Baidu’s PR head, Qu Jing, has left the search engine giant after her controversial remarks on work culture exploded on Chinese social media. The surfacing of a series of videos made by Qu has led to the public casting doubt on the company’s corporate values. “I’m not even obligated to find out if you cried or had a quarrel [with your boyfriend or husband], which does not serve my concern as a supervisor. I’m not your mother-in-law, also not your mum,” Qu commented in one of a series of short videos posted on Douyin, China’s TikTok sibling.  All four of Qu’s controversial videos on the pl ..read more

Chinese lithium-ion battery maker CATL and French shipping company CMA CGM will set up a joint venture to explore the potential of creating an all-encompassing solution for greenhouse gas reduction, according to a statement published on Wednesday by CATL. The two companies said they will work closely on various topics related to achieving carbon neutrality, including the development of electric boats and commercial vehicles, as well as logistics and warehousing, without providing specifics. The move is the company’s latest effort to diversify its business beyond battery manufacturing for elec ..read more

Jiang Hairong, Chief Marketing Officer of Honor China, announced on Thursday that sales of Honor X50 smartphones have exceeded 10 million units in the Chinese market 10 months after the device was launched. The X50 is the first Android device introduced since 2023 to surpass 10 million sales in China, according to Honor. Launched last July, the mid-ranger features the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor and drop-resistant materials, and is priced at RMB 1,399 ($194). In the first quarter of 2024, Honor led the Chinese smartphone market with a share of 17.1%, according to data released by market inte ..read more

Word has spread in a Huawei app forum that Huawei HiSilicon’s chairman He Tingbo and Huawei Terminal Business Group’s chairman Yu Chengdong issued an internal letter “To Comrades” in which a contingency plan entitled “Tashan Battle” for PC chipsets was revealed. The letter allegedly urged HiSilicon and the Terminal Business Group to bring about swift and high-quality launches of PC products equipped with the self-developed Kirin X series chipset by the end of the year. In response to an inquiry by a Cailianpress reporter on Thursday, Huawei staff said that no such internal document had been r ..read more

BYD will introduce to Europe a low-cost electric vehicle, which will be priced at no more than €20,000 ($21,550), based on its Chinese Seagull model, the company’s regional managing director Michael Shu said on Thursday. The Seagull, which currently costs between RMB 69,800 and RMB 85,800 ($9,661-$11,875) and can travel between 305 and 405 kilometers (190-252 miles) on a single charge, was the top-selling small car in China, recording sales of nearly 240,000 units last year. Shu also mentioned the company’s plan to establish a second car factory in Europe in 2025, aside from the first one for ..read more

An increasing number of automakers are looking to make their vehicles compatible with the battery swapping standard NIO is pushing for in China, as GAC Group said on Wednesday it will partner with NIO to expand swapping infrastructure for electric vehicles across the country.  Why it matters: The collaboration highlights increasing efforts by carmakers, along with various stakeholders such as battery suppliers and energy firms, to tackle the issue of range anxiety – fear of an EV running out of power – which has hindered greater EV adoption. The move is also expected to allow NIO to cut ..read more

Chinese e-commerce platform JD is set to kick off its mid-year shopping event at 8 p.m. on May 31, with the company branding it under the theme of “quality and affordability” as price remains a sensitive factor for local consumers. JD has also dropped its presale period for this year’s 618 festival, in a similar move to rival Taobao, with the two online retail giants looking to follow common competitor Pinduoduo’s more straightforward shopping experience. In an announcement made by the Beijing-based company, the shopping spree will kick off with a “10-billion yuan discount day,” and low price ..read more

Alibaba hopes to spur e-commerce growth in Mongolia via a joint platform built with local tech company Intelmind, aiming to bring “millions of” China-made goods to consumers in the landlocked country. The partnership will be between Alibaba’s wholesale platform http://1688.com1688.com> and Intelmind-owned retail marketplace Shoppy under the auspices of a new platform, http://ShoppyHub.mnShoppyHub.mn>, according to Intelmind. The company has said it will enable Mongolian shoppers to consolidate multiple purchases into a single order, with packages deliverable within seven to ten days. Al ..read more

On Tuesday, MediaTek held the MediaTek Dimensity Developer Conference (MDDC) 2024 in Shenzhen, where the Taiwan-based semiconductor company unveiled its latest flagship 5G chipset, the Dimensity 9300+. With a theme of “AI Empowers Everything,” MDDC 2024 delved into the applications and advances in artificial intelligence technology across various domains, and the possibilities it brings to terminal devices. Why it matters: MediaTek introduced the Dimensity 9300+ less than two months after the launch of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. Amid slow growth in the smartphone industry, MediaTek is ag ..read more

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan’s Hong Kong-focused platform KeeTa led the territory’s food delivery market in terms of order volume in March, with its 44% share of total orders surpassing rival Foodpanda for the first time, according to data from third-party analysis platform Measurable AI. However, when calculating overall sales volume, KeeTa’s 36% market share is still slightly lower than Foodpanda’s 39% during the period. The results have encouraged Meituan to “actively evaluate opportunities in other markets,” CEO Wang Xing said in a recent earnings call, following a Bloomberg report ..read more