A CCTV op-ed, republished here by Enorth (Tianjin), picks up the official buzzword of “Internet plus”, or “互联网”+ in Chinese. The author is a frequently published commentator beyond CCTV, Qin Chuan (秦川).
Main Link: “互联网+”不是加工具 而是转观念
On March 5 this year, chief state councillor Li Keqiang, in his work report, spelled out the action plan for the formulaton of “Internet plus”. From there, “Internet plus” has become one of the most popular terms. There are people who welcome the age of “Internet plus”, and there are others who believe that this year is “the first year of the traditional industry’s internetization”, but there are also people who keep asking questions about why it should be “Internet plus” rather than “plus the internet”.
今年3月5日，李克强总理在政府工作报告上提出制定“互联网+”行动计划。自此，“互联网+”成为最流行的词语之一。有人欢呼“互联网+”时代来了，还有人认为今年是“传统行业互联网化元年”，不过也有人追问，为什么是“互联网+”，而不是“+互联网”？
Riding into the incomparable Tomorrow
Internet plus had become a concept, writes, Qin, which had already “become hot”. It had the potential of making the Chinese economy take off. In the first quarter’s seven percent of economic growth and the first quarter’s smooth beginning for the national economy, the role played by “Internet plus” was not clearly quantifiable, but certainly discernible.
“Internet plus” isn’t “plus the internet” because the subjects are different, and because their effects are also different. “Plus the internet” stays at the concept of “traditional industries plus the internet” and sees the internet as a tool, but what “internet plus” signals is actually “internet plus all kinds of traditional industries”. The internet isn’t just a carrier, it’s the main frame, it doesn’t play a supporting role, but the indispensible and leading role.
“互联网+”不是“+互联网”，这是因为主体不同，作用也不同。“+互联网”仍停留于“传统业态+互连网”的观念，把互联网视为工具，而“互联网+”传递的信号则是“互联网+各个传统行业”，互联网不只是载体，而是主体，它不是配角，而是当仁不让的主角，不可或缺。
In the second industrial revolution, electricity had led to great changes in many industries, writes, Qin, but the internet wouldn’t only help raising productivity and efficiency as electricity had one; the internet in itself was industrialization (互联网本身已经产业化). Internet companies which had attained some industrial attributes and inspired industrial upgrades should not be underestimated.
Qin urges a broader perspective. The internet was about merging, sharing, transformation and improvement. It was “not an addend, but a multiplier”. Traditional industries were facing big changes, and even needed to be “reborn with new bones” (脱胎换骨)*): Just as scholars say, new technologies and abilities can completely change traditional industries’ efficiency and abilities, and form new operations and business models.
That’s why we can say that “Internet Plus” may bring a technological revolution of far-reaching significance, which may permeat all aspects, not only topple traditional industries, but also provide traditional industries with new life. The shame is that when it comes to “Internet Plus”, quite many people just can’t see its value, or remain superficial about its significance. Reports say that the most serious bottleneck in China for “Internet Plus” are anachronistic concepts [or viewpoints]. At present, rather serious inflexible points of view exist in our countries’ traditional industries, as can be seen in the phenomenon of copying what is already there, a lack of essential understanding and use of cloud computing and services in big data infrastructure, and there is no broad change towards a consumer-led business pattern either.
从这个意义上说，“互联网+”或将带来一种意义深远的技术革命，它渗透在各个方面，不仅颠覆了传统行业，更赋予了传统行业新的生命。遗憾的是，对“互联网+”，不少人并非意识到它的价值，或者将其意义表面化。据报道，中国“互联网+”存在的一大瓶颈是观念落伍：目前我国的传统产业存在较为严重的观念固化现象，体现在因袭原有的信息化老路，对云计算、大数据等基础设施服务缺乏必要的了解和应用，也没有适应以消费者为主导的商业格局的转变。
We suffered from aphasia during several technological revolutions in the past. In this new technological revolution, we must not be marginalized again. The good thing is that the central authorities have already recognized the great significance of “internet plus”, and promoted it systematically. According to reports, the state has already established new industry venture capital funds at a value of 40 billion Yuan. More capital must be raised and integrated, to assist in beefing up industrial innovation.
我们曾在前几次技术革命中失语，在新的技术革命中绝不能再被边缘化。好在中央早已意识到“互联网+”的重大意义，并从制度安排上推动之。据悉，国家已设立400亿元新兴产业创业投资引导基金，要整合筹措更多资金，为产业创新加油助力。
The article doesn’t suggest that anything would be certain, however. The author is careful enough to suggest that “Internet Plus” could lead to these or those desirable results, and his article ends with a maybe (或许), not with a certainly (肯定):
By changing outdated ideas, by embracing “Internet Plus”, we may have an extraordinary tomorrow, with deep changes from China’s economy to Chinese life.
改变落伍观念，拥抱“互联网+”，或许我们将拥有不同凡响的明天，从中国经济到生活状态，各个方面都将深刻改变。
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Notes
*) 脱胎换骨 could also be translated with the more “civil” term of re-inventing themselves, but to be reborn with new bones is a much older saying in China than the business philosophy reflected in self-reinvention. Self-criticism, sometimes necessary for survival when facing accusations of being a bad or weak revolutionary, for example, included the preparedness to be “reborn with new bones”. To be “reborn” that way is also the demand Haiyun, the wife of Cadre Zhang in Wang Meng‘s novel “Butterfly”, is facing after having praised “wrong” novels as an academic lecturer. And the man making these demands on her is Cadre Zhang himself:
All you can do now is to lower your head and to confess your guilt, to start anew, to flay your face and to wash your heart, to be reborn and to change your bones!
只有低头认罪，重新做人，革面洗心，脱胎换骨！”他的每个字都使海云瑟缩，就像一根一根的针扎在她身上，然后她抬起头，张思远打了一个冷战，他看到她的冰一样的目光。
That’s to say, the choice of words reflects a blend of politics and economics, and, indeed of fear and survival. But when isolated from history, it probably amounts to this quote (Andy S. Grove):
For now, let me just say that a strategic inflection point is a time in the life of business when its fundamentals are about to change. That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights. But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end.”
And yes, Only the Paranoid Survive is the title of the book.
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Further Reading
» The Trickies Part, Slate, Jan 21, 2015
» Address Censorship, SCMP, March 8, 2015
» Deutschland will digital, DW, March 16, 2015
» Work Report, China Daily, Mar 5, 2015
» Work Report (hours later), Mar 5, 2015
» Angst vor Zusagen, Die Zeit, Aug 19, 2014
» Digital Germany 2015, Nov 10, 2010
» The Digital Germany paper (in German)
» Destruction or Development, Mar 15, 2010
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