SenseTime IPO + WHO in search of Covid origin + Culture of remembrance • China.Table

SenseTime: IPO amidst tech crackdown
New WHO experts to investigate virus origins
Factories face rising costs
LinkedIn cancels service in China
Workers protest overtime
China imports more coal over energy crisis
Provinces complain of shortages in schools and kindergartens
Johnny Erling: No room for remorse or criticism in China

Dear reader,

According to estimates, more than 600 million surveillance cameras are keeping an eye on China’s public. One company that particularly benefits from this is SenseTime. The tech company supplies the police with image recognition and analysis software, enabling authorities to digitally track passers-by and road traffic across the city. China’s most valuable artificial intelligence company now plans to go public in Hong Kong. But the latest regulatory crackdown by China’s authorities also puts SenseTime at risk, analyze Joern Petring and Gregor Koppenburg.

As we announced recently, the investigation into the origin of the Covid pandemic will continue to keep us busy. The World Health Organization has now set up an advisory group to reveal its origin after all. It could be the last chance, as time is running out, according to a WHO epidemiologist. Finn Mayer-Kuckuk has looked into the details of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens, or SAGO.

In today’s issue, our columnist Johnny Erling turns his attention to the subject of regret and apology. On its path to becoming a world power, the Chinese leadership neither tolerates self-doubt nor admits mistakes. Critical citizens are censored or locked away. Dissent from abroad is met with wolf-warrior diplomacy. Yet the People’s Republic experienced a brief phase of tolerance after the Cultural Revolution. But this came to an end in 2017 at the latest, as Johnny Erling reports.

Have a great weekend!

Your
Nico Beckert

Feature

Master of surveillance wants to go public

SenseTime is the first big-name Chinese startup to go public since the dawn of tech crackdowns. Because the company offers surveillance software, it is under pressure outside the country. But Beijing could also make life difficult for the company

There has been little to celebrate on the Hong Kong stock exchange over the past twelve months. A year ago, the financial center was eagerly anticipating Ant Group’s IPO. It would have been one of the largest IPOs to date.

But just two days before the planned date, the debut of online giant Alibaba’s financial subsidiary was canceled at Beijing’s behest. It was the prelude to a regulatory crackdown on China’s tech industry that has since dragged down the stock market values of numerous Chinese tech companies. But slowly, confidence seems to be returning.

With SenseTime, for the first time since the beginning of the crackdown, a renowned Chinese start-up wants to venture into an IPO. With a valuation of $12 billion, SenseTime is China’s most valuable company in the field of artificial intelligence. According to reports, the startup is looking to raise at least $2 billion in its IPO.

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