Tuesday Tech Briefing: Lenovo Enters IT Consulting Business

1. Lenovo Enters IT Consulting Business to Compete With Accenture

Lenovo Group, the world’s largest PC-maker, officially launched its Lenovo Consulting business in Beijing Monday. This marks the Chinese company’s entry into the IT consulting field, where it competes with existing players such as Accenture and IBM.

Lenovo said it had been advising other companies since 2016, with early customers including Chinese appliance-maker Haier Group and smartphone-maker Xiaomi Corp.

Lenovo’s consulting business will focus on smart factories, supply chain management and Internet of Things technology, the company said. (Caixin, link in Chinese)

2.‘Pursuit of Fame’ Drove Controversial Gene-Editing Project, Investigation Says

A preliminary investigation into He Jiankui’s controversial gene-editing project has found that he personally raised funds and organized the project in order to gain personal fame, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

He, a researcher formerly affiliated with Shenzhen’s Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTC), shocked the world in November 2018 when he announced he had created the world’s first genetically edited human babies.

The investigation said He breached both ethical and scientific standards, as well as national regulations. (Caixin)

3. To-Win Capital to Sell Its Shares in Debt-Ridden Ride-Hailing Company

To-Win Capital will sell its shares in ride-hailing business Yidao Yongche at half the undisclosed initial purchase price, the company announced on Monday. To-Win, an institutional investor, acquired the business from embattled Faraday Future founder Jia Yueting in 2017.

To-Win claims it has alleviated roughly 6 billion yuan ($884 million) of Yidao’s debt ever since it took over the company from Jia – even though Jia had originally promised that Yidao’s total debts were no more than 2.3 billion yuan.

“As funding sectors in China are not performing well in general, it would be hard for To-Win to continue its investment in Yidao.” To-Win said in its statement. Currently, Yidao has 3.4 billion yuan ($500 million) in outstanding debt, according to To-Win. (Caixin)

4. Coupon Hackers Used Stolen QR Code, Pinduoduo Says

The vouchers worth tens of millions of yuan “stolen” from online shopping platform Pinduoduo Inc. last weekend were designed for use on a dating show and never supposed to be available to normal users, the company said in a new statement Monday.

Pinduoduo announced the theft on Sunday. Hackers had spread an illegally obtained QR code for the vouchers on social media, the company said.

The breach raised questions about the security of the three-year-old e-commerce platform. Police in Shanghai, where Pinduoduo’s headquarters is located, have opened a cyber fraud investigation, freezing vouchers related to the case. (Caixin)

5. Chinese Self-Driving Startup Fires Co-Founder for Corruption

Chinese self-driving startup Roadstar.ai fired its co-founder and chief scientist Zhou Guang on Monday, the company said on social network WeChat.

Roadstar.ai claimed that Zhou Guang hid code from the company and accepted kickbacks from a friend involved in the company’s Series A fundraising round. The statement also accuses Zhou of providing fabricated data in a government report, which damaged to the company’s reputation.

Roadstar.ai was founded in 2017 by a team including three former members of search giant Baidu’s autonomous driving team. The company is working on software for autonomous vehicles, and raised $128 million in its Series A funding round, led by the state-owned Shenzhen Capital Group and private Wu Capital. (NetEase News, link in Chinese)

6. China Mobile Rolls Out eSIM for Apple Watch

China Mobile said it will soon enable eSIM services for Apple Watches, which will allow users to surf the net and take calls without having their phones nearby.

China Mobile is the last of China’s three carriers to roll out the function. China Unicom and China Telecom launched related services in pilot cities last year.

China Mobile's trial of Apple Watch services will start Wednesday in seven cities: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tianjin. (Caixin)

Compiled by Zhang Erchi

Contact editor Teng Jing Xuan (jingxuanteng@caixin.com)