CX Daily: Alibaba’s DingTalk Hits 15 Million Paying Users As It Tries To Climb Out Of The Red
China drops Covid curbs on international flights. The country’s gaming giants get the green light for a host of new titles
Pedestrians pass by a DingTalk sign in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province, in 2021. Photo: VCG
DingTalk /
Alibaba’s DingTalk hits 15 million paying users as it tries to climb out of the red
Alibaba-owned DingTalk’s paying daily active users hit the 15 million mark in September, injecting impetus into efforts by China’s largest workplace collaboration platform to become profitable in the next three to five years, according to a company executive.
The milestone, which was announced by DingTalk President Ye Jun at a company event Wednesday, came just six months after the platform officially kicked off its aggressive commercialization strategy.
During the event, Ye also said the number of DingTalk’s users increased to 600 million in September, of which 23 million were institutional users, including enterprises, schools and other organizations. In August last year, DingTalk had 500 million users.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
Flights /
China drops Covid curbs on international flights
China’s civil aviation regulator will terminate all pandemic restrictions on international flights as of Jan. 8, according to a document issued Wednesday.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in its Work Plan to Resume International Flights said previous Covid controls including the so-called “five one” policy will be removed. The policy, in effect since March 2020, allows Chinese mainland carriers to fly just one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines to operate just one flight a week to China.
Hong Kong ends last Covid curbs in bid to revive finance hub
Personnel /
China appoints new Taiwan Affairs Office head
Song Tao, former head of the International Department of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, was appointed the new director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the office’s website showed Wednesday.
Song, 67, replaced Liu Jieyi, who held the post since March 2018. He will also serve as director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Central Committee.
Quick hit /
Australian minister raises hopes for trade thaw with China
BUSINESS & TECH
Game developer XD’s office in Shanghai in 2021. Photo: VCG
Gaming /
China’s gaming giants get green light for host of new titles
China’s gaming companies are ending the year on a high after the industry regulator issued licenses for 128 titles Wednesday, with a mix of locally developed and imported online video games getting the green light.
The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) surprised the video game industry with the large batch of approvals, which included licenses for 44 imported titles — the first in 17 months. Tencent Holdings Ltd. got the go ahead for six major titles including Pokémon Unite, Lost Ark, a player-versus-player title Synced: Off-Planet, and Valorant, developed by U.S.-based Riot Games Inc.
Power /
New coal-fired electricity plant approvals triple from 2021
China approved more than three times as much new coal-fired power generating capacity in the first 11 months this year as during all of 2021, according to Peking University.
Between January and November, more than 65 million kilowatts of coal-fired electric generating capacity won government clearance, compared with 21.36 million kilowatts in 2021, data from a power industry transition study by the Institute of Energy of Peking University showed Tuesday.
Quick hits /
Cash-strapped Chinese developer sells $1.8 billion of assets to state-owned rival
China’s electric car exports surge to record on European demand
Long Read /
How the key to cutting-edge chips came out of the Netherlands, and not China
GALLERY
Highs and lows of 2022