The artificial intelligence industry’s pivot toward agentic AI—systems capable of autonomously executing multi-step tasks—has dominated technology discussions in recent months.
But while Western firms focus on foundational models and cross-platform interoperability, China’s technology giants are racing to dominate through commerce integration, a strategic divergence that could reshape how enterprises deploy autonomous systems globally.
Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance have rapidly upgraded their AI platforms to support agentic commerce, marking a pivot from conversational AI tools to agents capable of completing entire transaction cycles, from product discovery through payment.
Just last week, Alibaba upgraded its Qwen chatbot to enable direct transaction completion within the interface, connecting the AI agent across its ecosystem, including Taobao, Alipay, Amap and travel platform Fliggy. The integration supports over 400 core digital tasks, allowing users to compare personalised recommendations across platforms and complete payments without leaving the chatbot environment.
“The agentic transformation of commercial services enables the maximal integration of user services and enhances user stickiness,” Shaochen Wang, research analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC, referring to stronger long-term user engagement that creates sustainable competitive advantages.
The super app advantage
Before that, ByteDance upgraded its Doubao AI chatbot in December to autonomously handle tasks, including ticket bookings, through integrations with Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. The upgraded model was introduced on a ZTE-developed prototype smartphone as a system-level AI assistant; however, some planned features were later scaled back due to privacy and security concerns raised by rivals.
Tencent President Martin Lau indicated during the company’s May 2025 earnings call that AI agents could become core components of the WeChat ecosystem, which serves over one billion users with integrated messaging, payments, e-commerce and services.
The strategic positioning reflects China’s structural advantage in agentic AI deployment: integrated ecosystems that eliminate the fragmentation constraining Western competitors.
“AI agents will be foundational to the evolution of super apps, with success depending on deep integration across payments, logistics, and social engagement,” Charlie Dai, VP and principal analyst at Forrester, told CNBC. “Chinese firms like Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance all benefit from integrated ecosystems, rich behavioural data, and consumer familiarity with super apps.”
Western companies face more fragmented data environments and stricter privacy regulations that slow cross-service integration, despite leading in foundational AI model development and global reach, Dai noted.
Agentic AI’s enterprise trajectory
The commercial applications signal broader enterprise implications as agentic AI moves from auxiliary tools to autonomous actors capable of executing complex workflows. Industry experts widely expect multi-agent systems to emerge as a defining trend in AI deployment this year, extending from consumer services into organisational production.
In a report by Global Times, Tian Feng, president of the Fast Think Institute and former dean of SenseTime’s Intelligence Industry Research Institute, predicted that the first AI agent to surpass 300 million monthly active users could emerge as early as 2026, becoming “an indispensable assistant for work and daily life” capable of autonomously executing cross-app, composite services.
Approximately half of all consumers already use AI when searching online, according to a 2025 McKinsey study. The research firm estimated that AI agents could generate more than $1 trillion in economic value for US businesses by 2030 through streamlining routine steps in consumer decision-making.
Chinese cloud providers, including smaller players such as JD Cloud and UCloud, have also begun supporting agentic AI tools, though high token usage has driven some providers, like ByteDance’s Volcano Engine, to introduce fixed-subscription pricing models to address cost concerns.
Divergent deployment strategies
The contrasting approaches between Chinese integration and Western scalability reflect fundamental differences in market structure and regulatory environments that will likely define competitive positioning.
“China will prioritise domestic integration and strategic expansion in selected regions, while US firms focus on global scalability and governance,” Dai said.
US players pursuing agentic commerce include OpenAI, Perplexity, and Amazon, while Google explores positioning itself as a “matchmaker” between merchants, consumers and AI agents—approaches that reflect fragmented platform environments requiring interoperability rather than closed-loop integration.
However, the autonomous nature of agentic systems has raised regulatory questions in China. ByteDance warned users about security and privacy risks when announcing Doubao’s capabilities, recommending deployment on dedicated devices rather than those containing sensitive information, given the tool’s access to device data, digital accounts and internet connectivity across multiple ports.
The rapid commercialisation of agentic AI in China’s consumer sector provides enterprise decision-makers globally with early signals of how autonomous systems may reshape customer acquisition costs, platform economics and competitive moats as these capabilities mature.
(Photo by Philip Oroni)
See also: Deloitte sounds alarm as AI agent deployment outruns safety frameworks
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