Second China Shock? Wait till you see Version 3.0
China’s manufacturing prowess is increasingly getting to be a case of ‘so good it hurts’ for the rest of the world. Now, wait for the services thrust.
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Many countries are struggling to cope with China’s prowess in manufacturing. Now, it is poised to become a significant player in the services sector.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Three months ago, some two dozen senior figures from Singapore’s financial industry visited China on a tour organised by the Human Capital Leadership Institute that also took them to the US, Switzerland and Indonesia. For most participants, the highlight of the China leg was a meeting with WeBank, the digital bank founded by Tencent Holdings.
“WeBank explained to us how they had scaled up so much these last two years that customer acquisition cost is now down to 2 yuan (38 Singapore cents) per person, which is simply incredible,” says a course participant. “Many of us looked at one another in disbelief and the thought was – ‘What will they do to all of us in the services industry if they had the same access to our markets as they have with manufacturing?’ They were phenomenal.”
