Yesterday, the Library on Gazetny hosted a discussion about two new books published by the Gaidar Institute Press: Alibaba: Infrastructuring Global China by Hong Shen and Baidu Geopolitical Dynamics of the Internet in China by Shinjoung Yeo.
The speakers at the event were Antonina Levashenko and Maria Girich, Researchers at the Gaidar Institute’s International Best Practices Analysis Department. The experts provided a detailed analysis of the history of these tech giants’ creation, their search for a business model, and the moment of rapid growth that transformed Alibaba and Baidu into true architects of modern China.
The speakers paid particular attention to the companies’ internal structures, their jurisdictions of registration, and the nature of their interactions with the state. The central topic of discussion was competitiveness: how Alibaba and Baidu manage to remain national companies in the global market and are unafraid to compete with international giants such as Google.
We thank everyone who joined the discussion!
The books Alibaba: Infrastructuring Global China and Baidu Geopolitical Dynamics of the Internet in China are available from Gaidar Institute Publishers.