Page 88 - How China Is Winning the Tech Race

“We are betting very heavily
“We gotta get big faster than rivals, and on the future of the Net. The trend
we’re fairly fast in areas that really matter. is an explosion of user-generated
We are land grabbing everywhere.”
content such as digital photos, so
Joe Chen, we are capitalizing on that un-
chairman and CEO, Oak Pacific Interactive limited growth,” Chen says. “Sec-
ond, we are building content that
can be easily delivered over the
Net, and we are delivering copy-
righted Chinese movies and sitcoms. Three, we are betting on wireless. We
believe that in five to ten years’ time, wireless will be more powerful than the
personal computer. There will be a gradual transition to peer-to-peer
communications networks in the wireless world, and when that happens, we
will be there.”
As we duck downstairs to grab a quick Subway sandwich in the basement
lobby of his office building, an impatient Chen tells me, “We gotta get big
faster than rivals, and we’re fairly fast in areas that really matter. We are land
grabbing everywhere. There is very little room to get really big in the United
States, but in China, all boats are rising. Internet companies are experiencing
30 to 40 percent growth per year. The important thing is to focus like a laser
on the best opportunities.” Chen says he wants to build “the number one
Internet company in China, worth some $30 to $40 billion in the next
ten years.”
I discount Chen’s boasting as hyperbole because the largest Chinese firms
are nowhere near that large. Only a handful of Chinese tech firms trading on
Nasdaq have surpassed $4 billion in market capitalization, including search
engine Baidu, instant messaging
service Tencent Holdings, and solar
company Suntech Power.
“There is very little room to get really big in
the United States, but in China, all boats are Chen’s master plan was going
rising. Internet companies are experiencing well until 2006, when he suddenly
30 to 40 percent growth per year.” woke up with a financial nightmare
and found himself cast as a
Joe Chen,
“former Web 2.0 darling” in Chi-
chairman and CEO, Oak Pacific Interactive
nese Global Entrepreneur maga-
zine. Largely to blame were stiffer

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