WeRide Is in Slovakia Now — European Mobility Operators Must Decide Whose Terms They Accept + more | China Tech Signals

23 Mar 2026

China Tech Signals

Autonomous Vehicles / Mobility

WeRide Is in Slovakia Now — European Mobility Operators Must Decide Whose Terms They Accept

WeRide has launched Slovakia's first national autonomous driving programme in partnership with Elevate Slovakia, making it the company's 12th country of operation. Robotaxis, robobuses, and robovans are all coming — starting in Bratislava, then Košice and the High Tatras. European operators who wait for a European alternative may find there is none left to wait for.

Electric Vehicles & Mobility

BYD Charges in Five Minutes — European Premium EVs Have No Answer

BYD's Denza Z9GT is scheduled to debut in Paris on 8 April with Flash Charging at up to 1,500 kW — enough to take a battery from 10% to 70% in five minutes. At the same moment, the EU's Industrial Accelerator Act is forcing European OEMs to meet demanding local-content thresholds that their own battery supply chains cannot yet satisfy. The spec war has moved to charging speed, and Europe is starting from behind.

Biotech & Life Sciences

China's Biotech Licensing Fees Just Doubled — Europe's Discount Window Is Shut

European pharma spent years quietly sourcing pipeline assets from Chinese biotechs at bargain prices. That era is over. Average upfront licensing fees have more than tripled since 2022, China now supplies nearly a third of the global drug pipeline, and the competition for access has gone global. Here is what European founders and investors need to understand — and do — before the next deal cycle begins.

Industrial Policy & Strategy

China's Five-Year Plan Is a Procurement Roadmap — Read It That Way

China's 15th Five-Year Plan is not just a policy document — it is a 141-page, state-backed technology investment thesis covering AI, quantum, robotics, 6G, and brain-machine interfaces across 109 major projects. As leaked EU drafts suggest Europe is quietly de-prioritising the same technology categories, European founders and investors face a pointed strategic choice: treat China's plan as a threat report, or read it as the most detailed demand signal in global deep tech.

Consumer IP / Entertainment Tech

LABUBU Goes Hollywood: What European IP Owners Must Learn Now

Pop Mart has signed with Sony Pictures to develop a live-action LABUBU film directed by Paul King — the British director behind Paddington and Wonka. This isn't a licensing deal or a soft cultural test. It's a full-stack IP play that bypasses every stage European entertainment companies assumed would slow Chinese consumer brands down.

evai

Lingyi Auto Raises ¥1.2B to Build the Tesla of Heavy Trucks

Lingyi Auto has closed a Series B of ¥1.2 billion (~$168 million), backed by CATL's investment arm, Momenta, and NIO Capital. The raise signals serious institutional conviction that autonomous electric heavy trucks are entering a buildout phase — and that the companies who own the full stack will win.