“East Commerce: A Journey Through China E-Commerce, and the Internet of Things” by Marco Gervasi [Book Review]

Google vs. Baidu. Amazon vs. Taobao. Whatsapp vs. WeChat. And, most recently, Uber vs. Didi.

There is clearly a divide between China and the rest of the world when it comes to internet companies. Homegrown Chinese tech firms have fought off American challengers attempting to enter the Chinese market. Chinese firms have tried to expand their presence abroad. Alibaba had the largest IPO in the history of the New York Stock Exchange. Tencent is trying to market WeChat to non-Chinese consumers, and has invested significant stakes in Western video game companies, including an outright purchase of League of Legends’s developer Riot Games.

This is an excerpt from a book review of East-Commerce: China E-Commerce and the Internet of Things published in the Asian Review of Books on September 14th, 2016. The review can be found here.