2024 China's top ten business events full inventory: domestic AI killed the dark horse, millet SU7 screen, "Wukong" burst of fire ......

As the year 2024 draws to a close, the business world is still buzzing with activity. This year has been a year of change and reinvention, with countless stories emerging from the business world, with the top 10 events being particularly noteworthy.

Domestic AI intelligent assistants show "two super multi-strong", Kimi and Doubao lead the way; millet car from zero to one, SU7 strong dominating screen; Zhong furtively glittering and Zhang Yiming's "sparring in the air", set off a big discussion on corporate philosophy and market strategy.

The Black Myth: Wukong" came out of nowhere and became a phenomenal hit in the cultural industry; the beverage industry is not quiet, the milk tea price war is getting more and more intense, and even coffee is involved in this melee; Huawei has even regained the number one spot in cell phone sales, proving once again that the king of science and technology has returned.

Individual and corporate destinies are intertwined, as 79-year-old Zong Qinghou resigns and Wahaha ushers in a generational change; Dong Yuhui's solo flight sets off a new chapter in the traffic economy. Meanwhile, capital operation showed its power again, with Mingchuang Youpin throwing $6.3 billion to hold Yonghui Supermarket, which aroused attention; while Ideal Motors witnessed the challenges and opportunities of its brand image amidst the MEGA fiasco.

From technology to retail, from capital to culture, these events not only rewrite the industry landscape, but also become key puzzle pieces of the 2024 business landscape. Next, let's review the top 10 most important business events of the year.

Kimi, Beanbag lead the way as domestic AI race accelerates

In 2024, China's AI industry is gradually maturing and differentiating after the baptism of the "100-mode war". Among them, the field of AI intelligent assistants presents a competitive pattern of "two super and many strong", Kimi and Doubao stand out as the industry leader by virtue of their respective technical advantages and market strategies.

Dark Side of the Moon's Kimi intelligent assistant is driven by technological innovation. on December 16th, Dark Side of the Moon's newest visual thinking model, k1, was released. officially, the first-generation k1 model outperformed OpenAI o1, GPT-4o, and Claude 3.5 Sonnet in benchmark proficiency tests in basic science disciplines, such as math, physics, and chemistry.

Byte Jumping's Doubao is known for its large user base and powerful interactive capabilities, and is committed to building a national-level AI assistant. on December 18, at the Volcano Engine FORCE Power Conference, Doubao's large model family ushered in a full range of optimization and upgrading, in which the visual understanding model allows Doubao to have the ability to "see the world", and the 3D generation model creates a more realistic and immersive experience for users. Among them, the visual comprehension model gives Doubao the ability to "see the world" and understand multimodal information such as images and videos, while the 3D generation model creates a more realistic and immersive experience for users.

Quantum Bit data shows thatBy the end of November, the cumulative user scale of Doubao APP in 2024 has successfully exceeded 160 million, with the average daily new user downloads stably maintained at 800,000 and the growth rate exceeding 15%, making it the second largest AI APP in the world and the first in China.

Byte Jumping's investment in AI is so strong that it also shows its determination to accelerate its run toward AI. in 2024, Byte's investment in AI is as high as 80 billion yuan, which is comparable to the combined investment of the three BAT giants in the field, while the investment in 2025 is expected to be as high as 160 billion yuan.

On December 26, Depth Seeker announced the launch and synchronization of theOpen source DeepSeek-V3 model.DeepSeek-V3 is a 671 billion parameter Mixed of Experts (MoE, which uses multiple expert networks to partition the problem space into homogeneous regions) model with 37 billion activated parameters, pre-trained on 14.8 trillion tokens.It outperforms open-source models such as Qwen2.5-72B and Llama-3.1-405B in many evaluations, and outperforms the world's top closed-source models such as GPT-4o and Claude-3.5-Sonnet.

Yang Shilin, the founder of Dark Side of the Moon, once said that they are more concerned about how to do a good job of modeling the ability to think and reason, and to bring real value to the user, rather than deliberately pursuing differentiation. This "focus" strategy is also reflected in Kimi's product characteristics. According to the analysis, Doubao focuses more on user experience and interaction, and strives to cover a wider user group; while Kimi focuses on technological innovation, and builds its core competitiveness by improving the model's reasoning and thinking ability; DeepSeek V3 is known for its efficient training and low cost, and its performance is especially good in terms of code and math.

With the continuous development of technology and increasing user demand, the field of AI intelligent assistants still has huge room for development. the leading position of Kimi and Doubao not only promotes the development of China's AI industry, but also provides new ideas and directions for the development of the global AI assistants.

SU7 comes out of nowhere, Xiaomi's car business goes from zero to one

China's auto industry is experiencing a major change that has not been seen in 40 years, and the emergence of Xiaomi SU7 is undoubtedly the most colorful.

On the evening of March 28, 2025, the much-anticipated Xiaomi SU7 was finally unveiled. This masterpiece, which is positioned as a mid-sized pure electric sedan, was launched in one go, including three models, SU7, SU7 Pro and SU7 Max, priced from RMB 299,900 yuan.

The longest waiting cycle of more than half a year is difficult to stop the enthusiasm of consumers, SU7 in March after the launch of the orders continue to soar, 27 minutes to capture the 50,000 large orders. At present, the number of new lock orders per week remains at about 6,000.

From a capacity of 7,000 vehicles in April, to the 100,000th vehicle on the line 230 days after the launch, to the current delivery of over 20,000 in 2 consecutive months.Millet has raised its full-year sales target more than once, with the latest target being 130,000 deliveries in 2024.

Not only that, this year, millet car continued to high-profile launch of two product announcements: in July, SU7 Ultra prototype Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype debut; in October SU7 Ultra production car officially released; in December, millet first SUV YU7 debut, is expected to next year in June and July officially listed.

Xiaomi's entry not only accelerates the competition in the new energy vehicle market, but also promotes the reshuffling and upgrading of the whole industry with a brand new posture and mode.

The year 2025 is the year when Xiaomi will shine in the field of new energy vehicles, and it is also the year when the pattern of China and even the global automobile industry will undergo significant changes.

The Black Myth of Goku is exploding all over the Internet.

On August 20, along with countless players' eager anticipation, "Black Myth: Goku" officially landed on PC and PS5 platforms.

This work, which is regarded as "China's first 3A game", showed its strong money-sucking ability as soon as it was unveiled. In just three days, the sales of the whole platform exceeded 10 million sets, breaking the sales record of Chinese games, and the highest number of people online at the same time exceeded the 3 million mark.By September, estimated sales had soared to 18.9 million units and revenues exceeded 6.4 billion yuan, setting a new milestone for China's game industry.

The success of "Black Myth: Goku" is by no means limited to the gaming community, but is more of a cultural phenomenon that has swept across the whole society. From August 20 to September 12, there were as many as 21.14 million messages on the Internet about "Black Myth: Wukong," and public opinion reached its peak on August 22, when a variety of topics arose and triggered heated debates among the public. People enjoyed the beautiful graphics, meticulous details, and innovative interpretation of the classic IP of Journey to the West.

Regarding the explosion of Black Myth: Goku, Goldman Sachs pointed out in its latest report that it is a major turning point for China's console game industry and a key step for Chinese games to go global, or to stimulate investment in China's game industry, especially 3A games.

At the TGA (The Game Awards) ceremony held on December 13, 2024, Black Myth: Goku won two awards in one fell swoop. Although it regrettably failed to win the crown of Game of the Year, as China's first truly 3A single-player game, it undoubtedly drove the development of China's console gaming market, which is of great significance.

Huawei regains China's cell phone market sales crown as the king returns

At the beginning of 2024, Huawei made a strong comeback as a king and regained the top sales position in China.

On February 4, Counterpoint Research released a report saying that Huawei topped the Chinese smartphone market sales for the first two weeks of 2024.

In the 49th week of 2024 (December 2 to December 8), Huawei's cell phone activation share in China reached 25%, up 59% year-on-year, topping the market share chart.

In this week's sales competition, Huawei made the cut with three models: the Huawei Mate 70, Huawei Mate 70 Pro+ and Huawei nova 13. showing Huawei's strong competitiveness in the high-end market.

Analysts believe that Huawei's Mate 70 series has seen a significant increase in sales compared to its predecessor, and is expected to support sales of more than 10 million units, providing strong support for Huawei's overall cell phone sales growth

On September 10, Huawei Mate XT Extraordinary Master was officially released. With a 10.2-inch super large screen, an extremely thin thickness of 3.6mm, and a dual-hinge structure with internal and external bending, it redefines the folding screen phone. This product is not only the pinnacle of Huawei's technology, but also a bold innovation in the form of folding screen phones.

79-year-old Zong Qinghou died after a long illness, wahaha change of generation

On February 25, 2024, Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairman of Wahaha Group, died at the age of 79 due to medical treatment. His passing is not only the end of an era, but also the beginning of the transfer of power of Wahaha Group.

Zong Qinghou's daughter, Zong Fuli, as a second-generation successor, officially took over the baton of Wahaha from her father.

Zong Fuli's succession was not a smooth one, and her road to reform was full of controversy. Shortly after Zong Qinghou's death, Zong Fuli announced her resignation as vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group, sparking widespread concern about the company's future direction. However, just four days after the fermentation of the resignation, Wahaha released a statement saying that Zong Fuli decided to continue to fulfill the relevant management duties of Wahaha Group.

Under the leadership of Zong Fuli, Wahaha Group experienced a "bloodletting" of its core management team. A number of executives withdrew from the position of director and supervisor, and the core management was almost fully replaced; the staff contract of the core departments and the distributor contract were transferred to Hongsheng Beverage Group Limited; the distributor system was reconstructed, and even the form of "bidding" was used for the first time to screen the distributors.

Zong Fuli proposed that Wahaha should adhere to the strategy of big health development and set up a special product chain and sales network. Under her leadership, Wahaha focuses on brand strategies such as "rejuvenation" and "big health", and searches for new and old kinetic energy conversion paths.

However, Zong Fuli's reforms also encountered challenges. More than 1,000 Wahaha employees joined the Rights Defense Association and took Zong Fuli to court, alleging that her reforms had harmed their interests.

Zong Fuli not only wants to carry on her father's legacy, but also to lead Wahaha Group to a broader future in the new business environment.This is a contest on inheritance and innovation, a handover of power and responsibility, and an important chapter in the history of China's private enterprise development.

Zhong furtively disliked Zhang Yiming

In the year 2024, a compelling confrontation is staged on the business stage. The protagonists are two business giants: Zhong Glittering, head of Nongfushanquan, and Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance.

On Nov. 19-20, while attending an agriculture-related event in Xinfeng County, Ganzhou City, the glittering Zhong GlitteringPublicly shouting at Zhang Yiming, saying that the other side has turned the Internet into a technical algorithm that is playing with the public's intelligence, and that he will always wait for the other side to apologize for the harm caused by the various rumors:

"Today's headlines you are the actual controller, again you are a for-profit business, you are a platform business with enough volume to control public opinion, because of this background, so please assume the rules of corporate civility."

This public opinion crisis originated in February this year, wahaha founder zongqinghou died, nongfushanquan was pushed to the tip of the storm. In the jittery, today's headlines and other platforms were sustained "net storm" nearly 180 days later, nongfushanquan market value evaporated nearly 210 billion Hong Kong dollars; holds nearly 83% shares of the company's furtively glittering, personal wealth has shrunk nearly 180 billion Hong Kong dollars.

According to IFC Securities data, since the end of February began to appear on the network a large number of malicious denigration of the company since the first half of this year, Nongfusanquan packaged water sales fell 18% year-on-year, the water business operating margins declined 4.3pct year-on-year.

To this end, Nongfushanquan had to make a response to the past, company country, tax and other controversies between glittering and Zong Qinghou one by one, glittering is after 20 years to accept the CCTV "Dialogue" program interview.

Furtively glittering, he must defend the brand Nongfushanquan, because for consumer goods, the brand is often good or bad can affect the survival of the enterprise.

And in the era of information explosion, Nongfusanquan to regain its former glory, will undoubtedly face a difficult battle of the mind.

Ruixing and Lemony Snack's tea drink market battle

In 2024, the competition in the tea beverage industry entered a white-hot stage. In particular, the market battle between Ruixing Coffee and Bao Wang Cha Ji has become the focus of attention in the industry. Ruixing Coffee has challenged the afternoon market with its new product "Gently Jasmine", while Bao Wang Cha Ji has held its ground with its signature product "Bo Ya Jie Sheng".

During the Paris Olympics, domestic tea drink brands engaged in fierce marketing competition. With the endorsement of Zheng Qinwen, the Olympic women's tennis singles champion, Bawang Tea Ji became a big winner in the traffic competition.

Ruihong coffee (brand)On August 11, Ruixing Coffee officially announced Liu Yifei as its global brand spokesperson, which was praised by netizens as "instantly becoming like a luxury product".On August 12, Ruixing opened the "100 million cups of RMB 9.9 afternoon tea" activity, inviting consumers nationwide to taste its new product "Gently Jasmine". On August 12, Ruixing launched the "100 million cups of 9.9 yuan afternoon tea" campaign, inviting consumers across the country to taste its new product "gentle jasmine".

It is worth mentioning that the main ingredients of this product include jasmine tea, pure milk, light milk, green coffee liquid and original flavored syrup, which is highly similar in composition to "Boya's String" by Lemony Snacks.Apparently, coffee giant Ruixing has begun to venture into the field of tea drinks, and is directly targeting the strong rival of the tea milk track, Lemony Snacks.

Data showed that Ruixing Coffee's Q3 2024 revenue was CNY10.188 billion, up 41.4% YoY, and net profit reached CNY1.3 billion, up 32% YoY. 1,382 net new stores were opened in the quarter, up 6.9% YoY, bringing the number of stores to 21,343.

The competition between Ruixing and Lemony Snacks is not only a competition of products and prices, but also a competition of brand strategy and market positioning. In this tea drink war, who can ultimately win, but also need the market and consumers to further test.

Mingchuang Yuping throws 6.3 billion yuan to "take" Yonghui Supermarket

In China's retail industry, Famous Acquisitions has been making waves this year with a storm of acquisitions.

On September 23, 2024, Mingchuang Yuping announced that it had acquired a 29.4% stake in Yonghui Supermarket for a whopping RMB 6.27 billion, leaping to become the latter's top shareholder.

Some analysts believe that this is a bold attempt to create a "Chinese version of Sam's" model, with the intention of creating a revolution in the retail industry.

Yonghui Supermarket, one of the giants in China's supermarket industry, has been plagued by declining performance in recent years. From 2021 to 2023, the accumulated loss is up to 8.375 billion yuan. In the face of the plight, Yonghui Supermarket has tried to adjust itself, such as the Fat Donglai model, but the replication in first-tier cities is still facing challenges.

The market reacted sharply to the news of the acquisition. Shares of Famous Fortune fell 36.47% on the first trading day after the announcement, evaporating about $850 million in market value. Investors were concerned about the financial burden and integration challenges of the acquisition. Yonghui Supermarket's shares, on the other hand, rose on a one-word basis after the news.

This acquisition is not just a game of money, but a battle of strategies.Mingchuang Yuping needs to face a series of challenges such as how to integrate the business of Yonghui Supermarket and how to improve its overall competitiveness. And Yonghui Supermarket, after Fat Donglai modification, performance has improved significantly, which undoubtedly gave Ye Guofu more confidence.

On December 3, 2024, the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Administration published information showing that the acquisition of the equity interest of Yonghui Supermarket Co. by Guangdong Juncai International Trade Company Limited, a subsidiary of Mingchuang Yuping, was unconditionally approved in the review of the operator's concentration case. This marks a key step in the acquisition case.

This big gamble by Famous is an exploration of trillion dollar opportunities or a big gamble that can't be seen? Time will give the answer.

Dong Yuhui's solo flight: a turning point for live e-commerce

In 2024, a major event that shook the industry happened in the field of live e-commerce - Dong Yuhui announced his solo flight. This decision not only marked a new chapter in his personal career, but also had a significant impact on the entire live e-commerce industry.

On July 25, Oriental Selection announced that Dong Yuhui no longer serves as an employee and senior management of the company, and at the same time transferred 100% shares of its wholly-owned subsidiary "Walking with Fai" to Dong Yuhui at a price of RMB 76,585,000 yuan.

The deal is actually a kind of financial support from Oriental Selection to Dong Yuhui.Because the peer group with Hui has realized net profit of $140 million during the period from inception to June 30, 2024, all of which was awarded to Dong Yuhui.

Oriental Selection also provided free self-developed information systems to its counterparts with Fai to maintain the latter's normal operation, and helped Dong Yuhui find a new office space.

After going solo, Dong Yuhui quickly expanded his business territory, setting up several companies involved in the sale of daily necessities, Internet sales, radio and TV program production, and performance brokerage. His move was warmly supported by his fans, who saw Dong Yuhui's solo flight as a big step forward for the live e-commerce industry.

However, Dong Yuhui's solo flight was not without controversy. Oriental Selection's share price fluctuated as a result of the incident, and skepticism from small and medium-sized shareholders was rampant.

Public opinion is abuzz about Dong Yuhui's solo flight, with some seeing it as a great opportunity for him to break free and realize his self-worth, while others are concerned that it will adversely affect his personal brand and live broadcasting career.

Despite the controversies and challenges, Dong Yuhui's solo flight is undoubtedly a turning point in the live e-commerce industry. As Dong Yuhui continues to explore and move forward on a new path, perhaps, he can bring more innovation and vitality to live e-commerce.

Ideal MEGA fiasco

In the spring of 2024, Ideal MEGA, the first purely electric MPV of Ideal Motors, became the center of public opinion.

On March 1, the highly anticipated RISO MEGA was officially launched, attracting a lot of attention with its unique appearance and high-end positioning. However, what came along with it was not all praises, but a huge controversy about the appearance design. Some netizens jokingly called the unique shape of its tail as "coffin" design, and made pictures on the internet with words like "Dien", which quickly spread on social media platforms and triggered heated discussions.

The fiasco not only affected the brand image of Ideal MEGA, but also directly led to a significant drop in sales. The Ideal MEGA reportedly suffered more than 10,000 unit backorders within 72 hours of its launch.

The share price was also hit hard. on March 4, Ideal Motors' shares plunged 12.89% in Hong Kong, evaporating nearly HK$40 billion in market value.

In the face of this crisis, the founder of Ideal Car, Li Want, has publicly stated that he will use legal means to counter these malicious attacks, and emphasized that "no matter how hard it is, you can't turn into Darth Vader".

With this fiasco of Ideal MEGA, Ideal Motors has shown its determination and ability to cope with the crisis, but it has also exposed its shortcomings in product design and market prognosis.Figures for the following months show that Ideal continues to enjoy strong sales momentum in the Chinese market. in November 2024, Ideal's total sales amounted to 48,743 units, of which 863 units of Ideal MEGA were sold, and the cumulative sales in 2024 amounted to 9,543 units.

December 25, in the "disappeared" nine months after the public eye, Li Want to conduct an interview communication. He said.Ideal will definitely do robots in the future and will not layout Robotaxi. by 2030, Ideal Motors has a 50% probability of making a very interesting supercar with AI.

In the future, how Ideal Motors will adjust its product and market strategies will be the focus of the industry's attention.

This article is reprinted from Wall Street Journal, "Domestic AI kills dark horses, Xiaomi SU7 dominates the screen, "Wukong" bursts into flames ......2024 China's top 10 business events full inventory", originally written by Zhang Yaqi.