Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites or search engine results. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: ByteDance’s Regional Hub

Key takeaway: A Singapore-based subsidiary of ByteDance operates the Dola AI app. This app has been the primary driver of Chinese AI app exports, outpacing competitors like DeepSeek and Qwen. Dola AI initially relied on American LLMs but has since shifted to ByteDance’s own models, showing how easily a product can become more “Chinese” than it initially was, despite being based out of Singapore. Singapore is home to at least half a dozen ByteDance related entitites.

Figure 1: ByteDance’s Singapore offices. (Image source: Ore Huiying / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The security concerns around Chinese companies have grown in recent years. Companies have tried to alleviate concerns in a variety of ways and one of these has been to create geographic distance between their product and China, i.e. to set up subsidiaries in Singapore.

For instance, TikTok Pte. Ltd. and Spring (SG) Pte. Ltd. are both based out of Singapore and they both operate an international version of Chinese apps. TikTok is the international facing app of Douyin and Dola AI is the international version of Doubao, ByteDance’s AI app assistant for the Chinese market.

Dola is an AI smart assistant that is able to generate images, draft reports and summarize documents. The company Spring (SG) Pte. Ltd., which is a subsidiary of ByteDance, distributes and operates the Dola AI app. As seen below, Dola AI has been very successful in diffusing internationally.

Figure 2: This graph shows growing global downloads of the Dola AI app, clearly outcompeting DeepSeek and Qwen since mid-2025 on the Google Play Store. (Source: Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Data: Appfigures)

LLMs with Singaporean characteristics

As BytDance’s subsidiary Spring is based out of Singapore, I was unsure as to whether its products use Chinese or American/European algorithms.

From a simple search engine look up it is not immediately clear what LLMs Dola uses. When asking the Dola chatbot itself, it becomes clearer. Over time Dola has switched from using American LLMs to Chinese LLMs. Dola explains it as such:

Dola AI is not the only app launched by Spring (SG) Pte. Ltd. In January 2025 Spring launched TRAE CN (Chinese version) and TRAE (international version). Those are AI apps that help with coding, think of OpenAI Codex or Mistral’s Vibe Code. TRAE uses both American and Chinese LLMs, for now, while TRAE CN appears to use only Chinese LLMs.

Figure 3: TRAE has been downloaded 50k times so far on the Google Play Store (Source: Google Play Store)

If you are interested in delving deeper into the Chinese GenAI app ecosystem, read my latest paper Geopolitics of AI App Exports.

Company spotlight: Spring (Sg) Pte. Ltd.

Spring (Sg) Pte. Ltd. is based at 77 Robinson Road #06-03 Robinson 77 Singapore, 068896 Singapore.

Interestingly, both Spring (SG) PTE. and TikTok PTE. share Ms Nor Hafiza Binte Alwi as the key principal. But it does not stop there. Ms Alwi is also a key principal at the following Singapore-based entities, which gives a good overview of ByteDance’s international activities:

• Tokgistic Pte. Ltd. (an entity associated with TikTok Shop)

• ByteDance Pte. Ltd.

• Anew Therapeutics Pte. Ltd. (ByteDance 's AI-driven drug discovery platform)

• Pipo Global Service Pte. Ltd. (provides financial services within the ByteDance ecosystem)

• Pico Immersive Pte. Ltd. (ByteDance entity focused on VR and XR soft- and hardware)

• Nuverse Pte. Ltd. (ByteDance’s game development and publishing brand)

• Evonik Singapore Specialty Chemicals Pte. Ltd. (part of German Evonik company)

Now, all the companies that Ms Alwi is a key principal at are part of the ByteDance ecosystem. The only odd one out is Essen-based Evonik, Germany’s second largest chemicals company and one of the largest in the world. Ms Alwi might be acting at Evonik as an intermediary between the German-based company and the local regulatory environment, as she seems to have done in other cases.

Hafiza was, or still is, the Director of Zico Corporate, a Singaporean company that advises foreign firms regarding the Singaporean jurisdiction. This might also explain why ByteDance’s semiconductor unit Picoheart Pte. Ltd. is registered at the same Singaporean address as Zico Corporate Services.

Thank you for reading China:Technospehere.

The information presented in this biweekly brief is intended solely for informational and academic purposes. It reflects the author’s independent research, analysis, and opinions, and does not constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the content, no guarantee is provided regarding the completeness or correctness of the information. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own due diligence before drawing conclusions or making decisions based on this publication. The author disclaims any liability for actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this brief.

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites or search engine results. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

Subscribe for free, or support China: Technosphere with a paid subscription to unlock the full archive of previous posts and the database of featured companies.

Biweekly Feature: (Embodied) Military AI

Key takeaway: The reporting on China’s 2026 World AI Conference focused very much on civilian aspects. However, this is not the full story. The subsidiary of a major Chinese defense contractor exhibited its embodied AI products at China’s World AI conference. What is more, in the days leading up to the AI conference, China and Nigeria hammered out an AI-driven defense partnership.

China has denied using its World AI Conference for military purposes. However, the reality on the ground is a bit more blurry. On July 17, 58 Intelligent, a subsidiary of Norinco Group, one of the largest defense contractors in the world, showcased its dual-use “special forces” / “weaponry made” robot solution at China’s 2026 World AI Conference. The quadruped robot can operate in all weather conditions and can climb ladders continuously for one hour.

Figure 1: The Q25 is “Born for applications, made for the Silk Road” (Source: 58 Intelligence)

The Sino-Nigerian AI-driven defense cooperation

On July 15, a few days before the World AI Conference, it was reported that Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd) led a delegation to China. The delegation had high-level engagements on defense, and security cooperation with China as well as fast-tracking the modernization of Nigeria’s army, increasing local military production capacity, and integrating AI into Nigeria’s national security architecture.

Figure 2: Note the AI mission priority (Source: Instagram)

In the words of Nigeria’s minister:

It is worth mentioning that Musa received an Advanced Diploma in Defence and Strategies Course, and a Master’s of Science (Military Science), from the PLA National Defense University between 2012 and 2013. He also attended the US Army War College in 2017.

When Musa visited China a few weeks ago, he first dropped by the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) Innovation Center, followed by a visit of the Headquarters and Exhibition Centre of Norinco Group where he led a closed-door meeting with the President and Senior Executives at Norinco.

Figure 3: Minister Musa visits CETC (Source: Instagram)

In short, China and Nigeria pursue an AI-driven security cooperation.

So, China’s world AI initiatives are not just about selling lovey dovey AI products, they are also about selling hard power and appear to be also about strengthening Chinese AI military ties with governments abroad on the sidelines of it. The Chinese-Nigerian cooperation, in particular, comes in the context of Nigeria’s large-scale modernization of its armed forces, where Norinco vies for contracts against competitors from Germany (Rheinmetall), Italy (Leonardo), and Spain (Inda Sistemas).

Figure 4: Minister Musa visits Norinco Group (Source: Nigerian Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation)

What is more, the Nigerian Air Force reportedly uses Wing Loong II UAVs supplied by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group.

Figure 5: A Chinese drone firing a rocket in Nigeria (Source: Nigerian Air Force)

Nigeria has been lately a focal point of Chinese public security cooperation, see for instance this previous episode on how Hisign, a major Chinese biometric gear provider, is involved in the country.

Company spotlight: 58 Intelligence (五八智能)

58 Intelligence is based at 3rd Floor, Building D, No. 188 Yunzhan Road, Zhuantang Street, Xihu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It was established in 2022 and serves also the civilian market, for instance through the production of humanoid robots or police dogs. The robot dogs are equipped with capture net guns, directional loud sound dispersion devices. All these are powerful anti riot technologies, especially when combined with police drones that fire teargas.

Figure 6: The police riot control robot dog (Source: 58 Intelligence)

Also, 58 Intelligence and Huawei Cloud jointly released a “large-scale model for embodied intelligent autonomous mobility".

While 58 Intelligence was only founded in 2022, a few years later, its product became the first bionic robot that appeared at a Chinese military parade.

Figure 7: The robotic wolf at the September 3rd parade in 2025 (Source: 58 Intelligence)

Of course, robotic wolves t(note that it is not called robotic dog in the military setting) operate in packs, where individual wolves take on different tasks in conflict. Some wolves conduct reconnaissance, while others carry guns, or ammunitions - all working together as a swarm combat platform.

Thank you for reading China:Technospehere.

The information presented in this biweekly brief is intended solely for informational and academic purposes. It reflects the author’s independent research, analysis, and opinions, and does not constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the content, no guarantee is provided regarding the completeness or correctness of the information. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own due diligence before drawing conclusions or making decisions based on this publication. The author disclaims any liability for actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this brief.

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites or search engine results. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

Subscribe for free, or support China: Technosphere with a paid subscription to unlock the full archive of previous posts and the database of featured companies.

Biweekly Feature: Surveillance Aid

Key takeaway: China’s international police cooperations have resulted in biometric surveillance devices being exported to mutliple African and Pacific island nations. The company that implements some of these exports has been a key player in building China’s domestic fingerprint and DNA database, and through a subsidiary has won bids to supply Xinjiang’s public security apparatus. The company’s director has ties to a European university that appears to have been a fraudulent or fake institution.

China’s foreign technology aid includes building up fingerprint verification laboratories for millions of people in

• Malawi,

• Tonga

• Samoa,

• Lesotho,

• Chad,

• Iraq

Beijing-based Hisign serves as the core supplier of the biometric gear .

The overseas laboratories that Hisign established can process: fingerprints, facial images, and palm prints. The delivery of technology is accompanied by training of how to use, operate and maintain the technology, as seen in the images below.

Figure 1: Hisign training, probably in an African country. Note the shirt (Source: Hisign)

Figure 2: The same shirt as in Figure 1 seems to have surfaced in Iraq. (Source: Hisign)

Beyond that in 2025, Hisign won a USD 10+ million bid to establish a biometric identification system for an African country. The company has overseas business in Algeria, Mexico, Indonesia, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, and Kenya.

Cutting-edge technology

Seamless biometrics

Hisign has two interesting technologies. One is the non-contact fingerprint and palm scanner, which as the name suggest requires people to only hold their hand or finger over the machine rather than touch it. This is in line with the Chinese surveillance apparatus’s attempt to make surveillance seamless and contactless, like with the non-contact AI lie detectors examined in this previous issue.

Figure 3: left side is for fingerprint and the right side for palm recognition. (Source: Hisign)

Police dog digital brains

The other notable Hisign equipment is the police dog digital brain. In the roughly ten years that I have researched China’s police state I have come across all kinds of digitization efforts. But this is the first time I come across police dog technology.

The K9 tactical deployment management system monitors a police dog’s life from birth to retirement, including medical and vaccine data, thereby apparently predicting disease risks. The dogs wear a collar that is equipped with Beidou and GPS positioning. The collar sends out the dog’s position every 2.5 seconds and with an error margin of 0-1 meters. At the same time the dog appears to capture video footage up to a radius of 30 meters, including during nighttime, via infrared sensors.

Figure 4: K9 Tactical Deployment Management System. (Source: Hisign)

Edge computing allows police dog missions to keep capturing and processing data even when offline and a link to the cloud allows for an integration into ministerial platforms, this likely means national databases that hold data on people.

The police dog digital brain is further enhanced by drones that are deployed in the sky. Drones bring another aerial perspective to the “battlefield situation”. Based on all available data, AI algorithms recommend which dogs should be dispatched and where.

Naturally, rhe system uses domestic software. It runs on a Hygon 8-core processor and domestic OS.

The dark side

Hisign’s face classification algorithm can supposedly identify a person’s ethnicity. What is more, in 2019, the company’s subsidiary - Beijing Haixin High-Tech Fingerprint Technology Co., Ltd - trained the Urumqi Railway Public Security Bureau in “Fingerprint comparison methods in complex environments such as passenger trains”. In 2021, the same subsidiary won the Urumqi Railway Public Security Bureau’s bid regarding the “Fingerprint System Upgrade and Expansion Procurement Project”.

Finally, Hisign was founded by a former People’s Liberation Army member, Liu Xiaochun (刘晓春). He had worked at the Naval Equipment Demonstration Research Institute (海军装备论证研究院).

For further information on China’s international police cooperation see this previous issue of China: Technosphere.

Company spotlight: Hisign (北京海鑫科金高科技股份有限公司)

Hisign is based at 3rd-6th Floor, Building 4, Zone 4, Hanwei International Plaza, No. 186, South Fourth Ring Road West, Fengtai District, Beijing.

Feng Shen (冯申) is Hisign’s director. In 2025, Nigeria appointed him the Nigerian honorary consul to China.

Figure 5: Feng Shen became Nigerian Honorary Consul to China. (Source: Hisign)

More obscurely, he appears to have been appointed an Associate Dean at the Center for Aerospace Technologies at the European Union University (EUU). The website of the EUU only emerged in 2024 and was shut down again in 2025 . According to other observers, the EUU was identified as a likely fraudulent institution. And Roger Bonnecaze, the dean that seems to have signed the certificate that Feng Shen received, appears to be a dean at the University of Texas at Austin, rather than at the “EUU”.

Figure 6: Feng Shen was appointed associate dean at an obscure European university. (Source: Baidu)

The EUU has supposedly campuses in Montreux, Stuttgart and Seville, but none of the addresses lead to a real location. The university’s website claims that EUU ranked 98th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). But the only universities that ranked 98th that year were Brown University (U.S.), McMaster (Canada), and Stockholm University (Sweden). The image of the news item on the EUU website, shows an image of Stockholm University, which strengthens the hypothesis that EUU tries to come across as Stockholm University in this specific case.

Some questions remain open. Feng Shen is a mentor at the MBA program of the Beijing Information Science and Technology University. When Feng Shen was “appointed” to the EUU, the Beijing Information University reported about Feng Shen’s EUU appointment and posted the email that Feng Shen apparently received from EUU. As this email is direclty addressed to Feng Shen, it i likely that he shared the email with the Beijing University. Why would Feng Shen share a letter from a university that does not appear to exist? And who went to such great lengths to create the EUU’s website?

There is another person who has a prominent connection to the EUU. That is Prof. Dr. Lingyun Xiang (向凌云) who was listed on the EUU website as a full professor, and who seems to live in the United States. Xiang also mentions his EUU affiliation on his own LinkedIn page as a current affiliation. Feng Shen and Xiang appear to have no connection, except … they both have a link to Africa. Namely, Mr Xiang is a financial and economic advisor to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in China. This is the same embassy, where Feng Shen is a Honorary Consul.

All in all, it might be that Mr Xiang and Feng Shen actively ignored that the EUU was a scam and thought that the affiliation with the EUU (despite being fake) would benefit their reputation or chose to give it a veil of legitimacy for whatever other reason. Or maybe they were simply naive.

Figure 7: Lingyun Xiang received an EUU Award. Note that Montreux is misspelled. And Gökhan Bilen appears to be a faculty member at the Geneva-based EU business school, not to be confused with the EUU (Source: TOM)

Thank you for reading China:Technospehere.

The information presented in this biweekly brief is intended solely for informational and academic purposes. It reflects the author’s independent research, analysis, and opinions, and does not constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the content, no guarantee is provided regarding the completeness or correctness of the information. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own due diligence before drawing conclusions or making decisions based on this publication. The author disclaims any liability for actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this brief.

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to search enginge results or an archived version of websites. Do not visit the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: PLA Reasoning

Key takeaway: In 2023, China’s first military LLM was launched. It is used for planning, force allocation, intelligence analysis, and operational optimization, trained on sources such as open-source, signals, and human intelligence. It supports scalable model sizes (requiring specialized Huawei hardware) and is already used by PLA units to accelerate decision-making processes to seconds. The…

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites or search engine results. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: Satellite Internet Ambitions

Key takeaway: While Space X, and with it, Starlink became a publicly traded company on June 12, 2026, China’s Starlink equivalent is making strides on its own. It consists of several players and LEO satellite constellations. As with most other technologies, China has started to mass-produce in this industry too, and as examples in Latin America and Southeast A…

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites or search engine results. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: 1984 in 2026

Key takeaway: The Chinese security apparatus is protruding deeper and deeper into people’s subconsciousness. The AI lie detectors featured in this issue focus on monitoring aspects of human behavior that individuals are largely unaware of, such as micro-gestures and remotely detectable changes in heart rate. One military loyalty assessment product incorporates what appear to…

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites or search engine results. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: China’s Deepening Footprint in Africa

Key takeaway: China’s influence over Zambia was on full display when RightsCon was cancelled on 29 April 2026. This China: Technosphere issue highlights how Zambia became dependent on Beijing and what technological services China provides in the country, and beyond, in Africa. One Chinese company, in particular, has been prolific in building military,…

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites or search engine results. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: Defense in depth

Key takeaway: A nuclear enrichment facility near Lanzhou uses systems that detect and track drones, paragliders, and balloons within a 5 km radius, using electronic countermeasures to force unauthorized drones to land or retreat. In national security facilities, such as military bases, unauthorized phones are flagged and screens disabled automatically to prevent covert ph…

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Biweekly Feature: China’s global situational awareness

Key takeaway: What do Caracas, Havana, and Tehran have in common? All those locations have recently been, or may soon be, the locus of U.S. interventions. Moreover, all those cities are filled with Chinese surveillance technologies. In peacetime, this monitoring infrastructure props up dictators, while in wartime it gives Beijing an advantage in understanding what its …

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to search enginge results or an archived version of websites. Do not visit the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: All Eyes on the Middle East

Key takeaway: For years, China has quietly expanded its technological footprint in the Middle East and now, these systems may offer Beijing insights into the current actions of the United States on the ground. In Abu Dhabi, thousands of CCTV cameras have been woven into a sophisticated, centralized monitoring system built by a Chinese firm sanctioned by the United States in 202…

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to search enginge results or an archived version of the websites. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: When embodied AI watches over embodied AI

Key takeaway: Huasoft, a Shanghai-based company, develops autonomous patrolling solutions. Its platforms integrate multiple drones, quadruped robots, ships, and “intelligent brains” that allow coordinated sensing, decision-making, and execution with minimal human involvement. As these systems scale and interconnect, they point toward autonomous u…

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to search enginge results or an archived version of the websites. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

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Biweekly Feature: How instant messaging enables PLA combat readiness

Key takeaway: China’s PLA uses domestic messaging platforms like Xuanxuan for fast and reliable wartime communication. The communication infrastructure is almost exlusively domestically produced. Lanxin Mobile, which also provides an instant messaging platform to the PLA, serves over 15 million users across Chinese government and securit…

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Biweekly Feature: Embodied Urban AI Frontiers

Key takeaway: China’s urban digitization has moved from smart cities to AI-driven city brains and now to Lenovo’s urban super-intelligent agents. Lenovo’s AI agents are first deployed in strategic energy, data, and border locations and aims to achieve artificial superintelligence by linking individuals with enterprises, and city governance systems. Lenovo, hea…

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Biweekly Feature: AI to Analyze the World’s Oceans

Key takeaway: Mingkun Technology has developed a maritime situational awareness system powered by large language models (LLMs) that integrates vast data sources to monitor military and civilian ships and aircraft across seas surrounding China. Its system supports Chinese military and government decision-making and is increasingly integrated with broader smart city and coastal surv…

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Biweekly Feature: Digital Twins

Key takeaway: Digital twins have evolved from early NASA simulations to advanced platforms that model complex military systems and support PLA war planning and execution. Companies like Digihail and Hightopo provide simulations that feature novel weapons and AI decision support. By intelligently combining vast amounts of real-time data, these systems resemble Palantir’s and may give China an advant…

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Biweekly Feature: Why PLA messaging apps are and will remain insecure

Key takeaway: The Chinese military, also known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) uses custom-designed instant messaging platforms. Despite strong encryption claims, the PLA maintains backdoor access via surveillance tools, which monitor soldiers’ online behavior. Meanwhile, Zhizhangyi’s U.S.-registered subsidiary, Amovatech, presents itself as a tech partner to global firms while i…

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Biweekly Feature: China’s AI Sphere

Key takeaway: While democratic countries seek to shape AI governance through established institutions such as the United Nations, China is creating an entirely new set of infrastructure, in the form of cooperation centers, and with itself at the core. The primary goal of these cooperation centers is to facilitate the export of Chinese AI products, with early efforts targeting ASEAN and BRICS sta…

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Biweekly Feature: China’s AI Sphere

Key takeaway: Guangxi is rapidly building AI infrastructure to become China’s gateway for exporting AI to Southeast Asia. As the next issue of China: Technosphere will show, ASEAN represents merely the initial phase of China’s broader effort to extend its AI sphere globally. TikTok, for its part, appears to rely on Qi An Xin (a threat-intelligence firm expanding into ASEAN and one that has successfully bid for PLA con…

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

Biweekly Feature: China’s Global Public Security Index

Key takeaway: The Lianyungang forum’s Global Public Security Index helps China to portray its own security priorities as those of the world. The Index ranks countries based on their level of public security. This China: Technosphere issue shows that the ranking is heavily biased toward China and against its geopolitical rivals. The online public opinion…

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Any translations into English are unofficial and informal. All Chinese-language links in this brief are safe to click on. They will lead you to an archived version of the websites. However, do avoid going on the actual websites, as this might expose you to being tracked by the Chinese state.

Biweekly Feature: China’s Global Public Security Cooperation Forum Lianyungang (GPSCFL)

Key takeaway: To understand China’s international security priorities, one need only look at the China Global Public Security Cooperation Forum Lianyungang. By bringing together government and police officials from more than 100 countries, the forum translates China’s Global Security Initiative from theory into practice t…

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