China ICT (Info Communications Technology) Industry, Infra, Commerce, Exports: News & Discussions

[ahojunk]

Catch all these criminals and punish them.

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China launches first police center dedicated to cyber and telecom fraud
By Kou Jie (People's Daily Online) 15:42, September 21, 2016

[File photo]​

On Sept. 20, China established its first police center focused specifically on tackling cyber and telecom crimes nationwide.

Founded by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security, the police center aims to supervise and control bank accounts involved in fraud cases. The center will also cooperate with financial institutions nationwide to block illegal funds, according to an announcement released by the Ministry of Public Security on Sept. 20.

The establishment of the center was authorized by the Ministry of Public Security in January. As of press time, the center has blocked 400,000 accounts in connection with fraud, and over 1.1 billion RMB of illegal funds. More than 10,000 fake base stations and fraudulent network links have been shut down, with over 130,000 mobile phone numbers banned for their involvement in fraud cases, People’s Daily Online reported.

Telecom and cyber fraud have become fast-growing criminal fields in China, causing serious damage to social stability and public security. In August, Xu Yuyu, a college-bound student, died from a heart attack after her tuition money was stolen by telephone scammers.

In addition to the supervision and control center in Beijing, the Ministry of Public Security has also established six research centers nationwide to study cyber and telecom crimes, as well as two prevention and control centers in cooperation with Tencent and Alibaba, Chinanews.com reported.

 

[ahojunk]

This will help to address some data privacy & security concerns.

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China plans to release private info protection standard soon
By Cao Siqi in Wuhan | Source:Global Times | Published: 2016/9/20 23:43:40


China will soon release a national standard for personal information protection, regulating access to, storage and publishing of personal information, an expert said during China Cybersecurity Week on Monday.

Chen Xingshu, professor of information and technology at Sichuan University and among those who drafted the standard, said "data controllers," including government departments, universities and Internet businesses, are required to follow the standard in collecting, treating and storing personal information.

The standard also defines responsibilities of data controllers and safety measures in dealing with personal data, she said.

China faces the risk of personal information leaks. In April 2015, Qihu 360's Internet security monitoring platform butian.360.cn found that tens of millions of Chinese residents registered in the country's social security system face the risk of personal information leaks due to system loopholes.

Moreover, the personal information of over 200,000 children, including their names, age, address and parents' telephone numbers in Jinan, Shandong Province were sold in April, triggering public outrage. The leak of personal information has also led to rampant telecom fraud, which has led to fraud and tragedies.

"We are discussing how to implement the standard and to promote a comprehensive real-name system," she said, adding that the standard will be released online in late October for public feedback.

 

[ahojunk]

The life of rural folks are getting better thanks to the Internet, Alibaba and JD.com.

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Internet technology giants eyes vast market in rural China
(People's Daily Online) 17:00, September 22, 2016

Internet technology giants eyes vast market in rural China​

Internet moguls have pledged to further promote entrepreneurship and boost innovative growth in rural China, where netizens top 195 million.

E-commerce giant Alibaba signed cooperation agreements with the Ministry of Agriculture at a national conference on Sept. 6 and 7, which was chaired by Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu. The agreement aims to boost e-commerce in rural China through education and registration initiatives, which will also help to alleviate poverty in those areas.

More than 20,000 people are currently employed by Alibaba in over 300 counties across 29 provincial regions of China.

Addressing the conference, Liu Qiangdong, CEO of JD.com, said that some 90 percent of his employees come from rural China, and he himself grew up in a small village in Jiangsu province. To promote rural e-commerce, JD.com has established more than 1,000 local specialty shops and invited Party chiefs from 100 counties to advertise their county specialties.

With freezer storage in 10 cities, JD.com is now capable of delivering fruit and other fresh food within 24 hours in 20 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. Liu added that the company has also invented multiple e-finance products to boost entrepreneurship among farmers. These advances include more accessible loans and e-commerce education.

The population of netizens in rural China had climbed to 195 million by 2015, with 170 million rural residents surfing the Internet via smartphones. Of the 350 Chinese counties that were responsible for more than 100 million RMB of trade on Taobao in 2015, 120 were located in central and western China.

 

[ahojunk]

Nowadays, I don't have much time for TV.

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Internet TV brings new opportunities to programmatic advertising
2016-09-23 09:34Global Times Editor: Li Yan

By drawing people back to the living room, Internet TV has brought new marketing value and potential for China's programmatic media buying business, an industry report showed on Thursday.

While personal computers and mobile phones remain the most important information channels for many, the development of smart TVs has driven a growing number of users back to big-screen TVs, and some traditional TV watchers who have little access to the Internet have also shifted to Internet TVs, according to the China Programmatic TV Buying Trends report jointly released on Thursday by consulting firm SocialBeta and Yoyi Digital, a provider of multi-screen programmatic buying and marketing solutions for advertisers and media publishers.

The report also said people tend to spend more time watching Internet TV these days, taking back the time stolen by PCs and mobile phones gradually.

In 2015, more than 40.55 million smart TVs were sold in China, representing 100 percent growth in users, it noted.

The development has brought new opportunities for programmatic buying, which refers to the algorithmic purchase and sale of advertising space in real time. That process can match advertisers with selected content providers who can target the relevant audiences.

Programmatic advertising on mobile terminals may easily lead to impulse purchases of small goods, but marketing of high-price or high value-added products requires more convincing platforms.

Consumers trust TV advertising more than online ads, which is the advantage of smart TV, the report said, citing Li Xixiang, vice president of third-party marketing information provider Miaozhen Systems.

 

[ahojunk]

World's highest delivery service station established in Tibet
Saturday, Sep 24, 2016

Chinese courier and station chief Yang Tao poses at the Qomolangma delivery service station
of Alibaba's Cainiao Logistics in Tashi Dzom township, Tingri county, Shigatse,
Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region. Photo: Sina Weibo​

Alibaba's logistics arm, Cainiao Network, set up the world's highest delivery service station in Southwest China's Tibet to expand businesses and services to far remote areas.

Located in Tashi Dzom in Tingri county with the altitude of 4,119 meters at the foot of Qomolangma, the station is managed by young Chinese man Yang Tao and his father who ran a vegetable store in the town.

Yang, born in 1990s, has to drive his pickup for hours to the county seat of Tingri and back periodically to fetch parcels from online shopping, mainly from Alibaba's shopping sites Taobao and Tmall, as delivery of packages stops in Tingri after being sent by air to Shigatse. And then parcel recipients come to his station to pick up their packages.

The service station brings much convenience and more products to the small town with a population of about 7,400.

- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/w...tation-established-tibet#sthash.5ABRYVRR.dpuf

 

[cirr]

China Endeavors to Build a Big Data "Smart Ocean"

QINGDAO, China, Sept. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- China, on its way of implementing the strategy of building a maritime power, is endeavoring to promoting the development of maritime big data and building of "Smart Ocean".

The 2016 China Qingdao International Ocean Summit Forum was held in Qingdao on September 26th. Experts participating expressed that big data is the emerging strategic resource, maritime big data is the scientific application of big data technology in maritime field and maritime science has entered a new era driven by both data and knowledge.

Wu Lixin, academician of Chinese Academy of Science, pointed out that maritime big data involves various fields including physical oceanography, marine geology, marine biology, marine ecology, marine chemistry, marine remote sensing and deep-sea observation, and physical oceanography alone has waves, humidity, salinity and other 200 data variables.

According to sources, Tsinghua University is building a remote sensing big data center to support the development of maritime big data including ocean storm surge and inland flood monitoring and early-warning system, marine remote sensing big data mining and analysis and innovative application of navigation satellite in maritime fields.

Wang Lei, from Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science, introduced that his institute, cooperating with Qingdao Bangbang Information Co., Ltd., has developed CAS Scientific and Technical Service Network Project which has been operating in fish and crab farming for about 3 years with over 400,000 users. Experts said this project has built a smart aquaculture and big data platform which can collect and analyze all major influential factors in farming in a comprehensive way and achieve process monitoring, environmental early-warning, data processing and technical guidance.

Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology is also dedicated to maritime big data development and building petaflop supercomputers which will be fastest supercomputer in maritime field for China.

Wu Lixin, Director of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, proposed the "Transparent Ocean" project, which uses the satellite sensing, intelligent buoy, underwater glider, underwater robot, deep-sea space station and other equipment to acquire in real-time or regular time the general information of marine environment at different depth in certain areas and support channel safety, marine ecological environment and resources safety, maritime disaster prevention and relief and weather forecasting.

SOURCE China Economic Information Service

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...o-build-a-big-data-smart-ocean-300335481.html

 

[ahojunk]

China steps up inspection of online games
2016-09-29 10:25 | Xinhua | Editor: Mo Hong'e

The Ministry of Culture is planning to check 200 randomly-selected online games operators, after giving dozens of warnings for various violations.

The ministry will personally examine 50 operators, while authorities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou will review 30 each, the ministry said Wednesday.

The 200 targets account for about 13 percent of online game operators in the country.

The checks will focus on operators that use banned content, import games without approval, are unlicensed, or fail to use real-name registrations for players.

Last month, the ministry urged 26 operators to rectify violations, such as providing games using pornography, gambling, or that going against social ethics, as well as failing to take measures to prevent children becoming game addicts.

In China, online game operators must prevent minors from playing too long, and use measures such as reducing or even invalidating their in-game gains after a set time-limit.

The ministry said it planned to launch similar inspections on a regular basis, covering all game operators within two years, with more frequent checks on repeat offenders and targets of multiple public complaints.

 

[TaiShang]

China steps up inspection of online games
2016-09-29 10:25 | Xinhua | Editor: Mo Hong'e

The Ministry of Culture is planning to check 200 randomly-selected online games operators, after giving dozens of warnings for various violations.

The ministry will personally examine 50 operators, while authorities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou will review 30 each, the ministry said Wednesday.

The 200 targets account for about 13 percent of online game operators in the country.

The checks will focus on operators that use banned content, import games without approval, are unlicensed, or fail to use real-name registrations for players.

Last month, the ministry urged 26 operators to rectify violations, such as providing games using pornography, gambling, or that going against social ethics, as well as failing to take measures to prevent children becoming game addicts.

In China, online game operators must prevent minors from playing too long, and use measures such as reducing or even invalidating their in-game gains after a set time-limit.

The ministry said it planned to launch similar inspections on a regular basis, covering all game operators within two years, with more frequent checks on repeat offenders and targets of multiple public complaints.

It is very good. Online ads are flooding Taiwan, currently, taking up most of the commercial air time on TVs. I see no value in this. People's attention must be directed to more constructive pastimes.

 

[ahojunk]

WeChat upgrade exposes click farm industry
2016-09-30 15:43 | Ecns.cn | Editor: Mo Hong'e

(ECNS) -- The wildly popular social media app WeChat developed by Tencent has updated its system again to fight false clicks, dealing a heavy blow to accounts that once claimed to have massive readership.

WeChat's move came after a series of false clicks, as influential public accounts on WeChat with subscriber numbers exceeding 100,000 each day could attract big investment.

On Alibaba's e-commerce website taobao.com, hundreds of sellers provide services offering to increase the number of clicks and subscribers on WeChat.

A public account can increase its readership to more than 100,000 at a cost of 5,000 yuan ($750). The influential account usually charge 50,000 to 100,000 yuan for embedded advertisements or endorsements, thus forming an industry chain.

To prevent false clicks, WeChat upgraded its system on Sept. 28, causing the number of readers on some influential public accounts to plummet.

In future, the app will not display precise views for stories with more than 100,000 pageviews, Tencent said.

 

[ahojunk]

E-wallet services bloom at airports
2016-09-30 09:01 | China Daily | Editor: Feng Shuang

International airports have become the new battlefield for the country's top internet companies as they gear up for over-seas expansion by providing Chinese outbound travelers with more e-wallet services.

The timing is ideal, as millions of tourists pack their bags right before the National Day holiday, from Oct 1 to 7.

China's online search giant Baidu Inc announced on Thursday a partnership with Israeli startup Travelers Box to provide a convenient way for Chinese travelers to exchange their unused foreign money before returning home.

Through the service, travelers can choose to credit their Baidu Wallet accounts by depositing money at Travelers-Box kiosks at airports in some of the most popular countries for Chinese tourists, including Japan, Italy and Canada.

The service, which charges 7 percent of the total deposit as a service and exchange fee, is available at five international airports, with six more by year's end.

Whitney Yan, a Baidu spokeswoman, said the service will save people the trouble of taking their spare foreign money home, then having to exchange it into yuan.

"Sometimes, you don't want to waste your spare money buying goods you don't really want. If you don't have time to go to a bank, the money is likely to sit in your drawer," she said. Li Chao, an analyst with iResearch Consulting Group, said that the rising number of Chinese outbound travelers and their increasing spending overseas are only part of the reason companies are looking to airports for business.

"Fierce competition has dragged down the profits of digital payment services in China. Looking abroad is in line with their internationalization strategy and the goal to be more profitable. And the best way to start is with Chinese outbound travelers," he said.

Alipay, China's largest online payment service, struck a deal on Tuesday with 10 overseas airports to introduce its payment services starting in October. Included are airports in Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and Thailand. The company said it will include more services at airports in the future.

 

[ahojunk]

Tencent Creates a New App Service to Support WeChat
Ana Ablaza | Sep 30, 2016 11:05 PM EDT

Ma Huateng is Tencent's CEO. (Photo : Getty Images)​

Tencent, the creator of WeChat, announced recently that they have started developing another service to support the famous messenger app. This service is called Xiaochengxu.

It provides tools for businesses to build sub-apps within WeChat. Users can now make services simpler to use without leaving the messenger.

The new WeChat app becomes an operating system because users would not need to leave to use other mobile apps.

According to Wang Xiaofeng, an analyst with Forrester Research in Beijing, "With everybody coming in to launch Xiaochengxu, WeChat will be much more than an app. It will become the entry point of the Chinese mobile Internet."

WeChat currently has 806 million users. However, the developers at Tencent want to make these users stick to using the app.

Internet users increased by only 34 percent in the first half of the year compared to 55 percent last year. This figure is causing developers to tightly compete for a market that is slowing down.

An analyst in Hong Kong believes that Tencent's new app will eventually lead to an app distribution business for the company, which is similar to the Apple Store.

Yan Zhanmeng, director of technology research firm Counterpoint Research, said, "With the advantage of more than 700 million active users, WeChat will be a strong newcomer to affect and even change the mobile app distribution market."

Morningstar's senior equity analyst Marie Sun thinks differently. She believes that Apple and Tencent are looking at two different markets.

She said, "The apps in WeChat will be more lightweight apps, and hence will not replace the need for app stores."

Feng Dahui, a former developer of health platform DXY, thinks that Tencent's new app will be a big help in the health sector and medical institutions because health care apps are too expensive.


Read more: http://en.yibada.com/articles/16393...-app-service-support-wechat.htm#ixzz4M03zoDYj

 

[ahojunk]

Alipay’s New Feature Brings Help to You, Even on the Loo

Alibaba’s payment app allows users to find each other for paid services.

Kevin Schoenmakers
Sixth Tone
Sep 30, 2016

Chinese tech giant Alibaba has launched a new program: a platform on which users can hire a helping hand, whether they need someone to repair their phone, repaint their house, or even grab them a roll of toilet paper in an emergency.

The program, called “Daowei,” initially started as an April Fools’ joke but launched officially on Thursday. It can be accessed through Alibaba’s mobile payment app Alipay, but for now it’s only available in Shanghai — it’s expected to roll out to more cities soon.

Daowei, meaning both “to be in position” and “to be adequate,” opens to a split screen that reads: “I help others, others help me.” When a user clicks through, they’ll see a map showing others nearby who are offering services. Services can be filtered into groups such as tutors, photographers, handymen, and “running legs” — people who will run errands for a fee.

Screenshots from ‘Daowei’ show the split screen (left) and a map with nearby users (right).


Alipay revealed the concept for Daowei in an April Fools’ Day video in 2015. The video marketed a program capable of catering to even the most over-the-top needs, such as craving a comforting hug or wanting someone to fetch you some toilet paper when your stall has run out.

Liu Yang, a public relations officer at Alipay, told Sixth Tone that even though Daowei was a joke then, the company later realized the idea actually had potential. A team started working on the project in early 2016.

The Daowei project fits into Alipay’s mission to become a “one-stop” app for all everyday needs, Liu said. The app already allows users to order food, play games, pay bills, call taxis, and more.

Daowei is only available to users whose Sesame Credit score exceeds a set level. Alipay’s Sesame Credit system is based not only on credit history, but also behavioral preferences, social connections, and other data gathered and analyzed by Alipay.

A user’s Sesame score can range from 350 to 950, and only those whose score is above 650 — rated as “excellent” — are eligible to offer services on Daowei, while requesting services will be available to users whose score is above 600 — or “good.”

Liu explained these conditions are necessary because Daowei doesn’t mask users’ real identities. The app shares Sesame Credit score data beforehand, allowing users to judge whether the other person is reliable before they proceed with a transaction. He also said Alipay will invite professionals to offer services on Daowei.

Users on microblog platform Weibo were excited. “I can’t wait to go to Shanghai to try it out,” wrote one user. “In the era of the sharing economy, Chinese apps are so great,” wrote another.

Though Liu said people offering drugs or sex will be banned from Daowei, many net users mocked the program, calling it a new dating tool. Alipay’s rival, messaging and payment app WeChat, has a feature that allows users to find people in their area to chat with, which is often used for dating. “Alipay has become the newest hook-up weapon,” said one user.

Additional reporting by Dong Heng.

 

[ahojunk]

Alipay to offer payment services in overseas airports
Xinhua, September 28, 2016

In some overseas airports, Chinese travelers will now be able to pay their bills via Apps on their smart phones instead of using foreign money, said payment platform Alipay.

In a news conference held earlier this week, Alipay said that it had struck deals with ten high-profile airports across the world in its "Airport of the Future" program in an effort to offer convenience to Alipay users.

The international airports are in Germany, Singapore, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Thailand as well as China's Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.

Nine of the airports will start accepting Alipay from the beginning of October, the start of "Golden Week" when most Chinese have a week-long national holiday. The Singaporean airport will start the business at the end of this year.

Travelers will not only be able to pay for their purchases using Alipay, but can also find local shopping and dining information about merchants partnered with Alipay.

Services such as indoor navigation, wi-fi connection, hotel reservation and flight reminders via the Alipay app will also be provided.

"Alipay is built into the daily lives of over 450 million users when they are in China, and we want to replicate the experience for them when they travel abroad," said Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President of Ant Financial, which owns Alipay. "Airports are travelers' first stop and by working with the world's most popular airports, we are providing our users with payment and location-based information to make their visits to a foreign city more comfortable."

Alipay said it would not stop at ten airports and hoped that its service would reach 30 airports in the future.

Alipay is one of the country's biggest online payment platforms. It has already expanded to several markets such as the United States, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.

 

[endyashainin]

http://nextshark.com/china-tests-fastest-mobile-internet-5g/

China is Testing the Fastest Mobile Internet The World Has Ever Seen
October 5, 2016

China has started running trials for 5G internet connection technology. The country is set to distribute equipment across 100 cities in 20 provinces, with more planned.

The quest for 5G mobile internet connectivity is an ongoing rat race. Estonia, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey and the United States are contenders, and China hopes to take the lead in its recent attempt.

For those new to the concept, 5G is a wireless connection built to keep up with the plethora of mobile devices that harness the world wide web. “Mobile” does not only refer to smartphones and tablets, but it’s also those appliances, cars and wearables that remind us the future is now.

5G is officially named IMT-2020. With speeds of up to 20 Gbps, it’s technically 20 times faster than today’s 4G tech, letting you download a 25-GB, ultra-HD movie in about 10 seconds.

According to South China Morning Post, China has the world’s largest 4G market, with 30% of 1.3 billion mobile phone users at the end of 2015. This puts the country in a good position to conduct trials. The technologies being tested reportedly include massive multiple-antenna systems.

Chris Lane, senior analyst at Bernstein Research, said:

“We believe ‘China Inc’ has a strong vested interest in ensuring a significant amount of Chinese technology is embedded in the [5G] standard – finally freeing them of their dependency on foreign technology and the need to pay royalties.”

 

[bobsm]

Asia’s ecommerce spending to hit record $1 trillion this year – but most of that is China

• Steven Millward12:53 PM at Aug 18, 2016
  • While booming ecommerce uptake in India and Southeast Asia is helping push the tally upwards, China’s much more developed online retail market makes up for the vast majority of that US$1 trillion – US$899 billion of it, to be precise.
    
    China is already the world’s biggest ecommerce market, ahead of the US. China’s keen web shoppers accounted for 42.8 percent of worldwide ecommerce spending in 2015, says Emarketer; and that will rise to a projected 47 percent this year.
    
    
    
    
    
    Asia’s ecommerce appetite, being the fastest growing region in the world, is expected to rocket to US$2.7 trillion by 2020.
    
    “Expanding middle classes, greater mobile and internet penetration, growing competition of ecommerce players and improving logistics and infrastructure will all help to fuel ecommerce growth in the region,” says the Emarketer report.
    
    China retail spend eclipses US
    China will hit a major milestone this year as its total retail market – both online and offline shopping – will surpass the US for the first time.
    
    China’s retail spending is set to hit US$4.9 trillion, compared with US$4.8 trillion in the US, according to Emarketer’s analysts.
    
    
    
    
    
    Total retail sales across Asia – US$9 trillion this year – account for 20.8 percent of the global purse. “Burgeoning consumer economies in China, India and Indonesia will drive retail sales over the next four years as disposable incomes in those countries continue to rise,” concludes the report.
    

https://www.techinasia.com/asia-ecommerce-spending-1-trillion-dollars-2016