The weather in Beijing in late August was still quite hot.
Chen Pingjiang and his entourage rushed over to attend tomorrow's China Internet Conference.
The China Internet Conference, Global Mobile Internet Conference, and World Internet Conference sound similar in name, but there are actually significant differences.
The first World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen in 2014, attended by internet giants from both home and abroad.
The Global Mobile Internet Conference mainly focuses on the mobile phone sector, including phone manufacturers and operators.
Orange Phone will definitely be involved later.
The China Internet Conference is slightly lower in stature than the World Internet Conference, but major domestic internet company leaders will all come to support it.
At 9 AM the next day, the Internet Conference commenced at the International Conference Center.
The theme of this conference was "Crisis, Turning Point, Opportunity," aiming to find the strength and confidence of China's internet industry amidst the financial crisis.
As soon as Chen Pingjiang stepped into the venue, his sharp eyes spotted a familiar face – Old Ma.
Old Ma's physique was very easy to recognize in the crowd, surrounded by a circle of reporters or acquaintances from the industry, like stars revolving around the moon.
Chen Pingjiang's appearance quickly attracted many people's attention.
After someone whispered a few words into Old Ma's ear, Old Ma turned around and looked in Chen Pingjiang's direction.
Old Ma was indeed quite outgoing; he immediately broke away from the crowd and walked towards Chen Pingjiang.
"Mr. Chen, I've long admired your name. It's rare to see you at such conferences."
Chen Pingjiang stepped forward and shook hands with Old Ma:
"I don't deserve such praise. I don't deserve it. This time I'm here mainly to learn."
"Chairman Chen, what are your thoughts on mobile payments?"
Chen Pingjiang was taken aback, not expecting Old Ma to immediately delve into such a deep topic.
He truly spoke very directly, just as outsiders said.
"Mobile payment is the general trend."
Old Ma nodded in agreement:
"I won't hide it from you. Because Taobao is an e-commerce platform, Alipay is especially important to us. Currently, Alipay can only be used internally, and transferring money between people is still quite troublesome. Recently, I've been lobbying government ministries, hoping to get approval from the higher-ups."
To be fair, Old Ma was quite good in the first half of his journey, at least contributing to domestic mobile payments, truly blazing a trail.
It's a pity that he went a bit too far in the second half.
"Regarding mobile payments, if there's anything I can do, Mr. Ma, please tell me directly. I will help as much as I can, as this is a big deal for the entire internet ecosystem."
Chen Pingjiang said.
WeChat will also launch a mobile payment project.
The two companies might be competitors in the future, but at this moment, their interests are aligned: to promote the implementation of mobile payment projects.
In fact, by next year, the central bank will get involved, organizing an inspection team from eight ministries to conduct on-site visits to various companies, and then in 2011, it will issue the first batch of 27 mobile payment licenses.
It was from then on that mobile payments developed rapidly.
As Chen Pingjiang and Old Ma walked slowly, those around them instinctively stepped aside a few paces.
These two are currently major figures in China's internet industry.
With them walking together, others truly felt awkward joining them.
The sudden rise of Renren Network caused the original BAT landscape to shift somewhat towards BART.
However, some also raised doubts, as Renren Network had not yet gone public, and its market value was not recognized.
But no matter what, in the two fields of social networking and gaming, Renren Network was a force that could rival Tencent.
If Chen Pingjiang's other venture, Renren Buy, was also considered, Renren Network even subtly stood in the C-position.
After entering the venue, Chen Pingjiang found his seat in the first row, and Ma Yun was also seated next to him.
Interestingly, Little Pony Ma and Li Yan Hong were also seated in the first row.
Meanwhile, figures like Chen Yizhou and Wang Xing were seated in the third and fourth rows.
Besides the CEOs of the four BART companies, the first row also included leaders from departments such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Internet Society of China.
Chen Pingjiang was the youngest among all of them.
Little Pony Ma saw Chen Pingjiang and Old Ma together, and his expression was a bit unnatural, while Li Yan Hong smiled and came up to greet them.
Everyone was an adult; commercial competition was inevitable, but it wouldn't lead to not speaking to each other upon meeting.
Among the four, they competed in many areas.
For example, Chen Pingjiang and Old Ma competed in payments; Old Ma and Little Pony Ma once fought a battle in e-commerce.
Currently, Chen Pingjiang and Little Pony Ma not only competed in social networking but also in gaming and group buying.
They had all become industry leaders; how could they be like children, saying 'you can only play with me, not with him'?
Chen Pingjiang and Little Pony Ma were seated right next to each other.
After sitting down, he smiled and greeted Little Pony Ma:
"Mr. Ma, do you have any good projects now? Can you bring me in to make a fortune?"
Little Pony Ma was amused by Chen Pingjiang's demeanor:
"Even if I had a good project, I couldn't tell you, otherwise, you'd come in and compete with me again."
It would be a lie to say he wasn't curious about Chen Pingjiang.
This excessively young man, in just two or three years, had actually surpassed Tencent in his respective fields, and by more than just a little.
In gaming, they were barely evenly matched.
In social networking, the combined users and traffic of Renren Network and Weibo even surpassed QQ.
In the group-buying market, Renren Buy was undoubtedly the dominant force.
"The way you say that, I haven't even blamed you for constantly copying me."
Chen Pingjiang shrugged:
"I developed social games, and you just changed the skin and copied them. I created Weibo, and you also launched a Weibo. I started group buying, and you lost the first half, and now you've invested in Dianping."
Little Pony Ma shook his head with a bitter smile:
"We were about to finalize DNF, weren't we? But you tripped us up and snatched it away."
"Uh."
Chen Pingjiang choked, letting out two dry laughs:
"That was an accidental injury; I didn't know you were in negotiations at the time. To prevent misjudgment, why don't you tell me what projects you'll be working on next, and I'll see if I can avoid them."
Little Pony Ma rolled his eyes and gave Chen Pingjiang a look that said: Do I look that foolish?
The opening ceremony of the Internet Conference was quite boring, with speeches from various leaders one after another.
You couldn't help but pretend to listen carefully, otherwise, it would offend people if word got out.
After finally enduring the morning, there was a mobile internet summit in the afternoon, aimed at internet companies.
The main discussion focused on how internet companies should adapt and what the future trends would be as the mobile internet wave arrived.
When it was Chen Pingjiang's turn to speak on stage, the audience erupted in thunderous applause.
The audience watched this charismatic young man with emotion, wanting to see if Chen Pingjiang was truly as extraordinary as rumors claimed.
"The internet is not just a tool, but also a capability, a new DNA. When combined with various industries, it can imbue them with new power and regenerative abilities. If we miss out on using the internet, it would be like refusing to use electricity during the Second Industrial Revolution."
"Electricity improved people's living standards, economic levels, and industrial capabilities. It can be said that without electricity, we wouldn't have today. The internet is similar. Here, I would like to define the future with 'Internet Plus'."
The eyes of the big shots in the audience lit up; clearly, this so-called "Internet Plus" was a new concept.
Chen Pingjiang's voice continued:
"'Internet Plus' can be cross-industry integration, promoting innovation and industrial upgrading. 'Internet Plus' is a digital, virtual, and integrated intelligent platform built upon new-generation communication technologies, which, by cross-industry integration of new-generation information technology with manufacturing, service industries, and other sectors, continuously drives the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, thereby deriving new businesses, new models, and new forms of industry development."
"At the same time, 'Internet Plus' can also be a form of information sharing, flow, and innovative use. That is to say, 'Internet Plus' actually utilizes the characteristics of new information technology—'high-tech, strong penetration, wide audience'—to strengthen technological, organizational, and institutional innovation, and to promote the informatization, digitalization, flow, sharing, and creation of various production factors."
At this point, Chen Pingjiang smiled and blinked:
"Are you feeling a bit confused after hearing all that? Actually, it's very simple. Internet Plus Finance has given rise to internet finance, which can provide financial services and products through internet platforms, thereby breaking the limitations of traditional financial institutions and offering people more convenient and flexible financial services."
"Internet Plus Education has given rise to online education, which can digitize and network educational resources, providing online education services through internet platforms. This breaks the limitations of traditional education models and offers people more convenient and flexible learning methods."
"Internet Plus Smart Hardware combines internet technology with traditional hardware products to enhance product intelligence, bringing people more convenient and smart lifestyles. Smart homes, wearable devices, and smart healthcare are all representative projects of smart hardware."
"..."
When Chen Pingjiang finished his speech, the audience erupted in applause.
Unlike the polite applause before, the applause for Chen Pingjiang was even more enthusiastic.
This guy really has something; he's not afraid to share it.
Old Ma in the audience had glowing eyes and murmured to himself:
"My Alipay can completely integrate financial services. Won't that make it internet finance?"
Little Pony Ma was also deep in thought.
Many people, enlightened by Chen Pingjiang's insights, suddenly felt as if a light bulb went off in places they couldn't figure out before.
For a moment, everyone was eager to have further discussions with Chen Pingjiang and learn from him.
"No wonder people say outside that Mr. Chen has exceptional foresight, succeeding in everything he does. I didn't expect his theoretical depth to reach such a level."
"After his insights, I have a great idea: Internet Plus Hospitals could give rise to online medical consultations, building a shared platform for patients and doctors where patients can describe their conditions online, and doctors can provide consultations online."
Lei Jun, Yu Minhong, and Dong Zige were also blinking constantly, replaying Chen Pingjiang's speech in their minds.
(End of chapter)