Behind the Digital Iron Curtain: Rise of Chinese Silicon Valley

After a long period of rapid, double digit growth, the Chinese economy entered a more sustainable phase of development, based on innovation and consumption. Given the large population of 1.3 billion in China, the explosive growth of smartphone users, e-commerce, and online content consumption and creation led to a digital revolution in almost all industries and business sectors.

While the Chinese Communist Party is trying to match its social control in the real world with the virtual world, which becomes more and more restrictive, the country’s internet is thriving and the local digital media scene has developed a unique ecosystem which nurtures innovation. Consumption driven sectors like technology and services are expected to generate high returns and lure investors.

The government restrictions only seem to be targeting foreign investors at the moment, creating at the same time opportunities to grow and a cozy, protected environment for the local players, like Alibaba and Tencent Technologies, who are now among the world’s biggest and most powerful. The world-leading innovations and companies in some of the most important technologies of tomorrow are emerging in China, changing the competitive landscape of the global tech industry.