Sitting in front of a computer in his office, Huang Jinhuo, who runs a machinery company in east China's Fujian Province, completed the filing of an export tax rebate with just a few clicks of his mouse.
Once the application is verified, the drawback will be transferred to the company's account in two or three days. Previously, such a process used to take at least a month and a lot of legwork.
Read more: Digital technology injects vitality, strength into China's governance
A Shenzhen official says the city's big data approach to governance shows a contrast to Hong Kong's "mindset"
Shenzhen is experimenting with a “party and technology” development model as it aims to become a “socialist model city.”
The city, which is known for its technology industry, was told by Beijing in August to find “the best modern governance practices that promote high quality and sustainable development so it can be held up as an example of civilized society of law and order where people enjoy a high degree of satisfaction.”
Read more: CN: Guangdong: Shenzhen wants to use technology to become a 'socialist model city'
A firsthand look at connected technology in China, which despite the two countries’ vastly different political structures is developing along much the same path as it is in U.S. states and localities.
On the last day of May, I boarded a 13-hour flight to Beijing, not completely certain about what to expect over the next month. This was the beginning of my Zhi-Xing Eisenhower Fellowship. Over the next 28 days, I would travel to seven cities, meet with more than 100 people, and become fully immersed in a different culture.
Read more: China Smart City Tech in Line with that of the U.S.
One thing that brings most global tech companies together regardless of their claimed area of expertise is that they are all in the business of data. That Google, Facebook and Amazon know everything about us comes as no surprise given their all-encompassing businesses, but in China, even the seemingly niche companies find innovative ways to mine user data and use it for fulfilling their futuristic fixations and not least making oodles of money.
Didi Chuxing, Meituan-Dianping, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and Xiaomi all have ascendancy over different sectors of Chinese tech. Didi dominates mobility; Meituan is the king of food delivery; Alibaba owns e-commerce and has stakes in a plethora of Chinese and foreign upstarts; Tencent does social media, gaming and excessive investing; Baidu rules search and aspires to lead the AI race; while Huawei churns out smartphones and telecom infrastructure. While extremely different in direction and ethos, somehow these companies all have a common dream of putting their massive databases, compiled in extremely divergent ways, to use in smart cities.
China has been making tremendous efforts to transform its top megacities into smart ones through innovation, government support and international cooperation, said current and former officials of Chinese and American cities at a summit on Wednesday.
Air and water pollution, healthcare burdens, and demographic issues are among the primary challenges facing these heavily populated cities, said Annise Parker, former mayor of Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States.
Read more: How innovation will boost China's smart megacities