Xpeng Motors plans to reduce its heavy reliance on CATL by sourcing batteries from a smaller manufacturer, as automakers face an industry-wide electric vehicle battery shortage, Chinese media outlet LatePost reported Friday citing people familiar with the matter. The Alibaba-backed EV maker is expanding its purchasing partners beyond battery giant CATL to lesser-known Sunwoda for its upcoming premium electric crossover the G9, which is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of this year, the report said. A long-time supplier of smartphone maker Apple, Sunwoda claims to have previously partnered with auto majors Geely and Dongfeng Motor, among others. [LatePost, in Chinese]

BYD on Thursday won preliminary approval from the Shenzhen stock exchange for the initial public offering of its semiconductor arm, which could raise as much as RMB 2 billion ($314.4 million). BYD Semiconductor, the chip spin-off of the electric vehicle giant, filed an application to list in Shenzhen last May, but suspended the listing plan in August due to a regulatory probe into the law firm advising the company on the deal. The company expected net profit to jump by up to 574% year-on-year to RMB 395 million for 2021 thanks to an explosive growth in EV sales amid a global chip shortage. [BYD release, in Chinese]

Tencent plans to take China’s leading livestreaming platform Douyu private, after strategy disagreements among executives, Reuters reported Friday, citing unnamed sources. Douyu went public on Nasdaq in July 2019, and Tencent is the platform’s largest shareholder with a 37% stake. Tencent plans to team up with at least one private equity firm for the takeover and is aiming to complete the deal this year. [Reuters]

A Tencent staff member directly challenged his team manager for rewarding overworking behavior, in an internal communication leaked to the public on Wednesday. The employee, working for the WeChat enterprise team, said he felt fed up after managers praised and rewarded people for doing intense overwork for more than a week to finish more than 200 product and design edits. The enraged employee planned to resign according to the note, and called on his coworkers to think twice about trading their health for bonuses. Responding to the story, Huang Tieming, the team’s leader, said the unit was looking to improve working conditions with three “optimization plans.” [Tech Planet, in Chinese]

Shein, a global B2C fast fashion e-commerce platform, is planning a New York IPO this year, Reuters reported Tuesday. Xu Yangtian, the founder of the Shenzhen-based company, is considering applying for Singaporean citizenship in order to get around the recently tightened rules for Chinese-owned companies looking to list overseas. With a reported valuation of $50 billion, the company’s proposed listing could be the first major IPO by a Chinese company in the US since China introduced stricter restrictions on such moves in July last year. [Reuters]