Chinese tech giants launch multi-billion yuan Spring Festival campaigns

Chinese tech giants are investing billions of Chinese RMB (yuan) to attract users through their AI platforms during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, collectively creating a significant incentive for festive consumption.

The Spring Festival, or the traditional Chinese New Year, falls on Feb. 17 this year, with the official holiday period lasting for nine days.

Alibaba's Qianwen AI assistant has launched a three-billion-yuan campaign, granting users complimentary access to dining, travel, and entertainment services within its ecosystem.

The initiative follows Tencent's Yuanbao AI, which distributed 1 billion yuan in digital red envelopes, briefly topping app store rankings and placing significant strain on its servers.

Baidu's "Wenxin" AI has also entered the competition, launching its own digital red envelope campaign backed by a 500 million yuan fund.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday as climbing U.S. Treasury yields continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 322.24 points, or 0.65 percent, to 49,363.88. The The Standard and Poor's 500 sank 49.44 points, or 0.67 percent, to 7,353.61, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed 220.03 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 25,870.71.

A primary source of downward pressure came from the fixed-income market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed back above 4.6 percent, while the 30-year Treasury yield nearly touched 5.2 percent, marking its highest level in nearly 19 years.

The high-yield environment acted as a drag on high-valuation growth sectors, which are particularly sensitive to elevated interest rates. Six of the 11 primary The Standard and Poor's 500 sectors closed in negative territory, with materials and communication services leading the declines by dropping 2.27 percent and 1.58 percent, respectively. In contrast, the healthcare sector gained 1.09 percent and the energy sector advanced 1.03 percent.