China’s mobile Internet developers thrive in a multicultural environment

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China has been the largest mobile internet market in the world since 2011. And the growing number of such companies investing overseas has further expanded the market.

In the first half of 2016, Chinese internet giants and venture capital firms invested more than 42.1 billion yuan (6.26 billion US dollars) in 60 tech-related projects overseas, according to a report from itjuzi.com, a website dedicated to data on tech investments.

However, with employees and customers from various backgrounds, cross cultural cooperation and localization are especially challenging for these companies.

Khudor Annous, the head of partnerships and influencer marketing at the Santa Monica offices of Live.me, a product of Cheetah Mobile, described to CGTN how besides obvious factors like language and culture, time difference is also a challenge.

“It takes sacrifice and compromise on both sides.” To attend a Beijing-based morning meeting, he has to give up evenings with his family. However, he admitted that it is jet-lag that makes 24/7 self-operation possible.

Founded in 2010, Cheetah Mobile is a Chinese mobile Internet company headquartered in Beijing. Its products include mobile and computer applications, as well as video games.

As for localization, Annous said that “in an attempt to overcome some of the language barriers we have experimented with audio translation in live broadcasts which is an incredibly hard problem, but building a more inclusive community is something we think will be worth it.”