China intends to become the world’s artificial intelligence leader in 2030, according to the manifesto it just released describing plans to create an industry of…
Tencent
OH, POOH
China wants people to stop comparing its president to Winnie the Pooh
China is going after Winnie the Pooh—again. A July 15 post on a public account on WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app, said that Winnie-the-Pooh…
WORKAROUND
Tencent’s child locks for its crazily popular mobile game are fueling a black market in “adult” accounts
Since its launch in 2015, Honor of Kings, developed by internet giant Tencent, has grown into a viral hit in China. It’s a multiplayer online…
KINDLE KINDNESS
Amazon has quietly released a customized Kindle just for China—where nobody uses Amazon
Yesterday Amazon announced the release of a special version of the Kindle E-reader tailored for China. As with almost anything Amazon does in China, one…
HOT TIPS
Apple’s new App Store policies target China’s online tipping economy
Apple has a tip for China—all online tips must go through Apple before they go anywhere else. This past week the hardware giant unveiled two…
RUMOR MILL
WeChat has a great new tool for fighting fake news, but there’s one little problem: Beijing
Today Chinese internet giant Tencent launched a new feature (link in Chinese) for its WeChat app designed to collect and debunk online rumors, which remain…
RIGID DEMAND
Watching porn on China’s censored internet is an infinitely evolving cat-and-mouse game
Pornography is strictly forbidden in China. Those who produce, disseminate, or sell “obscene materials” could be jailed for life, according to the country’s criminal law.…
A+ APP
Tencent’s total dominance of China’s smartphones, in one chart
China’s internet giants are often collectively referred to as BAT, meaning Baidu (known for its search engine), Alibaba (e-commerce), and Tencent (social media and gaming).…
INBOX ZERO
While the rest of the world tries to “kill email,” in China, it’s always been dead
It’s a familiar story for students or businessmen on their first-ever visit to China. After rounds of beer and baijiu with potential clients, or a…
STICK AROUND
A new search engine from WeChat could change China’s internet
China’s already-big WeChat is searching for how to get even bigger. The answer? Search. Today the company publicly unveiled (link in Chinese) a feature—called “Search,”…
ALIGRAM
Big data, Chinese surveillance, and Donald Trump could keep China’s biggest payments company from entering the US
It’s a meeting of the old economy and the new economy. The closed internet and the open one. Aging US holdouts and young Chinese giants.…
REAL SMARTS
China’s Tencent is a sleeping giant in the global artificial intelligence race
As internet giants all over the world herald their advances in AI, one company has been conspicuously absent—Tencent, the Chinese social media giant, now worth…
