From 3-5 December 2017, the fourth World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen, China. President Xi Jinping sent his congratulations in letter for the opening of the Conference. Held under the theme “Developing Digital Economy for Openness and Shared Benefits”, the Conference attracted 1500 government officials, enterprise senior management and expert scholars from all over the world.
86Links Chairman Mr. Dahong Niu was invited to join the panel on the Forum on International Cooperation as an overseas representative to discuss the “Digital Silk Road”. Hosted by Mr. Yaogen Wang and Mr. Dennis Galligan, Mr. Dahong Niu, Mr. Qiangdong Liu, Mr. Lei Ding, Mr. Jun Lei, Mr. RJ Pittman and Mr. Yiwei Wang shared their views on “Beyond e-Commerce, Sharing Benefits”.
The sharing by Mr. Niu at the Conference is as follows:
Host:
I’d like to invite a friend from overseas, Mr. Dahong Niu. Singapore’s digital economy is currently expanding very quickly, many internet enterprises can be found in Singapore, just two weeks ago, I saw that people can pay for their transport fares via AliPay.
I would like you to share your views on “Beyond e-Commerce, Sharing Benefits” from the perspective of a Singaporean enterprise.
Niu:
Thank you for the question. When speaking about the impact of the digital economy on Singaporean enterprises, I believe there are a few concrete points: first the impact on the brand, direct visibility through the internet can raise a business's profile and showcase its strengths.
My background is in traditional commerce. I was inspired by the World Internet Conference to start up an international cooperative BPB platform called 86Links. "86" is China’s international code, "Links" represents the linkages among businesses, and our aim is to provide a one-stop service platform that enables international businesses to link up their demand and supply quickly and accurately through AI and digital data.
Niu:
Let me share an example of how we are helping a Singaporean distributor for cosmetics break into the Chinese market quickly. We used the digital tools, specifically internet live streaming, to break the mold of traditional commerce. This enabled a new brand with no presence in China to enter the market quickly.
Everyone knows that China has internet celebrities, and we did some research. I once asked some fans: “You spend a large amount time to watch others eat, shop, sleep; is it that interesting?” They replied “Not interesting!” Then why watch? They don't know but they just want to continue watching.
When I heard this answer, I could not understand. However, after thinking about it deeply, it stems from boredom. Is there value in boredom? Yes there is; it has value in its existence, which is click volume.
So we also invited an internet celebrity to be our host, our real-time viewership went up to 750,000 views; within 3 days our viewership was over 10 million. This would have been hard to imagine in traditional commerce, let alone achieve.
Second, I think, on the other hand, the Chinese government has considered the practical difficulties of the countries along the Silk Road when opening up the “Digital Silk Road”. Hence it invested deeply to set up the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund, offering more opportunities and benefits to the countries along the Silk Road.
Lastly, I would like to raise a statistic from Singapore to illustrate the impact of the digital economy and e-Commerce on traditional commerce.
In 2007, Singapore’s total exports and imports totaled more than USD 500 billion, of which e-Commerce comprised 32%. Estimates for 2030 put Singapore’s total exports and imports at USD 1 trillion and of which e-Commerce comprises 80% or so.
So when China propagates the digital economy, the opportunities and benefits for the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative and along the Silk Road economy are huge.
Today at the World Internet Conference Digital Silk Road Forum on International Cooperation, I suggest that we add digital or internet connectivity to this list, to show that we grow with times and are open for sharing.Then, we can truly build up the internet space and fate of the countries along the Silk Road. Thank you.
