Rebecca A. Fannin - Tech Titans of China: How China’s Tech Sector is challenging the world by innovating faster, working harder, and going global

This landmark book explores and explains how China is rushing to define the future of commercial technology.

James McGregor, author, One Billion Customers: Lessons From the Front Lines of Doing Business in China.

Tech Titans of China is the most complete and updated chronicle of Chinas meteoric rise from imitator to innovator in the past decade.

Kai-Fu Lee, chairman and CEO, Sinovation Ventures and author of bestseller AI Superpowers

Those who do not learn from their competitors are doomed. We need this book.

Ken Wilcox, Chairman of the Board, Asia Society Northern California, and Chairman Emeritus, Silicon Valley Bank

Tech Titans of China is a fascinating read, and will quickly become the go-to resource to know who the key players are and how Chinas tech sector is giving the US a run for its money.

Dorinda Elliott, SVP, China Institute; former Beijing bureau chief, Newsweek

Very few people know more about the rise of China as a competitor to the US than Rebecca Fannin. Tech Titans of China clearly lays out the battle for world supremacy.

Harry Edelson, Chairman, China Investment Group

Rebecca Fannin has done us all a great service, to de-mystify the Chinese tech scene.

Craig Allen, President, US-China Business Council

A great informative read on Chinas technological prowess without the cost of hiring your own consultant.

Ronald M. Schramm, PhD; Author, The Chinese Macroeconomy and Financial System; Visiting Associate Professor, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and CEIBS, Shanghai

This energetic and entertaining book guides us through the Chinese tech jungle. With the US and China facing off as tech rivals, this book is essential reading to understand what is at stake.

John L. Holden, Senior Director, McLarty Associates; past president, National Committee on US-China Relations

The must-read book for anyone who cares about where tech is about to go over the next decade and introduces to us how the Chinese ecosystem works and the players in it.

Robert Scoble, Futurist

Rebeccas Tech Titans of China gives us all an insiders ring side seat into this dynamic and growing power.

Brian Cohen, Chairman Emeritus, New York Angels

Rebecca Fannins insightful and timely analysis of the rise of Chinese tech and innovation is must reading for every entrepreneur and investor. If you want to understand what is at stake in the looming trade war between the US and China and how it will definitely transform your business, then get this book now.

Jon Medved, CEO, OurCrowd

Tech Titans of China is a must read to understand the entrepreneurial dynamics and business model innovations of Chinas leading tech companies and how they will transform the world as they go global.

Poh Kam WONG, Professor, NUS Business School and Senior Director, NUS Enterprise

More often than not, Rebecca Fannin has the first line on players in Chinas new economy for those of us keeping score at home.

Tim Ferguson, Former Editor, Forbes Asia

Global innovation expert and China guru Rebecca Fannin has penned a brilliant, information-packed, cogent and engaging volume that is a must-read.

Jerry Haar and Ricardo Ernst, professors respectively at Florida International University and Georgetown, and co-authors of Innovation in Emerging Markets

Tech Titans of China gives us a very clear and concrete China innovation 101, and lays out how China tech giants are creating their own technology universe.

Edith Yeung, Creator of China Internet Report, Partner at Proof of Capital and 500 Startups

If you care about the future of innovation, then this is an absolute must read book.

Mike Grandinetti, Faculty Chairman: Rutgers Leading Disruptive Innovation Executive Program; Faculty Member: MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Founders Program; Global Professor: Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Marketing, Hult International Business School

Whatever the debate may be about Chinese government policies, no one should believe that Chinas private companies arent innovative. Rececca Fannins new book couldnt be more timely.

Sean Randolph, Senior Director, Bay Area Council Economic Institution

An eye-opening book.

Vivek Wadwha, Professor and Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University Engineering

First published in 2019 by Nicholas Brealey Publishing
An imprint of John Murray Press

An Hachette UK company

24 23 22 21 20 191 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Copyright Rebecca A. Fannin 2019

All photographs courtesy of Rebecca A. Fannin, Silicon Dragon Ventures

The right of Rebecca A. Fannin to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019940692

US eBook ISBN 978-1-52937-451-3

UK eBook ISBN 978-1-52937-450-6

John Murray Press Ltd

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To my family, both near
and
far and To the Silicon Dragon global community

Chinas Silicon Valley has evolved over the past two decades to be a potentially dominant worldwide tech leader in the near future. From copiers to originators, Chinese tech titans are showing the way forward with leading-edge advances that rival the West.

Do you use WeChat? I get this question all the time. Yes! I use WeChat a lot, in China and sometimes in Silicon Valley. Its the easiest way to stay in touch with my Silicon Dragon community of US-China entrepreneurs and venture investors. With China-created superapp WeChat, you can text or chat in groups or one-on-one; transfer cash to peers; pay bills; get a loan within seconds; buy movie tickets; find nearby friends; order groceries; shop for fashions; and post videos, news, emoticons, and photos. No need for a business card. You just exchange a barcode-like QR (quick response) code on your smartphone and, presto, youre connected. WeChat is super innovativeit combines the functions of Facebook, Twitter, Skype, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Amazon.

WeChat has more than 1 billion users worldwide, and its hard to beat it for work or for play. A San Francisco venture capitalist completed a term sheet for an investment deal in Beijing entirely on WeChat. Fans surrounding a Bay Area venture investor speaking at a Shenzhen conference connected instantaneously with him by scanning his WeChat QR code from their smartphones. Even beggars in Chinas major cities carry smartphones with QR codes to receive donations. Cash and email are things of the past in China.

WeChat is just one of many Chinese innovations that is revolutionizing the future with advances that are still rare in the West. Chinas e-commerce startup Pinduoduo makes online shopping on your mobile for bargains truly social and fun. Chinas 15-second video streaming app TikTok amuses tweens and can make online performers into rich celebritiesits what comes after YouTube and Instagram. The worlds most valuable artificial intelligence startup SenseTime uses facial recognition on city streets for public security checks. Chinas electric carmaker NIO stands a chance in its home market of beating Tesla.