Pandaily's Digest #20210818
Xiaomi Auto rumored to locate headquarters and first factory in Beijing, Bytedance denies setting up private equity funds, Baidu unveils "Robocar”, iQOO launches new smartphone lineup, and more.
Sources Say Xiaomi Auto to Locate Headquarters and First Factory in Beijing
Xiaomi Auto has reportedly settled on Beijing for its headquarters and first automobile factory, Auto Business Review said on Tuesday. Xiaomi has not yet issued a response to the news.
Bytedance Denies Setting up Private Equity Funds
On August 5, commercial inquiry platform TianYanCha.com showed that Tianjin Bytedance Management Consulting Co., Ltd., an investment company owned by Bytedance, was officially renamed Tianjin Bytedance Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd., leading to a hot debate in the venture capital community. Bytedance responded on Monday night that currently it had no plan to set up a private equity fund to raise capital.
Tech Giant Baidu Launches “Robocar” and Robotaxi Services APP Luobo Kuaipao
Robin Li, founder and CEO of Chinese tech company Baidu, unveiled “Robocar” at Baidu World Conference on Wednesday. The announcement officially launches the company’s Apollo Robocar and “Luobo Kuaipao”, a robotaxi services platform.
Neolix Raises Millions in Its Series B Funding Round
Neolix, a Beijing-based self-driving startup, said it had recently closed a round of Series B funding in which an undisclosed multi-million-dollar amount was raised. Co-led by CICC Capital and SoftBank Ventures Asia and joined by two existing investors, Yunqi Partners and Glory Ventures, the funding was aimed at the large-scale expansion of the company’s service network.
OPPO Establishes New Camera Innovation Lab in India
Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO has set up a new camera innovation laboratory at its R&D centre in Hyderabad, India. This new lab is dedicated to developing functions for the Indian and South Asian markets.
Xpeng’s Founder Expresses Concern about Chip Shortage due to the Pandemic Spread in Malaysia
Malaysia is a major country for the packaging and testing and a passive component producer in the global semiconductor supply chain. However, some chip factories are “paralyzed” under the pandemic, which will worsen the current chip shortage problem. He Xiaopeng, founder of Xpeng, expressed his concern about the lack of semiconductor chips when he commented the above statements.
iQOO Unveils New Smartphone Lineup
Chinese smartphone maker Vivo’s sub-brand iQOO on Tuesday released the newest editions of its iQOO 8 series of smartphones, which are considered to be the flagship phones for the future e-sports.
Huawei Won’t Give Up Mobile Business or Develop Real Estate: Executive
The United States has created many difficulties for Huawei but they are solvable. Huawei will not give up its mobile phone business nor develop real estate, said Guo Ping, the company’s rotating chairman.
AI Unicorn SenseTime Reported to Pursue $2 Billion Hong Kong IPO
SenseTime Group Ltd., an artificial intelligence company, is reportedly cooperating with HSBC Holdings Plc to arrange an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong to raise at least $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. SenseTime and HSBC both have not issued any response yet.
Principal of DCM Ventures Dies of Mental Breakdown after Attending Mental Destruction Courses
On August 16, Sara Wei, principal of DCM Ventures, died at the age of 32. She had taken a course in the LEGACY Power Leap Workshop and fainted while in the classroom.
SEC Chairman Temporarily Suspends Chinese Companies From Going Public in the US by Way of Shell Companies
Bloomberg reported that, on August 16, Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said in a video message that American investors knew very little about some Chinese companies listed on stock exchanges in the US. He has asked SEC staff to temporarily suspend IPOs of shell companies by Chinese companies, and encourages investors to learn more about these companies’ structures.
Zuoyebang Launches Five Quality Education Products to Enhance Comany’s Transformation
Alibaba-backed Zuoyebang officially on Monday launched three quality education products: Xiaolu Programming, Xiaolu Art and Xiaolu Learning Ability. Together with Xiaolu Writing, which was launched last year, and Xiaolu Eloquence, which will be launched soon, Zuoyebang altogether contains five products within the quality education field.
Zhao Changlong Replaces Xu Jiayin as Chairman of China Evergrande’s Key Unit
China Evergrande Group Chairman Xu Jiayin has stepped down of the company’s flagship unit Hengda Real Estate Group. Ke Peng stepped down as the group’s general manager and legal representative. Zhao Changlong, previous executive director and vice chairman of Evergrande Property Services, will replace Xu as chairman, and will also be general manager.
Chinese-Canadian Kpop Singer Kris Wu Arrested on Suspicion of Rape
On Monday night, the People’s Procuratorate in Beijing’s Chaoyang District approved the arrest of Kpop star Kris Wu.
Shenzhen Municipal Government Helps Chinese E-Commerce Enterprises Cope with Amazon Bans
The municipal government in China’s southern city of Shenzhen issued a notice on August 5 that it would provide preferential subsidies worth 2 million yuan ($309,000) for individual business ventures to help cross-border e-commerce enterprises cope with Amazon’s recent suspending of accounts.
Bilibili Tests Auto-Tune Remix Video Editor, Facilitating Content Production Process
Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili recently tested its new auto-tune remix video editor function, which aims to help uploaders produce remix-themed videos more easily, Tech Planet reported on Monday.
Tencent-Backed Digital Content Firm China Literature Publishes Financial Report, Showing Rebound from Rocky 2020
The leading platform for digital literature in China released its financial report for the first half of 2021 on Monday, showing stellar revenue growth and modest improvements in its active readership base.
Tencent Music’s Net Profits Attributable to Equity Holders Dropped 12% in Q2
Tencent Music Entertainment Group, an online music and audio entertainment platform in China, on Monday announced its 2021 Q2 financial report, showing net profits attributable to equity holders of the company reaching 1.12 billion yuan ($173 million), a decrease of 12% year-on-year.
Lantouzi.com’s Zhang Lei Put Under Border Control, Not Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital
Media reports on August 12 stated that Zhang Lei, CEO of lantouzi.com, faces punishment by border control authorities, not Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital. Business data firm Tianyancha shows that the founder of lantouzi.com has had his spending suspended.
Li Auto’s Founder Calls For Unified Language Terms for Automatic Driving in China
This Monday, Li Xiang, the founder of Li Auto, posted a Moment on WeChat saying, “It is suggested to unify the Chinese standard for automatic driving to the following classification: L2 = assisted driving; L3 = automatic assisted driving; L4 = automatic driving; L5 = driverless. There is no redundant Chinese characters, so as to avoid the misunderstanding of users.”
Wingtech Technology Finishes Acquisition of U.K.’s Largest Chip Plant
Wingtech Technology, a Chinese chip making giant, announced on Monday that its subsidiary Nexperia had completed the acquisition of British chip manufacturer Newport Wafer Fab (NWF).