Digitally China

Gaming is one of the most profitable industries in China’s tech sector. It’s the cash cow powering the rise of Tencent, the multi-billion dollar firm behind WeChat. It's also an industry with some of the most notorious examples of copying, but also the most stringent rules -- which Chinese game developers and gamers tirelessly find creative workarounds for.

China is the largest gaming market in the world by revenue, raking in almost $40 billion last year, despite a 9-month licensing freeze that prevented game developers from monetizing new games. But as the Chinese government rolls out more rules to increase controls on an already tightly regulated market -- banning blood, mahjong games, and more -- what will happen to China's vibrant gaming community, and how will tighter content restrictions impact the country's game developers?

Topics covered in this episode:

Publication numbers and censorship

Copycat products and Chinese game quality

Creative freedom and the future of gaming in China

Guests:

Haohai and Li Motian, two hardcore gamers based in China

Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at market research and consultancy firm Niko Partners

Wang Miaoyi, a Beijing-based independent game developer

Hosts: Eva Xiao & Tom Xiong

Producer: Jacob Loven

Music rights: Licensed by Epidemic Sound

In this special episode of Digitally China Tom is joined by Emmy Teo, co-founder of the New Retail startup FUSE and advisor to up & coming consumer brands in fashion and furniture.

Chinese companies have for a long time had access to the best supply chain in the world, enabling scalable production of a wide range of products. But only in the recent years we have seen that unique skillset being combined with what western companies usually see as their differentiator: the ability to create attractive brands, especially in the lifestyle sector. In this Digitally China episode we are discussing domestic brands, how much they have progressed and the possibility of them overtaking established brands such as Zara or IKEA.

Topics covered in this episode:

Up & coming Chinese fashion and furniture brands

The future of lifestyle segment

The current and future differences between modern domestic brands and western equivalents

Host: Tom Xiong

Guests: Emmy Teo

Producer: Jacob Lovén

Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be considered “Fair Use”. Digitally China is powered by RADII (www.radiichina.com), an independent media platform exploring China from all angles.

With the recent news of Amazon exiting China with their e-commerce business combined with the departure of Uber a few years ago, many observers' have questioned if a foreign tech company can be successful in China.

But then we heard about OYO, an Indian startup having recent success in China hosting thousands of rooms in what is in theory a very hard market to penetrate.

In this episode we are discussing OYO with reporter Huizhong Wu, trying to understand why they can be successful in China while so many western brands fail.

Topics covered in this episode of Digitally China:

- What is OYO?

- What's the difference between an Indian startup and a Western?

- What are the usual challenges of foreign brands entering China?

Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong

Guests: Huizhong Wu

Producer: Jacob Lovén

Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be considered “Fair Use”. Digitally China is powered by RADII (www.radiichina.com), an independent media platform exploring China from all angles.

Over the past five years, China’s internet industry has seen dizzying growth, with each year hitting record-levels of funding. In the second quarter of 2018, Chinese startups raised more venture capital than startups in North America for the first time. 

But at the end of last year, the industry started winding down -- fast. Rumors started about mass layoffs at different tech firms, from ecommerce giant JD to Quora-like Zhihu. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs braced themselves for a “capital winter.”

So is China’s startup scene finally facing the music after years of cash-burning growth? Is this just a market correction or a sign of worse things to come?

In this episode, we will cover:

Stories from the good old days of China’s startup industry 

Factors contributing to the slowdown

The impact on China's tech industry and human cost of market correction

Guests: 

Gu Xi, marketing partner at Higgz, a Beijing-based AI education startup focusing primarily on improving high school students’ learning capabilities.

Chauncey Jung, a freelance writer based in Canada who focuses on technology, politics, and current affairs in China.

This latest episode of Digitally China has a special format, partly recorded live from D-Congress, one of the largest e-commerce conferences in Europe where co-host Tom Xiong and producer Jacob Lovén moderated panels with Chinese e-commerce experts.

In this episode we’ll listen to excerpts from Shenyi Wu (former CFO of Pinduoduo and RED) and Julie Chen (former Sequoia Capital China) that have founded the new western-focused e-commerce platform Flamingo.shop. Together with them we discuss how the Chinese e-commerce market have become the global leader, what the secret sauce behind social e-commerce is and how this has a potential to disrupt Amazon.

We also get to listen to Tingting Fang, Brand Director of JudyDoll which is one of the fastest growing cosmetics brands in China. Just founded 18 months ago, they have already surpassed established companies such as L’Oreal by utilizing social e-commerce and the new ways to both engage and sell products online.

Topics this episode covers:

What is Social E-commerce?

Why was Pinduoduo able to grab market-share from much larger players such as Alibaba?

Guests: Shenyi Wu, Julie Chen and Tingting Fang.

Hosts: Jacob Lovén and Tom Xiong.

Production: Jacob Loven.

Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be considered “Fair Use”. Digitally China ispowered by RADII (www.radiichina.com), an independent media platform exploring China from all angles.

In a country where WeChat rules supreme, Bytedance is attempting the impossible. Last month,the Beijing-based startup launched its own social networking app called Duoshan.

It wouldn’t be the first time Bytedance has made larger, more established tech companies nervous. It runs TikTok, a video-sharing app that has quickly grown popular worldwide -- a rare feat for a Chinese tech firm -- inspiring Facebook to launch its own competing app called Lasso.

The startup has also already started butting heads with Tencent. Last year, the heads of both companies became embroiled in a public spat on WeChat, where the Bytedance CEO accused Tencent of copying Douyin -- the Chinese version of TikTok -- and blocking it in WeChat to slow its growth. A few months later in a separate case, Tencent sued the startup for 1 RMB ($0.15) for defamation.

As large tech firms solidify their monopolies around the world -- Google dominates search, Tencent owns social -- it is becoming increasingly difficult for newcomers to challenge tech giants on their own turf. So will Duoshan be successful? And is Bytedance the company that can finally break Tencent’s hold on social?

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

The promising features of Duoshan -- and their disadvantages

China’s younger generation and the appeal of disappearing videos or “stories”

Bytedance’s AI edge

Bytedance’s success with TikTok and foray into gaming, another important business for Tencent

Guest: Ashley Dudarenok, founder of Alarice International, a Hong Kong-based digital marketing agency that focuses on Chinese social media.

Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong

Production: Jacob Loven

Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be considered “Fair Use”. Digitally China ispowered by RADII (www.radiichina.com), an independent media platform exploring China from all angles.

With DJI's recent 150 million USD embezzlement scandal we are investigating what happens when Chinese tech companies grow too fast. What compromises are made to enable a fast growth that also increases the risk of embezzlement and internal fraud?

Together with our external guest Alex with in-depth experience from both Accenture and large Chinese e-commerce companies we are discovering:

- How embezzlement and internal fraud are being done in Chinese tech companies?

- Is there any difference between China and the US?

- How will this impact the fast-growing Chinese tech sector.

- Will this issue be fixed, or is it even necessary?

- The misconception of publicly listed companies.

Haiguior “sea turtles” are a special part of China’s far-flung diaspora. A term that describes Chinese nationals who study or work overseas before returning to the motherland, sea turtles have become huge contributors to China’s fast-growing tech industry, from top tech executives to VCs.

But how do overseas Chinese view the pros and cons of staying or returning to China? And what motivateshaigui, especially those in high-tech industries, to come back?

In this episode, we talk to a few sea turtles and US-based Chinese AI engineers to understand their experience and perspective of China vs. US tech industry, and what it says about China’s race to become a global tech leader.

Some topics that will be covered in this episode:

China’s 996 work culture

The bamboo ceiling

Compensation at US vs Chinese tech firms

The breakdown of barriers between Chinese and US tech

Guests:

Mike Lei, CTO of Mobvoi, a Beijing-based artificial intelligence company, whose investors include Google, Sequoia Capital, and ZhenFund.

Ji Zhanglong, a Silicon Valley-based machine learning engineer at Facebook.

Andy Liu, founder of Futureform, a Beijing-based design agency that specializes in product and UX design for AI related products.

One of the most hyped up words of 2018, AI or Artificial Intelligence has lately been portrayed as something that can enslave the human kind by everything from tech founders (Elon Musk) to tv shows (Black Mirror).

This week’s episode we have a special guest, Nicholas Young, to talk about this topic. Understanding what AI actually is, what it is used for currently, how the future will look like and discussing if we actually already are enslaved to AI.

Nicholas Young is an entrepreneur running the fintech startup Karakul based in Shenzhen. Born in the United States, Nicholas moved to China to pursue his passion around entrepreneurship and tech. He has held multiple product and innovation centric roles in China after finishing MBA at Stanford University with the most recent being leading the innovation team within the AI department of JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce company.

Throughout the episode we will:

Clarify what AI actually means and what it is used for

The impact of AI on society, user behavior and our dependency on Social Media

The future of AI, if Elon Musk is right and questioning whether we maybe already are enslaved?

Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be considered “Fair Use”. Digitally China ispowered by RADII (www.radiichina.com), an independent media platform exploring China from all angles.

A few weeks ago, in December 2018, Tencent Music did their highly anticipated IPO on the New York Stock Exchange valuing the company to $21.3 billion. Often being described as the "Spotify of China", we're looking into what Tencent Music actually is and what they might represent for the future of music, globally.

With a user base of more than 800 monthly active users and revenue of around $2 billion the detail that has impressed the most is their profit margin of 20%. Or actually even the fact that they, as a music streaming company, even are able to turn a profit.

In this episode we'll go through what Tencent Music is, how they are different compared to Spotify, if they can influence the global music industry and hypothesise about why they didn't merge with Spotify, something rumoured earlier in 2018.

Episode summary: 

What is Tencent Music and how come they are profitable?

What are the differences between the music industry in China and the west?

Music streaming as a part of a music ecosystem - will we see the same development outside China?

Asia - the future battleground - what will happen?

Guest: Jonas Leijonhufvud, journalist at DI Digital and currently writing a book about Spotify.

Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.

Production: Jacob Loven.

Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be considered “Fair Use”. Digitally China is powered by RADII (www.radiichina.com), an independent media platform exploring China from all angles.