Digitally China

Haigui or “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 motivates haigui, 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. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

In this pilot episode we are checking out the business model of Luckin Coffee originally published October 23 2018. Is the "digitalisation of coffee" just a hype or actually something that has value? With guest expert Greg Savarese.

Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.

Production: Jacob Loven.

Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China produced with RADII (radiichina.com).

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”. Distributed and powered by Radii, an independent media platform exploring China from all angles. All music licensed. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

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? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

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. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

When it comes to buzzwords in the tech industry, "new retail" ranks high on the list. For the past few years, Alibaba has popularized the catchphrase to describe smarter, more high-tech ways of serving customers in brick-and-mortar shops -- by linking online and offline data -- from facial recognition-powered payments to smart mirrors that lets customers "try on" cosmetics before buying them.

But beyond the shiny add-ons that consumers see, the real impact of new retail - especially for physical stores -- is more invisible: the supply chain and inventory.

In this episode, we'll piece apart what new retail actually means for brick-and-mortar shops, why ecommerce platforms are moving offline, and how traditional brands are trying to catch up with JD and Alibaba before they get left behind.

Episode summary: 

- what is "new retail" and why are ecommerce platforms so gung-ho about it?

- case study: how the fashion industry -- where customer demand is volatile and products are always changing -- could really benefit from new retail

- why are traditional brands struggling to streamline their physical shops and are Alibaba and JD solution providers or competitors?

Guest: Sicheng Peng, general manager and president of 7thonline APAC,

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. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

A "new social" is on the rise led by TikTok. But despite soaring user numbers, will they survive the competition from giants like Facebook and Tencent? In this episode, we look into TikToks journey from startup to half a billion users.

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. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

When you think of ecommerce in China, Alibaba is probably the first name that comes to mind. And no wonder - the internet giant has built a multibillion dollar empire off a sophisticated ecommerce, logistics, and payments trifecta.

But WeChat, China's most ubiquitous and popular messaging app, often goes unnoticed. Thanks to built-in payments, the app's social newsfeed, and one-on-one chat, these 'micro' shopkeepers are able to operate lucrative businesses from their phone -- and connect with customers in a more intimate way than Taobao, Alibaba's online bazaar.  For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Eva and Tom have been looking into the development around "Project Dragonfly". Why has Google's interest in China increased lately and what's their potential on the world's largest Internet market? Will they actually be able to enter China after 8 years of "absence"?

Thoughts on the episode? Do not hesitate to give us your feedback by emailing us at [email protected].

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. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

In this pilot episode we are checking out the business model of Luckin Coffee. Is the "digitalisation of coffee" just a hype or actually something that has value? With guest expert Greg Savarese.

Thoughts on the episode? Do not hesitate to give us your feedback [email protected]

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”. Distributed and powered by Radii, an independent media platform exploring China from all angles. All music licensed. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy