China Notebook

Below is a collection of every China Notebook article by The Information.
Photo by Bloomberg.
China Notebook

WeChat’s Next Step Toward a SuperApp

By Kai Qu · Nov 1, 2016 10:01am PDT · 4 comments
Tencent is Asia’s most valuable company in part because 800 million people use its WeChat mobile messaging application every month. Now WeChat’s inventor, Allen Zhang, is rolling out a new feature he calls “small programs,” which lets people use app-like services within WeChat but without needing to download apps. I... Tencent is Asia’s most valuable company in part because 800 million people use its WeChat...
Chinese President Xi Jinping at last year's World Internet Conference in China. Photo by AP.
China Notebook

How China is Asserting Control of Tech Sector

By Shai Oster · Oct 27, 2016 7:01am PDT
November is a big month for China tech. First, on the 11th, Alibaba brings in Katy Perry to help mark Singles’ Day, its $14 billion online shopping festival. Then on the 16th, domestic and foreign tech leaders will head to the tourist town of Wuzhen for the Cyberspace Administration of China’s Third World Internet Conference.... November is a big month for China tech. First, on the 11th, Alibaba brings in Katy Perry to help...
A Mobike user in Shanghai. Photo by AP.
China Notebook

Will Mobike be the next Uber?

By Kai Qu · Sep 28, 2016 7:02am PDT · 3 comments
BEIJING—The newest battleground for China’s increasingly cautious tech investors is something rather old: the bicycle. Bicycle-on-demand services similar to the municipal bike-shares in London and New York are drawing venture capitalists willing to bet these firms are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The field got hotter on... BEIJING—The newest battleground for China’s increasingly cautious tech investors is...
Art by Myk Klemme.
Beijing’s O2O Winter
By Kevin Zhou · Jan 20, 2016 7:00am PST · 2 comments
Art by Myk Klemme.
China Notebook

Beijing’s O2O Winter

By Kevin Zhou · Jan 20, 2016 7:00am PST · 2 comments
BEIJING—There’s a street in Wangjing, an area northeast of Beijing where many tech companies are located, dubbed “ground promotion street.” Until recently, you could walk down that street and run into at least 30 promotion stands within 100 meters. As you passed them by, the salespeople—mostly young... BEIJING—There’s a street in Wangjing, an area northeast of Beijing where many tech...