Kevin Zhou, Author at Pandaily

Is shared sleeping capsules a good business in China?

Sharing economies are becoming more and more daring and imaginative in China. Besides the already existing shared bicycles, basketballs, umbrellas, portable batteries, you can even “share” bedrooms now. Lately, the concept of “shared sleeping capsules” have emerged in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and other cities. Beijing-based Xiangshui (means shared sleeping) Space is a self-service resting pod […]

Ant Financial Is Going to Release A Malaysian Version of Alipay

On July 24, Ant Financial announced the signing of an agreement with Touch’n Go (TNG), a company directly affiliated with the CIMB Bank. A joint venture company will be formed to provide electronic wallet solutions and other related financial services for local users. In the future, Malaysian people will be able to easily use their […]

Passengers Can Now Order Takeout While Taking the Chinese High Speed Rail with Alipay Integration

According to recent news, starting July 17th, passengers taking the G and D EMU (electric multiple unit ) trains will be able to make meal orders through the 12306（China Railway Corporation’s official website) and its mobile app. After completing an order on the app, the on-train staff will deliver the meal to the designated passenger compartments […]

“Copy to China” Companies that Just Aren’t Fitting In Well

Let’s rewind back to the first 20 years of Internet development in China and talk about its business model. What everyone did back then was “Copy to China”. We essentially brought successful business models from Europe and US to China. For example: Sohu copied Yahoo Tencent copied ICQ Baidu copied Google Taobao copied eBay Meituan […]

China’s Bike-Sharing Business Meets Mixed Response Abroad

It only took two years for colorful rental bikes to dominate the landscape of China’s prosperous cities. Across the country, users have built a habit of finding a bike, scanning its code, riding off and locking up. The simple process has made rental bikes a key ingredient in solving the problem of “the last mile.” […]

Sogou Maps launches ‘co-driver’ voice interactive system

At a time when Chinese enterprises are focusing on smart home technology and intelligent speakers, Sogou, a subsidiary of Internet company Sohu Inc., is turning to voice technology to enhance map usability. Sogou Maps, a popular Chinese mapping service application, on Tuesday launched an “intelligent co-driver” system which allows voice interaction during car journeys, liberating […]

Apple Gives 50% Discounts, Leads Biggest Apple Pay Promotion since China Entry

On July 13, Apple’s official Chinese website announced its summer promotion, which will see users get as much as 50% off purchases and 50 times points at participating vendors in its biggest campaign since entry to the country. Overall, 29 retailers are participating including Starbucks, Burger King, Wagas, Häagen-Dazs, Lawson and Gap, with some e-commerce […]

Isabel Ge Mahe Named Apple’s Managing Director of Greater China

Apple today announced that Isabel Ge Mahe, vice president of Wireless Technologies, has been named vice president and managing director of Greater China, reporting to CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams. In this newly created role, Isabel will provide leadership and coordination across Apple’s China-based team. “Apple is strongly committed to invest and grow […]

China’s online retailer JD is going global, first stop is Southeast Asia

China’s online retail and logistics giant JD is now eyeing up the Indonesian market. It seems the country of 250 million provides the right environment for JD’s next round of international expansion. If all goes to plan, local consumers will see fresh food delivered to their homes by JD’s refrigerated lorries within five years. The […]

Baidu Releases Self-driving Software For Free

Chinese search engine company Baidu announced their autonomous car software will be free for download, with the aim to collect data and attract more users to their open-source AI platform. The announcement was made on July 5 during their “Baidu AI Developers Conference” (Baidu Create 2017). Baidu Founder Robin Li had made quite a stir […]

Airbnb is boosting its market investments in China

On June 28th, Airbnb jointly launched with Alipay a handy new tool available in the Alipay app called the “Aibiying Travel Deposit”, which will help prevent the app users from reckless spending. By setting the travel location, period of stay, the number of travelers and the intended travel dates in the app, the system will […]

Yu’EBao Reserves Reach 1.43T Yuan, Near ‘Big Four’ Banks

Yu’EBao was holding nearly 1.43 trillion yuan at the end of June 2017, up nearly 80 percent from the 0.8 trillion yuan it held at the end of 2016, according to a new report from Alibaba’s Tianhong Asset Management. Its funds increased nearly 300 billion yuan by the end of June, up from 1.14 trillion […]

Tencent’s Stock Dives Amid Criticism of ‘Addictive’ Mobile Game

Tencent‘s stock plunged more than 4 percent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after it rolled out tough restrictions on King of Glory, its popular online game, on Tuesday. It’s estimated the Internet giant lost at least HK $100 billion in the market. Tencent‘s new rules limit players who are 12 years old or younger […]

Silicon Valley’s China Paradox

Li Zhifei has spent his professional career cross-pollinating the world’s two most vibrant innovation ecosystems. Born in central China at the dawn of reform and opening, Li graduated college in China and dove headfirst into the country’s dot com boom of the early 2000s. When that bubble burst, he headed to Johns Hopkins University for […]

‘King of Glory’ Moves to Fight Addiction, Limits U-12 Players to One Hour

Tencent Games announced a pilot program for its King of Glory online game that would log out players younger than 12 after one hour of daily gameplay, the company said on July 2. In the most strict anti-addiction measure ever taken in Chinese gaming, King of Glory will count cumulative play time throughout the day, […]

Beijing Metro Offers Swipe to Ride: Is NFC Going Mainstream ?

Beijing Metro announced a partnership with the Beijing Municipal Administration Traffic Card to launch mobile swipe-to-ride service on June 26. The first phase will will see NFC subway payment available on the subway’s Fangshan Line. Some 160 NFC-capable mobile phones by brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, Nubia, OnePlus and Meizu will support the new […]

Another Bike Sharing Company Bites the Dust. Founder: I Am Not Optimistic About Bike-Sharing

After Wukong Bikes’ bankruptcy just 8 days ago – June 8th 2017 – yet another bike-sharing company has gone bust. On June 21st, 3Vbike announced that it is going out of business, primarily due to a large amount of stolen bikes causing a strain on liquidity. This may come as a surprise to the company’s […]

No Intermission for Shared Bikes’ War

Hundreds of workers in bright yellow uniforms assemble small yellow bicycles at the Tianjin Flying Pigeon bicycle factory on May 19. The workers hurriedly attach the wheels and gears to each frame, and every 15 seconds a new ofo unit is born. Workers at the end of the line load each new bike into cardboard […]

The Real Threat of Artificial Intelligence

BEIJING — What worries you about the coming world of artificial intelligence? Too often the answer to this question resembles the plot of a sci-fi thriller. People worry that developments in A.I. will bring about the “singularity” — that point in history when A.I. surpasses human intelligence, leading to an unimaginable revolution in human affairs. […]

After fighting with Baidu, JD.com may join the BAT Group

JD’s (京东）closing price on June 26 was $43.08, raising their total market value to $61.149 billion. They are quickly approaching to Baidu‘s total market value of $61.973 billion at the time, thus threatening the existing group of tech giants BAT: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. In comparison, Baidu is lagging behind the other two in terms […]

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