China Marketing Weekly

Hello!\r\nThis week Tait and Lawrence talk about auto trends - new energy vehicles, smart vehicles, delivery drones and more.\r\n\r\nPlus, we chat a bit about China's economy, aging population and crypto asset predictions.\r\n\r\n------\r\n\r\nTopics and sources:\r\nAlibaba fined 2.8 Billion USD, vows to end forced exclusivity.\r\nSource (English): https://technode.com/2021/04/12/alibaba-pledges-end-to-forced-exclusivity-after-antitrust-penalty/\r\nChinese citizens prefer less military spending, more income equality.\r\nSource (English): https://www.neican.org/p/briefing-alibaba-fine-huawei-and\r\nHow did COVID affect tour guides in China and elsewhere?\r\n\r\nSource: Interviews of tour guides on https://www.synotrip.com\r\n\r\nChina domestic tourism booming for Qingming Festival.\r\nSource (Chinese): http://123.232.116.200/articleContent/2241_857140.html\r\nSource (English): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56621342 \r\nChina has given 120 million COVID vaccinations so far.\r\nSource (English): https://www.hstong.com/news/detail/21040117070459961\r\nHainan seeks modern cultural tourism, builds pavilions by the seaside.\r\nSource (English): https://jingculturecommerce.com/pavilions-by-the-seaside/\r\n\r\n------\r\n\r\nMore places to follow us:\r\nNMG's weekly newsletter\r\nOdysee\r\nYouTube\r\nLinkedIn\r\nTait on Twitter\r\nTait on Minds\r\n

Hello!\r\nThis week we’re looking into Chinese travel trends. \r\n\r\nWe hope to help you understand what’s going on with Chinese tourism, both inside China and in/out of China. \r\nIn short, domestic travel in China is back to normal, with strong travel over Qingming Festival. Many Chinese citizens feel safe from COVID and they’ve become even more comfortable with travelling.\r\n\r\nBut first, two now-travel news items.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTopics and sources:\r\nAlibaba fined 2.8 Billion USD, vows to end forced exclusivity.\r\nSource (English): https://technode.com/2021/04/12/alibaba-pledges-end-to-forced-exclusivity-after-antitrust-penalty/\r\nChinese citizens prefer less military spending, more income equality.\r\nSource (English): https://www.neican.org/p/briefing-alibaba-fine-huawei-and\r\nHow did COVID affect tour guides in China and elsewhere?\r\n\r\nSource: Interviews of tour guides on https://www.synotrip.com \r\n\r\nChina domestic tourism booming for Qingming Festival.\r\nSource (Chinese): http://123.232.116.200/articleContent/2241_857140.html\r\nSource (English): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56621342 \r\nChina has given 120 million COVID vaccinations so far.\r\nSource (English): https://www.hstong.com/news/detail/21040117070459961\r\nHainan seeks modern cultural tourism, builds pavilions by the seaside.\r\nSource (English): https://jingculturecommerce.com/pavilions-by-the-seaside/ \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMore places to follow us:\r\nNMG's weekly newsletter\r\nOdysee\r\nYouTube\r\nLinkedIn\r\nTait on Twitter\r\nTait on Minds\r\n

Hello!\r\n\r\nThis week we chatted about trends in environmental protection in China. It's a big opportunity for businesses from around the world. Plus, Baidu is rolling out a new landing page tool that will be required for many advertisers - marketers will want to learn about this.\r\nDig in!\r\nTopics and sources:\r\nIs after school tutoring banned?\r\nSource (English): https://pandaily.com/beijing-retightens-its-grip-on-the-after-school-tutoring-industry/\r\nBaidu’s new “Jimuyu” landing pages required for some companies\r\nExample page: https://isite.baidu.com/site/xlmbjgs.cn/480b01e8-7b72-4362-910e-a2f3f729eeae?fid=nHTdn1mzPH6vPHbvnHbLPHfzn1PxnWcdg1D&ch=4&bd_vid=10990386154637090780 \r\nBitcoin mining in China to surpass total carbon emissions of Qatar by 2024\r\nSource (English): https://pandaily.com/bitcoin-mining-in-china-on-pace-to-surpass-total-carbon-emissions-of-some-mid-sized-countries-by-2024/ \r\nChina to make up 40% of Tesla’s sales by 2022\r\nSource (English): https://pandaily.com/china-demand-contributes-to-teslas-estimate-crushing-deliveries-in-q1/ \r\nBubble tea drinkers mad about plastic ban\r\nSource (English): https://www.pri.org/stories/2021-04-07/backlash-bubble-tea-fans-after-china-bans-plastic-straws-restaurants \r\nXiaomi’s CEO responds to Xiaomi’s new logo \r\nSource (Chinese): https://haokan.baidu.com/v?vid=10165837768418403867&pd=bjh&fr=bjhauthor&type=video\r\nChina’s livestream sales king sells 300 million USD in 12 hours\r\nSource (English): https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3127332/comeback-king-chinas-disgraced-live-streaming-sales-king-sells-12 \r\nMore places to follow us:\r\nNMG's weekly newsletter\r\nOdysee\r\nYouTube\r\nLinkedIn\r\nTait on Twitter\r\nTait on Minds\r\n

Hello!\r\nHere’s our new pitch to newcomers:\r\nIf you want to make money in China, you'll need to understand the trends in Chinese culture, technology and business.\r\nI've spent a quarter of my life in China, and I've been doing business there since 2003.\r\nIn this podcast, I chat with my friends about the newest developments from China that I think will affect business, or are just plain fun.\r\nTopics and sources:\r\nHuawei Pay is really coming \r\nSource (English): https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-28/Huawei-obtains-payment-license-by-acquiring-digital-payment-company-Z0h1PqzHXy/index.html\r\nMore WeChat Updates!\r\nSource (Chinese): https://36kr.com/p/1158969102697865 \r\nSome places accepting Digital CNY for delivery \r\nSource (Chinese): http://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2021-03-30/1677918.html\r\nNew marketing guideline: Don’t put flags or maps on your Chinese website\r\nSource: Tait's crystal ball\r\nXiaomi to release a New Energy Vehicle \r\nSource (Chinese): https://36kr.com/p/1160470921889160\r\nSource (English): https://pandaily.com/xiaomi-confirms-it-will-spend-10-billion-on-building-its-own-electric-cars/ \r\nXiaomi has a new logo\r\nSource (English): https://www.theverge.com/tech/2021/3/30/22358033/xiaomi-new-logo-design-square-round \r\nA Weibo KOL announced their gender transition. How did fans respond?\r\nSource (English): https://radiichina.com/abbily-transgender/ \r\nMore places to follow us:\r\nNMG's weekly newsletter\r\nOdysee\r\nYouTube\r\nLinkedIn\r\nTait on Twitter\r\nTait on Minds\r\n

Join Tait and Lawrence to hear about Chinese cultural, tech and marketing trends.\r\n\r\n\r\nThis week's topics:\r\n\r\nChinese apps to collect less personal data.\r\nSource (English): https://pandaily.com/chinese-regulators-clamp-down-on-apps-collecting-excessive-personal-data/ \r\nChina’s largest automaker teams up with US lidar producer.\r\nSource: https://pandaily.com/chinese-carmaker-saic-teams-up-with-lidar-specialist-luminar-to-make-new-self-driving-cars/ \r\nPinduoduo founder steps down at age 41. \r\nSource: https://technode.com/2021/03/18/pinduoduo-founder-steps-down-as-chairman-as-users-surpass-alibaba/\r\nThe Chinese digital Yuan vs Bitcoin showdown is approaching.\r\nSource (English): https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/peoples-bank-of-china-official-says-fully-anonymous-digital-yuan-not-feasible-2021-03-22 \r\nSource (English): https://technode.com/2021/03/18/exclusive-chinese-state-banks-accepting-applications-for-enterprise-e-cny-accounts/ \r\n\r\n\r\nMore places to follow us:\r\nNMG's weekly newsletter\r\nOdysee\r\nYouTube\r\nLinkedIn\r\nTait on Twitter\r\nTait on Minds\r\n

Join Tait and Wiki to hear about Chinese cultural, tech and marketing trends.\r\n\r\nThis week's topics:\r\n\r\nCangzhou grants Baidu first robotaxi permit.\r\nSource (English): https://technode.com/2021/03/17/china-grants-baidu-first-robotaxi-permit-for-paying-riders/ \r\nSavvy Chinese consumers complain online, mostly on Weibo. \r\nSource (Chinese): https://www.huxiu.com/article/414898.html\r\nChina’s vaccination program speeds up with approval of 5th vaccine.\r\nSource (English): https://supchina.com/2021/03/16/china-approves-fifth-covid-19-shot-in-push-to-vaccinate-half-a-billion-by-end-of-june/ \r\nSource (English): https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/16/china-coronavirus-vaccine-visas/\r\nWeChat testing new features for the Mac desktop version.\r\nSource (Chinese): https://36kr.com/p/1134258302190729 \r\nHuawei to sell 5G patents and solar panels for fish farms.\r\nSources (English): https://technode.com/2021/03/17/huawei-to-begin-charging-phone-makers-for-5g-patents/\r\nhttps://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/3/15/bbafter-us-sanctions-huawei-turns-to-new-businesses-to-boost-rev \r\nDouyin (and the government) fight the show-offs on Chinese social media.\r\nSource: https://jingdaily.com/douyin-bans-wealth-bragging-xuanfu-luxury/\r\nSource: http://chinamktginsights.com/appearance-anxiety-driving-chinese-consumers-to-take-loans-to-pay-for-cosmetic-procedures/ \r\nWill China remove English as a compulsory subject?\r\nSource: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202103/08/WS60457153a31024ad0baad756.html\r\nMore places to follow us:\r\nNMG's weekly newsletter\r\nYouTube\r\nLinkedIn\r\nTait's Twitter\r\n

Join Tait and Lawrence to hear about Chinese cultural, tech and marketing trends. This week's topics: China’s dating apps let users filter out partners from inferior colleges. Link: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006892/China%E2%80%99s%20Dating%20Apps%20Are%20Swiping%20Right%20on%20Snobbery/ American opinions of China at a low. Link: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/03/04/most-americans-support-tough-stance-toward-china-on-human-rights-economic-issues/ Side note, Tait is apparently the only person on the Internet sharing a realistic view of China on the alt-tech social platforms. If you like trying out new platforms, follow him here: Gab: https://gab.com/OneTwoTait Parler: https://parler.com/profile/OneTwoTait Minds: https://www.minds.com/onetwotait/ China beats U.S. in patent filings for the second straight year. Link: https://www.caixinglobal.com/2021-03-03/china-beats-us-in-patent-filings-for-second-straight-year-101669845.html China Launching Vaccine Travel Pass. Link: https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2021-03-08/doc-ikknscsh9462470.shtml Zhihu applies for an IPO. Link: https://www.protocol.com/china/zhihu-ipo Tour of Zhihu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-ym2pK-JMk PDD’s daily active users surpassed Taobao’s for the first time. Link: https://jingdaily.com/pinduoduo-daily-active-users-taobao/ Chinese students cautious about studying abroad. Link: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/chinese-students-weigh-overseas-options-125440572.html More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube LinkedIn Tait's Twitter

Join Tait and Lawrence to hear about Chinese cultural, tech and marketing trends. WeChat emojis have stopped smoking. Source (Chinese): https://new.qq.com/omn/20210301/20210301A0E2KN00.html  We published “11 Ways to Use WeChat for Student Recruitment in China”. Source (English): https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/wechat-student-recruitment  China’s home-built passenger plane gets its first buyer. Source (English): https://supchina.com/2021/03/01/chinas-home-built-passenger-plane-rival-to-boeings-737-max-to-join-china-eastern-airlines-fleet-this-year/  Inner Mongolia to shut down Bitcoin mining. Source (English): https://en.pingwest.com/w/8367  Tim Horton’s receives new funding, planning to open 200 new stores this year. Source (English): https://pandaily.com/tim-hortons-china-completes-new-fundraising-round-two-years-after-entering-market/  China asks Westerners to stop putting food in chamber pots (funny). Source (English): https://pandaily.com/expensive-chinese-antique-fruit-basket-sold-on-amazon-turns-out-to-be-chamber-pot/  More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube LinkedIn Tait's Twitter

Join Tait and Lawrence to hear about this week's Chinese marketing trends. Chrome now offers QR codes for every page. Source (English): https://chromeunboxed.com/chrome-88-dino-codes-full-roll-out  China’s trade with Canada up 8%. If Canada can do it, anybody can. Source (English): https://www.ualberta.ca/china-institute/research/analysis-briefs/2021/canada-china-2020-yearinreview.html  China might allow all residents to invest in foreign securities. Source (English): https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3122647/china-signals-real-financial-opening-will-it-follow-through  Esport gamers to receive government certification. Source (Chinese): https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2021-02-21/doc-ikftpnny8827645.shtml?cref=cj  Mask-wearing caused lipstick sales to tank. Source (Chinese): https://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/cyxw/2021-02-22/doc-ikftssap7946996.shtml?cref=cj  Why is a shipment of ants trending on Weibo? Source (English): https://m.weibo.cn/2286908003/4608194351990704  More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube LinkedIn

Happy Chinese New Year! 新年快乐！ Join Tait and Wiki to hear about this week's Chinese marketing trends. Clubhouse has been blocked Source (English): https://pandaily.com/clubhouse-banned-in-mainland-china/  Source 2 (English): https://www.whatsonweibo.com/a-breath-of-fresh-air-clubhouse-app-discussed-by-chinese-social-media-users/  Douyin users surprised by the lyrics of popular Polish song Our discussion about it (English): https://youtu.be/flvhgQ-EOYY  The video (Chinese): https://www.iesdouyin.com/share/video/6927201216757796096/  Kuaishou launches IPO, hits $180 billion valuation. But what is it? Source (English): https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/04/kuaishou-ipo/ Source 2 (English): https://walkthechat.com/why-is-kuaishou-better-than-douyin-for-e-commerce-conversion-social-engagement/  Would you buy a creepy lamp to spy on your kids? Source (English): https://technode.com/2021/02/05/bytedance-dali-spy-lamp/  Source 2 (Chinese): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96GIrLAZcmg  China’s birthrate drops in 2020. Source (English): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/10/china-birthrate-slumps-experts-blame-changing-attitudes  China formalizes antitrust rules. Source (English): https://technode.com/2021/02/08/china-formalizes-antitrust-rules-targeting-tech-giants/  More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube LinkedIn

Join Tait & Lawrence to hear about the trends affecting marketers in China. This week's topics: 1) Follow these new WeChat policies or get banned. Source: (Chinese) 2) For Gen Z, more Chinese men (than women) are willing to be full-time parents. Source: (English) 3) Alipay launches the “Five Fortune” event. Source: (Chinese) 4) Douyin sues Tencent for monopolistic behaviour. Source: (English) 5) 50 million different covers for red envelopes. Source: (Chinese) 6) Some people are fed-up with mobile ordering in restaurants. Source: (English) More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube LinkedIn

Join Tait & Lawrence to hear about the trends affecting marketers in China. Topics: 1) Bilibili red envelope bullet comments are coming. Source: (Chinese) 2) Chinese cities offer subsidies to keep citizens home. Source: (Chinese) 3) China using anal swabs to test for COVID. Source: (English) 4) Ant Group back on track for IPO. Source: (English) 5) India prolongs ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps. Source: (English) 6) Biden bans the term “China virus”. Source: (English) 7) Q&A: How to get started in China marketing as a graduating student. Extra) See YouTube for our conversation about new WeChat features. Link: (English) More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube LinkedIn

This week, we see the changing of political guard in the US but renewed American concerns about who has access to your WeChat data. Baidu and Geely join powers to take on Tesla in the electric vehicle (EV) arena, and there's ANOTHER digital payment option to make our lives even easier...right? Topics: Douyin launches payment solution. Source (Chinese): https://36kr.com/p/1062076780324231  Source (English): https://pandaily.com/tiktok-owner-bytedance-unveils-e-payment-service-douyin-pay-in-china/  Jack is back. Source (English): https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/20/chinese-billionaire-jack-ma-makes-first-public-appearance-in-months  Video (Chinese): https://haokan.baidu.com/v?vid=9786974936985516036 Why is the renminbi strengthening? Source (English): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/business/china-renminbi-yuan-strong.html  Source (English): https://technode.com/2021/01/19/chinese-investors-flocked-to-cryptocurrencies-amid-techwar/  Next Tesla competitor: Baidu & Geely. Source (English): https://pandaily.com/could-baidu-and-geely-challenge-tesla-dominance-in-china/  New WeChat lawsuit in California. Source (English): https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/20/wechat-class-action-lawsuit-us/ More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube LinkedIn

Join Tait & Lawrence to hear about the trends affecting marketers in China. Sum-up: Fewer people to travel during Spring Festival. A poll of 15,000 people showed the respondents to be about evenly split between three options: Travel during Spring Festival Stay home Wait and see Some local governments have urged citizens to avoid travelling, and some have even gone so far as to offer subsidies to encourage local citizens to stay at home. Source 1 (English): https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3116833/coronavirus-chinese-urged-not-make-unnecessary-trips-home-lunar-new-year  Source 2 (Chinese): https://36kr.com/p/1051003225800448  Nio ET7 to compete with Tesla Model S. Vehicle maker Nio has announced the ET7 model, which should arrive in 2022. First impressions: It looks slick. On paper, it will have numerous upgrades compared to a Model S. For example, it’ll have a range of 1,000 kilometers, more sensors, and processing power. However, whether that translates into a better driving experience still remains to be seen. If we had to bet, we’d say we expect to see Chinese auto brands move up the value chain in a similar way to Chinese smartphones. Previously, Chinese brands never crossed the minds of luxury-car buyers. Now things seem like they are changing.  Source (English): https://www.topspeed.com/cars/others/nio-et7-ev-ar190681.html WeChat’s hashtag function is a cool way to make Official Account content easier to browse. We felt better explaining this one with video, but please check it out here: https://youtu.be/00pRBIt5g2s More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube LinkedIn

Join Tait & Lawrence to hear about the trends affecting marketers in China this week. Sum-up: China (mostly) open for domestic Spring Festival travel Spring Festival is coming up, so it’s time for people to decide if they’ll visit family or not.  The official holiday date is Feb 11–17, but there’s usually a lot of travel before and after that as well. The 40-day travel rush of 2018 and 2019’s Spring Festivals saw almost 3 billion trips being made. This year,  travel will mostly go on as normal, but with some restrictions. Those who travel back to their hometowns can expect extra delays or tests, but they will otherwise be allowed to travel as usual. - Source (English) Vaccines are ready for everyone. We keep hearing that the vaccine will be soon available to  everyone, and now it seems to be very close to the truth. Vaccines are being produced at a rapid rate. Those who get vaccinated will have it associated with their ID cards, which will presumably make it easier for them to travel or work in the future. - Source (Chinese) Twenty-two-year-old Pinduoduo employee dies from overwork A young woman working for Pinduoduo died at a tragic young age, and it’s suspected that China's infamous 996 work culture was to blame. It has reactivated the online discussion about 996, which means working 9 a.m.–9 p.m., six days per week. It’s not entirely clear that she did indeed die from being overworked. However, her schedule meant she was working basically all day every day. - Source (English) Jack Ma’s disappearance.  The founder of Alibaba is China’s second-richest person. After the cancellation of Ant Financial’s IPO, people have seen nothing of him. In fact, he hasn’t made a public appearance since October, which is very out-of-character for him. It has the public wondering what’s going on. - Source (English) Trump blocking transactions on Alipay and WeChat Pay. Trump is still trying to be tough on Chinese apps. On Jan 5 he signed an order to block transactions on eight apps, including Alipay and WeChat. The ban should take effect on February 19, right after Spring Festival. But will it actually be put into effect? We guess not. He’s been trying to block Chinese apps for some time now, but he’s yet to be successful. - Source (English) Weibo used heavily during pandemic During the pandemic and heavy lockdown, various media outlets worked on Weibo 24-hours a day, releasing a total of 2.28 million epidemic-related posts, which received 300 billion views. They also broadcasted more than 10,000 livestreams of epidemic news conferences in various regions. The number of live viewers for these exceeded 3 billion. We published our updated guide to Weibo marketing today. It’s full of tips for starting advertising and organic marketing efforts on Weibo. - Read it here More places to follow us: NMG's weekly newsletter YouTube (live podcasts) LinkedIn

Half of China’s population is overweight. At Chinese dinner tables, it’s common to hear “eat up”, “eat that” and “eat this” as Chinese parents and grandparents urge their children to consume more. While the older generation may have grown up in a time when food was sometimes scarce, that’s not usually the problem nowadays.  According to government standards, over 50% of China’s population is now considered overweight by government standards (an increase from just 30% in 2002). The cause is increased consumption and not enough exercise. - Read more (English) Citizens urged to be less wasteful with food. This food trend somewhat contradicts the point above. The Chinese government has been asking citizens to eat what they need and avoid wasting food. However, when eating out with friends or professional contacts in China, it’s common to order too much food, then leave several plates worth of food mostly untouched. - Source (Chinese) Gaokao college entrance exams made more flexible in eight provinces. Students in Jiangsu, Canton and six other provinces will have the option of choosing the topics in their Gaokao exam. They need to take a total of six topics, including: Three compulsory topics - Chinese, math, and English. One of either history or physics. Two from chemistry, geography, politics, and biology. Before these new rules come in place, students only can choose from either of one of two streams: liberal arts (文科) or sciences (理科). - Source (Chinese) New standards for punishment in education. On the subject of school discipline, students may be punished in various ways. Sometimes there can be very little punishment at all, and other at times, the punishments are too harsh. To standardize procedures,  the government recently released punishment guidelines for students in grades 1–12. . - Source (Chinese) Christmas imagery blurred. A TV show featured a scene with plenty of Christmas imagery in the background, including a great big Christmas tree. However, the show’s production team (or perhaps the government officials behind them) felt that it promoted foreign culture too much. So, what did they do? They blurred out the trees and other Christmas-related items in the background; but of course, it was all still completely recognizable. Viewers think this kind of thing is silly and useless. After all, Christmas in China is popular, but it’s not that big of a deal for the average person. - Read more (English) Meituan probed for banning Alipay. Meituan might end up being forced to offer Alipay as a payment option on their Meituan and Dianping apps.  This is just another example of the government forcing major Chinese digital companies to be more competitive.  If it goes through, it’s a good thing for marketers. We’d like to see it become easier for consumers to move between one “walled-garden” mega-app to another. - Read more (English)

Hello! This week, Kejie from ChinaMKTGInsights.com joined us to talk about fake bird nests and facial-recognition trends in China. Feel free to contact us if you have any other insights that could help companies sell more stuff in China. We could work with you on a podcast or a blog post. Dig in! “Show your face to enter” - Convenient or scary? Facial-recognition technology has become quite common in China, but concerns about privacy and data ownership have grown. After paying the initial admission fee, a man last year learned that he would need to have his face scanned to enter a park. After being refused a refund, he took the park owner to court and was awarded $160 in compensation. This incident, and others like it, have generated discussion about how the technology should be used. It’s most likely that we’ll see facial recognition reduced or, at least, more carefully controlled. The Chinese government has signaled that they will be coming up with stricter rules about how companies gather biometric data. Still, many people find the benefits of facial recognition to outweigh any drawbacks. It’s even possible to buy some groceries nearby without a phone. Plus, it is considered more secure. - Read more (English) Livestreamer caught selling fake bird’s nests. The livestreamer Xinba is a big deal. He sold over 8 billion RMB worth of goods during this year’s Double 11 festival. When first challenged, Xinba denied the sale of counterfeit bird’s nests; however, users and KOLs pressed the issue and discovered other defective products sold on his website.  His poor handling of the situation made matters even worse. Still, it looks like he’ll only get a slap on the wrist for this incident (a 900,000 RMB fine), avoiding major jail time. Will he be able to gain the trust of his fans back? More than likely. At the end of the day, his hardcore fans still love him. - Read more (English) The Guide to WeChat Account Setup. Read it here (English) What’s holding back Chinese SaaS companies? One major problem is that they might simply just not know how to do marketing. In an interview on Technode, a venture capitalist says that Chinese SaaS companies don’t have concrete sales channels because their potential clients don’t think to look for the correct software. In our opinion, that problem is not a bad one to have. Although people aren’t searching for software-based solutions, they still care about their problems. So the marketing angle should be to create valuable content about their issues and potential remedies. For instance, if you are selling software that helps companies with their recruiting process, you could create a blog/book/podcast about improving recruiting results. Only after building a following can they start to educate readers about how to use your software to make recruiting easier. Anyway, this is good news for B2B software companies from the RoW. Now, you have a window to enter China and become a truly global company. - Read more (English)

Join Tait and Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China. China’s digital currency works online. The latest test of China’s digital currency started last week. This time around, the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) could be spent in both physical stores in Suzhou and on JD’s e-commerce platform.  Plus, it now works even if both the buyer and seller don’t have an active Internet connection.  How will the final version of the DCEP be for users? We don’t know yet, but we’re hearing that it’s going to be very user-friendly. - Read more (English) Pinduoduo (and every other Chinese company) releases their own wallet. Pinduoduo is the latest Chinese tech company to release its own payment solution to compete with Alipay or WeChat Pay. Will it be successful? Probably not. Users are cool with one or two different payment solutions...maybe even three, but they certainly don’t want eight different ones on their phone. A quick poll of our team revealed that 12 out of 14 didn’t want another payment solution, and the other two said that they would be willing to try it. - Read more (English) If you want to host in China, you need an ICP license. We updated our guide to ICP licenses. Overall, the most common reason people get an ICP license is to help them host a website in China and improve its speed and reliability. However, it can be confusing to figure out how to get one, so we created a straightforward guide to help you and your colleagues. - Read more (English) Douyu and Huya merger in question. China’s two biggest game streaming platforms, DouYu and Huya, are both partially owned by Tencent. They planned to merge into one entity, but that’s no longer certain because of antitrust concerns. The Chinese government has made it known that they’ll be taking antitrust issues seriously. They’ve already levied major fines against Alibaba and Tencent as well as issued draft guidelines for “anti-monopoly in the platform economy.” This should help keep the industry competitive, so we’ll continue to see lots of innovative upstarts to help us all with our marketing efforts. - Read more (English) Who is Ding Zhen? Ding Zhen is one of China’s newest Internet stars. He randomly came to fame after a news crew tried to interview his brother. As it happened, his brother was gone, so they spoke to him instead, took a short video, and shared it online. The video went viral because of his cute face and innocent looks. Some of China’s urban youth think Ding Zhen has an authentic rural lifestyle that is less stressful than the lives they’ve had. - Read more (English)

Join Tait and Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China. This week's topics: - China expanding its weather-control program.    Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/china-expanding-weather-modification-program-artificial-rain-snow-2025-2020-12 - China rolling out 5 vaccines.    Source: https://supchina.com/2020/12/07/china-begins-mass-distribution-of-covid-vaccines/ - China achieves quantum supremacy.     Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/china-has-developed-the-fastest-and-most-powerful-quantum-computer-yet - Mokuai is a tool for selling via WeChat livestream.    Source: https://36kr.com/newsflashes/1000384545346561 - Baidu advertising optimization tips.    Source: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/baidu-ppc-guide

Join Tait, Lawrence and Nara as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China. This week's topics: - The OECD expects strongest growth for China and India next year.     Source: https://www.oecd.org/economic-outlook/ - China’s social group buying isn’t what you think it is.     Source: https://36kr.com/p/992778165417607 - Fewer Western academics are studying China.     Source: https://www.economist.com/china/2020/11/28/as-chinas-power-waxes-the-wests-study-of-it-is-waning - How to write great articles for WeChat.     Source: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/write-for-wechat