The Latest from Rita Liao
China’s internet regulator takes aim at forced data collection
China is a step closer to cracking down on unscrupulous data collection by app developers. This week, the country’s cybersecurity watchdog began seeking comment on the range of user information
YC-backed LemonBox raises $2.5M bringing vitamins to Chinese millennials
Like many overseas Chinese, Derek Weng gets shopping requests from his family and friends whenever he returns to China. Some of the most wanted imported products are maternity items, cosmetics and vit
Alibaba and Ethiopian Airlines to launch cold chain exporting China’s COVID vaccines
China has pledged that it would be sharing its COVID-19 vaccines with other countries, especially those with which it has close ties. While the country is not ready to deploy its vaccines internationa
AutoX becomes China’s first to remove safety drivers from robotaxis
Residents of Shenzhen will see truly driverless cars on the road starting Thursday. AutoX, a four-year-old startup backed by Alibaba, MediaTek and Shanghai Motors, is deploying a fleet of 25 unmanned
China’s tech firms rush to deliver solutions for grocery shopping
Nearly all of China’s largest internet firms have established a presence in online grocery. Just this week, news arrived that Alibaba co-led the $196 million C3 funding round of Nice Tuan, the t
Alibaba vies for a piece of China’s booming EV market
There’s no lack of news these days on China’s tech giants teaming up with traditional carmakers. Companies from Alibaba to Huawei are striving to become relevant in the trillion-dollar aut
TikTok’s epic rise and stumble
TikTok’s rise in the West is unprecedented for any Chinese tech company, and so is the amount of attention it has attracted from politicians worldwide. Below is a timeline of how TikTok grew fro
Google-backed Chinese truck-hailing firm Manbang raises $1.7 billion
The Chinese Uber for trucks Manbang announced Tuesday that it has raised $1.7 billion in its latest funding round, two years after it hauled in $1.9 billion from investors including SoftBank Group and
The promise and challenge of Roblox’s future in China
In a much-anticipated move, California-based gaming firm Roblox filed to go public last week. One aspect driving the future growth of the children- and community-focused gaming platform is its China e
How China’s Realme sold 50 million phones in just over 2 years
Starting a new phone brand in 2018 might seem too late in an already crowded market, but Sky Li was convinced that consumers between 18-25 years old were largely underserved — they needed someth
The crowd goes wild for Yiming
This excerpt follows a high-growth period for Douyin, detailing how it gained around 200 million daily active users within a year via a loyal creator community, viral memes, algorithmic recommendation
China’s smartphone giant Oppo ratchets up AR push
Tech companies around the world are still identifying the “next big thing” enabled by 5G connections. Some, such as Oppo, are betting it will be augmented reality. The Chinese smartphone f
Huawei sells budget phone unit Honor to state-backed firms, distribution partners
After weeks of rumors, Huawei confirmed it is selling Honor to a consortium of companies, including government-backed firms, Honor’s distribution partners and suppliers, in a move to save its bu
Baidu to acquire Joyy’s Chinese live-streaming service YY for $3.6B
Baidu said on Monday it is acquiring Joyy’s live-streaming service YY Live in China for $3.6 billion in an all-cash deal as the Chinese internet giant makes a further push to diversify beyond it
Zilliz raises $43 million as investors rush to China’s open-source software
For years, founders and investors in China had little interest in open-source software because it did not seem like the most viable business model. Zilliz‘s latest financing round shows that att
Former WeWork China exec launches a ‘startup studio’ for real estate
The real estate industry has been slow to adopt technology compared to many other sectors. So when Dominic Penaloza left his job at WeWork China as the head of innovation and technology this spring, h
The US government sends mixed messages about TikTok’s future
The fate of TikTok in the United States got even more confusing this week. The U.S. Justice and Commerce Departments sent conflicting messages today about TikTok’s future, which is now up in the
China to ship 3 billion parcels during post-COVID Singles’ Day
China’s e-commerce behemoths Alibaba and JD.com again claimed to have set records during the world’s largest shopping event, Singles’ Day. The figures can often be gamed to paint a r
China proposes antitrust law ahead of Singles’ Day shopping spree
Debates over anti-competitive practices amongst China’s internet firms resurface every year in the lead up to Singles’ Day, a time when online retailers exhaust their resources and deploy
Despite global headwinds, Chinese hardware startups remain to take on the world
Bill Zhang lowered himself into lunges on a squishy mat as he explained to me the benefits of the full-body training suit he was wearing. We were in his small, modest office in Xili, a university area