Hong Kong, June 8, 2026 – (ACN Newswire) – C.banner International Holdings Limited (stock code: 1028.HK, hereinafter referred to as “C.banner” or the “Group”) announced that it has entered into an investment agreement with Benyuan Zhishu, a leading domestic AI data service provider, and its shareholders. The group will acquire a controlling stake in Benyuan Zhishu through the purchase of existing shares and new shares. Once the transaction is completed, it will be included in the group’s consolidated financial statements. As a result, C.banner has officially established a dual-core business framework of “footwear + artificial intelligence data” while maintaining the stable operation of its footwear business.
This is a strategic layout that integrates an AI data business that has proven profitability and has been validated by top-tier customers over time, and whose growth is based on real revenue and profits.
I. Data rationale: The race in AI is moving from “computing power” to “experience”
The race for artificial intelligence is undergoing fundamental changes. For the past decade, results have been determined primarily by computing power and model architecture. But as public data is gradually absorbed into larger models, and computing power and algorithms become more commonplace, the next critical bottleneck is no longer “whose model is bigger” but “who can continuously provide new, more complex, real-world, high-quality experiences to the model.”
This is truly a rare and important value in this field. Computing power can be purchased and algorithms can be replicated, but the scaling and validation that transforms expert human judgment and real-world physical interaction feedback into model-trainable data is difficult, time-consuming, and not easily facilitated by capital, making it a truly essential step in the industry. The industry is positioning 2026 as the “Year of Data Scaling” for embodied intelligence, and the market is re-pricing accordingly. In 2025, Meta invested approximately $14.3 billion (equivalent to a valuation of approximately $29 billion) in data annotation company Scale AI, reflecting the shift in perception of AI data from a “cost item” to a “strategic asset.”
II. Benyuan Zhishu rationale: located at the most important and irreplaceable step of the value chain
Founded in 2015, Benyuan Zhishu operates upstream in the artificial intelligence value chain, focused on transforming human expertise and experience into high-quality, trainable, and verifiable data for AI models. In contrast to general annotation services that have low barriers, we specialize in data services that are technically difficult and have strict professional requirements. The company has grown to be one of the few national providers capable of providing comprehensive data services for large-scale models, global models, and embodied intelligence, occupying a rare position in the “physical AI” wave.
Its competitive advantage has been built through long-term validation with the most demanding customers and the most difficult tasks. Benyuan Zhishu serves the country’s leading large-scale model infrastructure providers, leading internet platforms, frontline game publishers, and leading physical intelligence companies, organizing experts in fields such as mathematics, coding, law, and medicine to perform expert-level annotation, building evaluation datasets to measure the true ability of models, reconstructing virtual environment data of world models, and real-world physical interaction for physical intelligence. We undertake difficult and quality-demanding data tasks to collect data. These collaborations require strong entry barriers, long-term adaptation, and continuous quality validation. Benyuan Zhishu has become the exclusive data supplier for several high-value data categories for related clients, demonstrating strong customer loyalty and sustainability. Benyuan Zhishu is equipped with nationwide distribution centers, a crowdsourcing network of hundreds of thousands of domain experts, and a proprietary data platform, enabling large-scale delivery under high information security standards.
It is also a highly profitable AI company. For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2025, Benyuan Zhishu achieved revenue of approximately RMB146.5 million and RMB156.2 million, respectively, and net profit after tax of approximately RMB7.1 million and RMB11.1 million. The company’s latest management report shows strong revenue growth in the first five months of 2026. In an AI environment that relies heavily on external funding, data companies that are built on real order and revenue growth and are already profitable are unique.
III. Structural Rationale: Stable Investment, Dual Engine, Maintaining Neutrality
Transaction structure balances the interests of buyers, sellers, and customers.
Stable investment: The transaction will be financed using resources within the group. Sea-Banner’s footwear business continues to generate stable operating cash flow without relying on large-scale external financing, maintains a net cash position, and provides the financial foundation for the growing AI data business.
Growth-Focused Capital Allocation: The equity consideration in this transaction will be used to expand Benyuan Zhishu’s production capacity and technology development. At the same time, the founding team will retain a portion of the shares to align their interests with the group.
Maintaining operational neutrality: After the transaction closes, Benyuan Zhishu will maintain an independent brand, implement data separation mechanisms and operate independently. Since C.banner itself is not engaged in the development of AI models and does not compete with Benyuan Zhishu’s customers, industry competitors of Benyuan Zhishu’s customers can continue to work with the same neutral supplier with confidence. A capital structure that preserves neutrality is especially important for data companies. In addition, Benyuan Zhishu’s data and data governance capabilities can also be applied to the group’s footwear retail supply chain, design and marketing departments, improving the operational efficiency of traditional core businesses through artificial intelligence.
IV. Management Statement
C.banner’s management team said: “We believe that high-quality data is one of the most important and scarce infrastructures in the era of artificial intelligence.” The transaction will enable the Group to enter this fast-growing sector while maintaining a stable foothold in the consumer industry. We look forward to working with Benyuan Zhishu to continuously provide high-quality “data fuel” to China’s AI industry and create sustainable long-term value for shareholders under a dual-core business framework. ”
Li Niyong, founder and CEO of Benyuan Zhishu, will also issue an open letter on the same day, sharing the company’s vision and the importance of this cooperation.
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