i3 - May/June 2016 - 8

BY MARK CHISHOLM

Tech Startups Shine in China
Amid a pressured stock market, tech startups in China have
remained resilient, offering a safe harbor for investors. Among
these are technology startups like the mobile transportation
platform Didi Kuaidi, which saw its valuation rise 20 percent in
March. According to research firm CB Insights, investments in
Chinese startups more than doubled in 2015 to $32.2 billion.
Mobile Payment Expands in China
Throwing its hat into the mobile
payment ring, Samsung launched
the Samsung Pay mobile payment
platform in China earlier this year,
alongside Apple Pay. During a recent
event Apple's Greg Joswiak said, "We
recently rolled Apple Pay out in China
[with] more than three million cards
added in the first 72 hours." Shortly
after Apple launched Apple Pay with
the support of 19 Chinese banks and
China UnionPay, Samsung launched
its NFC-based system, allowing Chinese consumers to pay for purchases
with the swipe of their smartphone.
Both Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are
supported by more than five million
China UnionPay QuickPass terminals.

MAY/JUNE 2016

China

ACCORDING TO RESEARCH
FIRM CB INSIGHTS, INVESTMENTS IN CHINESE STARTUPS
MORE THAN DOUBLED IN 2015
TO $32.2 BILLION.

China Looks to Big Data to Predict Crime
China plans to build a big data platform to predict crime before it occurs, not unlike the system featured in the 2002 film Minority Report.
By harnessing its vast surveillance data, China
hopes to build a system to detect deviations in
individual citizens' behavior that might indicate
suspicious activity. According to Bloomberg,
China has selected state-owned China Electronics Technology Group to build the software
platform. China has already employed its collection of data to create the Situation Aware Public
Security Evaluation (SAPE) platform, capable of
predicting security events. Over the past five
years, China's defense budget has been surpassed by spending on domestic security.
Zuckerberg Meets with Senior Chinese Official
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with senior
Chinese official Liu Yunshan in March while in Beijing
for the government-sponsored China Development
Forum. Liu is a member of the Communist Party's
Politburo Standing Committee. According to China's
state news
agency Xinhua,
Liu is quoted as
telling Zuckerberg
that China "hopes
[Facebook]
can strengthen
exchanges, share
experiences and
improve mutual
understanding
with China's Internet companies."

Gogo Sign In-Flight
Connectivity Deal in China
Gogo, a worldwide leader
of in-flight connectivity and
entertainment solutions, has
partnered with Shareco Technologies to provide in-flight
connectivity and entertainment on Beijing-based
Shareco's aircraft partners,
including Hainan Airlines and
Beijing Capital Airlines. The
partnership aims to install
in-flight connectivity and
wireless entertainment solutions on 50 aircraft in the next
two years.

3D Printing Assists in
Chinese Infant Heart
Surgery
For the first time in China's
northeastern Jilin Province,
doctors made use of 3D printing to guide heart surgery
on a baby suffering from a
congenital heart defect (CHD).
The infant was born with mispositioned pulmonary veins
and an atrial defect, causing
blood to flow between the
chambers of the heart. Using a
3D-printed replica of the ninemonth-old's heart, doctors at
the pediatric cardiac surgery
center at the People's Hospital
of Jilin planned the successful
surgery. China's first successful
3D printing-assisted CHD heart
surgery occurred in 2015.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

credits from top clockwise: jif2003/Thinkstock; Arno Masse/Glow Images; Wang Ye/Corbis; REB Images/Glow Images

I N T E R N AT I O N A L FO C US

Tech

i3 - May/June 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - May/June 2016