Fanatic about running and with an important challenge ahead of me, in Shenzhen I went down to the hotel gym. After an hour and a half of intense exercise, I saw that next to the entrance there was a fridge with a sports drink that I knew I didn't have in my room, so I asked the girl who was attending if I could add it to my bill. The girl said no, so I put my hand in my pocket and asked her if I could pay with yuan (renminbi), and she said no, only with WeChat, and showed me a sign with a QR code.
Everything in China is paid for with WeChat, in restaurants, on the subway, at the street food stand, the one selling hot peanuts, even the homeless man who asks on the street can show you his sign with a QR code. In cafes and bars on the tables where you sit there is a QR code for you to pay for your drink. So far only possible for people who have a Chinese bank account, since a few weeks ago it can be associated with an international credit card.
People living in China don't use cash anymore, all the famous markets, like the pearl market, silk market or electronics market are for tourists, today all Chinese people buy everything online, mainly using Alibaba and paying with AliPay.
That is the China we found, a China that is very advanced in e-commerce, electronic payments and artificial intelligence. It is for that China that Cuti companies have to think about working, or how we can make alliances with them to work anywhere in the world.
This is the China that extends its hands to us, eager to build bridges of cooperation so that a small country like ours, but with a large Information Technology industry, can see how to make a leap in exports to the whole world.
China must be understood, the government has a lot of influence on companies, and as I said in the previous column, the fact that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has appointed the deputy director of international affairs of America and Oceania for a whole week to accompany us is a great sign. I also highlight the name of the Ministry, it is the Ministry of Information Technology, which shows the importance of this area for China.
One sometimes loses perspective, that the Minister of Industry and Information Technology has received us is an honor, especially when China to get an idea of the power it is, last year grew in absolute terms 1,500 million dollars, equivalent to 3 GDP of Sweden, 2 of Switzerland, ie 25 times the GDP of Uruguay, only absolute growth.
Clearly we have to analyze the participation of a delegation like this in the next China-LAC to be held in China, we have to keep our presence alive. We established several connections, we brought with us several duties, it is up to us to transform this experience into excellent results.
Eng. Leonardo Loureiro
President of Cuti
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