Chinese tech-innovations win ‘thumbs up’ home and abroad

An unmanned aerial vehicle flies during the 4th China Information Technology Expo in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, April 8, 2016. The expo, with the participation of over 1,700 enterprises across the world, opened here Friday. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

The 4th World Internet Conference (WIC) concluded Tuesday in the town of Wuzhen in East China after three days of discussion and exhibitions of cutting-edge internet products. The rapid expansion of the internet in China has become the spotlight of the IT industry domestically and globally, especially in terms of livestream platforms, sharing economy, and drones.

“Innovation from China must have been the greatest change in the past five years,” said Zhang Lei, founder of Hillhouse Capital Group. “The world’s innovation comes from China.”

“Two months ago, I ordered an Uber in Las Vegas and the driver asked me where to go,” said Fu Sheng, CEO of Cheetah Mobile. “The driver was excited when I mentioned Live.me was our program. She said she used it to help provide for her three kids as a single mom.”

Live.me is the largest third-party mobile livestream platform in the US, with 75 percent of its users overseas. Fu Sheng added, “We will make the best Chinese mobile internet products available in the US.”

Senior vice-president of EBay, RJ Pittman said, “China possesses various kinds of world-leading products. For example, my favorite product, Dajiang, has become an exceptional drone company around the globe, which nevertheless, was started by college students.”

“Lots of initiatives head out from China to America at a remarkable speed,” said Christ O’Neill, CEO of Evernote. “Didi is another good example.”

Allen Blue, the founder of LinkedIn, also expressed his impressiveness over Chinese technology companies. “They manage to standardize initiatives within a short period. For example, bike sharing successfully entered 200 cities nationwide within a year and half, along with the online and offline O2O business model and emphasis on technological innovation,” adding that this deserves global appreciation.

Cheng Wei, CEO of Didi Chuxing, spoke about predictable changes in the future of the industry. “More people will share cabs and spare seats in a car will soon vanish.” In the longer term, he assumes that cars will eventually fly to solve traffic problems.

“Logistics services in China have handled over 100 million parcels every day since May this year,” said Rookie Network President Wan Lin. “Twenty million delivery men are need for the 1-billion-parcels-goal. The only solution is to digitalize and integrate all logistical data for further optimization and arrangement.”

According to occupational social data, a large volume of AI talents in the US have returned to China, which will impose influence upon China’s economic and intellectual advantages.

“According to Metcalfe’s Law, a network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users. China’s enormous population could create an advantageous opportunity,” Fu Sheng said, promising a positive AI future in China.