China Insights Weekly highlighted China's economic and technological advances. Here are some key points from this week:
- Tesla to build the largest battery power plant in China
- Rokid AR glasses enable voice payments via Alipay
- Live-streaming AI avatars generated $7.6 million in revenue
- China launches 1,000 qubit quantum control system
Main News
MiniMax beats DeepSeek and Google in AI performance
Shanghai-based AI company MiniMax has unveiled the open-source MiniMax-M1, which outperforms competitors such as DeepSeek, Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. The M1 model excels in the AIME 2024 and LiveCodeBench benchmarks, requiring only half the computing resources of DeepSeek. It supports a context window of one million tokens, eight times larger than DeepSeek R1, and can generate outputs of up to 80,000 tokens. MiniMax also launched the second generation of its Hailuo 02 video AI model, which outperforms Google Veo 3 in quality and cost of video generation.
Tesla is building the largest battery storage facility in China
Tesla has struck its first deal to build the largest battery storage facility in China. The project, worth 4 billion yuan (approximately US$556 million), will be carried out in partnership with the local government of Shanghai and finance firm China Kangfu International Leasing. The aim is to redress the imbalance between supply and demand caused by intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
Rokid AR glasses with Alipay enable voice payments
Rokid, in partnership with Alipay, has launched AR glasses that enable contactless payments using voice commands. Users can link their Alipay account through the Rokid app, activate voice authentication and make payments simply by saying a command such as "Rokid, pay 10 RMB". The glasses scan the merchant's QR code and users confirm the transaction by voice. This technology reduces payment time to seconds and eliminates the need to use a smartphone or wallet. More than 250,000 units have already been pre-ordered, with distribution to begin in June 2025.
AI avatars generate millions in live streaming revenue
Virtual AI avatars are becoming a new trend in e-commerce in China. They generate sales of USD 7.6 million during live streams, indicating the growing importance of AI in online sales and customer interaction.
China launches quantum system with 1,000 qubits
China has announced the launch of a quantum control system with a capacity of 1,000 qubits, marking a significant step forward in quantum technology. This system has the potential to accelerate developments in computing, cryptography and other technological fields.
China Eastern Airlines to launch world's longest one-stop flight with Boeing 777
China Eastern Airlines will launch the world's longest one-stop flight connecting Shanghai Pudong with Buenos Aires Ezeiza via Auckland in December 2025. The route will be operated twice a week with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and will cover approximately 10,580 nautical miles, or 19,594 kilometres - a distance too great for a direct non-stop flight. The stopover in Auckland will allow the airline to manage range restrictions and take advantage of so-called fifth freedom rights, which allow passengers to book individual legs of the route independently. The move targets the underserved market between New Zealand and Argentina and strengthens China Eastern's global reach by offering a more direct link between China and South America compared to connecting in the Middle East or Europe.
Tomáš Kučera & Yereth Jansen
China-insights.com/gnews.cz - GH
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