bloomberg.com

Politics