Newsletter: Seeking More than Money-Next Generation Rises in the Internet Era

Here is this week’s roundup of China tech and innovation stories.

In the booming Internet era, while multinationals feature decent salary, bonuses and a mature training system, startups become more appealing for a brighter vision and more flexible working environment. China’s young generation in labor force born between 1995 and 1999, more inclusive and diverse in their attitudes towards work and life, tend to be influential at their choice. Luka Zhang shed some lights on the rise of this generation and their career options at the age of the Internet.

In the latest IC Insights report, 7 of the world’s top ten smartphone makers are headquartered in China, two are from South Korea – Samsung and LG, and one from the U.S. — Apple. China’s Huawei ranked third on the list in terms of unit shipments. Meanwhile, China Unicom has started 5G pilot projects in Chinese cities and will proceed with commercialization of the new communication technology in 2020.

Tech giants including Meituan-Dianping and Tencent are making new investments in India, and here comes the details!

Editor’s Pick

Seeking More than Money: Next Generation Rises in the Internet Era

Report

In the latest IC Insights report, 7 of the world’s top ten smartphone makers are headquartered in China, two are from South Korea – Samsung and LG, and one from the U.S. — Apple. China’s Huawei ranked third on the list in terms of unit shipments.

Market Briefings 

Faraday Future

Evergrande Group, the Chinese real estate giant invested $860 million in Faraday Future, making it the largest shareholder.

AlipayHK, the payment service of Alibaba’s financial arm in Hong Kong, and GCash, a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines, have launched the cross-border remittance service using Ant Financial’s blockchain technology.

Meituan

Meituan-Dianping filed for IPO to Hong Kong Stock Exchange, targeting to raise $6 billion in funds.

VIPKid, the online children education brand, has confirmed completion of its Series D+ round of financing to become the only education startup with a valuation of over 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) in China.

Overseas

Tencent and Lippo

Lippo Group from Indonesia has invested 628 billion rupiahs ($45 million) into Tencent to contribute to the group’s digitalization, as the company mentioned in a statement on Monday.

On the other hand, Tencent is also expected to be one of the investors of India’s largest baby products retailer Firstcry, which is rumored to raise up to $100-150 million in fresh funding.

India’s food-delivery startup Swiggy announced that it had grabbed $210 million for its newest Series G funding, making it the newest entrant of India’s unicorn club. It is worth noting that one of its investors is Chinese food delivery and review giant Meituan-Dianping.

New Releases

Mi Pad 4 and Redmi 6 Pro

Xiaomi unveiled on its website full features of its new Mi Pad 4 and Redmi 6 Pro online.

Xiaomi’s Mi Max 3 will be released at Xiaomi’s next launch event, featuring 6.9-inch screen with 5,400mAh battery.

Podcast

This week on TechBuzz China by Pandaily, co-hosts Ying-Ying Lu and Rui Ma discuss a newly minted centacorn – Ant Financial.