Chairman of APEC Ecommerce Business Alliance：Wang Jian

Wang Jian, Expert Committee and Professor at the University of International Business and Economics、Chairman of the APEC E-commerce Business Alliance, at the "Dialogue on Science and Technology Civilization and Building Happiness Together" of the "Belt and Road" High-quality Development International Dialogue——Technological innovation empowers urban development and builds a happy future together.

The topic of technological civilization, technological innovation, and happiness itself is very good. Because we humans have now entered a new era, of course, this new era was created by industrial society and industrial civilization over the past 100 years. Nowadays, there is a great variety of products, and people's consumption and services have been greatly improved. Especially in the past 20 years, the development of Internet and digitalization has brought mankind into such a new era. This era may be a new era of changes in the entire human society that all of us present here have seen. The most prominent innovation in this new era of technology may be the so-called digitization. Digitization has changed our way of work and life, and it has also brought significant changes to our entire business market.

Of course, regardless of the process of digitization, as well as the path of technological civilization and development, ultimately it is all about enhancing the consumption experience of each and every one of us, or from a market perspective, every consumer. Maybe in the construction of the "Belt and Road" and the development of China's digital economy, I think everyone has a deep understanding. Because what we see now, such as e-commerce and the rise of digital trade worldwide, ultimately aims to enhance the service experience and product diversity for our consumers and every individual in our society. Of course, it ultimately enhances the so-called sense of happiness for each and every one of us. So we are currently in such an era.

Digital technology has enabled us to achieve many things that were previously unimaginable. That is to say, numbers have broken down many of the boundaries we once thought of, including geographical boundaries, national boundaries, and even some boundaries of communication between people.

A city is a space that concentrates an ecosystem of human work and life. If a country is still a relatively complex ecosystem, an individual or a company, then it may still have certain limitations. But the city takes clothing, food, housing, transportation, as well as people's lives and work as a basic scene, summarizes it all, and it is a complete ecosystem. Although influenced by the current digital network, it also preserves the unique culture, operation, industry, and lifestyle of each city. So if we look at cities around the world, the cultural diversity reflected in each city is different, and precisely what our society embodies is cultural diversity. And we believe that this kind of urban dialogue precisely expresses the development of technology, human life, work environment, and cultural diversity, which we call urban development.

Although technological innovation has brought a lot of wealth to humanity. But over the past 100 years, urban life has also encountered various problems, including congestion, garbage, pollution, and so on that we can see in the city. The development and innovation of technology, including digital innovation, may help us better manage cities, such as smart cities, and promote cooperation and communication between people in an efficient way. If you consider the future of humanity in the realm of big data AI， In the development stage of artificial intelligence, in the future, humanoid robots and the intelligence of cities will be connected with the world's smartest brain AI, which may greatly enhance the experience of people working and living in every city. At the same time, the future may also change certain ways of life and work in cities, but overall, the technological innovation we are talking about is of great significance to the development of cities. Of course, I also think that dialogue at this level may promote cooperation and exchange between different cultures and countries, which is very meaningful.

The development of technology, we hope it can bring us happiness and truly bring more opportunities to humanity. The development of technology and digitization has also brought about many new industries and services. If we look at the development of cities, current transportation technology can quickly form transportation networks for various cities. In the short term, what we see, such as young people, is actually more gathering in this big city, where the population is increasing. But in reality, we believe that the technology of the internet and digitization can bring more opportunities to people in both big and small cities, and the internet has also enabled us to break down geographical boundaries.

Strictly speaking, as long as you are connected to the internet, you may be no different from being in a big city in any corner of the world. So I think in the future, the opposite is true. With the advancement of technology and digitization, it may lead to more people no longer gathering in big cities. The reason is that the physical environment of population gathering that we see will actually become increasingly crowded. Humanity has entered the so-called digital economy, which precisely means that our so-called digital platform, as a new form of economic operation, should tend towards greater decentralization. Although we can talk about transportation between cities, just like what we see in China. After the introduction of transportation, everyone saw that he was originally expected to go to a small city, but ended up going to a big city instead. This may be the first stage of current development, and gradually, there may be more young people starting businesses, which may not be limited to big cities. The reason is the development of technology and the future of urban development, which will gradually and automatically adjust the structure of the entire society, including the layout structure of cities. This may be the true way to enhance people's happiness. Otherwise, in big cities, if we see the internal competition among young people and the competition among them, then this situation will arise. In the future, when we talk about so-called digital technology, it will definitely empower more young people bit by bit. It can enable them to develop in different cities because the internet has no geographical boundaries. So strictly speaking, it's good for you to attend a meeting in a city, or a big city in a week.

So, I believe that in the future, more small cities will form a diversified characteristic, which is the true direction that everyone hopes to develop. I don't want everyone to be crowded in a big city, in a corner with no breathing space. So we hope to develop in more space, larger and more flexible places. Digital technology, whether it's AI technology or bringing more digital technologies in the future, I believe it will definitely bring diverse, distinctive, and vibrant cultural and industrial atmospheres to the development of future cities.

The development of technology and digitization brings new industries, new services, happiness, and more opportunities for humanity. If we look at the development of cities and see many new concepts, including the need for dialogue, the need for cities, the need to discuss technological civilization, technological innovation, digitization, and possibly cooperation, etc. Of course, in the end, we cannot do without a topic related to happiness. Of course, I also agree that happiness is a subjective concept, and one's happiness or unhappiness is controlled by oneself. So in some cases, happiness is a subjective realm that can be achieved through one's own efforts and feelings. In the context and social context under discussion, our technological innovation, digital development, networking, and service-oriented development have actually brought more opportunities related to happiness to each and every one of us. These opportunities include the ability to obtain more and richer product choices through the internet than before, known as product availability. Perhaps through continuous technological and network innovation, you can obtain more service availability. For young people, the internet may also bring them more opportunities to choose from, such as service availability, product availability, and opportunity availability. During the development process of our enterprise, this new technological innovation may have brought us many possibilities, such as financing. Therefore, the overall technological development and network innovation have actually brought more opportunities for each and every one of us, and even for society, as well as the accessibility of these opportunities. You can choose not to participate, you can choose not to obtain it, but this opportunity can be obtained at any time, which means that when you want to do it, it can make it very convenient for you to achieve the goal you want to do.

So, in a sense, what we see today and in the future as the "Silk Road Dialogue International Meeting Hall" actually promotes cultural exchange and collision of ideas between countries, at the city level, and even at the individual level. Let each and every one of us realize the possibilities and opportunities that technological innovation brings to us. The event of "Silk Road Dialogue International Meeting Hall" has established a normalized dialogue mechanism between different cities around the world. We hope it can continue because we talk about the power of technology and the development of future cities, which are related to consensus and communication among everyone. This kind of mutual communication will definitely promote more trade, which will bring more products, choices, and digital trade. This may mean that many services will naturally innovate, so more of this culture or dialogue will trigger many opportunities such as business, trade, investment, and cooperation. Therefore, I think this is very meaningful, and we hope it can persist. Of course, we also have an obligation to support it.