The 2023 Future Close-Up, a program taking young international representatives on a tour to learn about China’s digital economy
International youth navigate China’s digital economy
By Tao Xing
Senior Anchor Person Rida Safi,
The 2023 Future Close-Up, a program taking young international representatives on a tour to learn about China’s digital economy, kicks off in Shenzhen on June 15. Sixteen representatives from 14 countries, including China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, South Africa and Pakistan, will embark on a six-day journey that intends to bring them an in-depth understanding of China’s achievements in developing the digital economy.
During their two-day stay in Shenzhen, a major tech hub in south China’s Guangdong Province, they will visit companies such as tech titan Tencent, Honor, a leading global provider of smart devices, and Ping An, one of China’s largest integrated financial groups. They will have extensive in-person interactions with these companies’ employees to learn more about their technology work.
The youth representatives comprise entrepreneurs, scholars and reporters, many of whom are social media influencers who will share their stories and experiences along the way.
China will be an uncontested global digital economy leader in the 21st century, and a civilization capable of combining world-class innovation, strong work ethic, entrepreneurial spirit, and respect for nature, Igor Alexander Bello Tasic, founder and CEO of Meta Ventures, told Beijing Review. His company is a metaverse and technology research and development consulting firm based in Spain. During this tour, he expects to better grasp how other attending young representatives envision the future and how they can work together to turn that vision into reality.
“I am excited to be invited on the tour. As an entrepreneur, I hope to establish valuable business connections and understand China’s digital economy so that I can strive to promote the same in my country,” Jibran Ali Khan, CEO of JAK Education and Innovation Consultancy and Media Brick in Pakistan, told Beijing Review. He has a combined following of more than 100,000 on Instagram and other social media platforms.
“I would like to learn more about the Chinese business landscape, meet like-minded business people, explore ways to work with Chinese organizations and explore market trends in China,” Arthur Gopak, a youth from Latvia and CEO and co-founder of AlphaGamma, a business portal for young professionals.
Zhang Jun, General Manager of Marketing and Public Relations Department of Tencent, said when meeting with the young representatives that he hopes “they will enjoy [the trip] and learn more about China’s digital economy in the coming days.”
On June 16, these young representatives will fly to Beijing to participate in follow-up activities including the 2023 Future Close-Up Forum on June 20. This event is co-hosted by China International Communications Group (CICG) and Tencent and is coordinated by the CICG Center for the Americas.
