Internet should keep pace

The Cross-Straits and Hong Kong, Macao Internet Development Forum

Internet collaboration between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan has not kept pace with the swift development of ties in trade, business and culture-and this must change, the forum declared.

Internet cooperation could bring more benefits to local people and lift companies' competitiveness, participants at the forum agreed.

Three key issues which were discussed were: cross-Straits e-commerce cooperation, development of wearable smart devices and challenges faced by print media, radio and television in the era of the mobile Internet.

suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn

What they say

The Internet Plus strategy has successfully connected many isolated industries and also changed the way how traditional industries operate. Want Want started in a traditional industry and since I knew little about the Internet then, I paid little attention. However, I felt the change brought about by the Internet in the last two years. The changes are in my personal life, manufacturing at my factory and how we market ourselves. To figure out whether it is a threat or an opportunity to us, we should treat the Internet seriously.

Internet technology and industry are inventions from the United States but I think China has taken the lead in terms of Internet innovation and application in daily lives. Other countries should learn from China.

Tsai Eng-meng, chairman of the snack food company Want Want China

I think the next step for cross-Straits e-commerce is fresh food such as fruits. When we talk about e-commerce, we have to figure out the definition. It is not just selling products from one region to another. There are basically two categories of cross-Straits e-commerce, namely fresh food, and maternal and childcare products. In terms of fresh food, the key is the establishment of a national cold storage chain. In the past, the sale of cross-Straits fresh food relied on a chain of distributors which could not ensure price and quality. Since last year, Jingdong has been investing in a cold storage chain. By the end of next year, we hope to set up seven cold-storage centers and 150 cold-storage warehouses. This will contribute more to the fresh food e-commerce between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Liu Qiangdong, founder and CEO of JD.com

(China Daily 12/17/2015 page25)