Apple said in a press release on its China newsroom, dated 31 October 2026, that the first Apple Intelligence features are coming to users in China, with testing from 4 November in the latest iOS developer beta and a public release with iOS 27.3 in December (our translation from the Chinese).
Apple also said it has partnered with Alibaba to add support for Alibaba’s Qwen in some Apple Intelligence experiences, so that users in China can use Qwen directly in Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence. By our count, Qwen is named in 2 of the 18 features the release lists, and Apple says Apple Intelligence itself is driven by generative models Apple built.
Short explainer · Apple Brings 18 AI Features to China, Siri Taps Alibaba Qwen
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The key insight:Apple says its first Apple Intelligence features reach China with iOS 27.3 in December, and that Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence can use Alibaba’s Qwen; by our count Qwen is named in 2 of the 18 features listed.
The release, headlined “Apple ๆบ่ฝๅณๅฐ็ป้ไธญๅฝ” (Apple Intelligence is coming to China, our translation), lists the first features for supported iPhones: Live Translation in Messages, FaceTime and Phone, Writing Tools, Visual Intelligence, the Clean Up tool in Photos, Genmoji, natural-language search and Memories in Photos, Priority Messages, summaries and Smart Reply in Mail, notification summaries, priority notifications, the Reduce Interruptions focus, audio transcription summaries in Notes and Phone, and Type to Siri.
On Qwen, Apple writes that “ๅจๅค็็นๅฎ่ฏทๆฑๆถ๏ผSiri ่ฝๅคๆฅๅ ฅๅ้ฎ” (when handling certain requests, Siri can access Qwen, our translation). The release says users can ask about photos and documents, including PDFs and presentations, and can reach Qwen by signing in to a Qwen account or with Sign in with Apple. It says the Compose feature lets Qwen create original content from scratch in system-wide Writing Tools.
Apple writes that “ๆฌๆฌกๆดๆฐไธๅ ๅซ Siri AI ๅ Apple ๅจ WWDC 2026 ไธๅฎฃๅธ็ๅ ถไปไธไธไปฃ Apple ๆบ่ฝๅ่ฝ” (this update does not include Siri AI or the other next-generation Apple Intelligence features Apple announced at WWDC 2026, our translation).
The 18 first Apple Intelligence features Apple lists for China in its 31 October 2026 China newsroom release; two of them name Alibaba’s Qwen (Siri access to Qwen, and Compose with Qwen in Writing Tools). Feature labels are our translation; the count is our arithmetic. Source: Apple China newsroom.
Which iPhones, and What Still Needs Approval
According to the release’s notes, the first features will be available with iOS 27.3 on the iPhone 16 and later, iPhone Duo, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone Air, with Siri and device language set to English or Simplified Chinese. The release says support for other platforms will follow once the necessary approvals are obtained.
From Approval to Testing
On 15 October, Tim Cook told The Paper, a Chinese state-backed outlet, that Apple Intelligence had been approved in China and that a beta with the first core features was due later that month, as we reported. The release now puts the start of testing at 4 November. 9to5Mac, which credits MacRumors with spotting the release, notes that Apple confirmed 4 November as the start of Apple Intelligence testing in China, not necessarily the release date of the first iOS 27.3 beta.
The Business Lever: Apple’s Model Partner in China Is Alibaba
As we read the release, Apple keeps its own generative models at the centre of the China launch and adds Qwen at specific points: Siri requests, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence.
The release excludes Siri AI and the other next-generation features Apple announced at WWDC 2026, so the China launch starts from the earlier feature set, by Apple’s own description.
As we read the timeline, testing begins on 4 November, after the beta Tim Cook told The Paper was due in October; 9to5Mac notes 4 November is the start of testing, not necessarily the first iOS 27.3 beta.
FOR IPHONE USERS IN CHINA The release says testing starts on 4 November and the features reach users with iOS 27.3 in December, on the iPhone 16 and later, iPhone Duo, iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max and iPhone Air.
FOR ALIBABAApple says Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence can use Qwen, reachable with a Qwen account or Sign in with Apple.
FOR APPLE The release says other platforms follow once the necessary approvals are obtained, and that Siri AI is not part of this update.
The framework says “In the embedding era, value comes from what the software connects to.”
As we read it, Qwen being reachable from Siri and Writing Tools on supported iPhones is an embedding of that kind. The framework predates this announcement and does not discuss it.
What Is Not Established
The release gives no financial terms for the Alibaba partnership, does not say which Siri requests are routed to Qwen, and gives no user or device numbers. It names only Alibaba as a model partner. Translations from the Chinese release are ours.
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Apple says its first Apple Intelligence features reach China with iOS 27.3 in December after testing from 4 November, and that Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence can use Alibaba’s Qwen. By our count, Qwen appears in 2 of the 18 features listed; the release excludes Siri AI and the other features Apple announced at WWDC 2026.
A note on sourcing. Apple’s statements come from its Chinese-language press release on the Apple China newsroom; the English is our translation. We did not contact Apple or Alibaba. Counts labelled our arithmetic are our own.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
