China sets tech trends for 2017 with WeChat, Musical.ly and Alipay, surpassing outdated Western Technology and skipping phases in technological progression while catering to middle-class consumers. Moreover, China is set on aggressively pursuing global expansion for 2017, but it may be hampered by President-elect Donald Trump's foreign policy and relations regarding China's products.

Tech trends 2017 see a lot of Chinese innovations staring with impacting middle-class consumption, pursuing global mergers and acquisitions, and funding Artificial Intelligence platform including automated driving and robotics. A look into China's 2016 technological innovations provide a better understanding on how the aging Western technology in some specific areas has much to catch up with its Chinese counterpart.

WeChat And Alipay's New Payment Metods

WeChat is the largest standalone messaging apps that allow users to do more than just exchange messages, but also ordering goods by paying through phones. Alipay, Alibaba's payment system, enables users to pay using their mobile devices, one of the top tech trends for 2017 that could see less of credit cards since a good 40 percent of Chinese consumers now use the new payment scheme, Forbes reported.

Uber and Didi Chuxing and Other Mergers

Uber has now merged with its' Chinese counterpart Didi Chuxing. Recent data reveals that China has spent $207 billion dollars in mergers and acquisitions with the Ant Financial, Alibaba's financial arm, investing in Ascend Money, the Thai fintech company.

Filling the Gaps Left by Traditional Banks

Peer-to-peer lending is now gaining popularity among those who do not have the credit score to apply for loans with traditional banks. China Rapid Finance is now the largest consumer lending company facilitating access to loans of its more than 1 million borrowers. Cheetah Mobile, a provider of mobile tools, gets half of its revenues outside China and yet they are based in Beijing.

US-China Relations Under Trump

During Trump's campaign, he stated that he will be imposing 45 percent tariffs on China goods, a threat that goes against the rules set by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the US may be leaving if Trump stays true to his earlier pronouncements according to Fortune. US-Chinese relations are now unclear as Trump continues to push the Chinese with his recent break of protocol by calling Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen. As a response, the Chinese seized a US research drone, which was collecting oceanic date according to FP. Though the drone was eventually returned by the Chinese, 

China's Tech Trends for 2017 will certainly impact technological pursuits especially for AI, robotics and self-driving cars. If Trump manages to have a better understanding of the Chinese foreign policy and vice-versa, the international community will benefit from an open market instead of Isolationism.