China’s Relationship with IT

Team 01 - BCIS 4730

Submitted to: Dr. Chang Koh

The University of North Texas

Spring 2022

By:
Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3

History and Background Context of China 3

Cultural Environment 5

Business Environment 7

Social Environment 8

IT Environment 9

Organizational and Political Issues Related to the Adoption and Use of IT 10

Conclusion 13

Resources 15

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Executive Summary

China is a strong international power with a rich history. In this report, we explore and present the

history and culture of China and the application of its IT. We believe this is an important point to highlight

what advantages or disadvantages China has developed unique to its geography and culture.We introduce

the Chinese Communist Party, and its methods in governing its people through authoritarian methods. We

have a piece that highlights China’s approach to 5G Networking, a sign of the government’s initiative to

maintain and increase China’s technical domination. While describing the IT of the country it is important

to not lose sight of the people who develop these technologies. In response to that we take careful

measures to describe the ethnicities, gender ratios and cultural attitudes that shape the Chinese people. We

also focus on extremely iconic events and entities of the Chinese that have seriously shaped its

information technology industry and culture. The One Child Policy, Alibaba, The Red New Deal, and the

9-9-6 work culture in China’s thriving tech industry. China is stationed to remain a global superpower,

and will only continue to increase its IT capabilities and applications as they remain a key focus of its

government.

History and Background Context of China

China's History

China as a modern world power can be traced back to the early Qing Dynasty which formed in the 1600’s.

This transitioned into what is known as the late Qing Dynasty in 1839. It was at this time China started

pushing back against British colonization and the sale of opium to its people by the East India Trading

Company. In the 1900’s up to 1920 China’s government went through changes, as we see a type of

republic form and take control. This gave birth to nationalism which grew in favor and power in the 20’s

where it remained up until 1945. At this time China underwent a civil war that lasted until 1949, at which

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point nationalism fell out of favor and communism took over. What we see today has been in place since

that time, and China is still controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

China’s Government:

China operates as a communist dictatorship known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They have

been in power since 1949. China feigns a democratic system that is answerable to the people; however

this is not actually the case, and the government answers only to the CCP. Therefore the country is run by

the CCP. The Chinese government does have separate branches of government including an executive,

legislative, and judicial branch, much like our own government. Unlike our government however, all three

branches answer to the CCP. The full structure of the government resembles that of a pyramid, where the

highest ranking politicians choose a select few who will serve in positions beneath them, who all in turn

select a few who serve below them. This extends all the way down to the lowest ranking positions of

government.

China’s Global Economic Position:

China is positioned as one of the leading market-oriented global economies. Due to the cheap and

abundant labor it has become the go-to place to manufacture consumer goods for companies around the

world. On top of this China holds over $1 trillion of the U.S. public debt which they can leverage to

influence U.S. and international policy. They are also handing out massive loans in the tens of billions of

dollars to African nations, which is suspected to potentially be a way to control important regions of the

continent once those countries start defaulting on their loans. Overall China has an imposing economic

presence on the global stage.

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Cultural Environment

Today China is known as one of the world’s few ancient civilizations and oldest cultures, tracing

back over three thousand years. China’s earliest known succession of people was the Shang Dynasty with

findings from 1600-1046 B.C., which can be seen to have parallels with traditions, attitudes, and mores or

China’s current culture. Over time China grew into 56 different ethnic groups, with the most popular

being that of the Han ethnic group making up about 91.6 percent of the population. Language in China is

made up of seven main dialects: “Mandarin, Wu Dialect, Xiang Dialect, Gan Dialect, Min Dialect,

Cantonese and Hakka”, all which differ from region to region. Religion can be seen to have a paramount

impact on culture, as it is the root of taught behaviors, resulting in common belief, values, and ethics.

There are three prominent religions in China, these including Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, also

known to be the three teachings. Common themes of these Chinese religions are balance, harmony, and

filial piety. These teachings can be seen to influence the government, social structure, and individual

attitudes. For instance, filial piety, “the attitude of respect for parents and ancestors in societies influenced

by Confucian thought” is so strong within Chinese culture that it has been made into law. In July of 2013,

“the National People's Congress passed an unprecedented and controversial law: the Protection of the

Rights and Interests of Elderly People. The law mandates that adult children provide culturally expected

support to their parents 60 years or older.” Similarly, there are many other parallels that echo the power of

culture in nations.

Chinese culture can be further examined through Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. This study

examined nations, such as China on the basis of power distance Index, individualism/collectivism,

masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long/short-term orientation. These elements are shaping

China to be a global leader in technology. According to Holstead’s cultural dimensions, China ranks high

in power distance and long-term orientation, and very low on individualism implying that it has a highly

collectivist society. “The importance of collectivism in Chinese culture is best evidenced at mealtime.

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Meals are a shared experience and are an important element of personal and business life in China.” In

this as well as many other elements symbolism is heavy within Chinese culture, in which meaning can

even be derived in foods eaten. “Long noodles signify longevity and are often served at birthdays to

symbolize a long and healthy life, fish symbolizes wealth and prosperity and is served especially at

Chinese New Year, and lobster and abalone are served as a delicacy for important guests.” Outside of

personal life, customs are also apparent in business. These cultural dimensions can be seen to influence

the way that individuals within a country interact with information technologies. For instance, China’s top

tech companies have logos of either red or blue, such as Huawei, JD.com Inc., Tencent, and China

Mobile. As red is a favorite traditional color signifying ‘celebration, happiness and goodwill’, while blue

signifies ‘immortality and advancement.’ China has been investing heavily in technologies such as 5G,

semiconductor chips, and AI as they forge towards economic growth and global competitive advantages.

China is greatly known for the traditional culture transmission in which, “Parents teach their children the

attitudes and behaviors they think will help them thrive as workers.” Principles of obedience and

relationship building are commonly instilled, this relates to the prioritizing of the group before one’s

individual self. This social norm can be seen to attribute to the streamlining of its chip productions and the

effective execution of its innovative efforts. China aims to transcend by being a global leader in the

implementation of 5G networking, which provides opportunity for competitive advantage through its

positive impact on business decisions and increases in the capacity of technological innovation potential

by fostering high speeds and low latency with a highly reduced amount of power. Culture impacts all

elements of life on an individual scale, to groups, societies, and nations, making China the nation that it is

today.

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Business Environment

China’s unique government system has a very interesting impact on its information technology

sector. Due to the fact that China joined the World Trade Organization only 21 years ago in 2001 and has

been engaging in a gradual reduction of administrative barriers since, the nation is relatively new when it

comes to open trade on a global scale (Poon). However, China’s extremely strict administrative licensing

process means that the nation remains at or near the top of the most difficult countries to engage in trade

in. A survey administered by the USCBC proved that, citing that 69% of companies that do business in

China have “experienced challenges with administrative licensing in China” (The US-China Business

Council). The largest issue companies face ,with 52% of those surveyed citing this as their main issue, is

delays in product approval (The US-China Business Council). This leads many companies to be more

averse to doing business in China, as the nation has a vastly outdated import/export system.

Economically speaking, China is often praised for having the second highest global domestic

product (or GDP), often overlooked is the fact that they rank 79th in GDP per capita, which is actually

below the global average in terms of GDP per capita (Worldometer). China’s GDP is only so high because

of the fact that it ranks number 1 in population in the world, coming in at over 18% of the world’s

population (Worldometers). This issue of overpopulation leads to a rising 5.8% unemployment rate, with

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many low-paying jobs unable to afford cost of living (i.e. rent, food, etc.) (Trading Economics). China’s

outdated policies not only create unwillingness to trade on the global scale, they also struggle greatly on a

domestic scale, with their citizens ranking in the 39th percentile in happiness (survey taken

pre-COVID-19, numbers are likely lower now) (Blazyte). Most of these issues stem from the greater issue

of China’s miscomprehension of internet technology should be handled, not only employing a

decades-outdated IT system but still managing to be inept in its use on both a global and domestic scale.

Social Environment

China has the world’s largest population at over 1.4 billion people. Over 92% of their population

is of Han Chinese descent. The majority of their population resides in urban areas, such as major

population centers Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. These cities also see the greatest

willingness to spend, including education, luxury goods, travel, leisure and consumer goods. They have

a national average age of 33, with 57.9% of people falling between the ages of 25 and 69. The Chinese

government implemented a one-child policy from 1980 until 2016 in an attempt to address the country’s

rapid growth rate. This has resulted in a relatively small portion of their population being under the age

of 25. The one-child generation has seen a marked shift in a willingness to spend rather than save over

previous generations. A purchaser tends to inquire more than average before buying, relying heavily on

word of mouth, especially in regards to foreign products.

In Chinese society the collective takes precedence over the individual. Therefore, the preferences

and societal norms of the group to which an individual belongs have a massive influence on their

purchasing conventions. Consequently, advertisers most often focus on a group or social circle as opposed

to an individual. Once a product is embraced by a group, its sales usually skyrocket. There is an increase

in brand awareness, and luxury items. Chinese consumers have adopted the philosophy of price equals

quality and have been increasingly willing to spend on big-ticket luxury items. In 2018, it’s estimated

Chinese consumers spent $115 billion on luxury items, equivalent to one third of the global expenditure,

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which is expected to double by 2025. Chinese consumers are the most active online shoppers in the

global market today.

IT Environment

Information technology has both broad application within and impact on the lives of those who reside

within China. They are currently a world leader in the deployment of 5G, and have the 9th fastest mean

internet speed in data provided by Speedtest.net. Currently some of the top 10 largest organizations by

market cap in China (that are state sponsored/owned) are Tencent, Alibaba, and China Mobile. All of

these organizations revolve around IT, and have become an established part of the nation’s day-to-day

lives providing the entertainment, retail, and communications infrastructure that they use. Tencent and

Alibaba have also partnered up to provide the nation with an alternative payment ecosystem consisting of

WeChat Pay and Alipay. Both systems provide a payment process that is entirely web-based, utilizing QR

codes or NFC readers to securely validate the transaction. It has become nearly impossible to avoid the

use of this system in China, and is the payment process most retailers resort to. Tencent is also the world's

largest gaming vendor owning titles such as League of Legends, and provides much of the

media/entertainment in the nation through their network platform and social media.

Unfortunately, all this technological integration brings with it a major downside, their affiliation with the

government itself. China having an authoritarian government with intimate ties to nearly every major

company gives it unlimited influence upon the lives of its citizens. These payment systems can track

every purchase people make. Their entertainment systems can report what content everyone is watching.

Their cellular companies report the locations of each device and who owns them. All of this comes

together into their national “Great Firewall” which is used to track the online activities of each citizen and

control the data that they are given access to. This allows them to have near infinite control of public

perception in many cases and manipulates the IT infrastructure into a weapon for propaganda. This isn’t

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the end of the road for them though, they have shown a strong interest in developing their portion of the

digital economy by integrating NFT’s to their portfolio. They aim to manage and ultimately oversee the

architecture underpinning a potential future internet called Web3. They have also recently announced their

new infrastructure campaign which puts 5G and its coverage development at the forefront of their

priorities. They believe that the investment in these telecom services will pay off in a large way due to the

rapid adoption of things such as cloud computing and AI. Whatever the result, it is clear China already

has solid infrastructure that they have cultured to provide what they see as necessary to maintain their

form of government. All future developments will thus be intimately tied to the Chinese Communist Party

and will operate as a vessel for their interests. This brings immense power through innovation to the plate,

but with the backers having such questionably ethical leadership, we will have to see how these

developments play into their deep rooted culture and global relationships.

Organizational and Political Issues Related to the

Adoption and Use of IT

China has in the last year, cracked down on the ubiquitous use of technology by the citizenry in its

country. This reached a new height in the Fall of 2021, in a pattern that some online journalists are

referring to as the “Red New Deal''. These crackdowns are thought to reflect the Chinese Communist

Party’s commitment to enforcing ideological conformity and displayed an intolerance of challenges to the

regime. Among the concerns of the CCP are Data Security regulations, companies that heavily use

algorithms, cloud computing firms that collaborate with the government, e-commerce and social media

platforms, and companies who wish to IPO(initial public offering- to be publicly traded and sell equity on

the stock exchange) in the US.

Beijing came out with a sweeping Data Security Law that is meant to ensure sovereignty over its data. On

September 1st, 2021, it went into effect and it contains the means to cover the usage, protection, and

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collection of data in the People’s Republic of China. First, it concerns the cross-border transfer of

important data managed by critical information operators. Whenever such critical data needs to be

transported overseas, a security assessment of the data is required according to current Cybersecurity

Law. Second, the approval of a designated authority is necessary for fulfilling requests for critical data

made by foreign judicial courts or law enforcement authorities. Lastly, there is now strict monitoring of

the data selling market. The data selling market in China can be described as a data provider collects data

and brings it to the data trading platform, then data demanders buy that data from the data trading

platform. The institution that serves as the intermediary in this exchange is the data trading platform, and

under this Data Security Law is required to enforce that the data provider explains the source of the data

they provide on the platform. The data trading platform is also required to keep track of the identities of

both the data provider and data demander in the transaction. And finally, the data trading platform is

required to keep the examination and transaction records. Below is a summary of how this Data Security

Law interacts with the existing, related laws regarding Information Security and Data. All of this affects

the way that Chinese-based companies conduct theirInformation Technology abilities.

On another note, China’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education is

booming. China has set its sights on becoming a world-class innovator by the year 2050. According to a

study published in 2018 on China’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics research

environment by Xueying Han and Richard P. Appelbaum, “...China has clearly made strides in its higher

education system, there are numerous challenges that must be overcome before China can hope to

effectively produce the kinds of innovative thinkers that are required if it is to achieve its ambitious

goals.” The study also further delves into questioning the direction of education and research in China,

focusing on the clash between an innovative mindset versus restrictive government policies.

China has long harnessed the advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and data mining to create

detailed profiles of its citizens. This has resulted in the Great Firewall of China, also known as the Golden

Shield Project. As we discussed earlier, this allows the political party in power to have a near infinite

control of public perception through the manipulation of data through their IT infrastructure. In 2018, a

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study was performed on data from the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) held in the US. The

main objective of this study was to collect data on the social trends in mainland China and to monitor the

attitudes of the Chinese people. 12,000 respondents in 400 community-level units were selected for the

purposes of the GSS survey. The data consisted of many elements but it included two variables of interest

related to political trust. These two are trusted in the central government and local government.

There is a very shocking disparity between China’s IT work culture and that of countries with

similar industries. China’s tech industry is not immune to the pressures of innovation. Long hours are

routine in China’s tech industry and the schedule has been referred to as 9-9-6. 9 AM to 9 PM, 6 days a

week. That is a 72-hour workweek. In comparison, the national average of hours worked a week is 46.3 in

China. And in comparison to our country, the US, the national average is 34.4. This work culture in

China’s tech industry is largely speculated to be the country’s response to help Chinese firms become

robust enough to challenge Google and Amazon’s reach. There is a forum thread that received much

renown that was named “996.ICU”. A macabre description that explains the name follows as such “By

following the ‘996’ work schedule, you are risking yourself getting into the ICU(Intensive Care Unit).

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Employees feel that there is no way to refuse overtime work. However, Huawei has publicly claimed that

workers are eager and feel rewarded to work late nights. The fresh generation of workers demand no

overtime and have weekends off. The central government empowers the youths by declaring the same

sentiment in a public statement that follows, "Legally, workers have the right to corresponding

compensation and rest times or holidays. Complying with national working hours is the obligation of

employers.” But as China’s economy continues to experience a slowdown and the witnessed lack of

enforcement of well-meaning sentiments by the central government does not change, job anxiety will

ensure that overtime will be a critical stress point for those who want to keep their job.

Conclusion

In conclusion, China has a strong interest in the information technology industry and a strong culture of

conformity and hard work. In this report, we presented the extensive history and collectivist-leaning

culture of China. However, whether their efforts will prove successful will require the Chinese

government to show interest in restructuring its IT to best leverage the use of it on its people and the

world.

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Resources

1. History and Background Context of China

a. Britannica, E. (1998). History of China. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 29,

2022, from https://www.britannica.com/place/China/History

b. Shvili, J. (2021, March 18). What type of government does China have? WorldAtlas.

Retrieved April 29, 2022, from

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-type-of-government-does-china-have.html

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why? The Balance. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from

https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-debt-to-china-how-much-does-it-own-3306355

d. Staff, W. (2016, January 19). China's investments in Africa: What's The real story?

Knowledge at Wharton. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from

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story/

2. Cultural Environment
a. TravelChina, G. (2015). Han nationality. Chinese Han Nationality: Language, Religion,

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https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/nationality/han/

b. Dow Jones & Company. (2019, November 15). China emerges as Global Tech,

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c. China. Hofstede Insights. (2017, December 11). Retrieved April 29, 2022, from

https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country/china/

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 d. Dong, X. Q. (2016, October 1). Elder rights in China: Care for your parents or suffer

public shaming and desecrate your credit scores. JAMA internal medicine. Retrieved

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2C%20the%20National,parents%2060%20years%20or%20older.

e. Filial piety. Filial Piety - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29,

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0filial%20piety%2C%20is,through%20service%20to%20one's%20parents

3. Business Environment
a. Blazyte, Agne. “• China: happiness index according to the United Nations 2020.”

Statista, 27 January 2022,

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e. Worldometer. “GDP per Capita.” Worldometer, 2022,

https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/gdp-per-capita/. Accessed 27 April 2022.

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4. Social Environment
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urban centers. CNN. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from

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qing.%20Dubbed%20an%20engineering%20marvel%2C%20the%20highly

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%20one%20child%20family%20policy%201%20The%20one

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%2C%20the%20Chinese%20luxury%20market%20grew

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/helenwang/2012/12/17/five-new-trends-of-chinese-consum

ers/?sh=2815822b64e9

5. IT Environment
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 b. Speedtest Global Index – Monthly comparisons of internet speeds from around the world.

(2019). Speedtest Global Index. https://www.speedtest.net/global-index

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6. Organizational and Political Issues Related to the Adoption and Use of IT

a. editors, T. (2021, September 9). China’s Red New Deal: Tracking all the different

crackdowns on companies going on right now. SupChina.

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owns-on-companies-going-on-right-now/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CRed%20New%20Deal%

E2%80%9D%20captures%20some%20of%20what%20is

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b. China’s Data Security Law in Effect Sept. 1, 2021: Prepare for Compliance. (2021, July

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rity%20Law

c. ‌Gu, M., Michael, R., Zheng, C., & Trines, S. (2019, December 17). Education in China.

WENR. https://wenr.wes.org/2019/12/education-in-china-3

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e.

f. ‌Niu, G., & Zhao, G. (2018). Survey data on political attitudes of China‫׳‬s urban residents

compiled from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). Data in Brief, 20, 591–595.

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https://www.marketplace.org/2019/07/10/exhausted-china-tech-workers-996-work-week/

h. China steps in to regulate brutal ’996’ work culture. (2021, September 1). BBC News.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58381538#:~:text=Chinese%20tech%20tyc

oon%20Jack%20Ma

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