Weekly Investment Overview
Largest AI Funding
Largest M&A Deal
First US Humanoid Robot
Biotech Fundraising
Auto IPO Funding
China's investment market showed remarkable vibrancy and diversification this week, with significant funding activities across AI, new energy, biotechnology, and consumer sectors. StepFun secured over 5 billion RMB in B+ financing, setting a new record for model-related financing in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, Anta Group acquired a 29.06% stake in PUMA for 1.5 billion euros (approximately 12 billion RMB), becoming its largest shareholder and marking China's first cross-border acquisition in 2026.
Key Deals
| Company | Sector | Amount | Deal Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| StepFun | AI Large Models | 5B+ RMB | B+ Round |
| Anta Group | Sports Retail | 1.5B EUR | Strategic Acquisition |
| DeepWay | Autonomous Trucking | 1.18B RMB | Pre-IPO Round |
| Shanghai Bestlink Biotechnology | Nano-conjugated Drugs | 200M+ RMB | B Round |
| Neowise Biotechnology | TCR-T Cell Therapy | 200M+ RMB | B Round |
| Fysics AI | Physical Simulation | Nearly 100M RMB | Pre-A1 Round |
Investment Highlights
The investment landscape this week demonstrates China's continued focus on technological innovation, particularly in artificial intelligence and biotechnology. The AI sector showed remarkable momentum with StepFun's record-breaking funding and the entry of AI expert Qi Yin into its core decision-making team, signaling that China's large model technology is accelerating from research to application. This trend is further validated by Qiming Venture Partners' successful investment strategy in AI, which has yielded 8 IPOs in the past 12 months, including 5 pure AI companies with market values exceeding 100 billion HKD.
In the new energy and semiconductor sectors, the market exhibits strong growth potential. Yinshi New Materials' financing for solid-state electrolyte production highlights capital's bet on next-generation battery technology. The semiconductor industry's price increases, with some products seeing up to 80% hikes, reflect market supply constraints and indicate Chinese semiconductor companies' strengthening position in the global supply chain. This aligns with global storage giants accelerating HBM4 mass production to meet explosive AI-driven demand.
The consumer and retail market shows signs of consolidation and internationalization, with Busy Ming Group's successful IPO as the "first bulk snack stock" and Anta's strategic acquisition of PUMA demonstrating Chinese companies' transition from "manufacturing exports" to "brand globalization." The autonomous driving and logistics sectors are also attracting significant capital, as evidenced by DeepWay's substantial Pre-IPO funding and JD Logistics' expansion of air freight capabilities.
China Market & Policy Weekly Update
Industrial Profit Growth
Smart Device Manufacturing
Hainan Zero-tariff Imports
This week, China's market showed significant policy adjustments and market dynamics across multiple sectors. Total profits of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 0.6% year-on-year in 2025, ending three consecutive years of decline. Equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing performed exceptionally well, with intelligent consumer device manufacturing seeing profits surge by 48%. However, the manufacturing PMI for January fell to 49.3%, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous month, indicating a decline in manufacturing prosperity.
Policy Analysis
The VAT rate adjustment for value-added telecommunication services from 6% to 9% represents a significant fiscal policy shift aimed at increasing government revenue. This change will directly impact the three major telecom operators and potentially lead to service price increases. The timing of this policy suggests the government is working to strengthen fiscal positions while carefully balancing consumer impact, as it coincides with consumer stimulus measures like the prize-winning invoice program in 50 cities.
In terms of trade and investment policies, the performance of Hainan Free Trade Port one month after island-wide customs closure demonstrates the effectiveness of China's free trade zone strategy. The 2.43-fold year-on-year increase in zero-tariff imported goods value, coupled with the expansion of policy coverage to approximately 6,600 tax items (74% of all commodity tax items), showcases China's commitment to high-level opening-up and establishment of a competitive free trade port system.
The coordinated approach to anti-internal competition policies, with multiple departments jointly promoting unified investment attraction behavior lists that clearly define encouraged and prohibited actions, signals a strategic shift in regional economic development. This policy aims to transform local governments' economic promotion behaviors from low-price competition to high-quality value competition, which should benefit sustainable economic development and more efficient resource allocation.
China's market and policy dynamics this week reflect a multifaceted approach to economic challenges through fiscal, taxation, and industrial policies. The 0.6% growth in industrial profits, ending three consecutive years of decline, signals economic stabilization and potential recovery, particularly in high-tech manufacturing where intelligent consumer device manufacturing saw a remarkable 48% profit growth. These figures align with the government's emphasis on industrial upgrading and technological innovation.
The VAT rate adjustment for telecom services indicates a recalibration of fiscal policy to strengthen government revenue streams, which may be necessary to support increased investment in strategic emerging industries. This should be viewed alongside the investment trends in the energy sector, where key energy projects exceeded 3.5 trillion RMB in 2025, up nearly 11%, with significant increases in new energy storage and hydrogen energy investments.
The consumer stimulus measures, particularly the prize-winning invoice trial in 50 cities, represent innovative approaches to boosting domestic consumption while improving tax compliance. This is particularly important given the manufacturing PMI's decline to 49.3%, indicating weakened market demand. These policy adjustments, combined with the early success of Hainan's Free Trade Port, demonstrate China's dual focus on domestic consumption growth and high-level opening-up as complementary strategies for economic development.
Tech Market Overview
This week, China's technology market demonstrated significant innovations and advancements across artificial intelligence, smart vehicles, and digital infrastructure. Chinese tech companies released multiple groundbreaking AI models, with Alibaba's Qwen3-Max-Thinking surpassing international top-tier models in multiple benchmark tests, and its model downloads reaching 1 billion, setting a new global AI open-source benchmark. Meanwhile, Ant Group continued its progress in embodied intelligence, open-sourcing models like LingBot-VLA that significantly improve robot operation success rates.
Rural 5G Coverage
6G Key Technologies
Global 5G Patents
Tech Frontiers
The technology landscape in China this week reveals a strong commitment to advancing core technologies and their practical applications. In artificial intelligence, Chinese companies have demonstrated remarkable progress with Alibaba's Qwen3-Max-Thinking surpassing international top models and achieving 1 billion downloads, signaling China's growing influence in the global AI open-source community. Simultaneously, Alibaba's self-developed "Zhenwu810E" AI chip, with performance exceeding NVIDIA A800, highlights China's advancements in reducing dependence on imported chips for AI computing infrastructure.
Digital infrastructure development shows impressive nationwide coverage, with 95% of administrative villages now having 5G access and rural internet penetration exceeding 69%. China's 42% share of global 5G standard essential patents and the ongoing research into 6G with over 300 key technologies in reserve demonstrates the country's determination to maintain leadership in next-generation communications. This infrastructure provides the foundation for digital economy growth and enables technological innovations in various sectors.
The integration of AI with various industries shows significant progress. In embodied intelligence, Ant Group's LingBot-VLA model has set new records for real robot operation success rates. ShengShu Technology's Vidu Q3, the world's first AI tool supporting one-time generation of 16-second videos, represents a breakthrough in content creation. Meanwhile, PowerChina's first hydro-photovoltaic-storage integration project in Sichuan showcases the convergence of green energy technologies, producing 280 million kWh annually and saving 87,000 tons of standard coal. These developments illustrate how technological innovation is driving both economic growth and sustainability in China.
Trending Tech Keywords
Selected News
Huawei Kunlun DVR Vehicle Recording System Upgraded with Six-way Monitoring, HarmonySpace 5 Simultaneously Updated
Huawei Kunlun Intelligent Automotive Solution announced its cloud DVR vehicle recording system has been comprehensively upgraded, adding dual front-side angles to achieve six-way dead-angle-free monitoring, greatly enhancing driving safety and convenience. Additionally, Kunlun autonomous driving ADS 4.1 and HarmonySpace 5 cockpit were also updated.
CCTV: China Achieves 5G Coverage in 95% of Administrative Villages, 6G Research Reserves Over 300 Key Technologies
CCTV reported that by the end of 2025, 5G networks had covered all towns and 95% of administrative villages in China, with rural broadband users exceeding 200 million households and internet penetration rate exceeding 69%. Meanwhile, China has completed the first phase of 6G technology testing with over 300 key technologies in reserve, with commercial application expected around 2030.
Ant Group and Northeastern University Launch AlignXplore+, 8B Model Surpasses 20B Open Source Models in Personalization
Ant Group and Northeastern University research team jointly launched AlignXplore+, providing a text-based user modeling paradigm for large model personalization, solving the non-interpretability and migration issues of traditional recommendation systems and dialogue models. The 8B parameter model outperformed 20B and 32B open source models in multiple out of nine benchmark tests.
Alibaba's Self-Developed "Zhenwu810E" AI Chip Officially Launched, Performance Exceeds NVIDIA A800
Alibaba's self-developed high-end AI chip "Zhenwu810E" has officially launched, marking the first appearance of Alibaba's AI golden triangle "Tongyunge". The chip has been deployed in multiple thousand-card clusters on Alibaba Cloud with technical specifications including 96G HBM2e memory and 700 GB/s inter-chip interconnection bandwidth, with performance exceeding NVIDIA A800 and comparable to H20.
Alibaba Qwen Releases Qwen3-Max-Thinking, Super-Large Reasoning Model Sets New Global SOTA
Alibaba Qwen officially released Qwen3-Max-Thinking, a super-large reasoning model that surpassed GPT-5.2-Thinking, Claude-Opus-4.5, and Gemini 3 Pro in 19 authoritative benchmark tests, setting a new global SOTA. The model's total parameters exceed one trillion and uses 36T Tokens of pre-training data.
China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom Announce VAT Rate Adjustment from 6% to 9% for Value-added Telecom Services
China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom issued announcements that due to new regulations from the Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration, the VAT rate for value-added telecommunication services will be adjusted from 6% to 9% starting January 1, 2026. This adjustment will impact the three major operators' revenue and profits, potentially leading to service price increases, and will help increase fiscal revenue.
National Bureau of Statistics: China's Industrial Enterprises Above Designated Size Achieve 0.6% Profit Growth in 2025
The National Bureau of Statistics announced that industrial enterprises above designated size in China achieved a total profit of 7.3982 trillion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 0.6%, ending three consecutive years of decline. Equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing performed particularly well, contributing 2.8 percentage points to overall profit growth and achieving 13.3% growth, respectively, with intelligent consumer device manufacturing profits surging by 48%.
Hainan Free Trade Port Shows Significant Results One Month After Island-wide Customs Closure
One month after the island-wide customs closure of Hainan Free Trade Port, the "zero-tariff" policy has shown significant effects. As of January 27, 2026, the value of "zero-tariff" imported goods reached 857 million yuan, a 2.43-fold year-on-year increase, saving approximately 129 million yuan in taxes. The policy coverage has expanded to about 6,600 tax items, accounting for 74% of all commodity tax items, an increase of nearly 53 percentage points compared to before the closure.
NDRC and Ministry of Finance Deploy "Anti-Internal Competition" Policies to Standardize Investment Attraction
The National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, and other departments jointly issued policies to address "internal competition," aiming to provide legal support for investment attraction. They plan to introduce a nationwide unified investment attraction behavior list, clearly defining encouraged and prohibited specific actions. This initiative aims to standardize local governments' economic promotion behaviors and drive a shift from low-price competition to high-quality value competition.