Newsletter: Trashless Lifestyle in a Trash-besieged City
Here’s this week’s roundup of China tech stories.
Have you ever heard of “zero waste”? It literally means living with no trash, and a lovely Chinese-British couple in Beijing has been promoting the idea, with their social enterprise called the BULK HOUSE. Here’s an original story and video brought to you by Pandaily.
China’s biggest newspaper welcomed the possible return of Google on its twitter account, saying, “Google is welcome to return to the Chinese mainland but it must comply with local laws. All foreign internet companies in China should respect China’s internet management.” But the tweet disappeared soon.
ChinaJoy 2018, one of China’s biggest gaming exhibitions, brought forth a gaming feast for gamers and developers from August 3rd to 6th, in Shanghai.
Foreign entrepreneurs and investors who meet certain requirements now can apply for a new business startup visa piloted in select districts in Shanghai to live in China.
In the EV market, Tesla is planning to build its China factory with local bank loans considering the company’s current cash flow. Its Chinese startup rival,XPENG Motors, on the other hand, is receiving billions of investment.
Two video apps, musical.ly and TikTok—both under Bytedance, will merge into one upgraded app. The integrated one will be running under the name ofTikTok.
Starbucks now partners with Ele.me, Hema Supermarket and other companies under the Alibaba ecosystem to start coffee delivery services.
Editor’s Pick
This Couple Lives Trashless in a City Hampered by Trash
Anger Over BiliBili Censorship Could Tip China Toward Rating System
Remembering Tang Dynasty, China’s Cradle of Innovation
Market Briefings
DJI announced its first “characterized drone,” a partnership product with LINE FRIENDS, adding fun to the drone technology.
People’s Daily posted on its twitter account to welcome Google back in China, indicating that this time the global internet giant might return for real.
Baidu‘s unaudited financial report shows the strong growth of all its businesses in the second quarter.
Giant players such as Sony, Xiaomi, and HTC unveiled their eye-catching gaming-related products including gaming laptop and VR headset at the three-day gaming bonanza of ChinaJoy 2018.
Meituan Waimai continues to lead in China’s food delivery market, with 59 percent of the market share, followed by Ele.me and Baidu Waimai.
China’s leading e-commerce platform JD.com opened its first overseas unmanned store, JD.ID X-Mart, an AI-powered experience store in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Automobiles
With a record loss, Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in China, although costing less than expected, will be built through local bank loans.
Chinese EV startup XPENG Motorsannounced the completion of its Series B+ round of 4 billion yuan, with lead investors including Primavera Capital Group and Morningside Venture Capital.
Partnerships
The popular musical.ly video app will be merged with another short video platform, TikTok, into one upgraded app, which will offer an unified user experience and a wider global reach.
Coffee giant Starbucks forges new partnership with the Alibaba Group, with pilot delivery services starting this September.
New Releases
Motorola is likely to launch the First 5G Phone in China this Month.
OPPO’s new flagship model will adopt Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6, providing consumers with increased protection against multiple drops.
OPPO Find X Lamborghini Editionis now available for preorder at the price of 9999 yuan (around $1462).
Podcast
In this episode of TechBuzz China, co-hosts Ying-Ying Lu and Rui Ma tell the story of Pinduoduo. Starting with the company’s founding in 2015, they trace the growth of the fastest app in the history of Chinese internet to list on a major exchange.
