Tech

Effect of Technology on Traditional Chinese Culture: In an age where children as young as grade school carry mobile phones and shopping can be done from bed, it is undeniable that technology has transformed modern living. Ranging from having unprecedented access to all scopes of information at the tips of our fingers, to altering the essence of interpersonal relationships, modern technology has created a new era, dubbed by many as the “digital age”. Of these technological advancements, social media is among the most noteworthy. As in the West, the introduction of social media in China has had substantial impact on many aspects of Chinese life. China is a country whose rich culture and history has long been a source of its pride and joy. But as it has adapted to the changing technological times, so to have certain core cultural elements evolved accordingly. Ranging from Chinese philosophies, to mentality and national…

WeChat Mini Apps: Tencent’s WeChat is a few moments away from rolling out what could be the end of App Stores. Ironically, this big threat to the smart-phone application industry carries a deceptively innocent name— Mini Apps. WeChat’s revolutionary new feature essentially sounds like ‘application inception’— “an app within the WeChat app”, according to Zhang Xiaolong, Tencent’s Senior Vice President. While the necessity of such a feature may not be immediately apparent to the average smart-phone user, there is far more to be gained from Mini Apps than initially meets the eye. For one, Mini Apps provide the essential quality of convenience—turning WeChat into a truly all-encompassing platform that successfully addresses people’s natural affinity for simple, all-in-one products. This arguably, is essentially the very essence of Chinese innovation. “These are apps that you don’t need to install; you can open them simply by searching or scanning a QR code”, says Zhang Xiaolong.…

Chinese Healthcare & BATX (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi): The Chinese healthcare system is facing huge challenges with, on one hand, a greying population, multiplying chronic diseases and poor health literacy and, on the other hand, too few qualified doctors working in overcrowded top tier hospitals while lower tier ones are deserted. eHealth solutions are today multiplying to address the very obvious needs for higher quality of care and the associated market was recently estimated to reach USD 110 million in 2020 by BCG. After examining how Chinese companies were improving patients’ experience, I further explore the strategies deployed by the “BATX”, the Chinese equivalent of the American GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon): Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi. They all pursue an active strategy to promote and develop tomorrow’s healthcare system in China, though with very different visions and means. Here is a short analysis: Baidu’s main strategy has been to…