Chinese technology giants are jumping into the “agentic commerce” race as artificial intelligence transforms super apps, marking a new stage in the global AI competition. Companies like Alibaba and ByteDance are no longer satisfied with chatbots that simply answer questions. Instead, they are racing to turn AI assistants into end-to-end digital agents that can search, decide, pay, and execute tasks on behalf of users.
From Chatbots to Digital Agents
Last week, Alibaba unveiled a major upgrade to its Qwen AI chatbot, transforming it into a transaction-ready assistant. Users can now order food, book airline tickets, and complete purchases directly inside the chat interface. The system is deeply connected to Alibaba’s wider ecosystem, letting consumers compare personalized recommendations from Taobao and travel services via Fliggy, before finalizing payments seamlessly through Alipay.
Previously, Qwen could suggest products based on user prompts, but shoppers still had to jump between apps to complete transactions. The latest update removes that friction, signaling Alibaba’s ambition to make AI a true commercial agent rather than a passive assistant.
Why Agentic AI Matters
This shift reflects a broader move within the AI industry toward “agentic AI” — systems capable of performing tasks independently with minimal user oversight. According to Counterpoint Research analyst Shaochen Wang, this transformation allows companies to tightly integrate services and increase long-term user engagement, often described as building a durable business “moat.”
While agentic AI applications span fields such as autonomous driving and cybersecurity, e-commerce is quickly becoming its most visible proving ground. Shopping naturally involves multiple steps — discovery, comparison, payment, and logistics — making it ideal for automation by intelligent agents.
Alibaba’s Strategic Advantage
Within China, Alibaba is widely viewed as a frontrunner in agentic commerce. Its advanced large language models, combined with an extensive e-commerce network covering everyday needs like clothing, food, housing, and transportation, give it a powerful head start. By embedding AI agents directly into this ecosystem, Alibaba aims to keep users engaged without ever leaving its platforms.
Intensifying Competition Among Super Apps
The push into agentic commerce also raises the stakes in China’s super app rivalry. Alibaba’s strategy puts it in direct competition with Tencent, whose WeChat is often described as the country’s most dominant super app, used by over a billion people for messaging, payments, shopping, and more.
Other players are moving just as fast. ByteDance recently enhanced its Doubao AI chatbot to autonomously handle tasks like ticket bookings through integrations with Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. The upgraded Doubao was even showcased on a prototype smartphone developed by ZTE, positioning it as a comprehensive AI assistant across the device. Some features, however, were later scaled back following privacy and security concerns raised by competitors.
Tencent has also made its intentions clear. President Martin Lau noted during a May 2025 earnings call that AI agents could become central to the future of WeChat, deeply embedded across payments, logistics, and social interactions.
China vs. the West
According to Forrester analyst Charlie Dai, Chinese companies benefit from tightly integrated ecosystems, vast behavioral data, and consumer familiarity with all-in-one platforms. These factors make it easier to deploy agentic commerce at scale. Western firms, by contrast, often lead in foundational AI models but face fragmented data systems and stricter privacy regulations that slow cross-platform integration.
In the U.S., companies such as OpenAI, Perplexity, Amazon, and Google are all experimenting with their own versions of agentic commerce, though often with a greater focus on global scalability and governance.
The Economic Stakes
Consumer adoption is already underway. A 2025 McKinsey study found that roughly half of all consumers now use AI during online searches. The report estimates that AI agents could unlock more than $1 trillion in economic value for U.S. businesses by 2030 by streamlining routine but critical decision-making steps.
As AI agents move from novelty to necessity, China’s tech giants are betting that whoever controls agentic commerce will define the next era of digital life — not just how people shop, but how they interact with technology every day.
