The financier turning China’s noodle joints and karaoke bars into a data gold mine on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Kaye Wiggins, Cheng Leng and Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong.

The China-market Infiniti QX60 includes its own KTV (or “karaoke bar”) app, which lets users select songs either through the car or social media app WeChat.

At present, only about 10 operators out of about 1,000 Beijing-based karaoke bars paid royalties for the copyrighted audio-video products they used. The figure stood at about 1,000 nationwide.

Karaoke clubs, bars and restaurants closed in droves during years of tight lockdowns aimed at halting the spread of covid-19. Those that survived have had to deal with new problems.