China’s Mobile Internet App Industry Lures Foreign Entrepreneurs.docVIP

China’s Mobile Internet App Industry Lures Foreign Entrepreneurs China, long known for its　reputation as being a copycat nation, is emerging as a favoured place for entrepreneurs looking to start mobile and internet application businesses, due to the size and dynamic nature of the domestic tech market. What makes China so attractive, say entrepreneurs, is a mix of lower operating costs compared to Europe or the United States, a willingness to work at start-ups, and the opportunity to feel first-hand the rapidly changing tastes of Chinese app users, which are seen to be leading the rest of the world. “The Chinese market is probably the most dynamic market in the world right now for online games. There is also a lot of talent because gaming is so much a part of the ecosystem,” said Ludovic Bodin, a Frenchman who moved the headquarters of his Facebook games startup to Beijing from South Korea, four years ago. There is no industry data to show the growth in foreignrun start-ups over the past few years in China, but analysts and industry players say there has been a clear uptrend in relocating to Shanghai or Beijing. “I can easily say foreign entrepreneurs working on apps, mobile and internet projects at large, easily double every year in China,” said Bruno Bensaid, an angel investor and co-founder of Shanghaivest, a cross-border investment banking advisory firm based in Shanghai. Cyril Ebersweiler, co-founder of Dalian-based start-up incubator fund, Chinaccelerator, also said there has been a marked increase in start-up groups featuring foreigners. “We have had mixed groups (start-ups with both foreign and Chinese staff) for a while now, but last year was really an inflection point,” said Ebersweiler, adding that his fund handled three such firms last year, compared with none in 2010. South Korea, home to top smartphone maker Samsung Electronics and millions of online gamers, and the United States have long drawn innovators, given their high Inter