Shanghai tech firms ride AI wave to revenue growth, global expansion

Some Shanghai-based information service providers have reported record-high business growth and accelerated global expansion by leveraging AI applications and integrating advanced models like DeepSeek.

These companies, operating in sectors such as finance, online literature, health care, and office applications, are reaching millions of users daily.

In the midst of an artificial intelligence boom, these firms are planning increased AI investments, following recent announcements from tech giants like China Unicom, Tencent and Xiaomi.

Local tech firms soar

FinVolution, a New York-listed online finance platform, saw its fourth-quarter revenue last year rise 7.2 percent to 3.46 billion yuan (US$478.17 million), with net profit surging 28.7 percent to 680 million yuan.

Based in Zhangjiang, the Pudong New Area, the company has launched AI-powered platforms and integrated DeepSeek, deploying over 1,000 AI applications across customer acquisition, risk control, and user engagement.

Notably, its AI models have improved fraud detection accuracy to 99 percent, while AI-generated call summaries and user sentiment analysis have boosted operational efficiency by 20 times.

FinVolution's international business contributed 21.4 percent of its total revenue in the quarter. Powered by AI, it acquired 2.2 million new borrowers outside of China, with a 61 percent year-on-year increase.

Another local firm Yuewen, China's leading online literature platform, on Wednesday reported a three-year high revenue of 8.12 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of last year, a 16 percent annual gain.

The Hong Kong-listed company, which is backed by tech titan Tencent, launched the "Author Assistant" AI tool powered by DeepSeek in February, leading to a 30 percent jump in daily active users.

Yuewen has also accelerated its global expansion, adding 3,200 AI-translated works to its global site WebNovel in 2024, supporting multiple languages covering Spanish and Japanese.

Ping An Healthcare and Technology, specializing in AI-powered online health-care services, achieved its first profitable year in 2024. Hehe, offering AI-driven office tools, projects a revenue increase of over 20 percent in 2024, catering to its 300 million overseas users.

AI investment surge across tech industry

"AI, especially with the DeepSeek move, has become more accessible and benefits more companies and industries," said Dowson Tong, CEO of Tencent Cloud and Smart Industries Group.

Tencent has integrated DeepSeek into its Yuanbao platform, which has become a top app on China's Apple store. AI cloud usage has reached "record highs" this year, Tong noted.

Electronic giant Xiaomi, reporting fourth-quarter revenue of 109 billion yuan on Wednesday that exceeds the 100-billion yuan mark for the first time, plans to invest over 7 billion yuan in AI in 2025, covering businesses from smartphone to electric cars.

Similarly, China Unicom plans to invest 55 billion yuan in 2025, with AI-related investments increasing by 28 percent, the telecom carrier said on Wednesday.