When Zhang Yiming, founder and CEO of successful internet giant Bytedance, left last week his post, speculations on a relation with the government crackdown on internet firms was easily made. Internet analyst Matthew Brennan, who wrote a book on Bytedance, says there might be a link, but different from what was mostly suggested, he says in Marketscreener.Read More →

China is gettings its digital agenda for its legislation in order, especially the protection of users’ privacy, writes China-lawyer Mark Schaub on the China Law Insight.  He looks at the call for comments on the Interim Provisions on the Administration of Personal Information Protection of Mobile Internet Apps.Read More →

H&M got hit by an unprecedented boycott from Chinese consumers, as the China internet went after the company for its stance on labor in Xinjiang. Partly that vehement outpour of anger was caused because internet companies have been under government investigations, says veteran business analyst Shaun Rein, so they had to prove more than ever they were not a danger for that government, he says at AP.Read More →

As the internet becomes a dominant sales channel in China, virtual key opinion leaders (KOLs) are becoming key for brands, says marketing expert Arnold Ma to the Jing Daily. As patriotism becomes an issue for global brands in China, they have to be careful in picking those virtual KOLs, adds Ma.Read More →

China is following the European Union’s GDPR in trying to regulate the unruly data industry, says Winston Ma, Winston Ma, adjunct professor at the New York University School of Law at CNBC. China’s internet companies based for years their business models on consumers’ lack of awareness of privacy, he adds, but those days are over.Read More →

Alibaba and Tencent were high-profile casualties as the central government stepped in to regulate free-wheeling tech firms with growing financial clout. To the relief of consumers and smaller competitors, exponential growth in the tech industry is over, tells Winston Ma, former managing director of the sovereign wealth firm China Investment Corporation (CIC) in New York to Reuters.Read More →

The new US president Biden is following closely his predecessor’s approach on China. Wrongly, says long-term China correspondent Ian Johnson in an opinion piece at the New York Times. “Washington’s plan appears to be to wait for the results of the comprehensive review of America’s national security policy toward China that Mr. Biden announced in February. This caution is a mistake,” says Johnson.Read More →

Women are among the most active in the workforce, but political participation is lagging like nowhere else in the world. Social commentator Zhang Lijiia dives into the patriarchal culture of China  and how political participation in government can be improved, for the South China Morning Post.Read More →

Cosmetics sold in China require up to May 1, 2021, animal tests to prove they are safe for consumers. Since their users required cruel-free cosmetics, foreign manufacturers had a hard time selling cosmetics to Chinese consumers. But times are changing, although only a little, says China-lawyer Mark Schaub in the China Law Insight in a review of upcoming legal change.Read More →

China’s government shocked the fintech industry by introducing firm financial measures, similar to the banking sector. Ant Financial even had to cancel its massive IPO. But what we have seen is only the start of more government action to regulate the internet, says fintech expert Sara Hsu in the Diplomat. Managing capital and data are key elements.Read More →