Chinese tech company Meituan launches NoCode, an AI-driven coding tool aimed at non-technical users, in a public beta. The platform allows users to create applications through natural language interactions with the AI.

NoCode was created by Meituan’s infrastructure research and development team. It is designed to perform tasks such as generating data analysis dashboards, creating product prototypes, and building web portals. Initially developed during an internal AI hackathon to meet business needs, the tool is now being made available to external users, including merchants.

This initiative is part of Meituan’s broader AI strategy, which focuses on integrating AI into workflows, products, and services. The company has also been developing its large language model, LongCat, since 2023 and has invested in Zhipu AI, a notable LLM developer in China.

In addition to NoCode, Meituan is testing another AI tool called CatPaw, which is reported to generate approximately half of the new code written by its developers. Over 80% of Meituan’s developers are said to use CatPaw weekly.

Meituan’s expansion into AI occurs amid rising competition in China’s AI coding sector, where companies such as Alibaba, ByteDance, and Baidu are also active.

🔗 Source: 36Kr

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ China’s intensifying AI arms race is creating specialized tools beyond chatbots

Meituan’s NoCode tool represents a strategic shift in China’s AI landscape, where companies are now building specialized applications rather than just general-purpose chatbots.

The country already has 3,739 registered generative AI tools developed by 2,353 unique companies, showing the rapid expansion beyond foundation models to industry-specific solutions 1.

This follows major investments by tech giants, with Alibaba committing $53 billion over three years to enhance AI capabilities and cloud infrastructure 2.

Chinese companies are increasingly launching products targeting specific business needs rather than competing solely on foundation model performance, with companies like Baidu and Alibaba developing reasoning-focused models at significantly lower costs than Western alternatives 3.

The push toward specialized tools like NoCode for non-technical users represents a new competitive front in China’s AI ecosystem, where practical application rather than raw model performance is becoming the key differentiator.

2️⃣ AI coding tools are democratizing technology development for small businesses

Meituan’s focus on making tasks “as easy as ordering takeout” for small merchants aligns with the broader trend of AI leveling the playing field between large and small businesses.

Small business AI adoption has increased dramatically, with IBM reporting a 64% increase since 2021, as 35% of businesses now use AI significantly compared to just 22% three years ago 4.

Recent Meituan developments