China’s lonely single men are fuelling its ‘hormone industries’, finding an outlet for their desires in anime, social networks, and games that hint at sex. YY is China’s top video cam karaoke site – but is it for playful teens, or the next stage in China’s faux-coy hook-up culture?

For the last decade, Chinese magazines, sites and government bodies have been labelling unmarried women over 27 as sheng nu –‘leftover women’ – in a bid to counter a social trend seen as destabilising society. But who are these leftover women? And why should brands be paying attention to them?

China's one-child policy was instituted as an extreme measure to control the country's rapid population expansion. But with an ageing populace, the county's demographic distribution is beginning to reflect its Western counterparts. In response, the government has scrapped the policy.

With a reputation for quality, foreign brands dominate Chinese technology markets. But in 2014, homegrown Xiaomi overtook Samsung and Apple to become the biggest smartphone manufacturer in China. How did a Chinese company manage to build enough prestige to compete with the big boys?