How technology is transforming the daily life of average citizens in China

1. China Phenomenon
How technology is transforming the daily life
of average citizens in China

2. Shared Bikes
Priced ranging from 0.5 RMB to 2 RMB per 30 min ride, shared bicycles have become an
overnight phenomenon in China
As of September 2017, there are over 16 million shared bikes in China
6am Beijing sidewalk
near residential neighborhood
Close to noon near Beijing CBD
Chinese shared bikes companies are running out of colors
to mark their bikes
The blue bikes have already gone bankrupt and now taken
over by DiDi
Yellow bikes: Ofo Orange bikes: Mobike Blue bikes: Bluegogo
5pm Beijing
Abandoned bikes
QR code on
street side
advertising
board – for
people to scan
and learn more
about the
business
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3. New Retail – Fresh Hema
Jack Ma first coined the term “New Retail” in October 2016. He said the era of ecommerce would come to
an end soon, and new retail would take over the next 10, 20 years
Ecommerce is not replacing traditional retail, just making it better
Fresh Hema is an Alibaba affiliated
“new retail” store – the shopping
takes place offline in a physical retail
space, while the entire experience is
heavily relied on their mobile app
The app serves as an information
agent, showing customers
everything they need to know about
their interested products
Customers can also self check out
through the kiosks in store and pay
through the store app
Customers can order in store and have Hema deliver to
home (as quickly as under 30 min)
Scan to download the app 3

4. New Retail – Fresh Hema (cont’d)
Every product in the store has an associated bar code. Scanning it through the store app will provide you
with an abundance of information regarding the product’s origin, freight logistics, pricing, ingredients,
nutritional value, etc.
Every batch of oyster has a bar code attached “Boston Lobster – 99RMB/lobster” “Cannot be
cooked here”
“Can be cooked
here”
The store provides cooking service so customers
can enjoy freshly cooked seafood right away
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5. Sponsored Cell Phone Plans
Tencent’s “Golden King
Plan” – for 19 RMB
($3)/month, customers get
unlimited data for essentially
all of Tencent and its affiliate
properties:
• WeChat
• QQ
• QQ music
• Tencent Video (Netflix)
• Tencent mobile games
• Affiliated live streaming
apps
• Tencent browser (all
browsing activity including
non-Tencent traffic)
• etc.
Alibaba’s “Precious Treasure
Plan” – for 19 RMB
($3)/month, customers get
unlimited data for essentially
all of Alibaba and its affiliate
properties:
• Taobao
• Tmall
• Youku (Netflix + Youtube)
• Weibo (Twitter)
• Alipay
• etc.
Net neutrality? What net neutrality?
Like T-Mobile’s free music and video streaming, but much more
After all, users’ time spend is much more valuable than the telco data services fee Tencent & Alibaba are
helping to cover
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6. Virtual Reality Pay Per View
Chinese way to democratize VR consumption for the mass - pay per view, 20 RMB (~$3) / 10min
experience
“Imported VR” –
imported goods
and services are
still thought of as
of high quality
and luxury
“Fam, please
come this way” –
first popularized
by
Alibaba/Taobao,
“Fam”, or “亲” is
used as a way to
address the
customer to
reduce the
distance feeling
brought by two
strangers talking
over the internet
“9 Dimensional VR”
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7. Solar Panels
This is rooftop of a new apartment building in the city
suburb of my hometown Jinan, China
… and many other buildings
Every apartment comes equipped with solar panels by
default
Solar energy has become a strategic focus of the Chinese government
Many provincial and city governments have mandated that all new residential buildings come with solar
systems built-in
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8. Special Edition – WeChat, connecting online to offline

9. WeChat – the Ultimate “Camera App”
The extent of WeChat’s presence in the offline world in China is stunning
KFC in China encouraging customer
to order via WeChat to save time
“Coconut juice 5 RMB/cup.
Pay with WeChat!”
Pay for bus ride via
WeChat in Tianjin
Photo Credit: Baidu
Pay for subway via WeChat in
Guangzhou
Photo Credit: Chinabyte
Use WeChat to unlock Mobike
Photo Credit: Tencent
Pay for vending machine via
WeChat in Shanghai
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10. WeChat - Breakfast stores/street carts
Early 2017, I went back to China after not having visited over a year. I was craving for street Chinese pancake. Fresh off the plane, I only had 100 RMB bill with me. I worried that the street food
owner would not have change for the hundred RMB bill such early in the day, so I went to get change ahead of time from another store… only to find out that nobody uses cash anymore and
everything was paid through WeChat Pay or Alipay
WeChat pay accepted at
street congee and pancake
food carts through QR code
The owner simply prints the
QR code of their personal
WeChat account, and
people can pay them
through scanning the QR
code on their phone and
make a money transfer
(settlement happens
instantly within the WeChat
system)
The level of adoption of mobile payment in China extends to the smallest of small businesses
Restaurant owner displays her
WeChat QR code on the counter
for people to scan and pay
The customer confirms the
payment amount after scanning
the owner’s QR code on
WeChat
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11. WeChat - Street Artist
Apologies for the quality of pictures here, but yes, street artists accept tips through WeChat too!
11pm Beijing near Sanlitun
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12. WeChat - Parking Lot
Manless and machineless smart parking management system
This was on the wall of a public parking lot in my hometown Jinan, China
How it works is very simple:
• When your car drives in, the camera at the gate will capture the car’s license plate
• When you are about to leave the parking lot, pull out the phone and do the
following:
• Scan the QR code from your WeChat or Alipay app. The will load up the
parking lot’s mini app within WeChat/Alipay (no installation needed)
• Input your license plate number
• The system will show how much is owed
• Confirm parking fee payment directly from WeChat or Alipay
• Exit the parking lot – at the gate, the camera will capture your license plate again
to match the payment record. Once confirmed, the parking barrier will lift and your
car can pass through
Best part of all this - there are also cameras throughout the parking lot so if you
cannot remember where you parked the car, just scan the QR code and put in your
license plate. The app will tell you where your car is located
All of this comes with a very inexpensive initial setup and ongoing maintenance fee
(benefit of automation!)
WeChat
Alipay
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13. WeChat - Package Deposit and Delivery
WeChat-enabled smart logistics center
This is a locker box outside of a classroom in Peking
University. Students can deposit their belongings into
the locker and use WeChat to access and pay
WHAT: Hive Box is a last-mile mini
logistics hub where delivery’s first and
last step takes place
DROP OFF: People can bring their
packages to a nearby Hive Box to
drop off. The mail man or women
from the delivery service of their
choice (i.e. China’s UPS or Fedex
equivalents ) will come to pick up
PICK UP: Delivery companies will
also drop off packages in Hive Box,
similar to what Amazon is doing with
Amazon Locker, for customers to
come pick up when it is convenient
WHERE: In Beijing, you can find Hive
Boxes everywhere from department
stores lobby to office buildings, to
residential neighborhoods and
university campuses
HOW: Again no special apps
required, just WeChat and scan
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14. WeChat - Massage Chair
You get it by now – it’s a WeChat enabled massage chair
Scan, pay, and enjoy
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