7/15 TBC Insider Digest
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Insider Digest 7/15/21: Cybersecurity Review Process Details, War for Didi Users, Alibaba & Tencent Open Up? and WeChat is Not a Social Network
Announcement: Let’s discuss the impact of Alibaba & Tencent opening up their ecosystems! It seems that everyone has an opinion … let’s hear yours! See you at FRIDAY 7/16/21 6AM PST / 9AM EST / 9PM Asia Time on Zoom!
7/10/21 China Cybersecurity Review Measures (Revised)
The original process, proposed in 2019, shows pretty clearly that the review could easily exceed 90 days. Now, let's look at these new revised rules that have just been proposed. Comments are open through July 25, 2021. The key differences are:
The CAC + 11 other regulatory bodies all remain, but there is one additional agency, and that is the CSRC
Companies with the data of more than 1 million users must apply for a cybersecurity review with the Office before listing abroad
Documents to be submitted for review now mentions explicitly "IPO materials"
The review process remains the same, but if a special investigation is triggered in the case of disagreement amongst the member units, then the special review is up to 3 months (double the 45 days of the first version). And as before, extensions may be granted.
7/14/21 The War for Didi's Users
The same day that Didi was taken off of appstores, Meituan re-launched its ride hailing app that it had first launchedback in 2018and quietly taken offline in 2019. (Since 2019, the service is only available in the main Meituan app as one of the many options available for the ridehailing metasearch function and was only available in Shanghai and Nanjing. It's now available in 100 cities.) Of course, Meituan isn't the only one who is trying to take advantage of Didi's weakness.Gaode(AKA Amap, FKA AutoNavi) is also going after the market something hardcore (although it is also a metasearch). Basically everyone is throwing money at new users, offering subsidies of 100 RMB or more, and Meituan is offering new drivers up to~$300 in rewards per week(in Chinese). Click through for some thoughts I have about the ensuing battle, as well as some further context.
WeChat is Not a Social Network & Why's That Important?
Yesterday, I was reminded of a concept that's actually a well-accepted truth in China tech circles, but is often abbreviated away by myself and others who have resided abroad, because it's just so much easier to compare WeChat to Facebook than explain what it truly is, and that is ...an address book 通讯录 + instant messenger 即时通讯. I'm taking a lot of points from this article (in Chinese), which was written earlier this year to make sense of the Clubhouse phenomenon, and then also adding my own thoughts. I think you might find it useful in understanding my argument of why WeChat will be extremely difficult to topple versus basically every other product out there …
7/14/21 Impact of WeChat & Alibaba Opening Up Their Ecosystems
OK, so, the biggest piece of non-news this week aside from clarity on the cybersecurity situation was probably the (unsubstantiated) report that Alibaba and Tencent may be opening up to each other's walled gardens. I say unsubstantiated because all of the Chinese media say that they were not able to get any confirmation, even unofficially. Not even the great Latepost, or its lesser competitor, Techplanet. But, confirmation isn't really important here, because it's really not even a news item at all, having been rumored for months, and taking a somewhat solid form in April when a Hema mini program (still mostly non-functional, apparently only accessible in very limited areas) appeared on WeChat. Nonetheless, it would be truly a phenomenally big happening when it does take place, so, this is a note on what that could mean.…
And we have a job board! Please post relevant openings there, but here’s one you might be interested in …
That’s it! Please check the forums for amazing contributions from our members and join the WhatsApp group!
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