“This year may finally be the year that global investors put Chinese internet companies alongside American giants like Facebook and Amazon,” Paul Mozur writes (paywall) in the New York Times.

The reason: record-breaking revenues of two companies, internet technology and social media leader Tencent and ecommerce behemoth Alibaba. Mozur notes that both have “valuations that hover around $400 billion,” while Amazon.com and Facebook stand only a little ahead at $470 billion and $490 billion, respectively.

Both Chinese giants have to deal with something their American competitors do not, however: censorship.

- Tencent, along with other internet companies that run social media platforms, is facing a crackdown on content that authorities said violated cyber security laws, but is more likely politically motivated.

- Alibaba’s Taobao and four other ecommerce platforms were instructed on August 17 to conduct “self-examination and correction” for allowing the sales of VPNs, Reuters reports.

- Intellectual property
China says its bullet train technology was stolen, days after U.S. trade probe move / SCMP
“Developing countries had ‘spied on and stolen’ China’s fast-train technology to get the competitive edge at the expense of Chinese companies.”

- Sexism
China tech workers wanted: Women need not apply / WSJ (paywall)

- Young entrepreneurs
Tech publication gives nod to Chinese brains / Caixin

- Southeast Asia
China’s growing its share of Southeast Asia’s infrastructure pie / Bloomberg

- Foreign investment in China
China orders ministries to open up more of economy to foreign investors / SCMP

- Debt
Prominent China debt bear warns of $6.8tn in hidden losses / FT (paywall)

- China Unicom
China Unicom shares still halted amid confusion over $12 bln fundraising / Reuters
China shows how not to sell $11.7 billion in shares / Bloomberg

- Advertising
Alibaba, Tencent lead China’s rise in global digital ads / Bloomberg