China Roundup: Augmented reality firm raises $42m, and other news

 Augmented reality startup HiAR bags US$42 million

• Lead investor: CITIC Private Equity Funds Management
• Other investors: Jadex Capital, Grand View Capital, and THG Ventures
• Stage: Series C
• About the startup: Founded in 2012, HiAR produces hardware and software for augmented reality applications and use cases.

  Ximalaya withdraws US public listing plans

• The audio-sharing platform is the latest Chinese tech firm to shelve its plans of going public in the US.
• In an earlier prospectus, Ximalaya disclosed that it had an operating income of US$628 million for 2020.
• China plans to propose new rules that would ban companies with large amounts of sensitive consumer data from going public in the US.

Tencent, iQiyi ease viewer restrictions

• Tencent Video and iQiyi have said they will change membership features following criticism from the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee.
• Both platforms offer VIP memberships that charge viewers for the privilege of watching episodes ahead of their scheduled releases.
• An iQiyi customer won a case against the streaming platform in 2020. But it would take the player more than a year to act, given the recent rise of state-initiated crackdowns on China’s tech giants.