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在线翻译:
szdaily -> In depth -> 
China’s Internet financiers get lucky money
    2014-02-11  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    THE Chinese tradition of giving gifts of red envelopes stuffed with cash went virtual and viral ahead of lunar new year as China’s Internet moguls court the booming Internet finance market.

    Since Jan. 25, WeChat, Internet giant Tencent’s flagship mobile messaging application, has allowed its 600 million users worldwide to send and receive virtual red envelopes via a new add-on service.

    Red envelope givers can randomly allocate amounts of money in virtual red envelopes for chatroom users to grab. The lucky money, ranging from a few cents to 200 yuan (US$ 33), is later credited to the recipient’s bank account. But to make it more entertaining, an add-in function also allows a group of users to rush for one red envelope — so whoever is the first to open it in a group chat can receive it. Another choice available to the giver is to allow the system to randomly allocate an amount of money in one red envelope for a group of friends.

    The service, a clever take on a Chinese Spring Festival tradition with a competitive gaming design, became popular among WeChat users who rushed to give or grab lucky money and share their comings and goings through WeChat posts.

    The first two days of Spring Festival saw more than 5 million people nationwide taking part in online red envelope activities, with more than 20 million red envelopes being handed out, Xinhua News Agency reported.

    The report, quoting data provided by Tencent Holdings, developer of WeChat, said the peak of red envelope activity came in a five-minute spell when 585,000 people took part, with 121,000 red envelopes being claimed.

    “It was like a game. It brought a fantastic atmosphere and plenty of talking points to the chat group,” said Yang Yi, a 25-year-old who works at a government institution in Beijing.

    Yang took part in numerous “competitions” for the red envelope in different chat groups and she managed to get 122 of them, including of course, those that were specifically delivered to her.

    Even though the amount ranged from just 0.01 to 100 yuan in each “grab,” she said the fun of the game was in the competition.

    Yang said she would sit close to, and monitor, the router in her home each time she knew somebody was going to send an electronic red envelope to ensure the network was up to speed.

    “The amount of money does not matter. The excitement lies in the moment you can get the envelope,” she said.

    Yang said she got 1,200 yuan distributed all through online red envelopes.

    Yao Xuan, manager of a company in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, said he uses electronic payments to replace the traditional way of giving gifts.

    He spent 1,300 yuan on four chat groups comprised of classmates from his primary, junior and high schools and college.

    “Compared with sending text messages or online posts, this is a better way of wishing good fortune for the coming year,” he said.

    The service is actually nothing new. Tencent’s main domestic rival Alibaba offered virtual red envelopes through its payment platform Alipay last year.

    Wu Yi, product manager of the service, attributed the viral popularity to longstanding Chinese tradition, WeChat’s social networking friendly features and entertaining elements in product design.

    The popularity of the virtual red envelopes among WeChat users showed that mobile Internet applications have enabled social networks to expand from families and close friends to more people with weaker links, said Zhong Xin, a communications professor with Renmin University of China.

    The new service is the latest move by Tencent to cash in on its popular WeChat platform via e-commerce and online wealth management products.

    The Internet giant added a payment service to WeChat in June last year for mobile shopping and payment via smartphones, then rolled out a wealth management product on the platform in early January, boasting a seven-day annualized rate of return above 7 percent, topping that of its major rival Alibaba’s Yu E’bao.

    Tencent joined with DiDi Taxi, a leading cab-calling application, last month to offer discounts for passengers and bonuses for drivers who struck the deal through the app and paid through the WeChat payment platform. Over 100,000 deals were done in two days.

    The partnership rivals a similar deal between Alibaba and another leading cab application, highlighting the fierce competition between the two over the mobile Internet and Internet finance markets.

    Virtual lucky money, online wealth management and cab-calling service are just the tip of a colossal Internet iceberg, floating now in traditional waters; and many more surprises based on big data, mobile technology and payment services are said to lie beneath the surface.

    “The Internet is challenging almost all sectors, information-intense industries in particular, and will keep on changing people’s lives,” said Zhao Guodong, an expert in big data.

    The picture is not entirely rosy. Internet finance, despite its popularity and convenience, poses risks for users and the economy at large.

    Economics commentator Niu Wenxin calls Alipay a vampire. He says too much money flowing from banks and the real economy to Internet coffers may raise financing costs for already cash-strapped small businesses and bring new risks to commercial banks.

    “The high return on Internet finance products is not sustainable if they invest too much in risky sectors such as real estate and trusts,” said Zhao Qingming, finance professor with the University of International Business and Economics.

    “Investors should treat Internet finance with more circumspection, instead of just following the herd,” Zhao added.(Xinhua)

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