he US tech giant won’t offer its VPN-like feature in China despite its stated commitment to user privacy. This Janus-face approach to privacy risks creating an intractable privacy paradox in China, one of its fastest-growing markets.

China eyes the ‘next stage of the internet’: The country hopes its two-pronged approach to early blockchain and 5G adoption will help establish itself as a global leader in the internet’s next generation.

We forecast that this year, adults in China will spend an average of 3 hours, 16 minutes (3:16) per day on smartphone activities, which we define as excluding calls on the cellular network. Up 25 minutes, or 14.6%, from 2020, this total will vault China to first place in the world for that metric. The US will drop to No. 2, with adults there spending 3:10 on smartphones daily.

The Chinese insurance marketplace uses AI to match consumers with suitable coverage options—and its digital-first solution can help bridge China’s insurance gap, especially since the life and health insurance market is set to grow.

In China, out-of-home (OOH) was among the hardest-hit ad formats last year. Though spending on outdoor ads will start returning to normal this year, where and how brands deploy them may be anything but ordinary in a post-pandemic China.

Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to redefine how brands engage with consumers, and companies in China are investing heavily in this emerging technology. But adoption there has hit a wall, meaning the industry must overcome technical challenges, and other pain points, for VR to become a game changer for consumer marketing.

A new generation of carmakers are racing to corner the electric vehicle market in China, and Nio is one major player that galvanizes customer loyalty with an ecosystem of social networking, ecommerce, and other services on its app.

Digital audio listeners surpass 600 million in China

When social buying in China will boom

In-store shopping will remain a crucial part of the retail sales funnel in China, even as ecommerce players continue to rack up record gross merchandise value (GMV). Pre-pandemic, ecommerce was already disrupting brick-and-mortar retail, but over the past year, retailers began to innovate more offline, leveraging new and existing technology.

In April 2016, WeCom launched as WeChat Work in China, to only moderate success. The pandemic has turbocharged its user growth, however. The app’s integration with WeChat and arsenal of business features will make it a valuable asset for marketers even after offices reopen.