Alibaba                   

Alibaba is a Chinese technology conglomerate founded in 1999 and a leader in e-commerce through its platforms Taobao, Tmall, and AliExpress. It is also diversified into cloud computing, logistics, and financial services via Ant Group. With an integrated digital ecosystem of over one billion users, the group monetizes a massive consumer database through retail, advertising, and Alibaba Cloud.

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​JD.com

JD.com is China’s second-largest online retail giant. Founded by Richard Liu, it distinguishes itself with a direct-sales model supported by an integrated logistics network covering all of China, ensuring fast delivery and product authenticity. With over 600 million active users, the group leverages its technological capabilities (JD Logistics, JD Cloud, AI) to diversify revenues, expand into international markets, and improve margins that have historically been lower than pure marketplace players.

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PDD Holdings                  

PDD Holdings, the parent company of Pinduoduo and Temu, is an e-commerce group registered in Dublin. It built its success on “social commerce” and ultra-competitive group-buying directly from Chinese factories. With more than 900 million active buyers, it is now expanding its model internationally via Temu, which is winning over Western markets with low prices and integrated cross-border logistics.

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​​​Meituan

Meituan is China’s leading platform for local life services. Born from the 2015 merger of Meituan and Dianping, it dominates food delivery, restaurant and hotel bookings, and operates a vast real-time logistics network across more than 2,800 cities. Leveraging over 700 million active users, it is diversifying into instant grocery, urban mobility, and autonomous drone delivery, while harnessing AI to optimize profitability and maintain its competitive edge.

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​​Shein

Shein is a global fast-fashion pure player founded in 2008. It relies on a digital supply chain and near-real-time product refreshes to offer trendy clothing at rock-bottom prices, sold exclusively online and shipped from China. Thanks to its data-driven platform and viral social-media marketing, Shein counts tens of millions of active customers in over 150 countries, even as it faces growing challenges around sustainability, regulatory compliance, and competitive pressure.

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Vipshop

Vipshop is a Chinese online retailer specializing in private-label flash sales, founded in 2008 in Guangzhou. Its flash-sale model at deeply discounted prices, supported by a proprietary logistics network, attracts over 300 million active users.

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Trip.com

Trip.com Group is China’s leading online travel agency, offering flight, hotel, and package bookings since 1999. With its all-in-one app and growing international presence, it captures the global tourism recovery post-COVID.

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Tencent

Tencent is an Internet conglomerate founded in 1998, whose WeChat and QQ form China’s most pervasive social-payment ecosystem. Leveraging its cloud, gaming, and advertising businesses, it generates record cash flows and invests heavily in generative AI.

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ByteDance

ByteDance controls Douyin, TikTok, and Toutiao—short-video and news-aggregation platforms powered by a powerful recommendation algorithm. Valued at over USD 200 billion, the company monetizes through advertising, e-commerce, and SaaS solutions.

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Kuaishou

Kuaishou, founded in 2011, is the domestic rival to Douyin. It stands out with a more rural user base and a strong focus on live-stream commerce. Its “content + e-commerce” model drives rapidly rising revenues but still faces fragile profitability.

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Bilibili

Bilibili has established itself as Generation Z’s video community, combining UGC content, animation, and mobile gaming. After years of rapid growth without profits, the platform now targets sustainable profitability through advertising and premium services.

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Weibo 

Weibo is China’s leading microblogging network—often likened to Twitter—with over 580 million monthly users. Its revenues come primarily from branded advertising and marketing services sold to influencers.

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Xiaohongshu

Xiaohongshu blends social networking and e-commerce, leveraging lifestyle recommendations and KOLs. The platform heavily influences beauty and fashion purchases among young urban consumers, generating rapid GMV growth.

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Zhihu

Zhihu is China’s largest high-value Q&A platform, akin to Quora. It monetizes through advertising, premium subscriptions, and online course sales.

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iQiyi

iQiyi is Baidu’s video-streaming service, specializing in original series and big-budget dramas. Competing with Tencent Video and Youku, it seeks profitability by tightening content costs and pushing VIP subscriptions.

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NetEase 

NetEase is among China’s top three video-game publishers and also operates online music and education services. Its strategy relies on international licenses (Blizzard, Marvel) and a strong in-house mobile-game pipeline.

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Tencent Music

Tencent Music aggregates QQ Music, Kugou, and Kuwo, totaling over 600 million users. The group dominates music streaming in China and boosts ARPU through virtual concerts and merchandise sales.

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Baidu

Baidu remains China’s leading search engine but is now redirecting investments into generative AI (Ernie Bot) and autonomous driving (Apollo). It aims to reignite growth by monetizing cloud services and AI solutions for enterprises.

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SenseTime

SenseTime is a Chinese champion in computer vision, providing facial-recognition algorithms and AI platforms for smart cities. Listed in Hong Kong, the company targets profitability through integrated solutions for industry and healthcare.

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iFlytek

iFlytek is the national leader in voice recognition and machine translation, with a massive Mandarin language corpus. Its products range from educational assistants to AI call centers, and it is investing in multimodal LLMs.

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DiDi Global

DiDi Global dominates China’s urban mobility with ride-hailing, bike-sharing, and delivery services. After a forced NYSE delisting in 2022, it is strengthening governance and exploring robotaxi to restore growth.

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Ant Group

Ant Group operates Alipay—China’s foremost payment super-app—and a broad fintech portfolio (wealth management, credit, insure-tech). Under regulatory restructuring, the company is reinventing itself around inclusive finance and cross-border services.

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360 Security

360 Security offers free antivirus suites and cybersecurity solutions for enterprises and governments. It monetizes through advertising and paid advanced-protection services.​

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Kingsoft

Kingsoft is a historic software publisher known for its WPS office suite and online games via Kingsoft Cloud. The company is investing in cloud services and SaaS to compete with Microsoft in a China-centric environment.

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Yonyou

Founded in 1988, Yonyou is a heavyweight in ERP and accounting software for Chinese enterprises. Its shift to cloud-native and AI-driven solutions is accelerating recurring-subscription growth.​

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Kingdee

Kingdee provides cloud ERP solutions for SMEs and international groups operating in China. Its Kingdee Cloud Cosmic platform leverages low-code architecture and open APIs to gain market share against SAP and Oracle.​

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Xiaomi Corp.

Xiaomi Corp. is the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor and a major player in consumer IoT, linking phones, TVs, and home appliances. It is now venturing into electric vehicles, extending its “Smartphone × AIoT” ecosystem.​

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OPPO & vivo

OPPO and vivo are sister brands targeting the premium mid-range segment with youth-focused marketing and photographic innovations. Their success is built on an extensive offline retail network and a strong presence in Southeast Asia.​

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Transsion Holdings

Transsion Holdings is Africa’s leader in affordable smartphones through its Tecno, Infinix, and Itel brands. Specializing in cameras optimized for darker skin tones and long-life batteries, it holds over 40 % market share on the continent.

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Lenovo Group

Lenovo Group is the world’s largest PC manufacturer, owner of the ThinkPad and Legion lines, and a growing player in infrastructure and edge computing. Its “global + China for China” model maximizes supply-chain efficiency and dual R&D.

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Huawei Technologies

Huawei Technologies is a telecom, smartphone, and cloud conglomerate and a 5G equipment leader despite U.S. sanctions. It is redirecting revenues toward enterprise software, smart vehicles, and HarmonyOS to reduce dependence on foreign chips.

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​​SMIC

SMIC is China’s largest semiconductor foundry, capable of producing nodes down to 7 nm without EUV lithography. State-backed, it aims to close the technological gap with TSMC despite U.S. export restrictions.

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BOE Technology

BOE Technology is China’s leading LCD and OLED panel maker, supplying smartphones, PCs, and TVs. Its vertical integration and Gen-10.5 fabs provide a cost advantage over Korean rivals.

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Cambricon Technologies

Cambricon Technologies designs AI processors and IP cores for datacenters, automotive, and edge computing. A spin-off from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it aims to build a software ecosystem around its MLU architectures.

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DJI

DJI dominates the global civilian drone market, covering aerial photography, precision agriculture, and mapping. Its expertise in lightweight hardware and stabilization software gives it over 70 % market share, despite regulatory concerns over data security.

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