DCM's David Chao queries Baidu leader Robin Li at CEO Summit

Hearing Robin Li speak about the future for Baidu, it becomes clear that what sets apart a good CEO from a great CEO is real passion about the company's products.

SILICON DRAGON @ FORBES

Follow 

BYD, LeTV Could Catch On Quickly

BYD's Stella Li with Rebecca Fannin

Going global is the next wave of China's climb in technology innovation. First, it was U.S. companies entering China, then it was local companies penetrating the Chinese market and now it's about powerful Chinese tech brands coming to the states. 

Take BYD, the electric vehicle maker based in Shenzhen and invested in by Warren Buffet that has planted operations outside Los Angeles. 

Or LeTV, the online streaming service and smart TV maker based in Beijing that is launching smartphones in the U.S. designed to maximize sound and video quality. 

Neither are well-known in the states yet, but that could change quickly.  

Read Forbes post China's BYD, LeTV Roll Into the U.S. 

BEIJING, BERLIN, SEOUL SHARE STARTUP STRIPES  

Technology hotspots have spread globally where once Silicon Valley was the undisputed king.

SparkLabs Global Ventures defines 10 startup hubs in the U.S., Europe and Asia. In the U.S., Silicon Valley scores tops followed by New York City, Boston and Los Angeles. 

Only two Asia tech hubs - mobile star Seoul and tech core-centered Beijing - factor in. Europe gets on this map with fintech capital London and perennial stronghold Tel Aviv but also Berlin and Stockholm.

What defines a startup hub?

Read Forbes post,  Startups Hubs Excel.

NOTEWORTHY

The rise of a mobile software company from nothing to a $1 billion valuation in just over a year from its first product release would typically draw rapt attention, and jealousy, inside Silicon Valley.

Yet the Apus Group, one company with such a stratospheric rise, is largely unknown in Silicon Valley. That is because the company is based more than 6,000 miles away, in China.

Xiaomi's New Campus in Beijing

Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun at the groundbreaking event of the new 8-building Mi Campus in Beijing, to be ready for Xiaomi's expansion in two years' time

WeChat 6.2 Adds Fingerprint Scan for Payment  

WeChat has added a function to make it easier and safer for users to transfer funds within the app by integrating a fingerprint scan to verify payments. E-wallets have replaced cash and card in millions of transactions, and China is very advanced. Pingwest 

 RECOMMENDED VIEWING

 Influential Tech blogger Robert Scoble interviewed venture capitalist Gary Rieschel about China innovations, at a retreat in Wyoming's Antelope Creek Ranch.

Hear Gary's comments on how China's tech market is defined by size, speed and agility.  

Click video here.

RECOMMENDED READING

By Edward Tse, the founder and CEO of Gao Feng Advisory Company, a global strategy consulting firm with roots in China.

"Author Tse believes China gets a bum rap from too many people who either haven't kept up with its recent progress in privatization or see the direction it's headed in - becoming a world-class innovator." - Amazon review