China is not yet one week back from lunar holidays, and the fallout of the coronavirus is not yet clear. We have seen major events being relocated, delayed or even cancelled, speakers being stuck inside or outside China, and potential audiences unable to move around. Meanwhile we are exploring an alternative option, that might help some event organizators: follow the lead from China, and get your speaker online.

Even when the virus might reduce its destructive path over the next two weeks, resuming events might be affected till the end of April, early May. Those are – with June – our most busy months in helping event organizers to get the right speakers in place, before the traditional summer break kicks in.Read More →

Content-providers have been trying to lower costs for the notorious censorship in China, for example by introducing more AI-driven tools. But the government is fearing too much unwanted content if falling through the cracks, asks for tougher censorship, adding dramatically to the costs, says business analyst Ben Cavender to MSN.Read More →

Tencent’s WeChat Work has been rolling out new features that might – or might not – offer also new opportunities to the China Speakers Bureau. Because of our focus on organizing established China experts for a global market, we used those social media platforms that focused on a global audience: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. But when WeChat is joining those global forces: we should not ignore that development.Read More →

Private companies in China have become more important than sometimes appreciated, says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Research Institute in its latest report, according to the South China Morning Post. They have grown eight times in the past decade, pay most taxes and create most jobs. “Creating value is more than making sales,” says Rupert Hoogewerf.Read More →

Tencent might still dominate social media in China with WeChat and QQ, but competition is heating up, and the internet giant is preparing for more competition, says Tencent watcher Matthew Brennan in Asia One. Asia One: “WeChat and QQ are like huge ships … too big to change course toRead More →

Tencent’s WeChat has been an unprecedented success story on the China internet. But new platforms are undermining the dominance of WeChat, says marketing expert Arnold Ma, CEO of London-based Qumin, at  CBBC. Short-video medium Douyin is one of them.Read More →

Vision, robotics and language are key areas where China is worldwide leading artificial intelligence, says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun report on AI. The number of patent applications has been rising sharply over the past five years, he adds in the South China Morning Post. Huawei holds a top position.Read More →