Spring Festival, an annual celebration of the Chinese New Year, is almost upon us. While some traditions haven’t changed much, like family dinners and lighting firecrackers, others have evolved with the times. Since hongbao (红包 or lucky money in English) went digital on WeChat in 2014, we wait every year to see what exciting new features China’s internet giants have introduced. And the Year of the Rooster is no different. WeChat is out, but that doesn’t mean it’s only Alipay Although …

In June 2015, a couple dozen China-based photographers—some Chinese, some not—founded the Instagram account Eyes on China. Their goal, as member photographer Gilles Sabrié put it, was to collectively create “a diverse, dynamic, and objective view” of the country where they worked. In the final weeks of 2016, ChinaFile collaborated with the group to assemble a gallery of images that eschews major news stories, looking back on the year from a more intimate distance. Aspiring Internet celebrities (a.k.a. hostesses) attend …

Virtual reality market in China: Why should we keep an eye on the Chinese market? VR market is developing far faster than anywhere else. An infographic made by Daxue Consulting shows that within four years, the world VR market will grow by 1000 %, thus estimate the Chinese market at 8.5 billion dollars in 2025 – in 2016, the Chinese VR market accounted for about 860 million dollars. Stores proposing an experience of virtual reality blossomed in all Chinese malls. It is …

With 100 million Manchester United fans in China, Thomas Cook may just have found a way to gain a competitive advantage in a market dominated by large domestic players. For most fans, settling for Manchester City—like Xi Jinping did—is certainly a tough sell. Thomas Cook hopes to push Manchester United’s huge Chinese fan base. Thomas Cook China ambition is to strengthen its position within the burgeoning Chinese sports tourism market. Manchester United tops the list of international sports teams with the …

 WeChat is maturing and getting harder to acquire users   Born on January 21, 2011, WeChat now boasts 846 million monthly active users and is unquestionably the number one platform to consider when entering the China market. However, with slowing user growth, it is quickly becoming a red ocean with companies fighting harder to attract customers. “WeChat used to be an easy way to acquire users. It’s now much harder to get users to follow a WeChat public account. They are overloaded with great …

Weibo Bounces Back to Relevance on China’s Social Media Scene Rumors of the impending death of the platform seem to have been grossly exaggerated with recent data from QuestMobile showing a 79 percent increase in monthly average users (MAUs) for the site for the year ending in September.  

Facebook is reportedly building a censorship tool so it can re-enter China Facebook is developing a software tool that suppresses users’ posts from appearing in the News Feed in designated geographic areas, a possible first step toward making the social network available in China, the New York Times reported. The tool has reportedly caused a controversy within Facebook, with “several employees” quitting in protest after working on it, according to the Times. Facebook has been banned from China since 2009. Like many US technology …

How Advertisers Are Tapping Into? Live streaming has exploded in China in the past year; in 2015, it was a $1.8 billion industry, according to Huachuang Securities, which predicted it could expand to $15.9 billion by 2020. And more advertisers are trying it, including P&G, Adidas and Sony. Marketers’ efforts range from straightforward to bizarre, elaborate pieces of performance art. Condom brand Durex promised a live show with 50 couples in bed; they performed calisthenics and snacked on bananas, but there …

China’s M-Commerce had 32 Percent Singles’ Day Sales Growth In China Mobile e-commerce is becoming even day more dominant shopping platform. For the November 11 Singles’ Day shopping event, sales reached US$17.8 billion (RMB120.7 billion) on Alibaba platforms. The total number of transactions hit the 1 billion mark this year (1.04 billion to be exact), up from 710 million last year. While the day is known as a significant discount holiday, Luxury brands also got in on the action after Tmall held …

The huge Single’s Day sale is approaching! E-commerce sales are a bit down this week as Chinese consumers wait to make their purchases during the big promotion. Many will prepare their shopping carts ahead of time and start buying right at 12:00am November 11.  Anybody involved in e-commerce in China has prepared their promotions already hopefully, and is ready to reap in the benefits next Friday. More than half of the participants (52%) said they would shop from Tmall, Alibaba’s …