China Market Weekly Update

2025/12/22 - 2025/12/28

Weekly Investment Overview

Market Leader in Dexterous Hands

80%
Linker Hand

Energy Storage Scale

35 GWh
Weineng Battery

Smart Computing Power

10,000+ PFLOP
DataCanvas

First L3 Autonomous Driving License

700,000+ Deliveries
Deepal

The Chinese investment market showed strong momentum this week, with strategic emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, new energy, biopharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing attracting significant capital. Companies with core technologies and innovative capabilities continue to be the focus of investors, particularly in AI, new energy, biotech, and high-end manufacturing sectors identified as national strategic priorities.

Investment Highlights

Global Leader: Linker Hand completed A++ round financing, becoming the world's only company mass-producing thousands of high-freedom dexterous hands with over 80% market share.
AI Breakthrough: Shenshi Technology completed Series C funding exceeding 800 million yuan, officially becoming a unicorn with its "Scientific Discovery Intelligence Engine" serving over 3 million scientists globally.
Automotive Milestone: Deepal completed 6.122 billion yuan Series C financing and received China's first official L3 autonomous driving license plate, marking China's entry into the L3 era.
Energy Storage Leader: Weineng completed nearly 1 billion yuan Series C equity financing with battery asset operation scale exceeding 35GWh, serving over 500,000 users as an industry leader.
Computing Power Expansion: DataCanvas completed a new round of financing, with its intelligent computing power management scale exceeding 10,000 PFLOP, ranking first in the South China market.
Space Intelligence: EllipSpace completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series C1 funding to build its "Star Pool Project" consisting of 112 intelligent satellites aimed at creating a "space embodied intelligence" system.

Key Deals

Company Sector Amount Deal Type
Shenshi Technology Artificial Intelligence 800+ million yuan Series C
Deepal Electric Vehicles 6.122 billion yuan Series C
Weineng Energy Storage Nearly 1 billion yuan Series C
Hailike Biotechnology Biopharmaceuticals Nearly 60 million yuan Angel Round
Zhili IoT Energy 100 million yuan Series B

This week's investment landscape reveals a clear strategic focus on innovation-driven sectors across China. The government's initiatives are increasingly aligned with private capital to foster technological self-reliance, particularly in areas like AI computing infrastructure, new energy solutions, and advanced healthcare technologies. The significant funding rounds in companies developing core technologies like high-freedom robotic hands, scientific AI engines, and advanced energy storage systems highlight China's push toward the high-end of global value chains.

Particularly notable is the National Entrepreneurship Investment Guidance Fund's establishment of three regional sub-funds in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, which have attracted nearly 1 trillion yuan in social capital. These funds, with an unusually long 20-year duration, signal China's commitment to long-term investment in frontier technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum technology, providing patient capital for innovations requiring extended development cycles.

China Market & Policy Weekly Update

Internet Platform Price Regulation

April 10, 2026
Implementation Date

Foreign Investment Categories

1,679 items
2025 Encouraged Catalog

NEV Trade-in Subsidy

¥20,000
2026 Consumer Policy

This week witnessed significant policy developments in China aimed at promoting high-quality economic growth, optimizing the business environment, strengthening social security, and advancing ecological civilization. Multiple regulatory frameworks and support measures were introduced to ensure sustainable development across various sectors.

Digital Economy
Internet Platform Price Behavior Rules
Jointly issued by NDRC, SAMR, and CAC, consisting of 29 articles prohibiting price dumping, price discrimination, and other unfair practices. Takes effect on April 10, 2026, establishing a comprehensive framework for fair competition in platform economy.
Investment
Encouraged Foreign Investment Catalog (2025)
Released by NDRC and MOC with 1,679 items, adding 205 and modifying 303 compared to 2022 version. Focuses on guiding foreign investment into advanced manufacturing, modern services, and high-tech sectors, effective February 1, 2026.
Consumption
Trade-in Subsidy Policy for 2026
Finance Minister Lan Fo'an announced continued support for national trade-in subsidies with optimized scope and standards. NEV subsidies increased from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, fuel vehicle subsidies from 7,000 to 15,000 yuan, backed by 300 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bonds.

Policy Analysis

China's policy landscape this week reveals a sophisticated approach to economic governance, balancing regulation and stimulation. The introduction of the Internet Platform Price Behavior Rules marks a significant maturation in China's digital economy regulation, addressing key issues like algorithmic discrimination and deceptive pricing that have plagued the sector. These rules aim to create a more transparent and fair competitive environment while protecting both platform operators and consumers.

The updated Encouraged Foreign Investment Catalog with its 205 new items demonstrates China's continued commitment to opening up, particularly in strategic areas aligned with industrial upgrading goals. The geographic emphasis on central, western, and northeastern regions highlights efforts to balance regional development while directing foreign capital toward areas of national priority. Complementing this investment focus, the enhanced trade-in subsidy policy serves multiple objectives: stimulating domestic consumption, accelerating the transition to green transportation, and supporting the continued dominance of China's new energy vehicle market globally.

Industrial Enterprise Profit Growth (Jan-Nov 2025)

The latest economic indicators show China's industrial economy continuing its structural transformation. While overall industrial enterprise profits grew marginally at 0.1% year-on-year from January to November, there's a clear divergence between traditional and emerging sectors. Equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing showed robust profit growth of 7.7% and 10.0% respectively, underscoring the effectiveness of industrial upgrading policies.

Tech Market Overview

The Chinese technology market demonstrated remarkable vitality this week, with breakthroughs across artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, new energy vehicles, and green energy sectors. Companies are increasingly focusing on commercializing AI technologies and integrating them into various industry applications, while also advancing foundational technologies in autonomous driving, battery innovation, and high-performance computing.

First L3 Autonomous Driving License

China's 1st
Deepal

First 30MW Pure Hydrogen Gas Turbine

200,000+ tons
Annual Carbon Reduction

Industrial Humanoid Robot Production

1,000 units
Walker S2 Production

Maglev Test Platform Speed Record

700 km/h
National University of Defense Technology

Tech Frontiers

Autonomous Driving Milestone: Deepal received China's first L3 autonomous driving official license plate, marking the country's entry into the L3 era of autonomous driving technology.
Green Energy Breakthrough: China's independently developed 30MW pure hydrogen gas turbine successfully achieved pure hydrogen power generation, becoming the world's first of its kind, reducing carbon emissions by over 200,000 tons annually.
Humanoid Robot Manufacturing: UBTECH's 1,000th industrial humanoid robot Walker S2 rolled off the production line, with production capacity exceeding 1,000 units and deliveries surpassing 500 units, planning to increase annual capacity to 10,000 units by 2026.
AI Image Processing Innovation: Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen released open-source Qwen-Image-Layered model that can decompose images into multiple RGBA layers with transparency information, significantly enhancing image editing flexibility.
Maglev Speed Record: The National University of Defense Technology's maglev team successfully accelerated a ton-level test vehicle to 700 kilometers per hour within two seconds, breaking the global record for similar platforms.
Next-Gen Battery Technology: CATL announced that sodium batteries will achieve large-scale application in battery swapping, passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles in 2026, with pure electric range exceeding 500km.

China's technological ecosystem is showing increasing maturity and self-reliance across multiple domains. The AI sector continues its rapid development with a dual-track approach of advancing foundation models while simultaneously focusing on industry-specific applications. Alibaba's open-sourcing of advanced image processing models reflects the growing trend of democratizing AI capabilities to foster broader ecosystem innovation, while specialized models like ByteDance's Seed Prover 1.5 demonstrate China's progress in developing domain-specific AI excellence.

The achievements in embodied intelligence are particularly noteworthy. UBTECH's production milestone of 1,000 industrial humanoid robots indicates that China is moving beyond research prototypes toward commercial-scale deployment of sophisticated robotic systems. Similarly, the joint release of bipedal and wheeled humanoid robots by Harbin Institute of Technology and Boshi Stock represents the growing integration of academic research with industrial applications, accelerated by the incorporation of large language models that enhance robots' understanding and interaction capabilities.

In the energy and transportation sectors, breakthrough technologies are addressing critical national priorities. The world's first 30MW pure hydrogen gas turbine represents a significant advancement in green energy generation, while CATL's sodium battery technology promises to reduce China's dependence on lithium resources while maintaining competitive performance metrics. The maglev speed record by National University of Defense Technology highlights China's continued investment in next-generation transportation technologies that could revolutionize both domestic connectivity and create exportable infrastructure solutions.

Selected News

Tech News List
December 29, 2025

Harbin Institute of Technology and Boshi Stock Jointly Release Two Humanoid Robots

Harbin Institute of Technology and Boshi Stock jointly released bipedal and wheeled humanoid robots featuring 7-DOF mechanical arms and full joint force control functionality. The robots are equipped with HIT's "Huozi-Rixin" large language model, enabling voice dialogue and instruction comprehension, with leg joints capable of maximum torque of 400Nm.

Reference

December 29, 2025

Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen Open Sources Qwen-Image-Layered Model

Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen has open-sourced the Qwen-Image-Layered model, which can decompose an image into multiple RGBA layers with transparency information. Users can perform fine-grained modifications, significantly enhancing image editing flexibility and precision.

Reference

December 28, 2025

World's First 30MW Pure Hydrogen Gas Turbine Achieves Stable Operation

China's independently developed 30MW pure hydrogen gas turbine has successfully achieved pure hydrogen power generation with stable operation, marking the successful implementation of the world's first 30MW-level "electricity-hydrogen-electricity" demonstration project, capable of reducing carbon emissions by over 200,000 tons annually.

Reference

December 28, 2025

CATL Announces Large-Scale Application of Sodium Batteries in 2026

CATL has announced that sodium batteries will achieve large-scale application in battery swapping, passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and energy storage in 2026. New sodium battery passenger vehicles will achieve pure electric range exceeding 500km and have already passed new national standard certification.

Reference

December 26, 2025

UBTECH's 1,000th Industrial Humanoid Robot Walker S2 Rolls Off Production Line

UBTECH's 1,000th industrial humanoid robot Walker S2 has rolled off the production line, with production capacity exceeding 1,000 units and deliveries surpassing 500 units. The company plans to increase annual capacity to 10,000 units by 2026, with applications in automotive manufacturing, smart manufacturing, and smart logistics.

Reference

Market & Policy News List
December 29, 2025

NDRC, SAMR, and CAC Jointly Issue Internet Platform Price Behavior Rules

The National Development and Reform Commission, State Administration for Market Regulation, and Cyberspace Administration of China have jointly issued the "Internet Platform Price Behavior Rules" consisting of 29 articles. The rules aim to regulate price competition order, prohibit price dumping, price discrimination, and other behaviors, and will take effect on April 10, 2026.

Reference

December 29, 2025

NDRC and MOC Release 2025 Edition of Encouraged Foreign Investment Catalog

The National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce have released the "Encouraged Foreign Investment Catalog (2025 Edition)" effective from February 1, 2026. The new catalog contains 1,679 items, adding 205 and modifying 303 compared to the 2022 edition, focusing on guiding foreign investment into advanced manufacturing, modern services, and high-tech sectors.

Reference

December 29, 2025

Finance Minister Announces Continued Support for Trade-in Subsidies in 2026

Finance Minister Lan Fo'an has announced that in 2026, the government will continue to allocate funds to support the national consumer goods trade-in subsidy policy with optimized scope and standards. New energy vehicle subsidies will increase from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, and fuel vehicle subsidies from 7,000 to 15,000 yuan, with 300 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to be issued in 2025 to support this policy.

Reference

December 24, 2025

Three Regional Sub-funds of National Venture Capital Guidance Fund Completed Registration

Three regional sub-funds under the National Venture Capital Guidance Fund completed business registration on the same day in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, with registered sizes of 29.646 billion yuan, 47.1 billion yuan, and 45.05 billion yuan respectively. Covering the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta, and Greater Bay Area, they are expected to attract nearly 1 trillion yuan in local and social capital.

Reference