Amid fast-paced changes that fill the business community with excitement, angst and trepidation, EqualOcean will publish a series of roundup articles to document the major events related to Chinese companies going global every week.
Weekly Overview（25/01-31/01）
1.BYD (比亚迪) has set an overseas sales target of 1.3 million vehicles for 2026, challenging a year-on-year growth of 25%.
2.Chery (奇瑞) has reached an agreement with Nissan (日产) to acquire Nissan's South African plant, accelerating its expansion into the African market.
3.In 2025, Chinese energy storage enterprises secured over 360 GWh in new overseas orders, a year-on-year increase of 144%.
4.ANTA Sports (安踏体育) plans to acquire a 29.06% stake in Puma for 1.5 billion euros.
5.In 2025, China's new energy vehicle exports reached 3.43 million units, representing a year-on-year growth of 70%.
6.Busy Ming Group (鸣鸣很忙) listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with its share price surging over 80% at the opening and its total market value peaking at over 90 billion HKD.
7.Pony.ai (小马智行) has partnered with ATBB (爱特博) to introduce Robotaxis into the high-end mobility market.
8.WeRide (文远知行) has released its universal simulation model, WeRide GENESIS.
9.JD Airlines (京东航空) has launched a flight route between Wuhan and Bangkok, adding a new artery to international air cargo.
10.Unilever (联合利华) intends to sell its home care businesses in Colombia and Ecuador.
11.The probability of the Federal Reserve maintaining interest rates unchanged through March stands at 86.6%.
12.Alibaba T-Head (阿里平头哥) has officially launched its self-developed AI chip, "Zhenwu."
13.Westwell (西井科技) has secured one of the largest orders from Westports Malaysia, a major ASEAN transshipment hub, signing for 60 smart connected heavy trucks and an integrated smart battery-swapping station solution.
Selected Developments
1. Chery Reaches Agreement with Nissan to Acquire South African Plant
[Event] Recently, Nissan (日产汽车) announced an agreement with Chery South Africa (奇瑞南非公司), under which Chery will acquire assets of Nissan’s Rosslyn plant in Pretoria, South Africa, including land, factory buildings, and peripheral stamping equipment. The transaction is expected to close by mid-2026.
The Rosslyn plant, established in 1966 and in operation for nearly sixty years, is Nissan's sole production base in South Africa. Per the agreement, post-closing, Nissan will continue to provide vehicle sales and after-sales services in the South African market via imports. It plans to launch new SUV models, including the Tecton and Patrol, in 2026. The Nissan Tecton, built on the CMF-B platform, is scheduled for its global debut in India on February 4, 2026. This divestment is part of Nissan's global strategic adjustment aimed at scaling back global production and optimizing capacity.
Meanwhile, Chery has amassed over 60,000 users since entering the South African market in 2021, with sales ranking among the top passenger car brands locally.
2. China's NEV Exports Reach 3.43 Million Units in 2025, Up 70% YoY
[Event] On January 25, Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the CPCA (乘联分会), released the 2025 annual analysis of China’s auto export market. The report shows that China's auto exports maintained high growth in 2025, with total annual exports reaching 8.32 million vehicles, a 30% increase year-on-year (YoY). December alone saw 990,000 units exported, a surge of 73% YoY, demonstrating strong year-end momentum.
In terms of power structure, New Energy Vehicles have become the core engine. Annual NEV exports reached 3.43 million units in 2025, up 70% YoY, far exceeding the 16% growth rate of 2024. Structural changes are evident: while Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) still hold the highest share (28%), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) have surged. The annual share of PHEVs rose to 13% (+8% YoY), with December’s PHEV export share hitting 17%. Commercial vehicles, such as PHEV pickup trucks, have become new export highlights.
Geographically, the market landscape has shifted significantly. In 2025, Mexico leaped to become the top destination for Chinese auto exports with 625,000 units, followed by Russia (583,000 units) and the UAE (572,000 units). NEV exports remained highly concentrated in high-quality markets like Belgium, the UK, and Mexico. Analysts point out that PHEVs and hybrids are replacing BEVs as new export growth drivers, signaling a transition toward high-quality development in Middle Eastern and developed markets.
3. ANTA to Surpass Artémis as the Largest Single Shareholder of PUMA
[Event] On January 27, ANTA Sports Products Limited (安踏体育用品有限公司) officially announced that it entered into a share purchase agreement with Artémis on January 26. ANTA intends to acquire a 29.06% stake in PUMA SE for a cash consideration of approximately 1.506 billion euros (approx. 12.278 billion RMB).
Upon completion, ANTA will surpass Artémis to become PUMA’s largest single shareholder. This acquisition is a major milestone in ANTA’s "Single-Focus, Multi-Brand, and Globalization" strategy. As a globally renowned professional and lifestyle sports brand, PUMA's niche positioning is highly complementary to ANTA's existing brands like FILA and DESCENTE, helping ANTA further refine its global brand matrix and enhance international competitiveness.
ANTA stated that the acquisition is fully funded by the group's internal cash reserves. Currently, ANTA has no plans to launch a mandatory general offer for PUMA and has pledged to fully respect PUMA's independent governance structure as a German-listed company. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026, at which point ANTA intends to seek representation on PUMA’s Supervisory Board.
4. Pony.ai Partners with ATBB to Enter High-End Mobility Market with Robotaxis
[Event] Recently, autonomous driving company Pony.ai (小马智行) and high-end mobility service provider ATBB (爱特博) officially reached a business partnership. The two parties will co-build a fully driverless mobility service fleet focusing on high-end scenarios such as urban commuting and airport transfers, marking the Robotaxi industry's first explicit entry into the premium mobility segment.
According to the plan, the first joint fleet has obtained L4-level fully driverless testing and demonstration application licenses, authorized for operation in Tier-1 cities. These vehicles, built on Pony.ai’s 7th-generation Robotaxi model, will be integrated into both Pony.ai’s self-operated platform and ATBB’s Star Travel (星徽出行) platform. The core logic of this partnership lies in complementary strengths: Pony.ai provides autonomous driving technology backed by over 60 million kilometers of road testing, while ATBB contributes its customer resources and service expertise in aviation business travel and luxury vehicle services.
James Peng, Founder and CEO of Pony.ai, stated that this cooperation is a key implementation of the "Asset-Light + AI Empowerment" strategy. Shao Lixin (邵立新), Chairman of ATBB, emphasized that the partnership will provide high-net-worth individuals with a "private, exclusive, and tech-forward" travel experience. This move not only increases the per-vehicle revenue value of Robotaxis but also signals the upgrade of autonomous driving services from "convenient transport" to "quality mobility."
5. WeRide Releases Universal Simulation Model WeRide GENESIS
[Event] On January 28, autonomous driving technology company WeRide (文远知行) officially released its self-developed universal simulation model—WeRide GENESIS. By bridging physical AI and generative AI, the model integrates the "physical world" with the "virtual simulation world," aiming to accelerate the large-scale R&D and commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles.
Leveraging generative AI, WeRide GENESIS can construct highly realistic virtual urban environments within minutes. Its core value lies in the precise replication of "extreme corner cases" that are difficult to encounter frequently on real roads, allowing autonomous driving systems to undergo high-intensity training in virtual environments. By feeding simulation-generated experience back into real-world operations, the model significantly improves the iteration efficiency of algorithms for complex scenarios while drastically reducing the time and financial costs of traditional road testing.
Currently, WeRide is dual-listed on the NASDAQ and the HKEX. The release of WeRide GENESIS marks a major breakthrough in simulation technology, further strengthening its core competitiveness in the large-scale deployment of autonomous driving.
6. Alibaba T-Head Officially Launches Self-Developed AI Chip "Zhenwu"
[Event] On the morning of January 29, the official website of T-Head (平头哥半导体有限公司), a wholly-owned semiconductor subsidiary of Alibaba Group (阿里巴巴集团), launched the high-end AI chip "Zhenwu 810E (真武810E)." This marks the official debut of Alibaba's self-developed PPU (Parallel Processing Unit, 并行处理器). With this, the "Tong-Yun-Ge" golden triangle of Alibaba AI—comprising Tongyi Lab (通义实验室) (models), Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) (cloud platform), and T-Head (chips)—has officially emerged. Alibaba has become one of only two companies globally (the other being Google) to possess top-tier capabilities across big models, cloud, and chips.
The "Zhenwu 810E" utilizes a self-developed parallel computing architecture and chip-to-chip interconnect technology, achieving vertical integration through full-stack self-developed hardware and software. The chip is equipped with 96GB of HBM2e memory and features an interconnect bandwidth of 700GB/s, making it suitable for AI training, inference, and autonomous driving. Industry data suggests its overall performance has surpassed NVIDIA’s A800 and is comparable to the NVIDIA H20.
Currently, Alibaba has deployed the "Zhenwu" PPU on a large scale for the training and inference of its Tongyi Qianwen (通义千问) large models. On Alibaba Cloud, the chip has been deployed in multiple "10,000-card clusters," serving over 400 clients, including the State Grid, CAS, XPeng Motors, and Sina Weibo. Through the collaborative innovation of the "Tong-Yun-Ge" system, Alibaba aims to build an AI supercomputer optimized deeply across chips, cloud, and model architectures.
About EqualOcean
Since 2018, EqualOcean has been dedicated to tracking and analyzing the global expansion of Chinese enterprises. We welcome contributions from industry professionals to share your expertise and insights. Companies seeking international growth, media exposure, or discussions on overseas strategies are also encouraged to contact us directly.
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