China Digital Digest Weekly: Exploring the Chinese Digital Landscape

Hi folks, we are back with our weekly edition of China’s Digital Digest, wherein we would bring you weekly updates on China’s digital space. The report takes a quick glance at China’s complex and rapidly evolving social media landscape by providing updates on the latest happenings across the social media industry. Here are the major highlights of the report.

1. Messi to Appear with Liquor Seller in Live Show on Alibaba’s Taobao

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibabas-taobao-host-lionel-messi-093000053.html

Football superstar Lionel Messi is scheduled to show up in a live-streaming show on Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao Live platform on the evening of 14th June, a day before Beijing is set to host a friendly match between last year’s World Cup champions Argentina and Australia.

The legendary football player will make a live appearance with Chinese influencer Li Xuanzhuo between 6 pm to 9 pm, according to a poster released by Alibaba. Alibaba did not disclose the commercial terms related to Messi’s appearance.

2. US Senators Want TikTok CEO to Explain Continued Data Storage in China

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/senators-call-tiktok-ceo-explain-inaccurate-statements-company-99907072

Two US senators are asking TikTok to explain what they called “misleading or inaccurate” responses about how it stores and provides access to US user data after recent news reports raised questions about how the Chinese-owned social media platform handles some sensitive information.

In a letter sent to TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi, US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn cited a report from Forbes that said TikTok had stored financial information of US content creators who get paid by the company – including their Social Security numbers and tax IDs – on China-based servers.

3. KFC Celebrates World Environment Day with Four New Eco-Stores

https://daoinsights.com/news/kfc-celebrates-world-environment-day-with-four-new-eco-stores/

In honor of World Environment Day on June 5, global fast-food chain KFC has unveiled four offline Green Pioneer Stores in some of China’s major cities such as Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Guangzhou.

Launched as part of its annual “Be Natural, Be You” campaign, these eco-stores serve as hubs for showcasing environmental protection technology and green art, providing visitors with an immersive and educational experience on sustainable practices. Upon entering the space, visitors can see discarded straws transformed into art, neon signs illuminated by cycling power generation, and leather pillows made from recycled coffee grounds.

4. Luckin Becomes The First Coffee Chain to Open 10,000 Stores in China

https://www.worldcoffeeportal.com/Latest/News/2023/June/China-s-Luckin-Coffee-reaches-10,000-store-milesto

The Chinese low-cost coffee chain Luckin, also known as China’s answer to Starbucks, has reached the milestone of 10,000 stores with its latest opening in Xiamen, Fujian province.

Luckin is the first coffee chain operating in China to reach this number, beating out foreign and domestic competitors alike. Starbucks China is reportedly aiming to open 9,000 stores by 2025 and buzzworthy homegrown rival MANNER Coffee’s outlets currently number only in the hundreds.

5. Douyin Expands Self-operated E-commerce Business

https://shanghaiist.com/bytedances-douyin-expands-self-operated-e-commerce-business/

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, is gearing up for the “618” shopping festival on June 18th by expanding its self-operated e-commerce business. The company intends to make business attempts based on user demand in order to meet their needs at different stages.

The e-commerce division also wishes to optimize the user purchasing experience and expand product diversity. The platform has seven self-operated business lines including beauty, fast-fashion, cultural creativity, affordable, agricultural products, liquor, and a supermarket. According to sources, more self-operated e-commerce businesses are on the horizon, including luxury categories.

6. OPPO Partners With Football Legend Kaká at the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final

https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/06/12/oppo-kaka-uefa-champions-league-final/

Oppo, the official global partner of the UEFA Champions League, brought together fans from all over the world to watch the 2023 UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul. The company’s global brand ambassador, Kaka, was also in attendance to meet with fans and celebrate the event.

The company hosted an exclusive hospitality tent in the Champions Village, where fans could watch the match on a big screen and enjoy food and drinks. Guests could recreate their favorite UEFA Champions League moments with props like a trophy replica, jerseys, and a digital scoreboard. They could also try out Oppo’s latest products, including smartphones, tablets, earphones, and watches.

7. Apple Vision Pro Faces Potential Trademark Conflict with Huawei in China

https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/06/12/apple-faces-trademark-fight-over-the-name-vision-pro-in-china

During Apple’s recent WWDC23 developer conference, the tech giant officially unveiled its highly anticipated spatial computing headset, the “Vision Pro.” However, Apple might encounter an unexpected hurdle in the Chinese market due to a prior trademark registration by Huawei.

Huawei claims to have successfully registered the “Vision Pro” trademark on May 16, 2019, well before Apple’s announcement. The trademark protection granted to Huawei extends for a period of ten years, from November 28, 2021, to November 27, 2031. Consequently, Apple’s use of the “Vision Pro” name in China may potentially infringe upon Huawei’s trademark rights.

8. ByteDance Tests AI Chatbot Product “Grace”

https://time.com/6286069/bytedance-tiktok-artificial-intelligence-chatbot-china/

ByteDance is testing an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot among employees, joining rival Chinese internet conglomerates from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Baidu Inc. in a race to create a local version of ChatGPT.

ByteDance has code-named the project “Grace,” a ByteDance spokesperson said without revealing more details. Employees using the service will be greeted by a pop-up message saying it’s based on several large language models, according to one of the testers, who asked to remain unidentified discussing an internal project.

Wrapping Up

The vast and diverse nature of the Chinese Social Media space makes it incredibly challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments taking place. However, China’s Digital Digest brings you all the latest updates from there to keep you abreast of all the evolving trends.

To delve deeper into the findings of the May report, click here.