Super-cheap bubble tea and fat hongbao: Chinese tech firms splurge to draw AI app users this CNY
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Alibaba's 3 billion yuan campaign to promote its Qwen AI assistant includes giveaways of 25 yuan vouchers for food, drinks and other purchases.
ST PHOTO: JOYCE ZK LIM
- Chinese tech giants are spending billions on discounts and giveaways during Chinese New Year to boost AI app adoption.
- This multi-billion yuan drive reflects an intense battle among tech firms for user traffic through AI apps.
- Campaigns may be effective in spurring AI app adoption, but sustained user retention and translating it into real value remain uncertain.
AI generated
SHENZHEN – Bubble tea for one fen (0.18 Singapore cent). Digital “red packet” giveaways of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,800). High-tech lucky draw prizes.
These are some of the perks being offered to China’s consumers this Chinese New Year holiday, as the country’s big tech firms mount a multibillion-yuan drive to attract more people to their artificial intelligence (AI) apps
As part of a three billion yuan campaign to promote its Qwen AI assistant, tech giant Alibaba gave out 25 yuan vouchers that could be used on food, drinks and other purchases made through the chatbot.
Orders ranging from milk tea to groceries, fulfilled by Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms, cost as little as one fen after discount.
People could get more vouchers by inviting new users to Qwen.
Another tech giant, ByteDance, is holding a lucky draw during a popular TV gala show on Chinese New Year eve.
People can participate through the company’s Doubao chatbot app for a chance to win gifts like robots, drones and 3D printers, as well as red packets of up to 8,888 yuan in cash.
Tencent and Baidu have also launched campaigns worth one billion yuan and 500 million yuan respectively, with users of their AI assistants Yuanbao and Ernie standing to win red packets of up to 10,000 yuan.
They can collect red packets by completing tasks such as interacting with the chatbots and exploring their features.
The red packet or giveaway war, as local media have termed it, is more than about tech firms promoting their chatbots.
Rather, it reflects an intensifying competition among them for user traffic that is expected to flow increasingly through AI apps.
“The major tech companies are all betting on AI as the next primary service gateway for consumers,” said Mr Poe Zhao, a China tech analyst and founder of the newsletter Hello China Tech. “This is fundamentally a battle over user entry points.”
The use of Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival to the Chinese, to drive user adoption and shape behaviour is not new, as it is the most important traditional holiday in the country lasting many days and a peak period for consumption.
In 2015, for instance, Tencent’s 500 million yuan red packet giveaways during China’s Spring Festival Gala – the country’s most-watched TV show – helped spawn a surge in the number of people using the firm’s WeChat app for mobile payments.
The focus has now turned to AI.
This year, ByteDance is sponsoring the gala, which takes place on the eve of the festival, in a move that could boost the profile of its Doubao chatbot, already the country’s most popular AI app according to Beijing-based data service provider QuestMobile.
“Chinese New Year is the country’s biggest consumer moment... and for the first time, we’re seeing Chinese companies offering direct cash incentives to accelerate generative AI app adoption,” said Mr Wang Shaochen, a research analyst at Counterpoint Research.
Soon after Alibaba launched its campaign on Feb 6, a deluge of orders and surge in downloads briefly overwhelmed the Qwen app, while delivery riders crowded bubble tea stores engulfed in the frenzy.
In a social media post on Feb 12, the Qwen app said some 120 million orders had been placed in the six days since the campaign began, many for bubble tea and eggs.
Some 1.56 million seniors aged 60 and above had used the platform to place orders, it added. Nearly half of takeout orders came from people in county towns, local media reported.
Alibaba’s promotion prompted 29-year-old Shi Zhengdong to update the app he barely used so as to order a discounted hamburger for dinner.
“It’s interesting that Alibaba embedded its AI into its own rich e-commerce ecosystem,” said the doctoral student in sociology at Nanjing University.
Mr Shi was referring to how users could place orders just by talking to the chatbot, which was linked to other Alibaba arms such as food delivery platform Taobao Shangou and supermarket chain Freshippo.
He reckoned that amid all the buzz, AI apps would be a hot topic during gatherings of friends and family this holiday season.
“I’m curious about their attitudes towards AI and how they use it,” he said.
The use of AI in China
China had some 602 million users of generative AI such as chatbots as of December 2025, an increase of 141.7 per cent from the previous year. This implies an adoption rate of over 42 per cent, according to a report by the China Internet Network Information Center.
But translating adoption into real value has been patchy.
A July 2025 report by consulting firm Accenture found that although 46 per cent of Chinese companies were broadly integrating AI into their businesses, only 9 per cent said they got significant value from it.
While the Chinese New Year freebies may steer more people towards AI apps during the upcoming holidays, it is unclear whether this will translate into sustained use.
“User subsidies have historically been quite effective at spurring adoption,” said Mr Ling Vey-Sern, a senior equity adviser at private bank UBP.
“But user retention after the promotions is probably the more important metric.”
