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

Chapter 694 God is on our side
The attendees expected him to talk about their proud SCP payment system or applications based on the Corda ecosystem, but it turned out to be neither. Instead, he presented a brand-new distributed ledger system!
Isn't this a clear challenge to R3?
The astute reporter immediately pointed the camera at David, the CEO of R3, who was sitting in the front row. He tried to maintain a smile in front of the camera, but there was something about him that was not quite natural.

After the initial shock, the guests were more curious about what Cloud Ledge, this intelligent cloud company, was all about.
Does it have the same powerful features as Corda?
The Chinese bank executives present looked expectant, but the presidents of foreign banks had complicated expressions. This moment was captured by a young, short-haired female reporter from the South China Morning Post.

On stage, Xin Tiejun began his speech: "Please look at this, everyone. This is the architecture diagram of our Cloud Ledge."

Xin Tiejun also opened his laptop, and a completely different architecture diagram from Corda immediately appeared on the screen, which was more complex and sophisticated.

Point-to-point communication
Data minimization
Cloud-based ledger

Although Xin Tiejun spoke eloquently, the guests were surprised to find that Zhiyun Technology's Cloud Ledge function was so similar to Corda, but the implementation paths were different, which was simply amazing!

Xin Tiejun became more and more excited as he spoke, while David's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to emphasize one point: our Cloud Ledger is not just about solving the trillion-dollar market of multinational banks! Whether in developed countries in Europe and America or developing countries, in addition to those multinational banks, there are many more small and medium-sized banks, the capillaries of the financial industry. My Cloud Ledger aims to ensure that they can obtain the same advanced, or even more flexible, technology as financial giants at the lowest cost and in the most convenient way."

David's face darkened even more after hearing Xin Tiejun's words.

After Xin Tiejun finished speaking, the morning summit discussions concluded. Reporters immediately swarmed forward, the fastest being the young female reporter from the South China Morning Post. She quickly walked up to Xin Tiejun, microphone in hand, and asked, "Mr. Xin, I am Chen Ziqing, a reporter from the South China Morning Post's financial channel. When did your company begin developing Cloud Ledger?"

On the first morning of the 2015 Financial Times & EY Fintech Summit, a major news broke: a mainland Chinese technology company had developed its own next-generation distributed ledger system, openly challenging R3's Corda!

The media immediately reported the news, and the South China Morning Post's financial section even published two photos. In one photo, executives of Chinese banks looked at the podium with expectant expressions, while in the other photo, presidents of foreign banks had complicated expressions.

The newspaper also included a rather intriguing headline: "The Battle of Rules: China Challenges the West's Right to Set Financial Agreements."

Fang Qingye also saw the report; it was the online version of the South China Morning Post. At that moment, he was chatting with Xin Tiejun on the phone.

"Not bad, Tie Jun, you guys are like a silent hero who makes a name for himself when he finally does," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

Xin Tiejun chuckled twice on the other end of the phone, then suddenly said, "By the way, the organizing committee said they're holding a small reception tomorrow evening after the summit, and they've invited Lin Tao and me to attend."

"Then let's go. But it won't be as simple as just drinking and chatting. R3 Company will probably be there too. There will be more danger and intrigue than anything else, so be prepared," Fang Qingye warned.

"I understand." With his successful speech this morning, Xin Tiejun felt much more confident.

While Xin Tiejun was in high spirits, David from R3 Company was not in a good mood at all. He did not attend the afternoon summit, and in the evening, he personally invited several senior executives of foreign banks to dinner at the Western restaurant on the 7th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific President Schnander, UBS Asia Pacific President Shih Hsu-Yi Min, Standard Chartered Bank Asia Pacific CEO Bai Chengrui
The four sat at the table, each enjoying their own food, the atmosphere not as lively as the cocktail party a couple of days ago.

"Mr. David, I regret to inform you that Mr. Yue Yi, Chairman and President of Bank of China Hong Kong, has to go to Beijing to report on work due to unforeseen circumstances, so our scheduled meeting has been cancelled. He asked me to convey his apologies to you." Bai Chengrui said, letting out a deep sigh.

"It seems that Bank of China Hong Kong doesn't want to join the Corda Alliance?" David said.

"Mr. Yue didn't answer directly; his attitude was rather ambiguous." "Mr. Jiang Xianzhou, Chairman of ICBC Asia, also declined my proposal." It was Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific President Schnande who spoke: "He said he's been busy with official business lately. However, he said he's still interested in Corda, but the team needs to understand it more deeply."

"Understand? ICBC Asia sent a technical team to our R3 company for on-site inspection two months ago. Haven't they learned enough yet?" David sneered.

While concentrating on her steak, Shih Hsu-Yi-Min put down her knife and fork, elegantly wiped her mouth with a snow-white napkin, and said, "Mr. David, you don't need to pin your hopes on these executives of Chinese banks at all. Even if they are willing to join the Corda Alliance, they still need to get approval from Beijing."

"Now that the Chinese-developed Cloud Ledger has emerged out of nowhere, do you think those bigwigs in Beijing will easily agree to join? Because everyone understands that this is not just a competition of technology, but also a competition for financial dominance!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

David understood perfectly well why these usually arrogant bank executives would be willing to help him. Wasn't it because they were acting on instructions from Wall Street headquarters?
“But this makes it very difficult to break through China’s fortress. After all, China is the world’s second-largest economy, and without their participation, the alliance is incomplete,” David lamented.

“Mr. David, you don’t need to worry, I have a solution,” Bai Chengrui suddenly said.

His words immediately piqued everyone's interest, and they all stopped eating to look at him.

"Your strategy shouldn't focus on Chinese banks, or even on banks at all!" Bai Chengrui smiled slightly.
"Your focus should be on building an ecosystem around the Corda platform! Why can Microsoft's Windows and Google's Android dominate the world? While so many operating systems developed by the Chinese, whether it's Red Flag Linux for computers or Kylin OS for mobile phones, have failed to become mainstream? Even ordinary people in their own countries are unwilling to use them? It's because a strong ecosystem hasn't been formed!"

"As long as a strong ecosystem is built around the Corda platform, Chinese banks will obediently join the Corda alliance, because they have no future using Cloud Ledger! Do these so-called five major state-owned banks refuse to do business with us? Are they just playing by themselves behind closed doors?!"

Bai Chengrui's words suddenly enlightened David.

In the past, Corda was the only dominant player, so there was no need to consider building an ecosystem. Naturally, a bunch of people would flock to you. But now it's different. With competitors, you have to change your strategy!
He pondered for a moment and said, "The TradeLink software developed by that company called NexTech Group this morning is quite good. I heard they're from Hong Kong Cyberport Software Park. After the summit, I'd like to hold a seminar at the software park, chat with the young CEOs, and encourage them to engage in Corda ecosystem development! What do you think?"

“That’s fantastic!” Everyone immediately agreed.

"Mr. David, your R3 company is not only going to hold seminars in Hong Kong Cyberport, but also in well-known fintech parks in mainland China such as Yanjing Zhongguancun and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Qianhai!"

David smiled, the gloom on his face vanishing. He raised his glass: "OK! God is on our side, cheers!"

"R3's CEO will personally visit Hong Kong Cyberport to discuss the Corda ecosystem and build the future of digital finance with young CEOs." This explosive news spread the next day among several major financial news outlets in Hong Kong.

Xin Tiejun and Lin Tao also saw the news and immediately understood R3's intention in doing so: to take the lead in building an ecosystem!
This is precisely Cloud Ledger's fatal weakness: the platform has just been developed, and there are no applications built on it yet!

They immediately called Fang Qingye and told her about it.

“I saw this news too. If you’re free after lunch, come to my hotel so we can discuss how to deal with it,” Fang Qingye said on the phone.

(End of this chapter)