Tobias

The 2025 China Heat Pump Industry Annual Conference highlighted a shift beyond price competition towards technological innovation. While many companies remain in a price war, Haier’s 30% energy-saving technology and intelligent management platforms are gaining traction. The focus is expanding from basic heating to energy conservation, cost savings, and smart management for homes and buildings. Successful implementations in industrial parks and agricultural settings demonstrate significant cost reductions through multi-energy synergy. The industry emphasizes decarbonization and demands sophisticated system integration, requiring technological prowess from heat pump manufacturers.

The operator of “Sakura Anime,” a Chinese website illegally distributing Japanese anime, has been sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment and fined RMB 15,000 for copyright infringement and forging documents. The Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court upheld the original ruling after an appeal. The website allegedly disseminated over 2,100 anime series without permission, ignoring requests from licensed distributors to remove the content. The case highlights the fight against digital copyright infringement.

A viral moment at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show involving Li Auto’s CEO Li Xiang and Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun sparked online buzz. Li Xiang closed the door on Lei Jun while showcasing the Li Auto L6, leading to humorous speculation about Li “locking” him in. Xiaomi’s Xu Jieyun clarified that Lei Jun was examining the armrest design. Li Xiang explained he closed the door to allow Lei Jun to better experience the car’s interior.

Khaby Lame, the world’s second-most-followed influencer with 259 million followers, has joined Weibo, launching his first video and generating considerable interest. Known for his signature silent comedy and deadpan reactions, Lame’s move follows other foreign influencers finding success in China, such as Kai Cenat. Lame’s team hints at plans for him to fully integrate into Chinese social media and potentially travel to China, signaling a strategic expansion into the lucrative market. Forbes estimates Lame’s annual income at $20 million.

Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen introduced Qwen3-30B-A3B-Thinking-2507, a revamped reasoning model with significant upgrades in math and coding. It outperforms competitors like Gemini 2.5-Flash on benchmarks like AIME25 and LiveCodeBench v6. The model also shows improved performance in knowledge assessments, writing, agent functionality, and multi-lingual instruction understanding. Its expanded “thinking length” allows for more complex problem-solving. The model and Qwen Chat platform are available on open-source platforms, providing developers with a robust AI tool.

Logitech is actively diversifying its manufacturing footprint outside of China to mitigate U.S. tariffs, aiming to reduce its U.S. imports made in China to under 10% by year-end. The company is relocating production to countries like Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam. The CEO stated this diversification has been successful without increasing material costs. Logitech previously implemented a price increase to offset tariffs but currently has no plans for further adjustments.

A woman in Nantong, China, drew a license plate with the sequence “88888,” sparking social media buzz. Rumors circulated about a quick resale for $388,000, but she and the dealership deny these claims. While offers reportedly reached $153,000, she intends to keep the car. Chinese regulations usually prevent direct plate sales, although valuable “leopard number” plates are sometimes auctioned, with some fetching exorbitant prices, like the “Yue V99999” which sold for $445,000.

iKang Healthcare CEO Zhang Ligang’s recent remarks questioning the predictive capabilities of general health screenings have sparked controversy. Zhang stated that routine check-ups are opportunistic and cannot reliably predict specific future cancer diagnoses, citing the lack of reliable tumor markers for early kidney cancer detection. This viewpoint has been criticized, with some questioning the value of screenings. iKang has responded, claiming Zhang’s comments were selectively reported and his words were distorted, damaging the company’s reputation.

A QuestMobile report reveals China’s mobile internet landscape, with 1.267 billion MAUs. The “winner-takes-all” effect is intensifying, leading to clear market tiers. Tencent and Alibaba lead, but ByteDance (抖音集团) has surpassed Baidu in user reach, shifting the dominance from “BAT” to “DAT.” JD.com and ByteDance are experiencing significant user growth, while others like Pinduoduo and Meituan show more modest or negative growth, indicating a dynamic market.

Japan held its annual “Most Adorable First-Year Junior High and High School Girls” contest, TGC teen 2025 Summer. Over 3,500 high school girls participated, evaluated through applications, interviews, online votes, social media engagement, and livestream viewership. Kokoro won the junior high division, and Nanri took the high school title. The competition offers an alternative path to the entertainment industry, leveraging social media presence, though facing some criticism regarding commercialism and contestant maturity.