Edtech firm Huohua Siwei valued at $1.5 billion
K-12 online math and science education platform Huohua Siwei received $150 million in a third batch of its Series E, which totals $400 million.
Honor unveils first handset since Huawei split
The launch shows that the split is an initial success, as the Honor phone contains technology that Huawei still finds difficult to acquire.
Huawei in Greece: How Snowden shaped EU’s approach to Huawei
As espionage scandals and the US campaign against Huawei shook Europe through the 2010s, EU authorities beefed up cybersecurity laws. Greece followed suit.
China-made Tesla Model 3 explodes in a Shanghai garage
A collision with a manhole cover could have caused significant damage to the vehicle and triggered the subsequent incident, Tesla said.
New digital payment rules likely to hit Ant Group, Tencent
The new antitrust rules for China’s digital payment market could trigger a regulatory review of Ant Group and Tencent based on market share.
Bytedance unveils Douyin mobile payment tool to rival Alipay, WeChat
Douyin Pay was recently added to the app, allowing users to buy virtual gifts for livestreamers and pay for goods on the app’s e-commerce platform.
Jack Ma resurfaces amid regulatory clampdown
The Alibaba and Ant Group founder, Jack Ma, made his first public appearance in months at a video conference with rural teachers.
Pinduoduo blasted for user privacy breach, Luckin franchises: Retailheads
Pinduoduo is under fire again for deleting pictures from a user’s photo album without consent. Luckin opens up to franchises in lower-tier cities.
WeChat doubled mini program GMV in 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated consumer adoption of e-commerce on WeChat and powered growth, as confined shoppers spent more time browsing on the app.
China Tech Investor: From Alibaba & Ant to Xiaomi: Looking back at 2020, forward to 2021
James and Elliott review the winners and losers of 2020, what they got right and what they got wrong, as well as the lessons they learned.
Ant Group digital yuan tests, Iran’s Chinese miners: Blockheads
Ant Group employees can use the Alipay app for digital yuan transactions in select locations, including the Lujiazui district in Shanghai.
Thrills, suspense, Flash updates: Dalian railway tech support goes viral
Adobe ended support for its notoriously virus-prone web standard on Jan. 12 and Flash was little missed—except in the Chinese government.
Chinese investors flocked to cryptocurrencies amid techwar
US-China tensions led Chinese institutional investors to look to cryptocurrencies as a safe haven—and a Bitcoin bull market didn’t hurt.
US revokes licenses to sell to Huawei, to deny more: report
The US Department of Commerce has told Huawei suppliers that it intents to deny “a significant number of license requests” to Huawei.