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tv   Asia Insight  PBS  May 4, 2016 4:30am-5:01am PDT

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♪ ♪ china's national people's congress was held in march 2015. li keqiang used the word
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internet plus by integrating communication technology with conventional industries. the country's internet users now more than double those of the u.s. the market size of the online economy including sales and games is close to $140 billion u.s. amid this environment, there was a focus on smartphones which 80% of internet user own. innovative apps are being developed to develop new types of businesses and services, changing people's lifestyles.
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on chinese new year families gather to pray for happiness. but the internet is changing the way people spend this century's old holiday. on the eve of chinese new year, people sit in front of their tv sets tapping away on their smartphones. that's because, through a smartphone app they are competing to win cash offered by companies as part of a pr stunt. ♪ a total of $120 million in cash
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was given away this year during the nationwide show for chinese new year. the cash won during the show was deposited immediately to people's bank accounts. this event was possible because smartphones can now be used for financial services. many unique business models have begun under the government's new policies. internet plus provides new ways of interacting, and has great potential. this episode of "asia insight" shows the new lifestyles chosen by the chinese people and
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facilitated by the new national policy. pentek is a word that has been gaining attention during the recent years. it combines the word financial and technology. it refers to the services used for information technology, the services commonly used in the u.s. where fintech has taken root. in china, financial services using smartphones began five years ago and have been rapidly expanding in the past three years. ja lei works for an i.t. firm in shanghai. as chief of the beijing branch,
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he has been going on business trips several times a year. his smartphone has become an irreplacement part of his routine. since online financial services began, jai hardly ever carries around cash. he uses the qr codes of various stores to pay for purchases. ♪ store clerks check customers' phones to finish payment. in china, there is no service charge for deposits within the same bank in a city. but a charge is applied for remittances from bank "a" to
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bank "b." financial service companies using smartphones have partnerships with all banks, enabling individuals to transfer money between any bank without paying a charge. now any small vendor in beijing can allow payment via smartphones. that's because no equipment is needed. sellers simply download apps on their smartphones, register their bank account and personal details, and print out a qr code which customers scan to pay. even street vendors can enable smartphone payments.
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this is the apartment where jai lives. he only comes here to sleep, as
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he often works late or is gone on business trips. today was an unusual day off for him. until a few years ago, jai had to go through an interview with a broker to hire a maid for the protection of both parties. now an app serves as i.d. confirmation and maids can be dispatched on the day customers request them. a two-hour cleaning service costs about $7.
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fintech is even changing jobs that have existed for many years.
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in 2015, smartphone payments within china almost doubled to $1.4 trillion. but critics say the response to the rapid change isn't keeping up. li yu tingjie predicted the arrival two years ago in his book.
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the question is how to develop new rules without hampering growth. in many industries internet use is outpacing regulations. these luxury cars cost over $60,000 each. this man, a successful user of smartphone apps, came to buy a new car.
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wong wei is a driver who uses an online car dispatch service. he says that, by changing to a foreign luxury car, he can register in higher paying categories. beijing has long suffered a shortage of taxis. the government has limited the number of taxis within beijing to about 60,000, since the 1990s. this made it almost impossible for locals to get a cab, partly due to the traffic jams. but the car dispatch services, which began in 2012, changed that dramatically. now more than 150,000 vehicles
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are registered with such services within beijing. wang starts working at 7:00 a.m., in line with the morning rush hour. taxi drivers have to know how to get passengers but wang doesn't need to worry about that. wang simply follows instructions from his app.
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this app detects in advance the customer's point of departure and arrival, and calculates the estimated fare. the actual fare is calculated by the gps that tracks the route taken by the car. upon arrival, passengers settle the payment on their smartphones. they can't get away without paying, because the app company has their personal information.
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wang gets one request after another, and the passengers are all close to where he is located. he wastes no time getting to the next location. wang earned about $30 u.s. this morning alone and he bernz $1,500 u.s. a month.
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china's conventional cab drivers usually belong to a company and pay for the cars they borrow to use. they also have to follow many rules, such as getting their cars checked or going in for physical checkups. at 11:00 a.m., when the morning rush winds down, wang takes a break.
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twice a week, wang comes here for car maintenance and washing. safety is a concern, but he also just feels good when his car is kept clean. more importantly, these efforts lead to customer satisfaction. a bonus system
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delivery drivers to do their best. passengers evaluate the service, so the drivers have to be attentive at all times. since starting this work, wang has been able to have lunch at home. wang works 11 hours a day, but he chooses what days and time slots he works. if he needs to help his wife or child, he can take a day off without any consequences. thanks to the app, he doesn't need to desperately search for customers.
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the app enables wang to work by his own rules instead of at a company. it has dramatically changed his life. apps are also giving the elderly something to look forward to. that's important in this aging society. this is a very typical residential area in beijing.
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wang shuqin has been cooking for her family for over 30 years. she began selling her own cooking online late last year. she uses an app that is rub undrun under the concept of delivering homemade cooking.n under the concept of delivering homemade cooking. anyone can sell their dishes using this app, as long as they pass health checkups and inspection sanitations. wang has about 12 dishes
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registered here. she registers food that her family members like. wang had been a factory worker since she was young, but her dream was to open a restaurant. when she retired, she had been caring for her grandchildren, but after learning she could start a business using this app, she decided to make her dream come true. it took a bit of money to pay fort inspections, utensils and lunch boxes but she was surprised how easy it was to start her own business. wang's customers all live within
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three kilometers of her home. delivery service comes with the use of the app, but wang delivers herdicious herself for the exercise. she receives around eight orders a day. if she gets more, she has her daughter help out. many of her customers are young people from rural areas.
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wang enjoys taking her grabdson to and from kindergarten every day and she can operate her business any time she wants with the push of a button. the business provides more satisfaction to her already happy life. her monthly sales average $300, around the same amount as her retirement pension.
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wang replies to everyone who evaluates her business, be it positive or negative. that's another thing she looks forward to. recently, an increasing number of customers come to her house to pick up food, to relieve her of that extra work.
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the internet enables users to work with a new freedom. with that help, the potential is virtually infinite. in late 2015, the chinese government announced an app to help in the aftermath of car accidents. the app was developed for dealing with minor car accidents where the responsibility is clear and requires little paperwork. users take pictures of the accident, send them to the police, and follow instructions by the phone to resolve issues.
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it was made to handle the average of almost 30 car accidents that occur in beijing every day. the internet plus policy was created to stimulate the chinese economy. many issues still need to be addressed such as the establishment of laws and deregulation, but as long as people use online services to efficiently connect themselves to the rest of society, it has the potential to create even more new lifestyles and ways of working.
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[captioning made possible by wvpt] >> it's about history, policy, and impact. a new perspective on current affairs, bringing experience, insight, civility and scholarship to the urgent issues today. it's about our past, present, and future. your host, pulitzer prize-winning author and journalist doug blackmon. from the university of virginia's miller center, this is "american forum." doug: welcome back to "american forum." within minutes of the terror attacks on the world trade center and washington, d.c., in 2001, there was fear across the

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