14 must-read tech stories from China this week

Missed out on China’s top headlines last week? Here’s our round-up of the best tech stories coming from the nation.

1. Screenshots of next WeChat update show LinkedIn integration and a makeover for Android

If the integration becomes a reality for the final update, it will mark a major success in LinkedIn’s official Chinese career, especially since it doesn’t even have a Chinese-language site yet

2. Gartner: China will buy 400 million smartphones in 2014, penetration to pass 90%

Of those 400 million, 20 percent will be high-end models. That figure is expected to increase to 32 percent by 2017.

3. Taobao rescues Chinese travelers needing a visa

The Alibaba-owned online marketplace hasn’t limited its vendors to just selling products. It’s selling services, too, and nowhere is this more evident than in the travel sector.

4. New proposal to force all video uploaders in China to use their real names

Users who don’t comply will not be allowed to upload any audio-visual content.

5. No, Beijing residents are NOT watching fake sunrises on giant TVs because of pollution

In truth, that sunrise was probably on the screen for less than 10 seconds at a time, as it was part of an ad for tourism in China’s Shandong province.

6. Baidu acquires remaining stake in Renren’s daily deals site

This helps Baidu push forward its daily deals and local listings.

7. Chinese e-commerce giant JD boosts travel offerings with acquisition of hotel booking app

The Amazon-style JD site already has lots of online travel booking options. Now it has more.

8. Square-like Chinese startup QFPay swipes $16.5 million in series B funding

And now it has over 100,000 businesses using it.

9. Let’s take a look at China’s $13.5 billion online gaming industry (INFOGRAPHIC)

It’s still dominated by online PC games, but mobile gaming is growing.

10. Watch out, Baidu: Qihoo aims at 35% share of China’s search engine market by end of year

Qihoo isn’t done disrupting or making enemies.

11. Chinese mobile game developer Linekong nets $80 million in series C funding

Chinese online game operators are estimated to bring in over RMB 97.8 billion (about $16 billion) in revenues this coming year.

12. Baidu’s image-recognition software isn’t perfect, but it’s super smart and will make you laugh

Baidu tells us that the souped-up Baidu Translate marks the broad introduction of the company’s image-recognition technology.

13. Alipay woos Chinese tourists as it forms more partnerships with overseas retailers

The company will partner with OK Mart (known internationally as Circle K) to offer up integration with Alipay Wallet’s offline-to-offline technology in over 330 individual outlets.

14. Tesla has announced the price of the Model S in China, and it’s much lower than expected

In a lengthy blog post, Tesla lays out the math and claims that other than shipping costs, import taxes, and value-added taxes, the company imposes no market-specific markup on the Model S for China.

That’s all for this week, folks. For our full spread of China coverage, you can click here or subscribe to our China RSS.

The post 14 must-read tech stories from China this week appeared first on Tech in Asia.

14 must-read tech stories from China this week