China Internet Report 2018

Although China’s internet penetration is just over 50%, its sheer scale means there are 3x the number of smartphone users and 11x the number of mobile payment users in China than in the US.
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Although China’s internet penetration is just over 50%, its sheer scale means there are 3x the number of smartphone users and 11x the number of mobile payment users in China than in the US.
About Techcelerate Ventures

Tech Investment and Growth Advisory for Series A in the UK, operating in £150k to £5m investment market, working with #SaaS #FinTech #HealthTech #MarketPlaces and #PropTech companies.
Capital CHINA Venture Fund Source Partners Source Crunchbase ITjuzi
w w w . a b a c u s n e w s . c o m / c h i n a - i n t e r n e t - r e p o r t  
CHINA 
INTERNET 
REPORT 
2 0 1 8 
Table of Contents 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
2 
11 
21 
2 
Source: US Census Bureau, Pew Research, Newzoo, Statista, eMarketer, CNNIC, IMF   
At a Glance: China vs. US Internet 
Although China's internet penetration is just over 50%, its sheer scale means there are 3x the number of smartphone 
users and 11x the number of mobile payment users in China than in the US. 
3 
Internet 
Smartphone 
Mobile Internet 
Mobile Payment 
China vs. US  Top Players for Key Verticals  
4 
IN CHINA 
IN US 
Top Chinese Startup Cities 
Beijing is the country's top startup city based on valuation, followed by Hangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen. 
Source: China Money Network 
Total Valuation ($B) 
# of Unicorns 
Beijing 
305 
61 
Hangzhou 
240 
17 
Shanghai 
115 
34 
Shenzhen 
61 
11 
Ningde 
20 
1 
Guangzhou 
7 
2 
Zhuhai 
6 
2 
Suzhou 
4 
2 
Tianjin 
3 
2 
Nanjing 
2 
2 
Wuhu 
2 
1 
Guiyang 
2 
1 
Hong Kong 
2 
2 
Chongqing 
2 
1 
Wuhan 
2 
1 
Dongguan 
1 
1 
Wuxi 
1 
1 
Grand Total 
773 
142 
5 
Top Chinese Internet Players (1 of 2) 
Company 
CEO 
Selected Investors 
Listed on 
Market Cap/ 
Valuation (US$) 
1 
Alibaba 
Daniel ZHANG 
G Squared, Vulcan Capital, Softbank, Goldman 
Sachs 
NYSE:  
BABA 
492.4B 
2 
Tencent 
Pony MA 
Naspers, IDG Capital Partners, PCCW 
HKG:   
0700 
479.6B 
3 
Ant  
Financial 
Eric JING 
Alibaba Group, NSSF, CDIB, CCB International 
Private 
150.0B 
4 
Baidu 
Robin LI 
ePlanet Capital, IDG Capital Partners, Google, 
China Equity Venture TDF 
NASDAQ:  
BIDU  
87.8B 
5 
Lufax 
Gregory D GIBB CICC, COFCO, Arbor Ventures, BlackPine Private 
Equity 
Private 
60.0B 
6 
JD 
LIU Qiangdong 
Hillhouse Capital Group, Capital Today, Tiger 
Global Management 
NASDAQ:  
JD 
56.6B 
7 
Didi  
Chuxing 
CHENG Wei 
Alibaba Group, Softbank, Tencent Holdings, 
Ping An 
Private 
55.0B 
8 
Xiaomi 
LEI Jun 
All-Start Investment, Morgan Stanley, Shunwei, YF 
Capital, Qiming Ventures Partners 
HKG:  
1810 
47.9B 
9 
NetEase 
DING Lei 
SoftBank Capital, Capital Today 
NASDAQ:  
NTES 
34.3B 
10 
Qihoo  
360 
ZHOU Hongyi 
Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, IDG Capital 
Partners 
SHA:  
601360  
28.7B 
As of July 9, 2018 
6 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Top Chinese Internet Players (2 of 2) 
Company 
CEO 
Selected Investors 
Listed on 
Market Cap/  
Valuation (US$) 
11 
Meituan 
Dianping 
WANG Xing 
Sequoia Capital, Google, Tencent, IDG 
Capital Partners 
Private 
31.8B 
12 
Toutiao 
ZHANG Yiming 
Sequoia Capital, SIG China, Sina Weibo 
Private 
28.6B 
13 
Tencent  
Music Group 
Cussion PANG 
Tencent 
Private 
25.0B 
14 
TAL Group 
ZHANG Bangxin 
Tiger Global, KTB Ventures 
NASDAQ: 
TAL 
21.6B 
15 
Sina Weibo 
WANG Gaofei 
Alibaba 
NASDAQ: 
WB 
20.2B 
16 
Suning 
ZHANG Jindong 
Alibaba 
SHE: 
002024 
18.5B 
17 
DJI 
Frank WANG 
Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, LH Capital 
Management 
Private 
15.0B 
18 
Momo 
TANG Yan 
Stonebridge Capital, Matrix Partners, 
Alibaba 
NASDAQ:  
MOMO 
9.5B 
19 
China  
Literature 
WU Wenhui 
Tencent 
HKG:  
772 
8.9B 
20 
Giant  
Interactive Group 
LIU Wei 
SIG China 
Private 
7.7B 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
As of July 9, 2018 
7 
Xiaomi Is The Largest Chinese Internet IPO Since 2017 
Largest Company IPOs 
CEO/Founder 
Listed on 
Date of IPO 
Market Cap (US$)  
at IPO 
Xiaomi 
LEI Jun 
HKG: 1810 
2018/7/9 
47.9B 
iQiyi 
GONG Yu  
NASDAQ: IQ 
2018/3/29 
13.5B 
China Literature 
WU Wenhui  
HKG: 0772 
2017/11/8 
11.8B 
ZhongAn 
CHEN Jin  
HKG: 6060 
2017/9/28 
11.0B 
Qudian 
LUO Min  
NYSE: QD 
2017/10/18 
7.9B 
Ping An Good Doctor 
WANG Tao 
HKG: 1833 
2018/5/4 
7.4B 
Yixin Group 
ZHANG Xu-An  
HKG:2858 
2017/11/16 
6.5B 
Sogou 
WANG Xiaochuan  
NYSE:SOGO 
2017/11/9 
5.1B 
Best Express 
ZHOU Shaoning  
NYSE: BSTI 
2017/9/20 
4.2B 
Paipaidai 
ZHANG Jun  
NYSE: PPDF 
2017/11/10 
3.9B 
Jianpu.ai 
YE Daqing 
NYSE: JT 
2017/11/17 
3.3B 
Bilibili 
CHEN Rui  
NASDAQ: BILI 
2018/3/28 
3.2B 
Huya TV 
LI Xueling 
NYSE:HUYA 
2018/5/11 
2.4B 
LEXIN 
XIAO Wenjie  
NASDAQ: LX 
2017/12/21 
1.8B 
Rise Center 
SUN Yiding  
NASDAQ: REDU 
2017/10/20 
913M 
G-bits 
SU Huazhou  
SHA: 603444 
2017/1/4 
870M 
Longshine 
XU Changjun  
SSE:300682 
2017/8/1 
678M 
hexindai.com 
ZHOU Xinming  
NASDAQ: HX 
2017/11/4 
500M 
China Rapid Finance 
WANG Zane  
NYSE: XRF 
2017//4/28 
350M 
SECOO 
LI Rixue  
NASDAQ: SECO 
2017/9/22 
333M 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
8 
Jan 2017   
Jul 2018 
Notable Acquisitions Of Chinese Start-ups Since 2017  
9 
Jan 2017   
Jul 2018 
(1)
$9.5B is the enterprise valuation of Ele.me; Alibaba and Ant Financial owned 43% with Alibaba acquiring the remaining shares. 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO 
Notable Acquisitions 
CEO/Founder 
Acquired by 
Amount of Acquisition (US$) 
Ele.me 
ZHANG Xuhao 
Alibaba 
9.5B(1) 
Mobike 
HU Weiwei 
Meituan-Dianping 
2.7B 
Cheyipai 
WANG Xuejian 
Souche 
1-2B 
Dangdang 
LI Guoqing 
HNA Group 
1.1B 
Waimai(Baidu) 
GONG Zhenbin  
Ele.me 
800M 
Tantan 
HAN Zhibai  
Momo 
600M 
Tian Tian Express 
XI Chunyang 
Suning Commerce Group 
472M 
Lagou.com 
MA Delong 
51job 
119M 
Hellobike 
YANG Lei  
Youon Bike 
Undisclosed 
Maoyan 
WANG Xing 
Enlight Media 
Undisclosed 
Kanche.com 
WEI Zheng 
Yixin Group 
Undisclosed 
Bluegogo 
HU Yufei 
Didi 
Undisclosed 
FaceU 
GUO Lie 
Toutiao 
Undisclosed 
Most Active Chinese Venture Capital Firms 
Venture Capital Firm 
Selected Investments 
Zhen Fund 
Ofo, Mia.com, Zhaogang.com, Jumei.com, Meicai.cn, UR WORK, YITU, Vincross 
Polly.ai, UMA, BeSound, EHANG, Mobnote, SUGR Cube, Vidoo 
IDG Capital  
Partners 
Baidu, Xiaomi, SouFun, Ctrip, 360, Meitu, iQiyi, Sohu.com, Meituan, XPeng,  
Pony.ai, NIO, Razer, SenseTime, Pingduoduo, LingoChamp(liulishuo) 
Matrix Partners 
Zhaogang.com, Babytree, Ofo, FUTUS.com, DIDI, 36kr, Lieping.com, MOMO,  
Baofeng.com, Ele.me, Yuantiku, VIPKID, Qingting FM 
Sequoia Capital 
JD, 360, VIPKID, Toutiao, ThinkForce, Horizon Robotics, Versa  
NIO, BGI, Dajiang, YITU, 100Credit, Ping++, Dianping 
K2VC 
Fenqile, Zhaogang.com, Mia.com, Jumei.com, Tiger Brokers, Qichacha, Duodian 
Shunwei Capital 
51talk, iQiyi, Kuaishou, Renrenche, Xiaomi, DXY.cn, Jimu, iKongjian.com, 17zuoye.com 
Plum Ventures 
Yiigoo, CHJ, mia.com, Huoqiu.cn, Qudian, 8btc, Changba, NIU 
Legend Capital 
Bilibili, Paipaidai, Ribo, Zuoyebang, Musical.ly, Damai.cn, BitAuto, Zhaopin.com 
Sinovation Ventures 
Zhihu, Jing Chi, Bitmain, BroadLink, ImbaTV, Meitu, Qingting.FM, URWork, Face++ 
Shenzhen  
Capital Group 
Maijing Gene, DidaTravel, Formlabs, Pagoda, Huada Empyrean Software,  
Wetalk TV, Topline, Suning Finance 
Fortune  
Venture Capital 
Shihou TV, CloudIn, aihuishou, YOHO, BlueFocus, Hua Shu, Huayou Cobalt,  
COSHIP, Focus Media, NewRank, Yidou360 
Qiming  
Venture Partners 
Mi, Face++, UBTECH, BingoBox, Tongdun.cn, Xueba100.com 
igetget.com, Zhihu, Wacai, Mobike 
Jan 2017   
Jun 2018 
10 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Table of Contents 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
2 
11 
21 
11 
Four Overarching Themes 
Chinese Internet Companies 
Embrace 'Social+' 
Chinese Internet Giants  
Are Doing Everything 
Chinese Internet  
Empowers Rural Population 
Government Is  
The Visible Hand 
12 
Chinese Internet Giants Are Doing Everything (1 of 2)  
13 
Whether it's building or investing/acquiring, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are present across the internet ecosystem.  
Industry 
Baidu 
Alibaba 
Tencent 
Build 
Invest/Acquire 
Build 
Invest/Acquire 
Build 
Invest/Acquire 
Ecommerce / 
O2O / Retail 
- 
Bitauto, Uxin 
Taobao, Tmall, Hema, 
Aliexpress 
Ele.me, Xiaohongshu, 
Yiguo, Sun Art, Suning 
Lazada, Paytm 
- 
JD, Meitan Dianping, 
Bitauto, Pinduoduo, 
Xiaohongshu, Vipshop, 
Meili Inc, MissFresh, 
Yonghui 
Content & 
Media 
Baidu News, Baidu 
Tieba, Baidu Knows, 
Baidu Wiki 
iQiyi, PPS 
Alibaba Music,  
Alibaba Pictures 
Youku Tudou,  
Wanda Film,  
Wasu Media 
Tencent Video, 
Tencent News, 
Tencent Reading, 
Tencent Music, 
Tencent Pictures 
Kuaishou, Bilibili, 
China Literature, 
Qutoutiao, Bona Film, 
Huayi Brothers Media, 
SoundHound 
Messaging & 
Social 
- 
- 
Dingtalk 
Weibo, Momo, Snap 
Wechat, QQ 
Zhihu, Snap 
Sharing 
Economy 
- 
Shouqi Limousine & 
Chauffeur, 
Uber 
- 
Didi, ofo, Lyft 
- 
Didi, Mobike, Uber, Lyft 
AI 
Baidu AI 
SoundAI 
Alibaba AI Lab 
SenseTime 
Tencent AI, Tencent 
Youtu 
ObEN 
Smart Devices  
- 
Raven Tech 
Tmall Genie 
- 
- 
LeTV, Tile 
Selected companies built or invested/acquired by BAT(1) 
(1)
Investments by holding company only. 
  
Source: Crunchbase, media reports 
Investments outside of Mainland China 
*For the full list of 400+ companies that BAT have built/invested/acquired, visit: https://www.abacusnews.com/china-internet-report/full-list.html  
Chinese Internet Giants Are Doing Everything (2 of 2)  
14 
Whether it's building or investing/acquiring, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are present across the internet ecosystem.  
Industry 
Baidu 
Alibaba 
Tencent 
Build 
Invest/Acquire 
Build 
Invest/Acquire 
Build 
Invest/Acquire 
Autonomous Car  
Apollo 
Velodyne LiDAR 
Alibaba(2)  
- 
Tencent(3) 
Nio, Tesla, CYNGN 
Blockchain 
- 
Circle 
Alibaba and Ant 
Financial 
- 
- 
Webank, Blockstream 
Fintech 
Du Xiaoman Financial Yintai Capital, Zest 
Finance 
Ant Financial  
ZhongAn 
Tencent Financial 
Technology 
ZhongAn, Lufax, 
Webank, CICC 
Education 
Baidu Jiaoyu 
Hujiang Education 
Taobao Jiaoyu 
iTutor Group 
Tencent Class 
VIPKID 
Gaming  
Baidu Game 
- 
Ali Games 
Ejoy Technology 
Tencent Games 
WeGame 
Huya, Douyu,  
Supercell , Riot Games, 
Kakao Games 
Esports 
- 
- 
-  
AGTech Holdings 
Tencent Esports 
VSPN 
Others 
Baidu Search, Baidu 
Cloud, Baidu Map 
China Unicom, Ctrip, 
Qunar, Home Link, WM 
Motor 
AliCloud, Alimama, 
Alibaba Health, 
UCWeb, Fliggy (Alitrip) 
China Unicom, 
AutoNavi, Intime, 
Cainiao Logistics, 
Xiaopeng Motor, Magic 
Leap, Softbank 
Robotics 
Tencent Cloud, 
Tencent Map 
China Unicom, Home 
Link, Sogou, 58.com, 
Manbang, WM Motor 
Selected companies built or invested/acquired by BAT(1) 
(1)
Investments by holding company only. 
(2)    AI Resarch Lab. 
(3)     Tencent Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory.  
Source: Crunchbase, media reports 
Investments outside of Mainland China 
*For the full list of 400+ companies that BAT have built/invested/acquired, visit: https://www.abacusnews.com/china-internet-report/full-list.html  
Chinese Internet Empowers Rural Population (1 of 2)  
The number of rural internet users in China reached 209m in 2017 with a penetration rate of 35%. 
53 
85 
107 
125 
136 
156 
177 
178 
195 
201 
209 
7% 
12% 
16% 
19% 
21% 
24% 
28% 
29% 
32% 
33% 
35% 
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Internet users in rural China (M)
Internet penetration rate in rural China
Source: CNNIC, China National Bureau of Statistics 
Annual per capita disposable 
income of rural residents in China 
is only US$1,870 in 2016, which 
is already up 47% compared to 
2012 
15 
Chinese Internet Empowers Rural Population (2 of 2)  
The internet has contributed significantly to the development of ecommerce, education and media in rural China. 
55M 
The number of students in rural 
schools that are reachable by 
live-streaming classes 
50% 
The percentage of poor 
villages that will be equipped 
with ecommerce capabilities 
by 2020 
8% 
The minimum of a local 
government's annual budget that 
must be spent on digitalization  
of education 
2,100+ 
The number of Taobao villages1 in 
2017, accounting for 490,000 
active online shops, US$19 billion 
in annual sales and 1.3 m new 
jobs created 
78M 
The number of rural users 
who read news from the 
three primary news apps at 
least once a month 
175M 
The number of short video app 
users from rural China 
(1)
Any rural village where at least 10% of households sell goods online with annual sales of at least US$1.6M 
Source: Alibaba, QuestMobile, State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, Ministry of Education, Research Institute of Rural Education at Northeast Normal University 
Education 
Ecommerce 
News & Entertainment 
16 
Chinese Internet Companies Embrace 'Social+' (1 of 2) 
Chinese ecommerce companies have adopted a Social+ model where their business is anchored by a social pillar that 
drives user engagement and growth. 
Source: SCMP, 36kr  
Social commerce app with 156M 
monthly active users ("MAUs") at 
the end of 2017 
 
Discounts are offered if a user 
successfully starts a "group buy" 
by sharing the deal with friends 
and encouraging them to also 
make a purchase 
Above robot vacuum normally 
retails for 399 but a "group buy" 
can bring the price down to 288 
The app's main tab is a feed 
featuring influencers with 
product photos, videos, 
reviews and tips 
Social commerce platform which 
operates like a combination of 
Instagram, Pinterest and Amazon 
with 30M MAUs in 2018 
 
Users are encouraged to post 
photos of themselves and tag 
clothes, accessories, or make-up 
products they use to the 
corresponding ecommerce listings 
within the platform  
Xiaohongshu 
Pinduoduo 
17 
Chinese Internet Companies Embrace 'Social+' (2 of 2) 
Ecommerce platforms aren't the only ones who have adopted the Social+ model though other verticals such as 
media and education have incorporated these social elements into their business model. 
Source: SCMP, Nasdaq 
Hulu-like online video platform with 126M+ DAUs 
Launched its own social media platform iQiyi Paopao, 
which has 46M+ DAUs 
iQiyi 
News app with 10M+ daily 
active users (DAUs) 
Uses financial incentives to 
build followers, relying 
heavily on users' existing 
social networks  
Offers cash when users and 
their followers read news on 
consecutive days. 
Qutoutiao 
English-learning app that 
encourages users to share 
their progress daily on their 
WeChat Moments feed in 
return for an incentive 
If readers stick to the plan 
and share their progress for 
80 consecutive days, they 
are rewarded with free 
English books 
Mint Reading 
18 
Government Is The Visible Hand (1 of 2) 
Success or failure in China's internet landscape, especially fintech, is contingent upon government authority. 
Source: SCMP, Abacus, Sina 
19 
Sept 2017: Cryptocurrency exchanges and 
initial coin offering banned by the 
government.  
Dec 2017: China's central bank and regulatory commission 
tightened rules around internet financing and peer-to-peer online 
lending, wiping out smaller players. The last three years have seen 
the number of P2P companies shrink from 6,000 to 2,000. 
Government Is The Visible Hand (2 of 2) 
Chinese content-driven internet companies are also closely monitored and faced restrictions from government. 
Source: SCMP, Abacus, Sina 
20 
Feb 2018: 17 online quiz app makers were 
halted by the State Administration of Press, 
Publication, Radio, Film and Television and 
told to clean up their act 
April 2018: China's media regulator ordered news aggregator Toutiao and 
live-streaming app Kuaishou to clean up content on their platforms, singling 
out both platforms for disrupting order in the online media industry.  
March 2018: Beijing cyberspace authorities ordered Zhihu,  
'China's Quora,' to delist from all app stores from March 2 
to March 9 due to their inefficiency in purging "illicit 
information" on the platform.  
Table of Contents 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
2 
11 
21 
21 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
Alibaba And JD Still Dominate, But Social Commerce Is On The Rise 
Source: QuestMobile, 36kr 
In the past year, Pinduoduo has grown to become the 3rd most popular ecommerce platform in China. 
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Mar Apr May June
Jul
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Jan
Feb Mar
Taobao
JD.com
Pinduoduo
VIPshop
China's Top Ecommerce Platforms By Monthly Active Users 
m 
2018 
2017 
 Launched in 2015, Pinduoduo is a 
social commerce platform that 
allows users to participate in group 
buying deals. 
 Last July, Pinduoduo surpassed 
VIPshop to become the 3rd most 
popular ecommerce platform. 

In 2017, 2.5 years since Pinduoduo 
launched, the company's Gross 
Merchandise Value exceeded 
RMB100B (US$15.6B)  it took JD 
10 years, VIPshop 8 years and 
Taobao 5 years to achieve this 
milestone. 
22 
Ecommerce Is Reshaping Grocery Shopping In China (1 of 3) 
China's online grocery market is expected to reach US$30B this year. 
Source: iResearch 
2.0 
4.3 
7.8 
13.6 
21.7 
30.4 
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018e
China's Online Grocery Market 
US$ Billion 
+73% p.a. 
23 
Ecommerce Is Reshaping Grocery Shopping In China (2 of 3) 
New forms of online-to-offline (O2O) grocery stores have emerged across China.  
 Alibaba's Hema supermarket 
spearheaded the new O2O grocery 
shopping in China. 
 It features mobile app shopping and 
payment, has in-store dining and also 
serves as a warehouse with a ceiling 
conveyor system. 
 Hema has 46 stores in 13 cities as of 
May 2018 and recently announced 24-
hour delivery service for its stores in 
Beijing and Shanghai. 
Source: SCMP, Alizila 
24 
Ecommerce Is Reshaping Grocery Shopping In China (3 of 3) 
New forms of online-to-offline (O2O) grocery stores have emerged across China.  
Source: SCMP, Tencent, JD 
 JD launched its first offline fresh-food supermarket, called 7Fresh, in 
Beijing in early Jan 2018. 
 The new store has 4,000 m2 of floor space and smart carts which 
guide shoppers to their desired aisles. 
 It has cooked-food stalls, offers fresh food and provides delivery 
within a 5 km radius so users receive groceries in 30 minutes. 
 Tencent has invested heavily in Super Species, 
the fresh grocery store brand of Yonghui 
Superstores. 
 Super Species employs a hybrid model of 
"high-end supermarket + fresh food restaurant 
+ O2O". 
25 
Digital Retail Has Transformed Mom & Pop Shops 
Alibaba and JD aim to transform the six m convenience stores across China. 
Source: Alizila, AB Bernstein 
Before 
 
 
 
Integrated Retail For China's Mom & Pop Convenience Stores 
After 
 Alibaba and JD have launched 'Ling Shou Tong' and 
'Zhang Gui Bao' initiatives aimed at integrating local 
convenience stores into their ecosystem by providing 
modern analytics and operations. 
 Ling Shou Tong offers a suite of digital services to 
improve efficiency, including: store makeover, mobile 
app to order inventory from a single source, consumer 
analytics to determine highest selling goods and even 
mobile/data top-up plans. 
 
 
 
Number Of Mom & Pop Stores Enrolled In Alibaba & JD Initiatives 
 -    
 500  
 -    
 300  
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Jan 2017
Nov 2017
Alibaba
JD
Thousand 
26 
Meituan-Dianping Is The Most Funded Chinese Ecommerce Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
China Internet Plus 
(Meituan-Dianping) 
8,300 
Tencent Holdings, DST, Capital Today, GIC, Baillie Gifford, Cananda Pension Plan 
Investment Board, Trustbridge Partners 
Pinduoduo 
3,100  
Tencent Holdings, Banyan Capital, Cathay Innovation, New Horizon Capital 
Koubei 
2,100 
Alibaba, Silver Lake, CDH Investments , Yunfeng Capital, Primavera Capital  
Guazi 
1,700 
Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group,Matrix Partners, YF Capital, IDG Capital, 
Capital Today 
Uxin 
960 
Baidu, Tencent, TPG, Jeneration Capital, Warburg Pincus, Tiger Fund, Hillhouse Capital, 
KKR,China Vision Capital, Huasheng Capital 
RenRenChe 
760 
Tencent, Didi, Shunwei Capital, Redpoint, Ceyuan Ventures 
Souche Holdings 
635 
Alibaba, Warburg Pincus, Primavera Capital, Cmb International, Morningside Ventures, 
VMS Investment 
Xiaohongshu 
418 
Zhen Fund, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group, GSR Ventures, Adrian Cheng, Genesis 
Capital, Tiantu Capital, GGV Capital 
Mogujie 
412 
MSA Capital, Ping An, Zhixin Capital, Hillhouse Capital, IDG Capital, Qiming Ventures, 
HOPU Investment Management Company, Banyan Mezzanine Funds 
Womai 
330 
Taikang Life Insurance, Baidu, IDG Capital, SAIF Partners China 
As of June 2018 
27 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Ecommerce Investors in China 
Most Active Investors 
Top Ecommerce Deals 
IDG Capital 
Xiaomi, FarFetch, Moncler, Yuantiku, Three Squirrels, Beibei.com, Mogu Street, Womai.com 
Zhen Fund 
Zhaogang.com, VIP.com, mia.com, Xiaohongshu, Lechun, ClubFactory, FlowerPlus 
Matrix Capital 
The Beast, Reflower, MSParis, MissPao, Udream 
Tiantu Capital 
mwee.cn, Pagoda.com, Mogu Street, Xiaohongshu 
China Growth Capital 
700Bike. MAGMODE, KLOOK, MissFresh, Xiachufang, smzdm.com, Tongbanjie.com 
Susquehanna International  
Group, LLP 
Yitiao, FlashEX, Meiyou, Easyflower, Piaoniu.com, 51zhaoyou.com 
FreeS Fund 
Three Squirrels, Xinliangji, Uber, Tingjiandan, Club Factory 
Bertelsmann Asia Investment Fund  
SECOO, Mogu Street, Yijiupi.com. 352, Zaozuo 
Vision Capital 
MissFresh, Xingbianli, lif8.com, Hamo, Chemao, Zaozuo, Zhaomei.com, Champzee 
Sequoia Capital 
DJI, JD, VIP.com, Haocaitou, Liuliumei, Meituan-Dianping, Ele.me 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
As of June 2018 
28 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
29 
2017 Was The Year Of Short Video 
 
 
 
Source: QuestMobile 
Although messaging remains the dominant mobile activity, users have more than tripled the amount of time they 
spend watching short videos in the last year. 
37.9% 
10.0% 
1.3% 
2.6% 
2.2% 
0.8% 
0.6% 
32.0% 
10.1% 
5.5% 
3.1% 
1.8% 
0.8% 
0.6% 
Messaging
Online Video
Short Video
Weibo
Online Music
Live-Streaming Game-Streaming
Dec-16
Dec-17
Percentage of Time on Spent on Mobile Internet by Activity  
-15.6% 
+323% 
The number of monthly active users for 
short video apps in China doubled in 2017, 
from 203M at the beginning of the year to 
414M at year end. 
% 
30 
Short Video Users Have Grown At An Exceptional Pace (1 of 2) 
As of March 2018, there are nearly 600M users in China who are actively using short video apps. 
Source: QuestMobile, SensorTower, SCMP 
 204  
 52  
 78  
 82  
 230  
 124  
 114  
 113  
0
50
100
150
200
250
Kuaishou
Douyin (Tik Tok)
Huoshan
Xigua
Dec-17
Mar-18
Number of Monthly Active Users Across China's Top-4 Short Video Apps 
m 
31 
Owned by Toutiao 
Short Video Users Have Grown At An Exceptional Pace (2 of 2) 
Kuaishou and Douyin (Tik Tok) are the two leading short video apps. 
Source: QuestMobile, SensorTower, SCMP 
 Launched in 2011, Kuaishou 
is the current leader of short 
video apps, capturing more 
than 50% market share. 
 The majority of its users are 
from 2nd to 4th-tier cities. 
 Kuaishou has more than 10M 
daily active users outside of 
China. 
 Only launched in Sep 
2017, Douyin (Tik Tok) 
has nearly tripled its 
monthly active users in Q1 
this year. 

It was the most 
downloaded iOS app 
(45M+ downloads) in Q1 
of 2018 globally, beating 
out YouTube, WhatsApp 
and Facebook. 
32 
Online Video Is Also A Game Of Three Giants 
China's online video market is dominated by three players: Tencent Video, iQiyi (owned by Baidu) and Youku (owned 
by Alibaba).  
604 
584 
450 
96 
66 
55 
53 
52 
40 
10 
Tencent
iQiyi
Youku MangoTV Bilbili
Letv
PPTV
Fun.tv
Sohu
BesTV
Monthly Active Users On China's Top Online Video Apps as of May 2018 
m 
Source: iResearch, Tencent, Baidu, Nasdaq 
Tencent  
Video 
iQiyi Youku Mango 
TV 
Bilibili 
Letv 
PPTV Fun.tv Sohu BesTV 
 Launched in 2010 by Baidu  
 Listed in Mar 2018 raising $2.3B 
 Has 60m paying subscribers as of Feb 
2018 
 Launched in 2006 and acquired by 
Alibaba in 2015 for $3.7B 
 Merged with Tudou but remained 
separate brands 
 Youku streams hit shows and dramas 
while Tudou focuses on user-generated 
content 
 Launched in 2011 
 Has 63m paying subscribers as of Feb 
2018 
Quick Facts 
33 
Tencent and Toutiao Lead The Way For News In China 
Tencent News has the largest user base while Toutiao has the longest user time spent. 
Top 5 News Apps By MAU (Apr 2018) 
80 
95 
118 
212 
259 
Tencent Reading
NetEase News
Sina News
Toutiao
Tencent News
Source: iResearch, QuestMobile, SCMP calculation 
Top 5 News Apps By Average Time Spent (Dec 2017) 
31 
32 
55 
60 
73 
Tencent Reading
Sina News
Tencent News
NetEase News
Toutiao
m 
Minutes 
34 
Toutiao Is The Most Funded Chinese Content & Media Startup  
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
TouTiao 
3,100 
SIG, DST, General Atlantic, Sina Weibo 
Ximalaya 
450 
SIG, KPCB, Sierra Ventures, WestSummit Capital, Mi, Puhua Capital, China 
Creation Ventures, China Broadband Capital 
Qingting.fm 
230 
Sinovation Capital, Baidu, CMIG, Shenzhen Guozhong Venture Capital 
Qutoutiao 
200 
China Innovision Capital, Advantech Capital, Tencent, XiaoMi, Chuangban 
Investment, Lighthouse Capital 
Zhihu 
185 
Tencent Holdings, Sinovation Ventures, Capital Today, SAIF Partners, Sogou, 
Qiming Ventures Partners 
Yidian Zixun 
178 
Phoenix New Media, Xiaomi, OPPO 
igetget.com 
170 
Sequoia Capital, Qiming Ventures Partners, Tencent Holdings, Youku, Shunwei 
Capital, Zhen Fund 
MobiExchanger 
72 
PreAngel, New Margin Capital, Envision Capital, Mytech China 
ZMT 
70 
Kinzon Capital, IDG, Fosun Kinzon Capital, YF Capital 
NewsDog 
50 
Tencent Holdings, Legend Capital, Dotc United Group, Danhua Capital 
35 
As of June 2018 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Content & Media Investors In China 
Most Active Investors 
Top Content & Media Deals 
Tencent Holdings 
Qutoutiao, Jike, NewRank, Weimob, NewsDog, SNM 
IDG Capital 
ZMT, huoxing24.com, Vzan.com, xmt.cn 
Zhen Fund 
Papi, Mianbao Xiaoke, New Rank, Jike, WeSee, News Break 
Matrix Partners 
Weiboyi, Adsame, Focus Media, data100 
Sequoia Capital 
Mianbao Xiaoke, igetget.com, zongheng.com, Toutiao 
Plum Ventures  
youshu, tingwen.me, MKIT, palmax, Mena 
Shenzhen  
Capital Group 
Infinitas Interactive Media, ipinyou, dodoca.com, Naqu 
Fortune Venture Capital  
Focus Media, NewRank, yidou360 
Qiming Venture Partners  
Zaojiu, Zhihu, igetget.com 
Hongtai Capital 
Nanyouquan, Happy Juzi, baozouribao.com 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
As of June 2018 
36 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
37 
WeChat and Weibo Among the World's Largest Services 
WeChat MAUs have crossed 1 billion as of February 2018. 
Source: Company filings 
Weibo's MAUs grew 20.5% between Q1 2017 and 2018 
WeChat's MAUs grew 10.9% between Q1 2017 and 2018 
341 
411 
Q1 2017
Q1 2018
938 
1040 
Q1 2017
Q1 2018
Million 
Million 
38 
Mini-Programs Have Burst Onto The Scene This Past Year 
In the beginning of 2018, 50% of WeChat's MAUs (472M) were using mini-programs. 
1 
1 
8 
28 
32 
34 
61 75 
96 116 111 
193 
472 444 405 
1% 1% 1% 3% 4% 4% 
7% 9% 
11% 13% 13% 
22% 
52% 
49% 
44% 
Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Jun
Jul
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Jan Feb Mar
WeChat Mini-Program MAUs (M)
Percentage of Overall WeChat MAUs
2017 
2018 
 
 
 
What is a Mini Program? 

Launched in Jan 2017, mini-programs are 
sub-applications smaller than 10 megabytes 
within the WeChat ecosystem. 
 WeChat has more than 580,000 mini-
programs after just one year of development. 
 
 
 
Number of WeChat Mini-Program Users 
Source: QuestMobile, SCMP 
39 
Mini-Programs Have Created An Ecosystem Within WeChat 
Mini-programs are enabling WeChat to be the dominant all-in-one application on mobile. 
28 
13 
12 
9 
8 
7 
5 
4 
4 
3 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
Top 100 Mini-Programs By Type As Of March 2018 
Source: QuestMobile, SCMP 
More than half of China's leading ecommerce platforms 
have launched a mini-program. Pinduoduo now has more 
than 233 m users on its mini-programs. 
The Jump Jump mobile game attracted 400 m 
players in China in less than three days. 
A number of international brands, 
including McDonalds, KFC, Coach 
and Tesla released mini-programs 
for WeChat in the past year. 
40 
Most Funded Chinese Social & Messaging Startups 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
Kuaishou 
1,350 
Tencent Holdings, DCM, Sequoia Capital, Baidu, Morningside Venture Capital 
Miaopai 
775 
Sequoia Capital, Shanghai Media Group, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, iDreamsky 
Technology, Morningside Group, StarVC, Weibo, New Industry Investment Fund, 
Axiom Asia Private Capital 
Huajiao 
215 
Tiange.com, Mango investment, CIC, CDI Fund, 360.cn 
Zhihu 
185 
Tencent Holdings, Sinovation Ventures, Capital Today, SAIF Partners, Sogou, Qiming 
Ventures Partners 
Blued  
132 
UG Capital, CDH Investment, Vision Knight Capital, Ventech China, Shunwei Capital, 
DCM Ventures, Zhonglu Capital, Crystal Stream Capital 
Maimai 
100 
IDG Capital, DCM Ventures, Morningside Ventures Capital 
Douban 
59 
Sequoia Capital, Ceyuan Ventures, BAI Fund, Trustbridge Partners 
Yalla 
30 
Orchid Asia, SIG, Hongfan Capital 
Same 
23 
Tencent Holdings, Trustbridge Partners 
Zuiyou 
18 
SIG, Qiming Ventures 
41 
As of June 2018 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top Social & Messaging Deals 
IDG Capital 
Maimai, Microvcard, SegmentFault, Echo, Faceu, Huoliao APP, Zuoyou, 
Tencent 
Matrix Partners 
Highing, in APP, Shudong, Nice, Momo, ZANK, Lookle 
Tencent Holdings 
Kuaishou, Zhihu, 17Paipai, Snapchat, Hike Mesenger, Kik, Kakao Talk, Same 
Zhen Fund 
Microvcard, Weilian, Nice, Jiayuan 
Sequoia Capital 
Kuaishou, Miaopai, Momo, Douban 
Morningside Capital 
ShareChat, Maimai, Nice, Taoyou, time2plato 
Alibaba Group 
Snapchat, Weibo, Momo, Tango, Xiaoshengshuo 
Shunwei Capital 
Myhug.cn, ShareChat, Paime, Renmaitong 
Qiming Venture Partners  
Zuiyou, Jiayuan, Kaixin001.com 
GGV Capital 
Myhug.cn, Verlocal, HOLLA, Wiselike  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Social & Messaging Investors In China 
As of June 2018 
42 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
43 
Three New Players Enter China's Ride-Sharing Battlefield 
Market giant DiDi sees new competition coming from Meituan Dianping, Ctrip and Alibaba's AutoNavi unit. 
Source: SCMP, Nasdaq, China Money Network 
US$80B estimated valuation 
450M+ users 
Meituan Dianping 
Ctrip 
AutoNavi Holdings 

Leading provider of on-demand online services with a private valuation of 
US$30B as of 2017 

Rolled out its own ride sharing services in Dec 2017 and has since expanded its 
service to seven cities in China  
 One week after Meituan was launched in Shanghai, it achieved 300K active users 

China's leading travel services platform with a 
market cap of $25B as of end of May 2018 
 Obtained a ride hailing license from Tianjin 
Municipal Transportation Commission to 
operate ride hailing business nationwide 

Alibaba's mapping unit, AutoNavi 
Holdings Ltd. (Gaode Map), launched its 
own carpooling business starting in 
Chengdu and Wuhan with plans to roll 
out nationally in 2018 

AutoNavi has 700M+ users 
44 
China's Bike-Sharing Industry Has Consolidated To Three Players 
Ofo and Mobike command over 90% of the market; Hellobike surging quickly in third place. 
 
 
 
Before 
 More than 40 bike-sharing services 
have sprouted in China since 2016. 
 The bike-sharing market in China 
has undergone significant 
consolidation, with more than 20 
start-ups going bust as of Feb 2018. 
 
 
 
Today 

In March 2018, ofo secured US$866M in a new round of financing 
led by Alibaba. 
 Ofo has more than 200M users in China, 26M MAUs and 32M rides 
per day. 

In April 2018, Mobike was acquired by Meituan Dianping, China's 
largest provider of on-demand online services, at a valuation of 
US$3.7B. 
 Mobike has more than 200M users, 22M MAUs and 30M rides per 
day. 

Founded in 2016 and became the fastest-growing bike-sharing 
company in 2017 
 Hellobike has approximately 100M users and 10M rides per day. 
Hellobike 
ofo 
Mobike 
Source: QuestMobile, SCMP, Mobike 
45 
China's Sharing Economy Expands Overseas 
China's leading co-working, home-sharing and bike-sharing companies are now looking for success abroad. 
Bike-Sharing 
As of Dec 2017, ofo has covered 
50 cities across 20 countries. 
Mobike has expanded to 11 
international cities. 
Co-Working 
China's URWork opened its first overseas location in 
Singapore in June 2017 and formed a JV partnership with 
New York's Serendipity Labs. URWork also made a strategic 
investment in Sept 2017 in Rework, a co-working provider in 
Indonesia, to strengthen its network in SE Asia. 
Home-Sharing 
Xiaozhu, China's Airbnb, now has 
listings in over 100 overseas cities 
and entered a strategic partnership 
with global online booking 
platform, Agoda, a member of 
Booking Holdings. 
Source: SCMP, Serendipity Labs, 36kr 
46 
Didi Is The Most Funded Chinese Sharing Economy Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
Didi 
20,100 
Mirae Asset Financial Group, GSR Ventures, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba, Ping An, China Investment 
Corporation, Sailing Capital, GGV Capital, DST Global 
ofo 
2,200 
GSR Ventures, Hongdao Capital, Zhen Fund, Vision Plus Capital, Matrix Partners China, CITIC PE, 
Xiaomi, Shunwei Capital, DST Global, Didi, Alibaba 
BAIC BJEV 
1,660 
Daimler, China Cinda Asset Management, Zhongji Investment 
Tujia 
755 
All-Stars Investment, G Street Capital, Ctrip, HomeAway, Lightspeed China Partners, MSA, Qiming 
Ventures, CBC Capital, CDH Investment 
WiFi Skeleton 
 Key 
652 
Haitong Internation Securities Group, Northern Light Venture Capital,  
Eight Roads Ventures 
Zhubajie 
431 
Chongqing New North Zone Government Investment Fund, IDG Capital, Cybernaut  Venture 
Capital 
Caocao  
Zhuanche 
380 
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 
Xiaozhu 
272 
Joy Capital, YF Capital, Legend Capital, Morningside Venture Capital, MSA, BAI, Capital Today, 
CITIC Capital Holdings, Heyu Capital, YF Capital  
Shouqi Limousine  
& Chauffeur  
229 
NIO Capital, Baidu, Harvest Capital, China Jianyin Investment, Oceanwide Holdings, Silk Road Hua 
Chuang 
Dian 
120 
Sequoia Capital, Tencent Holdings, InCapital, GSR Ventures, Vision Plus Capital, DT Capital 
Partners, CDH Investments, Banyan Capital 
As of June 2018 
47 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top Sharing Economy Deals 
Matrix Partners China 
Didi, ofo, Yunniao, zuzuche.com, Huangbaoche 
Sequoia Capital 
ymm56.com, Dian, Mobike, Xingbianli 
Zhen Fund 
Ofo, TOGO, YCLOSET, First Class, Hami 
CDH Investment 
Didi, FlashEx, Tujia, Dian, Grab 
GSR Ventures 
Didi, ofo, YCLOSET, Dian 
Lightspeed  
China Partners 
xingren.com, ymm56.com, Tujia, fangdd.com 
Joy Capital 
UCAR Inc, Mobike, xiaozhu.com 
Vision Plus Capital 
Ofo, Dian, Xingbianli 
Qiming Ventures 
Tujia, Mobike 
Panda Capital 
Mobike, atzuche.com 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Sharing Economy Investors 
As of June 2018 
48 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
49 
China's AI Development Still Lags Behind The US 
As of June 2017, the US was home to the most AI startups in the world at 1,078 with China in second at 591. 
1078 
591 
138 
74 
70 
666 
USA
China
UK
Israel
Canada
Other
Number of AI Startups By Country as of June 2017 
000s 
488 
586 
33 
304 
273 
14 
A
B
Other
US
China
US vs. China: Number of AI Startups By Sector 
000s 
Machine Learning, 
Robotics, & 
Autonomous Vehicles 
Computer Vision & 
Language 
Infrasructure 
Source: Tencent Research Institute 
50 
But The Chinese Government Has Ambitious Plans To Catch Up 
Baidu's focuses autonomous driving.  
Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and iFlyTek have been a driving force behind China's AI advancement. 
AI Strategic 
Plan 
Leading 
Chinese 
Companies 
In AI 
In July 2017, China's State Council released its roadmap to create a domestic 1 trillion yuan (US$148B) AI industry and 
leapfrog the US to be the global leader in the field of AI by 2030. 
 Keep pace with leading AI technology and applications in general by 2020 
 Make major breakthroughs by 2025 
 Be the world leader in the field by 2030 
The cloud computing division of Alibaba is working on a project called "city brains", a set of AI solutions to 
improve urban life, including smart transport. 
Tencent focuses on computer vision for medical diagnosis. 
Shenzhen-listed iFlyTek, a dominant player in voice recognition, specializes in voice intelligence. 
Investment 
and 
Training 

In Jan 2018, the government announced that it would spend US$2.1B to build an AI industrial park in the suburbs of 
Beijing. 

In April 2018, the Ministry of Education launched a five-year AI talent training program, where 500 teachers and 5,000 
students would train at top universities. 
Source: SCMP 
51 
Facial Recognition Technology Is A Leading AI Application in China 
Major Chinese cities are employing facial recognition to improve transportation and security. 
 
 
Facial recognition systems are being 
tested in major train stations like Wuhan. 
China's Spring Festival this year saw over 
400 m people traveling by train. 
Source: SCMP 
In Shenzhen, AI-firm Intellifusion works with local 
police to display the faces of jaywalkers on large 
LED screens at intersections. It is now 
collaborating with local mobile phone carriers and 
social media platforms such as WeChat to develop 
a system where offenders will receive personal 
text messages as soon as they violate the rules. 
Police arrested a fugitive in southeast China 
after facial recognition technology helped 
identify him in a crowd of about 50,000 
people attending a pop concert. 
52 
Use of Big Data Continues To Grow And Is Being Applied To Farming 
Farms are leveraging AI technologies to enhance efficiency, yields and income. 
 
 

JD launched its AI chicken project called "running chicken" 
in 2018.  
 With the help of AI, the chicken farm is monitored 24/7 
with functions including automatic feeding, cleaning and 
health diagnose.  
Source: SCMP, JD 
 Alibaba uses AI to raise pigs by using a digital ID for each pig, 
which can help track vital signs, pregnancy, sickness, sleeping 
and eating schedule and their mood. 
 This has helped Tequ Group, a Sichuan-based pig farming 
enterprise, to raise more newborn pigs, reduce death rates and 
increase income by 10 percent. 
 
53 
Robotics Is An Area Of Major Development In China 
Intelligent service robots continue to upgrade across industries, including ecommerce and healthcare. 
 Cainiao x Tmall's warehouse is powered by delivery self-
charging robots; each robot can carry up to 500 kilograms. 
 The robots save time by three-fold for warehouse clerks. 
Source: SCMP, Alizila, Statista 

In September 2017, a robot dentist in China became the world's 
first to perform 3D-printed teeth implants in a patient's mouth 
without any human involvement. 
54 
China's intelligent service robots market will reach US$2.4 Billion by 2019 
Voice and Language Applications Are Seeing Greater Adoption 
Chinese consumers are increasingly using AI for translation and voice command.  
 The Sogou Travel Translator receives over 
200M daily voice requests, approximately 
240,000 hours of data with 97% translation 
accuracy. 
Source: Sogou, Technology Review 
 Over 500M Chinese use iFlytek voice 
input via its 400,000 developers in 
various industries such as smart home 
and mobile internet.  
55 
SenseTime Is The Most Funded Chinese AI Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
SenseTime 
1,600 
Morningside Venture Capital, Sailing Capital, CICC, Co-Stone Capital 
Alibaba, IDG, TCL Capital, StarVC, WANDA Group, CDH Investment 
Megvii 
607 
Sunshine Insurance, Sinovation Ventures, Ant Financial 
Foxconn Technology Group, China State-Owned Assets Venture Investment Fund,  
CCB International, SK Group, Qiming Venture Partners 
United Imaging 
530 
China Life Insurance, SDIC Fund, China International Capital,  
CITIC Securities, CMB International 
CloudWalk 
397 
Shunwei Capital, Oriza Holdings, Puhua Capital 
Wecash 
328 
IDG, Lingfeng Capital, Sea Limited,  
China Merchants Innovation Investment ManagementSIG Ventures,  
Hongdao Capital, Forebright Capital, ORIX Asia Capital Ltd 
Mobvoi 
253 
Volkswagen China, Google, Sequoia Capital, Zhen Fund, SIG China 
Unisound 
211 
Hanfor Holdings, China Electronics Health Fund, Qihoo 360 Technology, Zhongdian Health Fund, 
Qiming Venture Partners, Qianhai Wutong Mergers and Acquisitions Funds 
CloudMinds 
131 
SoftBank, Foxconn, Keynote Ventures, Walden International, Bojiang Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group, 
Qiming Ventures 
Horizon Robotics 
100 
Intel Capital, Sinovation Ventures, Morningside Capital, Hillhouse Capital, Linear Venture, Harvest 
Investment, Wu Capital, Tsing Capital 
Cambricon 
100 
Yonghua Capital, SDIC Chuangye Investment Management, Alibaba, Lenovo, CAS Investment 
Management, Turing, Oriza Seed Capital, Lenovo Capital 
As of June 2018 
56 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top AI Deals 
Sequoia Capital 
JD, 360, Mobvoi, Toutiao, ThinkForce 
Horizon Robotics, Versa, NIO, BGI, Dajiang, YITU, 100Credit 
Tencent Holdings 
Yonghong Tech, JD, Sougou, iCarbonX, UBTECH, NIO 
IDG Capital 
Baidu, Mi, SenseTime, 100Credit, Liulishuo, Rokid, APEAKIN 
Matrix Partners 
Yonghong Tec, Mobile, 360, 12Sigma, Sensing Tech, ccint.com 
GGV Capital 
Momenta, Liulishuo, Zhuiyi, EHANG, Deepinfar, binguohezi 
YF Capital  
Sougou, Mi, ThinkForce, YITU, Video++, Alibaba 
Qiming Ventures 
Xiaomi, Face++, UBTECH, binguohezi, tongdun 
Morningside Ventures 
Xiaomi, SenseTime, Horizon Robotics, Zhuiyi 
Oriental  
Fortune Capital 
Hydata, Geetest, Quant Group, Yonghong Tech, Learnta 
Sinovation Ventures 
Dorabot Inc., ImageDT, class100, STEM Cloud 
Pine Ventures 
SenseTime, BGI, UBTECH, Gaomuxuexi 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active AI Investors In China 
As of June 2018 
57 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
58 
Smart Speakers Are Still Nascent In China But Quickly Growing 
JD, Xiaomi and Alibaba are the current leaders in China's small but growing smart speaker market. 
10 
60 
350 
1,200  
4,400 
2015
2016
2017
2018E
Source: GfK, Canalys, SCMP 
Number of Smart Speakers Sold in China 
000s 
Smart Speaker Sales Share By Manufacturer For 2017 
% of total units sold 
38% 
32% 
15% 
Other 
15% 
By comparison, shipments of 
smart speakers in the US totaled 
25m in 2017 
59 
LingLong DingDong 
Tmall Genie X1 
Mi AI Speaker 
Raven H 
Little Fish VS1 & 
Sengled Smart Lamp 
Speaker 
US$126 
US$76 
US$47 
US$256 
N/A 
Nov 2016 
July 2017 
July 2017 
Nov 2017(1) 
N/A 
The Battlefield For Smart Speakers Is Intensifying In China 
The market is overcrowded with more than 100 smart speaker developers and Baidu is the latest entrant. 
(1)
Raven H production reported to have stopped in June as only 10K units were manufactured. 
Source: SCMP, Press Research 
Selected Speakers 
60 
Xiaomi Is The Most Funded Chinese Smart Device Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
Xiaomi(1) 
3,400 
All-Stars Investment, Shunwei Capital, Green Bay Ventures, Morningside Group, GIC, YF Capital, DST 
Global, Ratan Tata, Qiming Venture Partners, NGP Capital 
Royole 
1,100 
Shenzhen Capital Group, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, IDG Capital Partners, Tanshi Capital, 
Green Pine Capital, Hanfor Capital Management, Warmsun Holding Group, Zhongtai Chuanghui 
Equity Investment Fund 
UBTECH 
940 
CITIC Securities, Tencent Holdings, CDH Investment, Qiming Venture Partners 
Meizu 
890 
Alibaba, Haitong Kaiyuan Investment 
Smartisan 
234 
PurpleSky Capital 
XGIMI 
160 
CDF Capital, Sailing Capital, Lucion Venture Capital, Matrix Partners China, Baidu, Bojiang Capital, 
Pan-Lin Asset Management 
Rokid 
158 
Credit Suisse, M Fund, IDG Capital Partners, Advantech Capital, Temasek Holdings, Linear Ventures, 
Walden International, CDIB Capital 
JMGo 
125 
Golden Brick Capital, SkyChee Ventures 
Codoon 
111 
Susquehanna International Group, Shenzhen Capital Group, FountainVest Partners, SBCVC Fund III 
Company, CITIC Capital Holding, SBCVC, Focus Media, Advanced Power Electronics Corp 
DJI 
111 
Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, LH Capital Management 
As of June 2018 
61 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.    (2)     Xiaomi listed in HKEX on Jul 9, 2018; funding amount is before IPO.    
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top Smart Devices Deals 
Zhen Fund 
Vincross, Polly.ai, UMA, BeSound, EHANG, Mobnote, SUGR Cube,  
Vidoo, YOGO, FLEXIV, IMIO 
Sequoia Capital 
Pony.ai, LinkedSee AR, Horizon Robotics, Huami, Viomi, DJI, iRay,  
Microduino, Janez T, ChargeDot 
IDG 
RDA, Montage, ISSC, Sane Chips, MUCH, YOGO, TMiRob, DKVision 
PreAngel 
Mech-Mind, Dobot, EHANG, LYRobotix, Aeris Aura 
Northen Light Venture 
Leishen Lidar, Shenzhen Smart Drone, Casun 
Legend Star 
OneSpace, CarRobot, LisaWatch, TONY watch 
Matrix Partners China 
AutoBot, GLXSS, MaxStone, Vidoo, Convenient Power 
Sinovation Ventures 
Wonder Workshop, AINemo, Dorabot, Goluk, Fineck, Mobnote 
Qiming Ventures 
VINNO, Convenient Power, Xiaomi, UBTECH 
Tencent 
Pacewear, Meta, Moon Express, Whaley, PICOOC, Tile 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Smart Devices Investors In China 
As of June 2018 
62 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
63 
China vs. US In Autonomous Cars 
China is formulating technology standards and industry guidelines to close the gap with the US. 
Source: SCMP, McKinsey 
2019 and beyond 
2018 
2017 
The US Transportation Department plans to unveil revised 
self-driving car guidelines this year. 
In March, Shanghai issued licenses for 
self-driving cars from NIO and SAIC. 
In April, China's Ministry of Industry and 
Information Technology released national 
guidelines for smart internet connected cars, 
giving local authorities a freer hand to arrange 
road tests for autonomous vehicles. 
China is likely to emerge as 
the world's largest market for 
autonomous vehicles and 
mobility services, worth more 
than US$500 billion by 2030. 
In December, the National Development 
and Reform Commission, China's top 
economic planning agency, unveiled a 
three-year plan making the development 
of smart cars a national priority.  
 
Beijing also became China's first city to 
green light open road tests for 
autonomous cars. 
In September, the US approved a bill that laid out a 
framework for federal autonomous vehicle regulation, 
speeding up deployment of self-driving cars in the country. 
64 
The Last Year Has Seen Major Development In Autonomous Cars 
Leading Chinese internet companies and automakers are making headway, with Baidu leading the pack. 
 
 
Chinese 
Internet 
companies 
Chinese 
Auto Manu-
facturers 

Identified by China's Ministry of Science & Technology as national champion in self-driving cars 

Announced plans to commence mass production of an L4 autonomous driving bus with King Long 
Motor Group in July 2018, L3 passenger vehicles with JAC Motor and BAIC Motor in 2019, L3 vehicles 
with Chery in 2020 and L4 vehicles in 20211 
(1)
The Society of Automotive Engineers have defined six levels  (0-5): L3 = cars safely control all aspects of driving in mapped environment, L4 = no driver interaction needed, L5 = completely autonomous 
Source: Alibaba, SCMP 

Now running road tests of autonomous cars on a regular basis and has the capabilities for open road 
trials with the goal is to achieve L4 autonomous capability 

Partnered with SAIC Motor to launch internet-connected cars powered by Alibaba's AliOS 

Has partnered with six Chinese automakers  GAC, Changan, Geely, BYD, Dongfeng, FAW  since 2017 

Received its first license to conduct open-road tests for its autonomous cars in Shenzhen in May 2018 

Electric vehicle start-up NIO, backed by Tencent, Baidu and Xiaomi, received a license to road test 
autonomous driving in Shanghai for its 7-seater sport utility vehicle 

Partnered with Intel in the beginning of 2018 to develop Level 3, 4 and 5 autonomous vehicles 

Also awarded licenses to road test autonomous driving in Shanghai for two models of its smart car 
Company 
Development 
65 
Nio Is The Most Funded Chinese Autonomous Car Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
NIO 
2,100 
Tencent Holdings, Baillie Gifford,  Lone Pine, Sequoia Capital, IDG,  
China Asset Management Co, GIC, CITIC Capital, TPG, MSA, Baidu, Hillhouse Capital 
WM Motor 
1,200 
Susquehanan International Group, Sequoia Capital, Amiba Capital, Tencent Holdings, Baidu Capital, 
Minmentals Development, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 
Xiaopeng Motors  
706 
CICC, Kinzon Capital, Alibaba, Shunwei Capital, GWC Innovator Fund, IDG Capital Partners, UCAR, 
Matrix Partners China, Morningside Venture Capital, Lightspeed Venture, YF capital, GGV Capital, 
Foxconn Group 
CHJ Automotive 
594 
Yintai Group, SourceCode Capital, Future Capital AG, Matrix Partners China, LEO Group, Funcity 
Capital, Plum Ventures, BlueRun Ventures 
Zhiche Auto 
580 
Intel Capital, GX Capital, One Capital, NetPosa 
Roadstar.ai 
128 
Shenzhen Capital Group, Wu Capital, China Vision Capital, Yunqi Partners,  
CMBI International Capital,  Glory Ventures, Green Pine Capital 
JingChi 
120 
China Growth Capital, Nvidia GPU Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners 
Pony.ai 
112 
Sequoia Capital, Legend Capital, Puhua Capital, IDG Capital Partners, DCM Ventures, Silicon Valley 
Future Capital, Morningside Venture Capital, Legend Star, Polaris Capital Group 
TuSimple 
83 
Fuhe Capital, Sina, Zhiping Capital, Nvidia, Composite Capital Management 
Momenta.ai 
51 
Shunwei Capital, Zhen Fund, Sinovation Ventures, Unity Ventures, Daimler, 
NIO Capital, Blue Lake Capital AG 
As of June 2018 
66 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top Autonomous Car Deals 
Sequoia Capital 
NIO, Lingyun, NIU, Ninebot, WM Motor, LingYun Technology 
IDG Capital 
Carsmart, CloudCar, Navya, Commsigna, SINGULATO 
Zhen Fund 
Hyperloop Technologies, Lingyun, Momenta.ai 
Tencent Holdings 
WM Motor, NIO, Tesla, Yixin Group 
Matrix Partners 
Xiaopeng Motors, CHJ Automotive 
Morningside Ventures 
Xiaopeng Motors, Pony.ai 
SourceCode Capital 
CHJ Automotive, DeepMotion 
Qiming Ventures 
JingChi 
GGV Capital 
Xiaopeng Motors 
YF Capital 
Xiaopeng Motors 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Autonomous Cars Investor In China 
As of June 2018 
67 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
68 
Chinese Consumers Are Crazy About Cryptocurrency 
 
 
 
A few Chinese cryptocurrencies have reached over 
 $1 billion in market cap  
 
 
 
Binance, OKex, Huobi are the top 3 crypto exchanges in the 
world with over $1 billion in daily trading volume 
There are multiple cryptocurrencies and exchanges in China with huge scale. 
Source: Coin Market Cap 
69 
China Says 'No' To Cryptocurrency But 'Yes' To Blockchain 
China wants to be a frontrunner in blockchain technology even if the ban on crypto remains. 
Source: SCMP, ITjuzi 
 
 
 
No To Cryptocurrency 
 
 
 
But Yes To Blockchain 
Domestic closure: In September 2017, China ordered 
the closure of all cryptocurrency exchanges and 
pronounced all initial coin offerings (ICOs) illegal, 
marking the start of the official crackdown on the 
digital currency that saw a number of bitcoin traders 
relocate to other countries. 
Funding halted: In January 2018, the People's Bank 
of China ordered financial institutions to stop 
providing funding to any activity related to 
cryptocurrencies. 
Foreign platforms banned: In February 2018, China 
blocked all overseas websites related to 
cryptocurrency trading and ICOs as well. 
Local support: Shanghai, Shanxi, Henan, Guangzhou, Guiyang 
and Hangzhou have all issued policies to encourage blockchain 
development. 
New funding: Shenzhen established a 500 m yuan fund focused 
on blockchain investments. Hangzhou announced its plan to 
invest 10 billion yuan in a blockchain fund, which officials 
claimed as the world's biggest fund investing in blockchain 
projects. 
Central government support: The master plan for the Xiongan 
New Area economic zone, created under the direct order from 
President Xi Jinping, highlights the use of blockchain 
technologies to create a smart city.  
Startups on the rise: 41% of startups that received funding in 
China in the first quarter of 2017 were blockchain-related. 
70 
China's 'No' To Cryptocurrency Can Be Illustrated With Bitcoin  
CNY-denominated Bitcoin trading volume plummeted in early 2017 and ultimately ceased by Oct 2017. 
Source: Bitcoinity, SCMP 
CNY
EUR
GBP
USD
JPY
Other
Government warns investors about 
the risk controls of China's largest 
bitcoin exchanges, which 
temporarily suspend withdrawals 
Chinese 
exchanges lift 
suspension on 
withdrawals 
China deems initial coin offerings 
illegal, orders mainland 
exchanges to shut down 
71 
Blockchain Will Have Many Business Use Cases In China 
Although still in its infancy, blockchain technology can be applied across industries. 
Source: xxx 
Healthcare Patient 
Records 
Identity 
Management 
Supply Chain 
Digital Asset 
Tracking 
Logistics 
Luxury Goods 
Tracking 
IoT Message and 
Asset Tracking 
Money Remittance 
Alibaba partnered with the city of 
Changzhou in August 17 to launch 
China's first application of Blockchain 
technology in the medical sector.  
Tencent partnered with China 
Federation of Logistics & Purchasing 
in Mar-18 to develop an industry 
application based on Tencent 
blockchain-TrustSQL, including 
platforms for e-waybill service, 
transportation management system 
and warehouse management system.  
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority 
went live with its Trade Finance 
Platform, built on blockchain 
technology in September 2017. 
72 
Bitmain Is The Most Funded Chinese Blockchain Startups  
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
Bitmain 
450 
Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital Partners, GIC, DST Global 
Hyperchain 
230 
Xinghu Zhongbao, China Gaoxin Investment Group 
Canaan 
47 
Baopu Investment, Jin Jiang Group, Tunlan Capital 
OKCoin 
47 
Giant Network, Ceyuan Ventures, Mandra Capital, Sinovation Ventures Lab
PreAngel 
Shuidihuzhu 
33 
IDG, Gaorong Capital, Tencent, Zhen Fund 
Jinghang Blockchain 
31 
Tunlan Capital 
TokenClub 
30 
INBlockchain, Shunwei Capital 
HOTchain 
24 
Qtum Capital, Qtum Foundation, Bitcoin Faith, IBT Ventures, Arrival Capital, 
IPTChain, FBTC,Genesis Capital 
BKBT 
20 
JRR Crypto 
8btc 
16 
Puhua Capital, QF CapitalFuncity CapitalBitmain 
As of June 2018 
73 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Blockchain Investors In China 
Investor 
Top Blockchain Deals 
Fenbushi Capital 
Stream, TenX, Zcash, GEM, ABRA, TIERION, Everledger, Symbiont, CIRCLE, Factom,  
OTONOMOS, biTSE, POE, soc 
Qianfang Capital 
Genaro, Bytom, Delphy, Primas, Cybex, Vechain, Loopring, ATMatrix, IOTA, Tezos 
INBlockchain 
Stream, InkChain, EOS, BOTTOS, BigONE, sia, QTUM, Maggie, ITC, WanChain, Oracle Chain, Insurance, 
uip, Decentraland, hot, iost, dta 
Node Capital 
Huobi, Coldar, Bochen Inc, Fengwo, Jinse Finance, Chainup, Dochain, soc 
LinkVC 
sosobtc, AICoin, QUOINE, Ripio, Genaro, Tenx, Measurable, Blockv, Raiden, BBEX, Cybermiles,  
Maggie, IOT Chain, Pro Chain 
Danhua Capital 
Meta, aelf, theat, data, bat, IOST 
Sequoia Capital 
Huobi, IOST, ugc, filecoin, orchid 
Zhen Fund 
Lino, IOST, data, yee, HOT, GXB, EDU 
IDG Capital 
Ripple, Coinbase, Cirlce, Bitmain, Bitkan  
Funcity Capital 
8btc, IOST, Binance, huoxing24.com 
Source: Block Data 
74 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
75 
Chinese Internet Companies Play Across The Fintech Value Chain 
For these five major players, their fintech businesses serve to strengthen their core business.  
Source: Press research 
Online Payment 
Financing & Lending 
Investment 
QQ Wallet 
Baidu Wallet 
JD Pay 
Ping An E-wallet 
Tencent Welfare 
Licaitong 
UMoney 
Baidu Loan 
Xiaojinku 
Baidu Wealth Mgmt 
Baizhong 
76 
Mobile Payments Continue To Surge With Alipay and WeChat Pay 
China's mobile payment transaction volume hit US$15 trillion in 2017 with the duopoly taking 92% of the market. 
Source: iResearch, Analysys 
0.8 
1.3 
1.9 
3.1 
4.1 
5.0 
1.9 
9.2 
15.4 
25.9 
1.0 
2.2 
3.8 
12.3 
19.5 
30.9 
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018e
PC
Mobile
China's Total Transaction Value Via 3rd Party Online Payments 
US$ Trillion 
69% p.a. 
54% 
38% 
8% 
Others 
China's Mobile Payment Market Split, 2017 
% 
77 
Regulation Will Shape China's Fintech Landscape 
Tighter regulation and consolidation of regulatory bodies point to tougher fintech environment in the short-term. 
Source: SCMP, PwC 
In addition, China's financial regulatory bodies are being  
consolidated to reduce financial risk. 
Regulatory Body 
People's Bank of China 
(PBoC) 
Securities Regulatory 
Commission (CSRC)  
Banking Regulatory 
Commission (CBRC)  
Insurance Regulatory 
Commission (CIRC) 

In March, China merged its banking (CBRC) and insurance (CIRC) 
regulators to heed President Xi's calls to reduce financial risk. 
 Legislative powers would be transferred and centralized with the 
People's Bank of China.  
 
Responsible areas of fintech 
Third-party fund payments and transfer 
Crowdfunding and online fund products 
P2P online lending, online trust products and 
online consumer finance 
Internet insurance 
There has been tightened regulation in China's 
internet financing and online lending segments. 
New rules  

In Nov 2017, China issued an administrative order 
ceasing the issuance of new online peer-to-peer 
(P2P) company licenses. 

In Dec 2017, China's central bank and banking 
regulatory commission jointly ordered that all 
organizations and individuals must obtain a 
license and operate with strict requirements. 
 Regulators set high capital requirements, a rule 
mandating the appointment of a custodian bank, 
full disclosure of fund information and a ban on 
unsecured cash loans. 
78 
Ant Financial Is The Most Funded Chinese Fintech Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
Ant Financial 
14,500 
China Development Industrial Bank, Alibaba Group, National Social Security Fund, CCB 
International, Primavera Capital Group, China Investment Corporation 
JD Finance 
3,000 
CICC, Sequoia Capital, China Taiping Insurance, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, China 
Creation Ventures, Harvest Global Investments, China National Cereals 
Lufax 
1,700 
CICC, COFCO, CDH Investments, China MinSheng Bank, Guotai Junan Securities,  
Arbor Ventures, BLackPine Private Equity Partners 
U51.com   
825 
Yintai Group, Shunwei Capital, JD, Meridian Capital China, Xinhu Zhongbao,  
Tiantu Capital, GGV Capital, Harvest Capital 
Jiedaibao  
694 
JD Capital 
OneConnect 
650 
SBIIDG Ventures, Ping An  
CGTZ 
521 
Geo- Jade Petroleum, China Media Capital, Guangzhou YUEXIU Industrial Investment Fund, 
Shunwei Capital 
Dianrong  
509 
Standard Chartered Bank, EG Capital Advisors, CITIC Securities, Max Giant Capital, GIC, Bohai 
Leasing, Sun Hung Kai Properties, China Fintech Fund, Cross Pacific Capital Partners, Norther 
Light Venture Capital, GMIC Leasingm Simone Investment Mangers, ORIX Asia Capital Ltd, 
MindWorks Ventures, FinSight Ventures, Tiger Global Management 
WeBank  
450 
WI Harper Group, Temasek 
Dashu  
Finance 
211 
PAG, Primavera Capital Group, Sequoia Capital  
As of June 2018 
79 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top Fintech Deals 
Source Code Capital 
Qudian, Smart Finance Group, INK, feidee.com, Nongfenqi, Huifenqi, zichan360, licai.com, 
Lantouzi, Xiao Hu Group, juaicai.com, BMQB.com, ABC Fintech, Lean Work 
IDG 
China UMS, Qingsongchou, Shuidihuzhu, EasyTransfer, Tongdun, Qiandai,  
Tongbanjie, wacai.com, Wecash, 100credit.com, Yixin, Formax, TransferEasy 
Sequoia Capital 
ddjf.com, Shoujidai, Xiaoyusan Insurance, Zhongan, Pai Pai Dai 
Jinfuzi, feidee.com, 19pay, rong360.com 
BANYAN Capital 
Zhongrongjin, Qiandai, Shuidihuzhu, Yuanbaopu, Qianbao, QuantGroup, Jcaimao 
BAI 
Yixin Group, Fenqile, Nongfenqi, Meixin Global, Bigo Live, Baca, Linklogis 
Marathon  
Venture Partners 
Baozhunniu, Knowlegene, ejsino.com, Cihon, gevent.com, au23.cn, Totodi 
Bluerun Ventures 
Qudian, Shuidihuzhu, au23.cn, 51dang, Zhimahezi 
Qiming Ventures 
ABC Fintech, wacai.com, SequoiaDB 
China Creation Ventures 
id5.cn, Yixin, Sinowel, rong360.com 
Vertex Ventures 
InstaReM, Turnkey Lender, Maxent 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Fintech Investors In China 
As of June 2018 
80 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
81 
Top Online English-Learning 
Platform 
Overseas Teachers Network 
Over 40,000 teachers in the US 
and Canada 
14,800 teachers in the 
Philippines and the US 
Teachers in the UK, the US, 
Australia and Canada 
Over 20,000 teachers from 80 
countries 
Teachers from North America 
and Europe 
Online Education Connects Students In China With Int'l Resources 
Top online English-learning platforms are all leveraging videoconferencing technology to connect students in China 
with teachers overseas for real-time one-on-one lessons.   
Source: GETChina Insights, VIPKid, 51Talk,  DaDaABC, vipabc,   
VIPKid, one of the top players in 
the industry, follows an Uber-
like model that connects 
overseas teachers with parents 
& students.  
There are online tutorials on 
how to become a teacher on 
platforms such as VIPKid. 
VIPKid is also expanding the 
business model overseas  
i.e. connecting overseas 
students with teachers in 
China for Chinese-learning. 
82 
Online Education Is Empowering Students In Rural China 
Online education could be the answer to the challenges students face in rural China.  
Source: SCMP, VIPKid  
Challenges 
 Shortage of teachers  
not enough qualified 
teachers willing to take 
up jobs in remote and 
impoverished areas. 
 
 Outdated textbooks  
rural students often use 
textbooks more than a 
decade old. 
Solutions 
 Live-streamed classes - 
enable educators in cities 
to reach out to students 
in rural areas with 
updated teaching 
resources. 
 
 AI-enabled education  
frees up teachers' capacity 
and leads to more 
personalized education 
based on individual 
students' needs. 
Examples 
 Government policy - 
 China's Education Ministry has required governments at 
all levels to spend a minimum of 8% of their funding on 
digitalization of education. 
 87% of primary and middle schools in mainland China 
had access to the internet by 2016, according to the 
ministry. 
 
 Ed tech companies -  
 VIPKid x Jack Ma Charity Foundation  launched the 
Rural Education Project in 2017, which aims to bring 
online education to 10,000 classrooms. 
 CCtalk (online learning platform from Hujiang EdTech)  
offers free online lessons taught by experienced 
teachers based in cities on a voluntary basis. 
83 
VIPKID Is The Most Funded Chinese Education Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
VIPKID 
825 
Sequoia Capital, Zhen Fund, Tencent Holdings, Sinovation Ventures, Bryant Stibel 
Investments, Learn Capital, Matrix Partners China, Northern Light Ventures Capital, 
YF Capital 
Yuantiku 
244 
New Horizon Capital, IDG Capital Partners, Tencent Holdings, Matrix Partners China, 
Warburg Pincus, China Media Capital 
Zuoyebang 
235 
Sequoia Capital, H Capital, Legend Capital, GGV Capital, Xianghe Capital, Tiger 
Global Mauritius Fund 
Qingting.fm 
230 
Sinovation Capital, Baidu, CMIG, Shenzhen Guozhong Venture Capital 
Zhangmen 
200 
Warburg Pincus, Genesis Capital, StarVC, Shunwei Capital 
Qingqing Jiajiao 
188 
Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital, FREES Fund, TAL Education Group, ClearVue Partners, 
Trustbridge Partners 
Hujiang EdTech 
187 
Wanxin Media, China Minsheng Investment Group, Baidu 
Zhihu 
185 
Tencent Holdings, Sinovation Ventures, Capital Today, SAIF Partners, Sogou, Qiming 
Ventures Partners 
igetget.com 
170 
Sequoia Capital, Qiming Ventures Partners, Tencent Holdings, Youku, Shunwei 
Capital, Zhen Fund 
Xueba100.com 
121 
Anhui Xinhua Media, M Fund, Grand Fight Investment, China Wisdom, Yada 
Education, Vertex Ventures, Qiming Ventures Partners, China Merchants Capital, 
Trustbridge Partners 
As of June 2018 
84 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top Online Education Deals 
Zhen Fund 
VIPKID, igetget.com, VIPCODE, ToDoEN, LiveEdu.tv, Duia.com, Koala Reading 
Shunwei Capital 
Zhangmen, Hujiang EduTech, igetget.com, Qingting.fm, 17Zuoye, zhan.com 
Matrix Partners China 
VIPKID, BBTree, Yuantiku, Qingting.fm, Baicizhan 
Sequoia Capital 
VIPKID, Qingqing Jiajiao, igetget.com, Zuoyebang, Baicizhan 
IDG Capital 
Qingqing Jiajiao, Yuantiku, LingoChamp (liulishuo) , MSSVOCAL 
Sinovation Ventures 
VIPKID, Zhihu, Qingting.fm, VIPCODE, Waijiaoyi 
Trustbridge Partners 
xueba100.com, Qingqing Jiajiao, LingoChamp (liulishuo)  
GGV Capital 
Zuoyebang, LingoChamp (liulishuo) , Koala Reading 
Qiming Ventures 
Xueba100.com, igetget.com, Zhihu 
Warburg Pincus 
Yuantiku, Zhangmen 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Education Investors In China 
As of June 2018 
85 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
86 
26.1 
30.8 
37.9 
25.1 
28.1 
30.4 
55.3 
62.9 
69.6 
106.5 
121.7 
137.9 
2016
2017
2018e
China
US
RoW
China Further Solidifies Its Place As The Largest Gaming Market 
Most of China's growth comes from mobile gaming with Tencent and NetEase leading the way. 
% 
China 
(1)
Consumer revenues generated by companies in the global games industry, excluding hardware sales, tax, business-to-business services and online betting. 
Source: Newzoo, iResearch, askci consulting 
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2016
2017
2018Q1
 
 
 
China captures more than a quarter of 
global gaming software revenue1 
 
 
 
primarily driven by mobile gaming 
 
 
 
which is dominated by two players: 
Tencent and NetEase 
24% 
25% 
28% 
$B 
46% 
53% 
58% 
54% 
47% 
42% 
24.4 
27.5 
37.9 
2016
2017
2018e
Mobile
Other
Tencent market share 
NetEase market share 
87 
Others 
Battle Royale Is All The Rage 
Survival and shooter games have evolved into a new genre of battle royale which is sweeping mobile gaming. Chinese 
developers are capitalizing and have developed multiple versions globally. 
Source: Newzoo, SCMP, Abacus 
NetEase 
Tencent 
NetEase had first mover advantage, launching Knives Out and Rules 
of Survival in November 2017 in Chinese, English and Japanese. 
Normally, NetEase works to establish games in China before 
releasing them overseas but this time they changed their strategy. 
 
Knives Out 
50 m monthly active users as of Jan 2018 
Rules of Survival 
25 m monthly active users as of Jan 2018 
Shortly after in Feb 2018, Tencent launched two different versions 
of PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the overnight success 
originally launched in March 2017 for PC) in China. 
The international mobile version of PUBG was launched in March. 
   
PUBG: Exhilarating Battlefield 
7.3 m downloads in China on iOS in debut 
month (#1 mobile game) 
10 m daily active players (outside of China) 
as of May 2018 
PUBG: Army Attack 
2.9 m downloads in China on iOS in debut 
month (#2 mobile game) 
88 
Zeus Interactive Is The Most Funded Chinese Gaming Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
Zeus Interactive 
410 
Legend Capital, ENLIGHT MEDIA 
iDreamsky  
Technology     
356 
Hwa Xiu Investment Group, Legend Capital, Legend Star, Redpoint 
Linekong 
228 
IDG Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, SAIF Partners, Orchid Asia Group 
Management, Starwish Global Limited, Northern Light Venture Capital, Profitable 
Century International Limited 
Forgame 
150 
Qiming Venture Partners, Kongzhong, TA Associates 
Mokylin Group 
92 
Pine Capital Partners, Cowin Capital, DELI Group 
FunPlus  
87 
Signia Venture Partners, GSR Ventures, Orchid Asia Group Management, Steamboat 
Ventures 
Laoyuegou 
70 
Tiantu Capital 
Cheng Guang 
55 
Greenwoods Investment, Atlas Capital LLC, Guojin Capital 
Hoolai Games 
38 
Sequoia Capital, Zero2IPO Capital, CyberAgent Ventures, Greylock Partners, BAI, 
Tencent, Wanda 
EGLS Technology  
23 
Matrix Partners, Yinxinggu Capital, IFG, Galaxy Internet 
89 
As of June 2018 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top Gaming Deals 
Tencent Win-Win fund 
Kamcord, Tianfeng, Pocket Gems, Heijing, Fireforge Games, Grinding Gear Games, VSPN 
IDG 
PlaySimple, Banana Culture, flamingo-inc.com, FUZE GAME, Sevenga 
Sinovation Ventures 
limboworks, iLongyuan, ENJOYGAME, 5EPlay, ImbaTV, Kamcord 
Sequoia Capital 
Zenjoy, Capstone Gaming, shiwan.com, BlingStorm, MYBO, CocoaChina 
Matrix Venture Partners 
mofang.com, Ismole, Kaiqigu, EGLS Technology, Forever Game 
Zhen Fund 
Jindouyun, Haichuan Game,Dreamobi, Taiyouxi, OtakuGames 
Fortune  
Venture Capital 
is-vr.com, iDreamSky, Miqtech, aiyounet.com, freeg.cn 
             Green Pine Capital Partners 
Mokylin Group, Youzu Interactive, Niuqu Internet, HuoYoo 
Prometheus Capital 
Palmstar Game, Lanyou Culture, Forgame, iDreamsky Technology  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Gaming Investors In China 
90 
As of June 2018 
Table of Contents 
Ecommerce 
Content & Media 
Social & Messaging 
Sharing Economy 
Artificial Intelligence 
Smart Devices 
Blockchain 
Fintech 
Education 
Gaming 
Esports 
Autonomous Car 
China at a Glance 
1 
Four Overarching Themes 
2 
Deep-dive by Sector 
3 
21 
29 
37 
43 
49 
58 
63 
68 
75 
81 
86 
91 
91 
Live Streaming Of Esports Remains Dominated By Two Players 
In China, more than 200M viewers tune in to Esports via live streaming each year, mostly on Huya and Douyu. 
Rank 
Video 
Platform 
May 2017 MAU  
(app only) 
1 
18.0M 
2 
16.2M 
3 
8.6M 
4 
7.8M 
5 
4.5M 
Source: Abacus, CNNIC, iResearch 
More than 126 m people in China tuned in to 
watch the finals of the League of Legends 
tournament, Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). The 
viewing audience in China alone is equivalent 
to the entire population of Japan. 
As of Q4 2017, Huya 
had 610K monthly 
active streamers 
(desktop and mobile), 
more than that of 
Twitch which had 
551K in Dec 2017. 
92 
Mobile Is The Main Growth Engine For Esports in China 
Mobile Esports revenue surpassed PC Esports in 2017 and is expected to outpace it.  
3.8 
4.3 
4.7 
5.0 
0.8 
1.8 
4.7 
7.1 
0.8 
1.3 
4.8 
6.4 
10.2 
13.5 
PC client
Mobile
PC browser
China's Esports Market 
(1)
Esports revenue defined by desktop, mobile and ecosystem revenue, which includes sale of sponsorship, media rights, advertising, publisher fees and tickets and merchandising. 
Source: iResearch, Esports Charts 
100 
130 
260 
320 
2015
2016
2017
2018e
Market 
Size 
(US$B) 
Audience 
Size (M) 
Many top mobile titles have 
professional leagues, live stadium 
events and ms of viewers  
Tencent's "Honor of Kings" has over 
200 m users and drew 20m viewers for 
its King Pro League Fall tournament.  
93 
Douyu TV Is The Most Funded Chinese Esports Startup 
Company 
Total Funding(1) 
 (US$ m) 
Selected Investors 
Douyu TV 
1,130 
Tencent holdings, Cmb International, Sequoia Capital, Phoenix Capital 
Hero Entertainment 
560 
Sequoia Capital, Zhen Fund, Huayi Brothers, Pusi Capital 
Panda.tv  
260 
Lighthouse Capital, Hanfor Holdings, Zhen Fund, 360.com, Autobot Capital 
Partners 
ImbaTV 
230 
Cowin Capital, Sinovation Ventures, Suzhou International Development Venture, 
Addor Capital, Pusi Capital 
Chushou 
57 
Alpha X Capital, Shunwei Capital, Google, Feidian Capital,  
Qiming Venture Partners, GGV Capital 
Wangyu Master 
50 
Zhejiang Jinkong Capital Management, Mishuo Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group 
Longzhu TV 
43 
SoftBank, Tencent Holdings 
Banana Culture  
36 
Wargaming, IDG Capital Partners, Seeinfront Capital, Matrix Partners China, Esport 
Capital 
HK Esports 
30 
Autobot Capital Partners 
XianyuGame  
28 
Yao, Huayi Brothers, Jinke Holdings 
As of June 2018 
94 
(1)
Total funding amount highly depends on company disclosure and may vary by sources. Best estimates apply here.  
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Investors 
Top Esports Deals 
Tencent Win-Win Fund 
Douyu TV, Xishanju, tthl.qq.com, Gameley, Jingle Game, Kamcord, eeyy.com, 
iDreamsky Technology, Longzhu TV 
Zhen Fund 
Hero Entertainment, Panda TV, Wangyu Master, Kaiheikeji 
Sequoia Capital 
Douyu TV, Hero Entertainment, Kaiheikeji, 5EPlay, Cyphytech 
Matrix Venture Partners 
Kuka Shuzi, Mofang, Ismole, EGLS 
Autobot Capital Partners 
Panda TV, Kaiheikeji, HK Esports, Zhangmeng 
Prometheus Capital 
ImbaTV, Hero Entertainment, PentaQ 
Fortune Venture Capital 
dj.sina.com, YOOZOO, sqage.com 
Source: Crunchbase, ITjuzi, Zero2IPO  
Most Active Esports Investors In China 
95 
As of June 2018 
Table of Contents 
Acknowledgement 
Abacus News 
Ravi Hiranand, Xinmei Shen, Andrew Barclay 
 
 
500 Startups 
Edith Yeung, Stella Zheng, Bonnie Cheung 
 
 
South China Morning Post 
Chua Kong Ho, Ang Jin, Yifei Shao, Joey Liu, Pablo Robles, Zen Soo, Sarah Dai, Celia Chen 
 
 
 
 
For any questions or comments regarding the report, please email: report@abacusnews.com  
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