Pandaily's Digest #20210929
Chinese startups seek to reshape the country's meat industry, TikTok hits 1 billion monthly active users globally, Evergrande sheds stake in Shengjing Bank to help finance spiralling debt, and more.
Changing the Tide: Chinese Startups in the Plant-Based Meat Revolution
A cohort of domestic startups are on a mission to reshape China's meat industry – while the task is daunting, the sector is on the rise. Pandaily spoke with Vesta Founder & CEO Zihan Xie about the country's plant-based future.
TikTok Claims Worldwide Monthly Active Users Now Exceed 1 Billion
Leading short video sharing platform TikTok announced on Monday that its monthly active users worldwide have exceeded 1 billion, indicating that the app is still growing steadily. At present, TikTok is very popular in the United States and other markets, especially among teenagers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a large number of American consumers downloaded it.
Evergrande to Raise $1.5 Billion by Selling Bank Stake to State-Owned Asset Management Firm
Scrambling to avoid defaulting on its debts, cash-strapped China Evergrande Group on Wednesday announced it would sell off a 9.99 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) stake in Shengjing Bank to Shenyang Shengjing Finance Investment Group, at 5.70 yuan per share. Those shares amount to 19.93% of the issued share capital of the bank.
Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei Wants to Expand International Recruitment
On September 28, Huawei released the latest speech by CEO Ren Zhengfei, saying that the company should open its mind and attract the best talent from around the world.
Ericsson Predicts 3.5 Billion 5G Subscribers, 60% Worldwide Population Coverage by 2026
On September 28, Swedish telecom equipment giant Ericsson announced at a press conference that, by 2026, 5G subscribers will total more than 3.5 billion, covering 60% of the global population.
ByteDance’s Ocean Engine Search Service Sees 500 Million Daily Page Views
On September 23, Ocean Engine, a digital marketing platform owned by ByteDance, disclosed recent numbers of the usage of its search business. As of August 2020, Ocean Engine’s search service had reached over 500 million daily page views. During the Tokyo Olympics, users searched for Olympic-related content on this engine over 2.7 billion times.
Tesla Issues Comment on Its Suing Model S Owner for Infringing Reputation
A Tesla car owner took Tesla to court after buying a second-hand Model S from its official website without knowing the car had suffered a major traffic accident previously. Tesla then was sentenced to refund 379,700 yuan ($58,802) to the owner and compensate 1,139,100 yuan according to the law – a total compensation of 1,518,800 yuan.
China VC Weekly: Autonomous Driving, AR and Gaming
In last week’s VC news, global automotive corporation General Motors invests in Chinese autonomous driving startup Momenta, Beijing-based maker of augmented reality glasses Nreal raises new funds for international expansion, NetEase invests in Londong and Singapore-based game publisher Kepler Interactive.
Chen Rui: More Than 1 Million Videos Featuring Traditional Chinese Style Posted on Bilibili With Over 1 Million Viewers
On September 27, Chen Rui, Chairman and CEO of leading Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili, delivered a speech entitled “How Creators of Z Generation in Bilibili Show Traditional Chinese Style” at the 2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit.
Alibaba Adopts WeChat Pay Service on Its Applications
Since Alibaba’s introduction of UnionPay Mobile QuickPass on its Taobao e-commerce application in August, the service has now been extended to all users, according to reports by various Chinese media outlets. At the same time, Alibaba has further adopted WeChat Pay service on applications including Ele.me, Youku, Damai, Kaola and Shuqi, among others.