Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok explains the difference between TikTok and its Chinese sister Douyin at her website Chozan. In 2025, Douyin was named China’s most valuable brand, with a valuation of US$105.8 billion. That marked a 26% increase from the previous year, driven by the platform’s deep integration into everyday digital life. In March 2025, Douyin reached 1 billion monthly active users in China. What exactly is Douyin?Read More →

China’s technology, design, and culture are part of a fusion that reshapes the country, says innovation expert Ashley Dudarenok in an analysis by the state-owned China Daily. “It’s a holistic shift, where tech meets culture, design, and daily life, and this wave is just starting,” according to Ashley DudarenokRead More →

When DeepSeek took on ChatGPT last year, the Chinese innovation took the world by surprise. Today, more Chinese companies are competing on world markets, achieving varying levels of success. Whether we talk about EVs, fighter jets, consumer retail, container ships, self-driving cars, or the movie industry, the world has to pay attention to what is coming from China. Innovation expert Ashley Dudarenok has begun adjusting her traditional speaking topics to reflect new developments.Read More →

AI tools to generate videos, like TikTok, have been challenged by a new wave of innovations using AI as filmmakers, says Winston Ma, author of The Digital War: How China’s Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace at CNBC. “Just like TikTok took the global markets by storm with short videos in the mobile internet age, Chinese AI companies could well lead the Generative AI revolution in visual digital entertainment,” said Ma.Read More →

China’s companies – large and small – are now exploring expansion into global markets, as the domestic market is only slowly recovering, says branding expert Ashley Dudarenok in the vlog. They are in the early phases of putting their brands on an international track, she says.Read More →

Political analyst Victor Shih, author of  Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation and director of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy tells at UC San Diego Today. “From a pure competitive technology perspective: I don’t think the ban is optimal, but at least it’s fair game,” he says.Read More →

US lawmakers have started debate on a law that would ban the successful TikTok app.  Political analyst Kaiser Kuo dismisses the effort as misguided at best, he writes in the ChinaFile. “In a sense, the threat of TikTok is real: In this crisis of confidence, and in a state of moral panic that we’ll look back on red-faced a decade out, TikTok is causing us to inflict grievous self-harm.”Read More →