Hong Kong has been left behind in China’s digital revolution
William Zheng says it’s time to admit the city is now lagging behind the mainland following the digital leap forward across the border. Hong Kong can catch up by seizing opportunities for both business and investment
Urban planning and social engineering have given Hongkongers and Singaporeans a modern lifestyle admired by many, including mainland Chinese. But after the great digital leap forward on the mainland over the past decade, this may no longer be the case.
My recent visit to Hangzhou (杭州) was eye-opening. At dinner at a restaurant, my companions and I were shown a QR code instead of a menu. We scanned the code and the system connected us to the restaurant’s WeChat mini app, where all guests could see one another’s order and add or delete items easily. For payment, Alipay or WeChat Pay was preferred to “troublesome” cash.
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Over the next few days, my renminbi notes remained untouched in my pocket. Everywhere I went, I used Didi Dache or Uber for transport. Store owners, including those selling roasted sweet potatoes on trishaws, were happy to accept mobile payments, even for amounts below 1 yuan (HK$1.10).
While many Hongkongers use their Octopus cards for payment, chat with friends on WhatsApp and share their lives on Facebook and Twitter, mainland city dwellers are paying their bills through Alipay, talking on WeChat and sharing their lives on Weibo. The mainland’s great firewall has created an interesting digital divide across the Shenzhen River.
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Nevertheless, censorship and tight internet controls have done little to dampen the spirit of start-ups on the mainland. Attend any start-up pitching session in Shenzhen and you will be amazed by the speed of learning, the passion and the ambition of young technopreneurs who dream big. And you will be impressed by the huge risk appetite and deep pockets of Chinese tech investors.