Discussion keeps the world's turning.
This is Roundtable.
Your listening to Roundtable with myself, Hey Young.
I'm joined by Lee Yee and you should in the studio.
Coming up, Savvy Shoppers Assemble.
We are unboxing the spoils of June 18th, e-commerce promotional day.
Some green buys to AI Vibes sees the Chinese online shoppers vote with their wallets.
Digital wallets.
May I say?
Because apparently wallets sales have been going down year by year.
And what are this year's biggest e-commerce shopping trends so far?
And prepare to be amazed by the tale of an unlikely math prodigy, a teenage vocational
schoolgirl studying fashion just schooled the world's brightest minds at a major international
math competition.
This underdog story will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about nurturing
genesis.
And our podcast listeners can find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcasts.
Xiao Yu-jiao, Spotify and all major international platforms.
If you have a question, you like to...
Well, ask so that we could answer in a future show, whether it be about something that
happened in the news or something you've been wandering about, you could email us
a voice memo, eZ, at the Roundtable at FoxMail.com.
Now let's move on to the next topic of today.
The 618 or June 18th e-commerce shopping festival is here.
The newspaper, Southern Metropolis Daily, has found that over 70% of consumers that it
surveyed already placed orders days ahead of time.
From green consumption to AI-powered tech gadgets, what trends are we noticing this year?
Well this June 18th e-commerce promotional day has witnessed a significant rise in environmental
consciousness among its consumers and Lee.
Sure.
I think this 618 e-commerce promotion day has really witnessed a significant rise in
environmental consciousness among consumers with nearly 74% of consumers prioritizing eco-friendly
and sustainable products.
And this trend is particularly prominent among younger generations because according to
the China e-commerce screen development report, over 60% of respondents are familiar
with green consumption, with understanding rates amount opposed to 19s and posted
zeros, generations reaching 70% and 79% respectively.
And this year I think platforms like Xiang Yu, which is a major second-hand trade platform
here in China, have really seen a surge in the trade of second-hand items with over
1 billion users listing their idol goods in the past year.
This trend not only reduces waste but also contributes to substantial carbon emission
reductions with Xiang Yu's collectively saving 3.1 million tons of carbon dioxide in the
2023 fiscal year.
And meantime, there's a strong trend towards green consumption among consumers because they
are increasingly cruising products with a lower environmental impact such as energy-inficient
appliances, sustainable fashion and eco-friendly household items.
And one trend I noticed that when you glanced reviews of different products on top
of our orjety.com, you will see a luxury or over-packaging is no longer a factor that
will just win your consumer on the contrary.
You see complaints from consumers seeing that I'm just buying a t-shirt.
Is it really essential for stores to get me this whole lot of packages?
No, I don't really think so.
So I would say among especially younger generations of consumers, people are saying no to over-packaging
because we want to buy in a more friendly way to the environment.
Yeah, that's definitely something that people keep in mind.
And just the fact that that second-hand platform, a major player in the industry that Lee
you refer to, it has 500 million users listing goods on its platform.
Just shows that there are a lot of people who, instead of buying completely new, they
want to go for second-hand and is that a much cheaper price and also list your own stuff
on there.
Sometimes like these days, there are a few traits of that Chinese Gen Z share and having an
account on one of these platforms to sell second, sell in buy second-hand goods, that is
one of them.
Even though we don't know that what is the main purpose of them trading second-hand goods
on these platforms, are they really aiming for environmental protection moves?
We don't know, but at least they are actually cutting these carbon footprints.
At least they're decluttering their own closet.
And actually a lot of these moves, such as using second-hand or not buying brand new things
is actually cutting carbon footprints.
So of course they are doing something really good for the environment.
And we can see another trend, I would say, is that a lot of these consumers are buying
3C products or basically technological products.
Actually we have discussed before that users have developed different shopping habits
for different platforms.
This might depend on the platforms return and exchange policies or brand positioning.
But anyway, since this 618 shopping festival was initiated by this platform JD.com, people
tend to buy homoplanes and electronic products on this platform.
So according to many media reports, over 80% of consumers have expressed a preference
on purchasing 3C, which means computer communication and consumer electronics products for hom.
JD.com with 60% indicating a willingness to explore new AI powered offerings.
Actually, yeah, I would say it is the trend because recently AI PC, this word, has become
a very popular topic to be honest.
And it's not surprising that people want to update their devices at this time.
These computers come with new software featuring building AI or more powerful chips that can
run powerful AI's are very popular among people.
And I'm sorry, can I just quickly ask because you know this so much better than I do cutting
edge technology, go to person on the team, you should is the one.
So, so when you say AI PC, so that's AI powered personal computers, right?
So can you buy these things in China already or is this still more like a heated topic
that those who are like you who I don't know read or operate within the tech circle would
be interested in?
Yes, actually, this is still more like the concept.
Okay.
I'm glad to hear that.
So, I'm not too far behind the curve.
A lot of advertisement and all these manufacturers are promoting their PCs as we are becoming
an AI PC, which means they are integrating or at least we can see, you know, Microsoft
is integrating co co pilot into their Microsoft 11 or sorry, Windows 11 operating system,
which means you can use more AI into your operating system.
But still, I think in our imagination, maybe AI PC means when you turn on this PC, you
can just give them a prompt and they will start a application for you and do anything
or any paper.
Help me write something.
Help me write something.
Yes, work just go buy anything online and that specific item is what I want something
like that.
Still, yeah, there is a, you know, a period that we need to go.
Right.
And also Apple has just included open AI's.
Strategy PT into their new operating system.
That's what I'm trying to say.
Oh, sorry.
I'm the gun.
Sorry.
In this Apple's, WDC conference something also announced, you know, the collaboration with
Chagg PT and indicating that, you know, I think future electronic products well increasingly
integrate with AI, providing users with more unique experiences.
And our personal assistant or intelligent, personal assistants can be more intelligent.
Hmm.
See with AI, I mean, sorry to dwell on this again, but it's only as good as the data
it's being trained upon.
So if, I mean, this is definitely a major conundrum for humanity right now.
If you don't give it enough information and data from a whole wide range, if not all
aspects of life, if that's not open to the AI to be trained upon, then you're not going
to get satisfactory results.
If you're closing off so many areas of information that you're letting it to be trained
upon, then you're not going to get the kind of, you know, create, well, sometimes we
even say creative or, you know, new or mind blowing results that you want from it.
So what do you do about that?
And then I think that is, but also there's many areas of data.
If not, well, copyrighted data that, you know, those originators are certainly not happy
to just give it up anyway, but maybe they can also argue these AI systems have already
gulped a lot of it up already.
So we'll see what happens with that.
But we've also seen that Chinese consumers have been very welcoming when it comes to new
technology and new gadgets.
And I suspect that a lot of these AI powered gadgets, okay, I suspect the level of AI is
being used, but anything that's been attached with the two English letters AI can generate
some foot traffic possibly among the other products in its category.
But beyond these product categories, new trends in this June 18th shopping festival have
taken shape.
And this includes shoppers are very shrewd and they're used to comparing prices.
And they want to, they do the cost benefit analysis.
And if it's not the sweet deal that they count by the Yon's, they're not going to buy.
And they'll go to someone else.
And what are some of the other interesting new trends that you think is worth our attention?
I think another thing is that a lot of younger consumers, they are more than willing to
pay for emotional value.
I think this is another topic that we have discussed a lot of times in Roundtable Show,
meaning that people are not only buying or paying for some products, they are also paying
for say emotional satisfaction brought by this product.
And according to a survey, nearly 60% of Gen Z and 52% of millennials acknowledge the
existence of emotional value consumption, they are not only merely following the brand
labels, meaning that they are not only embracing the big major brands, but also trying to seek
sort of joy and satisfaction from their purchases, even including buying some little weird products
I don't really understand, but that somehow can bring them happiness.
So that's another interesting.
But I was thinking, what's that?
What could it be?
I'm curious.
Isn't buying the action of buying it?
Already set aside.
Emotional satisfaction.
I would say that's actually very smart marketing strategy conducted by those business operas
out there.
There are somehow labiting this, say they're simply selling some green plants that you
can place on your text.
However, they are also placing certain labels on the plants, such as feng Qing Song
or take it easy on the plants together.
This is your own mini grass plant.
Somehow younger consumers would think, okay, I'm just also buying this plant for this
relaxing moment that I can trade for myself in the office, and which can also be much
more expensive than an ordinary plant without that label.
So that's emotional value.
Oh, and that's what people want.
And there are a whole string of products that have been designed with that line of thinking
in mind.
And we see that certainly for shoppers from embracing eco-consciousness to welcoming AI into
our homes and lives, consumption has catalyzed a shift in the mindset, challenging us to
re-evaluate our priorities and values as consumers.
And we're reminded on this day that our purchasing decisions hold the power to shape not just
our lifestyles, but possibly the future of our planet and society because with every
consumption you make, you are telling something to that company and also these consumption
decisions.
So, what's creating the carbon footprint is creating a lot more than one might sort of
assume when you're clicking on your smartphone to make that purchase.
So that's something to think about.
And you are listening to Roundtable coming up, brace yourselves for an incredible story
about a math whiz kid, a teenage girl studying fashion at a trade school, somehow managed
to outshine math genuses from elite universities at the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition.
You'll probably never be able to look at vocational students the same way again after hearing
this.
Stay tuned.
Looking for passion?
How about fiery debate?
Want to hear about current events in China from different perspectives?
And tune in to Roundtable, where East meets West and understanding is the goal.
It's the hour of Roundtable with myself, Ho Young.
I'm driven by Li Yi and you should in the studio.
Defying all expectations, Jiang Ping, a 17 year old vocational school student from Eastern
China's Jiangsu Province has stunned everyone by making it to the finals of the prestigious
2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition.
Among the top 20 finalists, Jiang Ping is the only one not from a renowned university,
such as Peaking University, Qing Hua, MIT, or Cambridge.
Securing an impressive 12th place.
This teenager's incredible achievement has shattered preconceived notions and left the
world in awe with her off-the-charts math skills.
So incredible.
Really, it's her talent.
I'm so excited to talk about this.
So actually alongside what Ho Young, you have already cited of those ranked above Jiang Ping,
those ranked after Jiang Ping, we can see, number 13 is a doctoral student from the Chinese
Academy of Sciences.
Number 14 is a gold medalist from the 37th International Mathematics Olympiad.
And 15th is the top scorer in Jiangsu's college entrance exam.
And all of these we can see how impressive this 12th place girl is.
And Jiang Ping is basically self-taught, which shows that how amazing her talent is and
how hard work that will be behind her success.
Yeah, and a lot of the other participants are quite a bit older than her.
Yes.
She's the only girl that's made it to the top, how many place it is.
And how has Jiang Ping's mathematical talent been discovered and nurtured?
Well, according to media reports, her math teacher Wang Rinh, she already played an important
role in terms of recognizing and nurturing her talent.
Actually the teacher himself is a master's graduate from Jiangsu University School of Mathematical
Sciences and also a previous participant in the Alibaba competition.
And Wang actually somehow managed to identify Jiang Ping's potential and also provided special
guidance to her, say through advanced mathematical concepts and also recommending challenging
textbooks such as 20 universities advanced mathematics, she will means mathematical
analysis and even introducing her to partial differential equation.
To be honest, I don't really know what are they.
However, without Wang's keen eye and encouragement, Jiang Ping's passion for mathematics might
have been stifled in a vocational school setting and teacher himself scored 125th spot
in the same competition.
And kind of sweet in the way.
Somehow the previous generation of talents passed, he's all in talent experience to
resolve.
And also, when you look at a lot of media reports and online discussion about Jiang Ping,
many people will just consider her as a talent in mathematics.
But really, I think even the most or the best talent also still needs hard work to achieve
certain achievements.
And the same as Jiang Ping because her determined nation and love for mathematics also drove
her to persist despite the challenges she faced.
And actually we can see that according to media reports, she's not really a major in mathematics
on the contrary.
She majors in a parallel design in his vocational school.
However, she considered mathematics as her plan B alongside her fashion design studies,
yet she still made huge effort in studying and researching in this Plan B sector, which
ultimately paved a way for her towards where she is right now.
I was thinking, was her thinking mathematics as a plan B or fashion design as a plan B?
Of course, there are some news reports are saying that she is actually majoring this fashion
design and she basically or largely self-taught and because her passion toward mathematics.
So I was thinking maybe after the period of her fashion design major or this vocational
school time, maybe she can pursue another diploma for mathematics.
So that's interesting.
We don't know what might happen for her next.
Maybe that's something she would like to do, but also for a 17-year-old, so this is
before the college entrance examination, but for her if she's already gone to or if she's
already enrolled into a trade school or a vocational school, then that pretty much means
that she's not going to attend the college entrance examination, right?
And usually in China, that's how it works.
And also, I think this is one of those classic examples of, you know, you're kind of at the
crossroads of your life.
And maybe you have this hobby or this passion and that is in jumping story mathematics,
but does mathematics bring you the dough tomorrow, pay your monthly bills?
It doesn't.
But if you study fashion design and also you study how to make clothes, that sounds like
to be a far more viable solution to at least earn some money and make a living.
And I think for a lot of average people, we think about this.
Maybe you're lucky enough to, lucky is not really a good word here.
If you're, I don't know what word it should be, but if, because so many Chinese people
actually do not identify what is your true love or passion in life, and it's absolutely
saddening and maddening that a lot of young people do not know what that is.
So anyhow, you might have this thing you want in life, but it doesn't bring in money.
And then don't you want to sort of also have a fallback solution that can sort of earn
a living?
And that's what she essentially has decided to do.
That is, she will study fashion design and along the side, she will make, she said that
there's a lot of leisure time that she has at the vocational school and that's when she
devotes so much of her personal time to studying mathematics.
And what's also really interesting and Lee and I had a really brief chat about this,
is that for someone who has an eye for something that you truly love, and in this case,
mathematics, even in fashion design, she sees geometry.
She sees all these mathematical abstract concepts in play.
And that's someone who's a true lover of this chosen path.
And also guys, could our societies be missing out on invaluable contributions from individuals
whose talents lie outside of the traditional academic mold because here in China, most
young people will go through the college entrance examination.
And if you don't do well in those six subjects, then you don't really stand a chance in passing
that exam in flying colors.
And then therefore we say there are so many different paths in life.
But for a lot of young people in front of this examination, they don't see so many paths.
It is, I need to score as high as possible and you got to be good at all these subjects.
Otherwise it's just not going to do well for you.
I think of course the broad reach of education, first of all, is certainly very important.
And this is something our country has consistently been working on.
And also I think that talent can be discovered even during the high school education stages
or before that, because before entering university or the vocational stage, various courses
and competitions can also inspire students passion for a very particular field.
However, it is undeniable that currently expecting students to excel in every subject at this
stage does indeed place some pressure on them.
And to back to that question, Afoyang, she actually is in a vocational school.
And actually after that she can apply for maybe vocational college.
And then she can take some exams to a university.
So that is actually the path.
If you would like to pursue further education in this field, there is a way, you know,
official system for these kind of students to pursue higher or further study.
So I think there are some ways for students to no matter, you know, discover the particular
area that they are passionate about.
And also, you know, based on this jumping case, a lot of people are discussing about this
Pianco meaning that you are having exceptional talent in using one single subject instead
of other subjects, which is less encouraged by teachers and parents because as long as
you are in senior high school, you are going to participate college entrance exam.
You need to really achieve rather comprehensive academic scores to get a higher rank, which
is somehow disappointing for a lot of younger kids who maybe have special talent in one
single subject instead of all other subjects.
So luckily, I think now we are seeing some reform in terms of this college entrance exam.
You can, they are granting certain level of freedom to young people to choose certain
subjects.
You can get your exam for.
In the meantime, I just want to say it might just be one tricky part of this national examination
because you need to consider the overall fairness of this evaluation system as well.
Definitely.
Yeah, so may argue that this well-rounded education system or just this kind of education is
essential for developing problem solving, communication and other skills that are valuable
across various domains and focusing too narrowly on a specific area of talent or subject could
be difficult.
