Five years ago, China had just two of the world’s biggest public tech companies by market value while the U.S. had nine, recode reported.
Currently, China is home to nine — Alibaba, Tencent, Ant Financial, Baidu, Xiaomi, Didi Chuxing, JD.com, Meituan-Dianping and Toutiao — while the U.S. has 11.
The growth in China’s tech behemoths makes sense given how huge the Chinese market is. But it also has to do with the quirks of the Chinese market.
China far outpaces the U.S. in the number of science and engineering degrees it awards, providing its tech companies with an ample supply of trained labor.
The Chinese also seem to be more amenable to sharing data, which can be a boon for tech companies looking to customize digital experiences. Some 38 percent of internet users in China are very willing to share their data in exchange for benefits like lower costs and personalization. Just 25 percent of internet users in the U.S. feel the same.