Weekly E-Commerce Roundup: Alibaba Launches HK$80 Billion Share Placement for AI Investments; Bilibili Relaunches International App

Big Companies & Major Events

Alibaba

1. Alibaba plans HK$80 billion share placement, with all proceeds allocated to AI development

On August 23, Alibaba announced its first share placement since its Hong Kong listing in 2019, aiming to raise HK$80 billion. The offer price is set at HK$112.7 per share, representing an approximately 8.4% discount, and will result in a roughly 3.8% share dilution. This marks Alibaba’s first new share placement since its 2019 Hong Kong IPO. The net proceeds from the placement will be fully invested in building full-stack AI capabilities and strengthening AI infrastructure, to further consolidate Alibaba’s global leading position in the AI sector. (Recommended reading: "Alibaba’s First HK$80 Billion Rights Issue: E-Commerce Can No Longer Fund AI on Its Own")

2. Taobao adjusts Return Guarantee shipping coverage, effective September 1

To improve consumers’ after-sales shopping experience, Taobao will revise its Taobao Return Guarantee Service Specifications to upgrade the service’s protection standards. The key change is the adjustment to the shipping coverage of the Return Guarantee service: the on-site pickup coverage standard will be raised from 1 kilogram (capped at RMB 26) to 3 kilograms. The revised rules will officially take effect on September 1.

ByteDance

1. ByteDance consolidates AI productivity tools: TRAE and Coze merged into Doubao, unified office brand "Doubao Work" to be launched

ByteDance has completed a team restructuring of its office AI products: the teams of TRAE and Coze will be fully integrated into the Doubao ecosystem. Among them, TRAE Work and Coze will be merged with Doubao’s product capabilities for work scenarios, while TRAE IDE and CLI will continue to operate as programming product lines under the Doubao brand. Following the adjustment, the above product and operation teams will report to Zhao Qi, Doubao’s product lead.

This restructuring further clarifies Doubao’s position as ByteDance’s core AI business, concentrating the company’s AI office product focus on Doubao. Sources also indicate that Doubao will launch an independent AI office product "Doubao Work" as early as this week, serving as ByteDance’s unified product and brand for AI office scenarios. (Recommended reading: "ByteDance’s AI Office Portfolio Only Has Doubao as Its Flagship Brand Now")

Tencent

1. Heavily promoting products under RMB 10, is WeChat targeting users in lower-tier markets?

WeChat Stores recently launched a "flash sale" campaign, focusing on recruiting merchants offering products priced under RMB 10. Eligible products will receive platform traffic support and flash sale subsidies, covering multiple high-frequency consumption categories including food and beverages, daily necessities, cleaning products, and mobile phone accessories. The platform will not only provide campaign traffic and subsidies, but also conduct price comparison screening based on factors such as the product’s recent average final price and the price of identical products, with product price competitiveness becoming a key indicator for obtaining more resources.

It is understood that registration for the campaign has already opened, running from now until September 15. In terms of access requirements, participating stores must have a store experience score of no less than 4.4 or no experience score yet; listed products must have a product experience score of no less than 4.2 and have recorded no less than 20 orders in the past 30 days.

2. Tencent executive responds to doubts that "Tencent is falling behind in AI development"

On August 26, Tang Daosheng, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent Group and CEO of the Cloud and Smart Industries Group, published an article in Tencent’s internal publication addressing external doubts that "Tencent is too slow in AI development." He responded that it is impossible not to feel anxious at all. "The Hunyuan large model has undergone multiple restructurings, and Hunyuan Hy3 delivers outstanding performance among large models with similar parameters. However, the company’s overall severe computing power shortage has slowed down model training and product development, having a relatively large impact." Tang noted that getting an early start may not be the most critical factor, as the second half of the AI race has just begun. Only those who can persist for the long term will have the opportunity to seize the new opportunities that continue to emerge. (Source: Yicai)

Pinduoduo

1. Pinduoduo releases Q2 financial report: quarterly profit reaches RMB 27.2 billion, down 12% year-on-year

On August 24, Pinduoduo released its latest financial results, reporting second-quarter revenue of RMB 112.4 billion; profit of RMB 27.2 billion, a 12% year-on-year decrease; and non-GAAP R&D investment of RMB 4.3 billion, up 40% year-on-year. Over the past quarter, Pinduoduo continued to increase investment in platform governance, technology R&D, and industrial ecosystem under strategies such as the "100 Billion Support" initiative, which dragged down the quarter’s profit performance to a certain extent. (Recommended reading: "Behind Profit Pressures, Pinduoduo Is Paving the Way for the Next Decade")

Meituan

1. Meituan Waimai adds labels such as "Mall Store" and "Commercial Street Store"

Meituan Waimai recently added operation labels including "Mall Store," "Commercial Street Store," and "Platform Inspected" to some merchant pages. As of August this year, more than 200,000 merchants on Meituan display the "Mall Store" label, and 45,000 merchants display the "Commercial Street Store" label. The new labels are mainly designed for business scenarios that cannot be easily categorized into traditional "dine-in stores" or "no-dine-in stores," such as mall stalls, commercial street counters, and outlets using public dining areas, helping consumers understand the store’s location, operating environment, and dining conditions before placing an order.

Xiaohongshu

1. Xiaohongshu to open AI capabilities covering the full process of agency services

Mi Ou, General Manager of Xiaohongshu’s Commercial Channel Business Group, announced the 2026 channel strategic direction: over the next year, the platform will focus on four key areas – deep industry cultivation, customer operation, ecosystem co-construction, and capability accumulation – to push agencies to upgrade to "industry operation partners." The platform will open AI capabilities covering the entire service process for agencies and provide additional incentive support. On the product front, Xiaohongshu announced that its commercial products will achieve capability upgrades to build an AI product system. (Source: Interface News)

Bilibili

1. Bilibili relaunches international app to expand into global markets

Chinese video platform Bilibili has relaunched its previously discontinued international app, and simultaneously disclosed plans to launch an official English website and recruit staff in core markets including the US, Europe, and Japan.

It is reported that the revamped Bilibili international app no longer requires identity verification, allowing users to complete registration without providing a passport or ID card, with consistent content across Chinese and US sites. Its promotional materials for creators mention that the platform will provide monetization channels for creators, connecting them with a user base of Generation Z consumers with strong spending power and high education levels. A brand collaboration platform for international users is under development, and the English site will also launch in the near future.

Public recruitment information shows that Bilibili is hiring community operation staff in cities including Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, S?o Paulo, Istanbul, and Tokyo. Job postings for Singapore note that the platform is building an AI-driven global content moderation system.

Cross-Border E-Commerce

1. TikTok Shop’s fully managed Black Friday promotion season covers 16 countries for the first time

TikTok Shop’s fully managed Black Friday promotion season will run from October to December, covering 16 countries. The eight newly opened European markets this year (Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Austria, Greece, Portugal, and Hungary) will also participate in TikTok Shop’s Black Friday event, bringing more new business growth and truly enabling one-stop global sales of quality goods. (Recommended reading: "Where Will the Strongest Growth for US Cross-Border E-Commerce Come From This Black Friday?")

2. GMV of TikTok Shop US cross-border POP doubles in first half of the year

At the recent "TikTok Shop US Cross-Border POP Black Friday Conference," Ryan, General Manager of TikTok Shop US Cross-Border POP Operations, announced the platform’s operating results for the first half of this year and released core Black Friday strategies. Ryan introduced that in the first half of the year, the overall GMV of TikTok Shop US cross-border POP nearly doubled year-on-year. While leading merchants continued to expand their business scale, emerging merchants also grew at an accelerated pace, contributing nearly 40% of the overall market growth.

3. Amazon shortens FBA delivery window in five European countries, peak season stocking timeliness accuracy faces test

Starting September 1, Amazon’s "7-day delivery window" policy will take effect in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. All international FBA shipments sent by sellers to these five countries using non-Amazon partnered carriers will require manual entry of a 7-day estimated delivery window, and must be delivered to the warehouse within the scheduled time.

The core change of this regulation is that the previous 14-day delivery window has been directly halved. Previously, delivery windows were differentiated between domestic and cross-border shipments, with 7-day and 14-day windows respectively, leaving ample buffer time for cross-border shipments using non-partnered carriers under the old rules. The new policy treats domestic and international shipments equally, which means requirements for cross-border sellers using non-partnered carriers have increased sharply.

4. Lazada upgrades cross-border entry process: one set of documents can open stores in four stations: Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam

Lazada recently upgraded its cross-border entry process. Cross-border merchants only need to submit one set of enterprise qualifications and operation materials in the seller center to preferentially open stores in four core stations – Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam – at one time, eliminating the previous process of submitting materials and completing repeated certifications country by country. If merchants later apply to open a store in the Singapore station, they only need to supplement the required localized local materials according to the page guidelines, including English business licenses, tax information, or category compliance documents, and can join after approval, without re-completing the full entry process. This revision sets "one entity, four stations first, Singapore expansion on demand" as the default entry path, providing a more convenient channel for small and medium-sized sellers to enter the Southeast Asian market.

Stories You May Care About

1. Dreame’s coffee brand responds to store closures: Shanghai stores are undergoing phased adjustments, with new store plans in the pipeline

Recently, multiple stores of "DM CAFE," the coffee brand under Dreame, have ceased operations. Consumer comments on some stores indicate they closed as early as May, and some consumers posted online saying their pre-paid multiple-use cards have not been fully used. On August 27, a relevant person in charge of DM CAFE responded that DM CAFE is currently conducting overall strategic planning and market assessment, and has carried out phased optimization and adjustment of its store layout in Shanghai. Its first store at Shanghai West Bund Dream Center is still operating normally. DM CAFE’s store at Beijing Daxing Airport is currently under renovation and is expected to open in October, with plans for several other new stores in Shanghai in the future. (Source: Interface News)

2. Zhong Shanshan donates shares worth RMB 927 million

Wanhai Biotech announced on August 25 that its actual controller Zhong Shanshan signed an agreement with the Fujian Xiang’an Innovation Laboratory Science and Technology Development Foundation on August 25, 2026, intending to donate 33 million unrestricted tradable shares he directly holds in the company to the foundation for free, accounting for 2.61% of the company’s current total share capital. This donation aims to support cutting-edge research and exploration in public health and biomedical sciences. Before the donation is implemented, Zhong Shanshan directly holds 17.71% of the company’s shares, and holds 55.82% of the shares through the controlling shareholder Yangshengtang Co., Ltd., with a total shareholding of 73.53%. After the donation is completed, his direct shareholding ratio will drop to 15.10%, and his total shareholding ratio will drop to 70.92% (total share capital data as of the announcement date).

3. Miniso: 100th domestic MINISO LAND store opens

According to Miniso (09896.HK), its 100th domestic MINISO LAND store at Chengdu Eastern Suburb Memory has officially opened. Ye Guofu, founder, chairman of the board, and CEO of Miniso Group, said that the core goal of MINISO LAND is to create urban destinations that young people are willing to visit specially, allowing intellectual property to truly integrate into cultural and tourism scenarios and become part of urban culture. This is an important direction for Miniso’s continuous exploration and efforts in the future. (Source: Securities Times)

4. Phase I of Pangdonglai Dream City receives construction approval

On August 25, Phase I of Pangdonglai Dream City obtained construction permission, valid until August 17, 2028. The project company was established in November 2025 with a registered capital of RMB 100 million, wholly owned by Pangdonglai. Phase I of Dream City completed its planning announcement in April this year, with a total investment of approximately RMB 6.5 billion. It is expected to open in September 2029, making it Pangdonglai’s largest single project in history. (Source: Qingdao News Network)

5. SF Express denies "disguised pay cut": it is an optimization of the salary structure, not involving frontline and second-line employees

There are rumors that SF Express is implementing a "disguised pay cut," with 15% of the fixed monthly salary reclassified as quarterly performance pay, requiring meeting assessment targets to obtain the full amount. SF Group responded that the group’s current optimization and adjustment of the salary structure is not a pay cut, but aims to continuously improve the employee incentive mechanism to achieve coordinated development of performance and employee income. After the adjustment, the company’s overall salary expenditure will increase slightly. SF Group also pointed out that this adjustment splits 15% of the annual cash salary as the quarterly assessment base. After the adjustment, more than 10% of high-performing employees will see their income increase, realizing pay for performance. In addition, this adjustment only targets headquarters functions and does not involve frontline and second-line employees.

6. "SK hynix Taobao Flagship Store" to cease operations, sources: it is not an official flagship store, closing due to expired brand authorization

In response to the sudden announcement of the termination of operations and removal of all products from the "SK hynix Flagship Store" on Taobao, sources familiar with the matter revealed that the store is not an official flagship store of SK hynix, but an authorized store. It is closing normally as the brand did not renew the authorization after it expired, while other stores still selling products are selling existing inventory. (Source: The Paper)

This article was first published on the official website of Ebrun.