State-owned companies are getting a stronger grip on the economy, at the expense of private capital, says economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®, at the New York Times. The major investment of major tech firm in China Unicom was just the latest move.Read More →

P2P service Yirendai tries to move up in the financial food chain by turning to wealth managements. Most P2P platforms are not able to do so, says financial analyst Sara Hsu to the South China Morning Post. But Yirendai could be the exception, she adds.Read More →

WeChat expert Matthew Brennan has joined the China Speakers Bureau this week. China’ online giants dominate its economic, social and financial life, with Tencent’s WeChat as the major force, trailed by Alibaba and Sina’s Weibo.

WeChat is China’s operating system for your life, says Matthew Brennan in one of his presentations.Read More →

Mattel has seen its earlier operations in China falter, but now closed a new deal with Alibaba to sell interactive learning toys on the fragmented Chinese toy market. For Mattel it is now do or die, says business analyst Shaun Rein to Reuters.Read More →

Alibaba’s Ant Financial investment of US$200 million into the Korean mobile payment service Kakao Pay illustrates how the leading Chinese payment platform want to gain global dominance, says business analyst Ben Cavender to Reuters. Buying into strong local players is smarter than competing with them.Read More →