Sept 14 (Reuters) - DeepSeek plans to hire Yan Wentao, a partner at venture-capital firm GL Ventures, as its first chief financial officer, two people with ‌knowledge of the matter said, as the Chinese AI startup prepares for a ‌potential initial public offering.
Reuters reported last week that Hangzhou-based DeepSeek had hired Chinese brokerage CITIC Securities to prepare for a possible listing on Shanghai's technology-focused STAR Market.
A CFO typically plays a central role in managing investor communications, financial controls, capital allocation and disclosure processes required for a listing.
The appointment of Yan, who has dealmaking experience, to the role would be a significant step ‌in DeepSeek's transformation from a ⁠research-focused lab bankrolled by its founder's hedge fund into a more conventional corporate structure.
The sources on his planned appointment could not be named ⁠because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

#reuters #capital #role #sept

DeepSeek has engaged CITIC Securities to prepare for an initial public offering on Shanghai's STAR Market, according to Reuters, citing two people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Hangzhou-based AI startup aims to begin the IPO process this year, according to Reuters. The timing of a potential offering, the amount DeepSeek could seek to raise, and its target valuation have not been determined. DeepSeek and CITIC did not respond to requests for comment.
In China, firms pursuing a mainland listing are generally required to retain a securities company for pre-IPO tutoring before they can file an application, Reuters notes. The previously undisclosed arrangement with CITIC suggests DeepSeek is making concrete progress toward a public offering.
The IPO push comes as DeepSeek seeks capital to fund computing infrastructure, model development, and talent retention amid competition from rival Chinese and U.S. AI firms. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Liang Wenfeng sees the IPO as a way to build a compensation structure capable of holding onto the startup's most important engineers and researchers. The company has lost talent to rivals including ByteDance and Xiaomi.
According to Reuters, DeepSeek is currently raising a new funding round at a valuation of 500 billion yuan ($75 billion). In June, the startup closed a round of roughly $7.4 billion at a post-money valuation exceeding $50 billion, with Liang Wenfeng personally contributing 20 billion yuan. Tencent Holdings and battery company CATL contributed 10 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan, respectively, becoming the largest external shareholders, according to Reuters.

#deepseek #according #company

Former India batter and Director of Cricket at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence, VVS Laxman, is set to travel with the Indian men's team to ******* an and will take charge as head coach in the absence of Gautam Gambhir for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya later this month.

Gautam Gambhir will remain with the senior side for India's home ODI series against the West Indies. The first ODI is scheduled to be played on September 27.

Laxman will be ******* isted by former India spinner Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subhadeep Ghosh, according to the list of coaches released by the Sports Ministry. The development was earlier reported by TimesofIndia.com in July.

Laxman has previous Asian Games experience, having coached the Indian men's team at the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China, where India won the gold medal.
The cricket competition at the Asian Games will begin on September 24, with India scheduled to play its opening men's match on September 28. India will defend its men's T20 ******* le under captain Shreyas Iyer, with teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also part of the squad. The men's team will face the second-placed side from Group A, which comprises Afghanistan, ******* an and Nepal.

The Indian women's team will also enter the tournament as defending champions and will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur. The women's side will enter the competition at the quarterfinal stage and face hosts ******* an. Amol Muzumdar will continue as the head coach of the women's team, with bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi and fielding coach Munish Bali completing his support staff.
Indian men's team: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Nitish ******* ar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit ******* rah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Indian women's team: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Gunalan Kamalini, Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Nandani Sharma.

#coach

Gautam Gambhir or VVS Laxman: Who will be head coach of India T20I team in Asian Games 2026? originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
VVS Laxman will lead India's men's cricket team at the Asian Games 2026 while Gautam Gambhir stays back for the West Indies ODIs.
Laxman previously coached India to a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, showing a proven track record.
Amol Muzumdar continues with the women's team, as both defending champions aim to retain their Asian Games T20 ***** les this year.
VVS Laxman, and not Gautam Gambhir, will be the man calling the shots for India's men's cricket team at the Asian Games 2026, set to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, ***** an, later this month.

#laxman #Cricket #Gambhir

Bengaluru: While the Indian cricket team made its Asian Games debut in Hangzhou in 2023, its first appearance at a multi-sport event came at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. In Kuala Lumpur, a star-studded side featuring Sachin Tendulkar, Anil ***** ble, VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh bowed out in the league phase. Twenty-five years later, Laxman returned to the multi-sport arena, this time as coach, guiding India to gold in Hangzhou.

Now, as the Shreyas Iyer-led Indian team prepares to defend its ***** le at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture, ***** an beginning with the quarterfinals on Sept 28, Laxman spoke exclusively to TOI of the unique appeal of multi-sport events, India's Asian Games campaign and the experience of being part of the cricket team's journey from its first CWG appearance to maiden Asian Games gold.

"My first experience of a multi-discipline event was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. The whole experience of being part of the Indian contingent feels really great, and that kind of experience every young cricketer should get. It's great that I've had that opportunity both as a player and coach," said the head of cricket at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.

Recalling the Hangzhou experience, the former batting great said, "Obviously, it's not like your mainstream cricket series or tournaments that we've been part of since we started playing for the country. The Asian Games was a great experience and exposure because not often do we get to visit the Games village, meet a sportsperson from other disciplines, interact with them, see how they train and prepare. A group of us went to support the Indian badminton team, which was fantastic."

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are the seeded teams making the quarterfinals directly, with Afghanistan, ***** an, Nepal, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman fighting for the other four knockout berths.

While India will start favourites, they can ill afford to take the other teams lightly, with Nepal giving them a run for their medal in the previous edition before India won by 23 runs to make the semifinals.

India will play a match against ***** an and train in Tokyo for three days before heading to the host city. Laxman pointed to the match against Nepal and said, "One thing which we have learnt playing the game is never underestimate your opponent."

Beyond the game, Laxman believes it is about knowledge sharing.

"Given the experience and the exposure the Indian cricketers have, at the end of the match it's also about sharing that experience with players from other countries. After Nepal ran us close in the previous edition of the Asian Games, their coach invited me to talk to the team, which was an opportunity to share knowledge. It's not just me, but that's the way the entire group of players will approach the experience," Laxman stated.

#experience #nepal #hangzhou

Asian Games 2026: BCCI considers sending India's second-string team to **** an over poor player facilities - report originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
BCCI may send a second-string squad to the Asian Games over unsatisfactory player facilities in Aichi-Nagoya, **** an.
Reports flagged tent-based dressing rooms with washrooms 500 metres away, alongside concerns over small hotel rooms.
India travel as defending men's cricket champions, having won gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Games via superior seeding.
India's cricket squad for the 2026 Asian Games could look very different from what's already been announced, with the BCCI reportedly weighing whether to field a weakened side altogether due to serious concerns over player facilities in **** an.

#games #Cricket #BCCI #second

(Corrects Aug 20 story in paragraph 5 to remove erroneous reference to Julius Baer)
By Summer Zhen, Selena Li and Xinghui Kok
HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - A growing campaign to tax offshore wealth is forcing wealthy Chinese people to rethink their trust structures and investment holdings, lawyers and advisers say, as Beijing sharpens its focus on capital outflows and rule enforcement amid growing fiscal strains.
In late July, ‌authorities overhauled rules to impose a 20% income tax on offshore trusts, while tax offices in major cities like Beijing and Hangzhou have started to enforce taxation on returns from offshore insurance policies.
Those measures have ‌triggered a scramble among some wealthy individuals to ***** s their liabilities, raise cash to meet them and revamp investment holdings. They have also fuelled concern that Beijing may widen its tax crackdown and scrutiny of offshore wealth.

#wealth #wealthy #investment

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Unitree Robotics' humanoid robots may give M3GAN a run for her money.
The Hangzhou-based company's product lineup includes bipedal bots that can do backflips, kung fu and more moves that plenty of humans (and their knees) can only dream of. The "Superman," which the company previewed this week, can jump 2 meters and run up to 12.66 meters per second.
While the robots have certainly captured the attention of the internet, they're exciting investors, too. Unitree raised roughly 6.1 billion yuan ($904 million) in its initial public offering, which was oversubscribed more than 8,000 times by retail investors, and shares skyrocketed 460% when the firm debuted on the Shanghai market Wednesday.
Sign up for The Daily Upside at no cost for premium ******* ysis on all your favorite stocks.

#investors #sign #daily #robots

On August 12, Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME) held its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, and the numbers told a story bigger than a music app. Total revenue reached RMB 8.9 billion, up 6% year over year, with the freshly consolidated audio platform Ximalaya adding roughly RMB 0.4 billion of that total. Music-related services revenue climbed 11%, and membership revenue rose 8% to RMB 4.8 billion. But the more interesting shift is happening beyond the subscription numbers, in concert stadiums, merchandise tables and a new audio business the company is only beginning to fold in.
Tencent Music is no longer content collecting streaming fees. Management pointed to live entertainment and artist merchandise as the fastest-growing part of the business, with both delivering strong double-digit year-over-year growth in the quarter. One collaborating rapper's stadium tour opener in Xi'an drew more than 30,000 fans, while another artist wrapped two consecutive sold-out arena shows in Hangzhou and a third sold-out debut arena show in Shenzhen quickly after tickets went on sale. The company's own concert franchise, TIMA, moved to a larger Hong Kong venue this year and more than tripled its audience capacity from last year's event. Fan meetings in Macau for an SM Entertainment trainee group drew tens of thousands of attendees and strong merchandise sales, and the company also invested in The Black Label to expand artist promotion and merchandise collaboration. None of this shows up cleanly in a subscriber count, but it is where TME is choosing to put its energy and capital.
The financial base underneath these bets held up too. Adjusted EBITDA rose 5% to RMB 3.3 billion, non-IFRS net profit attributable to equity holders rose to RMB 2.5 billion from RMB 2.4 billion a year earlier, and IFRS net profit climbed 4% to RMB 2.7 billion. Combined cash, deposits and short-term investments grew to RMB 44.2 billion from RMB 41 billion just three months earlier. The company also kept buying back stock, repurchasing 43.5 million shares for $400 million during the quarter under a program it expects to complete on schedule.
The acquisition that management is most excited about is also the one that muddies the picture. Ximalaya's consolidation contributed positively to both membership and advertising revenue this quarter, and after accounting for amortization of intangible ******* ets under purchase accounting, it had a favorable effect on gross margin as well. That is a lot of moving parts feeding into headline numbers that otherwise look straightforward. Strip out the roughly RMB 0.4 billion Ximalaya added, and the underlying growth rate looks noticeably softer than the 6% topline figure suggests.

#billion #music #revenue #rose

Shares in Unitree, one of China's largest manufacturers of humanoid robots, closed their first day of trading by more than 460%, showing strong investor appetite for China's robotics sector.

Unitree raised around $900 million in its IPO on Shanghai's STAR Market, the city's board for technology startups, at a valuation of $9 billion. After today's surge, Unitree is now worth around $66 billion, ahead of larger Chinese tech firms like Baidu and JD.com. It's also worth more than the most valuable U.S. robotics company, Figure AI, which got a $39 billion valuation in a September 2025 funding round.
Investors piling into Unitree represents the hype around China's robotics sector, which is responsible for almost all shipments of humanoid robots in the first half of the year. But ******* ysts views are mixed on how much potential companies like Unitree have: While the startup continues to push what their robots can do—recently, beyond human performance—continued struggles on the software side, as well as a recent U.S. ban on foreign-made robots, could weigh on the company's future.
Unitree reported 1.7 billion yuan ($252 million) in revenue in 2025, with almost 45% of that coming from overseas sales. It also generated 600 million yuan ($89 million) in profit last year. Most of Unitree's sales go towards research purposes, though some Chinese tech companies and state-owned enterprises are starting to explore using humanoid robots in their operations.
Unitree has been backed by fellow Hangzhou startup DeepSeek, as well as big tech firms like Alibaba, Ant Group and Tencent, as well as several state-backed investment funds.
Nomura, which gave a "buy" rating to Unitree shares on Wednesday, credited Unitree's "rapid product iteration and continuous innovation" as the foundation of a "first-mover advantage."

#billion #like

General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) is abandoning one of the most storied American automobile brands in the world's largest auto market, and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) announced a different kind of pullback. Together, the two moves demonstrate how much American manufacturers have lost their foothold in China.
According to a report in German trade publication Automobilwoche, General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) plans to stop Chevrolet sales in China after nearly 21 years. The figures driving the decision are stark: Chevrolet sold over 767,000 vehicles in China in 2014, its peak year. Last year, that figure had fallen to less than 9,000 units, a 98.8% decrease in just over a decade. GM's answer has been to double down on its two surviving, more successful Chinese brands, focusing on Buick and Cadillac, with Buick specifically finding success with its new Electra electric vehicle series.
Chevrolet's decline is a symptom of a broader fundamental instability. Foreign automakers' overall share of China's auto market has plummeted, dropping from 53% to around 33% in just two years, while local Chinese companies led by BYD and Geely have taken control.
Ford's version of the retreat, announced on August 13, focuses on Lincoln, its luxury brand. Ford announced that beginning in 2030, it will stop producing Lincoln vehicles in China for the US market and instead expand Lincoln manufacturing domestically. The move notably targets the Lincoln Nautilus, the brand's best-selling model and the only car Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) currently makes in China for American buyers, manufactured at the Changan Ford joint venture in Hangzhou since 2024.
CEO Jim Farley described the move as a statement of identity as much as strategy, claiming that Lincoln is an American brand and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is America's automaker, telling Reuters that the decision was prompted by the Trump administration's trade policies. Those policies are doing the majority of the work here. The China-built Nautilus is subject to a significant 52.5% tariff in the US, a cost that has become difficult to justify. Despite the fact that the SUV has held up fairly well commercially, its US sales are down only 5.7% year-over-year through July, a smaller decrease than the Lincoln brand overall (down 12.6%).

#ford #american #motor #announced

In Hangzhou city, a city off the east coast of China and a major AI hub, a worker only identified by his surname Zhou, was laid off at a tech firm. Zhou's job, verifying the accuracy of large language models, was taken over by AI. His contract was terminated after he declined a lower-level reassignment with a 40% pay cut, 25,000 yuan ($3,640 USD) monthly to 15,000 yuan ($2,224 USD), according to Xinhua, a state news agency.
An arbitration panel ruled the dismissal was illegal and awarded Zhou with additional severance. The tech firm filed a lawsuit with a Hangzhou district court in August 2025, which they lost. They lost an appeal in April 2026.
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#hangzhou #lost #xinhua #august

By Samuel Shen and Yantoultra Ngui
SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Chinese robot maker Unitree Technology is expected to be valued ‌at more than 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) after its planned ‌Shanghai IPO, according to a report by Citic Securities, which is sponsoring the initial public offering.
Citic Securities expected the Hangzhou-based company to be worth 50.6 billion to 55.9 billion yuan six to 12 months after listing later this month. The valuation report, distributed to investors and seen by ‌Reuters, is largely seen ⁠as guidance ahead of Wednesday's IPO price enquiry.
Unitree, which competes with Tesla and Boston Dynamics in making humanoid ⁠robots, aims to raise 4.2 billion yuan to fund innovation and production.
Robotics is seen as one of China's strategic industries key to Beijing's tech rivalry with Washington.

#shanghai #reuters #unitree #securities

The schedule for the cricket events at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, **** an, has been announced, with defending champions India receiving direct entry into the quarter-finals in both the men's and women's T20 tournaments.

Cricket will be played in the T20 format and will have full international status. The women's competition will run from September 17 to 22, while the men's tournament will take place from September 24 to October 1 at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture.

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have all been seeded into the men's quarter-finals based on their rankings. The remaining four quarter-final spots will be decided through a preliminary stage featuring six teams split into two groups.

Group A includes Afghanistan, **** an and Nepal, while Group B features Hong Kong China, Malaysia and Oman.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. Since India and Pakistan are on opposite sides of the draw, the two rivals can only meet if both reach the semi-finals or the final.

India will face one of the teams that qualify from the preliminary round in the quarter-finals.
— AsianGamesOCA (AsianGamesOCA)
India's women's team will start its **** le defence against hosts **** an in the quarter-finals. If India win, they will face either Bangladesh or China in the semi-finals.

The other quarter-final matches will see Sri Lanka take on Malaysia, while Pakistan will play Thailand. India will be aiming to retain the gold medals won in both the men's and women's competitions at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

#Japan #Pakistan #asian