Could you tell us more about the operation of FTChinese.com in Greater China?
FTChinese was one of the very first international media news organizations to start a Chinese language operation in China, and build a business around it, in 2005. It also introduced Western-style financial journalism to China and inspired a whole generation of Chinese financial journalists and publications.

Currently we have editorial and commercial teams based in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and London. We also have columnists, contributors and stringers throughout the world. We operate a whole suite of content platforms in Chinese, including a main website, mobile apps, and more than a dozen social media accounts and verticals. 
 
As Editor-in-Chief, what does your day of work look like?
Given the multiple locations and time-zones our people are in, I communicate with my editorial colleagues mostly via email, messaging & conferencing software. From the moment I wake up -- emails with London editors, to editorial meetings throughout the day with editors in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, until late night for a bit of editing & writing. So my team has coped quite well during the COVID-19 pandemic, since all the remote & flexible working is nothing new to us. 

What are your current coverage priorities?
Economic recovery of China and the world, the new Cold War and tech wars between China and the US, Hong Kong's future as a financial hub, etc. 

Are you open to collaborations and engagement?
All the time. About 60% of our content is translated from the FT and its subsidiary publications, and we produce the rest in Chinese, mostly in the form of third-party contributions, such as analysis from financial and professional organizations, academics, experts, business leaders, investors etc. We also run interviews, multimedia and data-rich stories written and produced by my own team.

So external collaboration is very key to our continued editorial success and appeal to our readers.  

Social media plays an important role in journalism and communications. In your view, how big of a role can social media play in connecting the two sides?
As a hobby of mine I have closely observed the interaction between journalists and their sources and experts on social media platforms such as Twitter for years.

An interesting phenomenon these days is, especially for younger journalists, they often openly seek tips and expert sources via their social media personas, therefore it makes sense for them to gain more followers. In effect They become social media stars or at least get very active, engaging and attention-drawing. That's only one aspect of how social media impacts how journalists behave, and how important they are to journalists these days.