China Media and Entertainment Weekly News Bulletin – ISSUE 88 Week of 16 February 2026
(1) ‘Music About China’: World composers meet Chinese culture
The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra’s “Music About China” concert returns this month with new works blending Eastern and Western sounds. Among them is Marcel Wengler’s “Chinese Rhapsody,” a world premiere inspired by his travels across China.
(2) Box office bust? The show may be over for another Hong Kong cinema
Palace IFC, one of Hong Kong’s few upscale cinemas, may close as its lease at IFC Mall expires this year. The mall’s management is seeking new tenants, reflecting continued struggles in the city’s shrinking cinema industry amid falling box office revenue and rising rents.
(3) Michelle Yeoh’s tearful tribute to parents at Berlin Film Festival: ‘I carry him with me’
Michelle Yeoh’s lifetime achievement honour at the Berlin International Film Festival opened the 76th edition with emotion and star power. The Malaysian actress, 63, received the Honorary Golden Bear in Berlin on Thursday, moving the audience with a heartfelt tribute to her parents.
(4) China’s MiniMax releases cheap AI model ‘designed for real-world productivity’
Chinese AI firm MiniMax unveiled its M2.5 model, touting it as a cost-effective powerhouse for real-world tasks amid intense domestic competition. The release propelled its Hong Kong shares up 15.7 per cent to HK$680 on Friday.
(5) Henderson Land’s Martin Lee sues actress Chrissie Chau for defamation
Martin Lee Ka-shing, Henderson Land chairman, sued actress Chrissie Chau and Google for defamation over decade-old affair rumours. He seeks damages, content removal and injunctions, claiming the false claims “compounded” his family’s grief amid his father’s recent death.
(6) All-in on AI: what TikTok creator ByteDance did next
ByteDance, creator of TikTok, is aggressively expanding into AI with its popular Doubao chatbot boasting over 100 million daily users. The pivot comes amid regulatory pressures on TikTok and intense competition in China’s booming AI sector.
(7) Can Pop Mart turn viral hits into lasting icons? Molly and Labubu offer the answer
Pop Mart founder Wang Ning learned branding’s power from early entrepreneurial struggles selling Yiwu suits. His insight shaped the art toy company’s emotional storytelling approach. Now facing Labubu price drops and volatile shares, Molly doll’s enduring popularity tests that philosophy.
(8) China’s box office presales fall over 60% from last year in crucial Lunar New Year window
China’s Lunar New Year box office presales hit 200 million yuan, down over 60 per cent from last year. Domestic films lead cautious expectations after Ne Zha 2’s record 2025 performance, which analysts attribute to a lack of a comparable breakout title this holiday season.
(9) Did Hong Kong souvenir shop tread on IP rights with viral ‘MTR station’ wall?
A Hong Kong souvenir shop has taken down lettering from its viral wall in Causeway Bay after concerns over trademark and copyright infringement are raised. The display mimicked MTR signage colors and names, attracting mainland tourists for photo ops before workers took it down last week.
(10) Hollywood shaken by Brad Pitt-Tom Cruise fight video made with Chinese AI: ‘over for us’
ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 AI platform generated a viral video of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise fighting on a rooftop. In response, Hollywood leaders condemn it as massive copyright infringement while writers and actors fear job losses as AI threatens to revolutionize film production.
(11) Nigeria opens probe into Temu over suspected data protection breaches
Nigeria’s data protection regulator has launched an investigation into Chinese e-commerce platform Temu for potential violations of data laws. Concerns include online surveillance, opaque practices, cross-border data transfers, and breaches of data-minimisation rules in a market serving 12.7 million Nigerian users.
(12) Taiwan singer visits over 100 mainland Chinese cities to help farmers sell produce
Taiwanese singer Kenji Wu, known as Wu Kequn in mainland China, has earned official praise from state media CCTV for his grassroots charity work. Over the past two years, he has travelled to over 100 cities, helping farmers sell produce, aiding flood victims, and supporting vulnerable communities.
(1) ‘Music About China’: World composers meet Chinese culture
(Photo Credit: The Standard)
The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra will return this month with its annual “Music About China” concert, featuring three works by Chinese and Western composers. The orchestra, founded in 1977, has commissioned more than 2,400 original pieces to expand the boundaries of Chinese music. Since 2007, it has partnered with the Hong Kong Arts Festival to debut new compositions that explore Chinese culture.
This year, Luxembourg composer Marcel Wengler will premiere Chinese Rhapsody on February 28. His piece reflects his impressions of China, shaped since his first visit in 1982. Fascinated by Chinese opera and the rhythms of daily life in cities like Shanghai and Beijing, Wengler translates those experiences into music. He describes a section of the work inspired by Tai Chi movements, written with a slow, meditative pace.
The composer uses only traditional Chinese instruments such as the sheng, suona, pipa, and erhu. He highlights the erhu for its soft, lyrical tone that contrasts with the violin found in European orchestras. Wengler says the project deepened his appreciation of Chinese musical artistry and the cultural ties between China and Luxembourg. Other featured works include Li Bochan’s Three Pieces of Kunqu Opera and Yan Huichang’s Rhapsody of String Puppets.
News Source: https://www.thestandard.com.hk/arts-and-culture/article/324371/Music-About-China-World-composers-meet-Chinese-culture
(2) Box office bust? The show may be over for another Hong Kong cinema
(Photo Credit: Jonathan Wong / SCMP)
Palace IFC, the luxury cinema inside Central’s IFC Mall, may shut its doors when its lease expires at the end of the year. The mall’s management, led by Sun Hung Kai Properties, has begun sounding out potential tenants for the 20,000-square-foot site, according to people familiar with the matter.
The decision comes as cinemas across Hong Kong face mounting pressure from high rents and weak ticket sales. Sources said the space’s size and prime location make it difficult to find a local tenant, with the landlord possibly considering overseas operators. No formal leasing decision has been made, and SHKP declined to comment. IFC Mall is jointly owned by SHKP and Henderson Land.
Palace IFC, operated by Edko Films under the Broadway Circuit brand, houses five screens and 544 seats. The potential closure would mark another blow to Hong Kong’s struggling cinema scene, which has been hit hard by declining audiences and competition from streaming services.
Box office revenue fell 16 per cent in 2025 to HK$1.13 billion, the lowest in 13 years. Since 2020, at least 35 cinemas have closed or been rebranded, with only 52 currently operating. While recent hits like Back to the Past offered brief relief, the industry’s long-term recovery remains uncertain.
(3) Michelle Yeoh’s tearful tribute to parents at Berlin Film Festival: ‘I carry him with me’
(Photo Credit: EPA)
Michelle Yeoh, who won an Oscar in 2023 for Everything Everywhere All at Once, asked the audience for “one personal moment” as she accepted the Honorary Golden Bear in Berlin last Thursday. She spoke through tears of still feeling like the young girl who wanted to make her parents proud and recalled the quiet faith they had placed in her even when she doubted herself.
She paid special tribute to her late father, describing how she carries his discipline, steadiness and belief that any task worth doing should be done well. If he could see her holding the Golden Bear, she said, she knew he would smile. Her speech drew a standing ovation, and Yeoh later said Berlin had welcomed her early in her international career.
Yeoh praised the Berlinale as a festival that champions bold storytelling and films that ask difficult questions while trusting audiences to engage with them. This year’s festival runs until February 22, with stars such as Pamela Anderson, Ethan Hawke and Charli XCX expected on the red carpet.
German director Wim Wenders heads the jury at the 10-day event, which opened with No Good Men, a drama about a camerawoman in Afghanistan by exiled director Shahrbanoo Sadat.
(4) China’s MiniMax releases cheap AI model ‘designed for real-world productivity’
(Photo Credit: Reuters)
Chinese artificial intelligence company MiniMax unveiled its latest large language model, M2.5, on Friday, describing it as optimised for real-world productivity. The update arrives amid intense activity in China’s AI sector, with several firms releasing major new models in recent days.
MiniMax stated that the M2.5, built on the same 230 billion parameters as its predecessor, delivers performance comparable to leading US models from Anthropic and OpenAI in areas such as coding and search. The company emphasised its cost efficiency, allowing users to run the model at 100 tokens per second for a full hour at just US$1. It called M2.5 the first frontier model where cost is no longer a concern.
The model has already been integrated into the MiniMax Agent, the company’s AI agent product launched last month. The MiniMax reported that 30% of internal tasks in research, sales, and human resources are now autonomously completed using the M2.5. On an internal benchmark modelled after OpenAI’s GDPval for real-world occupational tasks, M2.5 scored 59%, up sharply from 24.6% for the earlier M2.1 version.
Markets responded strongly, with MiniMax shares in Hong Kong closing 15.7 per cent higher at HK$680. The company, which went public in Hong Kong early last month raising HK$4.8 billion, has seen its stock more than triple since its IPO. CEO Yan Junjie recently met Premier Li Qiang and wrote in People’s Daily that Chinese AI firms have achieved global prominence despite constraints on computing power.
News Source: https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3343395/chinas-minimax-releases-cheap-ai-model-designed-real-world-productivity
(5) Henderson Land’s Martin Lee sues actress Chrissie Chau for defamation
(Photo Credit: Sam Tsang / SCMP)
Henderson Land Development chairman Martin Lee Ka-shing has launched a High Court lawsuit against actress Chrissie Chau Sau-na, accusing her of spreading false rumours about an alleged affair for publicity. The 54-year-old tycoon is also suing Google and five YouTube channels for failing to remove defamatory content that circulated online for years.
Lee’s solicitors at Woo Kwan Lee & Lo said he had endured “a continuous deluge” of fabricated claims across media platforms over the past decade, breaching ethical and legal boundaries. Court filings allege Chau implied in a 2016 interview that she had a relationship with a wealthy “second-generation” businessman, leading the public to link the remarks to Lee, who is married to actress Cathy Chui. Lee claims the rumours resurfaced last year to coincide with Chau’s film promotions.
Chau has publicly denied ever suggesting such a relationship, calling herself a victim of the misinformation. Lee is seeking damages, an apology, and the removal of all related content, pledging to donate any compensation to charity. Legal experts note the case is unusual in its scope, targeting both individuals and global digital platforms.
(6) All-in on AI: what TikTok creator ByteDance did next
(Photo Credit: Pedro Pardo / AFP)
ByteDance has shifted focus from TikTok to artificial intelligence. Its Doubao chatbot, launched in 2023, now serves over 100 million daily users worldwide, rivaling OpenAI and Google in processing AI queries. The company’s latest Seedance 2.0 video generator has also gained international attention.
CEO Liang Rubo views AI as potentially more important than web search, and added that regulatory scrutiny on TikTok has accelerated the pivot from social media to AI. For example, the European Commission has recently criticized TikTok for its addictive design features. In the US, ByteDance agreed to a joint venture structure retaining less than 20 percent ownership after ban threats over data privacy concerns.
Cross-border seller Rocky Lee welcomes the US resolution. He uses Doubao for product research and sales scripts, and has since cut his team from over a dozen to four or five people. Analyst Charlie Dai calls this transition a deliberate evolution from social media to AI-native operations.
Despite ByteDance’s huge AI team and high salaries for top talent, overseas expansion faces data governance challenges similar to TikTok. Profitability remains the next hurdle for Doubao after reaching massive scale.
News Source: https://www.thestandard.com.hk/china-news/article/324494/All-in-on-AI-what-TikTok-creator-ByteDance-did-next
(7) Can Pop Mart turn viral hits into lasting icons? Molly and Labubu offer the answer
(Photo Credit: Brian Wang/SCMP)
Nearly a decade ago, Pop Mart founder Wang Ning recounted his entrepreneurial beginnings to designer Kenny Wong Shun-ming during a train journey through China. Fresh from graduation, Wang had struggled to sell inexpensive men’s suits sourced from Yiwu in the Zhejiang province.
His small-scale arbitrage attempts taught him a crucial lesson about connecting products with consumers. Wong recalled how Wang later spotted a Michael Jackson poster proclaiming “This is it” while job-hunting. That moment crystallized his understanding that branding creates emotional bonds beyond mere functionality.
Wang quickly registered China’s first “This is it” trademark and launched a successful Michael Jackson exhibition. The venture confirmed branding’s transformative potential. Wong, creator of Pop Mart’s iconic big-eyed Molly character, shared these insights in a South China Morning Post interview.
This philosophy of building products around story, identity and emotional connection now faces market reality. Secondary market prices for Pop Mart’s breakout Labubu figure have plunged. Company shares have swung more than 40 per cent from last year’s peak.
Yet Molly doll maintains enduring appeal. The contrast highlights whether Pop Mart’s storytelling approach can weather volatile consumer trends. Wang’s early lesson about emotional connection may prove essential as the company navigates current challenges in the competitive art toy market.
(8) China’s box office presales fall over 60% from last year in crucial Lunar New Year window
(Photo Credit: SCMP)
China’s Spring Festival box office presales has reached 200 million yuan by Saturday, with all top earners being films from domestic productions. The figure marks a more than 60 per cent drop from last year’s 600 million yuan during the same period, according to Alibaba Pictures’ Taopiaopiao platform.
Distributors and investors watch presales closely as an early indicator of holiday audience demand. The holiday season has grown into China’s film industry’s cornerstone over the past decade. Revenue expanded from 336 million yuan in 2011 to 9.51 billion yuan last year, which accounted for nearly one-fifth of annual takings.
However, the 2025 season has set an exceptionally high benchmark. Ne Zha 2 alone generated 4.8 billion yuan during the holidays. By the end of the year, the animated blockbuster had captured 30% of China’s full-year box office. Independent producer Guan Zhi said matching that dominance requires another phenomenon-level hit.
This year’s lineup features Zhang Yimou’s patriotic thriller Scare Out, martial arts epic Blades of the Guardians with Jet Li, racing comedy Pegasus 3, and family films like The Boonie Bears and Jackie Chan’s Panda Plan. Yet genre diversity and star power no longer guarantee box office success. For example, traditional genres such as martial arts films are increasingly struggling to engage Gen Z viewers.
Beyond the box office, analysts also say that the record nine-day holiday may divert residents’ spending to travels rather than cinemas. Some local governments have planned movie vouchers to boost attendance amid softer demand, but it is uncertain if it will bring much of a boost to the theatrical market.
(9) Did Hong Kong souvenir shop tread on IP rights with viral ‘MTR station’ wall?
(Photo Credit: Handout)
A Causeway Bay souvenir shop has dismantled its popular photo wall featuring MTR station names after concerns about trademark infringement surfaced. The Hong Kong Souvenir store on Kai Chiu Road had created a “check-in” spot with nine station names in their signature colors.
Mainland Chinese tourists quickly embraced the display as a social media trend. RedNote users praised it as a convenient way to capture multiple MTR station aesthetics in one location. The wall gained viral traction within days of its early February debut.
However, workers are seen removing the station names last week, leaving only colored tile backgrounds. The “Hong Kong Station” sign now reads “I love HK.” The store’s Instagram posts promoting MTR-themed tote bags, magnets, mugs and umbrellas have also vanished.
MTR Corporation emphasized its commitment to intellectual property protection but declined to confirm whether it requested the changes. Lawyer Albert So explained companies can challenge displays that confuse consumers about official affiliation, even without direct trademark copying.
Lawyer Doreen Kong noted Instagram captions calling products “MTR-inspired” could imply authorization. Such wording risks misleading customers into believing the souvenirs carry official endorsement. Both lawyers advised creators to avoid exact station names and the MTR logo to minimize legal exposure.
The swift removal reflects Hong Kong’s strict intellectual property enforcement and the challenges viral trends face when borrowing established brand identities.
(10) Hollywood shaken by Brad Pitt-Tom Cruise fight video made with Chinese AI: ‘over for us’
(Credit: X/ @RuairiRobinson)
A strikingly realistic AI-generated video shows Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise battling atop a skyscraper. The 15-second clip, created with just two text prompts, originated from ByteDance’s newly launched Seedance 2.0 platform. The TikTok parent’s video generator has ignited fierce backlash from Hollywood.
Motion Picture Association CEO Charles Rivkin demanded that ByteDance immediately halt operations. He accused Seedance 2.0 of conducting massive unauthorized use of US copyrighted works within its first day of launch. Rivkin said the platform lacks meaningful safeguards against infringement and disregards laws protecting creators.
The backlash came about after Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson posted the video on social media, showcasing its professional quality. Deadpool writer Rhett Reese responded to the post with alarm, saying that people soon could generate Hollywood-caliber films from computers. He fears losing his livelihood as AI advances into creative fields.
Reese also described the Pitt-Cruise clip as terrifyingly professional. He holds a pessimistic view, believing that Hollywood faces either a revolution or decimation. His perspective mirrors the concerns voiced during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild strikes, which called for stronger AI protections. Union members now argue that the measures meant to safeguard writers and actors from AI are not enough.
As SAG-AFTRA enters new contract talks with studios, AI remains a top priority. The union may propose the “Tilly tax,” a fee studios would pay for using AI-generated actors like Tilly Norwood, Hollywood’s first digital actress. The organization maintained a media blackout during negotiations.
(11) Nigeria opens probe into Temu over suspected data protection breaches
(Photo Credits: HK Fashion Network)
Nigeria’s data watchdog has initiated a formal investigation into Temu, the Chinese e-commerce giant, over suspected breaches of the country’s data-protection laws. The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) announced the probe on Tuesday, citing worries about the platform’s handling of user information.
Key issues under scrutiny include online surveillance, lack of transparency in data processing, unauthorised cross-border transfers, and possible failure to adhere to data-minimisation principles. NDPC chief Vincent Olatunji ordered the inquiry and emphasised that data processors face liability for non-compliance, with potential fines on the table.
Temu responded by affirming that user privacy and data security remain top priorities. A company spokesperson said Temu is committed to following local laws and will engage constructively with the NDPC to resolve any concerns.
The platform, owned by Nasdaq-listed PDD Holdings, has grown quickly in Nigeria through its app-based marketplace, offering heavy discounts on fashion, electronics, and household items. The NDPC estimates Temu processes personal data for about 12.7 million Nigerians and serves roughly 70 million daily users worldwide.
The investigation follows the agency’s previous action against Multichoice Nigeria, which was fined 766 million naira last year for similar violations. It reflects growing global attention on Temu’s aggressive international expansion.
News Source: https://hk.fashionnetwork.com/news/Nigeria-opens-probe-into-temu-over-suspected-data-protection-breaches,1808769.html
(12) Taiwan singer visits over 100 mainland Chinese cities to help farmers sell produce
(Photo Credit: SCMP)
Taiwanese pop singer Kenji Wu, widely recognised in mainland China as Wu Kequn, has received official commendation from state broadcaster CCTV for his hands-on charitable efforts across the country. Famous for romantic ballads more than two decades ago, Wu has regained attention through viral short videos documenting the lives of ordinary people in over 100 mainland cities.
Recent clips highlight his support for elderly farmers in Guiyang, Guizhou province. One video featured a special bus route that helps seniors transport vegetables to market, while another showed Wu hosting an auction that sold 15,000 kg of produce to restaurants and supermarkets in just one hour. The videos together attracted over 2.6 million likes on a single platform.
Wu’s philanthropy extends further. In December, he live-streamed a dance event in Jinan, Shandong, to raise funds for families of children with cancer. After floods struck Baise, Guangxi, in October, he donated 100,000 yuan and joined farmers to harvest and sell sugar cane. Last month, he organised a New Year gathering for elderly villagers in the same region.
In another act of kindness, Wu helped a 97-year-old veteran in Jinmen, Hubei, restore a decades-old photo of his late wife using modern technology. CCTV praised Wu in an early February editorial, describing him as more than a celebrity and highlighting his “noble personality.”
Wu explained that after losing his mother in 2018, he chose to focus on meaningful human stories rather than superficial content. He shares his videos with friends in Taiwan to foster mutual understanding across the strait. Following the CCTV report, which garnered 32 million views on one platform, social media users lauded him as a genuine star who now “writes poems for ordinary people.”
