Episode 78 of Tech Buzz China features our co-host Rui Ma in conversation with Yán Xiāo 肖妍 on the timely topic of China’s proposed national digital currency.

In episode 77 of Tech Buzz China, co-hosts Rui Ma and Ying Lu tackle a topic that has become the next big thing in China ecommerce: C2M, or consumer to manufacturer.

Media reports that the company — which already holds the record for “largest-ever single private fundraise” for its $14 billion raise in 2018 — seeks to raise $30 billion. That figure would indeed make it the largest public offering the world has ever seen.

What are Beike’s core value propositions to its users? How does it make money, and in what ways is it similar to Redfin or Zillow? How apt is the statement “Alibaba is to retail as KE Holdings is to real estate”?

Lauren gives a fascinating overview of China’s livestreaming ecommerce industry, including its history, key traits and differentiators, common content formats, and product design and features. Throughout, she helps us answer these questions: Why has livestreaming, specifically in ecommerce, become so explosively popular in China?

Rui Ma in dialogue with Jeff Ding, a Rhodes Scholar and D.Phil Researcher at Oxford in the Future of Humanity Institute.