Amid fast-paced changes that fill the business community with excitement, angst and trepidation, EqualOcean will publish a series of roundup articles to document the major events related to Chinese companies going global every week.
Overview
1. GAC Global Delivers 400 New Energy Vehicles to VEMO in Mexico
2. GAC holds signing ceremony in London, announces joint venture agreement with ALJ
3. Geely Announces 2025 Half-Year Sales; Overseas Sales Show Significant Growth
4. Apollo Go to Integrate Thousands of Autonomous Vehicles into Uber's Global Network
5. WeRide Launches Southeast Asia's First Fully Driverless Robobus Operations at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
6. TCab Tech's E20 eVTOL secures China's largest single overseas eVTOL order worth USD 1 Bn
7. POP MART: Expected H1 Revenue to Grow by No Less Than 200% YoY
8. The 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo Beijing Initiative opens on July 16
Event Highlights & Commentary
1. GAC holds signing ceremony in London, announces joint venture agreement with ALJ
【Event】On July 15, 2025, GAC held a signing ceremony in London, UK, announcing the signing of a joint venture agreement with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ), marking GAC's official entry into the UK market. ALJ will serve as GAC's partner and officially carry out the distribution business of GAC's new energy passenger vehicles in the UK. According to the plan, GAC's two global strategic models, AION V and AION UT, will be the first to enter the UK market.
GAC is one of the leading automobile manufacturers in China, with main businesses covering seven sectors including R&D, complete vehicles, parts, energy and ecology, internationalization, commerce and mobility, investment and finance. It is one of China's largest comprehensive automobile groups. ALJ is a mobility solutions provider, acting as an agent for many world-renowned commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle brands. Previously, GAC had signed an agency distribution agreement with ALJ to introduce its new energy products into the Polish market. The signing of this joint venture cooperation agreement with ALJ for the UK market marks another deepened cooperation between the two parties following their collaboration in the Polish market, further strengthening GAC's strategic layout in Europe.
Currently, GAC's global expansion strategy is advancing steadily. In 2025, GAC set a goal of entering 100 countries and regions within three years, with overseas vehicle sales exceeding 500,000 units and overseas business accounting for 20% of the total. It also proposed the One GAC 2.0 strategy to comprehensively promote business going global. Up to now, the company's business has spread to 84 countries and regions around the world, including the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Americas. In 2024, the overseas sales of GAC's self-owned brand models exceeded 100,000 units for the first time, with a year-on-year growth of 92.3%.
2. Apollo Go to Integrate Thousands of Autonomous Vehicles into Uber's Global Network
【Event】On July 15, Apollo Go announced a strategic partnership with Uber, the world’s largest mobility service platform. This collaboration will deploy thousands of Robotaxis, marking the largest autonomous driving partnership globally.
The first phase of the partnership is expected to launch by the end of this year, starting in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets and gradually expanding to international markets outside of the U.S. and mainland China. Once the service goes live, passengers will be able to hail autonomous vehicles powered by Apollo Go through the Uber app.
Apollo Go is a self-driving mobility service platform under Baidu, has already deployed over 1,000 autonomous vehicles in multiple locations worldwide and is one of China’s leading providers of autonomous driving services. Uber, as the largest global mobility service platform, has a unique advantage in market deployment, spanning ride-hailing, delivery, and freight services. This makes it an ideal partner for rapidly bringing autonomous driving technology to the global market, particularly for Chinese autonomous vehicle companies.
The international expansion of Apollo Go has been swift. In March this year, the company announced plans to deploy over 1,000 fully autonomous vehicles in Dubai and begin road testing its Robotaxis there. Subsequently, Apollo Go announced a strategic partnership with UAE-based autonomous mobility company Autogo to commercialize Robotaxis in the UAE. There are also messages that Apollo Go is planning to enter the European market. The partnership with Uber represents a global scale, with an even larger deployment.
The autonomous driving market holds immense potential. Governments in regions such as the EU, U.S., and Japan have introduced policies to support the development of the autonomous driving industry. Global tech giants like Tesla and Google’s Waymo are actively advancing autonomous driving technology, while leading domestic Robotaxi companies are expanding their presence in overseas markets. For example, WeRide is collaborating with Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority and Uber to deploy commercial Robotaxi services in Dubai. Pony.ai is also planning to operate a Robotaxi fleet in Dubai for testing. With new players entering the market and leading companies accelerating their international expansion, the Robotaxi industry is rapidly moving from technology validation to commercial implementation.
3. POP MART: Expected H1 Revenue to Grow by No Less Than 200% YoY
【Event】On July 15th, POP MART released a positive profit forecast, expecting that the Group's revenue for the six months ending June 30th, 2025 may increase by no less than 200% compared to the six months ending June 30th, 2024.It is expected that the Group's profit for this period (excluding the fair value change gains and losses of financial instruments that have not been fully calculated) may record a growth of no less than 350% compared to the Group's profit in the same period last year.
According to financial report data, in the first half of last year, POP MART achieved a revenue of CNY 4.56 billion, a year-on-year increase of 62%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was CNY 921 million, a year-on-year increase of 93.32%. Based on this calculation, POP MART's revenue in the first half of this year may be no less than CNY 13.7 billion, and the net profit attributable to the parent company may exceed CNY 4.1 billion.
Source: POP MART 2024 Interim Report
POP MART stated in the announcement that the performance fluctuation is mainly due to the further improvement of the global recognition of the brand and its IPs, the diversified product categories promoting the Group's revenue growth, and the continuous rapid growth of revenue in all regional markets. In addition, the proportion of overseas revenue continues to increase, and the change in revenue structure has a positive impact on gross profit and profit.
Going global is currently the most eye-catching business of POP MART. POP MART's overseas expansion journey began in 2018. At present, it has entered 23 overseas countries and regions including South Korea, Japan, and Singapore, and opened offline stores in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. Wang Ning, the founder of POP MART, recently stated in an interview with CCTV News that the overall overseas revenue of POP MART this year may exceed that of the domestic market.
At the beginning of this year, Wang Ning said at the 2024 financial results performance exchange meeting that the company's sales growth rate in 2025 is expected to reach more than 50%, and the business in overseas, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions can achieve a growth of more than 100%. In the future, Chinese trendy toys led by POP MART may continue to accelerate their overseas expansion.
4. TCab Tech's E20 eVTOL secures China's largest single overseas eVTOL order worth USD 1 Bn
【Event】On July 16, UAE-based company Autocraft and TCab Tech signed a purchase agreement, investing USD 1 billion (approximately CNY 7.1 billion) to order 350 E20 electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) independently developed by TCab Tech. This amount far exceeds the record of CNY 3.5 billion in intended orders set by domestic similar models in February 2025, becoming a new record for the single order amount in China's eVTOL sector.
This cooperation is the substantial implementation of the cooperation results of the 7th China International Import Expo, marking a new stage of China-UAE high-tech cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. The vice president of Autocraft said that this large-scale purchase aims to build a new generation of urban air transportation network in the Middle East, and they will work with TCab Tech to promote the commercial implementation of diversified scenarios such as low-altitude tourism and air travel in the Middle East and North Africa.
TCab Tech is a leading Chinese eVTOL enterprise. Its independently developed E20 eVTOL adopts tiltrotor and pure electric drive, which can carry 5 people with a range of 200 kilometers. Autocraft is a UAE enterprise investing in cutting-edge technologies, and has always been committed to making the UAE a leader in air transportation solutions. Autocraft's choice of TCab Tech is not only an affirmation of TCab Tech's technical maturity and systematic delivery capability, but also a key step for China's low-altitude economy to go global.
The 21st Century Business Herald once pointed out that 2025 will be the first year of commercialization of China's low-altitude economy, and many main engine manufacturers are expected to receive confirmed orders. Since this year, various main engine manufacturers have successively announced the receipt of orders. In April this year, TCab Tech signed an agreement with BOC Financial Leasing Corporation Limited, including a purchase order for 100 E20 eVTOLs. In addition, Volant, Auto Flight, and Zero-G have also announced purchase orders, with the order value reaching hundreds of millions of yuan. In the future, China will continue to work with global partners to provide reliable air transportation solutions for users, showing the world the strong strength of China's low-altitude technology.