CHINA VOICES | The Office clone that took on Microsoft

This week, TechNode’s translation column looks at Kingsoft, China’s homegrown clone-turned-rival to Microsoft Office, published on WeChat public account Python Zhi Shan. TechNode has not independently verified the claims in this article.

In late November, 30 years after its founding, Kingsoft’s software business hit the Shanghai STAR market (a NASDAQ spinoff). It raised $640 million and currently trades at a $10 billion valuation. Westerners—and even many Chinese familiar with its products—regard it as simply another knockoff Chinese firm whose WPS Office is little more than an off-brand Microsoft Office suit