Chinese internet darlings, the decoupled VC sector, and open-source leaders, with Jing Yang, Asia Editor of The Information

In this conversation, Jing Yang, Asia Bureau Chief of The Information, a former WSJ reporter, discusses the evolution of China's tech landscape over the past decade.

We explore the corporate strategy and positioning differences between established tech giants like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent and newer entrants like Pinduoduo and Shein. Jing also talks about her reporting on Shein and Temu and their attempts to be publicly listed in the West.

The conversation delves into the regulatory challenges faced by these companies both domestically and internationally, and how that has led to a belief shared amongst Western investors that “China is uninvestible.”

She dives into the implications of the AI arms race between China and the US, and the shifting dynamics in the venture capital landscape in China. She explains the differences between RMB-denominated funds and US-dollar-denominated funds, as well as how the VC ecosystem has evolved over the last few years.

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Jing Yang is the Asia Bureau Chief at The Information. Based in Hong Kong, Jing leads a team of reporters covering the region's vibrant tech and venture capital scene and has written and overseen agenda-setting stories on topics ranging from AI to semiconductors to marquee companies like Nvidia and ByteDance.

Prior to joining The Information, Jing was a Senior Correspondent at The Wall Street Journal where she covered a broad range of topics, including Wall Street’ foray into China, Beijing’s crackdown on internet platforms, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Jing also has reporting stints at Bloomberg News and the South China Morning Post.

She has won three Society of Publishers in Asia Awards and three Best in Business Awards at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing in the US. She is an honorary lecturer at her alma mater, the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre, and a board member of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong.

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Every episode, I bring in a guest with a unique point of view on a critical matter, phenomenon, or business trend—someone who can help us see things differently.

For more information on the podcast series, see here.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Jing Yang and Her Journey

02:35 The Evolution of Chinese Tech Mindset

08:08 Comparing Old and New Chinese Tech Giants

11:16 The Unique Business Models of Pinduoduo and Shein

17:41 Regulatory Challenges for Chinese Tech Companies

22:04 The Impact of AI on Chinese Tech Giants

32:30 US-China AI Arms Race: Context and Implications

34:55 Bridging the Gap: US and China Perspectives

39:10 China's AI Strategy: Open Source vs Closed Source

44:32 Emerging Players in China's AI Landscape

51:41 The Impact of Decoupling on VC Landscape: Sequioa to HongShan

01:05:44 Future Trends in China's AI Tech Space

Auto generated transcript for reference, typos might occur

Grace Shao (00:00)

Hi, this is your host Grace Shao and joining me today is Jing Yang, Asia Bureau Chief of Information. Previously, she was a senior correspondent at the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong where she covered a range of topics including Wall Street’s foray into China, the globalization of China’s most prominent tech companies, and the country’s domestic tech regulatory crackdown. Jing, it’s so great to have you on and ⁓ it was lovely running into you actually recently at Karen’s book launch in Hong Kong. We’ve known each other for a few years now, you know, over like our paths crossing.

whether in journalism or when I was working in Alibaba, you’ve covered Chinese business and tech for over a decade across from SCMP, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, and now obviously leading the information out here in Asia. So looking back right now, like over the last decade, what’s really changed the most in terms of talent, capital, and company building China, and just your own kind of observations of the whole industry?

Jing Yang (00:52)

Sure. Thank you for having me. Yeah, it was indeed good to run into you at Karen (Hao)’s book talk. So I think the one thing that sort of really struck me is that when I started covering the, started ⁓ working as a reporter, 10 plus years ago, at that time, if you recall, then China was rapidly still integrating into sort of the West led global order.

A lot of the Chinese companies and executives and entrepreneurs, think their mindset was still like there’s so much we can learn from the West, from the US, from Europe, from what companies have achieved there. And then now that has changed for various reasons we can get into later into sort of, know, this is the way actually, you know, we do things in China and it has in so many cases proved to be actually working better or

or there’s more this awareness of things are different in China, whether it’s cultural or economical or social. And I think then you also have seen sort of equally some examples from Silicon Valley or elsewhere sort of looking eastward and looking at what are the things that China or Chinese companies have done that we may actually

there are some lessons or experiences we can draw from. I think that is a very interesting sort of shift. It’s not just one way anymore, it’s more two-way.

Grace Shao (02:17)

For sure. But I think in that sense still, you know, we have people like Bill Gurley going on his podcast saying like Chinese entrepreneurs or business leaders are just so much more attuned to what’s happening in the U.S. compared to vice versa. But there’s definitely more more interest coming from the West to China. Right. I think on that, like one interesting, you know, Chinese tech culture that’s really being adopted and, you know, seeing it being embraced by Silicon Valley right now is the 996. You know, like

That’s an interesting phenomenon. What do you think of that? Do think people are realizing that you got a 996 to really push ahead?

Jing Yang (02:50)

Yeah, that is a very good question. And I think I’d like to actually unpack what we are talking about when we’re talking about 996. When it first started in China, and by the way, that wasn’t just something adopted by tech companies, but also in general, a lot of big companies in the private sector in China were doing that. And I think what in that sense, from the mid to late 2010s,

When companies were adopting 996, it was mostly codified. Remember, that was a pre-COVID world. You are expected, when you’re working, you’re expected to show up in the office, at your booth or whatever. So that means you have to clock in at 9 a.m., clock out at 9 p.m., and then for six days a week. But why you actually do in those 12 hours and six days a week is another question.

And I think over time, some companies realize there’s actually some kind of waste and inefficiency that this codified system has created. For example, a lot of companies, ⁓ employers, in order to entice employees to work longer hours, they provide dinner and then they provide, say, you can expense your cabaret home if you work past 9 p.m., that kind of thing. And over time, then, I think that actually did lead to some sort of inefficiency in the sense that

Maybe some people just want to stay back. If I’m going to go home and have a take on myself, then why don’t I do it at the office when it’s paid for? I’m not saying everybody does that, right? But certainly there are people who did that. And I think while I’m not discounting at all, Codefine 996 has led to burnout and even much worse things. But on the flip side.

is that when you codify something like that, that is the problem. So then if we look at in the US, for example, if you are a Wall Street ban…

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