Masters of the Internet

Pan Yingqiu

Game-changers for Chinas internet industry.

At 9：07 p.m. on September 14， 1987， the words “across the Great Wall， we can reach every corner in the world” was sent from the Beijing Computer Application Technology Research Institute and read in Germany via dial-up internet， marking the dawn of the internet era in China. Over the next several years， four major networks were built one after another as the backbone of Chinas information superhighway.

The second half of Chinas 40 years of reform and opening-up has featured rapid development of the internet industry. Thanks to the favorable business environment created by reform and opening-up policy， the innovation-driven industry has been making continuous improvement in infrastructure and attracting investment.

Today， China has more internet users than any other country in the world. Compared with other industries， the internet is more open， more transparent and more encouraging of bold innovation. It also has offered tools for capital accumulation. Over the last 20 years， a number of pioneering entrepreneurs have emerged as game-changers for Chinas internet industry.

Way of Life Changed

In 1995 in Seattle， USA， Jack Ma first connected to the internet. His friends suggested he search for the word “China” on the internet， but no results came up. “If I can help Chinese companies connect to businesses in the United States and other countries via the internet， I could make a fortune，” he thought.

Four years later， Alibaba.com was founded in Hangzhou， capital of eastern Chinas Zhejiang Province. Without knowing anything about computers or the information technology， Ma and 17 other co-founders launched the first internet company in China and made every attempt to convince people to invest in this online business-to-business trading platform. “At that time， I called myself a blind man riding blind tigers，” Ma recalled in a speech at the Asia Society in 2009.

In 2003， Taobao.com was founded by Alibaba Group as a consumer e-commerce platform similar to the U.S.-based eBay.com. Ma believed that if the platform could bring buyers and sellers into contact and facilitate sales， the website would profit from it. Taobao.com became a huge commercial success. In May 2015， it dethroned Yahoo.co.jp as the largest online shopping platform in Asia. The same year， its online sales exceeded 8 billion yuan （US$1.8 billion）， surpassing U.S. retail giant Wal-mart.

In 2004， Alibaba launched the third-party online payment platform Alipay while most cashless payments were still being made with credit cards or online bank transfers. Ten years later， Alipay had become the worlds largest mobile payment service provider. Today， cashless payments are facilitated in almost every corner of China， and most people make payments with their phones.

Now Alibaba is far more than merely a Chinese e-commerce platform—it is a multinational conglomerate that provides online sales and financial services via web portals. It also owns and operates a diverse array of businesses ranging from mapping services to entertainment and lifestyle such as UCWeb， AutoNavi， AliHealth， AliSports， AliMusic and Youku Tudou. Together， they form a complete business ecosystem.

Changing Communication

In China， almost every computer uses Tencent QQ， an instant messaging software with a penguin as its logo， and virtually every mobile phone uses WeChat， a messaging application developed by Tencent. These two messaging services have dramatically transformed how Chinese people communicate.

When Ma Huateng， founder of Tencent， was studying computer science at Shenzhen University in 1989， he didnt foresee the tremendous changes the internet would bring about. After he happened to learn about instant messaging software ICQ， Ma and his friends developed a Chinese version called QICQ， which was later changed to QQ. Because it was easy to operate and very useful in daily life， QQ quickly grew popular among Chinese internet users and 5 million accounts were registered in less than one year.

Ma started to build an internet product and service chain centered around QQ in 2003. When its web portal qq.com was launched in 2004， Tencent grew from a technology and application-oriented company to a user-oriented internet service provider. As of 2013， active users of QQ reached 800 million. It remains one of the most popular messaging applications among younger Chinese users.

In response to the beginning of the era of smart phones and mobile internet， Tencent launched WeChat， a multi-purpose messaging， social media and mobile payment application. Chinese people use WeChat to contact family and friends， have discussions with colleagues and communicate with business partners overseas. Even those who have never met can chat via the application. With multiple services like voice messaging， video calls， red envelope （monetary gifts）， an Instagram-esque “Moments” feature and mobile payments， WeChat has changed social life for over 1 billion users in China.

Even more recently， thanks to the rapid development of artificial intelligence （AI） and big data technology， the digital economy driven by information technology is booming. More outstanding players in Chinese internet industry have emerged alongside Alibaba and Tencent. Baidu.com， founded by Robin Li in 2001， is Chinas largest search engine. After graduating from Tsinghua University， Wang Xiaochuan invented Sogou Pinyin with his team in 2006， which became the most popular Chinese-language typing software in the world. Founded by Zhou Hongyi in 2005， Qihoo 360 is now Chinas largest and one of the worlds top three internet security companies. Soon after the Chinese government called for mass entrepreneurship and innovation in 2014， a wave of outstanding entrepreneurs emerged in the new era of China.