The Latest from Rita Liao
Kai-Fu Lee’s Sinovation bets on Linux tablet maker Jingling in $10M round
Kai-Fu Lee’s Sinovation Ventures has its eyes on a niche market targeting software developers. In April, the venture capital fund led a $10 million angel round in Jingling, a Chinese startup dev
What’s driving the rise of robotaxis in China with AutoX, Momenta and WeRide
AutoX, Momenta and WeRide took the stage at TC Sessions: Mobility 2021 to discuss the state of robotaxi startups in China and their relationships with local governments in the country.
SoftBank, Uber, Tencent set to reap rewards from Didi IPO
After years of speculation, Didi Chuxing, China’s ridesharing behemoth, finally unveiled its IPO filing in the U.S., giving a glimpse into its money-losing history. Didi didn’t disclose th
Biden revokes and replaces Trump actions targeting TikTok and WeChat
President Joe Biden is reducing some uncertainty faced by Chinese tech companies in the United States, erasing parts of the Trump-era legacy. The president signed an executive order revoking actions t
Chinese lidar maker Hesai lands $300M led by Hillhouse, Xiaomi, Meituan
The rush to back lidar companies continues as more automakers and robotaxi startups include the remote sensing method in their vehicles. Latest to the investment boom is Hesai, a Shanghai-based lidar
Apple’s new encrypted browsing feature won’t be available in China, Saudi Arabia and more
Apple announced a handful of privacy-focused updates at its annual software developer conference on Monday. One called Private Relay particularly piques the interest of Chinese users living under the
Fashion wholesale marketplace JOOR opens China office
JOOR, an online marketplace that connects fashion brands and retailers around the world, has opened its first China office in downtown Shanghai as it eyes growth in the region. The 11-year-old New Yor
Huawei officially launches HarmonyOS for smartphones
Think you’re living in a hyper-connected world? Huawei’s proprietary HarmonyOS wants to eliminate delays and gaps in user experience when you move from one device onto another by adding in
Tencent helps Chinese students skip prohibitively low speeds for school websites overseas
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese students enrolled in overseas schools are stranded as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt life and airlines worldwide. Learning at home in China, they all face
Alibaba is making its cloud OS compatible with multiple chip architectures
Alibaba’s cloud computing unit is making its Apsara operating system compatible with processors based on Arm, x86, RISC-V, among other architectures, the company announced at a conference on Fr
Tesla will store Chinese user data locally, following Apple’s suit
The handling of user data in China has become a delicate matter for foreign tech companies operating in the country. Apple’s move to store the data of its Chinese customers in servers managed by
US removes Xiaomi’s designation as a Communist Chinese military company
Xiaomi, one of China’s high-profile tech firms that fell in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, has been removed from a U.S. government blacklist that designated it as a Communist Chines
JD.com, Meituan and Neolix to test autonomous deliveries on Beijing public roads
People in a Beijing suburb will begin to see autonomous delivery mini-vans across their neighborhood, moving cautiously alongside human delivery riders belting down the streets. Beijing has greenlight
Facebook co-founder Saverin’s B Capital doubles down on SaaS in China
B Capital Group, the six-year-old venture capital fund formed by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Bain Capital veteran Raj Ganguly, is doubling down on China as it looks to allocate $500 millio
ByteDance’s video editor CapCut is the latest to top the US App Store
From time to time, we see a Chinese app climbing to the top of Google Play and App Store in a host of Western countries. It might be a utility tool like a selfie beautifier or some casual video game,
WalletsClub wants to be the ‘Visa for e-wallets’ across the world
Digital payments are going mainstream around the world. By the end of 2020, there were more than 300 mobile money providers with over 100,000 active users, according to a report published by GSMA, an
ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming to step down as CEO by end of 2021
Zhang Yiming, the storied co-founder of ByteDance, is stepping down from his role as the CEO and passing the torch to Liang Rubo, another co-founder of the TikTok parent and one of the world’s m
Shein overtakes Amazon as the most installed shopping app in US
Shein‘s quiet rise has reached a crescendo as the fast fashion e-commerce app takes the crown from Amazon as the most downloaded shopping app on iOS and Android in the United States, according t
JD Logistics, China’s answer to Amazon’s logistics ambitions, to raise $3.4B in IPO
After operating in the red for 14 years, JD.com’s logistics subsidiary is getting ready for an initial public offering in Hong Kong. JD Logistics will price its share between HK$39.36 and HK$43.
China’s autonomous vehicle startups AutoX, Momenta and WeRide are coming to TC Sessions: Mobility 2021
As the autonomous vehicle industry in the United States marches toward consolidation, a funding spree continues to exhilarate China’s robotaxi industry. Momenta, Pony.ai, WeRide and Didi’s