The report highlights the branding strengths of nine major Chinese cities, all making it into the top 100 global city brands. This includes Shanghai (54th), Beijing (58th), Shenzhen (73rd), Chongqing (74th), Macau (81st), Guangzhou (85th), Chengdu (89th), and Nanjing (93rd).

Key Findings from the Report:

1. Hong Kong’s Global Standing:
   • Hong Kong ranks exceptionally in “Familiarity” (9th globally) and as a “Global Important City” (10th).
   • Known as one of Asia’s largest financial centers, Hong Kong’s favorable tax system, straightforward listing procedures, and robust regulatory framework make it highly attractive to foreign investors.
   • With the easing of travel restrictions, Hong Kong is poised for a strong economic rebound this year.
2. Shanghai’s Financial Influence:
   • Ranking 14th in “Global City Influence,” Shanghai asserts its position as a globally impactful financial center.
   • The city leads China in “Future Growth Potential” (7th) and “Strong and Stable Economy” (18th).
3. Beijing’s Global and Cultural Impact:
   • Beijing scores high in “Global Importance” (13th) and “City Familiarity” (20th).
   • Renowned for its exquisite royal palaces and museums, Beijing is also China’s leader in rich history and heritage (31st globally), making it a popular tourist destination.
4. Shenzhen’s Business and Trade Value:
   • Shenzhen ranks as China’s most valuable city for business and trade (16th globally).
   • The city excels in “Ease of Employment” (4th), “Ease of Starting a Business and Innovation” (5th), “Access to Skilled Labor” (6th), and “Ease of Doing Business” (10th).
5. Chongqing’s Emerging Presence:
   • Known as China’s “Mountain City,” Chongqing, despite limited global familiarity (98th), outranks other Chinese cities in various domains among those who know it.
6. Macau’s Tourist Appeal:
   • Macau leads China in “Lifestyle” (32nd), “Entertainment” (35th), and “Openness and Warmth” (57th), maintaining its allure as a tourist destination.
7. Guangzhou’s Manufacturing Ambitions:
   • Poised to become one of China’s leading manufacturing hubs, Guangzhou consistently ranks in the top 20 for “Access to Skilled Labor” (15th), “Ease of Doing Business” (15th), “Personal Tax Benefits” (17th), and “Ease of Employment” (18th).
8. Chengdu’s Financial Sector Growth:
   • Envisioned as a national financial center in Western China, Chengdu is gaining a reputation in financial technology, rural finance, and consumer finance.
   • The city ranks second in China for “Future Growth Potential” (33rd) and “Investment Reputation” (52nd).
9. Nanjing’s Friendly Business Environment:
   • As one of the nation’s most business-friendly cities, Nanjing ranks second and third in China for “Corporate Tax Benefits” (10th) and “Ease of Employment” (13th) respectively.

The Brand Finance report showcases Chinese cities’ diverse strengths and growing global recognition, positioning them as key players on the world stage.

Hangzhou surpassed Beijing and Shanghai in terms of GDP per capita. Beijing was the most active city compared with Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou. Beijing has invested the most in fixed assets while Shenzhen is the fastest-growing one.

Beijing leads with an index of 127.78 in the ranking of urban consumption vitality in the five select cities. Shanghai (97.07) and Guangzhou (82.58) followed in the second and third places, according to the report from People’s Daily Media Opinion Monitoring Office.

The ranking was measured by a series of indexes including basic GDP per capita, disposable income, retail sales of consumer goods, logistics infrastructure, spending on cultural, healthy, intellectual, and environmentally friendly products, and consumers’ attitudes products, good or bad, etc.

GDP per capita in those five cities are all above 100 thousand yuan (US$14,914), higher than the average level nationwide. Hangzhou surpassed Beijing and Shanghai in terms of that.

The urban consumption vitality will further be released along with the development of the tertiary industry. Empowered by the emerging technology and well-developed tertiary industry, the intelligent production and service system will be able to fulfill customers’ unique needs for individualized and premium products and services. Digitalization and online shopping also promote consumption.

By comparison, Beijing invested the most in fixed assets, such as municipal infrastructure and preparation for sports events, while Shenzhen was the fastest-growing one.

GSMA has a very exciting programme lined up for Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2018. While showcasing the latest developments in mobile, this year’s event will offer attendees a wide range of experiences through the conference, the exhibition and specialized programmes such as Women4Tech, 4YFN and beyond.

The GSMA announced several additional keynote speakers for Mobile World Congress Shanghai, with executives from leading mobile operators, infrastructure providers and other companies across the broad mobile ecosystem. Recently confirmed speakers include:

• Sabeen Ali, Founder and CEO, AngelHack
• Thaddeus Arroyo, CEO, AT&T Business
• Liu Aili, President and COO, China Telecom
• Borje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson
• Eric Xu, Rotating Chairman, Huawei
• Greg Wyler, Founder and Executive Chairman, OneWeb

The GSMA also introduced a new element for this year’s Mobile World Congress Shanghai: the Leaders Stage. The Leaders Stage programme is open to Mobile World Congress Shanghai attendees holding VIP, Gold or All Exhibition Passes, and will explore wide-ranging trends that are shaping the mobile future and impacting citizens’ everyday lives. Executives participating in the Leaders Stage include:

• Nicole Richards, Catalyst, Dovetailed
• Kirti Lad, Executive Director, Meraki Executive Search & Consulting
• Jingyi Yu, CEO, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Plex-VR Digital Technology
• Bessie Lee, CEO and Founder, Withinlink

For further details on the conference programme, including the agenda and confirmed speakers, visit www.mwcshanghai.com/conference-programmes/

Women4Tech Summit at Mobile World Congress Shanghai

The GSMA announced the first speakers for the Women4Tech Summit, which will be held Thursday, 28 June at the Leaders Stage. The Women4Tech Summit will bring together senior-level speakers and panellists to discuss how to ensure gender equality in mainstream work environments and share strategic advice on broadening gender diversity in mobile and related industries.

The Summit will highlight topics around women’s role in empowering, encouraging, transforming and innovating in technology. The first confirmed Women4Tech keynote speakers and panellists include:

• Nicole Peng, Senior Director, Mobility, Canalys
• Åsa Tamsons, EVP and Head of Emerging Business, Ericsson
• Azita Arvani, Head of Innovation Partner & Venture Management, Nokia
• Anna Yip, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, SmarTone
• Mary Clark, CMO and EVP Product, Synchronoss

Additional Women4Tech activities include a speed coaching and networking session, activities at 4YFN and Women4Tech Asia Mobile (AMO) Awards for Outstanding Achievement Asia Industry Leadership, among others. For more information on the Women4Tech Programme at Mobile World Congress Shanghai, visit www.mwcshanghai.com/experiences/gsma-women4tech/.

New Developments in 4 Years From Now (4YFN)

4YFN returns to Asia for the third year, highlighting key technology trends and exploring disruptive innovation with a comprehensive programme for startups, investors and corporations. 4YFN offers unique connecting initiatives, including custom networking activities, inspirational talks, technical workshops, community outreach and the 4YFN Summit.

For 2018, 4YFN is located in the NEXTech Hall, which puts the spotlight on next-generation technologies, products and experiences. Exhibitors at 4YFN include Daejeon Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency (DICIA), Korea Institute of Startups & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), Qualcomm Technologies and Shanghai Technology Innovation Center, among others.

Leading venture capital and investment organisations including DCM Ventures, IBM Venture Capital Group, Legend Capital, Telefónica Open Future, Telstra Ventures and others will participate in the 4YFN Founders and Investors Programme and 4YFN Summit.

Executives confirmed to speak in the 4YFN Summit taking place 27-29 June include Minette Navarrete, President, Kickstart, Globe Telecom; David Tang, Managing Partner, Nokia Growth Partners; and Volker Heistermann, Managing Director, Yushan Ventures. For more information about 4YFN, visit www.mwcshanghai.com/4yfn.

The Asia Mobile Awards will also showcase 4YFN with the “4YFN Best Startup of the Year Award”, which recognises organisations focused on accelerating business development and the investment of new technologies within the startup community. The winner of this award will be featured on the Leaders Stage and will receive a free stand at 4YFN Barcelona 2019.

The winner will have the opportunity to participate in acceleration, mentoring and investment programmes with 4YFN, including the accelerator programme of BGTA, a London-based accelerator with operations in China and the 4YFN Award Partner. For more information about 4YFN Asia Mobile Awards, visit www.mwcshanghai.com/conference-programmes/asia-mobile-awards-2018/2018-categories/.

droidcon Comes to Mobile World Congress Shanghai

The GSMA will partner with Beijing Changfeng Information Technology Industry Alliance & Mobile Seasons GmbH to bring droidcon to Mobile World Congress Shanghai. Started in Berlin in 2009, droidcon is the premier global community of over 25,000 developers worldwide. droidcon is designed to provide an open platform for Android development engineers, users and entrepreneurs to share technology advances, development experience and innovation practices. droidcon Shanghai 2018 will be held in the NEXTech Theatre in the NEXTech Hall (Hall W5), alongside the Device City, AR/VR/MR Zone and 4YFN.

New Exhibitors and Event Partners Confirmed

The GSMA confirmed several new regional pavilions in the exhibition, including Enterprise Ireland, Russian Export Center JSC and Shanghai Technology Innovation Centre, as well as the Korea pavilion featuring Daegu Digital Industry Promotion Agency (DIP), Daejeon Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency (DICIA), Gwangju Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency (GITCT), Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT), Korea Information & Communication Technology Industry Association (KICTA) and Korea Institute of Startups and Entrepreneurship Development.

Elsewhere in the exhibition, Eyesight, Onstar and Volkswagen will explore the intersection of mobile and automotive in the AutoTech Zone. Exhibitors including Dozen, Gowild and others will be showcasing the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) in the AI Zone, while 263 Mobile, Acoustics and ZTE Welink will demonstrate the technologies and applications shaping the Internet of Things (IoT) in the IoT Zone. For more information on the exhibition, visit www.mwcshanghai.com/exhibition/.

As always, the GSMA Innovation City will be a major highlight of the show, enabling attendees to experience technology in context and see how mobile-connected products and services can improve their daily lives. Continental and Zhejiang Panshi Information Technology become the latest companies to participate in the Innovation City, alongside previously announced partners BICS, Huawei, myFC and SI-Tech Information Technology. For more information, visit www.mwcshanghai.com/exhibition/gsma-innovation-city/.

MWC Shanghai Tours Offer Focused Experiences

To help attendees better navigate Mobile World Congress Shanghai, the GSMA is offering four different tours of the SNIEC, led by industry experts. The MWC Shanghai Tours will focus on topics including 5G & NFV, Artificial Intelligence, Consumer Tech and IoT, and will provide experiences that are tailored to meet attendees’ individual business objectives and requirements. For more information on MWC Shanghai Tours and registration, please visit www.mwcshanghai.com/experiences/mwc-shanghai-tours/.

Register and Get Involved at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2018

Registration for Mobile World Congress Shanghai is now open. For more information on Mobile World Congress Shanghai, including how to attend, exhibit, partner or sponsor, visit www.mwcshanghai.com. Follow developments and updates on Mobile World Congress Shanghai through our social media channels – follow us on Twitter at @GSMA and use #MWCS18, get regular updates through our LinkedIn Showcase Page at www.linkedin.com/company/mobile-world-congress-shanghai, and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mwcshanghai. In China, you can follow us on Sina Weibo http://weibo.com/mwcshanghai or search “GSMA_MWCS” in WeChat.

CIW, as our media partner, offers its audience an AEP (worth $75) registration code FEPQWRNEUM that you use to register.

WeChat launched rewarded video ads platform for mini-games

Chengdu’s robust performance can be largely attributed to its development of diverse and high value-added industries and encouragement of innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition, it has many universities, colleges, and research institutions that provide an abundance of talent to the local labor market.

Chongqing also has diverse and high value-added industries, a deep talent pool, and lower business costs. In addition, it has a pivotal location at the intersection of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the “Silk Road Economic Belt.” All these characteristics contributed to Chongqing’s phenomenal economic performance.

Two other cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt are also ranked among the top 10 first- and second-tier cities: Nanjing (ranked 5th) and Shanghai (ranked 6th). Shenzhen in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone is ranked fourth. Guiyang was ranked first last year and stands at third place this year. Nanchang was ranked seventh last year and places ninth this year.

Nantong grabs the top spot this year among third-tier cities, having reached the top 10 in the last two years. Its strong performance can be attributed to its diverse industries, abundant talent pool, and well-connected transportation network. Being part of the Yangtze River Economic Belt also bolsters its competitive advantages.

Taizhou (ranked 6th), Yangzhou (ranked 8th), Yichang (ranked 9th), and Suzhou (ranked 10th) are other cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt entering the top 10 third-tier city index this year. Overall, these cities together with Nantong have shown a more robust and stable economic performance than other cities in the top 10 list. Ji’an was ranked ninth in 2015 and No. 20 in 2016, and bounces back to fourth place this year.

Bengbu (ranked 2nd), Foshan (ranked 3rd), Zunyi (ranked 5th), and Luohe (ranked 7th) are newcomers to the BPC top 10 list among the third-tier cities. The rise of Foshan and Zunyi may be related to the progress made by the regional clusters they belong to. Bengbu and Luohe may have benefited largely from the OBOR initiative. However, these two cities will need to develop more robust industrial bases in order to keep up their growth momentum.

REPORT: E-economy: China vs. the U.S.

Shanghai is the most popular city among Chinese, followed by New York, according to an Ipsos survey. Check out the top 10.

Chinese favor Asian cities or cities with more Chinese such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and etc. Only Paris and Zurich from Europe made it to the top 10.

Singapore is the top choice of living among Chinese, followed by Vancouver.

Mobile social content sharing insights in China 2017

In the first half of 2017, Shanghai’s export growth has shown an increase of 18.7%. Ever since 2012, it’s the first time that Shanghai showed a double-digit growth.

On 20th July, Shanghai Customs announced the export situation for Shanghai exports. According to data collected, Shanghai has accumulated 1.6 trillion yuan worth of imports and exports between January and June in 2017, taking up 11.8% of China’s import and export, ranked third of all provinces in China, just behind Guangdong and Jiangsu.

Shanghai Customs Deputy Director Zheng Jugang commented that although Shanghai’s monthly growth in imports in the first quarter was lagging behind in the nation, the second quarter recorded numbers that were better than the nation. The import in June displayed an increase of 24.6%, which is 1.5% ahead of China’s average.

The increase in export growth was at 20.2%, with a 14.3% increase as compared to the previous month, putting an end to the trailing behind situation during the previous 3 months, and instead exceeded China’s average by 2.9%.

From the structural analysis, Shanghai’s imports are doing better than exports.

The data for the first half of 2017 shows that Shanghai exports are at 626.59 billion yuan, reflecting a 12% growth and contributes to 8.7% of China’s figures. On the other hand, imports are at 926.71 billion yuan, with 23.7% growth and accounting for 15.6% of the total in China.

According to Zheng, the improvement in imports can be attributed to two factors: firstly, the increase in average prices of the import of items. In the first half of the year, the global economy has shown a rosier outlook, thus bringing the prices of commodities up. Of which, iron ore, unwrought copper and copper items, refined oil and coal have an average increase of 49.4%,32.3%, 30.6% and 82.3% respectively, causing a significant increase in growth of import value.

Secondly, Shanghai is the nation’s largest consumer goods imports distribution center, occupying approximately 30% of China’s total import value of consumer goods. As the top choice of the entry point for foreign distributorship, many items are imported to China through Shanghai before disseminating to the rest of the country, causing the rise of consumer goods imports.

In the first half of the year, Shanghai’s imports of consumer goods stand at 160.55 billion yuan, the growth has leaped from 8.2% to 24.5% when compared to last year’s figures. Of which, automobiles and medical goods have shown significant growth, with imports of 40.93 billion and 39.3 billion yuan respectively, revealing the respective growth of 40.2% and 53.5%.

In addition, Zheng shared that Shanghai’s imports and exports are less reliant on the developed economies of Europe, America and Japan, instead of the growth of imports and exports for countries along the “One Belt One Road” has risen above average.

For the first half of the year, Shanghai’s imports and exports figures for the 3 traditional economies (Europe, America and Japan) stands at a total of 745.06 billion RMB, showing an increase of 17.1%, however the contribution to the city’s total imports and exports value slide from 48.6% to 48% . During the same period, the countries along “One Belt One Road” record 321.43 billion yuan, with an increase of 23.2% and occupies 20.7% of the city’s figures.

On the other hand, from the perspective of the imports and exports industry, foreign invested firms take up the leading role of Shanghai’s imports and exports. The foreign invested firms has an accumulative value of 1 trillion yuan in the first half of 2017, taking up 65% of the city’s import and export value. However, the import and export from private and state-owned firms fare better than foreign-invested firms, with import and export value of 290.72 billion and 248.92 billion RMB respectively, a respective growth of 19.3% and 29.5%, which are higher than the growth by foreign-invested firms by 2.8 and 13%.

However, the performance of Shanghai’s foreign trade import and exports are still weaker than the nation’s average.

In the first half of 2017, the growth of China’s total import and export, export, and import stands at 19.6%, 15% and 25.7% respectively, which are higher than Shanghai’s respective figures by 0.9%, 3%, and 2%.

Zheng shared that the main contributing factors are Shanghai going through transition phase first, the higher costs of manufacturing industries and other major factors.

As the effects of free trade test zone, innovation centers and consumer goods import distributor centers and other factors are opening up, the new competitive advantages of Shanghai are still in development while the traditional competitive advantage is significantly reduced.

During the transition phase, the traditional labour-heavy industries will be undergoing changes in considerations of labor and land requirements, therefore the import and export of foreign trade might show a temporary slowdown in growth. On a special note, the import and export of Shanghai Free Trade Zone take up more than 40% of the city’s import and export.

In the first half of the year, Shanghai Free Trade Zone delivered an import and export value of 6427 billion yuan, an increase of 17.9% and contributes to 41.4% of the city’s total value. Of which, export value is at 1966.8 billion yuan, with a comparative increase of 8.5% and occupies 31.4% of city’s value, while import value at 446.02 billion RMB, a comparative increase of 22.6% and occupies 48.1% of city’s value.

With regards to the push for the development of Shanghai Free Trade Port Area, Zheng revealed that the customs are preparing the regulatory policy for the zone and he believes that the developments will be beneficial for Shanghai’s import and export industry.

Mobile social content sharing insights in China 2017

After the huge and recent success of 4YFN’s original and main startup event: 4YFN Barcelona, which in just over 4 years, has grown from 2,500 attendees in 2013 to 19,000 this year, the platform continues to expand into new regions, new markets supporting the startup ecosystem.

At GSMA’s Mobile World Congress Shanghai, due to take place from 28-30 June 2017, 4YFN will introduce 150 startups that will showcase the latest in digital tech solutions from all over the world, with one main collective goal of getting their product noticed within the Asian market.

4YFN is the startup business platform of Mobile World Capital Barcelona that enables startups, investors, corporations and public institutions to discover, create and launch new ventures together.

Startups across all industries, worldwide will participate this year, having access to over 53,000 MWCS attendees during the 3 days. Those that will be part of the 4YFN delegation will get great traffic during the event as the area is right next to the conference halls, where all the talks take place, meaning the exhibitors will benefit immensely from the constant flow of visitors.

The 4YFN Stage will feature talks and keynotes by leaders in the tech industry, mainly focusing on startup and corporate collaboration techniques. A number of startups exhibiting will have the invaluable opportunity to get up on stage and get further exposure by pitching their product to the crowd.

This can be a major milestone for startups getting their businesses noticed by the right people as investors and corporations will be frequenting this area on a daily basis, waiting to discover the latest pioneering ideas from the entrepreneurs in their preferred industries.

Exhibitors will also be automatically entered into a competition whereby the best 5 startups will be selected and asked to pitch on the final day to be picked and awarded as the best startup of the 4YFN Awards Shanghai 2017.

Amongst the talks, pitches and presentations, groups consisting of investors and corporations will be given specialised tours in and around the 4YFN Startup Area, in order to meet the startups on a more personal basis.

4YFN Shanghai 2017 will take place from 28 – 30 June 2017 in Shanghai, China.

The number of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) in China reached 1.34 million, an additional 130,000 compared to 2015 as of May 2016 according to Hurun Research.

The number of UHNWIs in China whose total assets worth exceed RMB 100 million reached 89,000, with an growth rate of 14.1%.

Guangdong province replaced Beijing as the top region with the most number of UHNWIs (240,000) with a growth rate of 17.65%. Beijing ranks second with 238,000 UHNWIs, followed by Shanghai (205,000) and Zhejiang province (160,000). The combined UHNWIs of this four regions reached 843,000, accounting for 63% of total.

China’s UHNWIs are mainly comprised of four groups: business owners (55%), gold collar (20%), real estate investors (15%), and professional stock traders (10%).

Continue to read China’s HNWIs outbound travel trends »

Laster this month, 4YFN (4 Years From Now) will take their colourful and energetic vibe to China at the next Mobile World Congress Shanghai (MWCS). Landing for the first time in Asia after the success over the past 3 years at Mobile World Congress Barcelona and bringing with them more than 100 international startups within the new 4YFN Startup Area. To add to the excitement, they are sharing lots of creative and fresh products to all MWCS attendees.

There will be health products, such as Asthmanager, a high-tech platform for long-term asthma sufferers, they have created a management system that´s able to connect to other medical devices, such as smart inhaler trackers and smart peak flow meters. Other useful health related products showcasing are: Nainiumama orBeiyunbang, very useful tools to answer any questions, track their health status or even pregnancy processes. Meanwhile, LiangYiHui is a multiplatform system for Chinese oncologists and patients that gathers therapeutic information, suggesting the best medical tools & learning material.

Startups are also bringing with them tools for making your daily work/life balance more manageable, such as Cityholic, a goal-oriented open platform and mobile service for second jobs that can increase income and broaden opportunities for extra jobs, or Zoom Offices, an online office marketplace connecting office users and landlords helping you find your ideal office space locally or internationally. Ever considered moving to a new office space abroad within a few days? Now you can.

For those keen travelers, a startups has solved some of the biggest headaches: connecting to WiFi – meet i-MiFi a mobile wireless internet router you can put in your pocket or bag, which provides you with internet access from any device that supports Wi-Fi, wherever you may be. Another useful tool on the road is JiTT.travel, an easy-to-use app with historical and cultural guides stating many of the world’s most important cities.

If you can’t get enough, don’t miss out on this impressive device: BLITAB, the first tactile tablet, with a liquid-based technology that creates tactile relief outputting braille, graphics and maps. People call it the “iPad” for the blind. BLITAB® is a next generation affordable multi-functional device for reading and writing that displays one whole page Braille text, without any mechanical elements.

All this and much more will be available at the 4YFN Startup Area in the Mobile World Congress Shanghai from the 29th June to the 1st July.

Code you can use to get IEP passes is: FEPYLH9FHP (limited to the first 25 registrations).
Visit here, register and use the code above to claim your ticket.

As of 31 December 2015, the number of travel agencies in China reached 27,621 according to China National Tourism Administration.

The top ten inbound traveler regions by the total number of person trips are Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Macau, the U.S., Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Russia.

China travel agencies organized a total number of 42.18 million person trips and received 45.29 million person trips in Q4 2015, an increase of 14.68% and 14.59% YoY.

Jiangsu (17%), Shanghai (9%), and Zhejiang (9%) are the top 3 travel destinations in China in Q4 2015.

Southeast Asia countries are among China’s most popular outbound tourism destinations, accounting for 27% of total person-trips in Q4 2015.

Also read: China Travel Insights for Chinese New Year 2016

Alipay is the largest third-payment online payment platform in China. And, Alipay is not satisfied to be only an online payment solution and made great attempts expanding offline in 2015.

Nanjing Alipay Street

Alipay set up the first “Alipay Street” in Nanjing with all restaurants in that street accepting electronic payment through Alipay. Simply by scanning the code could customers finish payments which improves the payment efficiency and avoids the circulation of counterfeit money.

WenZhou Alipay Food Fair

After entering supermarkets, convenience stores, hospitals and taxi-calling industries, Alipay began to enter the food fair markets in 2015. Wenzhou, a city in Zhejiang province, had the first “Alipay Smart Food Fair” in September 2015 where the smart weighing scales could generate the QR code for customer payments.

Beijing Alipay Transportation Card Service

Alipay launched the self-serving machine that citizens could withdraw cash from their transportation cards to their Alipay accounts. Citizens just needs to insert the card in the machine and then scan the QR code. Citizens could also buy cards and top up balance on these machines. About one hundred these machines have been put into use in Beijing and Shanghai.

Shanghai Alipay Breakfast Car

Alipay launched “Alipay Breakfast Car” in Shanghai with QR codes. Customers could pay on Alipay when buying breakfast in the hush morning eliminating the need for getting the change. Shanghai currently has 600 breakfast cars and another 1,000 will be available later.

Lijiang Alipay City Service

Lijiang, a city in Yunnan province, was a famous travel destination city in China. Alipay cooperated with Lijiang government that the city would be fully connected with Alipay payment. At present, Lijiang traffic violations, tourist attractions and other functions could be enquired on Alipay and in the future travelers will be able to use Alipay to buy attractions tickets, tour guide, map guide, and book transportation tickets.

Hong Kong Alipay Offline Shops

Hong Kong had more than 5,000 retails stores covering all fields from beauty make-up, electronics, gold, and jewelry to clothing, department stores, food and so on supporting payment by ALipay. On the basis of payment in the scan code, Alipay promised to support exclusive discounts for customers for the arrival of the new year.

Guangdong Alipay City Service Province

21 cities of Guangdong province had fully connected Alipay urban services in 2015. Citizens could enquire vehicle violation query, buy attractions tickets, renew Hong Kong and Macao Entry Permits, and etc.

Beijing Alipay Parking Lot

Alipay has announced a strategic partnership with smart parking platform ETCP and 500 parking lots in Beijing with nearly 100,000 parking spaces connected with Alipay. After following the “ETCP stop” service to bind their license plates on Alipay, car owners could park cars easily. ETCP license plate recognition technology would automatically photograph and calculate the license plate parking time, and get deductions from Alipay.

This service would also be available in Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Foshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Xi’an, Nanjing, and Shenzhen.

Also read:China Offline Mobile Payment Insights in 2015

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached 67.6708 trillion yuan (US$10.2872 trillion) with an increase of 6.9% YoY in 2015. The growth rate hit a record low since 1990 according to National Bureau of Statistics.

Related: China GDP grew faster than expected in Q1 2017, Top China Provinces/Municipalities by GDP in 2016

Shanghai ranked top city in China in 2015 with GDP of 2.5 trillion yuan (US$0.38 trillion), followed by Beijing (US$0.35 trillion) and Guangzhou (US$0.28 trillion). Hangzhou reached over 1 trillion yuan becoming the tenth largest GDP city in China.

Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu province, ranked top 11th top GDP city in China in 2015 and it was expected to reach 1 trillion yuan (US$0.15 trillion) in 2016.

Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province,  ranked the 21st largest GDP city in China in 2015. Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Zhejiang provinces were the four strongest provinces in economy in China in 2015.

Also read: China Retail V.S. Online Shopping 2015

Top 10 provinces with the highest average online shopping spends on Taobao are Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Tianjin, Beijing and Liaoning according to Taobao based on data from October 2014 to September 2015. Provinces with the lowest average spends are Gansu, Qinghai and Tibet.

Regional economic level influenced the development level of the online shopping market. The top five provinces with the highest online consumption located in the southeast coastal provinces where citizens got a higher income level than the average.

E-commerce in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and Guangdong has entered an advanced stage. These five regions received and delivered most online order packages in China.

Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai in total account for 15% national delivery packages on Double 11 shopping festival in 2015. Packages the three provinces received on Double 11 accounted for 25% of total and packages sent from these provinces accounted for half of total. High population concentration, a large volume of e-business companies (such as Alibaba in Hangzhou, Zhejiang) and low delivery fees led to busy logistic transportation here.

Well-developed transport and logistics system further stimulated online shopping. The purchasing power is relatively strong in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Many were new demands stimulated by online shopping market.

Xinjiang and Sichuan ranked sixth and seventh respectively surpassing Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong and other provinces which mainly resulted from various good categories and low costs in online shopping. Traditional commerce in Xinjiang wasn’t as developed as other regions in China; thus online shopping became an essential channel to buy products unavailable or expensive locally.

Taobao data also showed that Shanghai, Guangdong, Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang ranked top for being the most diversified online shopping consumption regions. Regions with advanced economic level tends to be more diversified in online consumption. Tianjin, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu also ranked in the top.

Also read: China Retail V.S. Online Shopping 2015

Female online shoppers, which contributed to over half of the domestic consumption revenue, have always been seen as the great driving force of e-commerce in China. However, men sometimes had even more purchasing power over some products, such as clothes, digital products, sports equipment and so on.

Data of Nanfang Metropolis Daily and Gome showed that clothes of male online shopping consumption in Shanghai accounted for the highest proportion of total transaction value, followed by Nanjing and Suzhou.

Beijing ranked first of male online shopping spend of digital products, followed by Shenzhen and Guangzhou. On one hand, Beijing is crowded by many universities, and the large demand of campus students for 3C digital products led the category online consumption surged; on the other hand, Beijing has many young consumers who came from other cities or countries; and the younger generally liked to try new technology products.

Chongqing’s male sports equipment consumption was in the leading position, followed by Tianjin and Chengdu.

China Top 9 Cities by Male Consumption in H1 2015

	3C Digital Product	Apperal	Sports Equipment
1	Beijing	Shanghai	Chengdu
2	Shenzhen	Nanjing	Tianjin
3	Guangzhou	Suzhou	Chongqing

In terms of top romantic cities in China, Beijing ranked the top by consumption of adult products in H1 2015. Besides, Shanghai male ones would be the romantic ones since they bought the most flowers and chocolate online.

Also read: China Online Shopping Accounted for over 10% of Total Retail in Q1 2015