Inside Digital China - The Future of Business
19th & 20th November, 2020
A virtual immersion inside the world's largest and most sophisticated digital economy.
Wavelength Connect
We are delighted to welcome you to our first Inside Digital China event!
Please take a moment to watch our Welcome Video from Christina Boutrup which bring to life some of the organisations you will be hearing from.
Over the two days we will explore the following topics:
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Future of Retail
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Future of Fintech
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Future of Healthcare
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AI in our Lives & Businesses
More information on our Speakers and some Pre-reading on these topics can be found below...
We will meet leaders from some of China's most successful organisations:
Our Speakers include:
Christine Boutrop
Leading China Analyst and Thought-Leader
As a journalist, TV and radio host Christina has travelled extensively throughout China for over a decade. She is a journalist, TV host and best-selling author of The Great Tech Revolution: How China is shaping our Future.
Professor David Gosset
China: the Geo-Political Context
Professor Gosset is a global-affairs and international relations expert who has written extensively on China’s transformation and its global impact. His analyses have been published by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Tomo Xiong
What's Next and Next Next!
A Swedish-Chinese serial entrepreneur and a celebrity in the world of digital broadcasting, Tom is host of Digitally China, the world’s largest English language podcasts about the Chinese technology sector. Tom has more than a decade of experience of start-ups and global digital transformation.
Richard Turrin
Industry Leader on Fintech and Digital Innovation
Rich Turrin is the international best-selling author of Innovation Lab Excellence and soon to be published Cashless - China’s Digital Currency Revolution. He is an award-winning executive and previously headed fintech teams at IBM following a dynamic career in investment banking. Living in Shanghai for the last decade, Rich experienced China going cashless first-hand.
Brian A. Wong
Advisor and former Vice President of Alibaba Global Initiatives, Alibaba Group, Founder & Chairman, RADII
From 1999 Brian contributed to Alibaba’s early globalization efforts, and later established Alibaba Global Initiatives, where he developed and led capacity building programs for entrepreneurs, universities and government leaders focusing the digital economy and inclusiveness. Today, Brian is Founder and Chairman of RADII, a Shanghai-based multimedia platform dedicated to sharing vibrant stories from China.
David Lloyd
General Manager of UK, Netherlands and Nordics, Alibaba Group
David Lloyd was appointed GM for Alibaba Group in the UK, Ireland & Nordics in July 2017, having joined the business in October 2016. Since May 2019 he’s also been responsible for Alibaba’s operations in the Netherlands, and the development of Alipay in Europe. He brings extensive knowledge of the retail and technology industries to the role, having spent ten years at Google in the UK and Ireland, working closely with UK retailers and overseeing the UK Retail and Technology sectors.
Michael Sung
Founding Co-director, Fudan Fanhai Fintech Research Center
The Fudan Fanhai Fintech Research Center is based at the Fanhai International School of Finance at Fudan University. Prof. Sung is also Chairman of CarbonBlue Innovations, a cross-border tech-transfer and venture building platform that is focused on rapidly commercialising and scaling internationally-sourced blockchain, fintech, and digital finance innovation to developing countries.
Bradley Burgess
China-based Public Affairs & former Head of International Corporate Affairs, JD.com
Brad Burgess is a seasoned public affairs and corporate communications leader. He has helped top Chinese and global brands navigate high stakes crises, protecting as well as promoting reputations across several industries, including retail, technology, export trade, food and beverage, government ministries, and others. He was most recently the head of international corporate affairs for JD.com, where he was responsible for the protection and promotion of China’s largest retail and logistics companies. Prior to this, he held leadership roles in various consulting firms. An American residing in China for nearly two decades, Brad is literate in Chinese, and provides a unique perspective on China and the world.
Li Zhang
President, RADII China
Li Zhang is president of RADII China, a media organisation that is an influential voice on key social media platforms with content featured in The New York Times, BBC, The Guardian, TIME, Quartz, and Bloomberg. As Head of Partnerships, she previously led the inception and development a new educational program initiative for Alibaba’s Global eCommerce Talent Program, and has a background from University of Oxford with focus on China’s global influence and political governance.
Dr. Wanli Min
The Power of Artificial Intelligence
“One of the World’s top AI Leaders” Forbes (2017) Dr. Min is Former Chief Machine Intelligence Scientist at Alibaba, a member of the National Strategic Advisory Committee on Next Generation of AI and Founder and CEO of North Summit Capital.
Dr. Xiao Jing
Group Chief Scientist, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, LTD
Dr. Xiao has published 112 academic papers and 102 granted US patents. Before joining Ping An, he worked as Principal Applied Scientist Lead in Microsoft Corp. and Manager of Algorithm Group in Epson Research and Development, Inc. Dr. Xiao started R&D in artificial intelligence and related fields since 1995, covering a broad range of application areas such as healthcare, autonomous driving, 3D printing and display, biometrics, web search, and finance. He is now leading research and development in AI-related technologies and their applications on finance, healthcare, and smart-city in Ping An.
Dr. Martin Shen
Co-founder, Tencent Trusted Doctors
Dr. Shen held several senior healthcare industry positions including, Principal for Siemens Health Services, Deputy General Manager for the 1st Sino-US Joint Venture Hospital in China (during SARS). In 2012, Dr. Shen co-founded XingRen Trusted Doctors a Health Startup which recently merged with Tencent Doctorwork to form Tencent Trusted Doctors, which has become one of China’s largest and most successful health platforms.
Cathy Fang
Vice President, YITU HealthCar COO
Before joining YITU, Cathy played various roles in operational management at Amgen, including corporate-wide operational strategy and team lead for implementing the first electronic record system for clinical manufacturing. She was also the executive sales director in North America for GenePharma Co.,Ltd. She received her PhD in molecular and medical pharmacology from UCLA and MBA and MS in bioengineering from MIT.
Rupert Mitchell
Chief Strategy Officer, WM Motor
WM Motor is an emerging leader in China’s fast growing electric vehicle and e-mobility market. Rupert is responsible for strategic financing, investments and corporate development. He joined the company in 2018, following a 25-year career in financial services in Asia and Europe. During that time, he held a number of advisory and capital markets positions in investment banking, including senior roles at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Jefferies.
Ada Yang
Head of Social Community at Pinduoduo & host of The China Ecommerce Podcast
Ada has nearly 10 years of experience in strategic communications and relationship management in the technology and financial industry. Previously, she was the Assistant Vice President of Hong Kong Exchanges and was a key taskforce member of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect.
Mark West
Head of EMEA, 4Paradigm
Mark started his career in government working on international competitiveness policies for emerging technologies before spending a decade at Mizuho Financial Group as an Asian markets specialist. Recently moved from 4Paradigm’s Beijing HQ to Amsterdam, he has lived in nine countries and split his career evenly between North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
Alvin Tse
Country Director, Xiaomi
Alvin is a China-US-India-Indonesia technology executive, currently heading Xiaomi Indonesia and previously leading marketing for Xiaomi Europe and sales operation for Xiaomi India. He has +10 years operational and investing experience across the four largest internet markets: China, India, Indonesia and the United States.
A little pre-event reading...
To maximise your value of two intensive days on 19th and 20th November, we have created a pre-read space for you to dive into beforehand.
If you are not already familiar with overall context of today’s digital China, this is a very good way for you to prepare for Inside Digital China. Stay tuned and we will keep you updated with relevant links and blogs until the event.
The China Context
The Great Vaccine Race: How China got ahead
By Erik Wernbegr-Tougaard for China Experience
China may become the first country to develop a vaccine for the global corona pandemic. It has predicted that it will have a vaccine ready around November or December and now has at least three big companies that are at the front of the global vaccine race.
A Step Ahead - How China is Accelerating 5G Dominance
By Erik Wernberg-Tougaard for China Experience
5G is on its way. According to most experts, the technology will completely change the everyday life of both businesses and consumers. It is believed that whoever wins the global 5G race will lead the world in the decades to come. With China's 5G ambitions and large scale investments in digital infrastructure, it is difficult to imaging another country then China as the winner of the global race for 5G.
How Big Tech Helped Battle COVID in China
By Line Heidenheim Juul for China Experience
Chatbot calls, image recognition speeding up diagnosis and hospitals in 10 days are a few of the things deployed in China. The demand for telemedicine and digital solutions has been increasing steadily over the past years, but the coronavirus crisis has pushed open the doors for some of the major players in China to deploy solutions. Some have gone abroad and others have helped increase the speed of developing digitalisation of treatment.
QR Health Codes - Getting China back to business
By Line Heidenheim Juul for China Experience
Hit hard by COVID-19, China had to find solutions to the quarantine ease in early February. Alibaba, Tencent and mobile carriers were fast to come up with tracking solution. In collaboration with local governments and other third parties, they launched a program inside already existing payment apps: the so-called “health QR codes”. These are colour graded and decide individual’s mobility.
Insights from RADII
RADII is a window into the cultural landscape of a contemporary China that actively seeks to engage the world. Radii ́s mission is to knock down stereotypes and bridge gaps across China and the world, using insightful reporting to pull focus onto courageous humans at the cutting edge of cultural norms.
Has COVID-19 permanently changed China's daily reliance on tech
From RADII
After the first coronavirus outbreaks in central China’s Hubei province in January, people all over the country were confined to their homes amid lockdown orders.
Months of quarantine and social distancing meant that many industries had to rely heavily on technology to stay in operation. In many cases, this meant relying on China’s existing infrastructure.
Can virtual influencers and avatars change the face of Chinese e-commerce?
From RADII
On December 31, one of China’s biggest pop stars took the stage for Bilibili’s New Year’s Eve Gala. Before millions of mostly post ’90s-born viewers, Luo Tianyi played the guzheng, a classical Chinese stringed instrument, live on the streaming platform. The catch, however, is that Luo can never actually play “live” — she is a virtual pop star.
Future of Retail
Livestreaming: the latest trend in e-commerce
By Luigi Matrone, CEO & Founder of the eBusiness Institute
Mention livestreaming in the West, and the first thing that comes to mind is gaming. In China, however, livestreaming has become synonymous with online shopping – and is now a ‘go-to’ for Chinese shoppers who use it to research new products and help them decide what to buy. Livestreaming has taken China by storm, with sales expected to reach in excess of $135 billion USD by the end of 2020. And the trend is quickly catching on in the West.
Livestreaming in China: Selling Maserati's, rockets and pearls
By Line Heidenheim Juul for China Experience
TikTok, Taobbao, JD.com, Little Red Book and Kuaishou. Perhaps you have heard of some of these live-streaming platforms. They are fully integrated with e-commerce and offer customers live interaction, coupons and easy 1-click purchase solutions. It is now common to see celebrity influencers and CEO's alike attending livestreaming sessions.
A bubble? The stellar growth of China's e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo
By The Guardian
At $114bn, its market value is above HSBC – but questions remain about business model and if it will ever be profitable. It is a company that is just about to turn five years old but is valued more highly than the oil giant Shell, or HSBC, one of the largest banks in the world. Pinduoduo is the latest behemoth produced by China’s tech machine, an online shopping site that specialises in extraordinary discounts on everything from tissues to Teslas. And its market value has more than doubled in recent months to $114bn (£87bn).
China's booming e-vehicle market going digital
By Line Heidenheim Juul for China Experience
China is the world's largest new energy vehicle (NEV) market, and for the last decade NEV companies have been booming. Last year alone a total of 1.2 million NEV units were sold in China. That was down 50% from earlier years explosive growth and despite government support being phased out and purchase subsidies being pulled back late last year.
Future of Healthcare
Future of Fintech
Tencent Trusted Doctors Becomes Unicorn Completing a New USD 250 Million Financing
By Yusuf I. Tuna for EqualOcean
Tencent Trusted Doctors announced that it has completed a new round of financing of USD 250 million. Tencent Trusted Doctors stands as the “China's basic medical service provider" and determined to kill all the inefficiencies.
Chinas AI doctor-bot help each doctor treat 600-700 patients daily
By Line Heidenheim Juul for China Experience
Chinese companies are ahead in utilising AI to met demand for health services and the are expanding. What if medical consultations could only take seconds of health care workers time, and you could engage with a city of 11 million people on lock down? That is what happened in China, and it could come to your health care market too. The tech companies are turbo charging health tech during the Covid19, utilizing AI and chatbots to meet demands.
China to launch world's first official digital currency
By Erik Wernberg-Tougaard for China Experience
China is far ahead when it comes to digital payments. The Chinese Yuan has to a large extent been replaced by the use of mobile payment services such as Alibaba's Alipay or Tencent's WeChat Pay. Now, the Chinese government is taking the next big step in the direction of a fully digitised society, with the introduction of an official digital currency.
Two days of inspiration and insights
This exclusive event is organised by Wavelength and China Experience to provide 100 senior business leaders with the opportunity to engage with some of China’s most admired and advanced organisations, and hidden gems. Together we have over 25 years of experience of providing global leaders with world-class inspiration, education, and provocation.
Leading China experts, analysts, and facilitators will help you digest the key lessons.
Organised in partnership with:
The Details
China is the largest digital economy in the world with more than 900 million internet users. User demand is constantly driving innovation and new digital business models to the next level. No matter if you find it fascinating or scary, you need understand the dynamics of the new digital world order.
Dates: 19th & 20th November 2020
Times: 08.30 – 14.30 (GMT)
PRICES:
1 person: £450 +vat
2-4 people: £395 +vat
5+ people: £350 +vat
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