Voices on China – Chenni Xu of Nu on Her Transpacific Career in Technology Communications
When Chenni Xu moved back to New York from Beijing in 2018, she was leaving one home for another. Xu’s parents are Chinese, and that’s where her career began, but New York was where she grew up and went to school — a life shaped by some of the world’s most dynamic cities, giving rise to a career defining narratives on both sides of the Pacific for companies defining the global economy.
At a recent panel event held in New York organized by Young China Watchers and moderated by Savannah Billman of the China Careers Newsletter, Xu shared her thoughts on careers in technology spanning China and the US. We caught up with her separately to learn about her experience and how she’s thinking about China-US careers.
Young China Watchers (YCW): Tell me a bit about yourself. What’s your background, and how did you get to where you are today?
Chenni Xu (CX): I grew up in New York, my parents were UN translators so I guess I was always going to participate in some form of cross-cultural interpretation. I then chose to spend the formative years of my career in China in the 2010s, in corporate communications. I worked for agencies and then went in-house with Ant Group in 2018 helping to lead their US launch. I now work for Nu (NYSE:NU), a Brazilian digital financial services platform (one of the largest in the world!) entering the US.
YCW: Nu, formerly known as Nubank, is Brazilian. Do you see any similarities in terms of company culture between Nu in the US and the Chinese companies you’ve worked with and for here?
CX: For sure – I believe my background as US comms lead at one of the largest Chinese tech companies and its entrance into the US (i.e. cross-culture bridge-building in the niche field of fintech) helped me land my current role. Much of my work in the past two decades has focused on the transformative potential of financial technology, particularly in driving digital financial inclusion across global markets. Both China and Brazil are large, diverse countries with enormous populations and unique cultures with their own points of view. Likewise, both tech cultures are top-notch, high-speed, and relentless. I am very excited for what Nu will build in the US and beyond. Stay tuned!
YCW: You’ve been working to bridge the US-China divide for many years. In your view, what are the biggest differences between Chinese and US business cultures?
CX: Where do I begin? Generally speaking I would say there are more similarities than differences — in that business culture is fundamentally relationship-based, but in China, it is a tad more familial and friend-making than the US, which functions more on process and legal paperwork. In China, the paperwork may not be the end-all be-all.
Panelists discussing careers touching on China’s technology industry at a YCW-organized event in New York City, 19 January 2026. From left to right: Savannah Billman of The Wire and the China Careers Newsletter, Jordan Schneider of ChinaTalk, Selina Xu of Google, and Chenni Xu of Nu and NüVoices.
YCW: How about the biggest similarities?
CX: Folks are hardworking and looking to win. I’ve seen “9-9-6” behavior in both tech cultures.
YCW: Many people reading this will be interested in finding jobs where they can utilize both China and US expertise. How have you done this, and do you have any advice for them?
CX: I would probably try to reframe and ask the person to define what they believe their China and US expertise is, specifically? It’s important to define this so they can position themselves well for the field in which they are searching. I have a very specific background in communications which is somewhat “on the nose” for this question. But I would also say that any amount of “China expertise,” especially in-country, positions the candidate well in dealing with adversity, crises, constant change, and working across languages and cultures between the two largest countries in the world. You might as well be a “crisis expert”!
YCW: You play a lot of roles within NüVoices. Could you tell me about the organization, what your role is, and how people can get involved?
CX: I’m really proud of the organization NüVoices has become, a media platform that highlights the work and expertise of women on the subject of China, broadly defined. We have an eponymous podcast, an online magazine, and an expert database of over 700+ female experts on China.
We started back in 2018 when a group of us media professionals in Beijing realized there was unequal representation on panels, interviews, and books about China. One of our first podcast episodes foregrounded the important role Chinese news assistants play for international news organizations’ bureaus in China. It is a great community, a group of volunteers, some of whom have landed jobs or pivoted into the China space from a completely different field, because of their involvement with NüVoices and the (free) mentorship they received there.
There are many roles one can play – producer/editor/sound engineer on the podcast, Board member, fundraiser, legal advisor, etc. We are now proudly a 501(c)(3) organization in the US – check out https://nuvoices.com/ to learn more or get in touch, we’d love to have more folks involved!
Interview by Kit Mention.