February 2012

Sina Weibo Over 300 Million Users Now Who Generate Over 100MM Posts Everyday

According to Sina’s unaudited financial report, there are now over 300 million registered users on Sina Weibo now that generate over 100 million posts every day. 9% are daily active users. Sina will invest in Weibo 160 million in 2012. According to Sina CEO, Charles Chao, Sina will promote microblogging payment system, credit system, and [...]

Why Chinese Netizens Are Laughing at BBC Now

A flood of comments written in Chinese were written on President Obama’s Google+ Page when many China Internet users were able to open Google+ normally without using VPN. And, BBC reported this incident and part of its comments has become a joke on Weibo now. This is the part of comments from BBC that became [...]

Facebook, YouTube and Twitter CAN Be Accessed in China Now

Today some Weibo users reported they could open Facebook and YouTube without using VPN just like browsing other sites hosted in China. Some netizens can even access Twitter, but much less stable compared to opening Facebook and Youtube. It still remains unclear why and how this happened. Most of the users who reported this incident [...]

CHART: Mobile Payment Status in China

According to a recent report from iResearch, China mobile payment reaches 48.14 billion yuan last year, up by 149.4%. And, the number of mobile payment users reaches 190 million in 2011 and will likely grow to 480 million in 2013 according to iResearch data.

Baidu Showed Its Commitment in Southeast Asian Markets with Joint Lab in Singapore

Called the Baidu-I²R Research Center (BIRC), the joint laboratory by Baidu and I²R (Institute for Infocomm Research, a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, or A*STAR) will operate as an R&D unit at the Fusionopolis research complex in Singapore. The launch of BRIC showed Baidu’s commitment to enhance its products in Southeast Asia. Initially, [...]

China Social Network Users More Likely to Engage with Brands Online

China social network users are more likely to consider social network sites a good source of word-of-mouth information on brand experiences than were users in the US, at 23% vs. 18% in the US, according to a survey from Jack Morton Worldwide.

Breaking: Google Plus Now Unblocked in China

About two hours ago, some Internet users in China reported Google+ can now be accessed in China; yes, without using VPN. It’s not accessible in all cities; but it seems most people now in China can access Google+.

How Ctrip’s Automated Weibo Robot Helps Hotel & Flight Booking

Ctrip launched a robot account on Sina Weibo last week allowing Weibo users to get spontaneous results on hotel and air tickets searches. Weibo users need to follow certain format when they publish a post and at the same time mention Ctrip; once the post is published, the results can be viewed in the comment [...]

Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in China

The most innovative company in China is Tencent, according to Fast Company’s Top 10 List. Other Internet companies include Renren (6, the most popular social networking site in China), Innovation Works (8, Beijing-based investment company providing in-house coaching and funding to early-stage companies, led by Google China’s ex-president Kai-Fu Lee) and Alibaba (9). Tencent Greenbox [...]

Chinese GDP Broken Down by Province

China Briefing shared a stunning map of Chinese GDP break down by provinces, based on China’s 2011 yearly economic reports of local governments. An impressive 22 provinces reported GDP figures in excess of 1 trillion yuan (US$158 billion).

Baidu To Enhance Geo-targeting Feature

For those who are familiar with AdWords’ geographic targeting feature, you know that your ads could also appear to those use physical location term in the search queries even though they are not physically in the location you specify. And, this is not the case on Baidu. Baidu, however, will launch a new feature this [...]

Baidu Maps Introduced Hotel Query & Reservation Feature

In partnership with Qunar, Kuxun.cn, and DaoDao.com, Baidu Maps has introduced a Hotel Query and Reservation feature that integrates comprehensive hotel information into its Maps platform, streamlining the process of finding the right spot. Users can either select hotels within the “Vicinity Search” function to launch a hotel search, which locates relevant results within your [...]

Online Video Presenting A Huge Opportunity for Marketers

Group M, Youku and research company Sinomonitor jointly released a research report “Online Video Audience & Media Value” last December; the report showed that instant messager, Weibo and social networks are the top three channels China internet users share online videos.

Nielsen: China Online Consumers Still Among The Most Optimistic

Consumer confidence also fell by one point last quarter in China from 105 to 104 according to third quarter global online consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and buy. According to the same Nielsen survey, Global online consumer confidence fell for the seventh consecutive quarter as confidence in 31 of [...]

Taobao Trip Total Sales Exceeded 10 Billion Yuan in 2011

Taobao Trip, a section on Taobao.com dedicated to travel related products including air tickets, hotel booking, tour packages and etc, announced that their total transactions in 2011 exceeded 10 billion yuan (CNY 10.9 billion or USD 1.73 billion). About 67% of total sales on Taobao Trip (CNY 7.3 billion or USD 1.16 billion) were air [...]