Tech Buzz China by Pandaily

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 64: Telemedicine in China in the time of COVID-19: Part 2 Apr 03, 2020

Show notes

Episode 64 of Tech Buzz China is the second of two episodes on the Chinese telemedicine sector, which is closely watched in the wake of COVID-19. This week, on the heels of episode 63’s discussion of Ping An Good Doctor, co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu talk about other experiments, such as Chunyu Yisheng 春雨医生, WeDoctor 好大夫, and Dingxiangyuan 丁香园. We also give overviews of telemedicine efforts by some of the large internet companies, including Alibaba, Baidu, and JD Health.

The overarching story is that healthcare tech is a clear market opportunity in China, and within the narrow space of telemedicine, there are a lot of companies trying to solve the same set of problems. Listen to find out: How did these players all converge on telemedicine, and what are the factors — some currently missing — that must be in place to drive a serious uptick in adoption?

You can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. If you enjoy our content, please do let us know by leaving us an iTunes review, and tweeting at us at @techbuzzchina. We also read your emails, at rui@techbuzzchina.com and ying@techbuzzchina.com. You can also subscribe to our Extra Buzz newsletter on our new website, techbuzzchina.com. As always, thank you for your support.

We are grateful for our talented producers, Caiwei Chen and Kaiser Kuo. Stay healthy, everyone!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 63: China telemedicine in the time of COVID-19: Part 1 Mar 23, 2020

Show notes

Episode 63 of Tech Buzz China is on the Chinese telemedicine sector, which has quickly evolved to become one of the most interesting businesses in China, especially in the wake of COVID-19. Co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu focus on the underlying drivers within the complex healthcare industry. They cover topics such as the size of the Chinese healthcare system, the shortage of doctors and reasons why, and challenges for telemedicine.

Companies mentioned include Ping An Good Doctor, as well as the internet hospitals that the government has approved and that have been in operation for a few years now. Listeners will also hear from Irene Hong, an experienced dealmaker who has worked in China for 20 years and is the founding partner of investment bank CEC Capital Group, where she leads the healthcare group.

You can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. If you enjoy our content, please do let us know by leaving us an iTunes review and tweeting at us @techbuzzchina. We also read your emails, at rui@techbuzzchina.com and ying@techbuzzchina.com. In addition, you can subscribe to our Extra Buzz newsletter on our new website, techbuzzchina.com. As requested, we have made the first few newsletters public. Check them out!

We are grateful for our talented producers, Caiwei Chen and Kaiser Kuo. This week, Pandaily intern Song Yuning also helped with the editing process. Thank you all!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 62: Real pain for Chinese real estate startups Mar 07, 2020

Show notes

Episode 62 of Tech Buzz China is on co-living and co-working, two of the formerly hottest — and now possibly coldest — sectors in China tech. Co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu discuss how real estate startups have been hit hard by the coronavirus against a backdrop of how the real estate sector is big business in China.

From rental startup companies Danke and Ziroom to co-working giant Ucommune, which failed to list last year, listeners will join a whirlwind tour of the biggest players and must-know trends in the space (pun intended). Listen to find out: How accurate are the comparisons between WeWork and Ucommune, and their respective founders Adam Neumann and Mao Daqing? How has China’s development in the co-working sector derived from, among other things, the role of the government and its push for innovation? Why do our co-hosts encourage Western entrepreneurs looking to solve problems in co-living to look toward China, where 2,000 companies have already given it a shot?

You can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. If you enjoy our content, please do let us know by leaving us an iTunes review, liking our Facebook page, and tweeting at us! You can also email rui@techbuzzchina.com and ying@techbuzzchina.com for feedback. We truly enjoy hearing from you and are constantly working on improving our content.

Also, we just launched our new website, techbuzzchina.com, where you can subscribe to our Extra Buzz newsletter. As requested, we made the first few installments public so that you can get a sense of how they are different from and also complement this podcast. Check them out!

We are grateful for our talented producers, Caiwei Chen and Kaiser Kuo. We couldn’t do it without you — and the full teams at both Pandaily and SupChina!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 61: Getting educated on China K-12 tutoring edtech Feb 21, 2020

Show notes

Episode 61 of Tech Buzz China is on K-12 edtech entrepreneurs, who are seeing their businesses grow instead of shrink in the wake of the coronavirus. Co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu discuss top trends and the key players before the virus hit, and how they are responding now.

In 2018, the raging headline was that half of the venture capital deployed in edtech that year went to Chinese companies. In the past three years alone, 25 Chinese education companies have gone public. It’s a massive market, but what are the common misconceptions held by Western investors? Listen to hear context on China’s education system and the resulting influence on edtech business models, as well as the stories behind selected companies GSX and Yuanfudao.

Also, we just launched our new website, techbuzzchina.com, where you can subscribe to our Extra Buzz newsletter. Last week, Rui wrote an excellent piece on the latest impacts of the coronavirus on work, entertainment, and the top internet trends of the day.

We are grateful for our talented producers, Caiwei Chen and Kaiser Kuo. A special thank-you to Kaiser for stepping in with additional production expertise to help us make this week’s release deadline. We couldn’t do it without you — and the full teams at both Pandaily and SupChina!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 60: Wuhan Coronavirus: Impact on China Tech Feb 07, 2020

Show notes

Episode 60 of Tech Buzz China is a special on the Wuhan coronavirus and its impact on China tech, as seen by co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu. As we produce this episode, all of China is still pretty much on lockdown in response to the virus — it’s a transformative time.

We talk about the impact on a range of sectors such as grocery ecommerce, remote work, philanthropy, video gaming, entertainment, education, fitness, and healthcare. Which changes are short term, and which ones might be more long-lasting? Importantly, we also provide context on the city of Wuhan, which is located just 500 miles west of Shanghai and plays an underrated yet important role in China’s technology ecosystem and the country’s economy as a whole.

For more analyses, including a piece that we wrote on the virus and its impact on China tech, you can subscribe to our Tech Buzz newsletter at bit.ly/techbuzzextrabuzz. As promised last week, we have donated a month’s worth of Extra Buzz gross revenue, or $200, to the Wuhan coronavirus effort to date.

You can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. If you enjoy our content, please do let us know by leaving us an iTunes review, liking our Facebook page, and tweeting at us! We truly appreciate your feedback and support. Thank you also to our listeners over at our partner, dealstreetasia.com.

We are grateful for our talented producers, Caiwei Chen and Kaiser Kuo. Thank you also to our intern at Pandaily, Xu Ruomeng, for helping with this week’s transcript.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 59: China Tech 2019 in Review Jan 24, 2020

Show notes

Episode 59 of Tech Buzz China takes a retrospective look at 2019 in China internet culture and business happenings. Co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu review their top picks of the need-to-know trends, occurrences, and players that shaped the landscape in 2019. From the saturation of Chinese mobile internet users to the rise of the rural consumer and a decline in funding for tech companies, listen and decide for yourself: do you agree with our analyses and predictions as we enter the New Year of the Golden Rat?

We are grateful for our talented producers, Caiwei Chen and Kaiser Kuo.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 58: China grocery ecommerce: Bloodbath or gold mine? Jan 10, 2020

Show notes

In Episode 58 of TechBuzz China, our first episode of the new decade, co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu talk about grocery ecommerce, or buying fresh food over the internet. The sector, which in China is sometimes taken to include “new retail” concepts such as Alibaba’s Hema, is seen as one of the few remaining “blue ocean” ecommerce opportunities in China. Thus, it is growing rapidly and attracting a lot of investment and interest.

Listen to find out: Given the amount of action in the industry, why is the penetration rate still at less than 5 percent? What main challenges within the industry have made it difficult for the various players to scale up? Within the current landscape, what are the differences between purely online services, versus hybrid online-offline, and what have been the growth patterns for both? Finally and perhaps most importantly, what daily habits and cultural factors surrounding grocery shopping in China form the foundation for these realities today…and into the future?

You can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. If you enjoy our content, please let us know by leaving us an iTunes review, liking our Facebook page, and tweeting at us! We truly appreciate your feedback and support. Thank you also to our listeners over at our partner, dealstreetasia.com.

We are grateful for our producers, Caiwei Chen and Kaiser Kuo. Also, a big thank-you to the talented Shaw Wan for her support to date. We wish you the very best in your next role!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 57: Bilibili — the YouTube of China? Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

Here at TechBuzz, we have been busy preparing for our second Investor Trip for March 2–6, 2020. If you are a full-time investor with at least 10 years of experience, consider applying for the trip by writing to us at rui@pandaily.com. During our inaugural Investor Trip in October, Bilibili was one of the companies we visited, and it turned out to be one of our most highly rated meetings! We hope you enjoy what we’ve prepared today.

In episode 57 of TechBuzz China, co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying-Ying Lu talk about Bilibili, a Chinese company that has no easy Western comparable — even as it sells a narrative of being “the YouTube of China.” Bilibili was in the headlines last week for paying $113 million for the Chinese broadcast rights for the next three League of Legends championships. Today, its core businesses include mobile games, livestreaming, advertising, and ecommerce.

Listen to find out: How was Bilibili founded? In what ways is its founder, hardcore anime fan Xu Yi, distinctive? How does the site — which has one-in-three Gen Z-ers under the age of 30 in China active monthly on its platform, spending an average of 83 minutes a day on it — work? What characteristics have enabled it to be one of the few entities to receive investment from both Tencent and Alibaba? Do our co-hosts think the company will be able to scale to the next level, by reaching its own target of doubling revenue, while retaining the sense of authenticity and close connection with its fans that it has been able to build over the years?

You can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. If you enjoy our content, please do let us know by leaving us an iTunes review, liking our Facebook page, and tweeting at us! We do truly appreciate your feedback and support. Thank you also to our listeners over at our partner, dealstreetasia.com.

Of course, we are always grateful for our talented producers, Shaw Wan and Kaiser Kuo.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 56: Not just TikTok: A short history of Chinese short video abroad Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

Episode 56 of TechBuzz China is all about short video, which our co-hosts comment should by now be considered one of China’s “New Four Great Inventions.” It’s sweeping the world, and has become an arena in which Chinese companies’ battle for users and revenue is extending abroad. Most of our listeners will have heard of Bytedance’s product TikTok, and likely even of Kuaishou (see TechBuzz #55), but what about other players such as Likee — what is their story?

Short videos shot in China, or on apps made in China, are increasingly common sights on social media feeds around the world. Indeed, chuhai (出海 chūhǎi), which literally means “going beyond the seas,” has come to mean “doing business abroad,” and it is going to be a bigger and bigger trend in China tech. The stories of how these short-video companies got started, the mistakes they made and turning points along the way, and how that shapes company DNA and long-term strategy can guide you as to how these players are likely to approach the global markets you care about.

Of course, we are always grateful for our talented producers, Shaw Wan and Kaiser Kuo. P.S. Congratulations on a successful conference this week, SupChina!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 55: Kuaishou: The Anti-Douyin/TikTok? Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Episode 55 of TechBuzz China is about a company we have admittedly relegated to a “supporting role” thus far here on TechBuzz: Kuaishou, which is rightfully known as the original Chinese short-video app. Rui and Ying-Ying explain that while Bytedance and its Douyin and TikTok products seem to be clear stars today, that trend was not always obvious. It is true that Kuaishou is experiencing declining market share and experimenting with new, hard-charging avenues of growth, but our co-hosts argue that its role in today’s content ecosystem has generally been understated by Western observers.

To that end, this week, we delve into the history, leadership, business models, shareholders, and self-proclaimed mission of the Kuaishou app. Listeners may decide for themselves: Do Kuaishou and Douyin really serve different demographics with decidedly different products? Or does a large 46.5 percent user overlap mean that this doesn’t matter — that it is, in fact, a battle to the death, and for a greater end purpose than simply short video?

Of course, we are always grateful for our talented producers, Shaw Wan and Kaiser Kuo. Thank you!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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