ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gary Liu - Media executive
Gary Liu is CEO of the South China Morning Post, a leading news media company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century.

Why you should listen

In January 2017, Gary Liu became the CEO of the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city's newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP's vision is to "Elevate Thought," and the mission is to lead the global conversation about China. Prior to joining SCMP in January 2017, Liu was CEO of Digg, spearheading the New York startup's transformation from aggregator to a data-driven news platform. Previously, Liu was head of Spotify Labs, where he led emerging technologies and business strategies for Spotify's global markets.

More profile about the speaker
Gary Liu | Speaker | TED.com
TED2018

Gary Liu: The rapid growth of the Chinese internet -- and where it's headed

Filmed:
1,818,242 views

The Chinese internet has grown at a staggering pace -- it now has more users than the combined populations of the US, UK, Russia, Germany, France and Canada. Even with its imperfections, the lives of once-forgotten populations have been irrevocably elevated because of it, says South China Morning Post CEO Gary Liu. In a fascinating talk, Liu details how the tech industry in China has developed -- from the innovative, like AI-optimized train travel, to the dystopian, like a social credit rating that both rewards and restricts citizens.
- Media executive
Gary Liu is CEO of the South China Morning Post, a leading news media company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Once every 12 months,
0
833
1381
00:14
the world's largest human migration
happens in China.
1
2238
3448
00:18
Over the 40-day travel period
of Chinese New Year,
2
6310
2729
00:21
three billion trips are taken,
3
9063
2928
00:24
as families reunite and celebrate.
4
12015
1780
00:26
Now, the most strenuous
of these trips are taken
5
14596
2275
00:28
by the country's 290 million
migrant workers,
6
16895
3257
00:32
for many of whom
this is the one chance a year
7
20176
2526
00:34
to go home and see parents
and their left-behind children.
8
22726
3723
00:39
But the travel options are very limited;
9
27358
2630
00:42
plane tickets cost nearly half
of their monthly salary.
10
30012
3470
00:45
So most of them, they choose the train.
11
33506
1914
00:48
Their average journey is 700 kilometers.
12
36085
2460
00:50
The average travel time
is 15 and a half hours.
13
38569
2485
00:53
And the country's tracks
now have to handle 390 million travelers
14
41458
4849
00:58
every Spring Festival.
15
46331
1467
01:00
Until recently,
16
48688
1498
01:02
migrant workers would have to queue
for long hours -- sometimes days --
17
50210
3433
01:05
just to buy tickets,
18
53667
1338
01:07
often only to be fleeced by scalpers.
19
55029
2968
01:10
And they still had to deal
with near-stampede conditions
20
58630
3366
01:14
when travel day finally arrived.
21
62020
1824
01:16
But technology has started
to ease this experience.
22
64837
2756
01:19
Mobile and digital tickets
now account for 70 percent of sales,
23
67617
3223
01:22
greatly reducing the lines
at train stations.
24
70864
2253
01:25
Digital ID scanners
have replaced manual checks,
25
73141
2262
01:27
expediting the boarding process,
26
75427
2269
01:29
and artificial intelligence
is deployed across the network
27
77720
2770
01:32
to optimize travel routes.
28
80514
1733
01:34
New solutions have been invented.
29
82927
1761
01:37
China's largest taxi-hailing platform,
called Didi Chuxing,
30
85649
3865
01:41
launched a new service called Hitch,
31
89538
1865
01:43
which matches car owners
who are driving home
32
91427
2817
01:46
with passengers looking
for long-distance routes.
33
94268
2841
01:49
In just its third year,
34
97632
1166
01:50
Hitch served 30 million trips
in this past holiday season,
35
98822
3405
01:54
the longest of which
was further than 1,500 miles.
36
102251
3214
01:57
That's about the distance
from Miami to Boston.
37
105489
2786
02:01
This enormous need of migrant workers
has powered fast upgrade and innovation
38
109368
4931
02:06
across the country's transport systems.
39
114323
2216
02:09
Now, the Chinese internet has developed
in both familiar and unfamiliar ways.
40
117673
4499
02:14
Just like in Silicon Valley,
41
122593
1413
02:16
some of the seismic shifts
in technology and consumer behavior
42
124030
3301
02:19
have been driven by academic research,
43
127355
2627
02:22
have been driven by enterprise desires,
44
130006
1906
02:23
with the whims of privilege and youth
sprinkled in every once in a while.
45
131936
3711
02:28
I am a product
of the American tech industry,
46
136038
2809
02:30
both as a consumer and a corporate leader.
47
138871
2190
02:33
So I am well acquainted
with this type of fuel.
48
141085
2600
02:36
But about a year and a half ago,
49
144750
1571
02:38
I moved from my home
in New York City to Hong Kong
50
146345
2389
02:40
to become the CEO
of the South China Morning Post.
51
148758
2896
02:43
And from this new vantage point,
52
151678
2931
02:46
I've observed something
that is far less familiar to me,
53
154633
3071
02:49
propelling so much of China's innovation
and many of its entrepreneurs.
54
157728
4788
02:55
It is an overwhelming need economy
55
163355
2605
02:57
that is serving
an underprivileged populous,
56
165984
2736
03:00
which has been separated for 30 years
from China's economic boom.
57
168744
3494
03:05
The stark gaps that exist
between the rich and the poor,
58
173425
4065
03:09
between urban and rural
59
177514
1335
03:10
or the academic and the unschooled --
60
178873
2747
03:13
these gaps, they form a soil
61
181644
2508
03:16
that's ready for some
incredible empowerment.
62
184176
3615
03:19
So when capital and investment
become focused on the needs of people
63
187815
3699
03:23
who are hanging to the bottom rungs
of an economic ladder,
64
191538
3738
03:27
that's when we start to see the internet
truly become a job creator,
65
195300
5339
03:32
an education enabler
66
200663
1459
03:34
and in many other ways, a path forward.
67
202146
2557
03:37
Of course, China is not the only place
where this alternative fuel exists,
68
205806
3556
03:41
nor the only place where it is possible.
69
209386
2272
03:44
But because of the country's sheer scale
and status as a rising superpower,
70
212320
4334
03:48
the needs of its population
have created an opportunity
71
216678
3023
03:51
for truly compelling impact.
72
219725
2428
03:55
When explaining the rapid growth
of the Chinese tech industry,
73
223509
3135
03:58
many observers will cite two reasons.
74
226668
2166
04:01
The first is the 1.4 billion people
that call China home.
75
229286
3405
04:05
The second is the government's
active participation --
76
233442
3516
04:08
or pervasive intervention,
depending on how you view it.
77
236982
3174
04:12
Now, the central authorities have spent
heavily on network infrastructure
78
240732
3481
04:16
over the years,
79
244237
1174
04:17
creating an attractive
environment for investment.
80
245435
2404
04:19
At the same time, they've insisted
on standards and regulation,
81
247863
3262
04:23
which has led to fast consensus
and therefore, fast adoption.
82
251149
3436
04:27
The world's largest pool
of tech talent exists
83
255284
2968
04:30
because of the abundance
of educational incentives.
84
258276
2784
04:33
And local, domestic companies,
in the past, have been protected
85
261415
4360
04:37
from international competition
86
265799
1473
04:39
by market controls.
87
267296
1413
04:41
Of course, you cannot observe
the Chinese internet
88
269641
2388
04:44
without finding widespread censorship
89
272053
2143
04:46
and very serious concerns
about dystopian monitoring.
90
274220
3254
04:49
As an example:
91
277998
1365
04:51
China is in the process of rolling out
a social credit rating
92
279387
3000
04:54
that will cover its entire population,
93
282411
2460
04:56
rewarding and restricting citizens,
94
284895
2579
04:59
based on highly
qualitative characteristics
95
287498
2143
05:01
like honesty and integrity.
96
289665
1800
05:04
At the same time,
97
292442
1968
05:06
China is deploying facial recognition
98
294434
1850
05:08
across many of its 170 million
closed-circuit cameras.
99
296308
4238
05:13
Artificial intelligence is being used
to predict crime and terrorism
100
301458
4453
05:17
in Xinjiang province,
101
305935
1190
05:19
where the Muslim minority
is already under constant surveillance.
102
307149
4136
05:24
Yet, the internet has continued
to grow, and it is so big --
103
312353
4143
05:28
much bigger than I think
most of us realize.
104
316520
2472
05:31
By the end of 2017,
105
319445
1701
05:33
the Chinese internet population
had reached 772 million users.
106
321170
4447
05:37
That's larger than the populations
of the United States, Russia,
107
325641
3015
05:40
of Germany, of the United Kingdom,
of France and Canada combined.
108
328680
3119
05:44
Ninety-eight percent of them
are active on mobile.
109
332704
2365
05:47
Ninety-two percent of them
use messaging apps.
110
335093
2356
05:49
There are now 650 million
digital news consumers,
111
337823
3413
05:53
580 million digital video consumers,
112
341260
3277
05:56
and the country's largest
e-commerce platform, Taobao,
113
344561
3072
05:59
now boasts 580 million
monthly active users.
114
347657
3358
06:03
It's about 80 percent larger than Amazon.
115
351473
2203
06:06
On-demand travel, between bikes and cars,
116
354492
3444
06:09
now accounts for 10 billion
trips a year in China.
117
357960
3079
06:13
That's two-thirds of all trips
taken around the world.
118
361357
3296
06:17
So it's a very mixed bag.
119
365875
1817
06:20
The internet exists in a restricted,
arguably manipulated form within China,
120
368233
5281
06:25
yet it is massive and has vastly improved
the lives of its citizens.
121
373538
4302
06:30
So even in its imperfection,
122
378450
1929
06:32
the growth of the Chinese internet
should not be dismissed,
123
380403
3023
06:35
and it's worthy of our closer examination.
124
383450
2492
06:39
Let me tell you two other stories today.
125
387005
1965
06:41
Luo Zhaoliu is a 34-year-old engineer
from Jiangxi province.
126
389776
4015
06:45
Now, his home region used to be
extremely important to the Communist party
127
393815
3509
06:49
because this was the birthplace
of the Red Army.
128
397348
2358
06:52
But over the decades,
because of its separation
129
400046
2250
06:54
from the economic and manufacturing
centers of the country,
130
402320
2877
06:57
it has slid into irrelevance.
131
405221
2089
06:59
Luo, like so many in his generation,
left home at a young age
132
407934
3159
07:03
to look for work in a major city.
133
411117
2000
07:05
He ended up in Shenzhen,
which is one of China's tech hubs.
134
413141
2936
07:08
As the young migrate,
135
416768
1280
07:10
these rural villages
are left with only elderly,
136
418072
3132
07:13
who are really struggling to elevate
themselves above abject poverty.
137
421228
3391
07:17
After nine years, Luo decided
to return to Jiangxi in 2017,
138
425854
4541
07:22
because he believed that the booming
e-commerce marketplace in China
139
430419
3349
07:25
could help him revive his village.
140
433792
2262
07:28
Like many rural communities,
141
436999
1611
07:30
Luo's home specialized in
a very specific provincial craft --
142
438634
3640
07:34
making fermented bean curd, in this case.
143
442847
2314
07:37
So he started a small factory
144
445736
2555
07:40
and started selling
his locally made goods online.
145
448315
2823
07:43
There have been many years
of consumption growth
146
451601
2279
07:45
across China's major cities.
147
453904
1343
07:47
But recently, technology has been driving
an explosion in craft goods sales
148
455271
3962
07:51
among China's middle and upper classes.
149
459257
2349
07:53
WeChat and other e-commerce
platforms allow rural producers
150
461907
3117
07:57
to market and sell their goods
151
465048
1847
07:58
far beyond their original
distribution areas.
152
466919
2843
08:02
Research companies
actually track this impact
153
470886
2128
08:05
by counting what is called
"Taobao villages."
154
473038
2587
08:07
This is any rural village where at least
10 percent of its households
155
475649
3706
08:11
are selling goods online
and making a certain amount of revenue.
156
479379
3322
08:14
And the growth has been significant
in the last few years.
157
482725
3342
08:18
There were just 20
Taobao villages in 2013,
158
486091
2933
08:21
212 in 2014,
159
489448
1738
08:23
780 in 2015,
160
491210
2580
08:25
1,300 in 2016
161
493814
1420
08:27
and over 2,100 at the end of 2017.
162
495258
2621
08:30
They now account for nearly
half a million active online stores,
163
498419
3620
08:34
19 billion dollars in annual sales
164
502063
3135
08:37
and 1.3 million new jobs created.
165
505222
2339
08:41
In Luo's first year back home,
he was able to employ 15 villagers.
166
509047
3805
08:45
And he sold about 60,000 units
of fermented bean curd.
167
513620
3101
08:49
He expects to hire 30 more people
in the next year,
168
517296
2801
08:52
as his demand rapidly rises.
169
520121
1867
08:55
There are 60 million left-behind children
scattered across China's rural landscape.
170
523927
4903
09:01
And they grow up with at least one parent
far away from home,
171
529402
2897
09:04
as a migrant worker.
172
532323
1334
09:06
Alongside all the general
hardships of rural life,
173
534307
2929
09:09
they often have to travel
vast and dangerous distances
174
537260
3019
09:12
just to get to school.
175
540303
1528
09:13
They account for 30 percent
176
541855
1412
09:15
of the country's primary
and high school students.
177
543291
2921
09:18
Ten-year-old Chang Wenxuan
is one of these students.
178
546839
3174
09:22
He walks an hour each way
every single day to school,
179
550522
3579
09:26
across these deep ravines,
in an isolated landscape.
180
554125
3646
09:30
But when he arrives at the small
farming village in Gansu province,
181
558847
3389
09:34
he will find just two other students
in this entire school.
182
562260
2994
09:38
Now, Chang's school is one
of 1,000 in Gansu alone
183
566585
3177
09:41
that has less than five
registered students.
184
569786
2542
09:44
So with limited student interaction,
185
572823
2365
09:47
with underqualified teachers
186
575212
1669
09:48
and schoolhouses that are
barely furnished and not insulated,
187
576905
3222
09:52
rural students have
long been disadvantaged,
188
580151
2699
09:54
with almost no path to higher education.
189
582874
2264
09:58
But Chang's future has been
dramatically shifted
190
586331
3143
10:01
with the installation
of a “Sunshine Classroom.”
191
589498
2389
10:04
He's now part of a digital
classroom of 100 students
192
592927
2689
10:07
across 28 different schools,
193
595640
2247
10:09
taught by qualified and certified teachers
194
597911
2023
10:11
live-streaming from
hundreds of miles away.
195
599958
2508
10:14
He has access to new subjects
like music and art,
196
602998
2466
10:17
to new friends
197
605488
1151
10:18
and to experiences that extend
far beyond his home.
198
606663
2810
10:22
Recently, Chang even got to visit
the Frederiksborg Castle museum
199
610252
3130
10:25
in Denmark --
200
613406
1172
10:26
virtually, of course.
201
614602
1175
10:28
Now, online education has existed
for many years outside of China.
202
616831
3667
10:32
But it has never reached
truly transformative scale,
203
620919
3269
10:36
likely because traditional
education systems
204
624212
2314
10:38
in other tech centers of the world
205
626550
1656
10:40
are far more advanced and far more stable.
206
628230
2894
10:44
But China's extreme terrain and size
207
632053
2532
10:46
have created an enormous and immediate
need for innovation.
208
634609
3312
10:50
There's a tech start-up in Shenzhen
that grew to 300,000 students
209
638863
3169
10:54
in just one year.
210
642056
1227
10:55
And by our best estimation at the Post,
211
643307
2119
10:57
there are now 55 million
rural students across China
212
645450
3651
11:01
that are addressable and accessible
by live-streaming classes.
213
649125
3074
11:04
This market of need is larger
than the entire US student population
214
652697
3849
11:08
between kindergarten and grade 12.
215
656570
2474
11:12
So I'm extremely encouraged to find out
216
660831
2349
11:15
that private investment
in ed-tech in China
217
663204
2905
11:18
now exceeds one billion dollars a year,
218
666133
1896
11:20
with another 30 billion dollars
in public funding
219
668053
2850
11:22
that is committed between now and 2020.
220
670927
2600
11:27
As the Chinese internet continues to grow,
221
675585
2365
11:29
even in its imperfection
and restrictions and controls,
222
677974
3548
11:33
the lives of its
once-forgotten populations
223
681546
2253
11:35
have been irrevocably elevated.
224
683823
1847
11:38
There is a focus on
populations of need, not of want,
225
686997
3239
11:42
that has driven a lot
of the curiosity, the creativity
226
690260
2539
11:44
and the development that we see.
227
692823
1759
11:47
And there's still more to come.
228
695157
2066
11:49
In America, internet
population, or penetration,
229
697823
2461
11:52
has now reached 88 percent.
230
700308
1495
11:54
In China, the internet has still
only reached 56 percent of the populous.
231
702395
4230
11:58
That means there are
over 600 million people
232
706649
2555
12:01
who are still offline and disconnected.
233
709228
2125
12:04
That's nearly twice the US population.
234
712038
2100
12:06
An enormous opportunity.
235
714776
1725
12:10
Wherever this alternative fuel exists,
236
718090
2651
12:12
be it in China or Africa,
Southeast Asia or the American heartland,
237
720765
4214
12:17
we should endeavor to follow it
with capital and with effort,
238
725003
3836
12:20
driving both economic
and societal impact all over the world.
239
728863
3683
12:25
Just imagine for a minute
what more could be possible
240
733176
3480
12:28
if the global needs of the underserved
become the primary focus
241
736680
3886
12:32
of our inventions.
242
740590
1408
12:34
Thank you.
243
742481
1159
12:35
(Applause)
244
743664
4118

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gary Liu - Media executive
Gary Liu is CEO of the South China Morning Post, a leading news media company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century.

Why you should listen

In January 2017, Gary Liu became the CEO of the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city's newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP's vision is to "Elevate Thought," and the mission is to lead the global conversation about China. Prior to joining SCMP in January 2017, Liu was CEO of Digg, spearheading the New York startup's transformation from aggregator to a data-driven news platform. Previously, Liu was head of Spotify Labs, where he led emerging technologies and business strategies for Spotify's global markets.

More profile about the speaker
Gary Liu | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

This site was created in May 2015 and the last update was on January 12, 2020. It will no longer be updated.

We are currently creating a new site called "eng.lish.video" and would be grateful if you could access it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write comments in your language on the contact form.

Privacy Policy

Developer's Blog

Buy Me A Coffee