USA vs. China Ways (5.2)

What the Chinese Internet Economy Tells Us?

In early July 2021, a piece of breaking news shocked the US stock market and also the Chinese Internet centric economy sector: days after its high-profile listing in the U.S., China’s top cyberspace regulator announced a cybersecurity review of Didi — the ride-hailing business giant HQed in China.

Soon shares of Didi plunged in U.S. pre-market trade after officials from seven Chinese government departments visited Didi’s offices to conduct a cybersecurity review.

What is Didi and what they do? To put it the simplest way, Didi is the China version of Uber. Its fate and journey actually portrays vividly the nature of the so called Chinese Internet powered economy.

What’s the tip? Don’t just look at the the gigantic size of the Chinese market and economy, pay more attention to its inner working logic and structure. Then we can gain some insight on what we are facing.

Any insight on the Chinese Internet centric economy should start from understanding China’s attitude and approach to new technologies. Traditionally China’s culture and society was pretty weak and backward in science and technology. This is not saying the Chinese (also other countries and people like India) are not smart enough to embrace technologies. It proves that given the right environment…