Hangzhou has the world's most digitally integrated supply chain. It
combines exceptionally well developed ecommerce, mobile payment, cheap
and flexible logistics, traceability and product returns in an
environment that is extremely convenient and user friendly for
consumers.
Living in Hangzhou
There is almost an app for every market gap in Hangzhou all of which
are integrated with Alipay or Wechat pay. If someone needs a cleaner
,or someone to cook, take care of my pets, walk dogs, send packages....
pretty much anything that somebody needs can be arranged and paid for
with a mobile phone and Alipay or Wechat.
95% of shops in Hangzhou and 98% of taxi's in Hangzhou officially
accept Alipay. Person to person payments in restaurants between
customers and owners using either Wechat or Alipay is universally
accepted.
From the 16th of August Hangzhou buses now accept mobile payment for fares.
Hangzhou's CBEC zone acts as a pilot city for the majority of
China's new crossborder ecommerce policies. Hangzhou develops,
implements and assesses and the rest of China follows its lead.
As well as being the birthplace and home of Alibaba, companies such
as Tencent, Jingdong and Baidu are investing heavily in Hangzhou. Baidu
has just opened its first office in Hangzhou and Jingdong has invested
in a 1.3 billion RMB project to develop ecommerce infrastructure in
Hangzhou.
An Alipay credit rating system run by Zhima credit allows Hangzhou
citizens to freely borrow goods such as umbrellas and phone chargers
throughout the city based on their Alipay credit rating.
The serene beauty of Hangzhou’s Westlake, its breathtaking blend of
ancient and modern architecture and the viridescent beauty of Hangzhou’s
numerous manicured gardens seamlessly woven into Hangzhou’s cityscape
make it easy to forget you are in one of Asia’s and in my opinion the
world’s most innovative and important cities. As home to Jack Ma's
Alibaba (the largest IPO in US stock market history) and host of this
year's G20 summit there is a sense of coming of age for a city already
spearheading policies and developing digital supply chain systems that
are leading the way for China and the rest of the world.
Hangzhou represents the perfect confluence of new and old China, a
sublime juxtaposition of China’s ancient values of beauty, order and
form with that of China’s new values of forward thinking, creativity and
innovation that are propelling Hangzhou and China to the forefront of a
globally connected, electronically integrated world. Hangzhou
encapsulates solutions to key challenges as China transitions towards
"new normal growth" and swaps out its outdated "made in China" economic
model for an upgraded "made for China" paradigm.
Hangzhou is at the epicenter of this sea change and is taking the
leading role in China's ecommerce revolution. It is a place where
citizens are electronically connected, enterprises and businessmen are
responsible and accountable, supply chains are traceable and goods and
services infinitely safer.It is blazing a trail in a new frontier of
effortless living quantified in QR codes, connectivity, mobile shopping
and payments, messaging services, efficient logistics and an integrated
supply chain unmatched throughout the world. Here's what its like to
spend a day in the world's most digitally integrated supply chain.
The Wall