Listen Now

This week, we see the changing of political guard in the US but renewed American concerns about who has access to your WeChat data. Baidu and Geely join powers to take on Tesla in the electric vehicle (EV) arena, and there's ANOTHER digital payment option to make our lives even easier...right?Topics:Douyin launches payment solution.Source (Chinese): https://36kr.com/p/1062076780324231 Source (English): https://pandaily.com/tiktok-owner-bytedance-unveils-e-payment-service-douyin-pay-in-china/ Jack is back.Source (English): https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/20/chinese-billionaire-jack-ma-makes-first-public-appearance-in-months Video (Chinese): https://haokan.baidu.com/v?vid=9786974936985516036Why is the renminbi strengthening?Source (English): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/business/china-renminbi-yuan-strong.html Source (English): https://technode.com/2021/01/19/chinese-investors-flocked-to-cryptocurrencies-amid-techwar/ Next Tesla competitor: Baidu & Geely.Source (English): https://pandaily.com/could-baidu-and-geely-challenge-tesla-dominance-in-china/ New WeChat lawsuit in California.Source (English): https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/20/wechat-class-action-lawsuit-us/ More places to follow us:NMG's weekly newsletterYouTubeLinkedIn

Join Tait & Lawrence to hear about the trends affecting marketers in China.Sum-up:Fewer people to travel during Spring Festival.A poll of 15,000 people showed the respondents to be about evenly split between three options:Travel during Spring FestivalStay homeWait and seeSome local governments have urged citizens to avoid travelling, and some have even gone so far as to offer subsidies to encourage local citizens to stay at home.Source 1 (English): https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3116833/coronavirus-chinese-urged-not-make-unnecessary-trips-home-lunar-new-year Source 2 (Chinese): https://36kr.com/p/1051003225800448 Nio ET7 to compete with Tesla Model S.Vehicle maker Nio has announced the ET7 model, which should arrive in 2022. First impressions: It looks slick. On paper, it will have numerous upgrades compared to a Model S. For example, it’ll have a range of 1,000 kilometers, more sensors, and processing power. However, whether that translates into a better driving experience still remains to be seen.If we had to bet, we’d say we expect to see Chinese auto brands move up the value chain in a similar way to Chinese smartphones. Previously, Chinese brands never crossed the minds of luxury-car buyers. Now things seem like they are changing. Source (English): https://www.topspeed.com/cars/others/nio-et7-ev-ar190681.htmlWeChat’s hashtag function is a cool way to make Official Account content easier to browse.We felt better explaining this one with video, but please check it out here: https://youtu.be/00pRBIt5g2sMore places to follow us:NMG's weekly newsletterYouTubeLinkedIn

Join Tait & Lawrence to hear about the trends affecting marketers in China this week.Sum-up:China (mostly) open for domestic Spring Festival travelSpring Festival is coming up, so it’s time for people to decide if they’ll visit family or not. The official holiday date is Feb 11–17, but there’s usually a lot of travel before and after that as well. The 40-day travel rush of 2018 and 2019’s Spring Festivals saw almost 3 billion trips being made.This year,  travel will mostly go on as normal, but with some restrictions. Those who travel back to their hometowns can expect extra delays or tests, but they will otherwise be allowed to travel as usual. - Source (English)Vaccines are ready for everyone.We keep hearing that the vaccine will be soon available to  everyone, and now it seems to be very close to the truth. Vaccines are being produced at a rapid rate. Those who get vaccinated will have it associated with their ID cards, which will presumably make it easier for them to travel or work in the future. - Source (Chinese)Twenty-two-year-old Pinduoduo employee dies from overworkA young woman working for Pinduoduo died at a tragic young age, and it’s suspected that China's infamous 996 work culture was to blame. It has reactivated the online discussion about 996, which means working 9 a.m.–9 p.m., six days per week.It’s not entirely clear that she did indeed die from being overworked. However, her schedule meant she was working basically all day every day. - Source (English)Jack Ma’s disappearance. The founder of Alibaba is China’s second-richest person. After the cancellation of Ant Financial’s IPO, people have seen nothing of him. In fact, he hasn’t made a public appearance since October, which is very out-of-character for him.It has the public wondering what’s going on. - Source (English)Trump blocking transactions on Alipay and WeChat Pay.Trump is still trying to be tough on Chinese apps. On Jan 5 he signed an order to block transactions on eight apps, including Alipay and WeChat. The ban should take effect on February 19, right after Spring Festival.But will it actually be put into effect? We guess not. He’s been trying to block Chinese apps for some time now, but he’s yet to be successful. - Source (English)Weibo used heavily during pandemicDuring the pandemic and heavy lockdown, various media outlets worked on Weibo 24-hours a day, releasing a total of 2.28 million epidemic-related posts, which received 300 billion views. They also broadcasted more than 10,000 livestreams of epidemic news conferences in various regions. The number of live viewers for these exceeded 3 billion.We published our updated guide to Weibo marketing today. It’s full of tips for starting advertising and organic marketing efforts on Weibo. - Read it hereMore places to follow us:NMG's weekly newsletterYouTube (live podcasts)LinkedIn

Half of China’s population is overweight.At Chinese dinner tables, it’s common to hear “eat up”, “eat that” and “eat this” as Chinese parents and grandparents urge their children to consume more. While the older generation may have grown up in a time when food was sometimes scarce, that’s not usually the problem nowadays. According to government standards, over 50% of China’s population is now considered overweight by government standards (an increase from just 30% in 2002). The cause is increased consumption and not enough exercise. - Read more (English)Citizens urged to be less wasteful with food.This food trend somewhat contradicts the point above.The Chinese government has been asking citizens to eat what they need and avoid wasting food.However, when eating out with friends or professional contacts in China, it’s common to order too much food, then leave several plates worth of food mostly untouched. - Source (Chinese)Gaokao college entrance exams made more flexible in eight provinces.Students in Jiangsu, Canton and six other provinces will have the option of choosing the topics in their Gaokao exam. They need to take a total of six topics, including:Three compulsory topics - Chinese, math, and English.One of either history or physics.Two from chemistry, geography, politics, and biology.Before these new rules come in place, students only can choose from either of one of two streams: liberal arts (文科) or sciences (理科). - Source (Chinese)New standards for punishment in education.On the subject of school discipline, students may be punished in various ways. Sometimes there can be very little punishment at all, and other at times, the punishments are too harsh. To standardize procedures,  the government recently released punishment guidelines for students in grades 1–12. . - Source (Chinese)Christmas imagery blurred.A TV show featured a scene with plenty of Christmas imagery in the background, including a great big Christmas tree. However, the show’s production team (or perhaps the government officials behind them) felt that it promoted foreign culture too much.So, what did they do? They blurred out the trees and other Christmas-related items in the background; but of course, it was all still completely recognizable. Viewers think this kind of thing is silly and useless. After all, Christmas in China is popular, but it’s not that big of a deal for the average person. - Read more (English)Meituan probed for banning Alipay.Meituan might end up being forced to offer Alipay as a payment option on their Meituan and Dianping apps. This is just another example of the government forcing major Chinese digital companies to be more competitive. If it goes through, it’s a good thing for marketers. We’d like to see it become easier for consumers to move between one “walled-garden” mega-app to another. - Read more (English)

Hello!This week, Kejie from ChinaMKTGInsights.com joined us to talk about fake bird nests and facial-recognition trends in China.Feel free to contact us if you have any other insights that could help companies sell more stuff in China. We could work with you on a podcast or a blog post.Dig in!“Show your face to enter” - Convenient or scary?Facial-recognition technology has become quite common in China, but concerns about privacy and data ownership have grown.After paying the initial admission fee, a man last year learned that he would need to have his face scanned to enter a park. After being refused a refund, he took the park owner to court and was awarded $160 in compensation. This incident, and others like it, have generated discussion about how the technology should be used.It’s most likely that we’ll see facial recognition reduced or, at least, more carefully controlled. The Chinese government has signaled that they will be coming up with stricter rules about how companies gather biometric data.Still, many people find the benefits of facial recognition to outweigh any drawbacks. It’s even possible to buy some groceries nearby without a phone. Plus, it is considered more secure. - Read more (English)Livestreamer caught selling fake bird’s nests.The livestreamer Xinba is a big deal. He sold over 8 billion RMB worth of goods during this year’s Double 11 festival.When first challenged, Xinba denied the sale of counterfeit bird’s nests; however, users and KOLs pressed the issue and discovered other defective products sold on his website. His poor handling of the situation made matters even worse. Still, it looks like he’ll only get a slap on the wrist for this incident (a 900,000 RMB fine), avoiding major jail time.Will he be able to gain the trust of his fans back? More than likely. At the end of the day, his hardcore fans still love him. - Read more (English)The Guide to WeChat Account Setup.Read it here (English)What’s holding back Chinese SaaS companies?One major problem is that they might simply just not know how to do marketing. In an interview on Technode, a venture capitalist says that Chinese SaaS companies don’t have concrete sales channels because their potential clients don’t think to look for the correct software.In our opinion, that problem is not a bad one to have. Although people aren’t searching for software-based solutions, they still care about their problems. So the marketing angle should be to create valuable content about their issues and potential remedies. For instance, if you are selling software that helps companies with their recruiting process, you could create a blog/book/podcast about improving recruiting results. Only after building a following can they start to educate readers about how to use your software to make recruiting easier.Anyway, this is good news for B2B software companies from the RoW. Now, you have a window to enter China and become a truly global company. - Read more (English)

Join Tait and Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.China’s digital currency works online.The latest test of China’s digital currency started last week. This time around, the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) could be spent in both physical stores in Suzhou and on JD’s e-commerce platform. Plus, it now works even if both the buyer and seller don’t have an active Internet connection. How will the final version of the DCEP be for users? We don’t know yet, but we’re hearing that it’s going to be very user-friendly. - Read more (English)Pinduoduo (and every other Chinese company) releases their own wallet.Pinduoduo is the latest Chinese tech company to release its own payment solution to compete with Alipay or WeChat Pay.Will it be successful? Probably not. Users are cool with one or two different payment solutions...maybe even three, but they certainly don’t want eight different ones on their phone. A quick poll of our team revealed that 12 out of 14 didn’t want another payment solution, and the other two said that they would be willing to try it. - Read more (English)If you want to host in China, you need an ICP license.We updated our guide to ICP licenses. Overall, the most common reason people get an ICP license is to help them host a website in China and improve its speed and reliability. However, it can be confusing to figure out how to get one, so we created a straightforward guide to help you and your colleagues. - Read more (English)Douyu and Huya merger in question.China’s two biggest game streaming platforms, DouYu and Huya, are both partially owned by Tencent. They planned to merge into one entity, but that’s no longer certain because of antitrust concerns.The Chinese government has made it known that they’ll be taking antitrust issues seriously. They’ve already levied major fines against Alibaba and Tencent as well as issued draft guidelines for “anti-monopoly in the platform economy.”This should help keep the industry competitive, so we’ll continue to see lots of innovative upstarts to help us all with our marketing efforts. - Read more (English)Who is Ding Zhen?Ding Zhen is one of China’s newest Internet stars. He randomly came to fame after a news crew tried to interview his brother. As it happened, his brother was gone, so they spoke to him instead, took a short video, and shared it online.The video went viral because of his cute face and innocent looks. Some of China’s urban youth think Ding Zhen has an authentic rural lifestyle that is less stressful than the lives they’ve had. - Read more (English)

Join Tait and Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.This week's topics:- China expanding its weather-control program.   Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/china-expanding-weather-modification-program-artificial-rain-snow-2025-2020-12- China rolling out 5 vaccines.   Source: https://supchina.com/2020/12/07/china-begins-mass-distribution-of-covid-vaccines/- China achieves quantum supremacy.    Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/china-has-developed-the-fastest-and-most-powerful-quantum-computer-yet- Mokuai is a tool for selling via WeChat livestream.   Source: https://36kr.com/newsflashes/1000384545346561- Baidu advertising optimization tips.   Source: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/baidu-ppc-guide

Join Tait, Lawrence and Nara as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.This week's topics:- The OECD expects strongest growth for China and India next year.    Source: https://www.oecd.org/economic-outlook/- China’s social group buying isn’t what you think it is.    Source: https://36kr.com/p/992778165417607- Fewer Western academics are studying China.    Source: https://www.economist.com/china/2020/11/28/as-chinas-power-waxes-the-wests-study-of-it-is-waning- How to write great articles for WeChat.    Source: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/write-for-wechat

Join Tait, Lawrence and Nara as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.This week's topics:- A tour of QQ (kind-of like WeChat).- New WeChat features: hashtags and bigger file transfers.     Source: https://dy.163.com/article/FS95BI2P05491QAW.html- Bilibili to launch 33 new anime shows.     Source: https://radiichina.com/bilibili-chinese-anime/- 3 big trade deals mean better access to the Chinese market.     Source 1: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-11-21/If-RCEP-comes-can-CPTPP-be-far-behind-for-China--VBbY7YVGkE/index.html     Source 2: https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2020-11-24/China-EU-investment-treaty-to-be-signed-by-year-end-says-ambassador-VER64j9RkI/index.html- What is "revenge bedtime procrastination"?     Source: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201123-the-psychology-behind-revenge-bedtime-procrastination

Join Tait and Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.Today we'll be giving some practical tips about Toutiao, Bilibili and Zhihu.All topics and sources:1) Zhihu is growing, and Zhihu ads are becoming more sophisticatedSource: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/zhihu-advertising 2) What is Toutiao? How do people use it?Source: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/what-is-toutiao3) Bilibili's has a cool new note taking feature4) Taobao launched a cat game to accompany Double 11 sales.Source (Chinese): https://www.36kr.com/p/9649097177576965) Why do Chinese tech giants struggle to make good B2B software?Source: https://lillianli.substack.com/p/why-chinese-tech-giants-struggle6) Who is responsible for children’s education? Parents or teachers?Source: https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1205592.shtml7) “China’s economy can double in size by 2035” - That’s what Xi said.Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-03/china-s-xi-says-economy-can-double-in-size-by-2035

Join Tait and Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.Today we'll be talking about China's five year plan, because it gives insights into major opportunities in China.Plus, we'll be looking at a few Baidu ranking factors from a new correlation study.Sources:https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/23/21531154/judge-denies-trump-administration-ban-wechat-tencent-china https://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/analyzing-baidu-seo-ranking-factors-for-the-largest-chinese-search-engine/https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/04/tech/ant-ipo-beijing-china-intl-hnk/index.html https://s.weibo.com/weibo/%25E7%25BE%258E%25E5%259B%25BD%25E5%25A4%25A7%25E9%2580%2589?topnav=1&wvr=6&b=1 https://pandaily.com/20-of-chinas-new-car-sales-to-be-new-energy-vehicles-by-2025/ http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-10/29/c_139476536.htmSign up for the newsletter: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/newsletter-signup

Join Tait, Lawrence and Phoebe as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.Today we'll be talking about cultural trends affecting working-age adults and their parents. Plus, some insights into Baidu, WeChat, Douyin and mobile Internet browsers. Sources:- https://pandaily.com/economists-propose-three-child-policy-in-china-to-combat-reduced-population-growth/ - https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006348/chinese-want-online-parental-controls-%E2%80%94-for-their-own-parents - https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006336/young-chinese-bemoan-rat-race-with-tongue-in-cheek-meme - http://www.360doc.com/content/20/1018/01/117837_941016441.shtml - https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3106493/bytedance-apps-toutiao-douyin-engage-chinese-consumers-longer-tencents - https://36kr.com/p/942216202640519- https://36kr.com/p/942549158062976Get this video in podcast form: http://www.chinamarketingweekly.comSign up for the newsletter: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/newsletter-signup

Today’s topics:- COVID 19 vaccine available for 228 Yuan/shot. Source: http://med.china.com.cn/content/pid/210471/tid/1026 - Alibaba’s Double 11 festival is approaching. Source: https://www.alizila.com/what-to-expect-from-alibabas-2020-11-11-global-shopping-festival/ - 2 KOL sells more than 7 billion CNY in Taobao Double 11 pre-sale. Source: https://36kr.com/p/934835367713927 - Travel warning for Americans: Don’t go to China right now. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/us/politics/china-us-threats-detain.html - BBC and Bilibili sign content deal. Source: https://radiichina.com/bbc-bilibili/ - High-traffic Weibo user numbers increase greatly. Source: https://www.pingwest.com/w/220552- WeChat allows comments within articles.- 20 Thousand Yuan blind date goes wrong. Source: https://www.whatsonweibo.com/girl-brings-23-relatives-on-blind-date-dinner-bill-comes-down-to-20000-yuan/ Sign up for the newsletter: https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/newsletter-signup

Join Tait & Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.Today’s topics:- WeChat video account upgrades.     Source (Chinese): https://36kr.com/p/921002628024711 - How Carrefour started earning profits in China.     Source (Chinese): https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1680420249402606899- COVID updates     Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54504785 - 3 ways to protect data from the Chinese government.     Source: https://www.chinalawblog.com/2020/10/china-cyber-insecurity-what-can-you-do.html- China’s economic recovery.     https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-trade/chinas-imports-exports-surge-as-global-economy-reopens-idUSKBN26Y0BL - Something weird about Baidu advertising account spends.- China’s space companies racing to mine asteroids.     Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU8rfmjqiCc&feature=youtu.be

Join Tait & Echo as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.Today's topics (~4 minutes each).- WeChat releases kids' mode.- Negative views of China hit 10-year high.- China installs the most industrial robots.- Quarantine and travel.- A human/AI immersive art display.- Zhihu account setup, advertising.- Snail rice noodles are the hotness of 2020.Sources:- https://supchina.com/2020/10/06/wechat-for-kids-is-here-but-is-it-just-pr/ - https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/10/06/unfavorable-views-of-china-reach-historic-highs-in-many-countries/ - https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/record-2.7-million-robots-work-in-factories-around-the-globe - https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1679995773057952680&wfr=spider&for=pc - https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-UI-sNnJZqdI2WV0cgILuw - https://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/zhihu-setup-verification-guide - https://supchina.com/2020/10/06/the-pandemic-food-trend-taking-china-by-storm/

Happy Mid-autumn festival!Join Tait & Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China.Today's topics (~4 minutes each).- More Chinese people aged 50+ login.- China's SaaS ecosystem barely getting started.- Shanghai bans plastic.- Tesla thriving in China.- Sina and Sogou going private.- WeChat cracks down on obtrusive video ads.- Rising Yuan will spur more luxury consumption.- Mid-autumn festival travel back to 70% normal levels.

Join Tait & Lawrence as we take you through the top news this week that affects companies selling into China. Today's topics (~4 minutes each). WeChat ban Huawei's OS China's currency Foreigner resident permits Carbon neutrality 5g subscriber numbers Chinese FDI China cyber insecurity Tait has been working in digital marketing in China since 2008 - that's before most of today's major platforms even existed. Lawrence is a newer Account Manager at Tait's company Nanjing Marketing Group. Together they chat about news regarding Chinese culture, Chinese tech and Chinese marketing. Sources: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/us-judge-halts-ban-on-wechat-due-to-lack-of-evidence-in-relation-to-nationa/585614/ https://technode.com/2020/09/23/huaweis-harmony-os-a-third-major-mobile-operating-system/ https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/17/goldman-sachs-sees-chinese-yuan-strengthening-over-the-next-12-months.html https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-travel-restrictions-due-to-covid-19-an-explainer/ https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54256826 https://pandaily.com/china-reaches-110-million-5g-users-becoming-worlds-biggest-5g-market/ https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2020/09/18/foreign-investment-into-china-increases-by-us90-billion-in-2020-ytd/ https://harrisbricken.com/blog/free-webinar-on-china-cybersecurity-law-2/