The debate is taking off on whether China would allow gambling on Hainan Island. Financial analyst Sara Hsu explains gambling would diversify the tourism industry on the island, but would also hurt the economy in nearby Macau. Two earlier efforts on Hainan were already aborted for political reasons.Read More →

E-commerce platform Douyin or Tik Tok has added new functions for both users and brands, explains e-commerce expert Ashley Dudarenok at AskleyTalks. Users can link up directly to Taobao, making it tighter linked to e-commerce leaders. And brands can get their verified accounts, more data on their visitors and more other insights.Read More →

A market of four billion users is waiting to be tapped into and William Bao Bean, managing director of the Shanghai-based SOSV, explains how his MOX is helping startups to do so. With a solid background in banking, telecom and the internet, William saw how mobile applications disrupted traditional industries, and offer new possibilities for companies to enter developing markets. Read More →

JD.com reported bad figures, after also Tencent, and according to business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order talking to Bloomberg, JD.com is in trouble because of its now obsolete technology, while competition is heating up. More established players like Tencent and Alibaba face less trouble since they can diversify easier over different industries.Read More →

Emerging markets have turned around the traditional view on the product lifecycle, as multinational knew them, argues Harry Broadman in his speech on innovation and entrepreneurship. No longer is the US the birth ground of new ideas, who then spread to emerging economy, but innovation from emerging countries conquer the world in its own right.Read More →

Eyes were on Sofia, Bulgaria, last week, as China’s prime minister Li Keqiang tries to improve relations with Eastern Europe. Economist Sara Hsu puts Li’s efforts into perspective as both trade and investments between China and Eastern Europe have been stagnant, compared to other countries in the One-Belt, One-Road initiative, she tells at CGTN. Also: the contagious relations with the EU.Read More →

Many foreign companies get it wrong when they try to use WeChat to sell in China. Marketing veteran Ashley Dudarenok, author of Unlocking the World’s Largest E-Market: A Guide to Selling on Chinese Social Media gives the main takeaways for using WeChat for reaching the Chinese consumers.Read More →