China Roundup: TikTok hits 1b monthly users, and other news

TikTok hits 1 billion monthly active users, surpasses 3 billion downloads

• The short-video platform has reached 1 billion monthly active users worldwide, gaining 300 million of them since June 2020 alone.
• The ByteDance-owned app has also hit 3 billion downloads, according to research firm Sensor Tower.
• This growth comes amid privacy concerns surrounding the Chinese-owned company. A ban in the US was once on the table due to alleged national security threats.

Alibaba begins autonomous truck development

• Alibaba’s Damo Academy, along with logistics unit Cainiao, has started working on autonomous truck development.
• Small-scale testing has already begun with the two units, with large-scale deployment eyed in three years.
• Alibaba is also weighing partnerships with makers of traditional automobiles in the future for the project.

Tech giants eye robot courier push

• Alibaba, Meituan, and JD.com will be adding over 2,000 robot couriers between their delivery fleets by 2022.
• Covid-19 has forced firms to speed up their exploration and development of cost-efficient contactless delivery solutions.
• Companies in China have been considering using robot couriers since the country was hit by a labor crunch in 2013.