Chinese websites are now making a headway in the Web industry through collaborations with international companies. (Photo : Getty Images)
The West would like to believe that they have a monopoly on rising new technologies and the newest of consumer electronics, but nothing could be further from the truth.
One of the biggest differences between tech in the East and West is the presence of the great wall, the Great Firewall of China. This is the government censorship and surveillance project that allows the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to have full control over what goes in and what comes out of China’s Internet, making the government the gatekeeper of information for the entire nation.
While the West took pride in the unfettered availability of information, only recently tackling issues on net neutrality, the PRC exercised more direct control over the information superhighway.
The idea that China is just a nation of tech-copycats, stuck in the past, behind the great wall and uninformed, is outdated. We know that Facebook, Twitter, Google and many popular websites that the world’s netizens enjoy are blocked in China. But the Chinese have their own websites, like Alibaba, Taibao and Tmall for shopping; Weibo for Twitter, Renren for Facebook, Youku for YouTube, and Baidu for many of Google’s services. The Internet in China is different from that of the West, but there is equality and no shortage of innovation, to say the least.
The West believes that censorship and government control are an enemy of innovation. China has proven otherwise with its equally competitive tech and e-commerce sites. The existence of huge tech companies like Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu definitely proves China is in the middle of a Web boom. These four Chinese firms ranked among the world’s top 10 by market capitalization as seen, according to data website Statista.
“There’s this strange belief that you can’t build a mobile app if you don’t know the truth about what happened in Tiananmen Square,” said Kaiser Kuo, who recently stepped down as head of international communications for Baidu, one of China’s leading tech companies, and hosts Sinica, a popular podcast. “Trouble is, it’s not true.”
There was a time when China really was following the West’s lead when it comes to tech and innovation, but through time, a lot of things have changed. Chinese companies have become pacesetters in e-commerce. A more recent trend in China now involves live-streaming sites where people pay real money to reward performers with virtual gifts.
China’s middle class exploded from what it was in the '90s. And tech companies in China, instead of making primary earnings from ad-revenue, have made innovation upon innovation which now allows Chinese netizens to pay for a pancake from a street-side stall with an app originally made for chatting with friends.
Beijing recognizes the commercial power of the Internet and wants to get on board. Yes, time has really changed and before long, we may see more comparisons of Google, Amazon, Apple and the other American tech giants seek the East for innovation.
