China Roundup: Xiaomi set to sell cars within 3 years, and other news (updated)

  Xiaomi Auto plans to roll out vehicles by 2024

• Xiaomi Auto, the automotive arm of smartphone maker Xiaomi, plans to launch its first vehicle in the first half of 2024, several sources told 36Kr.
• Lei Jun, chief executive of the company, said internally that Xiaomi Auto seeks to unveil the first model within three years and sell 100,000 vehicles in its debut year.
• In March, the parent firm announced plans to invest 10 billion yuan (around US$1.5 billion) in the initial stage of its electric vehicle business and a total of US$10 billion over the next decade. The group officially registered Xiaomi Auto this month.

Ximalaya mulls Hong Kong listing after scrapping US listing plans

• The audio-sharing platform will lodge its preliminary prospectus as early as Monday, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
• The size of the float has not yet been determined, but sources said that the company is targeting a larger amount than the US$500 million they had planned to raise in the US.
• Ximalaya is the latest Chinese tech firm to shelve its plans of going public in the US as Chinese authorities tighten the reins on private media and internet businesses.

Tech firms told to stop blocking each other’s website links

• China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) proposed new standards for instant messaging services, which include breaking down great walls that tech firms placed to block links leading to competitors’ websites.
• This was announced in an administrative guidance meeting attended by representatives from tech firms like Alibaba, Tencent, Bytedance, and Baidu.
• Alibaba and Tencent have earlier considered opening their virtual barriers to each other’s services.

China to trim ‘bloated’ electric vehicle (EV) industry

• There are “too many EV firms” in China’s market, according to MIIT minister Xiao Yaqing, as the state vows to “consolidate” the industry.
• China’s EV industry is the biggest in the world with 300 makers on record, a number which the government wants to trim.
• “We encourage merger and restructuring efforts in the EV sector to further increase market concentration,” added Xiao.