Investment Rating - The report maintains a positive outlook on the China Internet sector, particularly focusing on AI applications and their monetization potential. Core Insights - The report highlights the steady engagement trends in AI applications, with significant growth in daily token usage and monetization strategies across various platforms. It emphasizes the competitive pricing of AI models and the increasing adoption of AI functionalities in existing applications. Summary by Sections AI Adoption and Engagement - Key investor focuses include rising use cases for AI across both consumer (to-C) and business (to-B) applications, with notable engagement from platforms like DeepSeek and Bytedance's Doubao, which reported a daily token usage of 16.4 trillion in May 2025, a 29% month-over-month increase [1] - The overall top 400 mobile apps saw an 8% year-over-year increase in total time spent in May 2025, with Douyin's main app engagement up 23% year-over-year [1][6] Monetization Strategies - The report notes steady progress in AI monetization, particularly with Kuaishou's Kling achieving an Annualized Revenue Run Rate (ARR) surpassing US$100 million, and other companies also reporting scalable ARR for their AI products [1][6] - Subscription-based productivity tools and advertising-based AI search engines are highlighted as key monetization avenues, with Alibaba's Quark and Baidu's AI chatbots expected to leverage adtech for improved transaction capabilities [1] Competitive Pricing and Model Developments - The report discusses the competitive pricing landscape, with Kuaishou's Kling 2.1 version offering a significant cost reduction of 60-80% compared to its predecessor, and ByteDance's Seedance 1.0 outperforming Google's video generation model [1][6] - The report also mentions the advancements in multi-modal capabilities and the launch of various AI models by leading companies, indicating a strong competitive environment in the AI sector [1][6] Engagement Trends Across Verticals - Engagement in eCommerce platforms accelerated to 10% year-over-year in May, with JD's time spent increasing by 87% year-over-year, driven by food delivery initiatives [1] - Social engagement remained stable with a 6% year-over-year increase, while gaming engagement picked up to 6% year-over-year in May [1][6] Stock Preferences and Recommendations - The report recommends a dual-pronged approach to stock picking, emphasizing defensive sub-sectors and domestic policy beneficiaries with discounted valuations. Preferred stocks include Tencent in gaming, JD in eCommerce, and Kuaishou for AI application monetization [1][6]

Group 1: Market Impact - U.S.-listed Chinese companies such as Alibaba, PDD Holdings, Baidu, NIO, Li Auto, and XPeng are experiencing a decline in stock prices due to new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which can reach as high as 245% on certain imports [1] - The trade war has led to a selloff of heavily foreign-owned Chinese tech stocks, with e-commerce firms being the most affected by the increased tariffs on small parcels [6] Group 2: Economic Growth and Forecasts - China's GDP grew by 5.4% in the first quarter, surpassing the analyst estimate of 5.2%, driven by consumer subsidies and strong export shipments [2] - Economists from major international banks, including UBS and Goldman Sachs, have reduced their forecasts for China's 2025 growth to approximately 4% or lower, indicating a potential struggle to meet the growth target of around 5% [4] Group 3: Tariff Dynamics - The tariff war began with a 20% tariff imposed by Trump, escalating to 104% and then to 125% in response to China's retaliatory actions, which included raising its tariffs by 84% [5][6] - The tariffs are expected to lead companies to increase product prices to maintain margins, which could negatively impact demand for lower-priced offerings from Chinese companies [5]