# payments

China’s Big Tech Turns Lunar New Year Into an AI‑Fueled Cash War: Baidu and Tencent Pour Billions into Red‑Packet Promotions

Baidu and Tencent have launched multi‑hundred‑million‑yuan Spring Festival cash campaigns, coupling traditional digital red packets with AI demonstrations and ecosystem plays. The promotions highlight an emerging pattern: China’s tech giants are using culturally resonant incentives and AI showpieces to drive short‑term transactions and long‑term platform engagement, with implications for competition and regulation.