8 must-read tech stories in China this week

Temperatures have plunged and winter has rumbled into China. Luckily, the tech scene is as hot and spicy as ever. Here are the most-read and most-shared China news items this week.

1. What’s really going on in the Chinese Bitcoin community

Check out the top influencers in China’s cryptocurrency world.

2. WeChat to launch banking platform by mid-December

WeChat‘s upcoming financial services platform will be launched in mid-December this year, according to a Chinese business newspaper.

3. Report: China now has 270 million active Android users, growing faster than ever in countryside

The report shows that China now has 270 million active Android users (in Q3 2013), up from about 130 million at the same period last year.

4. It’s official: China will get 4G on December 18

After many delays and years of rumors, state-run news agency Xinhua has announced that China Mobile users on mainland China will be able to connect to 4G LTE on December 18.

5. Uber hits streets of Shenzhen, its second city in China

Three months after first entering China by rolling out in Shanghai, fancy car-booking service Uber has today launched in Shenzhen.

6. China’s taxi-booking app race heats up between Alibaba and Tencent

We finally saw some serious consolidation among China’s numerous taxi-finder apps this week when one of the top ones, Alibaba-backed Kuaide, snapped up a smaller rival.