This Week in China (2/3–2/9)
Top news in China this week
Online Working
The extended Chinese New Year break and employees working from home for an entire week caused a massive increase in traffic for remote office applications and tools. On the third day of work after the vacation, Alibaba’s mobile office application DingTalk has surpassed WeChat as the top Apple Store App in China. Various other remote office tool companies have also been working overtime during the Chinese New Year vacation to expand platform capacity and to cope with the surge of traffic and business online.
With the rapid spread of the pandemic, the “remote office” search index has increased tremendously. According to Baidu index search data, from January 28 to February 3, the named index rose by 521% month-on-month, “Dingding”’s search index rose by 539%, while “WeChat enterprise” rose by 272%.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
Battle the Epidemic
AI temperature scanning system does live in multiple public locations in Haidian, Beijing, to battle the new pandemic. According to Chinanews.com, experts in pandemic prevention and control have stated that the next 10 days from February 4, in which workers and employees are returning to their stations, will be crucial for the nation’s battle against the coronavirus. The new AI temperature scanning system allows for contactless and efficient scanning of persons with high body temperature. It went live in various densely populated areas of the Haidian district, scanning for potential coronavirus patients as well as recording their faces and recognizing their identities.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
Danke Apartment plans to issue subsidies to its tenants in response to the coronavirus. Due to the new coronavirus pandemic, many housing enterprises face survival issues such as lack of tenants, delay on construction, etc. On the other hand, current customers of these enterprises are asking for subsidies in vacating the housings due to the travel restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak.
China’s leading long-term apartment renting platform, Danke Apartment, was the first to make an official move. The company announced on their App that in response to the pandemic, renters in different regions who cannot fully stay at their rented apartments for the contract duration will receive various types of subsidies. Wuhan tenants who are unable to return to their apartments, for example, will receive a full month’s rent in their e-wallet on the App. The policy will be updated according to the progress of controlling the virus’ spread.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
Fundings this week Biotech
Genskey, a genetic testing and diagnostics startup, announced that it has raised 50 million RMB (7.12 million USD) in a Series B+ round of funding led by Fortune Capital, with the participation of existing investor Legend Capitalwho invested tens of millions of RMB in last April.
Since last December, a pandemic caused by coronavirus has spread in China and some other countries. Genskey launched a new testing kit on January 20 for the detection of infectious diseases, including the latest strain of the coronavirus. The company claims that the kit enables the time required in the nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) — a sensitive and specific method used in epidemiological surveys — to be less than one hour.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
Fintech
Shenlanbao, an online insurance information provider, announced that it has secured almost 100 million RMB (14.3 million USD) from consumer electronics giant Xiaomi.
Founded in 2016, Shenlanbao mainly relies on the WeChat public account “Shenlanbao Insurance” and the small program “Shenlanbao Insurance Evaluation” to offer information on insurance in general as well as product analysis, audio shows, professional support and consultation to a base of about 1.8 million users.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
More Buzz Social Media Marketing
Selling a whopping 2 million lipsticks, Chinese makeup brand, HEDONE, harnessed the power of KOLs on social media platforms. Chinese-born beauty players are having a breakout moment in 2019. The rise of the influencer community makes it possible for local beauty brands to promote their products more directly to their targeted consumers at lower prices. Founded in 2014, the Chinese makeup brand mainly targets Gen Z shoppers with a revenue of 80–200 RMB (11–30 USD) per order. The brand did not make much market influence and mainly focused on product trials and exploration in the first 2 to 3 years of its founding. However, after entering Tmall in mid-2018, the monthly revenue grew from 490,000 RMB (70,000 USD) to tens of millions of RMB (1.4 million USD). The attribution for this rapid growth margin is HEDONE’s utilization of social media platforms such as TikTok, Xiaohongshu, and Kuaishou. Currently, the brand is working on a strategic release on Xiaohongshu, taking advantage of the platform’s internet-famous personalities, video-sharing of unboxing and tutorials, etc.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
App Store
Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo team up to battle Google. On February 6, it was reported that the 4 largest smartphone manufacturers in China will collaborate to create an ecosystem to clash with Google. The new platform will be called the “Global Developer Services Alliance” (GDSA), which aims to develop a convenient platform for content creators and developers of games, music, movies, and other products. Initially covering nine markets including India, Indonesia, and Russia, the platform will be launched in March this year.
Industry analysts have stated that this collaboration will create an excellent product due to the four companies’ absolute leadership as well as authority in the smartphone industry.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
EV
On February 5, leading Chinese electric car manufacturer, NIO, announced on its official website that it has signed a final transaction document with a non-affiliated Asian investment fund to issue private placement and sell a total of 70 million USD of convertible notes. The transaction will be conducted before February 10.
NIO also released its third-quarter financial report on December 30, 2019, showing that NIO’s total revenue of the quarter was 1.84 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of up to 25%. Despite a decline in its loss, the company still lost 2.5 billion. Therefore, this transaction can be compared to as a saving grace for NIO.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
Antiviral Drug
Is remdesivir the new cure for the coronavirus? Gilead Science’s Ebola drug has shown positive signs in treating the coronavirus despite being yet on the market. As reported by the New England Journal of Medicine, on January 31, the first coronavirus patient in the United States, started using remdesivir after 7 days of hospitalization. The patient’s fever and other symptoms reduced immediately the next day.
Remdesivir was brought to China for clinical trials on February 3, enrolling 270 patients with mild to moderate signs of the new pneumonia pandemic. Currently, the third phase of treatment with the drug is being conducted by Doctor Bin Cao at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital.
Read our source (in Chinese) »
What else should we cover? Please email us at techinchinanow@gmail.com for any questions / comments.
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See you next week!
