‘Mulan’ Earnings Disappoint in First Weekend of China Box Office

 /  Box Office  / 
"Mulan" took in only $23.2 million by the end of its first weekend, according to industry watcher Maoyan.com (link in Chinese), far less than analysts expected. The results bring the film’s total international box office to $37.6 million, Disney said. Read More

FEFF Report: Debut director Ning Yuanyuan Talks About Making It on Her Own, and How ‘An Insignificant Affair’ Had Her Thinking of First Love

 /  Film  / 
The film follows a high school boy (Dong Bowen) and a girl (Ning) who get caught holding hands, a totally inoffensive act which gets judged as inappropriate by the society that surrounds them. Read More

Bytedance Has Launched Its Video-editing App Viamaker Overseas

 /  Technology  / 
TikTok owner Bytedance has quietly launched in overseas markets the video-editing app hugely popular in its home territory under the moniker, Viamaker. Read More

Boosted by “Consumption Quotas,” Single Shatters Sales Records

 /  Celebrity  / 
Fans of Chinese pop star Xiao Zhan are feeling conflicted this week. They’re excited because their idol’s newly released single has broken all-time sales records, but they’re also smarting from criticism over the role they’ve played in the song’s success. Read More

Victoria’s Secret China Ambassador Sparks Discussion on Changing Beauty Norms

 /  Celebrity  / 
Supporters say the choice of not-particularly-curvy actor Zhou Dongyu is a welcome departure from the lingerie label’s usual nonrepresentative models and spokeswomen. Read More

Alibaba is Investing RMB 200 Billion in Cloud Services After Covid-19 Boom

 /  Headlines From China  / 
Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, will spend RMB 200 billion ($28.27 billion) on its cloud infrastructure over the next three years following an increase in demand for digital services in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak in China. Read More

Bytedance Gaming Play Doesn’t Threaten Tencent—yet

 /  Opinion  / 
To understand what Bytedance is doing in gaming, you have to understand its unique approach to corporate strategy. Read More

Bytedance Reshuffles Executives to Focus on Overseas

 /  News  / 
TikTok owner Bytedance announced Thursday a major leadership reshuffle with company founder and CEO Zhang Yiming shifting to take charge of the company’s overseas business. Read More

Viewers Give ‘Three-Body’ Animated Series Two Thumbs Up

 /  News  / 
China’s sci-fi industry has attracted significant interest and growth in recent years, generating 45.6 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in 2018, a threefold increase from 2017, according to a report released in November at an annual science fiction conference. Read More

The Dark Side of China’s Idol Economies

 /  Chinasplaining  / 
While China’s idol economy remains a lucrative territory, this incident has revealed its dark side, and an intensified culture of cyberviolence, irrational fandom, and digital censorship are all risk factors that brands now have to face in this increasingly volatile market. Read More

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