China Roundup: JD, Baidu pour $400m into elevator ad startup, and other news

JD, Baidu pour US$400 million to elevator ad startup Xinchao

• The website of Xinchao Media Group, an elevator advertising firm, says it is valued at US$2 billion.
• Xinchao currently operates more than 650,000 digital advertising panels in elevators across 105 Chinese cities.
• Baidu led a 2.1 billion yuan (around US$325 million) funding round for Xinchao in 2018, while JD.com led a 1 billion yuan (around US$155 million) round for the firm the next year.

Baidu-backed electric vehicle maker WM Motor to raise US$500 million

• The funding will come in two tranches – the first, led by billionaire Richard Li’s telco firm PCCW, is expected to be worth US$300 million.
• The second tranche will inject another US$200 million into WM Motor.
• The Baidu-backed company has sold more than 70,000 vehicles as of the third quarter in 2021.

Video platform Bilibili tests student-focused social feature

• The feature, called Campus, will be geared toward college and university students in China.
• Bilibili hopes to acquire a younger user base through the feature.
• In 2005, social media site Renren had also targeted the same demographic but its service fell out of fashion in 2010.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollar: US$1 = 6.45 yuan