Unpacking China | Key Chinese Firms to Watch This Week （24/05/2026-30/05/2026）

Weekly Overview (24/05-30/05)

1. Dajin Heavy Industry (大金重工) Signs Shipbuilding Construction Contract Worth Approximately 1.069 Billion RMB with Dutch Shipowner

2. SF Express (顺丰集团) Signs Strategic Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding with Changi Airport Group to Further Deepen Footprint in Asia-Pacific Market

3. TikTok Shop Fully Opens Onboarding in Ireland, Allowing Local Brands Zero-Threshold Shop Openings

4. XPENG (小鹏汽车) Officially Takes Over Indonesian Plant EIDO: Assuming Management of West Java Production Base to Launch Fully Self-Operated Localized Operations

5. Dreame (追觅科技) Officially Signs Cristiano Ronaldo as Global Brand Ambassador to Deepen Its Global High-End Intelligent Ecosystem Layout

6. DeepSeek (深度求索) Tops OpenRouter Global Large Model Call Rankings

7. China Realizes Export of 8.32 Million Vehicles in 2025, Recording 30% YoY Growth Speed Compared to Full-Year 2024

8. Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) Launches Qwen Cloud and MuleRun Overseas in Singapore

9. Pony.ai (小马智行) Q1 Revenue Surges to $34.3 Million

10. HONOR (荣耀) Registers 19% YoY Growth in Q1 2026, Ranking First in Growth Speed Among Global Top 10 Smartphone OEMs According to Omdia

11. GAC Group (广汽集团) Releases Global Expansion Report Card: 2025 Exports Exceed 130,000 Units, Setting an Aggressive Growth Target of 250,000 Units for 2026

12. Xiaomi EV (小米汽车) Anticipates Official Global Launch in the Second Half of 2027

13. Tencent (腾讯) Makes $518 Million Strategic Equity Investment in Kazakhstani Integrated Fintech and E-commerce Platform Kaspi.kz

14. POP MART (泡泡玛特) Enters Brazilian Market with Labubu Series

15. Tencent (腾讯) Officially Launches Overseas Version of Productivity AI Agent WorkBuddy

16. CHAGEE (霸王茶姬) Q1 Overseas GMV Surges 139% YoY as Global Expansion Enters Acceleration Phase

Selected Developments

1. XPENG (小鹏汽车) Officially Takes Over Indonesian Plant EIDO: Assuming Management of West Java Production Base to Launch Fully Self-Operated Localized Operations

【Event】Recently, definitive official documents disclosed by the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) confirmed that Chinese new force automaker XPENG (小鹏汽车) has officially completed the acquisition of a 90.1% equity stake in PT Era Industri Otomotif (EIDO), an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing entity under the Indonesian listed company PT Sinar Eka Selaras Tbk (ERAL). This controlling equity transaction involving 154,072 shares became legally binding and effective on May 13.

As the direct executing entity of this asset-heavy M&A, XPENG Motors International Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited (小鹏汽车国际控股（香港）有限公司) has incorporated this Indonesian localized manufacturing entity into its self-operated assets, thoroughly executing a strategic shift from relying on third-party "contract manufacturing" to "holding production dominance." This signifies that the supply chain integration of Chinese EV startups within ASEAN's largest automotive market has entered deep waters.

The most critical asset in this acquisition is the electric vehicle production and assembly plant located in Purwakarta, West Java Province, Indonesia. Serving as XPENG's (小鹏汽车) first substantive production center established overseas, the base has been operating under a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) model since July 2025—when the first unit of its flagship electric MPV, the XPENG X9, rolled off the line relying on ERAL's channels—and currently maintains a regular monthly capacity of around 800 units.

By bringing 90.1% of EIDO's equity under its direct control, XPENG (小鹏汽车) will not only fully secure the regulatory dividends of luxury tax and import tariff exemptions provided by the Indonesian government for localized manufacturing (IKP), but can also perform direct, high-level, fine-tuned allocations over the entire assembly line's processes, workflows, and component inventory reserves, completely averting potential compliance friction and efficiency drag inherent in previous contract-manufacturing models.

2. Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) Launches Qwen Cloud and MuleRun Overseas to Build a Comprehensive Product Stack for the AI Agent Era

【Event】Recently, Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) launched Qwen Cloud, its brand-new AI product official website, in Singapore for overseas markets, while simultaneously rolling out a series of product updates including the Agent product MuleRun, the intelligent agent programming platform Qoder, and the general-purpose desktop agent QoderWork. This release is not a standalone product launch, but rather a full-stack upgrade centered on the overseas AI market by Alibaba Cloud (阿里云), covering the model entry point, Agent products, programming platforms, desktop agents, and cloud infrastructure.

Among them, Qwen Cloud can be regarded as an AI-Native Cloud gateway tailored for overseas markets, primarily providing developers with model calls, API access, documentation, tools, and Agent capabilities. The platform hosts the Qwen series models, multimodal models, and inference services, and transforms cloud capabilities into formats more suitable for AI Agent invocation through Skills, CLI, and other interfaces.

Concurrently, Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) launched MuleRun for overseas markets, an Agent product that highlights multi-Agent collaboration, task decomposition, and automated execution, featuring built-in standardized Skills modules covering scenarios such as code generation, data analysis, document processing, and image/video generation. Compared to traditional chat assistants, MuleRun emphasizes execution capabilities for real-world tasks.

In terms of developer tools, Qoder 1.0 was officially released, upgrading from an AI IDE to a desktop application form factor. The new version of Qoder introduces a "Quest Mode," aiming to enable AI to complete end-to-end development processes spanning requirement analysis, code generation, deployment, and delivery; reports indicate that Qoder has accumulated over 5 million global users within nine months of its launch.

Furthermore, QoderWork, which targets broader office and productivity scenarios, also received an upgrade. Positioned as a general-purpose desktop agent, it supports a customized workbench mode, allowing different corporate roles and application scenarios to extend personalized interfaces. Unlike AI programming tools that primarily serve developers, QoderWork focuses on extending Agent capabilities into daily office workflows such as file organization, data processing, document generation, and task execution.

Crucially, Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) proposed the concept of "Agentic Cloud" at the infrastructure layer. Traditional cloud products are designed for human users, relying on consoles, menus, and visual configurations; however, in the Agent era, cloud capabilities must be converted into standardized modules that AI can directly comprehend and invoke. To this end, Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) has restructured more than 60 cloud products via Skill-oriented, MCP-oriented, and CLI-oriented modifications, enabling cloud services to be called by Agents just like functions or tools.

Broadly speaking, this release signifies that Alibaba Cloud's (阿里云) overseas AI strategy has upgraded from merely providing model APIs to delivering a complete product stack for the Agent era. From Qwen Cloud to MuleRun, Qoder to QoderWork, and finally to Agentic Cloud, Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) is attempting to unify models, tools, intelligent agents, desktop execution, and cloud infrastructure to construct a more robust AI Agent ecosystem for international developers and enterprises.

3. HONOR (荣耀) Registers 19% YoY Growth in Q1 2026, Ranking First in Growth Speed Among Global Top 10 Smartphone OEMs According to Omdia

【Event】Recently, on May 27, leading analytical firm Omdia released its latest data showing that in the first quarter of 2026, HONOR's (荣耀) global smartphone shipments reached 19.2 million units, representing a 19% year-on-year (YoY) increase and securing the top growth rate among the global top ten manufacturers. Behind this achievement lies an explosive growth in HONOR's (荣耀) overseas markets, which perfectly offset a retraction in its domestic sales.

Particularly in the Middle East market, HONOR's (荣耀) Q1 shipments surged by 73% YoY, propelling its market ranking to second place. In the core mid-to-high-end price tier ranging from $300 to $500—a segment long dominated by Samsung—HONOR's (荣耀) market share jumped significantly to 24%.

Concurrently, HONOR (荣耀) recorded a solid 30% growth in the Latin American market, ranking fourth, and achieved a 28% YoY increase in Southeast Asia, with its market share breaking into the top three for the first time in Singapore, a bellwether for high-end consumption.

4. Xiaomi EV (小米汽车) Anticipates Official Global Launch in the Second Half of 2027

【Event】Recently, during the Xiaomi Corporation (小米集团) Q1 2026 earnings conference call, Group Partner and President Lu Weibing (卢伟冰) officially detailed the strategic roadmap and implementation pace for Xiaomi EV's (小米汽车) global expansion.

Lu Weibing explicitly stated that Xiaomi EV's (小米汽车) overseas expansion is progressing steadily in strict accordance with the timeline drawn up during the previous investor conference, with the official launch timing finalized for the third and fourth quarters of 2027.

As the fundamental framework for this transnational expansion, Xiaomi has established three core strategies: "developed countries before developing countries; mid-to-high-end before mid-range; right-hand drive before left-hand drive." This unconventional "reverse assault" approach indicates that Xiaomi does not intend to repeat the old path of early Chinese brands that relied on low-cost vehicles to penetrate peripheral markets.

Instead, it intends to deploy its new generation of SU7, YU7, and the third mid-to-large-size strategic model scheduled to roll off the line by then, heading directly to high-barrier regions in Europe and the Asia-Pacific to engage in an ecosystem-level head-on battle with the world's top luxury titans.

5. CHAGEE (霸王茶姬) Q1 Overseas GMV Surges 139% YoY as Global Expansion Enters Acceleration Phase

【Event】Recently, CHAGEE Holdings Limited (霸王茶姬) released its financial results for the first quarter of 2026. The financial report demonstrates that the company's overseas operations achieved visible growth, with its global expansion blueprint advancing at an accelerated pace. In the first quarter, CHAGEE (霸王茶姬) generated a total GMV of 7.918 billion RMB, net revenue of 3.546 billion RMB, and an adjusted net profit of 507 million RMB.

The overseas market emerged as the primary highlight of the quarter. During Q1, CHAGEE's (霸王茶姬) overseas GMV reached 426 million RMB, representing a substantial 139% YoY surge. As of late March, the company's total number of overseas outlets reached 374, spanning multiple countries and regions across Southeast Asia and North America. Since the beginning of this year, the company has continuously expanded its footprints in Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, and Macau.

Beyond scaling up its store network, CHAGEE (霸王茶姬) is also strengthening its localized operational capabilities. The company completed Halal certification in Indonesia to adapt to local market regulations, introduced region-exclusive products and pilot breakfast combos in Singapore to optimize multi-period revenue, and customized store formats across markets like the Philippines and South Korea to align with local consumer habits. On the whole, the overseas market is transforming into a vital growth pillar for CHAGEE's (霸王茶姬) next developmental phase.