China and ASEAN countries are deepening their cooperation in e-commerce and livestreaming economy after over three decades of development. Benjamin Sukanjanajtee, Minister of the Thai Embassy in China, told the Global Times that his life has been deeply changed by China’s booming online economy after being relocated to the country one year ago.
“My wife has turned into a super follower of online shopping,” he told the Global Times on Tuesday when attending the ASEAN-China Online Influencers Conference & Fujian Brands Promotion Tour along Maritime Silk Road, in Fuzhou, East China’s Fujian Province.
Sukanjanajtee, who claims to be old school, found it hard to accept a life without cash during his first few weeks in China. “Even street vendors use the mobile payments. I only kept the cash in my pocket. But now, my wife will turn to online shopping for little things like batteries,” he added.
With the help of translation tools, his wife, who does not speak Chinese, was able to help him buy the things that he could not find in stores. “You can imagine how convenient life turns in China. It is the time of a digital life,” he said.
Sukanjanajtee was impressed with what foreign students from ASEAN countries are doing through livestreaming and selling products made in their own countries at the Sea Lion Intelligence Center in Fuzhou.
“It is a new trend and a new normal for this generation,” he said. “It is out of the traditional way of selling and buying things. You do not have to go through a middleman but directly sell to the customers. This changing trend is also taking place in Thailand,” Sukanjanajtee remarked.
There are areas with “a lot of opportunities” where Thailand and China can work together, he mentioned, adding that “our two countries have huge potential in e-commence and online economy. In the future, we can work toward relevant laws and taxation regulations.”
Under the theme “Set Sail from the Blessed Land when the Wind is Positive,” the ASEAN-China Online Influencers Conference, running between January 11 and 13, is hosted by the ASEAN-China Center, huanqiu.com, the Department of Commerce of Fujian Province, the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Fujian Province, and the Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government.
Benjamin Sukanjanajtee, Minister of the Thai Embassy in China Photo: huanqiu.com
