DIGITAL LIFE

'There are rules of the game': what it's like to start a business under the dictatorship of the Communist Party in China?

To start a business in China, you have to dance to the music. The country's internet is the most well-crafted censorship project in the world: the Chinese Communist Party decides what can be said, how, in what tone and how often.

Being subject to these rules, however, depends on the sector in which the company operates.

Companies in strategic sectors such as telecommunications and the internet, such as social media companies, are closely monitored by the government, says In Hsieh, a Brazil-China business consultant and founder of Chinnovation.

This stance is what gives rise to theories such as those supported for the banning of TikTok in the US. US lawmakers and the government claim that the Chinese company ByteDance collects data to pass on to the Chinese government.

''Access to data needs to be clarified: it's not that the guy is going to download your information. There are rules of the game and they are specific to that country. When Google and Facebook left China, they weren't banned, they didn't accept the rules, which is what is happening with TikTok in a way. If they don't accept them, they'll have to leave [the United States]''... In Hsieh, Brazil-China business consultant and founder of Chinnovation.

For him, these rules, which are known to everyone, make the government's stance more predictable. Hsieh also points out that the contrast between the US's defense of freedom of expression and the Chinese scenario tends to vilify China, which is always placed in the spectrum of censorship.

''In China, you know that there are rules. In the West, these rules are imposed and sometimes happen without the knowledge of companies and entrepreneurs. [Donald] Trump was banned by Zuckerberg. It wasn't a law, it was a company decision, a unilateral decision''... Said In Hsieh

The expert points out that, in the Chinese market, companies are unlikely to do something similar to banning a former president on their own.

''There are certainly limitations. What is important is that the rules of the game are clear. The difficulty now is that when we talk about the internet, this is a global business, and the areas are a bit grey''... Says In Hsieh

'Alibaba knows more than Amazon': Chinese Big Tech companies are bothering the Chinese Communist Party... Chinese products have gone from being trinkets of dubious quality to some of the most sophisticated in the world. Those responsible for this revolution are technology companies that operate so broadly that they have more power than the Communist Party would like. This is the case of Alibaba, owner of one of the largest e-commerce stores in the world, the largest Chinese payment method and a large cloud computing platform.

''The government has been taking some action for a long time, and it is strong and proactive enough to do so. There is greater control over these large oligopolies or even monopolies''… In Hsieh said

For some time, the acronym BAT, which stands for Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent - three of the largest Chinese technology companies - represented a large share of the market. This led the government to challenge and want to break up these companies, explained In Hsieh, a Brazil-China business consultant and founder of Chinnovation

mundophone