Friday, March 29

CHINA

Read the latest news on startup companies in China, entrepreneurs, funding, investments, tech news and successful businessman stories on Pixr8.

Vivo Becomes Official Sponsor of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup
CHINA

Vivo Becomes Official Sponsor of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup

BEIJING - Football is one of the most fascinating sports, and the FIFA World Cup, as one of the top sporting competitions in the world, always captures the attention of global audiences. The global smartphone brand Vivo announced its agreement with International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to sponsor the FIFA World Cup for six years, covering two tournament cycles. This means Vivo will become the official sponsor of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. Consecutive Sponsorship of Two FIFA World Cups As the official smartphone brand to sponsor the FIFA World Cup, Vivo will consecutively sponsor the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017, 2018 FIFA World Cup hosted by Russia, FIFA Confederations Cup 2021, and 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Through the tremendous global influence, this si...
Popular Chinese Lesbian Dating App Having 5 Million Downloads Removed From Internet
CHINA

Popular Chinese Lesbian Dating App Having 5 Million Downloads Removed From Internet

A popular Chinese dating app for lesbians has been shut down, along with its website and main social media account, just as the gay community celebrates Taiwan's decision giving same-sex couples the right to marry, a first for Asia. Asian lesbians can also enjoy adult entertainment involving other Lesbians TubeV Sex, even if their main dating app has been compromised. The app, Rela, set up in 2012, has around 5 million registered users, a cached version of its entry on Apple's iTunes site shows. But users began noticing last week that the app, along with its Twitter-like Weibo account and website, was no longer accessible, according to users posting on Weibo under the hashtags #rela and #relahasbeenblocked. The service was temporarily suspended due to an "important adjustment in s...
Alibaba Will Invest USD 7.3 Billion to Produce One Million Smart Vans
CHINA

Alibaba Will Invest USD 7.3 Billion to Produce One Million Smart Vans

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba delivery arm Cainiao Network has announced USD 7.3 billion investment to produce one million smart vans in partnership with domestic automakers for efficient delivery. Cainiao said a computing system, powered by the Internet, will analyse real-time orders and design the most efficient routes for its delivery fleet. The move will cut cost and reduce energy consumption. In two cities where the plan was piloted in April, vans travelled 30 per cent shorter distances and saved 20 per cent of the operational costs. Partnering automakers include SAIC Motor, Dongfeng Motor, Reach Rental. Cainiao also announced financial support of USD 7.3 billion for logistics firms and delivery drivers participating in the plan. Cainiao is Chinas logistics firm that pr...
After Dangal Success, Indian Film Star Aamir Khans Popularity Shot Up in China
CHINA, News

After Dangal Success, Indian Film Star Aamir Khans Popularity Shot Up in China

Aamir Khans popularity in China shot up with the runaway success of his movie "Dangal" and now his Chinese microblogging website account has also crossed 5.86 lakh followers overtaking that of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The 51-year-old superstars account on Weibo, one of the most popular social websites in China, has received 5,86,591 followers till this evening. Modi, who opened the account on Weibo in 2015 before his visit to China, was the most popular Indian with 1.69 lakhs followers. He still continues to update his post with China related events. Khan account, called "Amier Han" in Chinese, was opened last month ahead of the release of the biographical sports drama, which has become a smashing hit in China grossing 500 million yuan (about USD 76 million) in 13 days to...
CHINA, Tech

Xiaomi Bets Big on Mi Homes For Larger Offline Play

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi will set up Mi Homes in four cities, including Delhi and Hyderabad, as it looks to increase its revenues from the offline retail market in India. Last week, it unveiled its first Mi Home in Bengaluru that will allow consumers to experience and buy all Xiaomi products under one roof. Xiaomi had forayed into the Indian market in 2014, selling smartphones exclusively online through Flipkart. However, a year later, it partnered with distributors to sell devices through brick and mortar stores as well. "Over the next few months, we will expand Mi Homes to Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad. We want to bring these five (Mi Homes) to scale, ensure they are profitable before we add more," Xiaomi India Head Manu Jain told PTI. Xioami has 72 such Mi Homes i...
Peak Releases China’s First 3D Printed Running Shoes
CHINA

Peak Releases China’s First 3D Printed Running Shoes

China's leading professional sports brand Peak released its first 3D printed running shoes, "FUTURE I", which are being sold on Tmall at the price of RMB1299. Peak becomes the third sports brand to release and sell 3D printed running shoes after Adidas and Under Armour. At the press conference, Zhihua Xu, general manger of Peak Sport said, "This pair of 3D printed shoes is Peak's latest outcome of Peak Innovation Strategy, our goal is to build Peak as the most international, professional and innovative sports brand in China." 3D printed running shoes are based on the most popular Peak FLY V, with 3D printed technology applied to achieve technological innovation. The comfortable and breathable shoes are made with special lattice structure as insole by using 3D technology, and SLS lase...
Russia Blocks Chinese Social Media App WeChat
CHINA, News

Russia Blocks Chinese Social Media App WeChat

Russias telecoms watchdog has blocked Chinas popular messaging app WeChat for failing to fulfil the countrys Internet regulations. Watchdog Roskomnadzor has listed WeChat, developed by Tencent Technology, on the register of prohibited websites, South China Morning Post reported today. "Tencent is aware of the move and communicating with Russian authorities over the matter," a brief statement from the Shenzhen-based company said. Russia requires Internet service providers to register with related government bodies, but Tencent ?had a different understanding? on this issue, the company said. Access to the app was restricted on the basis of Article 15.4 of the law on information, information technologies and information security, according to Roskomnadzor, officially known as the ...
Chinas First Passenger Plane Makes Maiden Flight
CHINA

Chinas First Passenger Plane Makes Maiden Flight

Chinas first large homemade passenger jet, touted as a competitor to Boeing and Airbus, made its maiden flight from Shanghai today, signalling the Communist giants entry into the global aviation industry. The 158-seater C919 took to the skies from Shanghai Pudong International Airport and made China the fourth jumbo jet producer after the US, Europe and Russia. The twin-engine plane departed with five crew members on board but without any passengers. The "C" in the aircrafts name stands for both China and COMAC, while 9 symbolises "forever" in Chinese culture and 19 represents the maximum 190 seats capacity. With a standard range of 4,075 kilometres, the narrow- body jet is comparable with updated Airbus 320 and Boeings new generation 737, signalling the countrys entry into the...
Will Take Action If India Shields Its Local Mobile Phone Makers: Chinese media
CHINA

Will Take Action If India Shields Its Local Mobile Phone Makers: Chinese media

India should resist the temptation of resorting to "protectionism" to shield local mobile phone makers against Chinese smartphone firms, China's official media said on Tuesday warning that Beijing could take countermeasures against any such move. The Indian mobile firms are seeking government action to ease the pain of their defeat to Chinese rivals, an article in the state-run Global Times said referring to pleas by the mobile phone makers that government should raise supplementary levies against handsets from Chinese companies. "As for China, the Chinese government is unlikely to sit idly while India harms the interests of Chinese companies. We cannot rule out the possibility that China will take countermeasures if India takes unfair measures to protect its home grown companies from ...
China Third Party Mobile Payments Alipay Climbs to USD 5.5 Trillion
CHINA

China Third Party Mobile Payments Alipay Climbs to USD 5.5 Trillion

Driven by the explosive growth of Internet finance, China is now witnessing a boom on mobile payment market which touched a whopping USD 5.5 trillion last year. Data showed that value of Chinese third-party mobile payments has tripled to 38 trillion yuan (USD 5.5 trillion) in 2016, state-run People's Daily reported on Saturday. With the popularity of mobile payment, Chinese people can enjoy life without cash or cards as what they need is a mobile device, it said. Even the farmers and herdsmen living in the remotest villages in Tibet can now use their cell phones to purchase daily necessities online since local administrative villages have been completely covered by communication signal. A survey by Nieslen, a US-headquartered global information data and measurement company, showed ...
Alibaba’s Jack Ma Warns of ‘Big Trade War’ Between China, US
CHINA

Alibaba’s Jack Ma Warns of ‘Big Trade War’ Between China, US

E-commerce giant Alibaba's founder Jack Ma has warned of a "big trade war" between China and the US under the new Trump Presidency if conflicts were not dealt properly. He said China's economic outlook will be "tougher than expected" due to continued slowdown of Chinese economy and warned. "In the coming three to five years... the economic situation will be even more arduous than everyone had expected," the e-commerce billionaire said at an annual meeting of the General Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs. Referring to the slowdown of the Chinese economy to 6.7 percent last year, the slowest in over two decades, he said it was "only natural" that China's rapid growth over the past three decades could not continue, and that the focus should be shifted to the quality of growth such a...
Alibaba Led UCWeb to Invest Rs 200 Cr in India
BUSINESS, CHINA

Alibaba Led UCWeb to Invest Rs 200 Cr in India

Alibaba Mobile Business Group firm UCWeb plans to invest Rs 200 crore in India and Indonesia over the next two years to push distribution of user generated content through its UC News platform. "We will invest Rs 200 crore over the period of 2 years in India and Indonesia to push user generated content like blogs, short videos, non conventional news feeds. Around 60 percent of it (Rs 120 crore) will be invested in India," Kenny Ye, General Manager, Overseas Business for Alibaba Mobile Business Group told Pixr8. He said that the earmarked investment does not include hiring and other business expenditure but will focus only on content generation and distribution. "We will provide people with We Media platform where anyone can register and start publishing content. We are seeing huge...