Kendra Schaefer is a partner at Beijing-based policy consultancy Trivium China, where she heads the company’s Tech Policy Division. She leads a team of analysts keeping investors, companies, and governments briefed on Chinese tech policy and regulation, and she has served as a key expert for heads of state and Fortune 500 companies on China tech issues. Her personal areas of research interest include AI, the data economy, and Chinese government digital infrastructure systems. She is a non-resident fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research. Kendra was based primarily in China from 2002-2022. She began her career as a developer and user researcher in the early days of China’s internet boom.
Writing and research
China’s Generative AI Ecosystem in 2024: Rising Investment and Expectations – with Paul Triolo – National Bureau of Asian Research
China’s Corporate Social Credit System: Context, Competition, Technology and Geopolitics – for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
“New Industrialization”: The Industrial Upgrading Theory Driving China’s Advanced Manufacturing Policy – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Data Security in China’s Industrial Sector – Asia Society
Talks, lectures, and podcasts
Chinese Assessments of AI: Risks and Approaches to Mitigation – Center for Strategic and International Studies
China’s draft regulations on generative AI, with Kendra Schaefer and Jeremy Daum – Sinica Podcast
China Executive Briefing | China Tech and the Impact of Geopolitics – Asia Society
China Week 2022: Big Tech, Data & the Platform Economy – King’s College London, Global Affairs
The rise of AI in China – Digital technologies and their regulation – International Labor Organization Future of Work Podcast
Confusion Reigns for Foreign Companies Operating in China – Stephanomics Podcast, Bloomberg
China’s Vision for AI Technology – The Diplomat
AI Governance Virtual Symposium: The Geopolitics of Chinese AI – Georgetown University, Institute of Technology Law & Policy
China’s Social Credit System – Everything You Know is Wrong – China Tech Talk Podcast
Quoted in the news
China to tighten competition rules for internet groups – Financial Times
China Says Chatbots Must Toe the Party Line – New York Times
Xi Calls for Revived Tech Push in China After U.S. Escalates Curbs – Time
TechScape: Xi Jinping’s ‘Little Red Book’ of tech regulation could lead the way – The Guardian
ChatGPT: Can China overtake the US in the AI marathon? – BBC
Chinese city claims to have destroyed 1 billion pieces of personal data collected for Covid control – CNN
China Fleshes Out Details on Sensitive Data Collection by Firms – Caixin Global
Beyond security crackdown, Beijing charts state-controlled data market – Reuters
China is restructuring key government agencies to outcompete rivals in tech – NPR
China’s New Algorithm Rules Take Aim at Big Tech Companies – Sixth Tone
China’s Tech Crackdown – Bloomberg
Didi should have considered pulling its IPO, says China tech analyst – CNBC
Lulz
That time I ended up in a digital courtroom presided over by a cartoon crab – WSJ
