This story hasn't convinced me that China's startup scene is anything to pay attention to, outside of China.<p>Nearly every single one of their major successes, are successes in China, and <i>only</i> China. Those successes, as great as they are, pale in comparison to the foreign competition in hard numbers, let alone quality and breadth of software.<p>Furthermore, are any of these services anything that hadn't been done before a dozen times? It isn't innovation just because you have State protectionism and made it on a computer. Nor will it necessarily lead to a major financial victory beyond China.
Look at Wechat's ecosystem in China then you will realize thats Facebook Messenger's future.<p>China’s WeChat Foretells Facebook / Microsoft Bot Platforms’ Future<p>>>> <a href="https://chatbotsmagazine.com/chinas-wechat-foretells-facebook-microsoft-bot-platforms-future-278c3bd4bf14#.onz1tmaam" rel="nofollow">https://chatbotsmagazine.com/chinas-wechat-foretells-faceboo...</a>
Define "innovation". According to most tech journalists Theranos innovated. By that definition, I innovated today when I took a shortcut home. Is China innovating? In some places. Is Silicon Valley innovating? In some places. What are most people doing? Not innovating.
the situation has changed in the last decade. If I was working on a hardware project I would seriously consider relocating to Shenzhen. Anyone not aware of the what's going on over there should check out this documentary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY&list=PLMOGwaNoHulir88Gz17PftiLMPmZ26WZ8&index=28" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY&list=PLMOGwaNoHu...</a>