How China's Tech Sector is challenging the world by innovating faster, working harder, and going global
The
rise of China's tech companies and intense competition from the sector
is just beginning. This will present an ongoing management and strategy
challenge for companies for many years to come. Tech Titans of China is
the go-to-guide for companies (and those interested in competition from
China) seeking to understand China's grand tech ambitions, who the
players are and what their strategy is. Fannin, an expert on China, is
an internationally-recognized journalist, author and speaker. She hosts
12 live events annually for business leaders, venture capitalists,
start-up founders, and others impacted by or interested in cashing in on
the Chinese tech industry. In this illuminating book, she provides
readers with the ammunition they need to prepare and compete.
Featuring
detailed profiles of the Chinese tech companies making waves, the tech
sectors that matter most in China's grab for super power status, and
predictions for China's tech dominance in just 10 years.
How China's Tech Sector is challenging the world by innovating faster, working harder, and going global
The
rise of China's tech companies and intense competition from the sector
is just beginning. This will present an ongoing management and strategy
challenge for companies for many years to come. Tech Titans of China is
the go-to-guide for companies (and those interested in competition from
China) seeking to understand China's grand tech ambitions, who the
players are and what their strategy is. Fannin, an expert on China, is
an internationally-recognized journalist, author and speaker. She hosts
12 live events annually for business leaders, venture capitalists,
start-up founders, and others impacted by or interested in cashing in on
the Chinese tech industry. In this illuminating book, she provides
readers with the ammunition they need to prepare and compete.
Featuring
detailed profiles of the Chinese tech companies making waves, the tech
sectors that matter most in China's grab for super power status, and
predictions for China's tech dominance in just 10 years.
Harking after a home: Officials have
acknowledged that the lack of affordable housing is one of the issues
that sparked the unrest in Hong Kong, which has been going on for
months. — AFP
Owning a house is the standard ambition of any individual, however, getting there is increasingly becoming not only a local, but global struggle.
THERE’S a lesson to be learnt from the protests in Hong Kong – politics is about selling hope. So if the young people living in a depressing environment feel they have no future, then the alarm bells should ring loudly.
In the case of Hong Kong, the leaders – mostly technocrats and government officials – didn’t see it coming, or maybe they were just indifferent.
Many young people in Hong Kong feel they stand no chance of becoming a homeowner in their lifetime, and officials have acknow-ledged that the issue is one of the causes that sparked off the unrest.
The controversial Extradition Bill, which allows a Hong Kong resident to be sent to mainland China to face trial, was merely a catalyst. Those protesters couldn’t all possibly believe they’d fall on the wrong side of the law and face the consequences, could they?
Last week, former Hong Kong chief executive Leong Chun-ying was in Kuala Lumpur for appointments with businessmen, opinion leaders and officials, to update them on developments on the island.
I was among the lucky Malaysians picked to hear his thoughts and views on Hong Kong, while he, too, listened to our concerns during the two-hour closed-door meeting.
My co-host and meeting organiser, Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, and I both feel that of all the problems faced by any country in nation- building, none deserves greater priority than housing the people.
What expectation could be more basic than having a roof over our heads, and with it being a decent and affordable one at that? And when we talk about affordable, it should be truly attainable by the low-income people who form the bulk of the population in most countries.
Azman, the Bernama chairman, rightly outlined the consequences of the failure that stems from a lack of will in resolving the housing problem of the masses. And as he said, this could easily lead to people pouring into the streets protesting issues not even directly related to housing.
It’s a fact that many poor Hong Kong people live in a room less than 75sq ft, and millions live in deplorable conditions.
More recently, “nano” flats – tiny apartments less than 200sq ft – have fast become the norm in overcrowded Hong Kong.
According to a South China Morning Post report, the cost began at HK$2.85mil (RM1.52mil) for an apartment no bigger than an average Hong Kong car park space, but the lack of interest forced a rethink by the developer.
But what’s mind-boggling is that while there are plenty of poor people in Hong Kong, or many who feel poor, Hong Kong’s fiscal reserves stood at HK$1.16tril (RM620bil) as at the end of January.
In a report, Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said there was a surplus of HK$86.8bil (RM46.2bil), bringing the cumulative year-to-date surplus up to HK$59bil (RM31bil).
All this wealth belongs to Hong Kong and not mainland China, so a lot can be done with that money for a population of just seven million people, especially low-cost housing!
In comparison, Malaysia’s official reserve assets amounted to US$102.03bil (RM425bil) as at end November 2018, while other foreign currency assets stood at US$51.6mil (RM215mil) for the same period, Bank Negara said. Malaysia has a population of 32 million.
It can’t be denied that Singapore has done well in housing its population, with over 90% of the seven million population reportedly living in homes of their own, and the home-ownership ratio is said to be the world’s highest.
The Singapore Housing Development Board (HDB) deserves global recognition for its feat in solving the housing problem of the people, especially the poor.
The middle-class and poor must be able to have a roof over their heads. That’s an essential human need. No country can have peace and stability if the poor are not able to own a home in their lifetime.
A prosperous and satisfied middle-class will lead to political stability. A huge middle class will also mean greater purchasing power, and this will lead to a better economy with spillover effects for everyone.
When there are angry citizens protesting everything from the escalating food prices to housing, then even the elite (including politicians and businessmen) will not feel safe. In South Africa, the rich live in houses with high walls and electric fences to protect themselves, but that’s not the best way to live. It’s living dangerously.
Malaysian politicians who still wield the race and religion card will realise that at some point, these will be “dead issues”.
With well-documented shrinking numbers, the Chinese and Indian population will no longer be the proverbial bogeymen in the future. Instead, it is class stratification that will be a matter of concern.
Last year, it was reported that the gap in income between the rich, middle class and poor in Malaysia had widened since 2008, according to a study by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI).
In its “The State of Households 2018” report, the research outfit of sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd noted that the gap in the real average income between the top 20% households (T20) and the middle 40% (M40) and bottom 40% (B40) households had almost doubled, compared to two decades ago.
The report, titled Different Realities, pointed out that while previous economic crises, in 1987 and the 1997/98 Asian Financial Crisis, saw a reduction in the income gap between the T20 and B40/M40, post-2008/09 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), those disparities had not reduced.
But the Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality in the country, had declined from 0.513 in 1970 to 0.399 in 2016, denoting improvement in income inequality in Malaysia over the past 46 years.
Explaining the phenomenon, Allen Ng, who is the lead author of the KRI report, said income of the T20 households had continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace than that of the M40 and B40 since 2010.
“However, because they (the T20) started at a higher base, the income gap between the T20 and M40/B40 had continued to grow despite the fact that the relative (income growth) is actually narrowing post-GFC, ” Ng explained at a press conference after the launch of the report yesterday.
In his bestselling book The Colour Of Inequality: Ethnicity, Class, Income And Wealth In Malaysia (2014), economist Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid wrote that “the future does not look rosy for Malaysia; the current policies are encouraging wealth disparity between rich and poor, and between ethnicities.
“Unless bold and drastic actions are taken urgently, a harmonious future for Malaysia is uncertain. There must be an urgency to give every Malaysian economic security, a better and sustainable future.”
Muhammed, the managing director of the research and consulting firm DM Analytics Malaysia, said last year that contrary to popular belief, most Chinese (70%) are wage-earners, as are most Malays (72%). In fact, the poverty gap between races has dropped compared to 40 years ago, though the disparity remains.
And what about Malaysia? We have a disastrous, if not scandalous, record, particularly the pathetic business activities, dealings and performance of the 1Malaysia People’s Housing Programme’s (PR1MA) set up to build affordable homes.
More than RM8bil has gone up in smoke because PR1MA’s management failed to meet its targets, despite all the assistance and facilities accorded to their projects by the previous federal government and most state governments.
PR1MA reportedly built only 11,000 homes, compared with its target of half a million residential units to be delivered by the end of 2018. That’s less than 5% of the original plan.
PR1MA Malaysia was set up to plan, develop, construct and maintain high-quality housing with lifestyle concepts for middle-income households in key urban centres. Its homes are priced between RM100,000 and RM400,000.
PR1MA is open to all Malaysians with a monthly household income of RM2,500 to RM15,000.
A total of 1.42 million people registered for PR1MA, a promise of one million homes by 2020, but only 16,682 units, or 1.6%, of the target, were completed between 2013 and 2018, costing the government billions in public funds.
Poor management, exorbitant land acquisition costs and unsuitable sites have turned the people’s housing project into a major financial flop. PR1MA’s failure, which could cost the new government billions, is apparently already saddled with ballooning debts, rendering the loss-making company untenable.
It’s the responsibility of the government to build affordable homes – not the private developers. Private developers, especially those who helm public listed companies, have profits and dividends to answer for to shareholders. They are in the business of making money, and with the expensive land bank they have acquired, they need to build expensive homes, too.
Even if there are requirements with the obligated mixed homes for social housing needs, it still won’t resolve the problems.
Our politicians shouldn’t pass their responsibilities to them. They just need to have qualified and competent professionals with integrity to run a set-up like HDB. Obviously, the people who ran PR1MA didn’t do their jobs. We can help Malaysians own homes, or at least rent them at affordable rates, if we’re truly committed. The question is, are we?
As for Hong Kong, there is another lesson the young protesters need to learn: a full democracy doesn’t guarantee you a home and a decent job. Just ask the homeless in the United States and Britain.
-- China's central bank on the brink of launching a digital currency. How will this revolutionize the monetary landscape in China and abroad?
-- and, we meet a scholar whose calling revolves around friendly China-US ties. How can people on both sides maintain the relationship.
China's to launch its own digital currency
https://youtu.be/IWVBxOdfdOo
The Point: What does China think about Facebook's digital currency?
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https://youtu.be/KEj6gNiIlOw
China Is Issuing It's Own Digital Currency
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China's yuan will become a cryptocurrency, blockchain expert says
https://youtu.be/jAbVPCpdXRs
China Cryptocurrency is Ready!!! - Crypto Daily News
https://youtu.be/0i-1cU53Fkk
Christine Lagarde: 'Central Bank digital currency is coming alive'
https://youtu.be/-D9MRkw5wOc
Tech Daily: China government backed digital currency launch soon
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US, China to meet as Beijing considers digital currency
https://youtu.be/AOvdDBnb08M
CHINA’S CENTRAL BANK SAYS THEIR DIGITAL CURRENCY IS READY
https://youtu.be/zU9pni9bYmk
From 'Made in China' to 'Created in China'从中国制造到中国智造
https://youtu.be/mt77GAFWQV0
Made in China" used to be a synonym for cheap products, but all that has changed. China has made huge progress in innovation and technology. From the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer, the fastest in the world, and the 500-meter-wide radio telescope in southwest China's Guizhou Province, to the development of lithium battery and 3D-printed blood vessels made from stem cells and renewable energy technologies, Chinese innovations are making a name for themselves.
CGTN explains China's huge transformation from the world's factory to an innovation leader.
CGTN's special program "New China" gives you an in-depth look at China 70 years on. Our crew is on a 12-day journey around China's southwestern, southeastern and northeastern regions. Don't miss it. #PanoramicChina #70YearsThriving
China's central bank speeds up digital currency drive
Private-sector players likely to participate in project
Photo: VCG
With internet technologies advancing and cryptocurrencies flourishing amid a broad digital transformation, individual countries are starting to issue legal tender in digital form, and the People's Bank of China (PBC), the country's central bank, is also accelerating its pace in this area.
As of Sunday, the PBC had applied for 74 patents involved with digital currencies to the National Intellectual Property Administration, according to a report by the Economic Information Daily on Monday.
The PBC said it will speed up the development of legal digital currency on Friday.
Wang Xin, director of the PBC Research Bureau, said in July that the authority is organizing market-oriented institutions to jointly research and develop a central bank digital currency and the program has been approved by the State Council, China's Cabinet.
"China is beefing up efforts in digital currency innovation, a trend driven by emerging technologies that is spreading worldwide," said Huang Zhen, a professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics.
Rather than letting cryptocurrencies challenge the position of sovereign currencies, it is wiser for countries to roll out their own digital currencies, Huang told the Global Times on Monday.
Chinese authorities ordered a ban on initial coin offerings in 2017 and stopped direct bitcoin-yuan trading as the rapidly expanding market spawned concerns over financial risks.
The PBC, one of the earliest central banks in the world to start the process of digital currency innovation, launched its program in 2014 during the tenure of former governor Zhou Xiaochuan. In 2017, the PBC established a research institution for the digital currency.
"China is among the leading countries in terms of its research into a government-backed currency," said Huang.
Favorable conditions
The basic conditions favorable for China's implementation of a digital currency include comprehensive and fast networks, broad digitalization in the financial sector, and advanced financial technologies - particularly blockchain, a digital, public ledger that records online transactions, according to Huang.
In recent years, Chinese internet companies have made huge achievements in the mobile payment and e-commerce sectors, helping create a digital economy of more than 30 trillion yuan ($4.36 trillion), according to media reports.
In June, US social media giant Facebook released an official white paper for its cryptocurrency project Libra, a blockchain-powered stablecoin expected to arrive in 2020.
The move stepped up the global race for digital currencies, with China's central bank paying close attention.
The central bank is closely working with market participants on creating a central bank digital currency, PBC official Wang said.
"China's private market players have accumulated some experience in the digital currency sector. Their participation in the government's work will effectively help promote the project," Cao Yin, an expert in the blockchain sector, told the Global Times on Monday.
It is likely that the sovereign digital currency will be issued within two or three years at the soonest, although the authority tends to take a prudent attitude, Cao said.
Once it is broadly implemented, the new currency will have a big impact on Alibaba's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay, the two dominant mobile digital payment tools in China, as the PBC's digital currency is featured by decentralization, unlike the former two.
Challenges ahead
There are still some bumps on the road to promoting the digital currency.
"For this new kind of currency, its nature actually poses challenges to existing policies in such aspects as foreign exchange control, so it takes time to balance benefits with potential risks," said Cao.
A flexible and open mechanism is needed by the PBC to attract more talent, he added.
Digital currencies can help strengthen regulation as transaction data can be tracked and analyzed, including illegal money laundering, according to Huang. But laws and rules should be formulated in a timely fashion to protect individual information. "Safety is the biggest issue," he added.
"Use of the digital currency to better serve the real economy also requires policy guidance," said Huang.
Newspaper headline: PBC accelerates digital currency drive.
in China to launch a national digitalcurrency, following the central government's plan to work...
Source: Global Times | Author: Li Xuanmin and Shen Weiduo in Shenzhen | Column: Economy
: 3pxFile photo: ICpResearch into a national digitalcurrency, as mentioned in a central government...
Source: Global Times | Author: Zhang Hongpei | Column: Economy
Focus on computing could challenge industry leaders like Google: analysts
Visitors check out devices at the Huawei Connect 2019 in Shanghai on Wednesday. Photo: Shen Weiduo/GT
Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies on Wednesday unveiled its ambition in the computing sector by laying out its strategy for the $2 trillion sector and releasing what it claims to be the world's fastest artificial intelligence (AI) training cluster, the Atlas 900, a move that industry analysts said could challenge industry giants like Google.
Huawei's foray into the computing area also comes after steady progress it made in 5G businesses and the proprietary operating system HarmonyOS, showing the industry giant's defiance and resilience amid the US intensified crackdown over the past year. it also marks another milestone for the company, said analysts.
"When most people think Huawei, they think connections...But our work doesn't stop at connectivity. Both connections and computing are key," Ken Hu (Houkun), deputy chairman of Huawei, spoke of Huawei's ambitions in the industry at the Huawei Connect 2019, an annual conference held by the industry giant in Shanghai, which runs from Wednesday to Friday.
"In terms of Huawei's investment, they're equally important. In the past, we mostly talked about connections. Today I'd like to focus on computing," Hu said. The future of computing is a massive market worth more than $2 trillion by 2023, where Huawei wants to carve out a space.
Huawei also introduced sectors it will focus on in the industry, including architectural innovation, investment in its all-scenario processors and the construction of an open ecosystem, which will involve an investment of another $1.5 billion in its developer program.
From the launch of its chip series and proprietary operating system to servers, to the computing layout, it is stepping up efforts to build up a comprehensive ability amid the US' intensified crackdown, Xiang Ligang, a Beijing-based veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Xiang said these moves indicate the US crackdown will not contain the company's growth.
Apart from the official debut of its computing strategy, Huawei on Wednesday also unveiled the Atlas 900, which it claimed is the fastest AI training cluster that combines the power of thousands of its proprietary Ascend processors.
Building on the technical strength it has developed over the past decade, Huawei said that Atlas 900 takes only 59.8 seconds to train ResNet-50, a type of artificial neural network that is the gold standard for measuring AI training performance. This is 10 seconds faster than the previous world record.
"The layout in the computing sector and launch of training clusters mainly aim to serve as rivals to industry giants like Google, which now has the strongest computing power in the world. The world's major breakthroughs in the AI sector also come from Google," Jiang Junmu, chief writer at the telecom industry news website c114.com.cn, who covers Huawei closely, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The biggest barrier to AI development is the lack of computing ability, but this is also where Huawei sees opportunity, Jiang said.
US ban effect
Being on a US blacklist since May 16, which restricts many US companies from selling products to Huawei, has cast a shadow on its businesses. While playing down the US effect, Hu said on Wednesday during the opening remarks that "Huawei has been doing just fine, like the good weather in Shanghai today."
He told reporters that Huawei has secured more than 50 contracts even amid the baseless security accusations from the US, and the number is still increasing. He estimated that 5G businesses will start contributing to revenue by the end of next year with the full roll-out of 5G services in China.
Still, insiders pointed out uncertainties for the giant. For instance, the company, which is also the world's second-largest smartphone maker, is scheduled to launch a high-end smartphone Mate 30 series on Thursday. Whether the new handset will be able to run Google's Android operating system and apps may affect its sales.
Huawei rotating chairman Eric Xu (Zhijun) said last month that while the impact of the US curbs was weaker than previously expected, there would still be at least $10 billion in losses in its smartphone unit's revenue this year.
An insider told the Global Times on the sidelines of the conference that it's unclear whether Huawei's own computing architecture and proprietary HarmonyOS could support its devices and meet consumer expectations.
"The company is doing OK, but it still has holes to be fixed in the face of unclear prospects," the insider said.
Newspaper headline: Huawei launches ‘fastest’ AI cluster
Huawei unveils flagship Mate 30 series, along with Watch GT 2 smartwatch and Vision TV
Design-wise, the Mate 30 Pro comes with a
narrow notch, slim bezels and an edge-to-edge Horizon Display, which
curves at an 88° angle, to maximise the screen real estate. — Photos:
KHOR SOW YEE/The Star
Huawei has unveiled its latest flagship smartphones, the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro – along with a Mate 30 Pro Porsche variant and a Mate 30 Pro 5G model – at a launch event in Munich, Germany.
The Mate 30 range is powered by the new Kirin 990 SoC chipset. The 5G models, however, are powered by the Kirin 990 5G chipset – the first to integrate both processing units and a 5G modem on the same chip – making these devices the "world's first second-generation 5G smartphones that support 4K video calls", claims Huawei.
"The era of 5G is an opportunity to rethink the smartphone technology and the Huawei Mate 30 series is the ultimate expression of what's possible," said Huawei business group CEO Richard Yu.
Design-wise, the Mate 30 Pro comes with a narrow notch, slim bezels and an edge-to-edge Horizon Display, which curves at an 88° angle, to maximise the screen real estate.
It has also eliminated the side volume buttons and replaced them with virtual keys, allowing users to position them on either side of the phone – a handy feature for both left- and right-handed users.
The Mate 30 series sports a triple/quad camera system, with a ring design surrounded by a metallic “halo”.
Mate 30 Pro has a 40-megapixel SuperSensing camera with wide-angle lens, a 40-megapixel camera with ultra-wide angle lens, an 8-megapixel camera with telephoto lens, and a 3D depth sensing camera.
For the Mate 30, this comprises a 40-megapixel SuperSensing camera, a 16-megapixel camera with ultra wide-angle lens and an 8-megapixel camera with telephoto lens.
The smartphone also boasts optical image stabilisation (OIS), along with laser focus, which together are capable of 2.5cm macro photography and max ISO of 204800.
Meanwhile, its larger sibling the Mate 30 Pro comes with a 40-megapixel SuperSensing camera with wide-angle lens, a 40-megapixel camera with ultra-wide angle lens, an 8-megapixel camera with telephoto lens, and a 3D depth sensing camera.
The SuperSensing camera features a dual main-camera system with a max video ISO rating of 51200 to capture videos at super slow-motion at up to 7,680fps (frames per second), as well as 4K ultra-wide angle low-light time-lapse video and real-time Bokeh.
The second of the dual-camera system promises brilliant results in low-light conditions with ISO 409600 light sensitivity.
Huawei says that the 8-megapixel camera on the phones offer 3x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom and up to 30x digital zoom.
The front-facing camera on the Mate 30 also comes with 3D depth sensing that is purportedly able to deliver pro-Bokeh effects with accurate depth-of-field info for selfies and portraits.
The front-facing camera also comes with 3D depth sensing that is purportedly able to deliver pro-Bokeh effects with accurate depth-of-field info for selfies and portraits.
Other features include an always-on display with a lock screen that changes colour throughout the day, AI gesture control for contactless interaction, HiCar smart travel for seamless connectivity with a car's on-board communication and entertainment systems, 3D face unlock and in-screen fingerprint sensor (Mate 30 Pro only).
Huawei has eliminated the side volume buttons and replaced them with virtual ones on the Mate 30 Pro (pic) and Mate 30.
The 6.62in Mate 30 has a 4,200mAh battery, while the 6.53in Mate 30 Pro has with a 4,500mAh battery. Both support fast wired and wireless charging, while the Mate 30 Pro provides upgraded reverse wireless charging for other compatible devices.
The Huawei Mate 30 with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage will retail at €799 (RM3.700), while the Mate 30 Pro with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage will go for €1,099 (RM5,100) for the non-5G version and €1,199 (RM5,550) for the 5G model.
The phones will be available in Emerald Green, Space Silver, Cosmic Purple, and Black, while the Forest Green and Orange will be available in vegan leather.
The Porsche Design Huawei Mate 30 RS, a variant of the Pro, has 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, and will be available in red or black with leather finishing on the back and will retail at €2,095 (RM9,700).
Local prices and availability have yet to be announced.
Besides the Mate series, Huawei also announced the Watch GT 2, which is powered by the Kirin A1 chip and boasts a claimed battery life of 14 days per charge.
It will also come with new functions such as 15 smart workout modes with 10 training modes just for running, an enhanced music player, and the ability to answer voice calls on the watch via Bluetooth.
The Huawei Watch GT 2 smartwatch will come in two sizes; a 42mm version with a 1.2in Amoled display and a 46mm version with a 1.39in Amoled display, and will be available in October for €229 (RM1,050) and €249 (RM1,150), respectively.
Huawei also announced the availability of its FreeBuds 3 wireless Bluetooth earphones which feature active noise cancellation and ultra-low audio latency.
The black and white versions of FreeBuds 3 will be available in China, Europe, Middle East, Russia, Asia Pacific and Latin America from November at €179 (RM850).
One more device that was revealed was a TV dubbed Huawei Vision, with a 4K quantum dot screen (55in, 65in, 75in) and refresh rate of up to 120Hz, as well as "perceptive AI-eye" function with AI video call, face recognition and tracking features, and control centre for smart home devices. However, no pricing or availability was announced.
