E-commerce Morning Brief: Former Anta CEO Xu Yang Speaks Out for First Time on Departure; Temu Appeals EU’s ?200 Million DSA Fine

First news: Former Anta CEO Xu Yang addresses departure for first time, citing need to accompany family studying overseas

Former Anta CEO Xu Yang released a post on WeChat Moments to explain the reason for his resignation for the first time, noting that he is leaving Anta as his family is studying abroad, and he will soon relocate to Los Angeles, U.S. to be with them. "I did not arrange any farewell gatherings, out of guilt for failing to live up to the trust placed in me, and the weakness I do not wish to show to others. I hope everyone is doing well!" Xu stepped down as CEO of the Anta brand on July 15 due to "family reasons", and the position is now being filled on an acting basis by Lai Shixian, Co-CEO of the group.

Second news: 361 Degrees posts H1 revenue of 6.16 billion yuan, cross-border e-commerce business surges 140% year-on-year

361 Degrees released its interim financial report for the first half of fiscal 2026. In the first six months, the company recorded revenue of 6.16 billion yuan, up 8% year-on-year; net profit reached 930 million yuan, marking an 8% year-on-year rise; gross margin edged up 0.3 percentage points from 41.5% in the same period last year to 41.8%.

By business segment, 361 Degrees' children's product line generated revenue of 1.35 billion yuan during the period, accounting for approximately 21.9% of the group's total revenue, with a year-on-year growth of 6.8%. Its e-commerce business brought in 1.99 billion yuan, making up 32.3% of total group revenue, up 9.5% year-on-year. In terms of store count, 361 Degrees operates 5,076 stores in mainland China, while its children's line has 2,202 sales outlets across the region.

On the global expansion front, the company continues to advance its overseas market penetration. For offline channels, the number of 361 Degrees' international sales outlets has increased to 1,167; online, it has launched independent sites and official websites in markets including the Americas and Europe, and partnered with e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asian markets. In the first half of 2026, retail turnover of its international business rose 80% year-on-year, while its cross-border e-commerce business posted a 140% year-on-year growth.

Third news: Meet Noodle has cut prices for four consecutive years, with official confirmation that further reductions are on the way

On August 17, Meet Noodle released its first interim performance announcement since going public. In the first half of 2026, the chain posted revenue of 939 million yuan, up 33.6% year-on-year, with profit during the period reaching 63.26 million yuan, a 51.2% year-on-year increase. Its total number of restaurants expanded from 417 in the same period last year to 550.

Drawing even more attention than these results is the brand's four-year running price reduction strategy. "On top of four consecutive years of price cuts, Meet Noodle will continue to uphold its corporate development philosophy of passing on benefits to consumers and giving back to society. Starting August 17, we will further lower the prices of some products across all stores nationwide to varying degrees. At the same time, we will launch the 'Red Bowl Public Welfare' program, allocating a fixed portion of our profits to actively participate in social responsibility initiatives," Meet Noodle disclosed.

Fourth news: Maimai announces launch of AI talent labeling system

Career and recruitment platform Maimai has announced the rollout of its AI talent labeling system, which allows corporate HR teams and headhunters to filter candidates directly through tags and identify AI talent instantly. Also updated are Maimai's AI recruitment feature and overseas talent pool.

Users can clearly see three categories of AI talent tags across the search bar, talent list and talent detail pages: AI infrastructure talent, AI application development talent, and AI business efficiency talent. In addition, Maimai's mid-to-high-end talent network is further connecting with high-quality candidates globally, helping enterprises break through the limitations of traditional recruitment channels and geographical boundaries.

Meanwhile, Maimai's AI recruitment function streamlines the entire recruitment workflow, including job requirement comprehension, talent matching, automatic screening and intent communication, with a matching accuracy rate of over 90%. HR personnel only need to state job requirements in natural language, including implicit conditions such as "no frequent job hoppers", and the system will understand the request, provide a list of qualified candidates, and continue to communicate with candidates about their job intent via 24/7 AI chat support, saving HR teams approximately 4 hours per day.

Fifth news: TikTok Shop to mandate disclosure of free product sample review commercial collaborations starting August 31

Starting August 31, 2026, TikTok Shop will include short-form review videos obtained in exchange for free product samples into its mandatory commercial disclosure scope. Even if creators do not receive monetary compensation and only receive shipped samples in exchange for content, they must add a commercial collaboration tag when publishing the video.

Content that fails to be labeled as required will face penalties including removal, reduced reach, and deduction of account authority scores. The previously common practice of "exchanging free samples for recommendation content and not tagging the collaboration to gain organic traffic" will be further restricted by the platform. This new regulation does not add new paid advertising obligations, but incorporates the often-overlooked "sample exchange" model in the affiliate ecosystem into the commercial disclosure supervision system, focusing on preventing consumers from being misled by hidden promotions.

Sixth news: Temu appeals EU's ?200 million DSA fine

It was revealed on August 18 that Temu's operating entities PDD Holdings and Whaleco Technology have officially filed an appeal with the General Court of the European Union against the ?200 million fine issued by the European Commission in May. The penalty alleged that the very large online platform (VLOP) had failed to systematically identify, assess and address systemic risks of illegal products on its platform, including dangerous baby toys and defective chargers, since the launch of the investigation in October 2024, violating the risk assessment obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

A Temu spokesperson responded that the company "respects clear rules but disagrees with the decision", emphasizing that the fine is excessive and the investigation was based on the platform's status in 2024, which does not reflect the current state of its systems. The company is reviewing all feasible options. In the meantime, the platform is still required to submit a rectification plan by August 28, and the European Commission will take another two months to verify the closed-loop compliance progress.

That concludes today's morning brief. For more e-commerce insights, stay tuned to Ebrun audio news.