How 'social' became crucial for internet business in China - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Social connectivity has become crucial for life and business in China. "If you want to do well as an internet company today, you need to be strong on the social aspect, otherwise you won’t be able to gain any traction," tells business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order, to the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Such business models are successful because China leapfrogged the personal computer era and saw tremendous growth in mobile internet and smartphone users, according to Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group. 

“Smartphones are inherently social devices, and many of China’s tech companies built services with the smartphone in mind. Social networking was also an area where China’s technology companies had little competition because foreign players were blocked from entering the market by the government.” 

Such favourable market conditions allowed Chinese internet companies to greatly influence how social media and social networking sites operated in China. 

“Social has now become a big part of the Chinese internet and the ecosystem of services. If you want to do well as an internet company today, you need to be strong on the social aspect, otherwise you won’t be able to gain any traction,” Rein said... 

“In a landscape where Chinese consumers are unsure of which products and services are good they are more likely to trust what their friends are using, buying or recommending,” said China Marketing Research Group’s Rein.

More in the South China Morning Post.

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