I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 683 China vs. the United States: Different Approaches to Rider Social Security
In fact, the outcome was already decided by the board vote.

Wang Chenyang was originally sent by Tuofang Technology, and now Zhang Xuhao and the other three are following Fang Qingye's lead. Fang Qingye's side has six votes out of the nine members of the board of directors, so even if Gan Jiawei and the other two object, they cannot change Fang Qingye's decision.

Soon, the board of directors passed the agreement by a vote of 6 to 3. To this end, Fang Qingye led a group of Ele.me executives to the Jinghai Municipal Government, where he and Mayor Zhang Pengyuan signed the draft agreement on behalf of Ele.me and the Jinghai Municipal Government, respectively. They then shook hands and exchanged texts, and the meeting room erupted in enthusiastic applause.

Subsequently, Jinghai TV reported on the matter in its news, which was then reprinted by major media outlets. Finally, even the People's Daily reprinted and commented that this move was a beneficial attempt to "promote social security for all."

Online, some people praised it, while others doubted whether it could continue, and some even said it was just a publicity stunt by Ele.me executives.

Fang Qingye naturally didn't care about these controversies. Today, he invited people to play golf in Shanghai: Alibaba's Ma Yun and Sequoia China's Shen Nanpeng. This was a return invitation from Ma Yun in July when he was invited to Hangzhou for tea and fishing.

Of course, it's not just about returning the invitation.

It's still quite hot in Shanghai at the end of September, but today it's cloudy. The open green field is quiet and refreshing, with only the sound of the wind and the crisp sound of the ball hitting the ground, making people feel relaxed and happy.

The three men, dressed in T-shirts and casual pants, wearing baseball caps, chatted and laughed as they played.

Ma Yun had just attended a business forum held in Seattle, Washington, which brought together top entrepreneurs from both countries. The Chinese participants included Ma Yun, Ma Huateng, Li Yanhong, and Yang Yuanqing, while the American participants included Tim Cook (Apple), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).

Ma Yun, representing China's internet industry, spoke at the forum, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between the digital economy and SMEs. He humorously began by saying, "The American Dream made me who I am."

This was undoubtedly Ma Yun's highlight moment; she even talked about this topic with great interest while playing golf today.

“At this conference, we discussed bilateral and multilateral trade with American leaders and business leaders. I have always believed that trade is the best way to achieve world peace. Everyone agreed that the cooperation between the United States, the world’s largest economy, and China, the world’s second largest economy, has set a model for how bilateral cooperation can benefit multilateral cooperation,” Ma Yun said.

"Hehe, Mr. Ma, I've also seen the report. Digital platforms are a new infrastructure for multilateral cooperation, and your Alibaba has a huge advantage in this regard." Shen Nanpeng's tone carried a hint of flattery.

Ma Yun, not hiding her joy, said after swinging her club, "Everyone is talking about expanding mutual openness, which gives Alibaba a platform to shine."

Now is, but what about in the future?
The world is changing faster than anyone expected.

Fang Qingye sighed inwardly, but of course she didn't say anything. She just listened quietly to the two chatting and played ball silently.

"Hey, Mr. Fang, why are you just playing ball and not saying anything today?" Shen Nanpeng asked Fang Qingye.

"I'm listening to you and Mr. Ma talk about how Mr. Ma's feelings about being invited to the event are naturally different from others. I'd like to hear more about it," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

Ma Yun chuckled and said, "President Fang, don't be modest. Next time, you should be the one to go on the visit."

"Me? I'm not qualified. I haven't done trade with Americans, nor have I made any significant contributions to the country," Fang Qingye said frankly.

"You didn't? A while ago, you cooperated with CICC and other state-owned enterprises in the LME market to fight against Wall Street investment banks, and you managed to defeat them. Even those of us who don't trade futures have heard about it. Doesn't that count as contributing to the country?" The speaker was Shen Nanpeng.

"I guess so? But it's not really trade with the Americans, is it? At most, it's like taking advantage of them."

"Taking advantage of others?" Ma Yun was taken aback when she heard Fang Qingye say this, then burst into laughter.

Upon reflection, he realized that Fang Qingye hadn't really done any business with Americans; he'd only made money in the futures market. "Mr. Fang, aren't you planning to expand Ele.me to the US market and compete with Grubhub?" Jack Ma asked earnestly, leaning on his golf club.

Grubhub is an American online food delivery platform founded in 2004 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

It provides an online platform that allows consumers to search for and order food from restaurants in their area. Over the years, Grubhub's business has expanded to cover most of the United States, including many large cities and small towns.

“I’d like to too, but first I want Ele.me to do a good job in China.” Fang Qingye answered seriously, “Although Ele.me currently holds 80% of the domestic food delivery market, there are still many problems that haven’t been solved.”

"Mr. Fang, you're not talking about the riders' social security issues, are you?" Shen Nanpeng, who was standing next to him, immediately made that connection.

"Yes, the pilot program in Jinghai has finally begun, but there have been twists and turns and difficulties along the way." At this point, Fang Qingye looked at Ma Yun and asked, "President Ma, Gan Jiawei also reported to you, right?"

“He didn’t see me, but he called me and sent me an email,” Ma Yun said frankly.

“I was in the United States at the time, and I specifically looked into Grubhub’s social security practices for delivery drivers.”

"How did they do it?" Shen Nanpeng, who was standing next to him, also became interested.

“Grubhub classifies its delivery drivers as independent contractors, and under U.S. law, companies are not required to pay for social security, health insurance, or unemployment insurance for independent contractors.”

"Riders are required to pay their own taxes, purchase their own commercial insurance, and low-income riders may be eligible for government medical assistance or other social welfare benefits."

After hearing Ma Yun's words, Shen Nanpeng looked at Fang Qingye and said, "President Fang, you can also learn from Grubhub's approach. This can indeed reduce the burden on Ele.me."

shit
Isn't that exactly what Meituan did later?!

It is emphasized that riders are individual practitioners!
Fang Qingye thought for a moment and replied, "China's national conditions are different, and some things cannot be copied. For example, independent contractors are essentially individual practitioners in our country! But the social welfare and commercial insurance in the United States are relatively mature and developed, and can basically cover all aspects. But what about our country? Let alone delivery riders, how many small vendors who run small businesses have social insurance for themselves?! We cannot completely push this responsibility onto delivery riders and society."

The two listened in silence for a while.

After dismounting, Ma Yun said, "President Fang, I've only just realized that you're actually an idealist."

Fang Qingye smiled.

"Mr. Ma, you are the third person in this period to call me an idealist."

"Who are the other two?" Ma Yun asked curiously.

“There’s Michel, who said that about me at the board meeting. And there’s my senior from school, surnamed Mei, named Mei Shuwei, who is now a member of the Standing Committee of Jinghai and the Secretary of Dongping District. I went to him when the negotiations between Ele.me and Jinghai City were at an impasse, and he gave me some ideas.”

He said, "This world is never short of smart people—there are always plenty of people skilled at calculation and weighing pros and cons. They can accurately state the weight of risk and the probability of reward, use data to prove the illusory nature of ideals, and use experience to point out the bumpy road ahead. But what this world truly lacks are those who, after closing their eyes to calculate gains and losses, still open their eyes and choose what is 'worth it.'"

(End of this chapter)