As one of the popular online financial products, the performance of Yu'ebao, which offers consumers a way to invest their idle cash in money market funds with higher returns than typical bank deposits, has caused ripples in the banking sector. By the end of February 81 million people had opened accounts at Yu'ebao, and its assets exceeded 500 billion yuan. In size it is comparable to a small bank.

With the increasing popularization of Ye'ebao and WeChat, or Weixin, a mobile app developed by Tencent, people are becoming ever more aware that it is inevitable that the Internet will transform traditional industries such as finance, retail, telecom and even education and real estate.

The Internet, a new catalyst for economic development

Experts believe this kind of change is constructive rather than destructive. As it penetrates every industry, it has become a new catalyst for the development of China's economy.

But which will be the next industry to be changed?

The retail industry, undoubtedly, was the first to be affected by the Internet. Facing the tide of e-commerce, the monopoly on distribution channels held by traditional retail enterprises is falling apart, threatening their high revenues. In the second half of 2013, traditional retail giants including Yintai, Wanfujing, Joy City, New World Department Store and BHG began to seek cooperation with Taobao and Wechat.

Li Yanhong, known as Robin Li, one of China's richest men and CEO of the nation's top search engine Baidu, said both traditional industries and people's lives have been affected by the Internet. A few years ago, you had to pay for vehicle navigation, but today it is free. In addition, travel, ticketing, and hotels all can be booked on the Internet, he added.

Lei Jun, founder and chairman of Xiaomi, believes that the transformation of traditional industries caused by the Internet has only just started. It has led to a new way of thinking.

Outwardly, technological reform has brought change to traditional industries, but its real impact has been in bringing about new ways of thinking, and forcing changes in modes of production and in management ideas.

Talking about China Telecom's future business strategy, Yang Jie, the President of China's Telecommunications says that we will use the Internet to transform traditional industries.

The article is edited and translated from《互联网下一个“颠覆”谁？》, source: The Beijing News