China Tech Talk

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79: Facial recognition, AI, and privacy in China with Zen Soo Jun 03, 2019

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Facial recognition has taken off in China. Perhaps the most widely implemented use case, facial recognition is used to deter jaywalkers, track attention and behavior in schools, catch criminals, monitor live streamers, and more. Unlike Western countries, China's privacy protections laws are almost non-existent, but that is changing with draft legislation soon to be released

Key questions:

What is China's plan for facial recognition?
How is facial recognition being used now?
What are the local attitudes toward the technology?

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Guest

Zen Soo, @zensoo, SCMP

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Editor

Peter Isachenko

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Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

78: Hot take—Huawei after Google May 21, 2019

Show notes

Last week, the White House announced a ban on US companies doing business with companies deemed a security risk. Over the weekend, Google announces that they must suspend Huawei's access to Android. This episode, Matt and John have a short discussion about what the announcement means for Huawei and what the company may be able to do about it.

Correction: In this episode, John says that "HongMeng OS" could be translated as "Red Dream." This is incorrect. The characters for HongMeng are 鸿蒙 and refers to the Chinese mythology's primal chaos.

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Editor

Peter Isachenko

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Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

77: Peer-to-peer lending in China—Tech-driven shadow banking with Andrew Polk May 07, 2019

Show notes

China’s online peer-to-peer lending industry has been in turmoil for the last three years as financial regulators have clamped down as part of “de-risking” efforts. Tuandai.com, a top P2P lender, collapsed in March due to turnover problems. As of February, the platform had more than 220,000 investors with RMB 14.5 billion ($2.15 billion) in outstanding loans. The company is under investigation for illegal fundraising, leading to the arrest of 41 people so far, including co-owners Tang Jun and Zhang Lin.

This week, Andrew Polk, partner at Trivium China, joins us to discuss what's happening with the P2P lending industry in China.

Key questions:

What role has the government played in the growth and death of P2P lending?
How is the crackdown on cryptocurrency different from the tightening regulations around P2P lending?
Are P2P companies really tech companies, as many claim?
Can we expect companies like Dianrong to survive this round of government scrutiny?

Links

Guest

Andrew Polk, @andrewpolk81

Hosts

Producer

Peter Isachenko

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Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

76: US vs China—AI asymmetries with Jeffrey Ding Apr 16, 2019

Show notes

With the number of English speakers around the world, it's no surprise that Chinese AI experts and engineers are keeping up with developments across the Pacific. However, the same is not true when it comes to the Chinese language. Indeed, Andrew Ng, former Chief Scientist at Baidu and co-founder of Coursera, made this exact point years ago when interviewed about China's AI progress. Jeffrey Ding, China lead for the Center for the Governance of AI, is trying to change that information asymmetry with his ChinAI newsletter featuring translations of Chinese thought leadership in AI.

Links

Guest

Jeffrey Ding, @jjding99

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Producer

Peter Isachenko

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Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

75: Pinduoduo's free cash flow problem with James Hull Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

Free cash flow is cash a company can use for whatever they want. If Pinduoduo is free cash flow positive they’ll likely be able to continue their growth spend and get even larger. If its free cash flow negative, the growth plan will put too much strain on their cash position and, it will eventually fail. To say it simply: the stakes are high.

This week, we're joined by James Hull, professional investor and co-host of the China Tech Investor podcast, to take a look at Pinduoduo's actual financial health.

Links

Guest

James Hull, @jameshullx

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Producer

Peter Isachenko

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Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

74: Bitmain, Bitcoin Cash, and the future of crypto with Nishant Sharma Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

One of the earliest companies to get into bitcoin mining, Bitmain makes and sells mining equipment and manages one of the world's largest bitcoin mining pools. A controversial company in the space (as are most), Bitmain backed the Bitcoin Cash fork as well as the subsequent fork into Bitcoin Cash ABC.

This week we are joined by Nishant Sharma, International PR and Communications Director at Bitmain, to talk about the company, some of their tech, as well as their future plans.

This episode was recorded on January 31, 2019.

Links

Guest

Nishant Sharma, @nishantsharma87, LinkedIn

Hosts

Producer

Peter Isachenko

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Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

73: Mobility's maturation and misery: One ofo doesn't ruin everything Mar 03, 2019

Show notes

All of China's most visible mobility players have undergone significant change over the last 12 months. Ofo is on the verge of collapse, Mobike is now Meituan Bike, and Didi is grappling with how to move past their existential safety problem.

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Peter Isachenko

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Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

72: Gaming regulation rectification with Daniel Ahmad Feb 25, 2019

Show notes

Early last year, the central government put a freeze on gaming approvals, shutting out many big titles from making money, including PUBG and Fortnite. However, in December, they reopened approvals only to find themselves with a 6-month backlog, leaving giants Tencent and Netease still unable to monetize their biggest hits.

Daniel Ahmad, analyst at Niko Partners, joins us again to talk gaming regulation in China, the role of mini games in the WeChat vs Douyin battle, and how Steam is faring in the Middle Kingdom.

Links

Guest

Daniel Ahmad, @ZhuGEX

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Producer

Peter Isachenko

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Music: "Theme from Penguins on Parade" by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

71: The Chinese takeover of the Indian app ecosystem with Shadma Shaikh Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

While everyone is talking about China's expansion into Southeast Asia, China's largest neighbor has become the real target for China's tech companies. This week, Shadma Shaikh, writer at Factor Daily, joins us to discuss the takeover and what Indian entrepreneurs are learning from their Chinese counterparts.

70: WeChat vs TikTok: China's Stories Jan 16, 2019

Show notes

This week saw a multitude of messaging app announcements. First was WeChat's Open Class PRO featuring a four-hour speech from Allen Zhang. Then, on the same day, Bytedance announced their own messaging app (Duoshan 多闪), what appears to be a clone of Snapchat, and Bullet Messenger announced their upgrade and rebrand to Liaotianbao (聊天宝). All three events, and the recent update to WeChat 7.0, raise interesting questions about the messaging market, WeChat's primacy, and the ascendancy of Bytedance.

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