The world has started 2019 in a turbulent mood. While global companies have enough cash to weather the economic winter and reinvest for growth, small businesses are much more vulnerable and survival will be a priority.
Last autumn, we at Ant Financial helped organise an exhibition highlighting 100 lives that were transformed by the internet. They included a rural millennial live-streaming from his Gansu chicken farm, a cancer patient saved by online health insurance, and an ex-convict who started an e-tailoring shop with sewing skills learnt in prison.
Looking through the exhibit, what struck me was both the immense potential for technology to help underprivileged people, and how many more lives are still waiting to be touched.