Podcasts by China Tech Talk

Episode 03: Bike sharing business models - Mobike and ofo from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.441140

John and Matthew go deeper on bike sharing and respond to some listener feedback.     Questions they answer: How many bikes are on the streets? How many users do Mobike and ofo have? How much are ...

Episode 07: WeChat's pivot in-progress from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.437514

John and Matthew talk about the future of Tencent and WeChat, including: What a WeChat hardware device might be Possible AR features and products The role of mini-programs in the WeChat ecosystem ...

Episode 08: How Chinese internet celebrities are taking over e-commerce with Dannie Li from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.436646

John and Matthew talk with Dannie Li, an analyst at China Tech Insights, about China's internet celebrities, including: Differences between wanghong (??) and KOLs/influencers A brief history of th...

15: Baidu ain't that bad with Kaiser Kuo from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.430157

This week Matt and John talk with Kaiser Kuo, veteran China hand and former International Communications director for Baidu about:
- What the early China internet was like
- How he joined B...

20: Alipay vs WeChat and why smile to pay matters from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.425728

Matt and John start with Alipay's recent "smile to pay" demo and end with a discussion on why WeChat went into payments in the first place. Along the way, they talk about:

- Alipay and WeC...

22: P2P lending, retail banking, and the future of online services with Ling Kong from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.424180

John and Matt talk with Ling Kong, CTO of Dianrong about:
- How peer-to-peer (P2P) lending got started
- What makes Dianrong different from their competitors (hint: there's a reason we're t...

26: The Uber China Mafia with Chenyu Zheng from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.383911

Some call Uber's China foray a failure but looking at the DNA of the company, its values of radical ownership and operational focus have reshaped entrepreneurship in China.

This week, Matt...

30: Live from TechCrunch - Interview with BingoBox and Xiaomi from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.380191

This week, we hear from BingoBox and Xiaomi about their products, market strategy, and the future of their verticals

33: Fintech IPOs and the future of money in China with Zennon Kapron from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.377600

Matt and John talk with Zennon Kapron, founder of Kapron Asia, about fintech in China, P2P lending, fintech IPOs, and money in China

36: Don't forget about Weibo with Manya Koetse from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.375277

Matt and John talk with Manya Koetse, found and editor-in-chief of What's on Weibo, about how the role of Weibo in Chinese society and its continuing relevance in public discourse.

40: Unpacking China's "new retail" from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.371960

Matt and John try to understand the recent (and not so recent) moves by China's internet giants into offline retail.

41: New retail, new customer experiences with Stephane Monsallier from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.370733

We're back! Sorry for being gone so long. Hope you didn't miss us too much.

This week, John and Matt talk with Stephane Monsallier, founder of Shops of the Future, about new retail and Ali...

42: China's mobility and transport market gets all mixed up from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.369802

This week, John and Matt talk about recent developments in China's mobility and the O2O market as Meituan acquires Mobike and joins others encroaching into Didi territory.

46: Internet business models disrupt China's coffee market: Luckin Coffee from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.366152

John and Matt discuss the power of examining first principles in an increasingly mobile-centric marketplace in the case of new coffee delivery startup Luckin (??) Coffee.

52: The globalization of the Chinese traveler with Victor Tseng, CCO of Ctrip from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.361197

This week, John and Matt talk with Victor Tseng, Chief Communications Officer for Ctrip, about Chinese travelers, Ctrip's globalization strategy, and the challenges of going abroad.

55: Huawei's wolf culture: Kill or be killed, part 2 from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.358720

This week, John and Matt talk with Elliot Zaagman, writer, executive coach, and corporate trainer, about the intense internal culture at Huawei. We even sneak in a surprise interview with an inside...

63: Mafengwo and fake numbers in China from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.352596

Wang Boyuan is back! This time we're talking about Mafengwo and the curious case of extremely unreliable numbers in China. Not only Mafengwo, but also Alibaba, JD.com, and Dianping are mentioned in...

65: Walmart China: Ted Hopkins live from TechCrunch Shenzhen from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.350794

Ted Hopkins, Senior Director of Walmart Ecommerce, joins us to talk about mini programs, eliminating lines in stores, and the future of retail in China.

Introducing China Tech Investors from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.350044

China Tech Investors is the latest addition to the TechNode podcast network. Each week, the hosts look at publicly listed Chinese companies and have an interview with an expert to talk about compan...

66: The next Facebook will be Chinese from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.349292

Bytedance, formerly known as Jinri Toutiao, is on deck for discussion this week. Beginning from pure textual content and recommendation, Bytedance has seemingly found the key to human attention. Wh...

69: Restrictions and restructurings — 2018 in review, part 2 from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.346678

This week, Matt and John take a look at the stories and trends of 2018, including gaming restrictions, Tencent's restructuring, the delivery and coffee wars, WeChat mini programs, and Bullet Messenger

73: Mobility's maturation and misery: One ofo doesn't ruin everything from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.337076

All of China's most visible mobility players have undergone significant change over the last 12 months. Ofo is on the verge of collapse, Mobike is now Meituan Bike, and Didi is grappling with how t...

75: Pinduoduo's free cash flow problem with James Hull from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.335224

Free cash flow is cash a company can use for whatever they want. If Pinduoduo is free cash flow positive they’ll likely be able to continue their growth spend and get even larger. If its free cash ...

77: Peer-to-peer lending in China—Tech-driven shadow banking with Andrew Polk from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.333186

China’s online peer-to-peer lending industry has been in turmoil for the last three years as financial regulators have clamped down as part of “de-risking” efforts. Tuandai.com, a top P2P lender, c...

79: Facial recognition, AI, and privacy in China with Zen Soo from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.331446

Facial recognition has taken off in China. Perhaps the most widely implemented use case, facial recognition is used to deter jaywalkers, track attention and behavior in schools, catch criminals, mo...

80: Libra lessons from WeChat and QQ from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.330224

On June 18, Facebook announced the Libra cryptocurrency, a solution to their P2P payments conundrum. As to be expected, this move has gotten a lot of attention. In China, that attention has taken t...

84: Facebook's Libra and China's Central Bank with Zennon Kapron from 2022-02-22T10:44:03.326400

John and Matt talk with Zennon Kapron about Libra, QQcoin, and China's digital currency.

89: Just how much tech is in China's health code? from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

As the coronavirus swept through China, communities, local governments, and business have been trying to figure out how to best follow social isolation rules. This being China, of course, tech majo...

87: China tech through the lens of Bytedance from 2019-12-12T08:30:07

This episode, Matt and John embark on a wide-ranging discussion about China tech in 2019. Using Bytedance as a lens, they explore the disruptive power of new companies, Bytedance's successes and ch...

86: China's social credit system: Everything you know is wrong with Kendra Schaefer from 2019-10-31T03:07:45

China's social credit system (SCS) gets a lot of attention outside of China yet it's still very misunderstood. Many scholars and China watchers have shed light on the topic, but none have done it s...

85: Private traffic in China — Taking back the power from platforms from 2019-10-21T04:24:01

After an extended hiatus, John and Matt are back! This week, they look at the increasingly effective trend of private traffic. Powered by WeChat and its mini programs, marketers and brands are incr...

83: Podcasting and why the open web is dead in China with Rio Zhan from 2019-08-11T22:00

At the end of 2018, Connie Chan of Andreesen Horowitz, wrote about how podcasts in China monetize. However, what she calls podcasts aren't really what we call podcasts: they're more like paid-for e...

82: Tech conferences in China from 2019-07-30T05:12:22

In the tech and startup ecosystem, there's always another conference to attend. The landscape isn't all that clear, however, with some conferences getting more public hype and others keeping it low...

81: The new new retail with Michael Norris from 2019-07-17T07:45:30

In June, Carrefour sold 80% of its China operations to electronics retailer Suning. The news is representative of a much broader shift in the new retails space. When we first covered new retail in ...

78: Hot take—Huawei after Google from 2019-05-21T15:24:42

Last week, the White House announced a ban on US companies doing business with companies deemed a security risk. Over the weekend, Google announces that they must suspend Huawei's access to Android...

76: US vs China—AI asymmetries with Jeffrey Ding from 2019-04-16T04:53:05

With the number of English speakers around the world, it's no surprise that Chinese AI experts and engineers are keeping up with developments across the Pacific. However, the same is not true when ...

74: Bitmain, Bitcoin Cash, and the future of crypto with Nishant Sharma from 2019-03-18T02:58:55

One of the earliest companies to get into bitcoin mining, Bitmain makes and sells mining equipment and manages one of the world's largest bitcoin mining pools. A controversial company in the space ...

72: Gaming regulation rectification with Daniel Ahmad from 2019-02-25T10:26:28

Early last year, the central government put a freeze on gaming approvals, shutting out many big titles from making money, including PUBG and Fortnite. However, in December, they reopened approvals ...

71: The Chinese takeover of the Indian app ecosystem with Shadma Shaikh from 2019-01-28T02:37:31

While everyone is talking about China's expansion into Southeast Asia, China's largest neighbor has become the real target for China's tech companies. This week, Shadma Shaikh, writer at Factor Dai...

70: WeChat vs TikTok: China's Stories from 2019-01-16T11:06

This week saw a multitude of messaging app announcements. First was WeChat's Open Class PRO featuring a four-hour speech from Allen Zhang. Then, on the same day, Bytedance announced their own messa...

68: The year that tech became political — 2018 in review, part 1 from 2018-12-22T22:00

This week, Matt and John take a look at the stories and trends of 2018, including ZTE/Huawei, AI in China, Bytedance, blockchain, and the death of bike rentals. This is the first of two parts.

67: IPOs in a bear market with Shai Oster from 2018-12-16T22:00

This week, John and Matt talk with Shai Oster, Asia bureau chief for The Information, about the rash of Chinese IPOs in a down market, looking at Tencent Music, Xiaomi, Pinduoduo, Meituan Dianping....

64: China's VR market: Alvin Wang Graylin live from TechCrunch Shenzhen from 2018-11-27T21:00

Alvin Wang Graylin joins us this week from the sidelines of TechCrunch Shenzhen to talk about the broader potential of VR and the specific outlook for VR in China.

62: AI Superpowers with Kai-Fu Lee from 2018-10-24T04:33:43

Kai-Fu Lee joins us this week to talk about his new book, AI Superpowers, and the distinct advantages and differences between the US and China in this increasingly important technology.

61: How technology has changed music in China from 2018-10-17T14:04:27

Ahead of Tencent Music Entertainment's IPO, John and Matt are joined by Wang Boyuan, translator and editor of TechCrunch.cn, to take a look back at how the music industry has been influenced by tec...

60 (updated): How to make a billion dollar company in China with Fritz Demopoulos from 2018-10-11T09:31:18

This week, John and Matt talk Fritz Demopoulos, founding partner of Queens Capital, about his journey at Qunar, how the company was founded, challenges they faced building the company, and advice f...

59: China's cybersecurity law: GDPR for the Middle Kingdom with Samm Sacks from 2018-09-25T21:00

This week, John and Matt talk with Samm Sacks, Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, about China's cybersecurity law and how it relates to th...

58: Is Bullet Messenger a WeChat killer? from 2018-09-12T01:56:33

This week, John and Matt talk about the messaging app that's shot like a bullet (pun intended) to top of app store charts as well as brief discussion of shady PR and persuasion practices in China.

57: The secret history of WeChat with Heatherm Huang from 2018-08-22T03:42:14

This week, John and Matt talk with Heatherm Huang, a founding member of TalkBox, one of the first chat apps with push-to-talk functionality, about the history of chat message apps in China.

56: China coffee wars revisited: Luckin vs Starbaba from 2018-08-13T13:37:18

This week, John and Matt look at the recent developments in China's emerging coffee conflict and examine the Tencent/Alibaba turf war, whether the Starbaba tie-up will be a game changer, and the po...

54: Huawei's wolf culture: Kill or be killed, part 1 from 2018-07-30T14:15:37

This week, John and Matt talk with Elliot Zaagman, writer, executive coach, and corporate trainer, about the intense internal culture at Huawei. We even sneak in a surprise interview with an inside...

53: The China that can be understood is not the real China from 2018-07-23T02:50:51

This week, John and Matt talk about how to understand China from a macro-level, including its role in the world, the different cultural values, and the difficulty in explicating a nuanced understan...

51: The best of China Tech Talk's first year, part 2 from 2018-06-17T21:00

This week, John and Matt take a look back at 1 year of podcasting and pull out the best part of the best episodes. This is part 2 of 2.

50: The best of China Tech Talk's first year, part 1 from 2018-06-11T02:17:36

This week, John and Matt take a look back at 1 year of podcasting and pull out the best part of the best episodes. This is part 1 of 2.

Episode highlights include:

04: Interview w...

49: The Xiaomi IPO with The Information's Shai Oster from 2018-05-28T14:42:14

This week, John and Matt talk with Shai Oster, Asia bureau chief for The Information, about Xiaomi's impending IPO, including why so many companies are choosing to go public this year, the advantag...

48: Problems With Chinese & Western tech media with Wang Boyuan, of TechCrunch.cn from 2018-05-20T23:01:56

This week, John and Matt talk with Wang Boyuan, editor of TechCrunch.cn, about media inside and outside China, some of the hazards as a reader, and some tips on where to get reliable information ab...

47: Shenzhen style innovation: IP protection, ZTE, and manufacturing standards with Benjamin Joffe of HAX from 2018-05-13T21:00

This week, John and Matt talk with Benjamin Joffe, General Partner at HAX, about why Shenzhen is so strong with hardware, the fate of ZTE and the role of national security, and IP protection in China.

45: Tencent vs Alibaba - The battle for China’s offline retail with WSJ’s Liza Lin from 2018-04-29T03:30:29

This week, John and Matt talk with Liza Lin, China technology reporter for the Wall Street Journal, about the increasing competition between Tencent and Alibaba in offline retail.

44: Short video and China’s hottest app from 2018-04-24T11:43:40

John and Matt talk about Douyin, the breakout short video app of 2017, how it stacks up against Kuaishou (aka Kwai)—China's "low" humor video app, and some predictions for short video apps in 2018.

43: The e-commerce platform becoming a threat to Alibaba with Thomas Graziani from 2018-04-16T02:20:33

This week, John and Matt talk with Thomas Graziani, founder and CEO of WalktheChat, a company that specializes in helping foreign organizations access the Chinese market through WeChat.

39: PUBG and the future of Steam in China with Charlie Moseley from 2018-02-26T11:33:46

Matt and John talk with Charlie Moseley, an American games developer based in Chengdu. We start the conversation about PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds and then go into the future of Steam as well as P...

38: Trends in early-stage Chinese startups with Edith Yeung from 2018-02-18T21:00

Matt and John talk with Edith Yeung, managing partner at 500 Startups about blockchain, AI, and how China's startups fit into global trends.

Edith Yeung on WeChat: edithyeung

37: Weibo's KOL woes with Elijah Whaley from 2018-02-11T21:00

Matt and John welcome Elijah Whaley, CMO of PARKLU, onto the show again. We catch up with what's he's been working on lately and then discuss some new heavy-handed rent-seeking from Weibo.

35: A change in WeChat is a change in Chinese society from 2018-01-28T13:48:29

Matt and John talk about recent developments in WeChat, including new insights from WeChat Open Class, the role of mini programs and games, and "WeChat as a Platform" (WaaP).

34: Making, hacking, and hardware with Naomi Wu from 2018-01-22T03:23:57

Matt and John talk with Naomi Wu, a well-known online personality known for her hardware and making projects.

Thanks a bunch to @Broadcastorm for the suggestion and making the intro!

32: China tech trends in 2017, part 2 from 2017-12-30T16:30

This week, Matt and John discuss the top 5 trends (plus some honorable mentions) in China's tech for 2017 and make some predictions going into 2018. This is the second of two parts.

31: China tech trends in 2017, part 1 from 2017-12-24T16:06:29

This week, Matt and John discuss the top 5 trends (plus some honorable mentions) in China's tech for 2017. This is the first of two parts.

29: Tencent's $2 bln Western beachhead from 2017-11-26T13:55:11

This week, Matt and John talk about what Tencent's $2 bln investment in Snap means for both companies (John also goes down a rabbit hole about Chinese consumer psychology).

28: Reinventing commercial real estate with Dominic Penaloza from 2017-11-20T11:43:50

This week, Matt and John speak with Dominic Penaloza, CIO of naked Hub, about co-working in China as well as what naked Hub is doing to reinvent commercial real estate.

27: Can the iPhone X save Apple in China? from 2017-11-12T12:00

After a lackluster response from China for the iPhone 7, and consecutive quarterly declines in market share, many have wondered if we are watching the beginning of the end for Apple in China.
<...

25: Mobike goes global with Florian Bohnert from 2017-10-29T22:00

This week John and Matt follow up with Florian Bohnert, Head of Global Partnerships about what Mobike has been up to since we last talked, including:
- How Mobike has expanded into global marke...

24: The water we swim in from 2017-10-22T22:00

The first reference episode for China Tech Talk delves into the broader conditions enabling China speed, including:
- Economic growth and habituated pace of change
- Generational difference...

23: Group chat rules, VPNs, and the future of the internet in China from 2017-10-15T14:57:35

John and Matt start with new group chat rules as well as VPNs and end up talking about deeper questions the economic implications of a truly tech-savvy Chinese government, specifically:

- ...

21: China's ICO ban with Patrick Dai from 2017-09-18T01:52:56

This week, John speaks with Patrick Dai, co-founder & chairman of Qtum foundation, about:

- What ICOs are
- Why companies want to do ICOs
- How many ICOs are fraudulent
- Why t...

19: China's $20 billion news app with Dannie Li from 2017-08-30T10:03:42

This week Matt and John talk with Dannie Li, an analyst at China Tech Insights about Jinri Toutiao, a Chinese content aggregator recently valued at $20 billion, including: 
- Why Jinri Toutiao ...

18: China's gaming and e-sports industry with Daniel Ahmad from 2017-08-24T08:42:08

This week Matt and John talk with Daniel Ahmad, an analyst at Niko Partners about: 
- The uniqueness of China's games market
- The size of the e-sports industry
- How gaming and e-sport...

17: China's largest retailer with Josh Gartner from 2017-08-18T04:11:58

This week Matt and John talk with Josh Gartner, veteran China hand and VP for International Corporate Affairs at JD.com, about:

- How JD stacks up against Amazon and Alibaba
- Early ch...

16: ICO madness and China's bitcoin fever with Neil Woodfine from 2017-08-11T03:34:10

This week Matt and John talk with Neil Woodfine, former COO at Remitsy about:
- What bitcoin and blockchain are
- What Ethereum might be
- Why ICOs don't make sense
- How bitcoin is...

14: Tencent's OTHER killer app from 2017-07-28T04:15:12

This week Matt and John talk about Honor of Kings aka Strike of Kings aka Arena of Glory, Tencent's uber popular mobile multiplayer game, including:
- Background on mobile gaming and MOBA's
Listen

13: AT's Southeast Asia entrance with Bernard Leong from 2017-07-21T08:19:08

This week John and Matthew talk with Bernard Leong, host of the Analyse Asia podcast, about Alibaba and Tencent's activity in Southeast Asia, including: Why banks aren’t competing with each other...

12: China from Asia and China in Asia with Jon Russell from 2017-07-15T04:53:50

This week John and Matt talk with Jon Russell, TechCrunch's man in Asia about covering China from the outside. We cover topics including: Biggest challenges in covering China from outside the coun...

11: Bringing your apps to China with Shlomo Freund and Michael Michelini from 2017-06-30T09:28:40

This week John and Matt talk with Shlomo Freund and Michael Michelini, hosts of the China Business Cast, about bringing your app to China, including: Why games are difficult to bring to China How ...

10: Influencers in China and the future of brands with Elijah Whaley from 2017-06-23T09:03:36

John and Matthew talk with Elijah Whaley, Chief Marketing Officer for ParkLU, about:   Why big ad agencies are failing to keep up How content is being democratized Why Taobao is dominating live st...

Episode 06: Smartphones in China - Apple's growing weakness from 2017-05-26T08:50:08

John and Matthew talk about Apple's challenges in China, including: A brief history of the iPhone in China A look at some strong competitors and their ability to appeal to Chinese customers Apple'...

Episode 05: From the Valley to China, Shifting Gears with Steve Hoffman from 2017-05-19T06:00:45

John and Matthew talk with Steve Hoffman, Founder and Captain of Founders Space. Steve has tons of experience in the Valley and has been spending more and more time in China. We talk about a variet...

Episode 04: Exclusive interview with Florian Bohnert, Mobike's Head of International Expansion from 2017-05-12T06:42:22

This week we switch up the format a bit to do our very first interview!   Continuing our discussion of bike sharing, we invited Florian Bohnert, Head of International Expansion at Mobike, to talk a...

Episode 02: Mini-programs - WeChat's killer feature from 2017-04-28T00:35:42

John and Matthew talk about WeChat's mini-programs. Introduced earlier this year, the full potential of mini-programs were not apparent at launch, leading some to speculate that they would never be...

Episode 1: An introduction to China's bike sharing from 2017-04-21T09:00:39

John and Matthew talk about bike sharing. Since the middle of 2016, China's streets have explosions of yellow, orange, blue, and green as the bike sharing wars take off. Who are the big players? Wh...

Episode 0: Introductions from 2017-04-20T07:57:31

China Tech Talk is a TechNode x ChinaChannel co-production

This episode is all about introductions: who we are, what we do, and what this podcast is about.

John A...

Episode 0: Introductions from 2017-04-20T07:57:31

China Tech Talk is a TechNode x ChinaChannel co-production   This episode is all about introductions: who we are, what we do, and what this podcast is about. John Artman is Editor-in-Chief at TechN...

Episode 0: Introductions from 2017-04-20T07:57:31

China Tech Talk is a TechNode x ChinaChannel co-production

This episode is all about introductions: who we are, what we do, and what this podcast is about.

John A...