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

Chapter 789 The Night Sky in Three Places, and the Feelings of Three People

Fang Qingye called Bai Ou to tell her about it. Bai Ou was exceptionally enthusiastic: "Yezi, I plan to personally lead a team to Wuzhen to secure a suitable venue!"

"Isn't this a bit much?"

"Of course it's necessary! Big names will be gathering there, and if the venue isn't chosen well, we'll be laughed at," Bai Ou said.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you then."

After handing over the Wuzhen Coffee Club to his wife, Fang Qingye stopped worrying about it and began to conceive the content of his speech at the Wuzhen sub-forum.

Last year, he participated in the "Inclusive Finance and Digital Technology Integration Forum," where he shared how to use user behavior data—such as e-commerce transactions and social credit—to build big data risk control models, replacing traditional collateral and guarantee methods with microloans, demonstrating the deep integration of the digital economy and the traditional banking industry.

So what should we talk about this year?

In the evening, Fang Qingye sat in the study of the nursery, drinking tea and thinking.

The content of the speech must be relevant to the current situation.

As history entered 2016, the Chinese internet continued its rapid development. According to authoritative national statistics, the number of internet users exceeded 7 million, with an internet penetration rate of 51.7%; mobile internet users accounted for as high as 92.5%; 4G users continued to grow, and 5G research and development had also begun, with plans for official commercial use in 2020.

The number of online live streaming users has reached 3.25 million, and "live streaming+" has become a new trend; short videos, pictures and other multimedia content have become widely popular.

The sharing economy has had a profound impact on the travel sector, as exemplified by Didi; the influencer economy industrial chain has begun to take shape; and the number of mobile payment users has exceeded 4.5 million.

However, domestic regulation of the internet has become increasingly strict, with a series of laws and regulations being introduced, including the Cybersecurity Law, the Interim Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising, and the Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Telecommunications and Internet Fraud.

The same applies to the financial sector.

Last year—2015—the abnormal fluctuations in the stock market and the successive outbreaks of risk events involving P2P platforms such as Ezubao made the top leadership deeply aware of the huge financial and social risks brought about by "disorderly innovation".

Subsequently, a series of policies and regulations were introduced, including the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Business Activities of Online Lending Information Intermediary Institutions," the "Implementation Plan for Special Rectification of Internet Finance Risks," and the "Implementation Plan for Special Rectification of Risks of Non-bank Payment Institutions."

The regulatory stance is very clear: to comprehensively regulate and dismantle risks in key areas such as internet finance, asset management products, and shadow banking, aiming to reverse the trend of finance "decoupling from the real economy."

Regulations are already strict, and they will only become stricter in the future.

Times are changing, and internet professionals and finance professionals must adapt accordingly:

The industry is shifting from pursuing speed to focusing on security; fintech cannot only talk about innovation while ignoring risks.

We must set ethical bottom lines for technology, establish risk isolation mechanisms, and regulate market competition.

Competition in the financial industry is not a sprint, but a marathon in pursuit of long-term, stable development.

……

As Fang Qingye thought and wrote, a speech entitled "Rapid Winds and Guardrails: The Next Stage of Intelligent Finance" appeared on the computer screen.

It's not very long, around a thousand words.

After finishing writing, Qingye took a warm teacup in her hand and walked out of the second-floor study into the courtyard.

On a winter night in the south, the damp, cold air carries the fresh scent of earth and plants. Thick clouds obscure the stars and moon, allowing only a hazy, diffused light to filter through.

Before long, fine rain began to fall silently.

"It's raining..." Fang Qingye murmured, turning to go upstairs. Meanwhile, the night sky over Hangzhou was clear, the moon bright, and the stars shining brilliantly.

In the courtyard of the Tai Chi Zen Academy, Jack Ma, dressed in a white Tai Chi uniform, had just finished a set of Tai Chi movements, and the fatigue of a busy day disappeared, leaving him feeling refreshed.

He just finished writing his speech in his study, titled "The Next 30 Years Belong to Companies, Countries, and Young People Who Make Good Use of Internet Technology":
"In the next thirty years, the internet will cease to exist—not because it will disappear, but because it will be as ubiquitous as air..."

"After the invention of the automobile, Britain passed the Locomotives Act of 1865, also known as the Red Flag Act: stipulating that each automobile must be driven by three people, one of whom must walk in front of the car and hold a red flag, and the automobile must not drive over the red flag. Due to the failure to foresee the future, the research and development of the British automobile industry stagnated, and missed a good opportunity for development."

"And such 'red flag laws' still exist in countries around the world today!"

Thinking of this historically famous law, a smile appeared on Jack Ma's face.

I'm sure the attendees and regulators understood what I meant.

He looked up at the bright moon, and suddenly, filled with great inspiration, he began to recite Cao Cao's poem "Watching the Sea":
"The sun and moon's movements seem to originate from within it; the starry sky's brilliance seems to emanate from within it. How fortunate I am! I sing this song to express my aspirations..."

……

At the same time, Ma Huateng was still in Tencent's headquarters office in Shenzhen, where a high-level meeting had just ended.

As everyone left, he took off his glasses, rubbed his tired eyes, picked up his slightly cold coffee, took a sip, and sighed softly.

From the outside, Tencent appears to be at its peak, but as its leader, he is more aware than anyone of the company's predicaments and enormous challenges.

In the mobile payment field, Tencent is engaged in a life-or-death "battle" with Alipay; while the rising star Fang Qingye's "Baopay" is catching up rapidly with the help of Ele.me, a super lifestyle platform, and is constantly eroding the market share of Tenpay and Alipay.

In the content field, Tencent has once again been "ambushed" by ByteDance's Toutiao – this algorithm-based recommendation product has risen rapidly, directly threatening Tencent's core territory: traffic distribution and user time.

In addition, Tencent missed the early opportunities in short videos and live streaming, while Kuaishou has gained a firm foothold and Douyin has even surpassed it.

But its own Weishi platform... is like a hopeless case.

Thinking about all this, Ma Huateng couldn't help but rub his temples and sigh deeply.

Oh, right, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't written his speech for the Wuzhen Summit yet.

What to write?

Let's just write about the internet itself.

Tencent should return to its core function and act as a connector for the internet—connecting not only people, but also services and devices, to build a harmonious ecosystem.

And at the heart of this ecosystem is Tencent!
He glanced at his watch; it was already 11 p.m.

It's too late, I'll write it tomorrow.

After finishing the last sip of his coffee, Ma Huateng looked up at the window again.

The night sky over Shenzhen was overcast, but there were still clear gaps between the clouds. Through these gaps, he could see several particularly bright stars, shining steadily, their positions clear, like precisely anchored coordinates.

He recognized one of them as Sirius.

(End of this chapter)