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2025-02-10 | subscribe | homepage

Welcome back to this week’s edition of the China Insights Weekly Newsletter.

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🚀 Headlines

Toyota's Lexus to build first wholly-owned battery electric vehicle factory in Shanghai larger than Tesla’s gigafactory (link)

Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corporation announced on February 5 that it will establish a wholly owned subsidiary in Shanghai's Jinshan district to develop and produce battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and batteries. The new company will focus on hydrogen energy, automated driving technology, and battery recycling. The company plans to develop a new BEV under the Lexus brand, with production set to start in 2027. Toyota’s first wholly-owned electric Lexus plant in China could be larger than Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory. Shanghai government will allocate 113 hectares to Toyota, while Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory in Shanghai's Lingang New Area secured 86 hectares in 2018.

‘Ne Zha 2’ smashes records, becomes the highest-grossing movie in a single market, surpassing ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (link)

"Ne Zha 2" has become the highest-grossing movie in a single market in the world, earning over 7 billion RMB (USD 960.5 million) in China, surpassing "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" which earned USD 936.7 million in North America. Released during the Lunar New Year period, the film broke China's holiday box office record and recently became China's all-time highest-grossing movie. Experts predict it could reach 1 billion dollars in China, with some forecasts estimating a total of 10.8 billion RMB (USD 1.48 billion). The film's success is part of a strong start for China's film industry in 2025, following a 25% drop in box office sales in 2024. The Lunar New Year period alone saw 9.51 billion RMB (USD 1.3 billion) in revenue, boosted by government discounts and subsidies.