Markets

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.

Tigo Energy and Haier Renewable Energy have announced a compatibility certification, ensuring seamless operation between Tigo’s Flex MLPE products and Haier’s hybrid solar inverters. This collaboration aims to deliver enhanced performance and value for residential energy consumers. A joint webinar will be held for installers in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, highlighting the partnership’s technical advantages. The integration underscores the importance of interoperability in simplifying solar deployments and accelerating the energy transition.

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.

Prime Medicine (PRME) announced a public offering of 38 million shares at $3.30 per share, expecting $125.4 million in gross proceeds. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will purchase 1.8 million shares without underwriter commissions. Underwriters have an option to purchase 5.7 million additional shares. The offering, managed by TD Cowen and BMO Capital Markets, is set to close around August 1, 2025. Proceeds will bolster Prime Medicine’s gene therapy pipeline advancement. The offering may cause dilution for existing shareholders.

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.

CreateAI Holdings (TSPH) will showcase its AI advancements and “Heroes of Jin Yong” game at ChinaJoy 2025. The open-world RPG, based on Louis Cha’s IP and built with Unreal Engine 5, will offer a first look at character designs. CreateAI will also feature “Breath of You,” an AI virtual companion, and “ACG Fans,” a platform for artists and cosplayers. The company aims to blend classic IPs with AI to redefine digital entertainment and empower user creativity. CreateAI is also developing “The Three-Body Problem” projects.

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.