Chinese firms lag behind US peers in AI development ‘by two years’, Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai says

“China is somewhat behind, obviously,” Tsai said, citing how ChatGPT creator OpenAI has leapfrogged the rest of the tech industry in AI innovation, in a podcast interview published on Wednesday with Nicolai Tangen, chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management – the branch of Norway’s central bank that is responsible for managing the world’s largest … Read more

Alibaba’s logistics unit Cainiao to double year-end bonus for employees, in morale-boosting move after scrapped IPO

Hangzhou-based Cainiao will launch an “entrepreneurship incentive plan” that will double the bonus pool allocated for the financial year ending March 31, 2025, according to company chief executive Wan Lin in excerpts from an internal letter seen by the South China Morning Post. That means employees will receive their standard year-end bonus in April 2025 … Read more

China’s Alipay and WeChat Pay ease the way for foreign travellers to make payments in world’s largest cashless society

Alipay’s annual cumulative transaction limit for foreign visitors has also been increased to US$50,000, up from the previous US$10,000 limit, in line with a new People’s Bank of China policy, the group said. 02:40 How mobile payments impact people’s lives in China How mobile payments impact people’s lives in China Tencent on Thursday said foreign … Read more

Apple’s Vision Pro raises interest for extended reality technology, spurring broader demand for more affordable headsets, Rokid CEO says

The Vision Pro, which Apple first rolled out in the United States earlier this month, will help the whole extended reality (XR) sector grow and generate greater consumer interest, while expanding the development of relevant software and content, according to Rokid founder and chief executive Misa Zhu Mingming. “We’re very happy that Apple got into … Read more

Alibaba increases share buy-back by US$25 billion as profit and revenue miss estimates

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding reported lower-than-expected financial results in the December quarter, as the Hangzhou-based company grappled with challenging economic conditions and growing competition from new entrants in the online shopping sector. Net profit fell 77 per cent to 10.7 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) in the three months ended December 31, the company … Read more

China travel trends for 2024: more visa-free entry, domestic tourism to grow thanks to influencers, cultural tourism to favour smaller cities

Citing analysis released jointly by the WTTC and Oxford Economics, Simpson says that travel and tourism are estimated to have contributed 7.8 per cent to the Chinese economy in 2023, employing about 74 million people in an industry worth US$1.48 trillion. Tourists look at giant pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, … Read more

Alibaba’s Damo Academy kicks off operations at new unit, with goal to recruit and train over 100 postdoctoral researchers in next three years

Alibaba Group Holding’s Damo Academy has established a new research unit, which started recruiting the first batch of more than 100 postdoctoral candidates it aims to train, marking the Chinese e-commerce giant’s latest push to expand its global research programme in cutting-edge technologies. The new research unit will support these candidates’ postdoctoral work across various … Read more

Jack Ma-backed fishery-and-agriculture company 1.8 Meters starts sale of seafood products via Alibaba’s Freshippo and Tmall

Dozens of orders had been placed for those two seafood products on Tmall as of Tuesday noon, which could be viewed by some as a lukewarm performance on the platform. Taobao and Tmall have more than 800 million monthly active users as of November. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Dozens of orders had … Read more

Meet Wang Yong, the chef putting Hangzhou on the culinary map and enhancing Jiangzhe cuisine with great ingredients and technique

“I admire chef Wang for maintaining a clear and diligent spirit in this rapidly growing global trend of celebrity chefs,” says Amy Wong, an independent food writer with a Weibo following of 1.4 million. Wong has been following Wang’s cooking evolution over the past decade. Wang Yong of Jin Sha at the Four Seasons Hangzhou … Read more