In the first month of the Chinese lunar Year of Rabbit, we have seen a China that faced a difficult time in the world of geopolitics. In the meantime, there was a lot of optimism and enthusiasm in the business and financial sectors from China’s opening up for international travel. New business opportunities are emerging every day, from cleantech to pharmaceuticals to B2B SaaS, as well as more interest in commercialising newly patented technologies. The race for tech has only been intensified with the recent announcement by Chinese tech giants following the hype on ChatGPT.  Plenty to digest and hopefully some food for thought!

HOT TOPIC: China’s Answer to ChatGPT  

After years of regulatory scrutiny following a crackdown on the technology sector and a sluggish economy battered by COVID-19, web tech and AI companies in China are investing more as China looks to the industry to revive the economy. Baidu has won over Google for search business in China while WeChat and Weibo dominate China’s social media.  While OpenAI’s ChatGPT is reported to be “blocked” in China, will Chinese companies be able to take the regulatory advantage and win this Chatbot race?

MOSS, which is considered one of the best Chinese indigenous bets against ChatGPT, has recently been released for public testing. How do they compare technically?

Baidu also just announced it will launch generative AI chatbot called “ERNIE Bot” or in Chinese “Wenxin Yiyan文心一言” in March. Ernie Bot will be integrated across all of Baidu’s operations, including its search and cloud services, smart car operating system and smart speaker.  Read more on Japan Today.

CHINA SECTOR INSIGHT – Cleantech Innovation in China

Is China winning or losing the race in cleantech innovation?

The 2nd edition of our China Sector Insights provides you a snapshot of the four key areas of cleantech innovation in China.

How industrial clusters in China are moving towards energy self-sufficiency

As the “world’s factory”, China sees a higher percentage of carbon emissions and energy consumption from industry than many other countries. In 2020, the industrial sector in China accounted for about 70% of total final energy use. China has over 25,000 industrial parks across the country. And if we look further into it, industrial parks at or above the provincial level produce 31% of China’s total carbon emissions. Decarbonizing these carbon behemoths will contribute a lot to the net-zero transition of not just China but also the global community. But this is easier said than done. How is China progressing towards this? Find out on World Economic Forum.

M&A OPPORTUNITIES 

A big Chinese pharma group is looking to acquire British / European companies or technologies in vaccines, diagnostics, new drugs, and cosmetic surgery. More details to follow. If you are interested in this please get in touch by emailing hello@test.crayfish.io.