The Chinese stratagems

Google and Facebook may have gotten the lion’s share of India’s first 300 million Internet users. But the Chinese are laying serious groundwork to gain market share.

Chinese mobile internet companies – both startups and tech giants – have already been making aggressive inroads into India

Through utility apps, these companies mine data which they later use to target and sell ads

In China, mobile internet companies realised rather early that content is what gets people hooked on mobile. And that is the pill they sold in India too

The Chinese companies are readying themselves for a time when content will be bigger than what it is now

The last weekend of September saw Bangalore’s Shangri-La hotel swarming with Chinese investors, entrepreneurs and translators. Over a two-day event, the visitors absorbed talks on India’s macroeconomics, financial regulations, savings and lending markets and dozens of demos by eager fintech startups looking to land some investors.

The Chinese investors – about 18 of who had come to India including Baidu, Fenghou Capital and CITIC International – said they wanted to partner with Indian venture capitalists to find the next big idea. Preferably in fintech. Said one investor: “We anticipate a fintech boom in India too and we don’t want to miss that when it happens.”

And as for their choice of hotel, well, it was apparently chosen because it had the best Chinese food.

AUTHOR

Venkat Ananth

Venkat is currently in his tenth year in journalism. Prior to The Ken, he was Deputy Content Editor at Mint as part of the newspaper’s digital team. He also wrote in-depth features on the business of sport for the newspaper. His earlier assignments include Yahoo! (as a columnist) and the Hindustan Times, where he began his career. Born in Mumbai, Venkat holds a Bachelor of Mass Media (Journalism) degree from SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai and a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from Goldsmiths, University of London. He currently resides in New Delhi, where he moved nearly five years ago.

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