China Tech & Business Decoded

Takefumi Makino

Google Notebooklm unravel Chinese technology and business. Based on Japanese Newsletter “知らなかった！中国ITを深く知るためのキーワード”. by IT Journalist Takefumi Makino.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    vol.069：China's E-Commerce Battle：Indonesia's E-commerce

    The provided text, excerpts from an email newsletter titled "知らなかった！中国ITを深く理解するためのキーワード (Keywords for Deeply Understanding Chinese IT That You Didn't Know!)," focuses extensively on the current state of e-commerce in Indonesia and its significance to Chinese tech giants. Authored by IT journalist Makino Takefumi, the piece explains that China's tech services often struggle with global expansion due to a "Galápagos syndrome" despite their advanced nature, leading them to prioritize high-growth markets like Indonesia, which boasts a large, young population ideal for mobile payment and e-commerce services. The source details how Alibaba has faced significant challenges in the Indonesian market, particularly with its subsidiary Lazada, due to cultural clashes resulting from imposing Chinese business practices, echoing the past mistakes of Japanese companies. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the rise of agile, inventive local competitors like Gojek, which developed a unique super-app and mobile payment system, and Shopee, which successfully countered Alibaba through aggressive marketing and localized strategies, creating a dynamic and highly competitive market reminiscent of the early days of e-commerce in China.

    19 min

  2. 7 FEB

    vol.068：The ¥16 Trillion Secret：Live Commerce and China's Private Traffic Strategy

    The provided text, a newsletter excerpt from an IT journalist, introduces the concept of 私域流量 (private traffic), a key trend in Chinese marketing and e-commerce since around 2019. It explains that private traffic refers to customer traffic a company generates directly through its own channels, like blogs or social media, in contrast to 公域流量 (public traffic) which is acquired externally through advertising or influencers. The source argues that private traffic is crucial because it leads to higher viscosity (customer retention and repeat purchases), making it highly valuable for direct-to-consumer businesses, especially in the context of live commerce. Furthermore, the text analyzes the massive growth of live commerce platforms like Douyin (TikTok) and Kuaishou, demonstrating how major Chinese retailers and manufacturers are leveraging employee participation and digital reforms to cultivate their own strong private traffic pools.

    19 min

  3. 3 FEB

    vol.067：China's eSports Gold Rush

    The provided text offers an extensive overview of the rapid development and commercialization of e-sports as a major industry in China, highlighting its status as a mainstream youth culture, unlike in Japan. Authored by IT journalist Makino Takafumi, the report details how e-sports has transformed into a business ecosystem, drawing massive viewership and significant corporate sponsorship from sectors like automotive, cosmetics, and finance, particularly for attracting the young Z generation. A key structural element discussed is the prevalence of the "Pay to Fun" monetization model―where success is based on skill rather than spending on in-game advantages―which has fostered a competitive and sustainable e-sports environment. The source concludes by noting that China is leading the global e-sports market and that the industry is expanding its presence into events like the Asian Games and developing a robust business ecology driven largely by corporate collaboration and diverse content offerings.

    14 min

  4. 30 JAN

    vol.066：The Short Video Revolution

    The source, an excerpt from an IT journalist's newsletter focused on China, discusses the significant shift occurring in the Chinese internet landscape, moving away from text and photo-based content toward short-form video. This transition is exemplified by the success of platforms like ByteDance's Douyin (the Chinese TikTok), which has become a primary source for news, information, and even e-commerce. A major indicator of this change is ByteDance's commitment to developing a movie search engine, signaling a future where video content is as easily searchable as traditional text, prompting other major tech companies to adapt their strategies. The article posits that short-form video is a superior, more engaging format for conveying information and driving sales, leading to a fundamental transformation in how users interact with the internet.

    16 min

  5. 26 JAN

    vol.065：The 10-Million-Tourist Question：China Outbound Tourism

    The source provides an in-depth analysis of the potential return of Chinese inbound tourism to Japan, considering the recovery of domestic travel within China following the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights that while China's domestic tourism has seen significant recovery, driven by "peripheral travel" (short-distance trips), the timeline for international travel remains uncertain, despite the introduction of a Chinese international health certificate. The author predicts a gradual return of Japanese inbound tourists, potentially starting around the Tokyo Olympics and accelerating through 2022, cautioning that Japan must actively compete for travelers against rivals like Vietnam and Thailand, especially since the "bakugai" (explosive buying) phenomenon has ended. Furthermore, the analysis points out shifts in travel trends, such as the decline of cruise ship travel and the rise of small-group tours for families, emphasizing the need for Japan to enhance its appeal beyond its past reputation for hygiene and product quality.

    17 min

  6. 22 JAN

    vol.064：China's Blockchain Revolution

    The source provides a detailed overview of the increasing adoption and strategic importance of blockchain technology in China, positioning it as a key mechanism for addressing the nation's "social credit formation" weaknesses. Authored by IT journalist Makino Takefumi, the text explains that blockchain's characteristic of being highly resistant to tampering makes it crucial for ensuring the reliability of recorded information, particularly in areas like food traceability. Beyond digital currency such as the digital yuan, the article highlights numerous applications across eight major sectors, including finance, healthcare, judiciary, and government administration. The text also includes a technical explanation of how hashing and decentralized ledgers function to secure the blockchain's integrity, noting that the central government's designation of the technology as a national strategy has spurred rapid development across cities, banks, and universities. Overall, the source demonstrates that blockchain is actively being integrated into various aspects of Chinese society and commerce to enhance transparency and trust.

    24 min

  7. 18 JAN

    vol.063：Tradition Transformed：Tech-Transformed Spring Festival

    The provided text is an excerpt from a newsletter or article titled "まぐまぐ春節" by IT journalist Takemi Makino, focusing on the changes to the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival (Chūnjie), due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the pervasive influence of technology. The article explains that travel restrictions led to a new phenomenon of people staying in cities to celebrate, known as "Yuánnián rén" (原地過年的人), and the rise of digital traditions like video greetings ("Yún bài nián") and mobile payment gifts ("Yún hóngbāo"). Furthermore, the text details how tech companies view the Spring Festival as a crucial period for expanding their services into less penetrated areas, specifically the "sunken market" of smaller cities and rural areas and the "silver-haired market" of the elderly, leveraging returning urban youth to teach their relatives about new technologies and digital services.

    21 min

  8. 14 JAN

    vol.062：China's Sudden EV Boom

    The source, an issue of the newsletter "Keywords for Deeply Understanding Chinese IT," focuses on the recent surge in electric vehicle (EV) sales in China, which many media outlets describe as happening "suddenly." This growth is attributed partly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shifted consumer preference toward private transportation, minimizing contact, and also to the rise of "smart" EV features that appeal to younger consumers (Z Generation), who view cars as a "technology device" extension of their smartphones. While affordable micro-EVs like the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV are hitting record sales, higher-end models from companies like Tesla, BYD, and Nio are also performing well, challenging the previous view that China's EV shift was struggling. Despite this positive trend, the article notes that EVs still represent only a small portion of overall car sales and that hitting the government’s 2025 sales target of 20% will depend on successfully penetrating the mass-market price segment.

    15 min
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Google Notebooklm unravel Chinese technology and business. Based on Japanese Newsletter “知らなかった！中国ITを深く知るためのキーワード”. by IT Journalist Takefumi Makino.

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