Broadband brings hope
▶ Indian talents follow their dreams and find their potential in China’s high-tech firms
More well-educated Indian youth flock to Chinese internet companies for good pay and promising future
Some of the Indian high-tech IT talents see working experience in China’s internet industry as a springboard to start a business back home
Emerging from a Beijing skyscraper at around 9 pm, an Indian marketing specialist who prefers to be called Arjun, opens an online car-hailing app on his Xiaomi phone to order a taxi as if it were as natural to him as blinking.
This is a typical end to his shift at a top Chinese electronics company. He is one of many young Indians fulfilling their ambitions to join the vibrant network of China’s booming internet sector.
Arjun has lived in China for more than five years. He has seamlessly adapted to China’s e-commerce culture and digitalized lifestyle. The young professional is comfortable with the longer shifts encouraged in China’s IT and high-tech industry.
Arjun graduated from a Chinese university in 2012. After three years he stood in awe at the unprecedented growth of China’s technological innovation and became determined to settle in the country.
More young Indians like Arjun are approaching the Chinese internet and high-tech sector. They are on the hunt for lucrative opportunities and valuable experience emanating from the Chinese digital revolution, some Indian workers in China told the Global Times.
China’s developed online economy is electrifying their career paths.
China dream
Arjun became enthralled by Chinese high-tech electronics in college after stumbling upon a Chinese music player that worked almost as well as his Apple iPod he bought at twice the price.
He is still surprised at how the Chinese tech sector has redefined dining, shopping, entertainment, work, and communication for billions of people.
“The future of internet companies belongs to China. In many inventions, such as the construction of a 5G network, China is far ahead of many developed countries,” Arjun told the Global Times.
“The pace at which it is growing and emerging in competition from other developed countries is what surprises me the most. If you look back the past five to six years, you realize that almost 90 percent of the technology companies have born out of China. This also shows how actively China is taking a role on the global stage,” he said.
Many of his young friends back home are curious about his experience working in China and ask him about potential career opportunities for them.
“They all have good academic backgrounds and want to join Chinese companies for higher salary,” said Arjun. Arjun’s assessment is shared by some senior Indian professionals who believe China’s rapid internet development and the power of its online economy have inspired many Indian talents.
Jayanta Nandi has been an IT professional for nearly 20 years. He spent 11 years in Beijing and is venturing into entrepreneurship with his Chinese business partner.
“Globally, digitalization has grown extremely fast in the last few years and China has been in the forefront. Potential and opportunities are huge when someone is in the land of internet company giants like Alibaba, Tencent and others,” Nandi told the Global Times.
The combined internet business income of China’s top 100 internet companies reached 2.75 trillion yuan in 2018. This accounts for 8.8 percent of China’s digital economy, according to a report released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in August.
The top 100 companies have leapfrogged
others in overall scale and become a new engine for the digital economy by focusing on innovation and industry conced vergence, the report said.
Ananya (pseudonym), an experienced IT professional working in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, came to China with her husband in July 2007 as the country was gearing up for the 2008 Olympic Games.
“It was a very exciting year for China. It was enchanting to see the entire nation working diligently and assiduously to put it’s best foot forward in every way,” Ananya told the Global Times, recalling how she was struck by the vitality in the atmosphere at the time.
Chinese IT companies have had prolific impact in the international market since thee 1990s, and the Chinese government’s decision to invest in developing high-tech zones attracted a lot of foreign talents, she said.
“With the latest technical advancement being implemented, especially in the field of automation and robotics, Chinese tech and IT sector is gaining traction even at the global stage,” said Ananya, noting she valnese ues the cutting-edge direction of Chinese high-tech development compared with that of developed countries.
As more Chinese companies are going global, she has seen an influx of Indian employees in Liaoning’s software park area.
Discovery journey
While many are looking to settle in China for the long run, a 28-year-old Indian software developer who prefers to be called Reyansh, plans to return home to
The Chinese internet has increasingly influenced the lives of young people in India. The mobile internet revolution that has taken place in China is about to take place in India in the upcoming years, among faster internet speeds.” Reyansh a 28-year-old Indian software developer working in China
India and start a business there. For him, coming to China to work in an internet company is like a “discovery trip.”
He said some parts of India are urbanizing at a rapid scale mirroring aspects of what happened in China a decade ago.
Reyansh believes there are growing pains in this process that will provide chances for tech companies to solve problems.
He said he came to China to unlock the secrets of rural e-commerce development.
“The Chinese internet has increasingly influenced the lives of young people in India. The mobile internet revolution that has taken place in China is about to take place in India in the upcoming years, among faster internet speeds,” Reyansh told the Global Times, saying that nearly half of the top 100 apps in the Indian app store list were developed by Chinese vendors.
“China has taken a leading role in ecommerce and 5G development. I used to think I would pursue my IT dream in the US, but now I am sure working in China is a better choice for me,” he said.
Indian employees can gain favor among Chinese internet companies, because many Indian elites are more culturally connected to the West and offer advantages in global marketing promotion, Reyansh told the Global Times.
“For many outsourcing projects, Indian employees are also better able to find lowcost and quality services in India. E-commerce involves upstream and downstream enterprises, logistics, advertising and other links. It is easier for Indians to negotiate successfully,” he noted.