Luckin Coffee Enters US 🗽 Nvidia’s Shanghai Hub 🧠 China 2,800 AI Satellite Launch 🚀

2025-05-19 | subscribe | homepage

Welcome back to this week’s edition of the China Insights Weekly Newsletter!

Here are some of the key highlights for this week’s edition:

• Auto sales in China hit a record 10M in 4 months, NEV exports up 53%.

• Guiyang named fastest-growing city with 200K new residents.

• China develops silicon-free transistors faster than Intel’s 3nm chips.

• State capital now backs 1 in 3 Chinese startups, reshaping VC landscape.

Dive deeper into these stories and more by clicking the headlines below. We value your feedback. Let us know your thoughts or suggestions on LinkedIn, X or Facebook.

🚀 Headlines

China's auto production and sales exceeded record 10 million units in first four months (link)

In the first four months of 2025, China's vehicle production and sales exceeded 10 million units each for the first time. Car production increased by 13% to 10.175 million units, while sales rose by 11% to 10.06 million units. New energy vehicle production and sales surged by 48% and 46% to 4.429 million and 4.3 million units, respectively. Domestic sales reached 8.123 million units, and exports totaled 1.937 million units, up 12% and 6% year-on-year. NEV exports soared by 53% to approximately 642,000 units. Chinese brands sold 5.94 million passenger vehicles, capturing a market share of 68.7%, an increase of 8.1 percentage points from the same period last year. In April alone, production and sales reached 2.619 million and 2.59 million units, up 8.9% and 9.8% respectively. Only 65 car models saw price declines in the first four months, 56 fewer than last year.

Nvidia to open R&D center in Shanghai to tap China talent (link)

Nvidia is planning to build a research and development center in Shanghai. The move is part of Nvidia's strategy to maintain its market edge in China amid stricter U.S. export controls. The R&D center will focus on understanding the technical requirements needed to meet U.S. export restrictions while catering to Chinese customer needs. The Shanghai team will also work on global R&D projects, including verification of chip designs, optimisation of existing products, and sector-focused research such as autonomous driving. However, core design and production will remain overseas. China accounted for about 14% of Nvidia's revenue in 2024, and Huang has highlighted the country's potential as a USD 50 billion market in the coming years.

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