Happy 2024 everybody!
As we do every year, we start the new year by looking back at the activities that kept us busy during the previous one.
Study Tours
In 2023, a long wait came to an end. Because of the pandemic, we had to cancel up to 5 study tours we were supposed to deliver for clients in 2020, including tours for Rabobank and Focusplaza. As China closed its borders, we had to shelve these plans for several years.
Because of administrative reasons and the fact that our study tour services were a bit drowned out by all the content on ChinaTalk, we launched a new company and brand for our tours: ChinaTechTrip.
When China’s zero-covid policy was suddenly scrapped in December 2022, we carefully started planning a new tour again. Focusplaza let us know that they planned to pick up where we had to pause things and planned the original March 2020 tour for October 2023.
But a lot had happened in China in the intermediate three and a half years, so we decided we seriously needed to reevaluate the tour program. Many innovations we had included in 2019 had already disappeared, while new trends like live commerce and instant retail had taken over the scene in China.
In the blistering heat of the summer of 2023, we visited Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing and Xi’an to redesign the tour program, check what was still there, find new locations to visit and evaluate new hotels and restaurants. We also decided not to force the relaunch and only do one tour in 2023, ensuring we would deliver the best possible product before rolling it out.
The tour we delivered to Focusplaza was a great success. The Dutch participants were delighted and rated the tour with an amazing 9.5. Considering that Dutch people rarely give ratings of 10, it made us incredibly proud.
At the same time, when preparing new tours for 2024, we find that the sentiment towards China has changed drastically due to the geopolitical tensions of the past years. But while enthusiasm to go to China might not be as high as in 2019, we think it’s even more important to explore the country now than before the pandemic.
On the one hand, many of the hyped innovations of the last years of the 2010s have disappeared, and it has become clear what business models are sustainable. Retailers, brands and e-commerce professionals can draw learnings and inspirations from them. On the other hand, Chinese internet companies cross the country’s borders more and more often and become new competitors in Western markets. We need to understand and be prepared for platforms like Shein, TikTok Shops, and Temu to be able to form strategies against these new incumbents.
So, if these ideas appeal to you, do join us on one of the tours in 2024, the first of which will take place from April 14th to 20th 2024, focusing on retail and e-commerce innovation. Another tour we are planning concerns a cooperation with independent correspondent Fred Sengers, focusing on understanding China in the 21st century. If you are interested in joining any of these tours, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Tech Buzz China
A significant change in 2023 was Ed’s move to Tech Buzz China. Previously, he had mainly written for our own ChinaTalk blog. This year, the articles on that blog have been more limited because Ed now spends half his time researching and writing for Tech Buzz China (TBC). For the TBC articles, he uses Chinese tech media publications and expert interviews from the database of Six Degrees Intelligence. These two sources enable him to go much more in-depth than ever before and share exclusive information you rarely find in Western media (let alone Dutch media).
Among the topics Ed wrote about in 2023 are community group buying, the ‘death’ of new retail, coffee wars (Cotti vs Luckin vs Starbucks), TikTok Shop, and Temu. Ed also researched instant retail and published articles on instant retail marketplaces, front-end warehouses and Meituan’s initiatives. Together with TBC colleague Freya Zhang, Ed wrote about Xiaohongshu, Alibaba Cloud, Douyin’s local services, WeChat Channels and Baidu’s ERNIE Bot.
Tech Buzz China is a paid newsletter – as mentioned, we spend half of our time on research and writing – but it is well worth the investment if you want to follow what’s going on in China tech, in our opinion. Each publication is a long-read report of 6.000-12.000 words, and membership also gives access to the full TBC archive.
Other articles
While Tech Buzz China was the main content destination, Ed also wrote a few articles for the ChinaTalk website. In January and June, he published two series of updates on cross-border e-commerce initiatives from China (Temu, Shein, AliExpress, Ochama).
In April, he wrote a three-part article that tries to answer the question ‘How long before I know a bit of Chinese?’ that potential students of the language often ask us. In November, he shared his frustrating experiences with getting a tour group on WeChat and WeChat Pay. Last but not least, in August, he wrote a four-part series on the many different failed and successful formats of the Hema (Freshippo) concepts that Alibaba launched through the years.
Ed has also compensated for fewer blog publications with extensive LinkedIn posts on exciting or controversial topics. For instance, he shared observations about returning to China after three years. You can follow Ed on LinkedIn, or even better, subscribe to our newsletter if you don’t want to miss these.
Keynotes & Presentations
One of the remarkable things about 2023 has been that while China has more and more cross-border initiatives in Western markets, the interest in understanding Chinese digital innovations through keynotes has actually been less than in previous years. As such, the number of presentations Ed has given this year has been lower than in previous years. Or maybe the fact that he was focussing on the tours and Tech Buzz China was a contributing factor…
Nevertheless, Ed delivered several in-company trainings to the Swire Group, cooperating with Rui Ma. An extensive 2.5-hour session on Chinese e-commerce innovations and cross-border e-commerce from China was delivered for relations of Conway & Co (the first part of which can be viewed on YouTube). The same topics were also the focus of other presentations for the Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Flemish Innovation Centre for Graphical Communication, Focusplaza’s Intervision 2023, PrintMatters and Cicero.
And let’s not forget – although it’s not a keynote – the always popular China Knowledge Quiz that Ed and Fred Sengers delivered for the auspicious eighth time in 2023. The next edition of the quiz is planned for the 27th of February. Watch this space for more news.
In the media
While the number of keynotes might have been less, the number of interviews Ed did for print, radio and television media has grown significantly. These have included Business AM (about internet censorship, cashless payment, limitations in gaming, the return of Jack Ma), Emerce (about Ochama), Bloomberg (about Temu and Pinduoduo vs Alibaba), TechinAsia (about Temu), Business News Radio (about TikTok, Alibaba’s split-up, Alibaba Cloud), NPO Geld of Je Leven (about TikTok), De Morgen (about Temu), Algemeen Dagblad (about TikTok), Financieel Dagblad (about Temu, TikTok Shop), RTL-Z (about Temu) and The Wire (about Temu).
Ed and Jessica were also guests in two different episodes of the Bij Gin in Beijing podcast about digital innovation and Chinese education. Jessica also appeared in Yang Mei’s Out Cultures & Our World podcast, discussing education in The Netherlands vs China.
Videos
In 2023, we continued our ‘ChinaTalk Dumpling’ series of short videos, shared on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), YouTube and our website. These videos, typically max 5 minutes long, contain the aforementioned radio and television interviews or fragments of keynotes. Among the latter were explainer videos on the issues with Jack Ma’s Ant Group, gamification in e-commerce, the success of live commerce, shelf e-commerce vs content-driven e-commerce, the Chinese approach to time, and discussing politics in China,
Because of the relaunch of our study tours, Ed and Jessica also dusted off a series of travel advice videos they had been working on a few years ago and published these in a YouTube playlist. Topics include planning visits, basic language, bargaining and tipping, food and drinks, transport, going online in China, visa applications and mobile payment.
Education
In 2023, Jessica worked for various middle and higher education schools, providing Chinese Language and Culture lessons. She also took on several new students for private online lessons.
A course for adult students at Summa College was also very well-received. A new edition of this course starts in February.
Because she couldn’t attend her students’ graduation at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, Jessica recorded a graduation speech that was shown during the event.
Since September 2023, Jessica has also been working as a coach for Fontys Honours Programme students. It is a three-year programme for Fontys bachelor students. The students in this programme will explore more personal and professional developments besides their regular bachelor studies. Jessica is really enjoying the time with the community of students and other coaches.
Looking forward to 2024, our main activities will continue to focus on Chinese Language and Culture education, Tech Buzz China research and deep-dives and new study tours.