https://www.scmp.com/rss/517928/feed The latest news on Chinese internet entrepreneur Zhang Yiming, chairman and founder of ByteDance and Douyin/TikTok, including Chinese business news and updates. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Zoey Zhang Zoey Zhang From a former lecturer to the mastermind behind a lingerie empire, Zhang Rongming’s journey reshaped China’s intimate apparel industry with innovation and a keen eye for market trends. Zhang, 64, from Suzhou in Jiangsu province, eastern China, is the founder and chairman of Aimer, a leading lingerie brand. He excelled in metallurgy and chemistry during his university years, later pursuing graduate studies. In the late 1980s, while teaching at Shougang Institute of Technology in Beijing, he... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3347174/ex-china-university-lecturer-sets-luxury-lingerie-brand-earning-us770-million-fortune?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3347174/ex-china-university-lecturer-sets-luxury-lingerie-brand-earning-us770-million-fortune?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:00:09 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang Irina Zhou’s five-year-old cat has gained about a kilogram every year for the past three years. She knows the extra weight puts her pet at risk of obesity-related diseases and could even shorten his life. “My parents just can’t bear to see the cat go hungry,” the 29-year-old Zhou said. “If the weight starts to affect his health, I might consider trying weight-loss medicines for him.” The idea of using obesity drugs for pets drew public attention after Fosun Pharma’s unit Yao Pharma signed a... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3338820/meow-or-never-chinas-pudgy-pets-spark-race-weight-loss-drugs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3338820/meow-or-never-chinas-pudgy-pets-spark-race-weight-loss-drugs?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:30:10 +0000 Danielle Popov Danielle Popov TikTok owner ByteDance has launched a recruitment drive for senior specialists in embodied intelligence, signalling its growing ambition in the development of humanoid robots. Volcano Engine, the Beijing-based tech unicorn’s cloud computing division, is offering a monthly salary of 95,000 yuan to 120,000 yuan (US$13,328 to US$16,838), according to a job posting. It marked the company’s clearest move into humanoid robotics as it specifically sought humanoid specialists rather than general... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3331803/bytedance-deepens-robotics-push-china-talent-drive-focused-embodied-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3331803/bytedance-deepens-robotics-push-china-talent-drive-focused-embodied-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:00:33 +0000 Daniel Ren Daniel Ren China saw a remarkable increase in the number of ultra-wealthy individuals over the past year, driven by a bull market in stocks, with leaders of “new economy” companies emerging as the primary beneficiaries, according to the Hurun Research Institute. A record 1,434 individuals made it onto Hurun’s latest China Rich List, each having a net worth of at least 5 billion yuan (US$702 million). This marked an increase of 340 individuals, or 31 per cent, from the previous year. The collective wealth... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3330544/rich-list-chinas-billionaire-count-hits-record-stock-markets-surge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3330544/rich-list-chinas-billionaire-count-hits-record-stock-markets-surge?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 02:00:26 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng TikTok owner ByteDance has initiated a new round of employee share buy-backs that give the company a higher valuation, even as it works on a deal to divest the video app’s US operations amid geopolitical uncertainty. The latest repurchase programme, initially open to employees based in the United States last month and the rest of the world last week, priced the vested restricted stock units (RSUs) at US$200.41 per share, up 5.5 per cent from US$189.90 during the round held in April, according to... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3328825/bytedances-higher-valuation-reflects-resilience-amid-upcoming-us-divestment-tiktok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3328825/bytedances-higher-valuation-reflects-resilience-amid-upcoming-us-divestment-tiktok?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 12:00:08 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming on Friday made a rare public appearance in Shanghai to launch a talent incubator, as Washington and Beijing moved towards a deal for the popular short video platform TikTok to divest its US operations. Zhang, 42, spoke at the launch of the Zhichun Innovation Centre, which he jointly established with Shanghai Jiao Tong University computer science professor Yu Yong in April, according to a statement from the centre. The centre, which was founded with donations from... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3328564/bytedance-founder-zhang-yiming-launches-shanghai-talent-incubator-rare-public-appearance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3328564/bytedance-founder-zhang-yiming-launches-shanghai-talent-incubator-rare-public-appearance?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:30:13 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Beijing-based ByteDance launched the international version of its short video app in 2017. TikTok soon became a global hit thanks to its advanced algorithm. This success, however, drew the attention of the US government and others, which raised concerns about data privacy and national security. After a rocky few years, TikTok seems ready to secure a permanent foothold in the US market via a deal that would see American investors control the US operations. The following timeline plots TikTok’s... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3327039/tiktoks-tumultuous-journey-global-sensation-geopolitical-bargaining-chip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3327039/tiktoks-tumultuous-journey-global-sensation-geopolitical-bargaining-chip?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Sep 2025 12:00:15 +0000 Yating Yang Yating Yang A young Chinese woman who was forced to beg on the streets with her blind and poverty-stricken father at the age of seven has been admitted to university, sparking widespread attention online and a national discussion. In 2013, Zhang Yan, from Nanjiang county in Bazhong, Sichuan province, southwestern China, captured national attention when it was reported that she led her blind father, Zhang Shiming, begging on the streets for survival. In 2010, her father injured one of his eyes on a rusty... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3324057/china-girl-once-begged-blind-dad-gained-national-attention-gets-accepted-university?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3324057/china-girl-once-begged-blind-dad-gained-national-attention-gets-accepted-university?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Sep 2025 10:00:08 +0000 Alice Li Alice Li With e-commerce platforms locked in fierce competition for China’s instant retail market, a prominent Chinese economist has called for government guidance that balances regulatory oversight with innovation and a push for new growth drivers. Wang Yiming, a central bank adviser, said “quick commerce” – involving the rapid delivery of food and essential goods, often within 30 minutes – creates new opportunities for consumption, which could be vital for long-term growth. He urged officials to guide... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3321478/china-urged-curb-excessive-cash-burn-not-competition-fight-neijuan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3321478/china-urged-curb-excessive-cash-burn-not-competition-fight-neijuan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Aug 2025 02:00:09 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng TikTok owner ByteDance, which has made artificial intelligence development a top priority, has demonstrated a system that acts as a brain to enable robots to carry out household tasks such as hanging out clothes and cleaning tables. The GR-3 is a large-scale vision-language-action model that enables robots to follow natural language instructions and carry out general tasks on unseen items, in new environments, or with abstract concepts relating to size and spatial relationships, according to... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3319479/tiktok-owner-bytedance-debuts-robotic-system-latest-ai-development?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3319479/tiktok-owner-bytedance-debuts-robotic-system-latest-ai-development?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Jul 2025 13:00:07 +0000 Wency Chen Wency Chen Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek has posted a flurry of new job openings on the professional networking site LinkedIn over the past week, coinciding with Meta Platforms’ aggressive hiring blitz amid an intensifying global race for AI talent. The Hangzhou-based company listed 10 new positions online, including two internships focused on large language models. Other roles include deep learning researchers, core systems engineers, front-end developers and full-stack engineers,... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3316982/deepseeks-linkedin-ai-job-listings-show-hunger-international-chinese-talent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3316982/deepseeks-linkedin-ai-job-listings-show-hunger-international-chinese-talent?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jul 2025 11:00:08 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Chinese social media giant ByteDance, the owner of TikTok and Douyin, has ramped up recruitment of fresh talent for robotics development, as a growing number of artificial intelligence (AI) engineers are being lured by high pay to work in the fast-evolving sector. The more than 10 job vacancies recently posted on ByteDance’s website included two directors responsible for robot products and for hardware-embedded AI models. The Beijing-based unicorn also posted vacancies for roles involving “robot... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3316508/bytedance-drive-recruit-fresh-robotics-talent-ai-remains-tiktok-owners-priority?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3316508/bytedance-drive-recruit-fresh-robotics-talent-ai-remains-tiktok-owners-priority?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jul 2025 10:00:23 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Zhang Yiming, the billionaire founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, has become more involved in the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, according to local media reports and sources familiar with the situation. While Zhang has stayed out of the public limelight since handing over the chairman and CEO roles to co-founder and former college dorm roommate Liang Rubo in 2021, the 42-year-old Chinese entrepreneur still plays a critical role behind the scenes of ByteDance’s AI research,... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3315498/bytedance-founder-zhang-yiming-plays-critical-role-firms-ai-push-despite-low-profile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3315498/bytedance-founder-zhang-yiming-plays-critical-role-firms-ai-push-despite-low-profile?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Jun 2025 11:00:26 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Meeting in a hotel lobby in Beijing in January, DeepSeek Founder Liang Wenfeng posed a soul-searching question to Luo Yonghao, a former English teacher turned entrepreneur: why would someone whose best asset is his eloquence start a technology company? The exchange – recounted by Luo in Beijing on Saturday at an event hosted by Founder Park, a community for tech entrepreneurs – came just before DeepSeek’s large language models began attracting global attention for offering high performance at... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3315501/deepseek-founders-doubt-leads-entrepreneur-luo-yonghao-embrace-his-gift-gab?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3315501/deepseek-founders-doubt-leads-entrepreneur-luo-yonghao-embrace-his-gift-gab?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Jun 2025 10:00:15 +0000 Hannah Wang Hannah Wang Lei Jun – the 55-year-old Chinese entrepreneur transforming Xiaomi into a technology conglomerate covering smartphones, electric vehicles (EVs) and chips – will retain his seat as “honorary chairman” at Beijing Kingsoft Office Software, suggesting that the founder remains committed to taking on multiple roles on the business front lines. In his honorary chairman role, Lei, the “actual controller” of Kingsoft Office, will provide guidance on technology innovation, management and corporate... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3313185/xiaomi-founder-and-ceo-lei-jun-stays-honorary-chairman-chinese-software-firm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3313185/xiaomi-founder-and-ceo-lei-jun-stays-honorary-chairman-chinese-software-firm?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Jun 2025 10:00:28 +0000 Daniel Ren Daniel Ren China’s smart vehicles with sophisticated in-car entertainment – from huge video screens to advanced stereo – are sure-fire hits in Russia, where drivers and passengers are increasingly embracing digital technology, vendors said this week during the world’s largest auto show. Major Chinese carmakers including Chery Automobile, Great Wall Motor and Geely Auto are the vanguards and biggest winners in Russia, after Western brands stopped selling and marketing their vehicles in the country amid... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3307862/advanced-digital-cockpits-give-chinese-evs-overwhelming-advantage-russia-vendors-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3307862/advanced-digital-cockpits-give-chinese-evs-overwhelming-advantage-russia-vendors-say?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Apr 2025 03:45:56 +0000 China and the US could learn from each other when developing artificial intelligence safety protocols, but only if Washington can reimagine its rivalry-based mindset, according to a prominent Chinese AI expert. Speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia, Zeng Yi, a member of the United Nations’ high-level AI advisory body, said the US government’s obstruction of China from international safety networks and discussions on the technology was “a very wrong decision”. “Some countries prioritise their own... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3304062/do-china-and-us-need-work-together-ai-safety-boao-forum-debates?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3304062/do-china-and-us-need-work-together-ai-safety-boao-forum-debates?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Mar 2025 08:00:08 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding’s strategic transformation into one of China’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies has investors all agog, as the Hangzhou-based tech conglomerate ratchets up investment over the next three years in this field. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares surged 15 per cent to close at HK$138.50 on Friday, following an 8 per cent gain overnight in New York, as the company beat analysts’ consensus estimates with better-than-expected profit and revenue in the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3299696/alibaba-investors-hail-e-commerce-giants-ai-pivot-it-plots-major-investment-outlay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3299696/alibaba-investors-hail-e-commerce-giants-ai-pivot-it-plots-major-investment-outlay?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:12 +0000 Cheryl Arcibal Cheryl Arcibal Chinese robotics company Unitree, backed by Alibaba Cloud technology, showed off the dancing skills of its general-purpose H1 humanoid robots at this year’s Spring Festival Gala, China’s most-watched television show, to the delight and awe of more than 1 billion viewers. The Lunar New Year eve broadcast saw 16 H1 robots, all decked in floral red-and-white cheongsam vests, join a troupe of human dancers in a tightly choreographed performance of Chinese folk dance Yangge, kicking off a hi-tech... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3296720/dancing-kings-unitree-humanoid-robots-backed-alibaba-tech-delight-spring-gala-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3296720/dancing-kings-unitree-humanoid-robots-backed-alibaba-tech-delight-spring-gala-show?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2025 11:00:35 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Social-media giant ByteDance, China’s most valuable unicorn, on Thursday unveiled its Seed Edge initiative, a long-term artificial intelligence (AI) research programme that is expected to shore up the TikTok owner’s efforts in the fast-developing technology. Operating under the Beijing-based firm’s Doubao AI model team, Seed Edge will focus on “exploring innovative paths” to artificial general intelligence (AGI) – software with humanlike intelligence and the ability to self-teach, performing... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3296171/chinas-bytedance-race-us-rivals-drive-artificial-general-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3296171/chinas-bytedance-race-us-rivals-drive-artificial-general-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2025 11:30:08 +0000 Yuke Xie Yuke Xie Zhong Shanshan, China’s richest man and the founder of bottled-water giant Nongfu Spring, has vowed to steer clear of price wars, after a year of aggressive price cuts and online personal attacks cost his company billions in market value. “[The] Blind pursuit of low prices, especially through internet-driven price wars, is destroying the quality of Chinese products and undermining China’s economy,” the billionaire said on Thursday at a company event. “Only the incompetent resort to price wars.... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3296050/nongfu-spring-founder-zhong-shanshan-pledges-end-price-war-after-year-online-attacks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3296050/nongfu-spring-founder-zhong-shanshan-pledges-end-price-war-after-year-online-attacks?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2025 01:53:35 +0000 Coco Feng,Enoch Yiu Coco Feng,Enoch Yiu A private investment fund created last year by billionaire Zhang Yiming – founder of TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance – has received a licence from Hong Kong’s securities regulator to conduct asset management, paving the way for the young entrepreneur to use Hong Kong as a base to manage his wealth. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) granted Zhang’s Cool River Venture HK a type 9 licence for asset management on November 21, which allows for activity including real estate... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3291407/fund-bytedance-founder-zhang-yiming-gets-hong-kong-asset-management-licence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3291407/fund-bytedance-founder-zhang-yiming-gets-hong-kong-asset-management-licence?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2024 12:00:10 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok with domestic e-commerce operations, has been slammed for charging exorbitant promotion fees amid insufficient sales by the head of Chinese budget retailer Miniso Group, which runs multiple stores on the ByteDance-owned platform. Miniso founder and chief executive Ye Guofu, 47, levelled his criticism of Douyin via his WeChat post on Wednesday that showed a video from online influencer Johnknow-nothing, who asserted in his recorded post that the ability of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3288535/chinese-retailer-minisos-founder-slams-bytedance-owned-douyin-exorbitant-fees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3288535/chinese-retailer-minisos-founder-slams-bytedance-owned-douyin-exorbitant-fees?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:00:26 +0000 ByteDance has earned praise from Chinese social media for denying a report that it was weighing a divestment of TikTok’s operations in America, a day after the United States government enacted into law a sell-or-ban ultimatum against the popular short video app. Beijing-based ByteDance late on Thursday rejected a report by US digital publication The Information, which said that it was “exploring scenarios” to sell a majority stake in TikTok’s US operations to firms outside the technology... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3260545/tiktok-owner-bytedance-earns-praise-chinese-social-media-rejecting-us-sell-or-ban-ultimatum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3260545/tiktok-owner-bytedance-earns-praise-chinese-social-media-rejecting-us-sell-or-ban-ultimatum?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2024 13:00:23 +0000 Zhang Yiming, the 40-year-old Fujian province native who founded ByteDance in a Beijing residential flat 12 years ago, is one of the most successful entrepreneurs the world has seen in the last decade, on a par with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman. But the Chinese billionaire, who has rarely been sighted in public since handing over the reins of the company to his university roommate Liang Rubo three years ago, is the most reclusive among his peers, even as his company takes political... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3255539/us-lawmakers-want-tiktok-sale-or-ban-chinas-bytedance-wont-give-without-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3255539/us-lawmakers-want-tiktok-sale-or-ban-chinas-bytedance-wont-give-without-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Mar 2024 02:00:13 +0000 ByteDance, the Chinese tech unicorn that is again facing a US ban of its flagship TikTok app unless it divests, has earned a “thumbs up” at home after rallying its young users against the legislation in an effort mirroring some of the more aggressive tactics from American platforms several years ago. The response is in contrast to a previous effort from former US president Donald Trump to ban TikTok in 2020, when ByteDance was perceived as “kneeling down” too fast with an offer to sell its US... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3254975/tiktok-gets-thumbs-china-tough-stance-against-us-lawmakers-pushing-new-effort-ban-bytedance-app?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3254975/tiktok-gets-thumbs-china-tough-stance-against-us-lawmakers-pushing-new-effort-ban-bytedance-app?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Mar 2024 12:30:17 +0000 ByteDance, China’s most valuable unicorn and the owner of TikTok, has started a new round of share buy-backs for its global employees that price the equity higher than the previous round, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Beijing-based company has offered to purchase shares from staff at US$170.81 each, up nearly 7 per cent from US$160 late last year. For former employees, the buy-back rate is US$145.19, around 13 per cent higher than US$128 in the previous round. A ByteDance... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3254526/tiktok-owner-bytedance-offers-buy-back-shares-employees-7-cent-premium-over-previous-round?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3254526/tiktok-owner-bytedance-offers-buy-back-shares-employees-7-cent-premium-over-previous-round?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Mar 2024 10:30:14 +0000 American lawmakers’ latest effort to force TikTok parent ByteDance to divest its popular short video platform, or face a ban in the United States, is not expected to make progress just like previous attempts amid Beijing’s strong opposition, according to analysts. A bipartisan bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday that would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok, or else the app would no longer be available on US app stores or be accessible on web-hosting services... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3254414/china-oppose-us-lawmakers-new-move-forcing-bytedance-divest-tiktok-amid-mainland-tech-restrictions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3254414/china-oppose-us-lawmakers-new-move-forcing-bytedance-divest-tiktok-amid-mainland-tech-restrictions?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Mar 2024 13:30:20 +0000 TikTok owner ByteDance is mobilising resources to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) projects, as the Beijing-based tech giant doubles down on efforts to catch up with OpenAI’s conversational bot ChatGPT and text-to-video generator Sora. Liang Rubo, who took over as chief executive from co-founder Zhang Yiming in 2021, has set out three objectives for ByteDance with regard to GenAI this quarter: strengthen the recruitment of AI talent, enhance the organisational structure, and improve... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3253692/ai-takes-priority-tiktok-owner-bytedance-sora-disrupts-future-video-creation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3253692/ai-takes-priority-tiktok-owner-bytedance-sora-disrupts-future-video-creation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:30:10 +0000 Zhang Yiming, the billionaire founder of TikTok parent ByteDance, has asked a village in his home province to remove a stone tablet that called him a “spiritual idol”, according to local media reports. Images of a stone tablet dedicated to 40-year-old Zhang began to circulate on Chinese social media platforms this week during the Lunar New Year holiday amid speculation that it had been removed. According to the image, the tablet was installed at the end of 2022 to commemorate Zhang’s donation of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3252205/bytedance-founder-zhang-asks-village-remove-stone-tablet-calls-him-spiritual-idol-according-reports?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3252205/bytedance-founder-zhang-asks-village-remove-stone-tablet-calls-him-spiritual-idol-according-reports?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Feb 2024 13:00:15 +0000 The chief executive of ByteDance, owner of TikTok and its mainland sibling Douyin, berated employees for “not being sensitive enough” to the emergence of new technologies such as ChatGPT. In an internal meeting on Tuesday, CEO Liang Rubo said staff only began discussing ChatGPT in 2023, according to excerpts of his speech published by ByteDance on various social media platforms on Wednesday. US start-up OpenAI released ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, sparking widespread interest in generative... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3250462/bytedance-ceo-berates-staff-reacting-too-slowly-chatgpt-new-tech-trends?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3250462/bytedance-ceo-berates-staff-reacting-too-slowly-chatgpt-new-tech-trends?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:30:16 +0000 The chief executive of ByteDance, owner of TikTok and its mainland sibling Douyin, said the company lacks a sense of crisis, which has made the Chinese social media giant slow and inefficient in the face of fierce competition. That introspection was made by Liang Rubo – co-founder of ByteDance who took over as its chief executive when fellow founder Zhang Yiming stepped down in 2021 – at an online speech on Tuesday before the company’s employees, whom he urged to stay “always day one”, referring... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3250339/bytedance-ceo-wants-whip-employees-shape-they-lack-sense-crisis-amid-fierce-competition-home-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3250339/bytedance-ceo-wants-whip-employees-shape-they-lack-sense-crisis-amid-fierce-competition-home-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jan 2024 13:43:52 +0000 Honour of Kings, the blockbuster video game from market leader Tencent Holdings, will return to ByteDance’s short video app Douyin as the two internet giants bury the hatchet following the TikTok owner’s decision to exit the sector. The Shenzhen-based social media and gaming giant and Beijing-based ByteDance have fought years of bidding wars over Chinese video game studios and court battles over copyright, but that has ceased with Tencent now seen as a potential buyer of ByteDance’s gaming... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3248513/internet-titans-bury-hatchet-tencent-allows-douyin-air-honour-kings-videos-amid-bytedance-retreat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3248513/internet-titans-bury-hatchet-tencent-allows-douyin-air-honour-kings-videos-amid-bytedance-retreat?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jan 2024 13:00:35 +0000 TikTok owner ByteDance has confirmed that it is in talks with multiple potential buyers for its video game operations, including Tencent Holdings, the world’s biggest gaming company by revenue. The confirmation from a ByteDance representative on Tuesday came after local media outlet LatePost reported that the company's gaming unit Nuverse was in negotiations with Tencent regarding the disposal of its operations. According to the report, ByteDance was lowering the valuation of its video gaming... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3247766/bytedance-confirms-talks-tencent-other-potential-buyers-over-sale-video-game-operations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3247766/bytedance-confirms-talks-tencent-other-potential-buyers-over-sale-video-game-operations?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jan 2024 05:30:30 +0000 TikTok, the global hit short-video platform owned by ByteDance, aims to grow the size of its US e-commerce business tenfold to as much as US$17.5 billion this year, according to people familiar with the matter, posing a bigger threat to Amazon.com. The 2024 merchandise volume goal for the US version of TikTok Shop – which melds online entertainment with impulse buying – was discussed in internal meetings in recent weeks and may still change depending on how the business goes, said the people,... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3247219/tiktok-eyes-us175-billion-shopping-business-amazons-turf?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3247219/tiktok-eyes-us175-billion-shopping-business-amazons-turf?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jan 2024 04:00:20 +0000 In a tumultuous year for China’s tech sector, ByteDance – the power behind short video hit TikTok and the country’s most-valued unicorn – may just have faced its Dunkirk moment. After rapid expansion for the information flow company started in former chief executive and founder Zhang Yiming’s rented Beijing flat in 2012, ByteDance has retreated from several once-promising sectors, such as gaming and virtual reality (VR), and found itself on the back foot over social commerce and content... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3246294/after-tiktok-owner-bytedance-cuts-fat-focus-fundamentals-social-commerce-challenges-and-us-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3246294/after-tiktok-owner-bytedance-cuts-fat-focus-fundamentals-social-commerce-challenges-and-us-election?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Dec 2023 23:00:17 +0000 ByteDance’s sales surged in 2023 to more than US$110 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially overtaking arch-foe Tencent Holdings in a sign TikTok’s fledgling e-commerce business is driving growth at a time of economic malaise. The world’s most valuable start-up’s growth broadly matched the 30 per cent pace it managed in 2022, when it reported sales in excess of US$80 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. That’s despite... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3245778/bytedance-sales-surpass-tencents-reach-us110-billion-tiktok-owner-pushes-e-commerce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3245778/bytedance-sales-surpass-tencents-reach-us110-billion-tiktok-owner-pushes-e-commerce?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Dec 2023 12:00:21 +0000 Beijing-based ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, is offering to buy back up to US$5 billion worth of shares from existing investors as its initial public offering plan remains up in air, according to sources briefed on the matter. The price offered to investors is similar to the US$160 per share offered to employees, which puts the company’s total valuation at US$268 billion, or about 10 per cent lower compared with the value a year ago when it conducted a US$3 billion share buy-back plan for... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3244025/tiktok-owner-bytedance-offers-buy-back-us5-billion-worth-investor-shares-ipo-prospects-remain-slim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3244025/tiktok-owner-bytedance-offers-buy-back-us5-billion-worth-investor-shares-ipo-prospects-remain-slim?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2023 05:00:07 +0000 Lei Jun, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of smartphone giant Xiaomi, has donated a record 1.3 billion yuan (US$183 million) to his alma mater Wuhan University to support one of China’s leading research universities in tech innovation and talent cultivation. The school announced the fund, the largest individual donation ever given to a Chinese university, on its 130th anniversary on Wednesday. At a signing ceremony for the donation attended by Xiaomi executives and university managers, Lei –... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3243256/xiaomi-founder-lei-jun-donates-us183-million-alma-mater-wuhan-university-tech-innovation-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3243256/xiaomi-founder-lei-jun-donates-us183-million-alma-mater-wuhan-university-tech-innovation-push?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:00:23 +0000 ByteDance’s retreat from video gaming is a cautionary tale for both Big Tech companies as well as smaller studios in China, with the industry no longer seen as a gold mine amid economic headwinds and regulatory pressures. There were several reports on Monday, citing sources, that Tik Tok-owner ByteDance was shuttering most projects not yet online at its main gaming unit Nuverse, with hundreds of job cuts. The Beijing-based firm later confirmed it had made the difficult decision to “restructure... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3243122/bytedance-cautionary-tale-anyone-who-sees-chinas-video-gaming-industry-quick-route-bags-cash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3243122/bytedance-cautionary-tale-anyone-who-sees-chinas-video-gaming-industry-quick-route-bags-cash?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Nov 2023 11:45:11 +0000 ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese sibling of TikTok that has over 600 million daily active users, has tightened its screening of advertisers in response to Beijing’s increased control of short video content. Under Douyin’s new requirement, which will come into effect on Thursday, advertisers looking to promote short-form dramas – budget productions with each episode lasting only a few minutes – will need to show proper licensing documents, according to a notice published by the company’s... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3242323/douyin-tiktoks-chinese-version-tightens-vetting-advertisers-beijing-takes-aim-booming-short-web?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3242323/douyin-tiktoks-chinese-version-tightens-vetting-advertisers-beijing-takes-aim-booming-short-web?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Nov 2023 13:00:19 +0000 ByteDance, China’s most valuable unicorn and the owner of TikTok, has started a new round of share buy-backs, offering US$160 per share to current employees and those who have been laid off, and US$128 for anyone who quit their job, according to sources briefed on the plan. The company, which was founded by entrepreneur Zhang Yiming in 2012 and quickly emerged as one of the country’s most valuable companies, usually conducts share buy-backs twice a year. The latest offer price of US$160 marked a... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3240774/bytedance-offers-employees-us160-buy-back-plan-angers-some-ex-staff-who-would-get-20-cent-less?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3240774/bytedance-offers-employees-us160-buy-back-plan-angers-some-ex-staff-who-would-get-20-cent-less?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Nov 2023 10:00:16 +0000 Chinese tech founders had the biggest gains in fortunes among the country’s richest people amid an internet sector rebound this year, but the number and overall wealth of Chinese billionaires continued to drop in the face of broader economic headwinds. Four of the top five Chinese billionaires with the biggest wealth increases this year are tech entrepreneurs, including Pinduoduo founder Colin Huang Zheng, Tencent Holdings’ co-founder and CEO Pony Ma Huateng, miHoYo co-founder Cai Haoyu and... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3239156/chinese-tech-founders-bounce-back-huruns-2023-rich-list-number-and-overall-wealth-billionaires-drop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3239156/chinese-tech-founders-bounce-back-huruns-2023-rich-list-number-and-overall-wealth-billionaires-drop?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Oct 2023 11:30:09 +0000 Inside a ‘shophouse’ in northeast Jakarta, dozens of salespeople take turns peddling cosmetics, contact lenses and hair accessories. A woman helps a potential customer choose the right shade of lipstick for her skin tone, while a man yells out the latest markdown on vitamin tablets. This is no raucous flea market. It is a live-streamed marketplace within TikTok, and a gold rush for entrepreneurs seeking fortunes on the world’s most popular short-video app. For the company, best known for viral... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3226692/tiktok-emerges-southeast-asian-threat-amazon-us20-billion-shopping-pilot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3226692/tiktok-emerges-southeast-asian-threat-amazon-us20-billion-shopping-pilot?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jul 2023 21:00:09 +0000 China’s top internet watchdog has pledged to open a fast lane for business sector complaints related to online slander, as it steps up corporate protections amid a drive to revive the country’s ailing economy. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) made its latest promise at a symposium in Beijing on Wednesday, where 10 state-owned and private companies were invited to discuss ways to better protect businesses from malicious online acts that damage reputations. This follows the CAC’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3222734/chinas-internet-watchdog-will-set-fast-lane-businesses-report-online-slander-economic-revival-tops?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3222734/chinas-internet-watchdog-will-set-fast-lane-businesses-report-online-slander-economic-revival-tops?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jun 2023 07:53:19 +0000 Zhang Yiming, the billionaire founder of TikTok’s parent ByteDance, has set up a private investment fund in Hong Kong, as he continues to stay out of the spotlight since relinquishing his corporate roles two years ago. The personal fund, named Cool River Venture, will primarily invest in technology-related industries, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be named because the matter is private. The vehicle was incorporated on May 22, the Hong Kong government’s companies... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3221651/tiktok-parent-bytedances-billionaire-founder-zhang-yiming-sets-investment-fund-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3221651/tiktok-parent-bytedances-billionaire-founder-zhang-yiming-sets-investment-fund-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 May 2023 10:00:19 +0000 Lily Brown Lily Brown In 2023, the world’s richest man is Bernard Arnault with US$211 billion in the bank, thanks to his ever-growing luxury empire LVMH, per Forbes. Even Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is now trailing behind with his US$180 billion net worthwhile Amazon founder Jeff Bezos placed No 3 with his US$114 billion net worth, states the Forbes rich list that was unveiled in April (which we also referenced for the other net worths mentioned in this piece). As Asia continues to grow and dominate the global... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3221265/10-most-powerful-billionaires-asia-net-worths-ranked-indias-gautam-adani-and-mukesh-ambani-uniqlos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3221265/10-most-powerful-billionaires-asia-net-worths-ranked-indias-gautam-adani-and-mukesh-ambani-uniqlos?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 May 2023 14:35:10 +0000 ByteDance, the tech unicorn behind global hit short video app TikTok and its Chinese sibling Douyin, has disposed of its bricks-and-mortar real estate agency, taking a step back from China’s property industry amid continued weakness in the country’s housing market. Fujian Haofang Youxing Information Technology Co – a ByteDance subsidiary that operates roughly 200 offline brokerages in Fuzhou, capital of southeastern Fujian province – has been sold for an undisclosed amount to Fuqing Wumai... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3219780/tiktok-owner-bytedance-scales-back-chinese-real-estate-operations-divesting-bricks-and-mortar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3219780/tiktok-owner-bytedance-scales-back-chinese-real-estate-operations-divesting-bricks-and-mortar?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 May 2023 10:00:24 +0000 Zhang Yiming, the 40-year-old founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, has donated another 200 million yuan (US$28.9 million) to an education fund he created two years ago, a municipal education authority said in a statement on Thursday, offering a rare glimpse of the Chinese entrepreneur’s activity after disappearing from the public spotlight nearly two years ago. The education bureau of Longyan, Zhang’s home city of 2.7 million people in southeastern Fujian province, announced the new donation in a... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3219398/founder-tiktok-owner-bytedance-zhang-yiming-makes-fresh-donation-while-keeping-low-profile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3219398/founder-tiktok-owner-bytedance-zhang-yiming-makes-fresh-donation-while-keeping-low-profile?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 May 2023 13:00:11 +0000 China’s top internet regulator has pledged to crack down on online rumours and information breaches violating the rights of private companies as Beijing signals better protection for the private sector while striving to revive the economy. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC)’s work priorities this year include optimising the online business environment and protecting the rights of enterprises and entrepreneurs, CAC deputy director Niu Yibing told a press conference in Beijing on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3215134/china-crack-down-online-rumours-and-company-privacy-breaches-move-reassure-business-and-revive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3215134/china-crack-down-online-rumours-and-company-privacy-breaches-move-reassure-business-and-revive?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Mar 2023 11:00:16 +0000