A JIC Investment Workshop was recently hosted by JIC and ftchinese.com. The event was organized by JIC Technology Investment and opened on April 15, 2016 in Beijing. JIC vice president Huang Jianjun addressed people at the event. With a theme of “Internet+ Transport Reshapes the Future”, the workshop examined policy incentives and technological changes associated with the “Internet+” era. It also discussed investment opportunities and market trends within the smart transportation sector. Nearly 200 participants and media members were present to share their ideas about investment opportunities in smart transportation.
During his speech, Huang Jianjun pointed out that urban transport has been a sore point in urbanization and remains a public concern. As the number of cars and overall population density increase inside urban areas, road expansion to ease pressure on the transport system is proving to be increasingly ineffective. Smart transport provides a new option. Leveraging new technologies like mobile internet, Internet of Things, Big Data, cloud computing and cloud-based services and smart transport creates a consumer & investment market with brilliant prospects. Meanwhile, these developments also make getting-around much easier for people living in cities.
According to Huang, smart transport is expected to grow into a trillion-yuan industry in the coming years. This will mark a major trend in consumer trade-ups. “Internet+” transport and “Internet+” lifestyle will also help improve the standard of living while facilitating upgrades in traditional industries. The year 2016 will be a tough year for structural reform. Fueled by Internet technologies, China is seeing a shift from export-led growth to consumer spending-driven growth. This means both tremendous opportunities and challenges for the Chinese economy amidst supply side reforms. With a strong commitment to its mission of promoting technological advances, facilitating industrial upgrades and improving standards of living, JIC (as a state-owned investment group) will play an active role in implementing national Internet+ strategies. It will also push ahead with the transformation of traditional internet era industries.
JIC Technology Investment deputy general manager Wu Shuo gave the keynote speech “Traditional Industries + Internet: A New Investment Trend”. In this speech, he elaborated on the company’s role as JIC’s next-generation IT technology investment platform. He also emphasized the company’s views on trends and investment opportunities in smart transport. Wu discussed the four aspects of investment logic regarding the technology-led transformation of the transport industry: i) people want to pay for efficiency gains; ii) supply chain financing (SCF) is introduced; iii) the penetration of new energy vehicles continues to rise; and iv) trading-up in transport services.
Yang Qi, deputy chief engineer at the Research Institute of Highway, Ministry of Transport, and Wei Dong, CEO of Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur, Shouqi Car Rental and Shouqi Smart Transport spoke at the workshop about “opportunities and challenges in smart transport.” They also discussed “a changing landscape for transport industry in the era of mobile internet”. A roundtable session was held with the theme “Transport + Internet: A New Long March towards A Trillion-Yuan Market”. This roundtable featured Xie Lulu, senior VP at JIC Technology Investment; Zhang Yao, founding partner of Bit Capital ; Wang Junqing, director of the Trade and Technology Department, Automobile Subcommittee, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade; Jiang Tian, big data manager at the Public Policy Department (Uber); Wang Qinghua, deputy general manager of UEEE and Lai Zhenhua, senior manager of the New Energy Research Center (Mercedes Benz).
As the first JIC Investment Workshop held this year, the event received widespread attention and attracted more than 60 members of the media. This included representatives from Phoenix Satellite TV, Reference News, gmw.cn, caijing.com.cn and cnstock.com etc.