China

Biodata

History

Domestic game and internet market

China's early online-game market is depicted as heavily reliant on foreign titles. Legend, MU, Magic Baby, and Westward Journey 2 controlled half of the market; only Westward Journey 2 was domestically produced, while Japanese and Korean games held more than 85% of the wider market. Chen Guiliang argues that domestic developers could eventually reclaim 75% of the market. 42

By late 2005, China had 111 million internet users. Its online-game market was intensely competitive, with major titles entering beta phases, adding servers, updating content, or changing to free-to-play models within days of one another. 201 210

Cultural and industrial policy

Government bodies play an active role in the development, review, and promotion of China’s game industry. The Press and Publication Administration supports games considered historically or culturally significant, regarding My Own Swordsman's research into Ming-era history as a way to improve public perceptions of online games. 306

Sanguosha receives national-project recognition, while its finals are arranged at the National Museum of China with coverage from CCTV and Dragon TV. 252 Officials also encourage Chinese studios to use games to develop domestic technology rather than remain dependent on foreign products. 206

Chinese games become vehicles for cultural export. Youke adapts each market to local preferences while incorporating Chinese history, literature, goods, music, and cultural concepts into games distributed overseas. 595

Mobile and technology development

China's mobile market shifts from feature phones toward smartphones, creating an opening for domestic manufacturers. Hongmeng Technology's products challenge foreign brands, while the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology praises the company’s domestic smartphone development and its industry-academia-research cooperation with universities and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 474

Hongmeng's system comes to occupy more than 85% of the smartphone market among mainland Chinese brands, though foreign manufacturers such as Samsung and HTC retain appeal among consumers. 513

China also becomes a major base for cloud computing. At the Jingnan Cloud Industrial Park gathering, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology calls for domestic industry cooperation and investment; Chen Guiliang commits to establishing multiple central nodes nationwide. 501

International tensions

China's technology sector is increasingly affected by friction with the United States. Chen Guiliang describes U.S.–China trade friction as expected, though Hongmeng had not yet been directly affected at the time of his interview. 514

ByteDance's TikTok is later caught between Chinese and American laws during negotiations over a U.S. ban. 616 In the epilogue, Tianwen AI is presented as a Chinese-developed model trained at less than one-fiftieth of GPT-4's cost; its development had been prepared for through the prior acquisition of high-end chips before U.S. export controls. 603

Notable Quotes

“Chinese people are no worse than foreigners, it's just that we started later. Within ten years, domestic games can reclaim 75% of the market share!” — Chen Guiliang 42