by Ekrem Duman | Jul 20, 2026 | Chinese Startup Ecosystem, Startup
⚡ TL;DRThe Chinese government plays an unusually active role in the country’s startup ecosystem — funding, guiding, promoting and sometimes constraining private companies. This is the story of how state guidance funds, industrial policy and regulation shape...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 20, 2026 | Chinese Startup Ecosystem, Startup
⚡ TL;DR’996′ — working 9am to 9pm, six days a week — became shorthand for the intense work culture inside many Chinese tech companies. This is the story of how 996 emerged, why founders defended it, the backlash and legal pushback it provoked, and what it...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 20, 2026 | Chinese Startup Ecosystem, Startup
⚡ TL;DRBeijing’s Zhongguancun district — often called ‘China’s Silicon Valley’ — grew from an electronics market into the country’s premier tech and startup hub, home to top universities, research institutes and giants like Baidu and...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 18, 2026 | Chinese Startup Ecosystem, Startup
⚡ TL;DRChinese technology companies historically listed in New York using VIE structures that gave foreign investors contractual rather than direct ownership. Alibaba’s 2014 listing was the largest ever at the time. After the 2021 crackdown, the Didi delisting...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 18, 2026 | Chinese Startup Ecosystem, Startup
⚡ TL;DRChinese startup competition is famously brutal, characterized by subsidy wars that burn enormous capital, rapid copying of successful features, and demanding work cultures like the ‘996’ schedule. This intensity produces highly efficient survivors...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 18, 2026 | Chinese Startup Ecosystem, Startup
⚡ TL;DRA new generation of Chinese AI companies emerged to build large language models and applications, competing with both established giants and each other in a crowded market. Constrained by restricted access to the most advanced chips, many focused on efficiency,...
