China Insights Weekly highlighted other significant advances in Chinese business and technology. Here's a selection of five key points this week:

  • JD.com is heading to the European market: it wants to dominate MediaMarkt and Saturn
  • ByteDance strengthens its lead in AI videos and beats Google
  • Chinese scientists transfer brain images into visual form using AI
  • Three Chinese brands are going public: Softcare, Dahon and Ridge Outdoor
  • China doubles pace of renewable energy construction, solar power leads
  • China's Yantai is the world's most beautiful new airport for 2025

Main News

JD.com targets European market: plans to take over Ceconomy (MediaMarkt and Saturn)

JD.com, through its German subsidiary, has offered 4,60 € za akcii to buy Ceconomy, which values parent company MediaMarkt and Saturn at 2,2 miliardy €. JD already owns almost 32 % and controls 57 % voting rights.

The conditions include the retention of all shops and jobs for a minimum of three years. JD aims to gain direct access to an extensive network of more than 1,000 European brick-and-mortar stores and build a strong offline base for its e-commerce activities outside China.

ByteDance rules AI videos: Seedance 1.0 and DreamActor-M1

ByteDance has introduced two new AI-powered video generation models. Seedance 1.0 beats competitors like Google Veo3 in both speed and cost - creating a 5s video in less than 10 seconds and less than $0.50.

Model DreamActor‑M1 allows you to convert a static image into a realistically animated character with movement and voice. It uses advanced face tracking, diffuse transformations and 3D modeling. With this, ByteDance consolidates its position as a leader in generative video.

Brain linked to AI: Chinese scientists read a monkey's visual perception

Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have successfully decoded the brain activity of a monkey and transferred it into a real image using AI. The monkey watched the animal's image and the AI reconstructed it from the brain recording with surprising accuracy.

This experiment marks a significant advance in the field of brain-computer interface (BCI) and may lead to applications in neurology, neuroprostheses and mind-controlled interfaces. With this move, China is showing ambition in the field of neurotechnology linked to artificial intelligence.

CSPC enters into $2.1 billion global licensing agreement with US firm Madrigal

Chinese pharmaceutical company CSPC Pharmaceutical has entered into a global licensing agreement with an American company Madrigal Pharmaceuticals v hodnotě až 2,1 miliardy USD for the development and commercialization of the oral weight loss drug SYH2086. Madrigal will pay $120 million upfront and additional amounts in the form of milestones and shares of sales.

The drug SYH2086, based on GLP-1 agonists, is intended to be an alternative to injections such as Ozempic and Wegova. Preclinical studies to date show high efficacy and a favourable safety profile. The agreement underscores the growing global recognition of Chinese pharmaceutical research.

Three Chinese brands are going public: Softcare, Dahon and Ridge Outdoor

Following the success of brands such as Pop Mart and Mixue Bingcheng, three strong Chinese consumer brands with global reach are preparing to go public.

Softcare, the leader in hygiene products in Africa, reaches 2023 sales 410 milionů USD and controls 20 % of the baby diaper market. Dahon, the world's largest manufacturer of folding bicycles, recorded sales growth of 58.7 % and holds 21 % share in China. Ridge Outdoor, a specialist in fishing equipment, achieved sales 80,2 milionu USD and has 23 % global market share.

IPOs are intended to expand production, strengthen the brand and invest in research. The brands thus confirm the global ambitions of Chinese consumer companies.

37 Chinese airlines launch direct ticketing through state-owned Umetrip app

Celkem 37 Chinese airlinesincluding Air China, China Eastern and China Southern, have begun offering direct ticketing via the Umetrip platform, which falls under the state-owned company TravelSky Technology.

The aim is to limit the influence of commercial travel portals, which often inflate prices through dynamic packages and surcharges. Umetrip aims to offer fair prices and simplify the purchase process without middlemen.

According to the regulator CAAC, the air transport market suffers from price wars resulting from overcapacity and dependence on external sales channels. Direct sales are intended to improve transparency and price stability.

China doubles pace of renewable energy construction, solar power leads

During the first half of 2025, China installed a record 268 GW of new renewable energy capacity, což představuje 99.3 % increase year-on-year. Renewable sources accounted for 91.5 % of all new power plant installations v zemi.

Solární energie led with 212 GW - 100 GW from large projects and 112 GW from distributed systems. This was followed by vítr (51,4 GW), hydropower (3.9 GW) and biomass (710 MW).

China's total renewable energy capacity reached the end of June 2,16 TW, což tvoří 59,2 % of all power plant capacities. Solar energy alone is already 1.1 TW. Solar generation has increased by 42.9 % year-on-year to 559 TWh, using 94 %.

China doubles pace of renewable energy construction, solar power leads

China builds first inter-regional green hydrogen pipeline

China has begun construction of its the first interregional hydrogen pipeline, které povede 400 km z Ulanqabu v Vnitřním Mongolsku to Beijing. The project is being led by state-owned oil giant Sinopec and will transport hydrogen produced by electrolysis from wind power.

Once completed, the pipeline will supply up to 100,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year to the Yanshan Complex. Future expansion is planned up to 500,000 tonnes. Production will be ensured by 1GW wind electrolysis plant. The project is key for decarbonisation of heavy industry and the development of the hydrogen economy in China.

China's Yantai is the world's most beautiful new airport for 2025

Yantai Penglai International Airport (Terminal 2) in eastern China's Shandong Province has been awarded the title of "World's Most Beautiful New Airport 2025" in prestigious awards Prix Versaillesawarded by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects.

The jury appreciated the architecture, design and cultural integration of the new terminal. The second place went to Terminal 1 in Marseille (France) and the third place went to the arrivals terminal at Roland Garros Airport on the island of Réunion.

Chinese expedition discovers deepest living ecosystems on Earth

Chinese-led scientific mission discovers a new ocean in the Pacific Northwest the deepest known living ecosystem - v hloubce až 9 500 metrů in the Kuril-Kamchatsky and Aleutian trenches.

Colonies of worms and bivalves survive here thanks to chemosyntézethat is, the conversion of substances such as hydrogen sulphide and methane escaping from lithospheric faults, and thus do without sunlight.

A discovery made by a submarine Fendouzhe, pushes the boundaries of existing ideas about living systems and suggests that similar ecosystems may be more common in other deep-sea locations.