It was almost Angel Zhang’s 22nd birthday. She wanted to do something special, spend a little extra on herself. But instead of asking her parents for more money — they give her a US$300 monthly stipend — she used Huabei, a virtual credit card run by Ant Financial. “Almost every…

On a tree-lined street in Shanghai, a glass storefront shows off frilled dresses and high heels. It looks like a typical clothing store, except that it belongs to online fashion sensation LinForeverGirl, who has over four million followers on Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent. Now, she’s funneling those fans into foot…

Global Brain, one of Japan’s largest venture capital firms, is doubling down on the blockchain industry with a new entity that will conduct research and participate in ‘initial coin offerings’ or ICOs — a type of blockchain-based crowdfunding that was recently banned in China. The new subsidiary, dubbed Global Brain…

China’s most popular messaging app WeChat is quietly developing its own framework for augmented reality (AR). Made with smartphones in mind — not HoloLens-esque headsets — it’s a big step in WeChat’s plans to bring AR into its ever-expanding world of payments, entertainment, shopping, transportation, and other services. Here are…

Encased in a glass pedestal, Huawei’s Mate 9 Porsche Design was the most expensive phone I’d ever seen. It sat next to a gleaming, black Porsche (the car) at Huawei’s launch event last November with a price tag of over US$1,500. China’s smartphone market today is a much different beast…

In China, smartphone apps have never felt more obsolete. WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app, hosts an overwhelming number of services inside itself: food delivery, ride-hailing, live streaming, and more. Now, China’s leading mobile payment app, Alipay, is trying to kill off apps too. Alipay is pushing out “mini programs,”…

China’s cryptocurrency speculators have had one hell of a week. Since the Chinese government’s announcement on Monday banning all token crowdsales — also known as ‘initial coin offerings’ or ICOs — the country’s blockchain community has scrambled to comply. ICO platforms where companies list their crowdsales, like Icoinfo and Icoage…

Outside the cicada-like whir of machines, the bitcoin mine is a desolate concrete lot full of plain-looking warehouses. We’re in Ordos, the famed ghost town of Inner Mongolia province where local farmers became rich off coal reserves hidden beneath the earth’s surface. Now, another kind of fortune is being mined. …

Chinese consumers love shopping online. And no wonder — thanks to mobile payments and speedy logistics, consumers can order groceries, gadgets, clothes, and more in just a few taps. The ease of online shopping is an important part of China’s booming ecommerce industry. According to the country’s National Bureau of…