CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Wednesday, October 28, 2020 FOCUSHK | 7 Riding the livestreaming digital wave

Young HK entrepreneurs are finding their feet in the Bay Area, where the digital economy has seen rapid transformation in recent years, stimulating the consumer market and creating jobs in the face of the COVID-19 threat. Chen Zimo reports.

hen Ronald Cheng Pang-cheung chose to start a media company in Shen- zhenW in 2015 to help farmers in the remote regions of Guangdong province market their products, there was no such thing as TikTok and hardly any live e-commerce platforms on the internet. The 27-year-old from Hong Kong had to rely on Tencent’s WeChat public accounts, which, at that time, were criticized for being “unfriendly” to users wish- ing to put out a video. Lacking business experience and funding, his enterprise was a non- starter and was soon tottering on the brink of bankruptcy. Not only did he fail to deliver farmers’ pro- duce to the tables of consumers, he couldn’t make ends meet and had to survive on instant noodles for three months. But his fortunes took a turn for the better a year later in the form of a viral video. A real-estate company asked Cheng to devise a marketing project concerning a show-business celebrity couple’s divorce drama. So, he produced a show asking people in the streets whether they would choose a of the national gross domestic Guangdong and taught children The online trend in the Bay Area house or their children in a hypo- product, according to the China during long vacations. The expe- has given fresh impetus to more thetical divorce case. Academy of Information and rience made him determined to young people born and bred in The video, which sparked a heat- Communications Technology. start his own business after gradu- Hong Kong. ed debate, drew 30 million views In July this year, 13 central gov- ation and open up a network that Yeung Ka-fai, who will graduate within two days of its release on ernment departments co-signed would connect secluded moun- in 2022 from the Fujian University video hosting platforms, earning a document backing the develop- tains with the cities. of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Cheng 1 million yuan ($149,000) ment of the booming industry. has also set his sights on the bur- from investors and several media The digital economy is expected Bay Area opportunities geoning online e-commerce busi- projects, including advertising, to stimulate the consumer mar- Cheng recently returned from a ness as he believes it’s “in trend”. making web series and online ket and increase employment in fruitful trip to northwestern Chi- He aims to create an online to movies. the face of the challenges posed na, including Gansu and Shaanxi o¨ ine (O2O) platform to match Two years later, when the couple by the COVID-19 pandemic, the provinces — homes to a wealth of TCM-related healthcare services o• cially divorced, Cheng’s com- document said. ancient Chinese historical sites. provided by practitioners to cope pany had landed on the emerg- “Everyone, and cities as well, He stressed that the journey with rising market demand. ing viral social networking service has a goal to hit the fi nish line. would not have been a smooth Yeung joined a trainee program Douyin — the original and main- We’ve to keep running,” says ride two years ago when it was for livestreaming e-commerce ini- land version of TikTok. By then, he Cheng, noting Hong Kong has not possible to buy a ticket from tiated by the Hong Kong e-Com- already had his fi nger on the pulse been struggling to fi nd a path for an automatic ticketing machine merce Research Centre this year to of the digital era. itself. at a train station using a main- give him a head start in building “Fortunately, we’re betting on He hopes Hong Kong will feel land travel permit for Hong Kong his career in the domain. the right track. As the TikTok it’s not satisfi ed with what it has and Macao residents. They had He has been trained in all- accounts attracted more and more achieved so far or its present posi- to queue up at the counter to get around skill sets, including how tra• c in June last year, our team tion. Cheng’s father had helmed a their tickets. to resonate with target audiences, had grown from just three staff large logistics company in Hong The conundrum was soon thereby leveraging livestreaming at the onset to more than 20 and Kong. Before retiring, his business solved with residents from Hong platforms like Taobao Live to bol- finally got the business off the had been shrinking as throughput Kong, Macao and Taiwan being ster sales for their businesses. ground, managing more than 100 at Hong Kong’s ports gradually allowed to apply for residence per- In a report on Hong Kong’s cur- o• cial accounts,” recalls Cheng. lost out to those of cities on the mits on the mainland if they’ve rent information and technology Cheng, now chief executive mainland. lived, worked or studied there status and future prospects — of Shenzhen-based Hugo Media In his profession, Cheng feels for more than six months. The Realizing Hong Kong’s Innovation Technology, says all one needs to Hong Kong’s cultural influence new permit, which grants them Potential in the Greater Bay Area do to lift oœ in business is to seize has been in a free fall. When his the same rights and treatment as — Naubahar Sharif, associate pro- every opportunity that comes colleagues consulted him about those of mainland residents in the fessor of social science and public along and go for it. A successful getting quotes from Hong Kong use of public services, saves Cheng policy at the Hong Kong Universi- project speaks for itself and clients movies or TV series, they were and others like him the hassle of ty of Science and Technology, said will bring in other clients, allow- always referring to classics from a queuing up at the counter. that to catch up with the Chinese ing the business to grow naturally. decade or even decades ago. According to the Hong Kong mainland in the new economy, Sitting on one’s laurels won’t With the cultural difference Special Administration Region greater attention should be paid to work, he believes. Cheng and his posing a bit of a challenge, he says government, more than 200,000 promising strategic areas, such as team always maintain a sense of it’s rare for him to see Hong Kong Hong Kong people had applied e-commerce, to facilitate collabo- crisis in such a competitive indus- people in his industry although a for the permits as of September ration in innovation with enter- try, where 3 to 5 percent of the top growing number of young Hong last year. prises and institutions in the Bay media companies can make the Kong people have been settling Other favorable policies intro- Area. grade and survive. down in Guangdong and other duced by the mainland authorities The Bay Area, he argues, Players in the fi eld have to keep regions on the mainland to have been immensely helpful to remains the best bet for young an eye out for hourly trends on explore career opportunities. As startups like Cheng’s. Hong Kong people in unleashing diœ erent social media platforms of November last year, more than His company’s premises, located and realizing their innovation and decide which ones are worth 600 startup projects initiated by at an industrial park in Shenzhen’s potential. Volunteers of Barefoot, a volunteer group founded by Ronald Cheng making a story about. Most of the young people from Hong Kong Longhua district, carries a month- Having made a mark in Pang-cheung when he was a university student, teach and play topics don’t last more than five and Macao had taken root in more with children at Zhangshu Elementary School in Ganzhou, Jiangxi ly rent of 65 yuan per square livestreaming e-commerce with hours, says Cheng. than 50 innovation platforms in province, in August 2019. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY meter. The Longhua government more than 30 million engage- Guangdong, according to rough provides a subsidy of 40 yuan per ments, Cheng persistently sticks Driving forces estimates. square meter to all eligible com- to his mantle when setting foot in “In reality, I’m encouraged by But some Hong Kong people’s panies, making Cheng’s monthly the digital media — going to great two factors — the rapid develop- knowledge of the mainland’s con- rent at only 4,500 yuan. “This has lengths to promote the Bay Area to ment of digital media and the temporary culture is still trailing, In reality, I’m greatly reduced the burden of my Hong Kong’s younger generation. Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao not going beyond a few entertain- encouraged by two starting a business,” says Cheng. “In so doing, we intend to show- Greater Bay Area taking oœ ,” he ment stars, says Cheng. The local authorities would visit case the Bay Area’s development says. He has carved out his career The solution is to get involved. factors — the rapid startups there and ask them what in the form of short videos.” on the cusp of the Chinese main- “No book can cram in all that development of they would need, “putting them- He hopes to use his tried-and- land’s digital transformation. knowledge about where you’re selves in our shoes” when imple- true experience to paint a bright- In recent years, the Chinese living. It must be constantly accu- digital media and the menting policies, says Cheng. er picture for his peers in Hong mainland has set its sights on the mulated every day.” Guangdong-Hong With Shenzhen set to launch a Kong to go to the Bay Area and get fast-growing digital economy — a Living on the mainland for the Kong-Macao Greater new round of reforms in the next hands-on experience themselves. mode that uses digital computing past decade, Cheng has met peo- five years. Cheng says he looks technology to boost production ple from diœ erent backgrounds. In Bay Area taking off.” forward to seeing some relaxation Cissy Wang contributed to this and consumption. The added val- his fi rst year at Jinan University in Ronald Cheng Pang-cheung, of quota restrictions on foreign story. ue of the mainland’s digital econ- Guangzhou, Cheng founded Bare- chief executive of Hugo Media exchange, which would allow his omy reached 35.8 trillion yuan last foot — a volunteer group — and Technology company to expand cooperation Contact the writer at year, accounting for 36.2 percent donated supplies to rural areas in with global partners. [email protected]