Search results for "WeChat"

Alibaba fined $2.8 billion on competition charge in China

Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest e-commerce company, was fined 18.3 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) by Chinese regulators on Saturday for anti-competitive tactics, as the ruling Communist Party tightens control over fast-growing tech industries. Party leaders worry about the dominance of China’s biggest internet companies, which are expanding into finance, health services and other sensitive areas. […]

Encrypted messaging app Signal blocked in China

Encrypted messaging app Signal appears to have been blocked in mainland China, the latest foreign social media service to cease working in a country where the government tightly controls the flow of information. As of Tuesday, users of the app within China had to connect to a virtual private network (VPN) that allows them to […]

China releases new anti-monopoly laws on its tech sector

China aims to keep its tech industry under a tight noose, as the country’s market regulator released new and stricter rules to boot out monopolistic practices on Sunday, primarily targeting its tech giants. The new legislation – issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) – will cement an earlier anti-monopoly draft law which […]

China criticizes US order against dealing with Chinese apps

China’s government on Wednesday accused Washington of misusing national security as an excuse to hurt commercial competitors after President Donald Trump signed an order banning transactions with payment services Alipay and WeChat Pay and six other apps. Tuesday’s order escalated a conflict with Beijing over technology, security and spying accusations that has plunged U.S.-Chinese relations […]

Trump widens US ban on Chinese apps as his term nears end

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay in an escalation of a trade war that has been unfolding through most of his term. The order, however, goes into effect in 45 days, nearly a month after Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the […]

Where is Jack Ma, China's e-commerce pioneer?

China’s best-known entrepreneur, e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma, made his fortune by taking big risks. The former English teacher founded Alibaba Group in 1999, when China had few internet users. Online payments service Alipay launched five years later, before regulators said such businesses would be allowed. Both long shots grew to dominate their industries. Ma’s latest […]

China to reopen global travel with QR Code

In an attempt to ease up travel and recover from the pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a “global mechanism” that utilizes QR codes to open up international travel. Jinping commented that China needs to “further harmonize policies and standards and establish ‘fast tracks’ to facilitate the orderly flow of people.” The QR codes […]

Huawei selling Honor phone brand in face of US sanctions

Chinese tech giant Huawei is selling its budget-price Honor smartphone brand in an effort to rescue the struggling business from damaging U.S. sanctions imposed on its parent company. The sale announced Tuesday is aimed at reviving Honor by separating it from Huawei’s network equipment business, which Washington says is a security threat, an accusation Huawei […]

Here's why Ant Group is about to shatter IPO records

HONG KONG (AP) — Stella Su, who lives and works in Shanghai, has used an ATM only once in the past year. Instead of cash, in recent years she has done almost all her business using the digital wallet Alipay –- shopping in a mall, buying stuff online or transferring money to friends. “Now when […]

Huawei sales up, but growth slows under virus, US pressure

Chinese tech giant Huawei, one of the biggest makers of smartphones and switching equipment, said Friday its revenue rose 9.9% in the first nine months of this year, but growth decelerated in the face of U.S. sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic. Huawei Technologies Ltd. gave no sales figure for the most recent quarter ending in […]