China's Hellobike sets up new robotaxi firm with Ant Group, CATL
Bicycles of bike-sharing firm Hellobike are seen outside a subway station in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China March 13, 2018. Picture taken March 13, 2018. REUTERS
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South China Morning Post
19 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming plays critical role in firm's AI push despite low profile
Zhang Yiming, the billionaire founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, has become more involved in the company's artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, according to local media reports and sources familiar with the situation. While Zhang has stayed out of the public limelight since handing over the chairman and CEO roles to co-founder and former college dorm roommate Liang Rubo in 2021, the 42-year-old Chinese entrepreneur still plays a critical role behind the scenes of ByteDance's AI research, according to one source, who declined to be identified. The source said that Zhang regularly travels from Singapore, where he is based, to Beijing, where some of ByteDance's core AI researchers are located, to stay on top of the company's research activities. Zhang, who Bloomberg ranks as China's richest man with a net worth of US$57.5 billion, has regularly attended meetings with members of the firm's core AI team since the second half of 2024, according to the source. According to the Shanghai-based China Business News, Zhang's involvement in AI research was similar to the role Sergey Brin played at Google. Brin co-founded Google with Larry Page in 1998, but he stepped down as president of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, in 2019. The logo of ByteDance is seen on a mobile phone, on February 14, 2025. Photo: AFP The Paper, a Chinese news website backed by Shanghai United Media Group, reported on Friday that Zhang had increased his involvement in AI-related research at ByteDance. He has repeatedly emphasised his target of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), a type of AI that reaches or surpasses human cognitive capabilities, according to The Paper.
South China Morning Post
22 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Beijing could use Hong Kong as test bed for yuan-linked stablecoins: Morgan Stanley
China's central bank could use Hong Kong as a sandbox for testing digital payment alternatives to internationalise the yuan, but Beijing's digital currency ambitions face hurdles because of the country's economic challenges, according to Morgan Stanley. Hong Kong has established the world's first regulatory regime for stablecoins – digital tokens that are pegged to a reference asset like a fiat currency – with the law taking effect from August 1. The move positioned Hong Kong as a launch pad for yuan-pegged stablecoins, which could be used as a pilot for real-world cross-border settlement and offered a way to expand the use of the digital yuan internationally, Morgan Stanley analysts led by chief China economist Robin Xing said in a report last week. The sandbox would be supported by Hong Kong's robust offshore yuan liquidity pool, which was estimated at around 1 trillion yuan (US$139 billion). The allure of stablecoins lies in their ability to make cross-border transfers faster and more cost-effective, a feature that multinational companies hope could help streamline their operations, the report said. A yuan-linked stablecoin would be a good option for cross-border settlements, giving the currency a boost on the world stage, the report added. However, making the yuan truly international faces headwinds, the US bank's analysts said.
South China Morning Post
31 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Have Trump's Iran strikes given China a strategic advantage?
The US' direct engagement in the Israel-Iran conflict over the weekend could intensify its drive to secure critical resources – particularly rare earth minerals – a development that could strengthen China's position in its ongoing geopolitical and economic rivalry with Washington, analysts said. A potential escalatory spiral in the Middle East could push forward trade negotiations between the world's two largest economies, said Xu Weijun, an assistant research fellow at South China University of Technology's Institute of Public Policy. 'An intensifying situation would force the US to allocate more strategic resources there, leaving fewer resources available for competition with China in the Indo-Pacific, thereby easing pressure,' he said. 'On the other hand, one key focus of trade talks is rare earths, which are critical to modern technology and defence industries – and arguably a strategic vulnerability for the United States. As tensions escalate in the Middle East, Washington's urgency to secure these resources is likely to grow, giving Beijing more leverage at the negotiating table.' US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States had conducted a 'very successful attack' on three nuclear sites in Iran. Tehran has pledged retaliation, and threatened to close the vital Strait of Hormuz. The strike has fuelled fears among various countries that tensions in the region will further intensify, and deepened Washington's military entanglements abroad at a time when its trade relationship with China remains stalled. China and the US remain locked in a tense stalemate over tariffs and other trade issues, with the most recent talks in London yielding little tangible progress.
