Eastly: Asia Tech News Direct From The Source
Welcome to Eastly, your weekly infusion of all the top tech stories from the world’s innovation powerhouse: East Asia!
Every Sunday we’ll bring you a short, sharp roundup of the biggest stories our team in China have spotted – the kind of stuff that takes a few weeks for the Western media to notice.
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Week 1 of July and it's all about the autos! Sinopec's starting to sell car via its convenience stores, nearly 50 new test roads are to be built in Beijing for driverless vehicles, and retired electric cars are getting a new lease of life as an auxiliary power grid.
New Life For Electric Car Batteries
Power drive: old electric vehicles to provide surplus energy to grid
Date: 30 June, 2020
Vehicle manufacturer, SAIC GM Wuling, has come up with an innovative way of recycling waste power batteries – use them to build a power station. The idea is that the surplus energy will relieve pressure on the power grid – and provide surplus energy at peak times.
Source: https://news.mydrivers.com/1/697/697964.htm
ByteDance's eCommerce Play With New Hires
ByteDance: Doubling down on eCommerce
Date: 01 July, 2020
ByteDance – the company behind global viral video sensation, TikTok (and Douyin in China) has announced a plan to take on 20,000 new staff in Shanghai alone over the next three years. The investment comes as part on a wider plan to boosts the company’s eCommerce team across music, education, and gaming.
Source: https://www.cnbeta.com/articles/tech/997835.htm
Coffee, Convenience Stores, and Cars?
Driven: Sinopec sets its sights on the auto market
Date: 02 July, 2020
After dabbling in coffee shops and telecommunication services, Sinopec, China’s premier petroleum company, has its sights set on selling cars through its convenience store subsidiary (Sinopec Express).
Source: https://36kr.com/p/776625202731906
Eyes On The Road: New Self-Driving Test Routes
Who's at the wheel? Autonomous cars are set to become an RMB 50 billion sector
Date: 02 July, 2020
As demand for autonomous vehicles increases, no less than 49 new dedicated test roads have opened in Zhongguancun – nearly 200 km more space – reflecting overall growth in the driverless car industry, which is expected to scale into an RMB 50 billion sector in just three years.
Source: https://36kr.com/p/776629710904449
Xiaomi Renews MediaTek 5G Partnership
Chips Ahoy! MediaTek continues as Xiaomi's 5G partner
Date: 03 July, 2020
Following the success of the Redmi Redmi10X, Chinese electronics giant, Xiaomi, has once again joined forces with MediaTek, to develop a customised 5G smartphone processor for a broader range of products.
Source: http://www.techweb.com.cn/world/2020-07-03/2796084.shtml
Notes:
Zhongguancun: located in the northwest of Beijing, between the Third and Fourth Ring Roads, Zhongguancun is known as China's Silicon Valley. Google, Intel, Microsoft, and many other international tech companies have their China HQ there.
Asia Markets
Asian stocks are quite attractive, Nomura says
Markets Summary: https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/world-indexes/asia-pacific
Top Tweet
Latest tech from Samsung.
Thank you all for reading and see you next Sunday!
Yours, Eastly
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