Pandaily's Digest #20210517
China’s Zhurong Rover Lands on Mars, VIPKid Denies Cutting 50% of Staff Across Various Teams, Chinese Automaker GAC and Didi Chuxing to Jointly Develop Self-Driving Electric Cars, and more.
China’s Zhurong Rover Lands on Mars
Chinese rover Zhurong successfully landed on Mars on Saturday, making China the second country to succeed in the task.
Tencent-backed VIPKid Denies Cutting 50% of Staff Across Various Teams
Chinese online education startup VIPKid admitted that it has recently enacted a series of personnel adjustments but denied cutting 50% of its staff members across various departments.
Chinese Automaker GAC and Didi Chuxing to Jointly Develop Self-Driving Electric Cars
Chinese automaker Guangzhou Automobile Group’s electric vehicle branch GAC Aion announced on Monday that it will develop self-driving new energy vehicles with ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing.
Chinese Firms Shift Production to Southeast Asia as Country Moves Up Value Chain
Fueled by a rise in labor and production costs, an increasing number of China’s suppliers have been shifting their production facilities to emerging export economies in Southeast Asia, according to Chinese state media.
China VC Weekly: Groceries, Resale and Plant-Based Meat
In last week’s China VC news: online grocery platform Dingdong Maicai bags a new tranche in its Series D round, bringing total financing amassed in the round to $1 billion; California-based biopharma firm Kinnate starts a joint venture to expand in China; luxury resale platform GoShare2 rakes in “tens of millions of US dollars” in Series C financing; and plant-based ground pork brand Zrou owner raised $7.3 million in a Series A round of financing.