Overview
1. Chinese Electric Vehicles Soar in Popularity in Indonesia
2. Taobao Launches Thai-Language Version in Thailand
3. JOOCYEE Opens Its First Overseas Offline Flagship Store in Singapore
4. Horen Group Completes Over CNY 100 Mn Series F Financing
5. Musk’s Neuralink Completes Two Surgeries in One Day for the First Time
6. Indonesia Passes New AI Roadmap to Attract Foreign Investment
7. Trump Announces Trade Agreement Between the U.S. and Japan
8. WeRide Launches Saudi Arabia's First Robotaxi Pilot Operation Service
9. Saudi Retail Giant Othaim Joins AliExpress, Expanding "Hourly Delivery" Service
10. TikTok Generates USD 23 Bn in Revenue in 2024, Accounting for Record-High Share of ByteDance's Earnings
11. Volant Signs China's Largest eVTOL Purchase Order, with a Total Value of USD 1.75 Bn
12. The 25th China-EU Leaders' Meeting was Held on July 24
Event Highlights & Commentary
1. Chinese Electric Vehicles Soar in Popularity in Indonesia
【Event】According to data released by the Association of Indonesia Automotive Industries (GAIKINDO) on July 19, electric vehicle (EV) sales in Indonesia surged by 267% in the first half of this year, reaching 35,749 units. Chinese automotive brands accounted for 93% of the total sales, significantly contributing to the growth of Indonesia's automotive industry and its transition to electric mobility.
According to GAIKINDO, BYD leads the sales of Chinese-brand EVs in Indonesia, followed by other major brands such as SAIC-GM-Wuling, Chery, and GAC Aion. The popularity of Chinese EV brands in Indonesia is attributed to a combination of factors, including product competitiveness, local market adaptation, and policy alignment.
In terms of product competitiveness, Chinese automakers have made continuous breakthroughs in key technologies such as electric platforms, driving range, and charging efficiency, ensuring that their products meet the needs of Indonesian consumers. Additionally, China's mature industrial chain has significantly reduced production and supply chain costs, giving Chinese EVs a significant price advantage, making them a good fit for the local consumer market.
Regarding localization, Indonesia, with the world's largest nickel reserves, possesses critical minerals required for manufacturing electric vehicles and power batteries. This has attracted seven Chinese automakers, including BYD and Geely, to invest IDR 150 trillion (approximately USD 9.25 billion) from 2024 to March 2025, with a combined annual production capacity of 280,000 vehicles. Chinese battery and materials companies, such as CATL and BTR New Material, are also investing in manufacturing plants in Indonesia. The localization of production and collaboration by Chinese companies has not only reduced import tariff costs but also enabled them to adjust their product strategies to better suit the Indonesian market.
In terms of policy alignment, Indonesia's automotive industry is accelerating its shift to clean energy vehicles. Chinese EV brands are not only “product suppliers” but also support Indonesia's electric mobility infrastructure through technology transfer and talent development (such as participating in local battery plant construction and sharing EV manufacturing experiences). Kumala, Secretary-General of GAIKINDO, stated that Indonesia needs to focus on developing its battery component industry, particularly the core components like electric motors and battery management system semiconductors, which are still imported. The Chinese automotive parts industry is strong, and local Indonesian companies need to learn from and collaborate with Chinese counterparts.
2. Taobao Launches Thai-Language Version in Thailand
【Event】To enhance the online shopping experience for Thai consumers, Taobao has officially launched a Thai-language version. According to Taobao, since its launch over a month ago, new users in Thailand have increased by nearly 60% year-on-year.
The Thai version uses AI translation services based on Alibaba’s Tongyi large model, supporting Chinese, English, and Thai. After switching to the Thai interface, the system, product titles, and detail pages all display in Thai, and users can settle payments directly in Thai baht.
The Thailand market is a popular destination for Chinese e-commerce going global. With a population exceeding 70 million, a young demographic, and high internet penetration, Thailand offers a solid user base for e-commerce platforms. Amid the boom of cross-border e-commerce platforms, Chinese goods are widely welcomed by Thai consumers for their quality-price ratio and innovative design. For example, during the recent 618 shopping festival, Taobao’s Thailand station achieved steady GMV growth, with outstanding sales in apparel, home goods, and 3C digital products. The women’s shoes category saw GMV more than double year-on-year.
Currently, Taobao’s overseas expansion is steadily advancing. After launching the overseas growth plan in 2024, going global has become a new growth direction for Taobao merchants. Notably, after releasing a Russian version for Kazakhstan in May, Taobao launched multiple language versions for overseas markets within two months, accelerating its overseas pace. Compared to other cross-border e-commerce platforms, merchants in this plan retain ownership and pricing rights without extra operational costs. The process involves merchants sending overseas orders to official consolidation warehouses in mainland China; subsequent cross-border logistics are handled by the platform, enabling “one-click global selling.”
3. JOOCYEE Opens Its First Overseas Offline Flagship Store in Singapore
【Event】On July 21, 2025, Chinese beauty brand JOOCYEE launched its first overseas offline flagship store at Wisma Atria shopping mall on Orchard Road, a landmark commercial area in Singapore. Since entering the Singapore market in October 2024, JOOCYEE has established a presence in 24 major offline retail outlets and several online platforms. The new store will help deepen JOOCYEE’s footprint in Singapore.
Founded in 2019, JOOCYEE is a beauty brand under Shanghai Juyi Cosmetics Co., Ltd. offering products including lip gloss, lipstick, eyeshadow, blush, and concealer. In 2024, JOOCYEE served over 7 million consumers in China and sold more than 16 million lip products annually. Since JuYi Group launched its brand plan in 2021, JOOCYEE has actively expanded overseas to connect and serve local consumers more directly. By February 2023, JOOCYEE had opened over 600 overseas stores in countries like Japan and Canada. In 2024, the brand performed well in South Korea and entered the Singapore market the same year.
Several factors influenced JOOCYEE’s choice to open its first overseas offline store in Singapore. As a key fashion and beauty hub in Southeast Asia, Singapore has a mature and diverse consumer market. Its consumers are open to emerging beauty brands and highly demand quality and design, aligning well with JOOCYEE’s brand positioning. Additionally, Singapore’s developed retail industry and strategic location allow JOOCYEE to use it as a base to expand across Southeast Asia and the wider Asian market. The brand’s strong performance in Singapore’s online and other offline channels has built solid popularity and reputation, laying a solid foundation for the new flagship store.
4. Horen Group Completes Over CNY 100 Mn Series F Financing
【Event】Recently, Horen Group (Horen), a global intelligent packaging technology and circular service platform, announced the completion of over CNY 100 million in Series F financing, led by a leading industrial chain investment institution in China.
According to Horen, the funds will be mainly used to comprehensively enhance China’s full industry chain capabilities, continuously build gold standards in niche industries, and accelerate the implementation of the L4L (Local for Local) global localization strategy, empowering domestic and overseas partners to further consolidate its leading position in intelligent circular packaging.
Horen focuses on providing packaging circulation and shared solutions to customers across various industries. Relying on integrated R&D capabilities in logistics packaging, IoT, and circular management, combined with technologies such as “one box, one code,” shared cargo management, and AI-assisted decision-making, the company offers users a full-chain digitalized support from off-site PaaS (Packaging as a Service) reusable box services to on-site SaaS circular management, promoting circularity and shared use in logistics packaging.
Global deployment is a core part of Horen’s competitiveness. More than a decade ago, the company defined its development path, shifting from “product export” to “industry going global,” following the L4L (Local for Local) globalization concept. Using a “China standards + local operation” model, it has built a complete overseas system covering local manufacturing, marketing, and services. Currently, Horen has established strategic cooperation with multiple top overseas leasing service providers, with its service network covering major developed markets in Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea. Its international brand HOREN has entered the green supply chain systems of global brands such as Kewpie, Heinz, and Estée Lauder, with overseas revenue gradually approaching 50%.