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Chinese Government Begins Blockchain Tech Development

17Mar By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments

CHINA

Chinese Government Begins Blockchain Tech Development

The government of China is establishing an investment association to adopt blockchain technology development in the country. The project, entitled Global Blockchain Investment and Development Centre (GBIDC), is reportedly an initiative of the Investment Association of China (IAC) which is a social organization set up to simplify important domestic investment projects and contributed to the arrival of foreign capital, according to news outlet The Paper. The news first sparked speculations after a document leaked on the internet appears to be issued by the IAC regarding the new entity. After confirming the legitimacy of the document to The Paper, Liu Ren, Vice Chairman of the IAC, clarified that the initiative came after the association found out about the growing fame of blockchain...

Bike Rental Company Raises $866 Million From Alibaba

13Mar By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments

CHINA, FUNDING

Bike Rental Company Raises $866 Million From Alibaba

China’s bike rental giant, Ofo announced it raised $866 million investment led by Alibaba Group, with additional partners in Haofeng Group, Tianhe Capital, Ant Financial and Junli Capital. The company is using a combination of debt and equity financing for this round of investment. A statement from the company claimed that this new funding represents a record in the bike-sharing industry. Earlier this month, rumors spread in China reporting Ofo held $280 million funding from Alibaba through chattel mortgage. However, we got no information concerning a relation between the two occurring news reports. "As the global leader in the bike-sharing sector, Ofo has been transitioning from a phase of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development. Ofo will continue to put our customers fi...

Alibaba Makes Fourth Investment of $1.3 Billion To Boost Offline Retail Strategy

12Feb By RishabhNo Comments

CHINA

Alibaba Makes Fourth Investment of $1.3 Billion To Boost Offline Retail Strategy

Alibaba Group on Sunday revealed that it will be working towards expansion of its retail footprint and has announced that it invested RMB 5.45 billion (around $867 million) for 15% stake in Beijing Easyhome Furnishing, China’s second-largest home-improvement supplies and furniture chain and invested $486 million in Shiji Retail Information Technology, for 38% stakes. “The investment will combine the strengths of the world’s largest e-commerce platform and rich offline sources of Easyhome,” Alibaba said in a statement. Alibaba has been working on its strategy- "new retail" which is aimed at combining online and offline. As a part of this strategy, the Beijing Easyhome deal is Alibaba's fourth major investment in a brick and mortar chain after it bought majority of stakes in hypermark...

Non-Profit Organization RSF Urges Chinese Reporters To Quit Apple iCloud

9Feb By RishabhNo Comments

CHINA

Non-Profit Organization RSF Urges Chinese Reporters To Quit Apple iCloud

Reporters Without Borders or Reporters Sans Frontières(RSF), a non-profit NGO that promotes freedom of information and freedom of the press calls on Chinese reporters and journalists who are using Apple iCloud to close their accounts or relocate by February 28, 2018, when control of their data will pass to the Chinese state. This is because of the Apple's move of outsourcing the Chinese iCloud operations to a firm which has ties with the local government, by February 28. "RSF alerts journalists and bloggers using iCloud China to the danger that this migration poses to their security and the security of their sources, and urges them to migrate their account to another geographic region or to close it by 28 February," the report reads. Apple iCloud stores the majority of an iPhone or Ma...

7Feb By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

Apple Brings Alibaba-linked Payment System into China Stores Amid Market Push

Apple Inc will accept Chinese mobile payment app Alipay in its local stores, boosting its ties with giant e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd amid a push by the iPhone maker to revive growth in the world’s No.2 economy. The tie-up will make Alipay, run by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, the first third-party mobile payment system to be accepted at any physical Apple store worldwide, Ant Financial said in a statement on Wednesday. Apple’s own payment system has had a lukewarm reception in China. The Cupertino-based firm will accept Alipay payment across its 41 brick-and-mortar retail stores in China, said Ant Financial, which was valued at $60 billion in 2016. Apple, whose China website, iTunes store and App Store have been accepting Alipay for more than a year, did not imme...

27Jan By NitishNo Comments

CHINA

Tencent Launched China’s Cashierless Store in Shanghai

Chinese Internet giant Tencent has opened its first cashier-less pop-up store in Shanghai in a move to tap into the country's promising unmanned retail industry. At the 300-square meter shop named We Life, shoppers can use WeChat Pay, the proprietary e-wallet of messenger app WeChat, to buy items without paying cash, swiping a card, or interacting with a single human being, according to state-run China Daily. Customers can use a phone to scan a quick response code at the gate, which enables user identification and automatic payment. All products are equipped with radio-frequency identification tags that use magnetic chips to store information such as price and inventory. The store will be open until February 4 and showcases Tencent's payment capabilities in the realm of physica...

Now its Tencent Backed ‘Super-App’ Vs. Tencent’s own WeChat

25Jan By RishabhNo Comments

CHINA

Now its Tencent Backed ‘Super-App’ Vs. Tencent’s own WeChat

Another issue that is rising in China is tech apps taking over its rivals from the same backers. Recently, Meituan, a kind of Chinese technology that very few people out of the country understand is giving some serious competition to WeChat. Tencent Holdings Ltd, the messaging giant app is the developer of WeChat and a key investor in Meituan and watching its siblings take over each other, is something that nobody wants. Meituan has grown very popular in China. It has a restaurant review feature like that of Yelp (San Fransisco based review MNC), while its app also lets users order food off the menu from phone. Even to pay, users don't have to leave the Meituan app. This is the reason why its giving serious competition to Tencent's WeChat. the startup is already the world's fourth...

Chinese Handset Maker Coolpad Raises $300 Million Funding

18Jan By AnkitaNo Comments

CHINA, FUNDING

Chinese Handset Maker Coolpad Raises $300 Million Funding

Handset maker Coolpad today said it has received fresh investment of $300 million from Power Sun Ventures, which the Shenzhen-based firm will use to expand its capabilities in artificial intelligence. The funding comes after the company separated from Chinese Internet player, LeEco. "Chinese property mogul Chen Hua, Founder and Head, Kingkey Group, is leading the new investment through Power Sun Ventures, a family trust," Coolpad said in a statement. Power Sun is expected to invest USD 300 million in coming years in Coolpad, it added. Coolpad Group CEO Jiang Chao said, "With this new investment, Coolpad aims to shift its focus from being just into mobile business to an AI-focused technology company. We plan to expand this by creating AI focused applications across communication...

2Jan By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

LeEco Founder Defies China Return Order, Stays In U.S. For Car Fundraising

The founder of debt-laden tech conglomerate LeEco has defied orders from Chinese regulators to return to the country before end-2017, saying he needed to stay in the United States as a fundraising for his electric car startup was making progress. The Beijing branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued a notice last week ordering LeEco CEO Jia Yueting to return to China to sort out a mounting debt pile linked to his firms and protect investors’ rights. Jia said in a statement that he had asked his brother, Jia Yuemin, to meet the regulator face-to-face last Friday to provide a report after the notice was issued. “I am deeply sorry and blame myself for the negative impact of LeEco’s debt crisis,” he said in the statement that was posted on his official WeChat ...

2Jan By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

China’s WeChat Denies Storing User Chats

Tencent Holdings’ WeChat, China’s most popular messenger app, on Tuesday denied storing users’ chat histories, after a top businessman was quoted in media reports as saying he believed Tencent was monitoring everyone’s account. “WeChat does not store any users’ chat history. That is only stored in users’ mobiles, computers and other terminals,” WeChat said in a post on the social media platform. “WeChat will not use any content from user chats for big data analysis. Because of WeChat’s technical model that does not store or analyse user chats, the rumour that ‘we are watching your WeChat everyday’ is pure misunderstanding.” Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holdings, owner of the Volvo car brand, was quoted in Chinese media on Monday as saying Tencent Chairman Ma Huateng “must be watchi...

29Dec By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

Huawei’s China Smartphone Sales Chief Detained For Suspected Bribe-Taking

Huawei Technologies, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, said on Wednesday that Chinese police are conducting an investigation, after the China sales head of its smartphone unit was detained on suspicion of accepting bribes. Huawei, which in recent years has overtaken Apple Inc and others to take the top share of China’s smartphone market but is now under pressure from fast-growing domestic rivals, declined to disclose details of the case. “The authorities are investigating the matter, and we defer to their discretion as to what can be disclosed,” the company said in e-mailed comments to Reuters when asked about the case. “We take our business ethics extremely seriously, and have zero tolerance for corrupt behavior.” It gave no further comment. In an internal memo to st...

28Dec By reutersNo Comments

CHINA

China Temporarily Exempts Foreign Firms From Taxes For Reinvested Profits

China said on Thursday it will temporarily exempt foreign firms from paying provisional income tax on profits they re-invest into the economy, in a bid to stop foreign firms shifting their operations out of the country. The move will help “promote growth of foreign investment, improve quality of foreign investment and encourage overseas investors to continuously expand their investment in China,” the finance ministry said on its website. Analysts say a planned tax cut by U.S. President Donald Trump, which could lead to a repatriation of earnings by U.S. firms, poses a challenge China’s bid to lure foreign investment. The temporary exemption on provisional income tax is retroactive from Jan. 1 this year, which means firms that have paid taxes this year will be refunded. But fore...