5/13 TBC Insider Digest: Alibaba, Pinduoduo et al
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Insider Digest 5/13/21: Alibaba HR, Pinduoduo in Colin’s Words, Meituan vs. Consumer Council, and more
I’m back from vacation! Back to our regularly scheduled programming …
For those who are new, feel free to join our WhatsApp group if you want real time communications with the rest of the community! It’s pretty low volume and always on topic!
I guess it’s just earnings season review for the weekly Friday Chat TOMORROW at 6-6:45AM PST / 9-945AM EST / 9-9:45PM Asia time. I will send out a reminder on WhatsApp, but please just join us on the Zoom here!
OK, so here are all the posts you might have missed …
4/30/21 Update on Fintech Regulations
This is from before I went on vacation, but Chinese regulators "met with 13 internet firms which have fintech businesses on Thursday (4/29/21) on strengthening anti-monopoly supervision and preventing disorderly expansion of capital." I went and dug up some other relevant guidelines on the sector, including:
February 5: PBOC's Research Institute issued a report called "Research on the Protection of Consumer Financial Information on Large-scale Internet Platforms"
March 26: PBOC issued an "AI Algorithm Financial Application Evaluation Guideline"
April 8: PBOC issued a "Financial Data Security Life Cycle Guideline"
There are all fascinating, highly detailed and relevant to fintech businesses and the data and technologies they use.
Luke had some great comments on explainability and made the point that algorithmic guidelines could be more advanced in China right now than US. I’m still trying to get a clearer idea if that’s the case and would appreciate more input!
Alibaba's Essence? The Zhengwei (HRG / HRBP) System
This isn’t a news / events driven post, but one on the (infamous?) Alibaba HR system. For those of you who don’t know, BABA’s HR has a lot more power than in other organizations and the system, called “zhengwei” in Chinese, is probably going to sound very strange to you. Nonetheless, it is a huge piece of Alibaba’s culture and many argue a key enabler of its success. Other companies that have this structure? Meituan, Huawei, Xiaomi … take a look.
Colin Huang on Pinduoduo - In His Own Words
Another non-news related post, but probably the most succinct and clear vision of Pinduoduo from none other than the founder himself, Colin Huang. I translated his blog from Sept. 2017. TLDR; Colin is trying to remake the relationship between supply and demand for consumer goods by injecting more “planning” into demand and more “free market” into supply. Take a read!
Shanghai Consumer Council calls in Meituan and Pinduoduo
Wang Xing quoted an ancient poem that became the China internet meme of the week in English, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the stock price fall on Monday, when Meituan was called in, along with Pinduoduo, to be censured by the Shanghai Consumer Council. I summarized and comment on the Council’s accusations and proposed solutions.
I opened this thread long ago but only got around to writing about it now and found that I didn’t really have much to say, except that the business is strategically super important to JD, of course, and it seems that by having the JD Property spinoff, they are going to be able to expand this competitive advantage in a way that will be much more friendly to their P&L. Take a read and let me know what you think!
Other Posts from the Community:
Jason explains what makes Alibaba tick: operations. What is Operations? Part II: An eCommerce Perspective
Brizza asks Unbeatable business models - where capital has stopped flowing? “Are there areas within China Tech where sector leaders have such an unassailable lead that capital no longer flows to challenge the incumbent?”
Other Special Announcements!
Kevin founder of DJY Research, wrote a comprehensive report on Sea Limited that you might be interested in reading. As many of you know, there are many parallels between Sea and various Chinese internet companies, and the founder Forrest is Chinese-born. Kevin interviewed and surveyed 200 users throughout Southeast Asia for the report! Also, he’s giving Insiders a 15% discount to his research, which you can redeem with the code “djyxtechbuzzchina52021”
Tech Buzz China also did a collaboration with Acquired, the #1 Tech podcast on Apple, for the month of May! You can find it on our podcast feed or on Acquired’s.
That’s it! Please check the forums for amazing contributions from our members and join the WhatsApp group!
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