Author: Rita Liao

Alibaba hits the gas on mobility as its bike sharing service adds carpooling Carpooling is heralded to be environmentally friendly and money-saving, but in smog-stricken China, the transportation option became a source of public concerns after two female passengers got murdered during their lifts with Didi Chuxing drivers. The ride-hailing app has suspended its Hitch service to this date under government command, and its peers were also directed to step up safety measures for their own offerings. The regulatory crackdown led to a shortage of cheap rides with strangers in…

Selfie app maker Meitu eyes overseas gaming market with 0 million deal China’s largest selfie app maker Meitu has been busy working to diversify itself beyond the beauty arena in China. On Wednesday, the Hong Kong-listed company announced in a filing that it has agreed to pay about HK$2.7 billion ($340 million) for a 31 percent stake in game publishing company Dreamscape Horizon. Dreamscape Horizon, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed games group Leyou, specializes in making video games for personal computers and consoles and owns 97 percent of Canada-based studio Digital Extremes. This…

Lenovo leads M investment in 6-legged robot maker Vincross Vincross, the company behind the six-legged robot Hexa, said on Tuesday that it’s picked up $10 million in a Series A+ funding round led by Lenovo Capital, the startup fund managed by Lenovo Group. Returning investor GGV Capital and newcomer Seekdource Capital also participated. The company declined to disclose its latest valuation but said the proceeds will go towards research and development as well as new product lines. Neuroscience and artificial intelligence researcher Tianqi Sun started Vincross in Beijing back in…

Amazon is reportedly merging its China import unit with NetEase You’d be forgiven for not knowing Amazon has operated in China for more than a decade, but perhaps not for much longer. The company is reportedly in talks to merge its China-based import business with local peer Kaola, the cross-border shopping platform run by Chinese internet behemoth NetEase, Caijing reported (link in Chinese) on Tuesday. The deal, which NetEase initiated and will occur through a stock swap, had been signed at the end of 2018 but negotiations had been difficult, sources told Caijing….

China tells teachers to quit assigning homework through WeChat China’s education authorities are about to take some burden off parents with school-aged children. A proposal posted last week by the Department of Education in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang said teachers should be banned from using WeChat, QQ or other mobile apps to assign homework or ask parents to grade students’ assignments. As mobile internet booms in China, phones have become an extension of daily activities, including school practices. Instead of announcing homework in class or handing out notices to students in…

China’s Didi is laying off 15% of its staff China’s largest ride-hailing firm Didi plans to let go 15 percent of its employees or about 2,000 people this year, sources told TechCrunch. The cut comes as the beleagured transportation giant copes with a stricter regulatory environment that puts a squeeze on driver supply and backlash from two high-profile passenger murders last year. Chief executive Cheng Wei made the announcement during an internal meeting Friday morning as he told management that Didi will scale back its non-core businesses and step up investments…

Alibaba takes an 8% stake in Tencent-backed anime streaming site Bilibili Ecommerce giant Alibaba is continuing its push into the world of youth culture after it scooped up an 8 percent stake in anime streaming and game publishing company Bilibili. According to a securities filing on Thursday, Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace has acquired about 24 million shares in Bilibili, the Shanghai-based firm that has captured 93 million monthly users from hosting licensed anime titles, video games and user-generated content. The financial gesture is hot on the heels of a partnership announced in December…

China’s Didi reportedly lost a staggering .6 billion in 2018 China’s largest car-hailing company is facing relentless pressure from all fronts. Beijing-based Didi Chuxing reportedly lost a staggering 10.9 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in 2018, according to financial data that Chinese news site 36Kr obtained. For some context, Uber posted a net loss of $939 million on a pro forma basis and an EBITA loss at $527 million during Q3 2018. Didi has not responded to TechCrunch’s inquiry about its losses, but an internal letter leaked in September offers a glimpse at the depth of Didi’s…

China’s Alipay digital wallet is entering 7,000 Walgreens stores China’s payments heavyweights have been following tourists abroad as their home market gets crowded. Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial affiliate with a said valuation of $100 billion, now sees its virtual wallet Alipay handling transactions at 3,000 Walgreens stores in the U.S. and is eyeing to reach a roster of 7,000 locations by April. The alliance will make it breezier for Chinese tourists eager to pick up vitamin supplements and cosmetics from the pharmacy giant, doing away the hassle of carrying cash around….

It isn’t just apps. China’s cinemas broke records during Lunar New Year China celebrated Lunar New Year last week as hundreds of millions of people travelled to their hometowns. While many had longed to see their separated loved ones, others dreaded the weeklong holiday as relatives awkwardly caught up with them with questions like: “Why are you not married? How much do you earn?” Luckily, there are ways to survive the festive time in this digital age. Smartphone usage during this period has historically surged. Short video app TikTok’s China…