"Douyin and all ByteDance algorithmic products are based on the concept of distributing information, therefore community building is not a priority. Kuaishou, however, sees itself as a social product ... [and] is more interested in how connected you feel to others on the platform," tweeted the Chinese tech blogger Rui Ma on the differences between China's top two video sharing platforms. 

ByteDance may still be the market leader in China, but the rush of investment into Kuaishou on its Hong Kong market debut appears to have caught even seasoned tech analysts off guard. Shares in the short-form video app nearly tripled within the first few hours of trading. For a company that reported a loss of $1.1bn in the nine months to September, it's another sign of just how frenzied activity in tech stocks has become, particularly in a lockdown world.

Unsurprisingly then, Bank of America says a record $4.2 billion was invested in the "FAANMG" group of big tech firms last week, partly aided by cheap cash and pent up demand from investors.  

Meanwhile, in a sign of a new potentially more litigious atmosphere in entertainment-based tech, Universal Music says its removing all its songs from the video-sharing app Triller, over accusations payments to artists have not been honored. 

And the figures on minimum wages across the EU are out and again show the depth of wealth inequality across the bloc. Which EU nation pays its workers the highest minimum wage? 

Read on for this and more of the day's business news.

Louise Greenwood,

Digital business correspondent 

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Shares in Kuaishou technology, the operator of China's second most popular short-video service have almost tripled on their market debut in Hong Kong, rising 194 percent. The $5.4 billion flotation ranks as the world's biggest internet IPO since that of Uber Technology's $8.1 billion U.S. share sale in May 2019. 

Shares opened at $43 each, valuing the Tencent Holdings-backed firm at $179 billion, giving Kuaishou a price tag close to that of its main rival ByteDance. Analysts have described an "extraordinary performance" on the first day of trading, with indications that ByteDance may soon seek to list some of its assets in Hong Kong.

A record $4.2 billion of private investment went into "Big Tech" stocks last week, according to new data. Bank of America says demand has been higher than ever for stock in the so-called FAANMG group of tech firms (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet). Analysts say Big Tech has been one of the biggest winners of the COVID-19 lockdown, with revenues high due to stay-at-home rules and increased interest from investors backed by cheap money.

Universal Music, the world's biggest music label, has removed all its songs from the video-sharing app Triller, claiming the LA-based firm has "shamefully withheld payments owed to our artists." It means that songs from artists including Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Jay-Z will no longer appear on its platform. Triller, which is seen as the main rival to TikTok in the U.S. has previously been accused of streaming songs for which it has not received licensing. The site received a boost last year when former U.S. President Donald Trump set up his own Triller profile. 

The trading platform Robinhood has removed the temporary trading restrictions it imposed on stocks, including those of retailer GameStop and the cinema chain AMC Entertainment. The online brokerage, which was at the center of last week's retail trading frenzy, had put controls on several securities including Nokia as U.S. clearing authorities raised deposit requirements for equities 10-fold, while millions were wiped off the value of top hedge funds that had shorted the stock.

Meanwhile, EU regulators have warned they may intervene to curb the activities of amateur traders on the bloc's major stock markets, as the price of blue-chip shares jump. In an industry presentation, Steven Maijoor, chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, said: "We are closely monitoring these new developments and are assessing whether any further supervisory actions are needed." There's been a sharp rise in the value of some corporate French share prices in recent weeks, while Belgium's regulator said data suggest the recent growth in investing is concentrated among young, inexperienced stockpickers. 

U.S. employment growth was weaker than expected last month. The Labor Department said on Friday non-farm payroll figures show 49,000 jobs were added to the economy in January, with the unemployment rate at 6.3 percent. The data are likely to increase calls for additional government relief to aid the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Canada, too, jobs data for the month are worse than analysts had forecast. The country lost 212,800 more jobs than expected, with the unemployment rate jumping to 9.4 percent.

UK company directors could be held personally responsible for the accuracy of their company's financial statements in a major shake up of legislation expected in days. The planned regulation from BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy), is expected to mirror the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act introduced after the fall of energy giant Enron. It follows a string of high-profile accounting failures at collapsed British firms including the cafe chain Patisserie Valerie and the public sector contractor Carillion. 

Factory orders in Germany have fallen for the first time in eight months after the country went into its second hard lockdown. Demand in the euro area's biggest economy was down 1.9 percent last month, with lower investment goods and demand from the euro area. The Bundestag cut its growth forecast for the year to 3 percent from 4.4 percent last month, while agreeing new limits to business write-offs. 

Samsung Electronics is considering Austin, Texas as the site for its planned new $17 billion chip plant, according to state officials. The tech giant is reportedly seeking combined tax abatements worth more than $800 million over a 20-year period from Travis County and the city of Austin, for the development which could create 1,800 jobs.

Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York. In a statement, the firm, which is currently undergoing a reorganization in China, said the petition would not materially impact its day-to-day operations.

Around 87 million pints of beer will be thrown away in the UK due to lockdown pub closures, an industry body says. The British Beer and Pub Association has described the losses as "heartbreaking," while calling for more help for the pub sector in the forthcoming UK budget, including extending the current tax cut for the hospitality sector.

The Republic of Korea has unveiled plans to build the world's largest wind power plant by 2030. The $43.2 billion project in the southwestern coastal town of Sinan will have a maximum capacity of 8.2 gigawatts on completion. The scheme is part of the country's Green New Deal, begun last year, aimed at the nation achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Meanwhile, Spanish utility giant Iberdrola has bought a majority stake in a series of offshore wind farms in Ireland. The three farms, with a total capacity of 3 gigawatts, will become eligible for government clean-energy contracts later this decade. Iberdrola, which is seeking to become the world's biggest producer of renewables, last year began a $90 billion acquisition program buying offshore wind farm developments in Japan, Sweden and Poland. 

Shares in the struggling fashion retailer French Connection have jumped by a third after it revealed takeover approaches from two new backers. Spotlight Brands, which owns Sweaty Betty has indicated interest in the chain, which has posted losses for most years in the past decade, alongside Go Global Retail with HMJ International Services

Prosecutors in Germany have confiscated more than $60 million worth of bitcoin from a fraudster, but say they can't unlock the money because he won't give them the password. The man has maintained his silence through his jail term in the Bavarian town of Kempten, while police have made repeated failed efforts to crack the code. "We asked him but he didn't say," one prosecutor told the press. "Perhaps he doesn't know."

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The Bank of England says the UK economy will shrink by 4 percent over the coming quarter but predicts a rapid recovery over the course of the year. CGTN Europe was joined by Trevor Williams, former chief economist at Lloyds Commercial Banking, and asked what the economic recovery depends on.

It's the roll-out of the vaccine. It's the end of the lockdown. It's the reduction in the mandated shutdown across various industries in the UK. So, a beginning of a return to normality. We'll see quite a surge in growth in quarter two to three and four, enough to give us growth on average over the year of, I think, 5 percent, which is pretty much what the authorities have pencilled in. 

What leeway do central bankers across the rest of Europe really have left to promote growth?

Well, they can still cut rates further into negative territory in Europe. They are almost in negative territory already. They're in negative territory in Japan and zero here [UK] and zero in the U.S.. The Bank [of England] has said that should things take a turn for the worse within the next six months, they'll consider making UK interest rates join the pack of negative rates around the world.

What's the route out of this without making the mistakes that we saw after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, when the stimulus was, it could be argued, leveled off too quickly.

Well, I think one thing we'll know for sure is that the chancellor on the budget ... will keep policy expansionary. I think that's pretty much baked in the cake. There won't be a return to austerity. They're going to keep the measures in place that protect jobs and employment at least until the end of April and in my opinion longer, if the  economy is not to relapse.

And finally, the latest figures on minimum wages across the EU have been revealed. Only six member states still have no official legislation on low pay (Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland, Sweden). Of the remainder, 10 countries, all in Eastern Europe, are paying workers less than $840 per month. Analysts warn the ongoing pandemic is exacerbating wage inequality across the continent as a whole.