Tech

China’s newest hydropower will produce so much energy when completed in July that it will dwarf the production of America’s Hoover Dam.  Standing nearly 985 feet tall, and made with more than 8 million cubic metres of concrete, the Baihetan dam towers over the upper section of the Yangtze River.  It will power homes, office buildings and factories as far away as Jiangsu, a coastal province more than 1,240 miles to the east. But it is the speed of the project, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, that has raised the eyebrows of experts, even in China.  Despite many civil engineering difficulties, including treacherous terrain and a remote location, Baihetan has taken just four years to b

China may soon become the world’s first country to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into a legal system as authorities want to use the technology to overhaul its judicial operations. The hope is that AI can help monitor judges, streamline court procedures and boost judicial credibility, according to the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) work report released during China’s annual parliamentary sessions on Monday. The 14th five-year plan, outlined at the year’s “two sessions” political gathering, sets a roadmap to upgrade China’s legal system by 2025.  According to legal experts, the changes are part of China’s “smart court” initiative, a signature policy of SPC president Zhou Qiang. He want

What was once a niche platform targetting fans of anime and comics has transformed itself into one of the Chinese tech industry’s biggest success stories.  Named Bilibili, an army of dedicated users known as “uploaders” has transformed the company from a prototype site built in three days by a recent college graduate to the “YouTube of China.” Originally called MikuFans, and later renamed to Bilibili, the company has leveraged a unique combination of original features and an avid fan base to make it the go-to platform for many content creators. This has made the company a big success, both with its users and with Wall Street. Since going public on the Nasdaq in early 2018, Bilibili’s share

China’s grueling 72-hour work week has become a defining feature of its rise into a modern tech powerhouse. But now, young entrepreneurs are hoping an older tradition can provide a guiding light. Known as “Buddhist entrepreneurs,” they are thumbing their noses at China’s controversial “996” work culture – which stands for working 9am to 9pm six days a week. Among those embracing the philosophy are Su Hua, the CEO of TikTok-like short video app Kuaishou, and Chen Rui, the chairman of one of China’s most popular video platforms Bilibili. They espouse a more chilled-out approach when it comes to work, choosing when, where and how many hours they work. But many entrepreneurs and investors are s

The surging popularity of Clubhouse has many people asking if it will take the mantle as the next up-and-coming startup, and Chinese companies see an opportunity to take advantage of the business model.  Just not in China.  Macro Lai Jinnan, the founder and CEO of Lizhi, a Chinese podcasting app, said in an interview with the  South China Morning Post that Clubhouse-like apps are unlikely to succeed in China because of the country’s strict content regulations, but he believes Chinese companies are still well-positioned to capitalize the new social audio app craze in other countries. “It will be very difficult to create a Clubhouse-like app in China. The form of Clubhouse will most likely be

The Covid-19 pandemic brought a halt to much of the film industry, but it also led to a notable creative breakthrough: virtual production sets.  With travel restrictions in full force globally, production teams have developed new ways to produce stunning visual effects virtually, meaning there is no need for on-location filming.  “LED-based virtual production is definitely the future [of filmmaking],” said Guo Fu, co-founder of Beijing-based visual effects company Revo Times, which produced high-grossing Chinese films including Crazy Alien and Assassin in Red. Interest in the innovative visual effects approach has surged around the world following the success of the new Star Wars franchise T

Clubhouse, the US audio-chat app that had briefly provided a forum for mainland Chinese residents to speak openly about sensitive topics, became inaccessible in the country on Monday evening.  The app had proliferated quickly in China, and it garnered international attention for its online discussions of issues such as the Hong Kong protests, Xinjiang re-education camps and relations with Taiwan.  Users in China said they are unable to connect to the servers of Clubhouse and can only access the service through a virtual private network.  Users have also reported that they cannot receive verification codes via mainland China mobile phone numbers, which is currently the only way to onboard th

UPDATE: Multiple media outlets are reporting that Clubhouse went offline in China on the evening of February 8.  Clubhouse, the hottest new social media app from Silicon Valley, is the talk of the town in mainland China because it has emerged as a rare space to discuss sensitive topics freely.  On China’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao, a search using the keywords “clubhouse invitation” in Chinese generated more than two dozen results. An online shop in Shanghai, boldly calling itself “clubhouse invitation code,” has sold more than 200 invitations in the last month, with codes priced up to US$50. For users in mainland China, the app, which doesn’t support text or video, has offered a fr

Data is the new oil, or at least that is what technologists will have you believe. And much like battles over natural resources, there is a virulent debate about who owns the information.  Two of China’s largest tech companies – TikTok owner ByteDance and Tencent –  are locked in a legal fight about who owns the data created by their users. On Monday, the case was accepted by a court in Beijing, a move that experts said could become a “landmark” case as authorities ramp up antitrust efforts. Bytedance is accusing Tencent of blocking links to Douyin, its Chinese-version of TikTok, on WeChat and QQ, saying they are owners of the data their users create.  Tencent has vowed to countersue, accus

She grew famous for portraying an idyllic rural lifestyle in China, she courted controversy by cooking “kimchi,” and now she has been crowned the undisputed queen of Chinese-language YouTube.  Li Ziqi has set a record for “Most subscribers for a Chinese- language channel on YouTube,” Guinness World Records announced on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service on Tuesday night. Li had 14.2 million followers on YouTube as of early February. She launched her YouTube channel in 2017, with a video on making a dress out of grape skins.  “The poetic and idyllic lifestyle and the exquisite traditional Chinese culture shown in Li’s videos have attracted fans from all over the world, with many YouTubers co