5.0
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF PROPERTY IN GREATER CHINA, THE
ByPublisher Description
'A masterful narration on the digitization of property in China.'
Tan YinglanFounding Managing PartnerInsignia Ventures Partners, Singapore
'...captures the fascinating story of 'smart city initiatives' and tells you all you need to know.'Ben ShenglinProfessor & DeanInternational Business SchoolZhejiang University, Hangzhou
'...smartly combines economics, geo-politics, finance and real estate.'Joshua VargheseFounding Partner, Axia Real Assets, Toronto
Long-planned advances in China — in 5G, blockchain, central bank coins, and SME superapps — have coalesced into a new world of digitized, tokenized, and tradable assets. New digital mega-projects like the Blockchain Service Network, smart cities, and new foreign exchange digital rails are animating physical assets: offices, warehouses, homes, and farms. Powered by a network of sensors, AI, and distributed trust, property has digitized wings. The resulting inflow of data from every part of the 'built' world will create new industries, uproot traditional finance, and transform cities.The global trade war is not just a re-ordering of technology: it's a re-ordering of cities. Nations which export this digital technology first will alter the digital fabric of the developing world. A digital Non-Aligned Movement is afoot! One way for the US to catch up is public-private partnerships between Silicon Valley and DC — or just 'copy' China. This book explores the many people and companies, large and small, which are blazing new trails in China's 'Internet of Everything' to transform the way we live, buy, and move.Download the free Fable app
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesDIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF PROPERTY IN GREATER CHINA, THE Reviews
5.0
“Proptech. What is it? How is it shaping China’s smart city landscape? And is such technology the next step in the Fourth Industrial Revolution? All these questions and more are answered by Schulte, Sun, and Shemakov in this well-researched & accessible book.
As David Lee notes in the book’s foreword, this book could easily be called “The Internet of Everything (IoE).” This book is for anyone curious about the future of work, the emergence of new data-driven, cloud-based technology, & how China is leading the pack in the “proptech” revolution.
There is no doubting the prowess of China’s many R&D-fueled Five Year Plans over the past 2 decades. These roadmaps have provided a national direction for the development of new technology that has afforded China the opportunity to harness the complete power of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This “two-handed” approach is the secret-sauce to China’s continued success in the 4th IR. Schulte correctly notes that the CCP and associated planning committees borrowed a page from the US playbook to realize the benefits of public-private partnerships (à la Manhattan Project, the Apollo projects, etc.). This top-down approach to stirring innovation & providing the groundwork for technology firms to build from is nothing new and, indeed, China is picking up where the US left off. The CCP recognizes the mighty, government-toppling power of tech firms like Tencent, Alibaba, and Pingan and is choosing to work in tandem with them to produce ground-breaking technology meant to promote the development of smart cities, financial inclusion, and even climate resiliency.
While the book is mostly focused on the impact technology like blockchain, 5G, IoT sensors, etc. will have on physical property assets in the next decade, Schulte does a great job contextualizing these gains within the context of how China can market and sell such technology on the global stage. The couple chapters devoted to the emergence of a Central Bank Digital Currency is just one example of this contextual placement. For a more in-depth look at CBDC’s in China, I highly recommend Richard Turrin’s new book, “Cashless.” Indeed, Turrin’s book is the perfect aperitif to Schulte’s main course.
My favorite part of the trio’s book was within a chapter called “Established Challengers.” This chapter highlights a unique & not commonly referenced overview of JD’s iCity and associated products. For me, the examples in this chapter nailed how China is leveraging proptech much differently, and, in my opinion, much more effectively than peers in the US and even other Asian counties.
I did find many of the graphics in the book hard to interpret simply due to the color scale in the charts’ legend. Also, while the inclusion of chapters solely dedicated to the leap-frogging technology of Tencent, Pingan, and Alibaba were illuminating, they would have been much better served in an appendix-style afterword. Finally, while I enjoyed the brash ethos of the introduction comparing China and the US, as a US-reader I was a little worried references to the Iraq War and COVID-19-pandemic-response could quickly dissuade fellow readers from joining the trio on a pragmatic tour of proptech in China. Additionally, the trio is quick to call out what may be “clever publicity from fundamental transformation.” The earnest dialogue of the book removes the monotony of an academic publication and puts accessible examples in the hands of curious readers.
In the end, the most salient points of the trio’s research are easily digestible and laden with current examples that offer a contextualized picture of the massive advantage China has in the proptech revolution. Buckle up, the proptech revolution has already kicked into high gear and it won’t be book until you feel the impacts of China’s truly groundbreaking innovation in a city near you!”
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