China’s e-commerce giants target Hong Kong market for growth

As competition intensifies among China's e-commerce giants during this year's "Double Eleven" shopping festival, many are turning to the emerging Hong Kong e-commerce market, investing heavily to expand their businesses.

Originally launched by Alibaba on Nov 11, 2009, the "Double Eleven" shopping spree has evolved into one of China's largest online sales events, with e-commerce platforms offering steep discounts to encourage consumer spending.

Alibaba, which operates Taobao, a leading e-commerce platform in China, announced in late September its plan to invest one billion yuan (about 139 million U.S. dollars) to offer free shipping in Hong Kong. The policy offers free delivery on orders over 99 yuan (about 14 U.S. dollars).

Another key player, JD.com, revealed a similar initiative, announcing an initial investment of 1.5 billion yuan (about 208 million U.S. dollars) in Hong Kong for product subsidies, logistics support and service upgrades.

"Data released by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government shows that, the e-commerce penetration rate in Hong Kong remained below 10 percent in the first seven months of this year," said Lao Guoling, director of the e-commerce research institute at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

The initial move to offer free shipping is a key strategy to attract more customers, but the success of this initiative will ultimately depend on the development of efficient logistics networks, though optimizing these systems is likely to take considerable time.

"The supportive infrastructure and services will gradually improve, and once the first step is taken, the rest will follow. This is why I believe that taking that initial step holds even greater significance," said Lao.

She further emphasized that expanding into Hong Kong offers valuable learning opportunities for platforms in the mainland.

"We can apply our proven e-commerce experience while piloting in Hong Kong, benefiting people there. Meanwhile, the e-commerce operation rules and other aspects may also provide e-commerce platforms with more opportunities to practice," she said.

China’s e-commerce giants target Hong Kong market for growth

A dazzling lineup of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies was on display at an immersive tech fair that just concluded on Tuesday in Guangzhou City, south China, captivating visitors with true-to-life and thrilling game experiences.

Held inside the China Import and Export Fair Complex, the three-day World VR/AR/XR/MR Industry and Smart Glasses Exhibition drew exhibitors from around the world to showcase their hottest immersive products, and tech enthusiasts couldn't wait to test the gadgets and gear firsthand.

"I just experienced the VR skydiving. The sense of weightlessness is very strong, and my experience is fantastic. It feels like real skydiving, but you can't stay for too long, as it's so real that you might get a bit dizzy," one visitor said.

A local company presented several products including a dome-screen theater that delivers glasses-free 3D visuals ideal for tourist attractions.

"The highlight is that we have turned the track-based theater into a dome theater. It offers a 3D audio-visual experience with 8K high-definition images. Our exclusive footage is incredibly sharp, and we've added immersive motion effects along with special effects like wind, rain, thunder, snowflakes, and bubbles," said Liu Jiale, sales manager of the exhibiting company.

The company landed an overseas order on the very first day of the expo, and saw a steady stream of curious visitors stopping by to try out the products.

Another overseas company showcased a VR large-space arena that allows multiple visitors to experience it at once. The game has already attracted players from 35 countries and regions.

"We come here every year to introduce new games. We have many clients, both Chinese and international, from countries like Kazakhstan, Spain, France, and many others. We offer seven VR games with new maps, and our games currently support eight foreign languages," said Denis, the company manager.

China is now home to over 35,000 VR firms, and the whole VR industry is forecast to exceed 350 billion yuan (about 50 billion U.S. dollars) by 2026.

Immersive VR games wow crowds at Guangzhou tech expo