The Latest from Rita Liao
Xbox teams up with Tencent’s Honor of Kings maker TiMi Studios
TiMi Studios, one of the world’s most lucrative game makers and part of Tencent’s gargantuan digital entertainment empire, said Thursday that it has struck a strategic partnership with Xbo
Prime today, gone tomorrow: Chinese products get pulled from Amazon
If you ever bought power banks, water bottles, toys or other daily goods on Amazon, the chances are your suppliers are from China. Analysts have estimated that the share of Chinese merchants represent
Lidar startup Innovusion closes $64M round led by Temasek
More investors are joining the wave to bet on lidar, the remote sensing method that uses laser light to measure distances and has garnered ample interest from automakers in recent times. But it’
Crypto asset manager Babel raises $40M from Tiger Global, Bertelsmann and others
Three years after its inception, crypto financial service provider Babel Finance is racking up fundings and partnerships from major institutional investors. The startup said Monday that it has closed
Juul inventor’s Myst lands funding as institutional investors turn to China’s e-cigs
Over the past several years, institutional investors had largely shied away from China’s e-cigarette makers, an industry that was teeming with shoddy workshops and lacked regulatory oversight. B
SoftBank leads $15M round for China’s industrial robot maker Youibot
SoftBank has picked its bet in China’s flourishing industrial robotics space. Youibot, a four-year-old startup that makes autonomous mobile robots for a range of scenarios, said it has notched c
Tesla supplier Delta Electronics invests $7M in AI chip startup Kneron
Despite a persistent semiconductor shortage that is disrupting the global automotive industry, investors remain bullish on the chips used to power next-generation vehicles. Kneron, a startup that deve
Apple sales bounce back in China as Huawei loses smartphone crown
Huawei’s smartphone rivals in China are quickly divvying up the market share it has lost over the past year. Indeed, 92.4 million units of smartphones were shipped in China during the first quar
PayPal’s ambition and uphill battle in China
Over the last few months, PayPal has been quietly gearing up for its expansion in China. At the recent Boao Forum for Asia, China’s answer to Davos, the American payments giant said its strategy
Ushopal looks to charm China’s beauty lovers with niche Western brands
What will China’s answer to Estée Lauder look like in the digital age? According to Ushopal, it will provide a seamless online and offline shopping experience, where China’s savvy beauty
China’s e-commerce giant JD.com starts paying some staff in digital yuan
China’s plan to introduce its digital currency is getting a lot of help from its tech conglomerates. JD.com, a major Chinese online retailer that competes with Alibaba, said Monday that it has s
Westward plans a $30M debut fund to take Chinese indie games global
In Hefei, a Chinese city known for its relics from the Three Kingdoms period and its manufacturing industry today, Maxim Rate was thrilled to find a small studio crafting a Western role-playing game,
Laiye, China’s answer to UiPath, closes $50 million Series C+
Robotic process automation has become buzzy in the last few months. New York-based UiPath is on course to launch an initial public offering after gaining an astounding valuation of $35 billion in Febr
Tesla mulls cars tailored to China amid mounting criticism
Tesla is working on vehicles tailored to Chinese consumers as complaints about the quality of its electric vehicles send shock waves through the internet in the country. The American EV giant is mulli
Huawei says it’s not a carmaker — it wants to be the Bosch of China
One after another, Chinese tech giants have announced their plans for the auto space over the last few months. Some internet companies, like search engine provider Baidu, decided to recruit help from
Volvo to supply cars for Didi’s global autonomous driving fleets
As the autonomous driving race in China heats up, Didi is rushing to expand its car fleets by picking Swedish automaker Volvo, an old partner of Uber, as its ally. Didi said on Monday it will be using
China’s Xpeng in the race to automate EVs with lidar
Elon Musk famously said any company relying on lidar is “doomed.” Tesla instead believes automated driving functions are built on visual recognition and is even working to remove the radar
Jack Ma’s Ant called to end anti-competition in payments
The details for Ant’s overhaul have arrived. Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba controlled by Jack Ma, will become a financial holding company that will bring more regulatory scrutiny over
China gets serious about antitrust, fines Alibaba $2.75B
Chinese regulators have hit Alibaba with a record fine of 18 billion yuan (about $2.75 billion) for violating anti-monopoly rules as the country seeks to rein in the power of its largest internet cong
Chinese hardware makers turn to crowdfunding as they look to go global
China’s tech giants have had a rough time in Western markets over the last few years. Huawei and DJI have been hit by trade restrictions, while TikTok and WeChat are threatened with their apps b