Sharon Gai, a China-born Canadian who is an expert in e-commerce, digital transformation, and AI, and worked as head of Global Key Accounts at Alibaba. She explains what lessons she learned about cultural fluidity in business and society to IKNS Conversations That Matter, in places where different cultures meet, and how cultural intelligence can help.Read More →

The China Speakers Bureau is happy to announce Sharon Gai is joining its stable of high-profile speakers. Sharon Gai is based in San Francisco and has worked at top management positions in Alibaba and other e-commerce companies.Read More →

Business analyst Shaun Rein is interviewed by marketing guru Ashley Dudarenok on the most recent developments, as consumer confidence in China is slowly recovering at the end of 2023. But because of the ongoing trouble with the US, and because US firms fear more counterproductive measures by US President Biden, there are still many bears on the road to economic recovery. China focuses more on domestic companies, as US companies retreat, and the global south turns decisively to China for support, he says.Read More →

Single’s Day (11/11) used to be the heyday for China’s consumerism, but this year the consumers went for the cheap stuff, says business analyst Shaun Rein at CNBC. Low consumer confidence forced the e-commerce platforms for the whole year to discount products, but Single’s Day was the cheapest event ever for consumers. Alibaba is losing its shine to newer platforms, he adds.Read More →

The 2023 Hurun China rich list sees changes, and Rupert Hoogewerf, the Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher, sees efforts to go global as a key factor for growing riches, he tells Reuters. PDD’s Temu, ByteDance’s short-video platform TikTok, and ultra-fast fashion brand Shein he sees as examples.Read More →

One of the major nuisances for foreign visitors to China might be gone as the country’s major payment giants, Tencent (operating WeChat Pay) and the Ant Group (operating Alipay) agreed to accept foreign credit cards on their platforms. Up to now, visitors needed to have a Chinese bank account to use those common payment tools in China.Read More →