Meituan CEO says China has a lot to be learned about entrepreneurship and innovation

On the afternoon of September 4th. at the BRICS Summit, Wang Xing, the Meituan CEO, thinks China’s development and management in the field of Internet, especially the Internet+, has more referential significance to other BRICS countries and developing countries than the United States.

Wang said that the integration between the Internet and people’s living level is deeper and deeper, while at the same time, different countries have different history, culture, economic development levels, as well as laws and regulations. To develop and to utilize the Internet, on the one hand, we should actively use the new Internet technology. Even in some traditional industry whose foundation is relatively weak, the Internet can also play a role in helping them achieve a rapid development. On the other hand, the Internet should be managed by effective laws and regulations. China has a lot to be learned from no matter in the aspect of technology or managing policies.

Because of its large population, vast territory and huge market, China has developed rapidly in the past few years, leading the world in entrepreneurship and innovation. Wang noted that in the “Internet plus catering” sector, China not only leads other developing countries, but also leads developed countries.

“Even the United States is no exception. Meituan is ten times the size of its U.S. counterpart” said Wang.

In addition, the development of China’s economy is a great boon to BRICS, emerging markets and developing countries, in which the Internet also plays a role as a bridge. “Dianping has content about popular outbound tourism destinations including Brazil. With the rapid economic development, more than 30% of Chinese individual visitors choose Dianping as a guide for overseas consumption. In Brazil, the Meituan and Dianping platforms include more than 120,000 Brazilian restaurants. Even in countries we have relatively few exchanges with, such as Guinea, there are content about their restaurants and scenic spots in our platforms. And we see huge potential for growth.” said Wang.

Full text of Wang’s speech:

Hello, everyone. I am very glad to have the opportunity to participate in this exchange in my hometown.

In yesterday’s keynote speech, President Xi Jinping encouraged everyone to grasp the opportunity of the new industrial revolution, to boost growth and transformation through innovation and actively engaged in innovations wave brought by “intelligent manufacturing”, “Internet +” and others. Meituan Dianping is a typical Internet+ business, and also China’s largest and even the world’s largest Internet+ life service platform. We are greatly inspired.

Through the exchange in past two days, I have a very strong feeling that is in the field of the Internet, Chinese experience or Chinese project may have more referential significance to other BRICS countries and developing countries than that of the United States.

Why do I say so? We know that in the initial phase of the Internet when it was solely used by researchers, there was no wide gap of Internet development among different countries. But with the rapid development of Internet over the past 20 years, more and more people use the Internet and more and more things are finished through the Internet. Now on the Internet, we can not only get information, but also can do things about daily life, such as the rise of Internet+ in recent years, including Internet+ retail, Internet+ catering, Internet+ travel, Internet+ traffic, and so on. Because of our large population, vast territory and huge market, China has developed rapidly in the past few years, leading the world in entrepreneurship and innovation. In the “Internet plus catering” sector, China not only leads other developing countries, but also leads developed countries. Even the United States is no exception. Meituan Takeout is ten times the size of its U.S. counterpart.

How can we help other countries learn from China’s experience or project?

The integration between the Internet and people’s living level is deeper and deeper, while at the same time, different countries have different history, culture, economic development levels, as well as laws and regulations. To develop and to utilize the Internet, on the one hand, we should actively use the new Internet technology. Even in some traditional industry whose foundation is relatively weak, the Internet can also play a role in helping them achieve a rapid development. On the other hand, the Internet should be managed by effective laws and regulations. China has a lot to be learned from no matter in the aspect of technology or managing policies.

That’s why I think China’s development and management in the field of Internet, especially the Internet+, has more referential significance to other BRICS countries and developing countries than the United States.

In addition, the development of China’s economy is a great boon to BRICS, emerging markets and developing countries, in which the Internet also plays a role as a bridge. We can see that Chinese economic development has continuously boosted domestic economy and has also brought the growth incentive to other countries. For example, if Chinese have enough money, they will travel abroad. And the outbound destinations are various. Dianping has content about popular outbound tourism destinations including Brazil. With the rapid economic development, more than 30% of Chinese individual visitors choose Dianping as a guide for overseas consumption. In Brazil, the Meituan and Dianping platforms include more than 120,000 Brazilian restaurants. Even in countries we have relatively few exchanges with, such as Guinea, there are content about their restaurants and scenic spots in our platforms. And we see huge potential for growth.

So back to the topic, I believe the inter-connectivity is both trade connectivity and technology connectivity, as well as the connectivity of policy and management experience.

 

This article originally appeared in Sina Technology and was translated by Pandaily.

Click here to read the original Chinese article.