Publication Type

Magazine Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

5-2015

Abstract

When e-commerce giant Alibaba went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, its market capitalisation rocketed to roughly US$219 billion - a sum greater than any record previously set by its American contemporaries, Facebook, eBay and Amazon. It was a historic event that led many to believe that China’s digital economy was echoing the Middle Kingdom’s own meteoric rise onto the world-stage. China ranks high in digital connectivity. In 2015, almost half of the country’s population, or 649 million people, were online. It’s fast-growing Internet economy generates about US$100 billion annually and is predicted to reach US$277 billion by 2017.1 And for every popular site in the rest of the world, there is a Sino-doppelganger lurking behind the Great Firewall of China: Taobao, Youku, Sina Weibo, WeChat and Baidu being among the most well-known.

Keywords

Internet, e-commerce, China, social media, Taobao, Youku, Weibo, WeChat, Baidu

Discipline

Asian Studies | E-Commerce | Marketing | Technology and Innovation

Research Areas

Marketing

Publication

Asian Management Insights

Volume

2

Issue

2

First Page

18

Last Page

23

ISSN

2315-4284

Publisher

Singapore Management University

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

External URL

http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/learning/ami/vol2_iss_2/chinas_digital_landscape.pdf

Additional URL

https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/ami/

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